By: Diane Benjamin Last night a Peoria TV station’s lead story at 6:00 pm was the petition asking for the resignation of Alex Williams from the Unit 5 School Board. See the video and story here: https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/09/30/petition-circulates-calling-unit-5-school-board-presidents-resignation-after-controversial-social-media-posts/ If course Unit 5 had no comment. Alex Williams promised WEEK a comment and never provided one. You […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/09/20/controversy-surrounds-unit-5-board-chair-alex-williams/ A taxpayer sent an email to the Unit 5 School Board concerning the comments made by the Board Chair Alex Williams. She received a response. Below is a copied response since a picture of the email would be hard to read, I did include a picture at […]
By: Diane Benjamin MANY people have sent this to me. I feel there is more to add to this conversation, hence this story. This I believe was originally posted by the McLean County Republicans, I edited the photo to only show the comments made by Unit 5 Board Chair Alex Williams: . I will address […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Yesterday I reported a lot of the Rivian vans parked at State Farm were gone. https://blnnews.com/2025/04/29/eight-things-you-need-to-know/ I drove by again yesterday and they are back: 2) Does retired judge James Knecht know the Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Judge Hannah Dugan after she was federally charged with helping an undocumented immigrant evade […]
By: Diane Benjamin Looks like 4 rows of Rivian vans: Rivian reported 1st Qtr 2025 production of 14,611 vehicles. Only 8,640 were delivered. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/rivian-stock-rivn-drops-alongside-dismal-q1-deliveries-1034543896 . . .
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder how State Farm would feel if they knew details. I wonder how Ward 4 would feel if they knew details. Are you sure you want to go down this road John Wyatt Danenberger? (14 day Court docket has it spelled wrong)
Parked at State Farm Then this video appeared tying to unionize the plant:
Lots of people want to know why they aren’t being delivered!
By: Diane Benjamin Pic H/T a reader Since I try to never cross Veterans Parkway, I didn’t know State Farm was on the sign at the “arena”. I FOIA’d the City for the sponsorship agreement with State Farm, Grossinger quit paying years ago: https://blnnews.com/2023/03/14/grossinger-motors-arena-isnt-and-more/ The agreement with State Farm expired in May, the FOIA showed […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Steve Suess is no longer at Cities 92.9. He’s exploring other opportunities. BIG LOSS to Sunday afternoons, guest host spots, and election coverage. 😲 2) State Farm is selling employees: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230112005620/en/HCLTech-to-Modernize-IT-Operations-for-State-Farm%C2%AE Sources tell me these are 1st and 2nd level support and claims help desk staff. Most are already working remotely. […]
Excerpts from the link below: H/T a reader Introduction Rapid increases in costs to repair and replace vehicles appears to have significantly impacted costs to close both new and older claims in the third quarter, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of newly filed statutory financials by the No. 1 U.S. private auto insurer concludes. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently State Farm changed their mind, maybe they saw what happened to Disney. Corporations need to stay in their lane. Go Woke Go Broke! https://www.likeacreepyneighbor.com/ Targeting easy to manipulate children with far left ideology violates the rights of parents. The email at the bottom was leaked by a whistleblower. LibsOfTikTOK obtained this […]
Is State Farm internally sponsoring a Drag Queen contest or did some employee post the notice without permission? (it has been removed) Policy holders need to know how WOKE State Farm is and whether to keep policies with them.
By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s Council meeting Chemberly Cummings was wearing a mask because she was sick. She took it off to speak because Chris Koos couldn’t hear her. The plastic dividers were gone, COVID is officially over since 6 feet apart isn’t happening anymore at Normal Council meetings. Start with this short clip […]
Flying around State Farm I saw a “podcast” featuring Chemberly. As an elected official, is it smart to admit you have suffered from anxiety, depression, mental health issues, and physical issues most of your life Chemberly? Going for a sympathy vote? I remember when Democrats proclaimed Trump mentally ill (he isn’t) and called him a […]
By: Diane Benjamin People who read the law, watched the case, and listened to Constitutional lawyers knew Kyle Rittenhouse would be acquitted. Those who listen to fake media believe the lies they were told. How can Kyle be a white nationalist/supremist when everyone involved was WHITE. This had nothing to do with race except in […]
https://www.kabc.com/2021/11/08/bravo-state-farm-backs-aaron-rodgers-after-vax-comments/ State Farm backs Aaron Rodger! Good for them, bad for WGLT. By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader The only reason I started writing almost 10 years ago was because journalism is dead. If stories aren’t purposely not covered to protect fellow democrats, words are twisted to make the consumer believe something that never happened. […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington met for 2 1/2 hours last night, Normal met for over 3. Take a break for other news, I sure need a break! I watch the meetings for those who can’t. Also, my inbox was in serious need of cleaning. 2) Remember Vision Zero? https://blnnews.com/2021/06/30/vision-zero/ The goal is to have zero traffic […]
By: Diane Benjamin The radical local leftists are trying to get a State Farm employee fired. During the Unit 5 School Board meeting they claim he gave the Nazi hand gesture, he didn’t. He merely raised his hand that he was guilty of not wearing his mask. If State Farm complies with the demands of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Jenn Carrillo would have been laughed at, Jeff Crabill was the BLM representative last night. He wanted to approve last years police budget instead of the increased number. State Farm – make sure he doesn’t get a raise this year since he thinks public safety personnel don’t deserve one. The video […]
By: Diane Benjamin State Farm is currently conducting employee training about participating in protests. The will fire any employee involved in what they consider uncivil protests. State Farm has a financial stake since they insure many people and businesses. Jeff Crabill is a lawyer for State Farm. Even though there was a large gathering yesterday […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever seen kids throwing a fit in a store when mommy won’t buy them what they want? Ever seen mommy buy it just to shut them up? The local babies won’t get “mommy” to comply. Our leaders know giving into terrorists only makes them stronger. The mom who buys them something to […]
Change it to three things – see below. By: Diane Benjamin Sometimes I see local news on Facebook and just assume the local press will report it. I don’t think they reported this one: State Farm on pace to lose car-insurance crown If recent trends persist, Geico will overtake State Farm as the country’s largest […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just a rumor going around until it is confirmed. I’m hearing an entire department is moving or the department is being outsourced. What have you heard? I assume you heard Unti 5 claimed their property tax base is down this year. It should be for every government taxing body if a lot […]
By: Diane Benjamin Had enough of “Right Fit” yet? I remember Tari telling the Council they HAD to buy the Sugar Creek Packing property to keep anybody else from buying it. (Like anybody else was interested) $245,000 subverting capitalism. Tari bought the old Mennonite Hospital property so he could control who built there. When the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Partial list of empty buildings in downtown Bloomington: CII East Front and Center and the building to the west Former Clark and Barlow Peoples Bank Elks Former Pantagraph building Ensenberger Condos – 6 for sale on Zillow A large variety of smaller spaces are also empty Bloomington doesn’t need another one! State […]
WGLT is reporting the sale fell through so State Farm is going to demolish the building. https://www.wglt.org/post/state-farm-demolish-downtown-building-after-sale-falls-through?fbclid=IwAR2BOK_3V4EJPy45fon0FcQ0xNezwaPwmPlKJHOKwlCiDAm38ozCOBYExEY#stream/0 By: Diane Benjamin According to this story from May, the 7th, 8th, and 9th floors were pre-leased: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/22/state-farm-bldg-3-floors-leased/ Guth and Associates of Champaign no longer shows this listing on their website. In early March, when the pending sale […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a Reader Rental space is being marketed by a CHAMPAIGN COMPANY. Still no word on who is in the process of buying the building. The rent is a lot cheaper than Uptown! (click to enlarge) The real estate brokerage company is Guth and Associates. Their website only lists one broker – […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you didn’t see the update to this story: https://blnnews.com/2018/12/21/state-farm-not-a-good-neighbor/ I received a call from a claims supervisor on Christmas Eve. She had obviously either read or heard about the story. On December 26th I received a call early from the guy I had been working with. I just signed the release […]
By: Diane Benjamin With the change to twice yearly bulk waste pickup, areas around downtown now look like this: The owner could call the City for pickup and pay $25 per bucket, or they can wait to be tagged by the City. The tagged mess still won’t be picked up immediately because the City is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Council meeting last night did not produce much to report. We did learn from a lady during public comment that Bloomington has an epidemic of at risk kids. Holly (didn’t catch the last name) volunteers many hours at the Boys and Girls Club. They currently serve almost 1000 kids and […]
By: Diane Benjamin YMCA, State Farm, and now Specs Around Town are just some businesses who have or will be leaving downtown Bloomington. City of Bloomington: Whatever you are doing is causing flight from downtown. Downtown is for bars, restaurants, lawyers, and government. Until Bloomington quits trying to make downtown something it isn’t, the few businesses […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everybody knows the streets aren’t being fixed. Bloomington can’t even find money in the budget (that has skyrocketed under Tari Renner) to invest in infrastructure. https://blnnews.com/2018/03/26/nice-pantagraph/ They will happily raise your taxes though to pay for a couple of roads. Yesterday we learned there was a “disconnect” ordering tickets for the One […]
Another employee told me tonight the guards will be visible Monday. __________________________ By: Diane Benjamin I’m hearing reports that State Farm will have armed guards at all doors starting today. Tomorrow a wave of displaced workers starts exiting the company. (Anybody else find it ironic our kids don’t get the same security at school?) There […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week the local media reported the low local unemployment rate. Here’s an example from WJBC: http://www.wjbc.com/2018/03/15/bloomington-normal-jobless-rate-remains-lowest-in-state-2/ They must be afraid to report the rest of the story: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/SMU17140100000000001?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true This chart is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics These numbers are the actual number of people employed – in thousands. In the […]
Update: 4/2/18 Company video this morning with no Tipsword and no mention of him either. Hum __________________________________ Flying around, chatter was heard about Ed Rust returning to State Farm briefly to confront Tipsword and Senior Management on how they are handling things. Word on the street is Rust was escorted out of the building. Lots […]
By: Diane Benjamin Questions for the Council: Last November you held a retreat. EVERY program the City is forcing people to pay for was presented. See PDF page 34 and following: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14932 There are 15 pages of programs ranked from HIGH priority to Low priority. It looks like cutting programs died the day they were […]
5000+ employees will be told what SF has planned at 10 an today. Some will relocate, some will stay, some will be out of a job. By: Diane Benjamin How many State Farm employees are going to be left in Bloomington if the ax ever quits falling on employees? Does anybody believe 15,000? Local […]
By: Diane Benjamin What we do know: The freshman class this year at ISU was down 9.3% https://blnnews.com/2017/09/07/numbers-lie/ State Farm has cut employees and is cutting more Normal has a budget deficit (local media reports) The Normal Library has decided not to build new – the library WAS the centerpiece of Uptown 2.0 (local […]
