By: Diane Benjamin Is Ameren having trouble keeping the power on? Or, is it just the reader who told me there have been 4 outages in the last 6 days totalling around 9 hours? Is everyone local back on yet just in time for more storms? How’s Net Zero working for you? Meanwhile Corn Belt […]
By: Diane Benjamin I usually post excerpts from interesting stories. This time you get one: AI is coming for manufacturing jobs, and America isn’t ready This entire story needs to be read: https://www.inc.com/abigail-bassett/rivian-ceo-rj-scaringe-warns-that-the-u-s-isnt-prepared-for-ais-impact-on-this-1-type-of-job/91361126 READ to the bottom!
By: Diane Benjamin Notable items from last night’s Bloomington Committee of the Whole meeting: City Manager Jeff Jurgens stated Bloomington is a growing city. From US Census website: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bloomingtoncityillinois/PST045224 . Jurgens also stated the City has 100 year old water mains and they leak. He knows they are behind replacing them. Lesson for voters (those […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Committee of the Whole agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4130/files/agenda/12818 The only Regular Agenda item is WATER. Making sure residents have water in the future is going to be expensive. See the Technical Summary: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4130/files/attachment/9574 I suggest jumping to PDF page 15 so your eyes don’t glaze over before getting there. The really expensive fixes […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know 300,000 unaccompanied minors are still missing? The guy in charge of making sure they were safely placed was Xavier Becerra, Biden’s head of Health and Human Services and current finalist for California governor. He lost track of them. ICE has located about 145,000. Some of them were sex trafficked. […]
The below was posted on X by Mike Netter who is running for State Senator in California. This article was written by a 26 yr old college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who’s in grad school for her MBA. What a GREAT perspective. My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us! I’m […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is a picture of the portable Stop Lights I mentioned in this story: https://blnnews.com/2026/06/06/this-is-why-bloomington-must-opt-people-out-of-aggregation/ . This is Ireland Grove Rd by The Grove. They say “rental” on them. I didn’t know stop lights could be rented! Note: No cars are coming from the opposite direction. It would be easy to drive […]
By: Diane Benjamin Now the far left wants everyone to celebrate what they do in theirs. Thank Normal Township Supervisor Krystle Able, this was on her Facebook page: . Where is Downtown Normal? Normal Township posted a different address than the above: . Maybe two 40-hour a week jobs isn’t working for Krystle. If you […]
By: Diane Benjamin When you have a loved one being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance minutes count. I was a passenger in an ambulance eight years when my husband shouldn’t have lived – but did. I was in Bloomington yesterday. I was at the stop light southbound on Hershey waiting for the light […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s latest budget is almost $318 million but the camera didn’t work last night. The meeting would have been 15 minutes but appointments and a proclamation used up time. 3 people spoke at public comment (see 17:55). Everything passed with no discussion. The only video is of slides presented. The first 10 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Friday I attended this meeting. Lots of people attended. The meeting opened with a 14 year old singing our national anthem. Next an employee and veteran led the crowd in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Another employee led the group in prayer after that. Nobody protested, I didn’t see anyone not […]
By: Diane Benjamin On the regular agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4104/files/report/5227 . The former Clay Dooley building is in the Downtown TIF. Premium Loaves plans to spend $4.2 million to turn it into the above. The corporate office will be on the second floor, the first floor will be available commercial space. The developer claimed the project required […]
By: Diane Benjamin Both Bloomington and Normal played granny state and opted people into their electric aggregation program. Now we know the rate this year is higher than Ameren, people can opt out by contacting Ameren. Citizens are forced to fix government blunders or pay more money. Most will never get that message. The below […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t figured out the McLean County League of Women Voters has no values, look at their Facebook page or the national organization website they mimic. This one is my favorite, they are upset the Department of Justice has proof the Southern Poverty Law Center funded organization like the KKK to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I get Google alerts on lots of things, one being Rivian This one came in this morning: . It’s hard not to burst out laughing at that headline. Investing.com must have received lots of negative comments, the link to the story now doesn’t work. Just to refresh your memory, this site shows […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Grocery Tax and Data Centers were never the reason the meeting was called. The local radicals wanted a vote against Israel. . Isn’t it nice that Public Comment is on the Agenda AFTER the vote? It sounds like the Agenda got rearranged. All 3 items passed. All three are meaningless, especially […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Both Bloomington and Normal opted every household into electric aggregation. Now we know if everyone doesn’t opt out they will be paying more for electicity. The right thing to do is opt everyone out! Will government do it? Everyone affected will never hear they need to opt out. 2) Executive Session […]
Unit 5 is paying the 6% to encourage employees to retire. To qualify teacher’s have to be eligible under the Teacher’s Retirement System rules and have 10 years working for Unit 5. Remember when there was a teacher’s shortage? It’s brilliant to encourage experienced teachers to retire. I still have no explanation for all the […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) For the first time I can remember, the Ecology Action Center has recommended opting out of electric aggregation because you will be paying more if you don’t. This applies to Bloomington and Normal. https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-05-27/ecology-action-center-recommends-opting-out-of-electricity-aggregation-this-year I don’t know if it is too late to opt out, see this Bloomington link: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/community/municipal-electric-aggregation Normal: […]
By: Diane Benjamin A few weeks ago this post appeared on NextDoor: . This was one of the responses, obviously by a person who follows local politics: , Evidently some people are allowed to not follow rules: . A complaint was sent to the City back in March. Nothing has changed, the sidewalk is impassable. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sick of high property taxes? The City Council raised your taxes last year after being told they had no choice. The 1% grocery tax was added for the same reason. It’s dire. In the video below, go to 1:37:48 and listen to Sheila Montney. The Finance Director had just finished his report. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4116/files/agenda/12728 This easily puts Jurgens in the top 5% of all wage earners in the country: The meaningless ethics ordinance is on the Consent agenda, self regulating means no consequences: In case someone claims Bloomington isn’t paying for the improvements to Sunnyside park, it’s still tax dollars paying for it. It […]
By: Diane Benjamin In the land of Progressia, the ruling faction had a problem. Their grand policies kept producing the opposite of what they promised: taxes that crushed working families, cities where shoplifting became a protected lifestyle, borders that functioned more like welcome mats, and schools more focused on gender ideology than reading. Energy prices […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T a reader West Washington, across from the Government Center in downtown Bloomington: Does this sign apply? Or this sign? Can you park for 2 hours or not? The signs are within feet of each other: . I suggest parking by the green sign, taking a picture of your vehicle and sign, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe 6 are available because ISU people moved on. Uptown needs more non-student housing? Keep in mind this building would not have been built without taxpayer subsidies. https://www.liveonthecircle.com/vacancies
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Regional Planning Commission is planning for 2045. This is the same group that wanted an eastside bypass a few years ago. If you don’t know who is runs these “planners”, see the Board members here: https://mcplan.org/about-us/about-mcrpc/the-commission What this unelected Commission reports is considered gold to Bloomington, Normal, and all […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Sonny Garcia called for a special meeting of the Bloomington Township to get this on the ballot: https://blnnews.com/2024/05/15/want-to-see-the-petition-signers/ That effort failed because citizens of Bloomington Township outnumbered his ilk. Time for Bloomington Township voters to do it again! This time the organizer is Zach Gittrich who appears frequently around town. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Progressives believe government creates prosperity. In Normal, that meant Uptown would magically fill with developers eager to do their bidding. Years after taxpayers were forced to fund the project, the first-floor restaurant space at 1 Uptown Circle sat empty. Two other large buildings meant to complete the circle still don’t exist after […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council was downright pompous about passing a shiny new ethics ordinance. How could anyone possibly oppose it? An ethics ordinance with zero penalties is completely worthless. They already ignore City Code with impunity — this will be no different. After all, they get to decide what’s ‘ethical,’ so violating […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below is always on the Agenda for the start of County Board meetings. Members take turns: According to Merriam-Webster.com. the definition of Invocation is: . Calling on a higher power didn’t happen at last Thursday’s meeting. Member Val Laymon demanded everyone participate in deep breathing. If you run into Val, ask […]
By: Diane Benjamin On the Agenda tonight: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4129/files/agenda/12698 The same woman who got Normal to pass a meaningless ethics ordinance is getting Bloomington to do the same: https://blnnews.com/2026/04/07/normal-now-has-a-meaningless-code-of-ethics/ City code is is ignored by elected officials, an ethics ordinance won’t change that. No penalties exist for being unethical. It will pass easily anyway with some […]
By: Diane Benjamin In Illinois you can’t have a nice home without being taxed into selling and leaving the state. This house in NOT in Hawthorne Hills, homes there are even worse: This is an increase of 42% in 10 years. The people most responsible are elected in local elections few bother to vote in. […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader This message was sent to soccer families: Hello FCCI Families, We wanted to share an exciting opportunity for our soccer community and ask for your support. The Town of Normal is currently gathering community feedback regarding the possibility of developing a large sports complex facility similar to the Rantoul […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the church at 411 E Mulberry that caved in? The City of Bloomington tore it down because it was an extreme hazard. Previous story: https://blnnews.com/2025/07/15/last-night-bloomington-council-2/ How much did that cost? (Invoices below) $300,606.18 + $10,794.77 + $59,727.80 + $11,546.11 + $12,217.00 = $394,891.86. How much has the City been reimbursed by […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to the Pantagraph, the underpass will be back before the Normal Town Council with an even higher bill. Monday’s agenda hasn’t been posted yet. Chris Koos and (mayor in waiting) Kevin McCarthy will never say the cost is too high. I doubt Rory Roberge or Karyn Smith will either. Saving 50 […]
