The Peoria Chronicle

“The Cartel” touts vouchers, school choice

I went to see “The Cartel” at The Peoria Theater over the weekend (it’s playing through Sept. 16). From a technical standpoint, I was immediately disappointed that it was a DVD played over an LCD projector. When I go to the theater, I expect to see an actual film. I recognize that many [...]

What did they promise the children?

Here’s another Build the Block ad from the days leading up to the referendum. It really tugs at the heartstrings as children are brought in to sell the referendum:

Did you hear that part where it says, “An IMAX theater will put viewers into the action right downtown,” and the excited child says, “That’s big-city stuff”? [...]

What did that TV ad say?

I was looking at some Build the Block videos on YouTube and was shocked — shocked! — to find this old TV ad from early 2009:

What you’ve just watched is a figment of your imagination. It doesn’t really exist because Tim Riggenbach says they never promised us an IMAX.

This online promotion from “Friends of [...]

What’s that sign say?

I was downtown today and took a picture of a sign on the exciting and inspiring ExploraFence around the old Sears block. I was shocked — shocked! — to find this sign:

Can’t read it? I’ll get a little closer:

Did you see that last sentence? “IMAX-like cutting-edge technology is coming right here.”

Okay, [...]

Urich memo raises questions about museum bonds

If you pick up a Journal Star this morning, you’ll see a “First in Print” article about the museum bonds debate:

Delays in issuing bonds, coupled with changes in the public financing of the Peoria Riverfront Museum, could result in $1.6 million to $3.4 million in additional taxpayer costs, according to a memo issued by Peoria County [...]

Caterpillar puts local pharmacies out of business (also, some thoughts on incentives)

From the Journal Star:

After 50 years, Tingleff Pharmacy will close permanently at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The pharmacy at 3617 W. Harman Highway lost 60 percent to 65 percent of its customers after Caterpillar Inc. instituted a new prescription drug plan in January. The plan designated specific national pharmacies instead of allowing employees to choose their own [...]

Always winter but never Christmas at District 150

[Note to the humor-impaired: This post is all tongue-in-cheek.]

We just got the official District 150 school calendar. Now I know we haven’t had “Christmas Vacation” for a long time now. I understand the religious sensitivities that led to changing it to “Winter Vacation.”

Nevertheless, the calendar has nearly every conceivable religious and non-religious observance [...]

New construction projects on the rise in Peoria

From the recent “Issues Update”:

The Building Division of the Inspections Department continues to see strong growth in new construction projects in the City of Peoria. With four months remaining in 2010, permit revenue has already surpassed the total amount collected in 2009.

Illustrated in the table below is a comparison of Building Permits/Permit Revenue through August of [...]

Firefly bankruptcy hearing date set for Sept. 9

Last week’s “Issues Update” from the City Manager’s office has the latest on how things are progressing with the Firefly bankruptcy:

The Bankruptcy Court has set a hearing on the City’s and County’s settlement with the Bankruptcy Trustee for September 9, 2010. Negotiations continue with Electrotherm, the company from India who has expressed interest in acquiring Firefly’s [...]

WCBU has new website

Actually, WCBU has had a new website for a little while now, but I’m just getting around to blogging about it. WCBU is, of course, the public radio station in Peoria (89.9 FM) with studios at Bradley University. If you haven’t checked it out their new site, take a look: http://www.wcbufm.org/.

The local news is [...]