Daily Archives: July 19, 2006

Blogosphere

SJ-R contemplates breaking news via blogs

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Dave Bakke of the State Journal Register (Springfield) lists several news stories that were first reported in blogs, and then asks, “How long before it happens in Springfield?”

He doesn’t answer that question directly, but he does speculate on why Springfield’s bloggers haven’t broken a “big Springfield story” yet: “[M]ost are not geared for it. The majority are in an opinion, humor or entertainment mode.”

In Peoria, it’s different. We have quite a few newsy blogs, and while I can’t think of a “big” Peoria story the was first reported by a blogger, I can think of several little ones. Even I have had an occasion where I was the first to report on a Peoria story, and I’m certainly no insider.

So, I’ll leave you with a couple of questions: Why does Peoria have more newsy bloggers than our state capital does? And can you think of any “big Peoria stories” that were first reported on local blogs before the Peoria media picked them up?

City of Peoria, Peoria Fire Department, Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Police

Journal Star: Better to burn to death than be murdered

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Does that headline sound silly to you? Me too. But the Journal Star’s editorial Tuesday argues just that. Instead of fully staffing Fire Station 11, we should spend that money on police protection, they said. “Firefighting and other emergency response are important, but every penny spent on reopening Fire Station 11 is one that won’t go to added police protection.”

Fire and police protection are both among the most essential, basic services a city can provide, and their funding comes pretty much exclusively from the city. So police and fire protection should not be pitted against each other for funding. Something is wrong in a city that can’t fully staff their fire stations and provide adequate police protection at the same time.

There must be other places where the city could cut truly unnecessary spending. (Fire protection is not what I would call “unnecessary.”)

This may sound like sour grapes, but the more I think about it, the more I question the money the city spends on District 150. Think about it. The school district is its own taxing body, and the city has gained nothing by trying to cooperate with the school board, so why are we sending them over a million dollars a year in operating, capital, and debt service support? The fire and police departments can’t tax the public directly for their needs, so it would seem to me that the city’s money would be better spent on fire and police instead of the school board.

If we have to start picking and choosing, I don’t know how the city could responsibly cut fire protection while still spending money on a school district that is essentially double-dipping our tax dollars.