Monthly Archives: June 2007

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Most unusual accident ever

My wife and I had just finished dinner, and our kids (Maggie, 4; Jackie, 6) were still sitting at the table; James (2) was in his highchair. We walked into the kitchen and were talking when Maggie walked in and started this bizarre exchange:

Maggie [walking into kitchen from dining room]: “Mommy, Jackie just licked Jamie’s foot.”

Mommy [talking to Maggie, but loud enough for Jackie to hear]: “Yuck. Why would Jackie lick Jamie’s foot?”

Jackie [yelling her explanation from the dining room]: “ACCIDENTALLY!”

Peoria Journal Star

Journal Star inflates homicide numbers

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Saturday brought news of another homicide in Peoria. The Journal Star reports that “Ronald J. Lewis Jr., 17, of 3418 W. Villa Ridge, died from a gunshot wound to the chest in the 200 block of Green Street.” Without taking anything away from the horror of this or other killings this year, I have an observation about how it’s being reported in the news.

I noticed that the Journal Star is reporting it as the eleventh homicide of 2007, whereas other news outlets like WHOI and WMBD-AM are reporting it as the tenth homicide. Why the discrepancy?

Well, the Journal Star actually explains later in their story. They say:

Among the 11 homicides in the city this year is the fatal shooting by police of a man armed with a gun when officers responded to a domestic disturbance call.

While the word “homicide” can be defined as a generic term for “killing,” it carries the connotation that the killing was done by a civilian, not law enforcement officers who are granted power by the state to use deadly force (unless the officer used such force unlawfully). It would be like including emergency vehicles in the statistics for moving violations because they go over the speed limit and run red lights. Or consider that the Journal Star doesn’t report the killings in Iraq as “homicides.” One would expect them to use the term consistently if they believed it to mean/imply nothing more than “killing.”

Just to give a little example of denotation versus connotation, I’ve deliberately chosen to title this post “Journal Star inflates homicide numbers.” After all, to “inflate” simply means to increase in size, right? But of course, there’s a negative connotation to that word as well. I’m being accurate, yet tacitly editorializing. One wonders whether the Journal Star is doing the same.

City of Peoria

The strain of city growth revealed in snow report

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If you’d like to read the Six Sigma report on how to improve Peoria’s snow removal process, here it is in PDF format (1.43M). To me, one of the more significant observations is this one:

The community has grown over 26 center lane miles in the past seven years and will be growing another ten center lane miles later this year due to new neighborhoods being developed. No consideration has been given for equipment or manpower needed to clear the streets.

This report is focused on snow removal, obviously, but I think the findings point to a more systemic problem in the city. That is that the city, when annexing land and expanding, has not adequately planned for or provided the additional resources needed for increased demand on public works, police, and fire service. Hence, all these basic services get stretched to the point where we read today about problems with fire personnel having enough manpower and equipment.

Peoria was about 39 square miles in 1970. By 2006, it had grown to over 48 square miles (a 23% increase) and will soon hit 50 as new land is annexed. During that time, police staffing grew by 24 people (9%, 263 to 287), fire staffing grew by 31 people (18%, 175 to 206), and public works staff actually has 13 fewer people (-9.7%, 134 to 121). I’m talking about total staff, not just officers, firefighters, and crew members; i.e., these numbers also include desk jobs and other positions.

Consider also that newer parts of town put a proportionately larger strain on city resources. From the snow report again:

Cul-de-sacs can take up to eight times longer to clear than a through street. At the current time, the city has over 900 cul-de-sacs and dead end streets, and new subdivisions are developing these in to their neighborhood planning processes.

Most of the older part of the city is on a grid system of streets — that is, through streets. By far the most cul-de-sacs are on the north end and in the expansion areas. Cul-de-sacs are not only a problem for public works, but fire and police as well, since access to those properties is limited and provide only one direction of approach.

Obviously, the city’s services need to be expanded to meet the needs of the growth areas. And given that annexation and development are supposed to be bringing in so much new income to the city, that should be no problem. Only the city is still strapped for funds — so much so that not only can we not add resources, we can barely maintain the status quo.

The city simply cannot sustain a pattern of growth that sees property values deteriorate and vacancies increase in the core of the city while simultaneously acquiring more and more land to the north. We have to increase the tax base in the southern part of the city.

Peoria Journal Star

Note to JSEB: We get it

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Just a quick note to the Journal Star Editorial Board: We get it. You didn’t like Mayor Ardis’s comments in InterBusiness Issues. You want to defend your institution. Fair enough.

But now you’re going to write an editorial about it every day? Really? You don’t think that’s a little overkill or that it makes you look petty? And, more importantly, are there no more significant things happening in the world about which to editorialize?

Here’s my unsolicited advice: You’ve made your point. Now let it go.

Crime, Village of Morton

Software piracy costs Morton Metalcraft, et. al., $1.43M

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Pirate graphicI heard this on WCBU this morning, but unfortunately, they don’t post all their news stories on their website, so I can’t link to it. Here’s the story from Huliq.com (emphasis added):

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) recently settled with manufacturing businesses totaling $1.43 million in settlements. The companies settled claims that they had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, SolidWorks and Symantec software on their computers. The settling companies included: American Spring Wire Corporation; AZ Automotive Corporation; Enpro Systems, Ltd; Interactive Health, Inc.; Morton Metalcraft, Co.; PDI; and Sure-Feed Engineering, Inc.

According to the story on WCBU, a current or former employee most likely tipped off BSA. I know someone who works at Morton Metalcraft. You don’t think…? Nah, it probably wasn’t him.

Nation/World

Biggest underreported news story: China’s anti-satellite weapons

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China Satellite graphicThink about how much we in the United States use, if not depend on, satellite technology.

I’m not just talking about Dish Network. There are civilian and and military applications for satellites: communication, navigation, reconnaissance, etc. Think about GPS, smart bombs, satellite phones, weather maps, etc. It’s probably safe to say that satellite technology impacts us every day.

Now read this from the latest issue of The New Atlantis:

On January 11, 2007, a missile was launched from Chinese territory. It arced upwards into space to an altitude of about 537 miles, where it slammed directly into its target, an obsolete Chinese weather satellite. The target was destroyed, reportedly producing some 900 trackable pieces of space debris in orbits from 125 miles to about 2,300 miles and resulting in an increase of 10 percent in the total amount of manmade debris in orbit.

This demonstration of an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) was just the latest in a series of tests of China’s space weapons program, and was a warning sign the United States should take very seriously. […]

“Far more than any other country, the U.S. depends on space for national and tactical intelligence, military operations, and civil and commercial benefits,” as Robert L. Butterworth, president of the space consultancy Aries Analytics, recently put it. This “provides a clear incentive for attacking American spacecraft.” Such an attack on American satellites would not have to be very extensive to be devastating—as long as it were well-planned. “Even a small-scale anti-satellite attack in a crisis against fifty U.S. satellites (assuming a mix of targeted military reconnaissance, navigation satellites, and communication satellites) could have a catastrophic effect not only on U.S. military forces, but [on] the U.S. civilian economy,” according to a recent report by China analyst Michael Pillsbury.

Chilling, isn’t it? The U.S. is, in fact, taking the threat seriously. Just today DefenseNews.com reports:

Five months after the Chinese proved they could destroy a satellite in orbit, U.S. lawmakers are responding with a surge in spending on Pentagon space programs aimed at protecting U.S. satellites. […]

“The Chinese anti-satellite test in early 2007 highlighted the vulnerability of our space assets,” House members said in a report on the 2008 Defense Authorization Act they passed in May.

News of China’s weaponization of space gets worse. The missile that was launched in January isn’t the only anti-satellite weapon at China’s disposal. They also have ground-based lasers that can jam or blind U.S. reconnaissance satellites, and there’s evidence they may be investing in space-based anti-satellite weapons.

No one is suggesting the Chinese are planning to take over the U.S. (yet, at least), but China’s neighbors are worried. There is speculation that jamming reconnaissance satellites could be a tactic China could use in an effort to take over Taiwan (to keep other countries, notably the U.S., in the dark until the takeover is well underway or even completed), and India is a bit wary of what these new weapons tests portend for the region, too. Such technology could act as a deterrent to any international action against China should they decide to, shall we say, annex some land.

Of course, the Chinese are outspoken opponents of the weaponization of space. That’s not surprising. What was it Sun Tzu said? “All warfare is based on deception.” Aviation Week reported on May 24:

Gen. Kevin Chilton, the head of U.S. Air Force Space Command […] said Chinese calls for a new space treaty even after their ASAT test were the definition of chutzpah. “The contradictions between China’s statements and its actions raise legitimate questions about the credibility of their declaratory policies, statements and security commitments,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. James Armor Jr., director of the National Security Space Office.

Don’t kid yourself — this is no small incident. It’s surprising to me that it hasn’t been more widely reported. I found one or two references to it in the Chicago Tribune, but none in the Journal Star’s archives. This could be the start of a significant arms race, although U.S. officials would be quick to pooh-pooh that idea.

Well, I don’t know a whole lot about the military, but I do know there is a strategic advantage to holding the high ground, and there’s no higher “high ground” than space. We can’t afford to let China hold it. So, maybe some don’t want to call it an emotionally-charged term like “arms race,” but I say we call a spade a spade. We might want to start rethinking that $76 billion trade deficit with China, too, while we’re at it.

美夢. (Sweet dreams.)

City of Peoria, Peoria Township

Any township law experts out there?

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Here’s an arcane legal question for you. In my last post, I mentioned that George Jacob resides in Medina Township, not Peoria Township. That got me thinking. How can Jacob be a Peoria Township trustee if he lives in Medina Township?

It’s kind of confusing, because the state law is unclear to me. The Town of the City of Peoria falls under the “Township within a city” section of the state’s Township Code (60 ILCS):

(60 ILCS 1/15‑50)
Sec. 15‑50. Powers exercised by city council. All the powers vested in the township described in Section 15‑45, including all the powers now vested by law in the highway commissioners of the township and in the township board of the township, shall be exercised by the city council.

And it says something similar under the “Township board” section:

(60 ILCS 1/80‑5)
Sec. 80‑5. Township board membership; officers.
(b) In towns organized under Article 15, all the powers vested by law in the township board shall be exercised by the city council.

So that’s pretty straightforward. However, elsewhere in the code there is a section called “Qualification and tenure of township officers,” and it says:

(60 ILCS 1/55‑5)
Sec. 55‑5. Legal voter and resident. No person is eligible to hold any office unless he or she is a legal voter and has been a resident of the township for one year.

So, do the first two sections I quoted trump the last one? Or does the qualification section apply to members of the city council in a “Township within a city”? The issue is this: If there’s no residency requirement, then you could potentially have a situation where six members of the council and the mayor could end up living in the City, but not the Town, of Peoria. That would mean a majority of the Peoria Township trustees wouldn’t even be Peoria Township residents. That would be a strange form of representative government, wouldn’t it?

Someone may well ask, so what? What’s the big deal? Well, it’s not really a big deal, I guess, in terms of money. The township collects only 0.13659% of property tax bills, which comes out to about $38.70 for the owner of a $100,000 home. But then, if you were to have a majority of trustees someday with no personal stake in the township, that cost could go up. Basically, it’s a question of compliance with state law and, ultimately, the principle of appropriate representation of taxpayers.

One more thing: I have nothing against George Jacob. I supported him in the at-large election and I still support him for city council. I think he’s doing good work. This isn’t a personal attack, just a question about how the law works and whether this practice is in the best interests of the citizens or not.