Monthly Archives: July 2008

State Legislation, State of Illinois

Park advocates to rally against budget cuts

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From a press release:

Park Advocates To Gather at Jubilee College State Park
To Send A Message to Springfield:

Save Our Parks – Stop the IDNR Cuts!

Cuts Take Effect Thursday Unless Springfield Acts

What: A press conference to protest cuts made by Governor Blagojevich to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that threaten to close state parks, eliminate outdoor recreation opportunities, and hurt the state?s ability to protect wildlife and the environment.
Who: Illinois Sierra, Heart of IL Group Sierra, Nature Conservancy and other groups
When: 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Where: Jubilee College State Park, Quail Meadow Picnic Area
(go 3.8 miles west of Kickapoo on Rt. 150 to the main park entrance; stay on main park road past the Park Office, and turn right at the next corner)

BACKGROUND
On July 9th, Governor Blagojevich cut $14 million from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources? (IDNR) budget, decreasing by another 20% the general fund budget for an agency that has lost a quarter of its staff from budget cuts since 2001. This will undoubtedly force the department to close some facilities for lack of staffing, comes at a time when our parks continue to experience increases in attendance by outdoor enthusiasts.

The cuts will take effect Thursday, July 24th unless both the Illinois House and Senate act to override the Governor’s cuts.

Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Times-Observer

GateHouse closes +0.03, but it’s not enough

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GateHouse Media, Inc., the company that owns the Peoria Journal Star and the Peoria Times-Observer, finally saw their stock rise slightly, closing right at $1 today. Unfortunately, they also saw the NYSE halt floor trading of their stock — the first step toward being de-listed altogether.

NYSE Regulation spokesman Scott Peterson said trading of GateHouse (NYSE: GHS) was put under an “operational trading halt” on Tuesday morning. To return to floor trading, a stock must trade above $1.10 a share for an entire trading day.

GateHouse also announced today that they’re shuttering two Massachusetts weekly newspapers: The Taunton Call and The Avon Messenger. In both cases, GateHouse also owns a daily paper in the same market. And in both cases, GateHouse uses the same boilerplate to explain its decision to mothball the weekly:

…we have continued to analyze the best possible way to provide you with the most comprehensive local news in [Taunton/Avon]. We believe that mission will be accomplished by focusing our energies on our daily publication and through the most dynamic local Web sites possible.

If that’s any indication of their improvement strategy, look out Peoria Times-Observer.

Hat tip: Billy Dennis.

City Council, City of Peoria

250 more acres to be added to Enterprise Zone

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Also on the council agenda for Tuesday, a request for more property to be added to the Enterprise Zone:

ACTION REQUESTED: DIRECT STAFF TO COMMENCE PROCESS TO EXPAND THE CITY OF PEORIA ENTERPRISE ZONE FOR SPECIFIED PROPERTIES ZONED COMMERCIAL AND OFFICE WITHIN THE 4 TH DISTRICT ALONG STERLING AVENUE FROM FORREST HILL TO GLEN AND INCLUDING A PARCEL IN GLEN HOLLOW SHOPPING CENTER, ALSO INCLUDING THE CORNER OF FORREST HILL AND GALE; AND IN THE 2ND DISTRICT SPECIFIED PROPERTIES ALONG UNIVERSITY AND DRIES LANE FROM FORREST HILL TO WAR MEMORIAL DRIVE.

I can’t think of a single store in the Glen Hollow shopping center that is vacant or otherwise needs an EZ incentive. So including that parcel is a complete mystery. And the corner of Forrest Hill and Gale was a thriving shopping area until road projects disrupted traffic for months on end, and ultimately destroyed easy access to the shopping area on the northeast corner where Velvet Freeze used to be.

But perhaps the most ridiculous use of the Enterprise Zone is the area along University St. and Dries Lane between Forrest Hill and War Memorial Dr. You know, where Wal-Mart is. And where Dynasty Buffet just did a major renovation. And where Comcast Cable is located. And Landmark.

None of these areas need these incentives. They’re only getting them because EZ status has been so egregiously abused. The first line of the council request’s justification states: “Businesses have been moving to the northern boundaries of the city and what was once an area with thriving businesses now holds some vacant buildings that are in decline.” Yes, businesses have been moving to the northern boundaries of the city because the city has been incentivizing it. Just recently, the Enterprise Zone was used as a tool to promote annexation along Willow Knolls road.

The Enterprise Zone was created to help blighted areas — to give businesses an incentive to locate in those areas that are truly disadvantaged. The council could have used it to help, for instance, South Peoria, a place that is truly blighted and sorely underserved. But the council didn’t use it for that. The irresponsible use of Enterprise Zone status means they’ve squandered an opportunity to help a part of Peoria that desperately needs help and, to make matters worse, given the benefits instead to areas of the city that don’t need any incentives.

Furthermore, Enterprise Zone status gives businesses a sales tax break on construction materials — and sales taxes are the biggest source of income for the city. For a city that’s cash strapped and looking at huge projects like the CSO project in the near future, it’s irresponsible to cut our income by injudicious use of the Enterprise Zone.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Police

Police looking to get Segways

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On the city council agenda for next Tuesday is a request by the Police Department to purchase two Segway Personal Transport vehicles to be used by parking enforcement officers and police patrolling congested public events. Here’s the justification as it appears in the council request:

The Peoria Police Department has been attempting to find better ways to provide service in the downtown area and in areas where there are large crowds of citizens gathered, such as public events. Parking Enforcement Officers and Police Officers often must commute through the congested geographical areas while making frequent stops. The Parking Enforcement Officers in the Downtown area must park their vehicles and repeatedly enter and exit their vehicles to conduct business. During public events, currently the only mode of transportation inside the event area is by foot. Officers often are called to respond to calls for service which are a sizable distance to travel by foot in a short period of time. Officers utilizing a Personal Transport would be able to respond much more quickly and would not need to physically exert themselves before arriving at the call by sprinting through the area. Multiple police departments throughout the State of Illinois are currently utilizing the Segway Personal Transport with positive results and are reporting the Segway has been positive for public relations. It is also anticipated that there will be a significant savings in fuel consumption for the downtown Parking Enforcement officers. The Personal Transports get the equivalent of anywhere between 250 and 500 m.p.g. depending upon how they are equipped. It is fair to say that the Segway’s energy consumption will cost at least 1/10th of the current cost in the Ford Focus utilized by the Parking Enforcement Officers.

The accessories that will be included in the purchase of the (2) x2 Police package Segways are: 2 parking stands, 2 police lights and sirens, and 1 commercial cargo carrier.

Cost for two Segways: $13,775.03. I’ll admit my first reaction was to be skeptical; there is something comical about a police officer racing after someone at 12 mph with sirens blaring on a Segway. But a quick search of the Internet shows that Segways are indeed being used by police departments in cities big and small, and the devices are proving to be helpful and effective. Nevertheless, I got a kick out of this post comparing other alternatives. The Chicagoist has a more positive spin.

Blogosphere

New blog advertising champ

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In the past, I’ve poked fun at Billy Dennis for the amount of advertising he has on his site. I once compared his ads-to-content ratio to WMBD Radio. But his site doesn’t hold a candle to Jen Christensen’s blog NewsAnchorMom. Holy mackerel, she has a ton of ads on that site!

After marveling at how many ads were squeezed into the header and sidebars, I thought I’d seen everything. But then, after reading a recent post, I spotted the pièce de résistance:

Methodist Medical Center’s new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post….

That’s right. Each individual post is sponsored! I went to her blog to read something about television and kids, but I got so distracted by all the ads, I couldn’t concentrate on her story.

Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Times-Observer

GateHouse shares close at 97¢ (Updated)

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GateHouse Media shares have officially closed at less than $1. It’s looking more and more like this analyst’s predictions from early June will be coming true:

The next newspaper company to get into real trouble is likely to be Gatehouse Media (GHS). The firm is in bad enough shape that it could be the next Journal Register. JRC, as it was known, hit hard times due to large debt and falling operating income. It was delisted from the NYSE. […]

Watch for GHS to be broken up before the end of the year or to enter Chapter 11.

Still no coverage from the Journal Star or any other GateHouse papers. I guess they don’t feel it’s newsworthy. I’ve even contacted business editor Paul Gordon and publisher Ken Mauser, but they haven’t returned requests for comment.

UPDATE: I thought this was a well-deserved slam against companies like GateHouse Media:

The newspaper industry’s strategy of shrinking newsroom and newshole seems not to be helping their shrunken stock prices.

You can say that again.

General News

CPI up 5%

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Bloomberg (and a million other news outlets) reports:

U.S. consumer prices surged 5 percent in the past year, the biggest jump since 1991, just as households struggled with falling home values and the credit crunch. Spiraling expenses for food and fuel spurred the increase in June, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The cost of living rose 1.1 percent from May, more than forecast and the second-largest rise since 1982.

Yikes.