All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
The Peoria Chronicle

Chronicle December slow-down begins

8 Comments

As regular readers of the Chronicle know, December is my busiest month at work, which means I have very little time to blog. So from now until Christmas, there will not be many posts. I’ll still post occasionally (e.g., I’ll definitely report the outcome of the HOPC meeting this week, and I’ll no doubt have some comments on the hotel development if it gets revealed this month), but I won’t be able to post something every day or do a lot of research on anything during the next few weeks.

In short, posting will be light until after Christmas. Have a great month, everyone, and a Merry Christmas!

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Noteworthy news links

76 Comments

Here are some news items from the Journal Star that caught my interest:

Uncategorized

Pet Peeve: “Swipe it yourself” credit card terminals

28 Comments

I know, I know. Pet peeves are standard fare for beginning bloggers. But I can’t help it. Every once in a while there’s something that, although little, just gets under my skin. And that something right now is having to swipe my own credit card at places like Best Buy.
First of all, the mere existence of these “swipe it yourself” terminals as new examples of POS systems is irritating to me. I mean, included in the price of your purchase is the cost of employing a cashier who rings up your merchandise for you. Why can’t that person swipe your credit card? To me, it’s just as stupid as having them hand you the cash drawer and ask you to put your money in it and make your own change. Swiping a credit card is an act of taking your money for the purchase, and that should be done by the cashier. What good are they if they can’t even do that?

But I learned to live with that, as stupid as it is… until recently. That’s when the most idiotic addition to the “swipe it yourself” policy was enacted: The cashier asks to see your card after you swipe it.

I was in Best Buy the other day, and when the cashier gave me the total, I handed him my credit card. He handed it back to me and asked me to swipe it on the little terminal at the front of the counter. Like I said, I’m used to this dumb policy now, so I swiped my card, saw that it was accepted, and put my card away. That’s when the cashier asked to see my card.

Remember, the cashier just had my card in his hand less than 20 seconds ago and had handed it back to me for me to swipe myself. But now he has to see it again. If the cashier has to see the card anyway, why can’t he swipe the @#%! thing himself?! Could they come up with a more inefficient, idiotic process?

HOPC

HOPC meeting on Dec. 5 may be last

10 Comments

Some Heart of Peoria Commission members want the commission to voluntarily disband, possibly as early as our next meeting — the final one for 2008 — on December 5 at 8:00 a.m. The theory goes that commissioners could have more of an impact if we weren’t a city commission. We could instead organize ourselves as a public advocacy group, similar to Peoria City Beautiful. This would free us from the restrictions of the City Council and the Open Meetings Act, allowing us to meet as often as we want and have a coordinated lobbying effort of council members.

This idea has been going around for a while. We talked about it at one of our meetings a year ago or so when the Council was considering disbanding HOPC. At that time, HOPC voted to oppose that move. The Council decided to keep HOPC, but cut all funding for the commission and reduced its meeting schedule to six times per year. So now voluntary disbandment is back on the agenda for discussion at our Dec. 5 meeting.

I have no idea if it’s any more likely to pass. The last time, we ultimately decided that the advantages of being a city commission outweighed the advantages of being a private advocacy group. Should make for an interesting discussion.

Weather

Snow!

4 Comments

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but this press release from the City of Peoria is so delightful:

City crews are currently treating primary intersections, hills, and areas considered to be a hazard. Snow is expected to fall all of today and tonight with accumulations of up to 3 to 5 inches in some areas by Monday morning.

Motorists should expect snow pack on pavement and are urged to use caution and reduce speeds while traveling.

Drive carefully, folks. It’s usually during the first big snowfall of the season that the most accidents happen because everyone has forgotten how to drive on the stuff. If you don’t have to go out in it — that is, if you’ve no place to go — then stay home and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

General News

A friendly holiday reminder

65 Comments

Reading the story about the Wal-Mart worker who was killed in a stampede yesterday reminded me to check up on WakeUpWalMart.com. Our family stopped shopping at Wal-Mart several years ago now. In fact, it’s become a little joke among our friends that whenever they say they bought something at Wal-Mart, they immediately turn to us and say, “Sorry; I know you guys don’t like Wal-Mart.” So, maybe we talked a little too much about it back when we first stopped going there. 🙂

But now it’s been a while, so I thought a friendly holiday reminder on why you shouldn’t shop at Wal-Mart would be in order:

Museum Block, Peoria County

Parade used for a little museum promotion

18 Comments

The Museum Collaboration Group doesn’t miss a single opportunity to advertise. Here they are at the 121st annual Santa Claus Parade with a banner and some little foam blocks for the kiddies.

I’m surprised the blocks didn’t have “Vote Yes!” preprinted on the other side, in anticipation of the sales tax referendum that’s due to hit our ballots in April. Perhaps they decided that would be too presumptuous, since the county board hasn’t approved the ballot question yet.

General News

Black Friday: Consumerism ĂĽber alles

12 Comments

The other night as I watched the news, there was a story about some people who decided they were going to skip Thanksgiving — not to show symbolic solidarity with the homeless, or to work for charity, or for any noble cause. They were skipping Thanksgiving so they could be first in line at Best Buy on Friday morning.

Hansen, his friend Jared, and a few others will bear the cold weather just to be the first ones to get inside Best Buy on Friday…They’re thankful to be the first ones in line…thankful enough that they’re not even going home this turkey day. “I’m not going home for thanksgiving my mom’s bringing me out some left over turkey and a miniature grill to cook hot dogs on.

That’s right. These conspicuous consumers got in line Wednesday and stayed there two nights and all of Thanksgiving day. They had tents to sleep in and snacks to eat, and Lord knows where they relieved themselves during all that time. And for their sacrifice they got the dubious distinction of being the first ones allowed to spend their money at Best Buy on Friday morning.

A sad tale of misplaced priorities, but not as sad as the one I heard about today:

NEW YORK — A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when “out-of-control” shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

The Wal-Mart worker was only 34 years old. What I find most appalling is the callous attitude of the people when told the store was closing because of the person’s death — no sympathy or remorse, but rather anger and complaining about how long they had waited to shop that morning. How selfish and heartless can you get? Who thinks to themselves, “Who cares if somebody died? I want my ‘Incredible Hulk’ DVD for $9!”

Black Friday, indeed.

City Council, City of Peoria, Streets

A few questions about capital funding projects

15 Comments

The Journal Star reports today:

Five large-scale and expensive capital works projects were excluded from the city’s 2009 budget…. Each project will likely be considered for possible inclusion in a future bond issue, if the city decides to borrow money in order to complete them in the near future.

The five projects, including the Sheridan Triangle, are the following: City Hall restoration, reconstruction of roads within the WeaverRidge subdivision, stabilization of a stream bank between Holly Hedges and Devereux drives, and improvements along Main Street in the West Bluff.

…The council is expected to meet in January to discuss the possibility of a bond issue to help pay for these major capital projects.

First Question: Are we just playing a shell game here with the budget? Is the council simply delaying decisions on capital projects so they can say they have a balanced budget for 2009? If they amend the budget in January to include some or all of these capital projects, where will the money come from to pay on these bonds? Won’t they either have to raise taxes/fees or have an unbalanced budget?

Second Question: Why the heck is “reconstruction of roads within the WeaverRidge subdivision” one of the five top projects vying for capital funding? Are these the worst streets we have in Peoria? The ones in most need of repair? Or are they important thoroughfares that need to be improved in order to incentivize private business development? Or are they really old streets that have been neglected for far too long? No, no, no, and no. So, what is the reason?

Third Question: Why aren’t improvements to Washington, Adams, and/or Jefferson streets included on this list? There are developers waiting to turn old warehouses into loft apartments and condos, which will get more people living downtown, revitalizing the area and creating a market for more retail in our central business district. But the city is continuing to drag its feet here. Why? Are they really committed to downtown revitalization or aren’t they?

Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving!

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For flowers that bloom about our feet,
Father, we thank Thee.
For tender grass so fresh, so sweet,
Father, we thank Thee.
For the song of bird and hum of bee,
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For blue of stream and blue of sky,
Father, we thank Thee.
For pleasant shade of branches high,
Father, we thank Thee.
For fragrant air and cooling breeze,
For beauty of the blooming trees,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For this new morning with its light,
Father, we thank Thee.
For rest and shelter of the night,
Father, we thank Thee
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

–Author unknown