All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
City of Peoria, Crime, State of Illinois

Peoria’s crime ranking: N/A

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This morning on the news, one of the big stories was that the new City Crime Rankings report was released by CQ Press, and that Detroit had regained the title of Most Dangerous City (St. Louis had the top spot last year). Of course, I wanted to know where Peoria ranked.

It doesn’t. Nor does Chicago or a host of other Illinois cities. The report explains:

The data collection method used by the states of Illinois and Minnesota for the offense of forcible rape did not meet the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) guidelines in 2006 (Rockford, IL, is an exception). As those rape numbers are not available, the following cities are not included in our Safest City rankings: Aurora, IL; Chicago, IL; Joliet, IL; Naperville, IL; Peoria, IL; Springfield, IL; Bloomington, MN; Duluth, MN; Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, MN; and St Paul, MN.

In other words, they couldn’t make an apples-to-apples comparison with the other cities; hence, no ranking. Too bad. It would have been interesting to see how we stack up against other cities our size.

2008 Campaign, Radio

Primary Place Online

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It’s no secret that we rarely ever see presidential candidates in Illinois because they’re spending all their time in states like New Hampshire and Iowa. New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) has decided to help out those of us in “flyover country.” They’ve started a website called Primary Place Online where you can vicariously see, hear, and ask questions of the candidates through the residents of Exeter, New Hampshire.

In New Hampshire, voters get to see the candidates face-to-face. The Write-Ups posted here are the words of real people from the Town of Exeter, doing their best to tell you what made an impression on them. We hope you find it useful. You will also see Field Notes. These can come from anyone in New Hampshire — including you if you live here. Everyone can comment on any post and post a question that they think should be put to a candidate.

Jonathan Ahl blogged about this last month, and he sees a lot of benefit in it. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s seemingly a pretty cool way to leverage the power of the Internet to gain access to the candidates. But on the other hand, I’m not sure what more it gives me that I can’t get from C-SPAN and the two billion news and blog reports out on the internet.

I’m also not seeing evidence that submitted questions are being asked of the candidates. Of the questions listed here, not a single answer has been posted. Not that I blame them. If I lived in Exeter, it’s not likely that I would ask a question submitted by some stranger in Peoria, Illinois, when I’m probably going to get only one shot at asking a question at all. (It’s not like each voter has unlimited face time with the candidates, even in New Hampshire.)

The write-ups that Exeter residents give are interesting to read. They give impressions of the candidates that one can only get from a face-to-face encounter. But even though it’s interesting, it doesn’t really make any difference in helping me choose a candidate to support.

Have any of you visited the site? What was your impression?

General News

Sticks and stone can break my bones, but words can never hurt me kill

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In today’s paper, I read about the tragic death of Missouri teen Megan Meier (11/17/07 PJS, A11, not on JS website, but AP story is available here). Then I saw it was also in the Chicago Tribune. Then I saw it in the blogs. Then I saw this video (hat tip: Death by 1000 Papercuts):

And this report from CNN:

Megan Meier killer herself a year ago because a boy she met on MySpace dumped her and started saying nasty things about her to other people. It’s hard enough taking that kind of bullying from your peers as a teenager, but she also struggled with depression and ADD, which obviously made matters worse.

That would be tragic in and of itself. But it gets worse. It turns out the boy she met online wasn’t even a real person. He was made up by the parents of a girl who used to be Megan’s friend, and who lived just down the street.

The parents. They are adults. And they traumatized a 13-year-old girl.

They were trying to get back at Megan for not being friends with their daughter anymore, apparently. Can you imagine? I can’t. I won’t. It’s too painful for the mind even to contemplate.

The newspaper in the area — the St. Charles Journal — decided not to print the names of the couple who created the fake MySpace identity and used it to torment a 13-year-old girl. But the blogs did. You can find them on the blogs pretty easily if you want to know. I’m wondering how long it will be before that couple goes into the witness protection program, because they’re going to be the target of much outrage. One of the blogs claimed that the couple’s house was under heavy surveillance by local police to make sure there isn’t any violence done to them.

There are so many questions raised by this sad incident: What’s wrong with these adults that they would do something so stupid and cruel to a teenager? Should there be a criminal charge for cyberbullying? What does this say about the safety of adolescents using social networking sites like MySpace? Should the newspaper have published the names of the couple involved in cyberbullying? What, if anything, can be done to keep something like this from happening again?

Television

New FCC rule could mean less franchise fee revenue for Peoria

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I’ve been trying to keep up on how cable franchise negotiations are going. You may recall that the city’s franchise agreement with Insight expired in April 2006. After several months, the city finally signed a temporary extension with Insight/Comcast through January 1, 2008. That’s not very far away now, and there’s still no permanent franchise agreement.

No doubt part of the reason it’s so hard to nail down a final contract is because the rules keep changing. With other players (read: AT&T) entering the cable market, state and federal authorities (e.g., the FCC) are constantly changing the landscape, trying to make it easier for telecommunications companies to get into the cable market. Most of the those changes negatively affect municipalities.

Now it seems the FCC has changed the way fees are used for so-called PEG channels. PEG stands for Public, Education, and Government. On Peoria’s Insight system, channel 17 is for Education access (you see ICC classes and District 150 board meetings on this channel), channel 22 is public and government access (you see everything here from city council meetings to independent talk shows to local band performances). It appears the cost of operating these channels will now be part of the franchise fee under any new franchise agreement, which means the city will get less revenue.

Here’s the explanation from City Manager Randy Oliver:

Last Wednesday the FCC released an order which will affect Peoria and many other municipalities on franchise fees and the use of fees paid by cable companies to support public, educational and government (PEG) channels and on certain other items. In brief, the FCC said that fees paid to support PEG channels can only be used for the ”capital costs” of such channels. If used for other purposes, the FCC said they count against the 5% Federal franchise fee cap-in other words are deducted from franchise fees. This is different from the provisions of some cable franchises, as well as some recent cable statutes adopted at the insistence of phone companies, which say that the fees municipalities get for such channels are not restricted to being used for capital purposes. The FCC also said that the preceding and its prior rulings about what can and cannot be included in gross revenues for franchise fee purposes apply nationally.

The FCC said that its order does not apply retroactively. It also indicated that it cannot void existing franchises, which it recognized may allow fees to be used for non-capital purposes (or differ from franchise fee calculation rules) for valid reasons, such as to resolve a franchise violation or rate dispute. For reasons such as these the FCC indicated that a cable company cannot unilaterally alter franchise fee computations or deduct claimed improper payments from franchise fees, but first must attempt to resolve matters with the municipality in question. The FCC also stated that Federal law does not restrict municipalities from adopting customer service standards greater than those issued by the FCC. AT&T continues to argue that it is not a cable company, although some courts have ruled to the contrary. The preceding thus is not always directly applicable to AT&T. In general the FCC order extends to incumbent cable companies some terms of the FCC’s March 2007 order on cable franchise terms for telephone companies. The March order is currently being challenged in the courts, with a decision expected soon. This is simply a quick summary of some of the main ways the FCC order is likely to affect municipalities.

Uncategorized

Destructo the Wonder Baby strikes again

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You may recall that earlier this year my son fried my old laptop computer by pouring soda pop on the keyboard… while it was on…. Well, he hasn’t destroyed my new laptop (yet, knock on wood), but has instead turned his attention to another electronic device: our VCR/DVD combo unit.

Yes, the little guy (now 2 1/2 years old) stuck a VHS tape in the unit, which wouldn’t have been a big deal except that he put it in sideways. All the way. He basically bypassed the carriage mechanism that loads the tape and crammed the edge of the cassette right past the tape head.

I had to take the cover off the unit to release the tape, at which point I found another surprise: a DVD that had been missing for months! Apparently, the little darling tried loading a DVD into the VHS compartment a while back, and it had been lodged in there ever since — unbeknownst to my wife or me. No soda or peanut butter sandwiches were found inside, thankfully.

At first, the damage didn’t appear to be quite as bad as I was expecting, but upon further inspection, I’ve confirmed that the VCR portion is definitely inoperable. It rejects all VHS tapes now, apparently because the mechanism that threads the tape around the tape head is damaged.

But wait, it gets better. I went to the store to buy a new VCR/DVD combo (this one only cost approx. $90), and guess what? VCRs don’t have tuners in them anymore! That’s right — because of the changeover from NTSC (analog) to ATSC (digital) broadcasts set to take place Feb. 2009, manufacturers have stopped putting NTSC tuners in their VCRs. Oh happy day.

The only reason we use the VCR is to tape programs automatically to watch later. That requires a tuner — and a timer, for that matter. “Sorry,” says Sony. “Tough luck,” says Toshiba. It appears our VCR/DVD combo unit, which isn’t even as old as my son, is an irreplaceable antique.

We joked before that we would take the cost of the laptop out of my son’s college fund. We’ve now decided he will have no college fund. He can put himself through DeVry University and learn how to fix electronic things as penance.

Uncategorized

Ahl in the family

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I heard on WCBU this morning that news director and local blogger Jonathan Ahl is a proud papa again. News anchor Denise Molina said the baby’s name is Lilian Ruth, born just before 12:00 last night, weighing in at 6 lbs., 11 oz. Congratulations to Jonathan, Anita, and big brother Tommy on their new family member!

UPDATE: Jonathan has the announcement on his blog now. Also, I corrected the spelling of Lilian’s name.

Kellar Branch

Trail advocates ask for Kellar Branch resolution

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Kellar Branch RailroadThe Recreational Trail Advocates (RTA) are continuing to pester lawmakers to override federal railroad policy for the sake of their coveted exercise path. RTA president George Burrier recently sent out this missive (links added):

Dear RTA members, Members of Peoria City Council and Members of the Village of Peoria Heights Council and others:

Attached you will be receiving an e-mail of six documents: Cover letter from the Friends of the Rock Island Trail, Inc., frequently asked questions regarding the Kellar Branch, Kellar Branch Fact Sheet, Support Post Card, and a map of the affected area where the Kellar Branch trail will connect up with the Rock Island Trail State Park and the Morton and East Peoria Trails. This same information is being sent to homeowners living along the Kellar Branch in order to apprise them of what is taking place in the event they have not been following newspaper articles or media releases. If you have any questions please feel free to contact myself or other RTA members.

Also attached is a Resolution Pertaining to the Kellar Branch Rail Line that will be presented to the City of Peoria Council and the Village of Peoria Heights Trustees for their approval which will then be forwarded to Senator Richard Durbin.

Here’s the text of the proposed resolution:

RESOLUTION PERTAINING TO KELLAR BRANCH RAIL LINE

WHEREAS, the Kellar Branch Rail Freight Line is an eight mile rail spur running from the edge of Peoria’s Downtown north to Pioneer Parkway, with connections to the trail head of the Rock Island Trail State Park; built on vacated rail right-of-way, the Rock Island Trail runs twenty seven miles north from Alta to Toulon, Illinois; and

WHEREAS, the proposed Kellar Trail provides the final 5 mile critical link to the over 70 mile regional trail system of Central Illinois connecting the Rock Island State Trail (and the communities of Alta, Dunlap, Princeville, Wyoming and Toulon) to communities such as Peoria, Peoria Heights, East Peoria, Morton, and Washington; and

WHEREAS, the eight miles of the Kellar spur runs through what has now become the central part of the City of Peoria and Village of Peoria Heights; 93% of the adjacent right-of-way is zoned residential; and

WHEREAS, there has been little or no rail business on the line for almost ten years; the one remaining user in Pioneer Park was receiving about one rail car per week; in the last two years – none; and

WHEREAS, two years ago the City of Peoria, with Federal grant monies, and local share, built a $2.3 million direct western rail connection to Pioneer Park, as a replacement and upgrade for the eastern Kellar Branch, and to possibly attract more rail users to Pioneer Park; none came forward; and

WHEREAS, the Peoria Park District has received over $4 million in grant money from the federal government and state government for the construction of the proposed Kellar Trail and has completed design work as well as construction of connections to the proposed trail; and proposals to place the trail adjacent to the rail (shared right-of-way) have been analyzed and proven unfeasible due to the extreme costs of overcoming the topographic and drainage challenges as well as safety concerns of rail cars moving in close proximity to trail users; and

WHEREAS, the rail companies continue to occupy and claim rights to the Kellar line – land owned by the City of Peoria and Village of Peoria Heights – without paying rent and without an operating agreement with either governmental unit; the Surface Transportation Board (STB), in its own rulings, has held that municipalities are entitled to a fair rent for the use of municipal property by rail companies; and

WHEREAS, the Kellar Trail enjoys wide support in the community; the trail has been endorsed by the Peoria Park District, Peoria County Board, the Peoria City Council, the Peoria Heights Village Board, the Peoria Heights Library Board and Tri-County Planning Commission; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Peoria, Illinois, that we have determined that the best use of the Kellar Branch Railroad property for all citizens and visitors to our community is to convert the railroad to a multi- use recreational trail system, providing potential connections to hundreds of miles of other trails throughout Illinois; and urge the STB to make a decision soon to allow our community to proceed with the development of a multi-use recreational trail on property that we own; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Peoria City Council ask Senators Richard Durbin and Barack Obama and all members of Congress from Illinois and all other elected officials throughout Central Illinois to support us in this matter.

If you’ve read any of my 115 previous posts on this issue, you can probably pick out the misleading statements and outright errors in this resolution (as well as the accompanying material). I’ll focus on this one for the time being: “…and urge the STB to make a decision soon to allow our community to proceed with the development of a multi-use recreational trail on property that we own….”

One, the STB doesn’t care who owns it. It cares about the shippers on the line. Two, there’s no request currently before the STB to discontinue service on the line, so there’s no “decision” pending on that matter. There is the pending issue of whether Central Illinois Railroad or Pioneer Industrial Railway will operate the line, but that’s it. The RTA continues to show either actual or feigned ignorance of this fact in order to whip their minions into mass hysteria.

This resolution is meaningless.

2008 Campaign

Websites for congressional and state candidates

If you’re interested in learning more about the candidates for congress and Illinois House of Representatives, here are their names and websites (candidates are listed in alphabetical order):

18th Congressional District

Illinois 92nd Representative District

I couldn’t find a website for Ardis-Jenkins — if anyone knows what it is, please let me know and I’ll update this post.

General News

Recycle your e-scrap

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From a Peoria County press release:

Recycling For Illinois is partnering with Peoria County Recycling and Sam’s Club of Peoria to accept any working, non-working or unwanted electronic waste (e-scrap) and major appliances on Saturday, November 17 from 9am to noon in the Sam’s Club parking lot, 4100 Willow Knolls Drive. Residents and businesses may bring: computers and computer-related items; entertainment components such as radios, stereos, VCRs and DVD players; cellular phones; televisions; and small and major household appliances. Some items will be accepted with a disposal fee because they contain toxic materials. Those items that will be charged a fee are: $5 for computer monitors; $5 for major appliances; $15 for televisions smaller than 19″; and $20-$25 for TVs larger than 20″ including consoles. This collection and all recycling efforts help divert waste from your local landfill.

Electronic items and appliances can also be delivered directly to Recycling for Illinois’ warehouse located at 401 NE Rock Island in Peoria (except day of event). Store hours are 10am to 6pm Monday-Friday and 10 am to 2pm on Saturday. Patrons can visit their showroom to purchase used or reconditioned items for a fraction of regular retail cost. For more information on this environmentally beneficial event, please call Recycling For Illinois at (309) 682-3209.