All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
City of Peoria, General News

Hundreds of new manufacturing jobs coming to Peoria

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Globe EnergyWhile Firefly Energy’s six-million-dollar loan guarantee from the city and county is getting all the press lately, there’s actually bigger news that has gone unreported.

On May 15, the City quietly approved as part of its consent agenda a business development fund loan of $150,000 to Globe Energy “for renovations, equipment, and operating expenses for their project located at 1610 W. Altorfer” in Pioneer Park.

Why is that big news? Because they’re going to be bringing 105 jobs paying an average salary of $50,000 to Peoria in the next 12-18 months, and plans to increase the number of employees to 600 within five years. For comparison, Firefly is planning to employ 65 people.

Here’s some details on Globe Energy from the council communication:

The owners/founders of Globe Energy, a female owned business, have spent 32 years developing a unique, world-patented technology that not only reduces the costs of heating large industrial buildings by 75%-91%, but also can reduce the environmentally harmful emissions caused by burning fossil fuels. The related company in England has a 25-year successful track record of installing high efficiency energy-saving systems across Europe for many large industrial customers including BMW, Dublin Airport, Renault, British Airways and Caterpillar. The U.S. Company has been granted full global rights to the technology by the founders and their U.K. entity and has recently successfully installed new heating systems in two Caterpillar facilities in the U.S.

Globe Energy has invested $3 million in the Peoria location thus far and owns intellectual property valued at $3.5 million. During Phase I of their project, which will be over the next 12-18 months, Globe Energy will renovate its building, purchase additional equipment, set up the manufacturing plant and add approximately 105 new positions with an average salary of $50,000. Phase I will require investment of $7.85 million.

Globe Energy plans to base its global business center and world manufacturing plant in Peoria to service the North American Market and then the rest of the world markets.

Within five years the Peoria operation plans to increase to 600 employees, adding positions in manufacturing, training, sales and marketing with a projected annual payroll of $32.75 million. This phase (Phase II) will involve additional investment of approximately $17 million which will be used to purchase property adjacent to their current location and to construct and build-out additional manufacturing space.

Pretty impressive track record, don’t you think? Here’s a world-class company locating here in Peoria, and yet there’s almost no coverage. Here we have a manufacturer bringing 100-600 jobs to the area, and still people talk as if manufacturing is dead and we should just put all our focus on med-tech jobs. (I’m not saying we shouldn’t go after med-tech jobs, mind you; I just think we need to have a diversity of jobs in Peoria, and manufacturing is an important part of that mix.)

Interestingly, Globe Energy may be needing rail service in the future, and since they’re located in Pioneer Park, that brings them into the whole Kellar Branch debate. For more on that, see David Jordan’s blog. Also, a big hat tip to Mr. Jordan for bringing public attention to this development through his blog.

Peoria Fire Department, Peoria Public Schools

Prospect properties used for fire training

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Two properties on Prospect avenue owned by Peoria Public School District 150 are being used for training by the Peoria Fire Department (PFD). The graphic below shows all the properties purchased by the district:

Of those properties, two are being used by the Peoria Fire Department: 2144 and 2208. In addition, 2126 was approved for fire department use, but was razed by the school district before the PFD got a chance to use it.

Fire Prevention Chief Greg Walters said he contacted District 150 when he heard the District was planning to raze three of the houses. He asked if the Fire Department could use them to conduct training, educate people on fire damaged property insurance tips and soon after such a positive request the District approved his request. “We have an excellent working relationship with District 150,” Walters said.

In a letter sent to District 150 Director Dave Ryon (Buildings, Grounds, and Maintenance) dated April 13, Chief Walters explained that the PFD would be using the houses for hands-on training:

We will simulate fire scenes and the activities involved without setting fire to the building or buildings. We will use theatrical smoke periodically to simulate real conditions inside the structures. This theatrical smoke is not harmful to the environment nor to any individuals who may breathe it. In addition, we will be breaching walls and performing ventilation operations on the roofs of these structures as needed.

Walters didn’t comment on the condition of the houses before the training started except to say that a stairwell was missing in one of the houses and that they were “safe structures” for conducting firefighter training. Buildings the City of Peoria has slated for demolition due to code violations are often in such bad shape that they’re not safe enough for indoor firefighter training. So the District’s houses, which are in good shape structurally, “were a godsend” for training purposes, Walters explained.

In addition to breaching walls, the training included cutting holes in the floors and simulating fire suppression and rapid intervention scenarios. However, no fire was set to the structures, and the PFD was not allowed to damage the exterior of the houses, “for aesthetic reasons.”

District 150 purchased the homes in April and May of 2006 as part of their ill-fated plan to build a school adjacent to Glen Oak Park. The Park Board declined to enter into a land-sharing agreement at the end of last year, effectively killing the project. The property at 2144 Prospect was purchased for $89,000 and 2208 Prospect was purchased for $133,500. The assessed value of each property at the time was $63,750 and $89,190, respectively.

While I am deeply concerned that the school board has squandered thousands of dollars by purchasing this property over market value and now razing some of it, I think the Fire Department is doing the right thing by taking the opportunity to use these properties for training purposes. It’s sort of like making lemonade when life gives you lemons. It’s a travesty that the school board has allowed the properties to come to this, but if the opportunity can be seized to allow our firefighters to practice their skills, at least some good can come out of a bad situation.

2144 Prospect Ave. 2208 Prospect Ave.
The two houses being used for firefighter training are pictured above. 2144 is on the left and 2208 is on the right, obscured by large trees in the front yard.
Capital Punishment

Is a life sentence more cruel than capital punishment?

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Electric ChairOver 300 prisoners in Italy think so, the BBC reports today.

Convicted mobster, Carmelo Musumeci, 52, who has served 17 years of his life sentence so far, wrote a letter to Italy’s President Napolitano signed by over 300 other lifers asking that their life sentences be changed to death sentences.

Musumeci said he was tired of dying a little bit every day. […]

He has passed his high school exams and now has a degree in law. But his sentence, he says, has transformed the light into shadows.

He told the president his future was the same as his past, killing the present and removing every hope.

Of course, one communist senator wants to go the other direction and abolish life sentences, replacing them with 30-year maximum sentences. I wonder how the inmates’ victims feel about that. And how long will it be before a 30-year sentence is considered too cruel? Talk about your slippery slope! Pretty soon, the whole system of law enforcement will be dismantled.

Traffic

Thud!

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Fender BenderWhen you watch a movie and there’s a car crash, there’s always a giant crashing sound that accompanies it. Now, we all know that movies are not reality and that sound effects are often exaggerated, but since you don’t see or hear real car crashes every day, you sort of come to expect them to sound the way they sound in the movies. You know: “Khkhkhkhkhkhkhkkh!”

In reality, car crashes are not nearly so spectacular. In fact, if it’s a fender-bender, it sounds like this: “Thud!” That’s it, just “thud.”

How do I know? Well, because someone ran into the back of me today. I was going north on Knoxville when the flow of traffic stopped (presumably because someone was turning left up ahead). The person coming up behind me didn’t realize that the flow of traffic had stopped. Despite his attempt to swerve at the last minute, he still hit me on the right rear bumper.

What made the biggest impression on me was the sound: “Thud!” Not at all what I expected. I expected “khkhkhkhkhkhkhkhkh!”

That reminds me of what a firefighter friend of mine told me — that cars don’t explode. Cars are always exploding in the movies, but that almost never happens in real life, he said. Of course, if someone puts a bomb in a car, then it explodes. But if the car is just on fire, it will burn, but not blow up.

Our view of reality is so skewed by Hollywood, isn’t it?

Uncategorized

NY Times: Rethinking the kids menu

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The New York Times has an interesting article today that questions whether children’s menus are good for kids. David Kamp writes, “the standard children’s menu is regressive, encouraging children (and their misguided parents) to believe that there is a rigidly delineated ‘kids’ cuisine’ that exists entirely apart from grown-up cuisine.”

Especially irritating to the author is the ubiquitous chicken finger. I have to admit, it is on every kids menu I’ve ever seen, even at Avanti’s where chicken fingers wouldn’t seem to fit an Italian menu. Says Kamp, “It pains me that many children now grow up eating little besides golden-brown logs of kid food, especially in a time when the quality, variety and availability of good ingredients is better than ever.”

The NY Times offered a place for readers to posit their opinions here. But I wonder, locally, what do you all think of children’s menus? Are you concerned that the food offered isn’t the healthiest? Or are you most concerned with the limited number and homogeneous nature of the offerings? Or do you think they’re great and wish you could order off of it yourself?

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City of East Peoria, Crime

Woman attacked on biking trail

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From the May 23 Morton Times News:

Woman assaulted on the Illinois River bike trail.

By Nathan Domenighini
Times Newspapers

A twenty-year-old woman was attacked Saturday on the Illinois River Trail, which runs between Morton and East Peoria.

At about 11 a.m., Tammy, whose name is being withheld for security purposes, said she was riding her bike along the trail when she acknowledged a man also riding a bike near her.

“I said ‘good morning’ to him (while he passed), ” Tammy, an East Peoria resident, said.

He responded. Tammy said he seemed to just be carrying on a friendly conversation.

After passing her, then letting he catch up several times, she said he fell behind one last time before speeding up and ramming the back of her bike, knocking her to the ground. He asked her if she was alright and apologized for knocking her down.

“At that point, I was just annoyed,” Tammy said. “Then, he just kept coming closer and closer and I kept telling him it was alright and to just move on.” Before she knew what was happening, “He jumped and grabbed me,” she said. “He pulled out a white rag with chemicals on it and held it over my face.”

Tammy then struggled and started barraging him with kicks and punches, she said.

Continue reading Woman attacked on biking trail →

Peoria Journal Star

Pessimistic headline writers

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Who writes the headlines for the Journal Star? Whoever it is could use a little Prozac. Lately, the negative spin on some stories has been disappointing.

For example, in today’s paper is the headline, “O’Brien Field fails to attract growth.” However, after reading the article, one could just as easily have headlined it, “TIF could spur redevelopment around ballpark.” Both headlines are equally valid, but one is negative, the other positive. Why does the headline writer choose a negative tone?

Here’s another example: “Committee for city growth shrinking in size.” That was the headline about the Heart of Peoria Commission’s (HOPC) meeting where they discussed the Mayor’s proposal to have the HOPC become a private advocacy group. This headline is poor on so many levels, but let’s start with the fact that the HOPC is not a “committee for city growth.” It’s a commission to facilitate implementation of the Heart of Peoria Plan, primarily. Secondly, the article wasn’t about the size of the commission (it was mentioned in passing that we have some vacancies, but so do many other commissions), but rather the future of the commission, so the headline is misleading. It appears the headline-writer didn’t even bother to read or understand the whole article, but instead just picked out the first negative comment and made that the label.

All I can say to the anonymous headline writer is, “Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face… wipe off that frown and cheer up, put on a happy face!”

City of Peoria, Traffic

How was the traffic forum?

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Traffic signal clipartLast night, instead of attending the traffic forum at Bradley, I instead took my daughter in to MedPointe where she was diagnosed with strep throat. By the time I got her prescription filled and got her back home, it was close to 7:30. She’s getting better — the trick is keeping her brother and sister away from her during the first 24 hours while she’s still contagious. 🙂

I did get a chance to check out the Blogger Bash for a while later in the evening. Eyebrows McGee was there with Mr. McGee, as was PeoriaIllinoisan, Brad Carter, Billy Dennis, Diane Vespa, David Henderson, and Precinct Committeeman.

So, did anyone go to the traffic forum? I heard a couple of reports on WCBU which were good, but does anyone else have any more details to share?

One of the suggestions I heard on WCBU’s report was an Uplands resident who suggested putting in cul-de-sacs to keep more traffic from filtering through the neighborhoods. I think that’s a terrible idea. When you shut neighborhoods off to through traffic, it puts more strain on the arterial roads like Main and University, forcing them to be wider and faster, just exactly what we don’t want.

My contention is that cut-through traffic per se is not the problem, but rather people speeding through the neighborhood. If motorists wanted to cut through at 20-25 mph, I doubt neighbors would have much complaint. It’s important to deal with the proper root issue so we don’t make things worse in our attempt to fix them.

City of Peoria, Traffic

Main Street traffic forum Tuesday night

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A traffic forum to discuss improving Main Street will be held Tuesday night, May 29, at 6:00 p.m. in the Bradley Student Center. Here’s a presentation from transportation engineer Ian Lockwood on how he helped West Palm Beach, Florida, change their public right-of-ways to not only accommodate motor vehicles, but also pedestrians and bicyclists and mass transit (hat tip: Pat McNamara):

It’s my understanding this video will also be shown at the forum Tuesday night. This event is open to the public.

UPDATE: Here’s the agenda for the meeting:

WEST BLUFF TRAFFIC FORUM
TUESDAY, MAY 29 6:00 PM
ALUMNI DINING ROOM
(first floor near the entrance to the Quad)

Agenda

  1. Opening Introductions (2 minutes)-John Haverhals
  2. DVD on West Palm Beach Traffic Calming (10 min.)-Pat McNamara
  3. Ren Park Traffic Proposals (5 min.)
  4. Peoria City Traffic Engineering (5 min.)
  5. Barbara VanAuken (5 min.)
  6. Gary Sandburg? (5 min.)
  7. Other Reactions and Statements concerning the Ren Park Traffic Proposals
  8. Other West Bluff Traffic Concerns

Also, Second District Councilperson Barbara Van Auken, who is convening this meeting, had this to say:

If you plan to attend, it’s important for you to understand that no decisions will be made at this meeting. Rather, I convened the meeting for the purpose of hearing the concerns and suggestions about West Bluff traffic and parking primarily from those who live, work and/or own businesses in the West Bluff. I anticipate that this will be the first in a series of meetings and that no final decisions and/or major changes can or should be made until the City has done a new traffic study during a time when Bradley is in session and the changes in I-74 have been in effect for a period of time. (I would expect this in early Fall of this year.)

Since Councilman Sandberg has been involved with these issues for many years, I invited him to join us to offer his insights.

Note: Right after this event, be sure to walk across the street to One World and join in the Blogger Bash!