OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD (Updated)

If you don’t have the TV or radio on, you’ll find most programming has been preempted for a special news report: Osama bin Laden has been killed. President Obama is expected to make the official announcement soon.

UPDATE: Here is a transcript of President Obama’s address, delivered Sunday night:

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

IMAX opens at Rave

A new IMAX opened at Rave Motion Pictures Grand Prairie 18 this week. I checked it out yesterday, and the screen is undeniably big for a multiplex theater at 1,800 square feet. But that’s smaller than traditional IMAX theaters which have screen sizes of 3,600 to 4,900 square feet. But the screen does stretch from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, and is moved closer to the audience than a normal multiplex screen, creating the perception of a much larger screen. The images were bright, in focus, and crystal clear, with no jitter. Interestingly, the movie that was shown was not the same aspect ratio as the screen, so it was shown in a letterbox-looking format — i.e., the movie filled the width of the screen, but there was unused screen space at the top and bottom, a total of roughly a sixth of the screen.

Not only was the screen bigger than average, the sound was enhanced as well. It was noticeably louder than a regular theater, but not distorted in any way. Dialog was clear without being piercing, low rumbles were sufficiently forceful to vibrate your internal organs — overall good frequency range and intelligibility throughout. And did I mention it was loud?

The movie itself was 2D, so I didn’t have the opportunity to check out their 3D capabilities. The movie was “Fast Five” (rated PG-13, starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker), which was forgettable and ridiculous. It not only routinely defied the laws of physics, it often defied the laws of cartoon physics. I’d give you the most egregious example, but it would give away the ending. Meanwhile, the female lead character, who is a criminal, is pregnant (evidently first trimester). She doesn’t let that stop her from jumping off buildings, through roofs, and other death-defying feats that would undoubtedly put her baby at risk, but later she responsibly refrains from having a beer. What a good mother.

Upcoming movies include “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (May 20), “Cars 2” (June 24), and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” (July 15). Tickets are $10 for matinees, $12 for evening showings ($10 for children and seniors), plus a $3 surcharge for 3-D films.Икони

Wojcikewych considering School Board run

At Washington Gifted School’s Fine Arts Night on Thursday, Principal Joan Wojcikewych told the audience what she’s planning to do after she retires at the end of this year: run for the District 150 school board. Wojcikewych lives in the second voting district within District 150. The terms of current second district board members Linda Butler and Lynn Costic (who is filling Rachael Parker’s term since Parker was elected to the Peoria County Board) expire in 2012. Икони

Main Street Commons to include freshman dorm

The Bradley Scout has been doing a good job of following the progress on Main Street Commons, the apartment building that is being erected on the site of the old Walgreen’s on Main Street, across from Campustown. The project was originally sold to neighbors as an upscale apartment building for upperclassmen, graduate students, and young professionals. They also optimistically predicted that they would have 100% of the units leased by November 1, 2010.

Well, things haven’t been going so well. In late November last year, the Scout reported that “the company hoped to have all 188 units leased by Nov. 1. Now nearly three weeks have passed since the deadline and only 40 units have been leased.” In January, the Scout postulated that the building “isn’t renting at the pace investors had hoped” because “the $659 per person rental price sticker shock is likely a culprit.”

One of the investors is none other than Bradley University. Bradley won’t say specifically how much they’ve invested in the project, but Vice President for Business Affairs Gary Anna said back in September, “The preliminary stage of the project is $12 million, and we gave less than 10 percent of that.” So they’ve invested an amount not exceeding $1.2 million.

Last month, more bad news: More than half the units were still not leased. Nevertheless, officials with the project still expressed optimism that all the units would be leased by the time the building opens. Bradley’s Vice President of Student Affairs Alan Galsky was quoted as saying, “We would like to see the whole building filled with Bradley students. If not, Main Street Commons is prepared to fill it with other students staying in the Nexus Fostering Norfolk centers such as medical students and graduate students. It is very important that students know that the building is option for them, and is a very good one, in fact.” The article continues:

Galsky said in the event that the complex is unable to fill with Bradley students, he is unsure how on-campus housing will be affected.

“By the end of the month we will know how many have decided to stay in residence halls or move off-campus,” he said. “Once those numbers are in it will be a better indication. We are hoping that freshmen and sophomores move to Main Street Commons. If enough students move out into Main Street Commons there wouldn’t be an issue [in residential halls].”

That brings us to this month, and a new “study” Bradley is undertaking:

As part of a student developmental study, Bradley has extended the opportunity to incoming freshmen to live at Main Street Commons.

Vice President of Student Affairs Alan Galsky said 40 incoming students will be allowed to live at Main Street Commons in a very supervised situation. […]

Students who choose to participate in this opportunity will sign a 12 month lease with Main Street Commons and will still be able to purchase a dining hall meal plan.

All participating students will live on the same, co-ed floor, along with a residence advisor and assistant residence advisor.

“[Students living on the floor] will have the same rules and regulations as there are in the residence halls,” Galsky said. “There will be two students to a suite and same gender roommates.”

I asked Dr. Galsky via e-mail how Bradley’s investment in Main Street Commons and the fact that the rooms there are not being leased as quickly as hoped contributed to Bradley’s decision to allow freshmen to live off-campus at Main Street Commons. He responded:

Bradley’s investment was not a factor in the decision to allow freshmen to live in Main Street Commons. Instead, the University sought to devise a study to determine if freshmen could have a “true” residential living experience in an off-campus up-scale facility under similar conditions that exist in the residence halls, including having a Resident Advisor and Assistant Resident Advisor. This study is of interest to Bradley from both a student affairs/student development perspective and an enrollment management /marketing perspective. Program and activities for freshmen will be offered, just as in the residence halls.. This is being done as a one-year developmental study, and the University intends to collect a myriad of data that will help assess the students’ satisfaction and engagement as well as the overall success of the study.

A couple of things struck me about this answer. First, I have a hard time believing that Bradley’s investment “was not a factor” in this decision. I can totally believe it was not the main factor, and certainly that it wasn’t the only factor, but not a factor at all? That’s hard to accept. Secondly, he didn’t address the second part of my question (“…and the fact that the rooms there are not being leased as quickly as hoped…”). I think it’s pretty well established from earlier reports that Bradley wants Main Street Commons to relieve crowding in the residence halls, so it seems reasonable that, in the absence of enough upperclassmen choosing to relocate there, they’re looking for other ways to get Bradley students out of on-campus housing.

The inclusion of freshmen at Main Street Commons raises a couple of other questions. One, how does this affect the ability to lease the rest of the apartments to upperclassmen and young professionals? I mean, if you’re a young professional, would you want to lease an apartment in a complex that doubles in part as a freshman dorm? I put these questions to Jennifer Dunbar, marketing and leasing director of Main Street Commons, via e-mail, but she hasn’t responded to my request for comment.

Two, how do the neighbors feel about the inclusion of freshmen in this project? I asked University East Neighborhood Association (UENA) Vice President Conrad Stinnett for his comments. He said that his chief concern is that the project keeps changing. For instance, he sent me an e-mail the UENA received this February from Thomas Harrington, one of the developers of the project, in response to their concerns. Here’s one of the questions and answers:

[Q:] The residential aspect of the project was originally presented as high scale apartments that, while marketed to students, were open to the public. We have recently heard you are implementing Bradley housing rules- same sex roommates, no kegs, Residential Assistants, Residents-only food court, etc. This sounds more like a dormitory. Has the concept changed? Are non-student residents subject to the same rules as student renters?

[A:] The concept for Main Street Commons remains as an upscale housing development targeted at the Bradley student population. As has been previously stated, all potential renters are welcome. The rules and policies that have been put into place apply to all residents equally and consistently and are different from Bradley’s.

Three months later, it appears this is no longer the case.

This is a mixed-use development, so in addition to the apartments, there is also a retail component. I talked to Harrington about the progress that has been made to get tenants for the three retail spaces that front Main Street. So far, no leases have been signed, but they’re close to securing a food use (i.e., restaurant) lease for one of the spaces.

Peoria City Council 4/26/2011 (Live Blog)

Hello, everyone. Tonight is the last full meeting of the current City Council. Next week, we’ll be saying goodbye to Jim Montelongo and George Jacob, and saying hello to Beth Akeson and Chuck Weaver (Weaver is here tonight in the gallery). The rest of the players will remain the same. All the current council members are here tonight (except for Jacob, of course, who is still recovering from a motorcycle accident). Also enjoying his first council meeting is our new City Manager, Patrick Urich.

Well, you all know the drill — I’ll be giving you the live play-by-play for tonight’s council meeting. I’ll be updating this post frequently throughout the evening, under the agenda items listed below, so be sure to refresh your browser occasionally if you’re following along in real time. The city posts its agenda and almost all supporting documentation online here, so if you want additional information on a particular agenda item, be sure to check out that link. Here’s the agenda for tonight, April 26, 2011:

Continue reading Peoria City Council 4/26/2011 (Live Blog)

Stoffer: Most traffic signals in Peoria are synchronized

Some commenters asked recently about traffic control signals in Peoria and whether they are coordinated. So I passed the question along to the City’s traffic design engineer Nick Stoffer, and he gave me this thorough response:

Are the Traffic Signals in the City of Peoria Coordinated?

If you required any assistance, traffic lawyers Melbourne provide 24/7 legal advice regarding charges of this nature.

The City of Peoria attempts to coordinate, or synchronize, the traffic signals to provide safe and efficient traffic flow throughout the City. This coordination is accomplished by allowing the signals to be able to communicate through controller boxes at each intersection and at the Dries Lane facility. The ability to provide good coordination on a corridor is generally a function of signal spacing, prevailing traffic speed, amount of traffic, roadway capacity, signal cycle lengths, and conflicts with other major roadways. Not only does traffic signal coordination serve the greater good of the traveling public, but also has the added benefits of reducing fuel consumption and emissions, because it reduces overall traffic delay and accidents that still happen sometimes, so the use of a good traffic lawyer is essential in these cases.

Nearly every signal within the City is interconnected by fiber optic or twisted pair cables to form a system of coordinated roadway corridors. These corridors are typically the major arterial roadways, with the most traffic, within the community, such as the Knoxville Avenue, University Street and War Memorial Drive corridors in Peoria. Often these major roadways intersect, which complicates coordination efforts. Also, these main corridors can sometimes involve multiple jurisdictions, such as IDOT, Peoria County and the City, adding to the complexity of coordination.

The predominate goal of a coordinated traffic signal system is to provide the most efficient service to the majority of the traveling public. This is why many drivers on minor roadways will find themselves waiting to cross a major roadway, even if it doesn’t appear that there is enough traffic to justify this extra delay. Often, it serves more traffic for the side street to wait a little longer so that more traffic from downstream on the major roadway will clear the intersection.

In addition, except for in the Central Business District, [a] majority of the Peoria traffic signals use video or pavement loop detection systems to actuate the signal timing. This allows the signal to adjust the length of a phase of traffic, such as a left turn, to accommodate current traffic load. This type of system helps clear the intersection and reduce the overall traffic delay. Another benefit of actuated signals are that they allow the controller to know when a vehicle from the side street approaches the intersection, which is particularly important at night, because it allows the signals to maintain green signals on the main road and only call for the side street green to be activated when needed.

Another method that the City uses to make traffic signals more efficient is to adjust the signal timing schedules in the AM, PM and midday peak periods for certain corridors. This allows the traffic signals to better serve the traffic during those heavy periods by giving the heaviest traffic movements longer green times to accommodate the additional vehicles.

IF you get involved in a car crash and need some help handling your case, indianapolis car accident attorney has lot of experience that will support your legal case.

We also look at ways to improve the system. Recently several Signal Coordination and Timing (SCAT) studies have been performed on portions of the Knoxville Avenue, War Memorial Drive and Washington Street corridors, within the City of Peoria. SCAT studies are corridor wide reviews of the traffic signal coordination programming to find the most efficient use of the equipment to handle the traffic load. Once the studies are done these optimal signal timings can be set in the field in the traffic controllers units. Currently a new SCAT study is being performed on North University Street between Glen Avenue
and Forrest Hill Avenue, to increase the efficiency of this corridor. With traffic changes due to development, business changes and adjustments like the recent addition of the flashing yellow turn signals, traffic patterns change and new SCAT studies are needed. It is hoped that about every five to ten years the SCAT programs can be reviewed and adjusted as needed to keep traffic moving efficiently.

Are all the traffic signals coordinated?

A majority of the signals in Peoria are coordinated, however some are not. Signals that are in isolated locations or in too tight of a network do not lend themselves to good coordination. These intersections are often run in a free mode and change on the demand of traffic volumes. In the downtown area, where the streets are laid out in a grid fashion, it has been found that the signals run more efficiently pretimed with short cycle lengths. The downtown intersections are still coordinated on some of the streets that have good progression, however on other downtown streets, that do not have good progression because of the close proximity of the intersections, they are not coordinated. Downtown intersections have fairly equal amounts of traffic in all directions and a short cycle length limits the amount of time that any one direction will need to wait for a green light. Also, as the City grows and new signals are added they are not in some cases connected to the coordinated systems. The signal at Allen Road and Wilhelm Road or new signals north of Route 6 on Knoxville are not yet connected. As development and traffic warrant these signals will be added to the interconnected system.

If you have questions or concerns about a particular traffic signal, or to report damaged or non-working signals, call 494-8854. Stoffer says, “Callers will either speak to an administrative specialist that can direct their call to the best person to answer the specific question or they can leave their question on the voice mail after hours.” My thanks to Mr. Stoffer for this information.

WEEK/WHOI reject offer, plan rally

From the Journal Star:

Members of the Peoria local chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists at WEEK-TV Channel 25 and WHOI-TV Channel 19 rejected what Granite Broadcasting called its “last, best and final offer.”

The vote taken on Friday was 27 to 1.

…The union plans to hold a rally at the East Peoria station at 5 p.m. Wednesday to drum up community support for their position.

“The rally at the station is hoped to let the company see that the community supports local and professional news,” said [local union President Garry] Moore.

The sticking point is still “flexibility” language that is included in the contract which the union believes will allow Granite to outsource local news broadcasts to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. You can read more about the union’s concerns here on their Facebook site.

A message from the City Manager

New City Manager Patrick Urich included this message in the latest Issues Update from the City:

MESSAGE FROM THE CITY MANAGER. My first few days on the job have been a whirlwind of activities. One particular item that I stressed to the senior management is that I would like to see more information included in this Issues Update on a regular and recurring basis. This important communication vehicle needs to be better utilized and it is my intention to do so.

That’s good news! The more public communication, the better.

How much the candidates spent per vote

The latest financial reports are in for the City Council race. Here are the totals, along with how much that works out to per vote (i.e., total spent divided number of votes cast for that candidate):

Candidate 7/1/10-
12/31/10
1/1/11-
3/31/11
Total $ Total Votes $/Vote
Chuck Weaver $9,241.18 $46,980.83 $56,222.01 14,785 $3.80
Ryan Spain $3,611.43 $40,409.68 $44,021.11 10,072 $4.37
W. Eric Turner $2,176.16 $14,470.73 $16,646.89 6,911 $2.41
Beth Akeson $0 $10,445.37 $10,445.37 6,040 $1.73
Charles V. Grayeb $0 $11,729.60 $11,729.60 5,559 $2.11

The other candidates (Gary Sandberg, Jim Stowell, André Williams, C.J. Summers, and George Azouri) did not file reports because they neither raised nor spent more than $3,000. The city council position pays $14,000 per year, or $56,000 per four-year term.