Kellar Branch

Settlement in the works on Kellar Branch conversion

 

Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) has filed a status report with the Surface Transportation Board that is very interesting.  The report (filed by Daniel LaKemper, general counsel for PIRY) starts by telling the STB what we already know:
This is to advise the Board that on July 14, 2005 Pioneer Industrial Railway Co. and the City of Peoria reached an agreement regarding the track work that the City desired to do on the Kellar Branch, thus eliminating the City’s immediate concerns as to the timely completion of their grant work.
This was reported in the paper and discussed in a previous post.  But, it then goes on to say this:
PIRY and the City are also exploring settlement options that would allow Pioneer Park shippers to retain the connections they currently have to the line-haul railroads coming into Peoria. We will keep the Board apprised of this matter.
Connections to “line-haul railroads” is what I talked about in my last post — the fact that Pioneer Park shippers currently have access to eight major shippers, and the new connection to the west gives them access to only one.  I believe this is the main obstacle for STB approval of the city’s adverse discontinuance request. 
It appears that Pioneer and the city are now trying to work out a way to solve that problem, presumably in such a way that the Kellar Branch can still be turned into an extension of the Rock Island Trail.  I’m not sure how this would be possible, but a railfan friend of mine has some ideas.  He explains it in a lot of technical jargon, but basically it could involve the city’s shipper (Central Illinois Railroad Co., or CIRY, which is owned by DOT Rail out of LaSalle) entering into some sort of haulage agreement with Union Pacific – that is, CIRY using tracks owned by UP to make deliveries to Pioneer Park via the western spur.
I’m skeptical that this would be cost effective in the long run — I would expect UP to keep raising rates for use of their tracks, thus making rail shipping progressively more expensive for anyone out in Pioneer Park.  But we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of settlement Pioneer and the city cook up.  Stay tuned!

 

Uncategorized

DTV channels just a joking matter for Tarter

On Sunday, Steve Tarter’s column was pretty weak.  It started out promising — talking about how digital television channel numbers are different from the analog numbers we’ve become accustomed to, and even mentioning Jeff Melbourne’s blog (way to go Jeff!).  Jeff had asked in his blog if TV stations will have to change how they identify themselves in the future.
 
But then, instead of trying to answer the question by, oh I don’t know, picking up the phone and calling any of the television stations in Peoria, or perhaps checking out the FCC website or any of the myriad websites on the digital television conversion, he goes off on a tangent about how local stations could market themselves under their new digital channel numbers. 
 
I’ve got three words for the rest of his comments on the topic:  waste of space.  He must have been closing in on a deadline and didn’t have time to do any actual reporting, so he just doodled a few lines and let it go at that.
 
For those who may have wanted to know the real answer to Jeff’s question, Mark DeSantis, general manager of WEEK-TV, commented on Jeff’s blog: 
Channel position is not a significant issue with regard to station identification on DTV. Currently, though broadcasting on digital channel 57, WEEK is able to send out a signal so that on a digital tuner we appear as Ch. 25. Eventually when the cable retrans deals are done, all local channels will be located in approximately the mid-700 channel positions.
How do they do that, you ask?  Well, CheckHD.com has the answer:
The FCC has assigned a digital or RF channel number to all digital stations. In addition, some local affiliates are using Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) to remap to their analog channel numbers. PSIP is data that is transmitted along with a station’s DTV signal that tells DTV receivers important information about the station and what is being broadcast (what channel to tune to for reception of the station, helps maintain current (analog) channel number branding, tells receiver whether multiple programs are being broadcast, etc.).
Television stations have quite a bit of brand equity in their analog channel numbers, and they’re not going to give them up easily.  Any of this information would have made Tarter’s column more interesting.  Come on, Steve, we don’t read your column for comedy relief — we want the straight dope on the TV/Radio scene in Peoria.

City of Peoria

Abagnale gives moral charge

Frank AbagnaleI went to CEFCU Center Stage tonight to see Frank Abagnale speak. You may remember he was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.” The event was billed as a seminar on identity theft, but other speakers talked about that subject. When Abagnale came to the lectern, he said he had spoken about identity theft earlier in the day to law enforcement officers, bank officials, and others, and tonight he was going to give a more personal talk.

He shared a lot about his life between the ages of 16 and 21 — his exploits, his crimes, his capture, and his imprisonments in France, Sweden, and the U.S. Many of the stories he shared were entertaining, and his way of impersonating airline pilots and doctors was ingenious. He even passed the bar in Louisiana and argued cases for the states attorney’s office for a year.

In spite of all his brilliance, he eschewed any praise for his street smarts. He told the crowd that people have written to him and said he was a genius. He said if he had really been a genius, he wouldn’t have had to steal money to survive. He said some people have written to him and said he really had a gift. He agrees, but says the greatest gift he had was being raised by a mother and a father for the first 16 years of his life.

He had already shared how his parents had divorced when he was 16, and how he couldn’t choose which one to live with, so he ran out of the courtroom so he wouldn’t have to choose and they parents skipped all the support payments required by the state since then. He never blamed his parents’ divorce for his life of crime, but he made it clear that it was a contributing factor, and now he reminded everyone of how devastating divorce is on children, “even though it’s not popular to say it these days.” Those who are planning to get divorced may want to consider reaching out to a divorce lawyer or a family law attorney for legal advice.

He saved his strongest moral message for the men in the audience. “There are a lot of fathers out there, but very few daddies,” he said. He told of how much he loved his dad, and how his dad tucked him into bed every night without fail, kissed him on the cheek, and told him that he loved him. Every night. Even when his brother was an adult and home on leave from the military, he still kissed him and told him how much he loved him. Contrary to the movie’s portrayal, Frank never saw his father again after he ran out of the courtroom the day his parents were divorced.

He said that some men think it takes money, cars, prestige, degrees, and all kinds of things like that to be a real man. But he had lived that life, and found it wanting. “To all you guys out there,” he charged, “a real man loves his wife. A real man stays faithful to his wife. And a real man is a daddy to his children.”

Some probably found it preachy, and maybe not what they expected from an ex-con they thought was going to talk about identity theft. But I found it refreshing. He’s right, of course. And in a nation where half of all marriages end in divorce, it doesn’t hurt for everyone to hear that message a little more these days.

Kellar Branch

The Big Lie

If you say it long enough and loud enough, people will start to believe it. That’s the M.O. for the Peoria Park District (PPD) when commenting on the Kellar Branch issue. The Journal Star “report” in the paper today (“Railcorp, city reach deal on rail spur”) includes this little nugget from Bonnie Noble, executive director of the PPD:

“This is a win-win. The community will still have the advantage of having rail service and an expansion of rail service,” Noble said. “This community trail is for everyone who lives in this area as well as an economic attraction and development.”

Lie #1: “The community will have . . . an expansion of rail service.”

Truth: Right now, the Kellar Branch has access to eight railroads via neutral access with the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (TZPR) line. Those eight railroads are: Burlington-Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), Canadian National (CN), Illinois & Midland, Iowa Interstate, Keokuk Junction, Norfolk Southern, TP&W and Union Pacific. If they take out the Kellar Branch between downtown and Pioneer Park and rely solely on the spur from the west, there will only be access to one rail line: Union Pacific (UP). That means competition is eliminated and tarriffs go up. No one can honestly say that reducing rail service from eight lines to one is an “expansion.”

Lie #2: “This community trail is . . . an economic attraction.”

Truth: The community trail will cost $4 million dollars in state and federal grants. That’s after a $900,000 state grant and $175,000 from the city were used to build the UP spur from the west. Where’s the business model that shows when this $5+ million project is going to break even? And from where is the revenue coming? Is the park district going to pay taxes on this land? Are people going to move to Peoria because we have a linear park? Are they going to charge admission? Are hotels and restaurants going to pop up along the trail? Are businesses going to move to Peoria because we have a trail? What, pray tell, is the “economic attraction” of which Noble speaks? There is none. And don’t give me the “quality of life” argument — it’s not like we have a dearth of parks in Peoria. This project isn’t going to significantly enhance Peorians’ access to greenspace. In contrast, what we’re giving up is the opportunity to attract manufacturing business to the Pioneer Park area — businesses that would bring jobs and revenue into the city. The cash-strapped city is also passing up the opportunity to make a quick $565,000 in cash by selling the line to Pioneer Railcorp and unload maintenance of the Kellar Branch altogether. And, incidentally, when was the last time a park district project made any money? If a project like the Riverplex which actually sells services can’t make money, what makes them think a park is going to be an “economic attraction”? This is a boondoggle.

Lie #3: “This is a win-win.”

Truth: Carver Lumber doesn’t currently use UP for its shipping — it uses CN and BNSF. That means that, in addition to losing direct access to its main shipping carriers, it’s going to have to start negotiating with UP to pick up its freight elsewhere, which will mean longer transit times and undoubtedly higher shipping cost. They may even resort to trucking, in which case the nice new rail spur will be abandoned. No win-win there. The city has payed money to build the spur and will probably be tapped for extra funds to build the trail if the grants fall short, when they could instead be making money by selling the rail line. No win-win there.

The question is, why doesn’t the Journal Star challenge these statements from the Peoria Park District? Where is the investigative journalism? It’s one thing for the Journal Star to support the conversion of the Kellar Branch line to a trail on their editorial page. But advocating it in their news reports is inappropriate. And it’s obvious that they’re advocating it. Check out the subhead on today’s story: “Move is a step in the right direction for long-awaited hiking, biking trail.” Who says this is “the right direction”? This gleeful statement does not even pretend to be unbiased. Or look at the headline from their July 7 story: “Delay puts trail at risk.” Why not, “Trail puts Pioneer Park business at risk”? Sound biased?

There’s a word for “journalism” like this: propaganda. The Journal Star is deliberately misleading the public through their reporting on the Kellar Branch issue because of their advocacy for the park district’s plans. Thus, they are engaging in propaganda, “information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view” (Oxford American Dictionary). Now, I’m only talking about this one issue; overall, the Journal Star does a good job of covering the news. But on this issue, they are doing a great disservice to Peoria residents.

Uncategorized

Impeach Blagojevich

The Journal Star reported today that Gov. Blagojevich deceived the legislature in order to get a budget item passed that would allow him to use the money for embryonic stem cell research:

The governor on Tuesday said a $10 million line item in the state budget for “scientific research” was actually tucked away for grants to study stem cells, including those from human embryos. Both Shadid and Demuzio last year opposed legislation for Illinois to promote embryonic stem cell research, which some liken to abortion because human embryos are destroyed.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be impeached. He has wantonly abused the power of his office and deliberately deceived the legislature — the people’s representatives — to push through legislation he knew would never pass on its own merits.

Further, he unabashedly defends his ends-justify-the-means methods. Here’s an actual quote from the governor reported on The Illinois Leader webpage: “[using $10 million for stem cell research was] the right thing to do, and however you get there is immaterial.” Oh, really? Try having your district attorney tell that to the court the next time the police obtain evidence without a warrant. Try telling that to the cop that pulls you over when you were speeding so you wouldn’t be late for work. Try telling that to the voters when you come up for reelection.

And that assumes that the end is indeed “the right thing to do.” Clearly, there is no consensus on that point. Basically what the governor is saying is that it doesn’t matter how he gets what he wants as long as he believes it’s the right thing to do. How arrogant. What else does the good gov’nuh believe is “the right thing to do”? Obviously integrity and honesty aren’t on his list.

His deception and moral equivocacy are bad for government regardless of the issue. That said, though, I’m especially upset because I’m opposed to embryonic stem-cell research, as I’ve stated in a previous post. Here’s another apt quote from the Illinois Leader:

“Though it’s commendable to want to help those who are suffering debilitating diseases and injuries, it is unconscionable to do so at the expense of other human lives,” said Dr. John Kilner, president of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) said Wednesday.

“This is an imposition of morally problematic research on the citizens of Illinois. The people have already spoken through the democratic process- legislation to promote this research failed in the General Assembly. Stem cell research can be pursued ethically by focusing research on adult stem cells, including cord blood cells.”

Imposition. Morally problematic. Ethical ways to pursue the same ends. These things mean nothing to our governor. Because of his deception, every Illinoisan’s tax dollars are directly funding human experimentation and destruction. That is outrageous.

Impeach Blagojevich.

Uncategorized

Peorians couldn’t be happier with cable

There was a meeting scheduled last night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Jameison School to talk about the upcoming cable franchise agreement. I admit I was late because my softball game didn’t finish until 6:30. So I got there at 6:50, and…

The meeting was over.

The news crew for channel 31 informed me that there was only one person there who came to give his/her input, besides councilmen and staff. So they adjourned. I didn’t note everyone who was there, but I did see councilmen Morris and Turner, city attorney Randy Ray, and city manager Randy Oliver. I’m sure others were there, but I can’t confirm or deny who they were. There were reporters there from all the major news outlets.

I’m a little miffed that I missed the supposedly two-hour meeting after being only 20 minutes late. But more than that, I’m disappointed that only one person showed up. I suppose it’s possible that everyone had a softball game tonight and were all going to come late like me, but that’s unlikely. So, I can only guess that everyone in Peoria is really, really happy with their cable TV service. Who could’ve guessed?

Of course, I’m being facetious. But why didn’t anyone show up?

One problem may be just communicating to Peorians at large when and where the meetings are. For instance, I didn’t see anything in the Journal Star yesterday about it (I could’ve missed it).

But a more likely culprit, I believe, is that people just don’t know what city leaders are looking for. What kind of information is the council hoping to get from residents? Are they just wanting people to come and complain about their cable service?

It would be helpful if city staff would give everyone some guidelines before the meetings. For instance, they could tell everyone what can and cannot be done with a cable franchise agreement — perhaps a shorter, simpler version (e.g., one page bulleted list) of this document from the Baller Herbst Law Group. Some of the things I learned were:

  • Cities can only regulate the rates of basic cable (channels 2 through 22 in Peoria)
  • Cable companies can “pass through” the cost of city demands to the consumer directly (not just with higher rates, but with a specific fee)
  • Cities don’t have to demand PEG (public, education, government) access, and in fact, if no one is interested in this kind of access, the city could drop it in the franchise renewal. I know they’ll still want the government access (for council meetings), and ICC will want the educational access, but does anyone care about public access? If so, they should attend these meetings.
  • Cities cannot regulate specific cable programming — however, they can “specify broad categories of programs and services and require that some programs be provided on designated channels.” That sounds to me like they can’t say “CNN needs to be on channel 2, and ESPN needs to be on channel 3,” but they could say, “there needs to be 24-news and sports programming in the 2-22 channel range.”
  • It’s unclear at this time whether cities can legally make any demands of a cable company’s broadband services. Also, while the city can’t require “open access” to cable lines to provide cable TV content (like they do with phone lines to provide phone service), it appears they may be able to require “open access” to their cable modem system by non-affiliated internet service providers.
  • Cities can make demands regarding customer service, including installation timing and arrangements, maintenance dealing with system outages, and billing (e.g., how pass-through fees and are identified on the bill).

Along with this document to give things context, they could ask the community for more specific input, such as:

  • Do you watch or use public access television? Is that something you want to see preserved or enhanced?
  • Are you satisfied with the categories of programming you receive on basic cable, classic cable, etc.?
  • How satisfied are you with Insight’s customer service? Do you understand your bill or should it be reworded?
  • Have you had any trouble with system outages? If so, were they fixed within a reasonable time?

And whatever else they want to know. But spelling this stuff out would be helpful for residents when seeking input.

One other note. According to Baller Herbst, the going term for franchise agreements is 7-10 years, but on the news last night Randy Ray said he was trying for a five-year franchise agreement. I can understand wanting to lower it from twenty (that’s too long). But five years seems a bit short to me, especially if the city wants the cable company to make any upgrades to the system. With such a short agreement, there wouldn’t be much incentive to put a whole lot of money into the system when the possibility exists that they won’t get a return on their investment.

I hope there is better turnout at the next two meetings: July 28 at Peoria High School, and August 18 at Woodruff High School. Both dates are Thursdays, and the meetings start at 6:30. Don’t be late.

Uncategorized

The world isn’t perfect…

Who was the marketing genius who came up with Walgreens’ new slogan? In case you haven’t heard it, it goes something like this: “The world isn’t perfect. That’s why there’s Walgreens.” I think the indended meaning is that Walgreens is there to help fix the imperfections of the world (like saying, “The world isn’t perfect; that’s why there are doctors who can perform open-heart surgery”).

But, of course, there’s another way you can take it. I wonder if anyone in the marketing department thought about it for a second and said, “hey, that could also mean that Walgreens is a deleterious result of the world’s imperfections” (like saying, “The world isn’t perfect; that’s why there’s disease and death”).

I guess you have to ask, which is the more reasonable interpretation?

According to an AP article that ran in the Journal Star and the Chicago Sun-Times today, “The National Pharmacists Association said nearly one in five pharmacies owned by Walgreen Co. in the area, or 58 in all, this year have exceeded what it considers to be the safe average workload of 20 prescriptions filled per hour per pharmacist.” And the union’s executive director Chuck Sauer said, “This is the direct result of Walgreens’ systematic implementation of its assembly line philosophy, under which pharmacists are made to work at ever-increasing speeds, compromising patient safety.”

If that’s true, then it looks like the latter interpretation is the correct one. The world isn’t perfect; that’s why Walgreens puts profits over safety.

Uncategorized

Stop criticizing Police Department for doing its job

Terry Bibo’s feature today includes an attempt to compare our new police chief to Chase Ingersoll. Why? Of course, to show why the police shouldn’t post pictures of johns before they’re convicted of the piddlin’ little ol’ misdemeanor of solicitation. A few comments:

First, as the Journal Star’s managing editor notes, shaming johns is how Chase Ingersoll first made headlines 10 years ago. That’s before he was disbarred, which might be both noteworthy and not-coincidental. Now the city appears to be following his lead. Chase approves.

“I find it far more important to keep the sex trade off the streets than I do keeping it off the Police Department’s Web site,” he posted on his own Web site Tuesday, chastising a Journal Star editorial. “Allow me to offer an alternative thought. It is criminality that leads to these dire consequences, not the act of holding criminals accountable.”

Note to Terry: Chase did have that quote on his “website” (it’s actually a “weblog,” or “blog” for short — maybe you’ve heard of them), but he was quoting Chief Settingsgaard’s open letter to, among other people, the Journal Star. Didn’t you even read the chief’s letter? Or are you so closed-minded on this issue that you didn’t even bother? In any case, you didn’t do your homework before wrongly attributing that quote. Poor reporting, Terry.

Moving on, she says later about councilman Gary Sandberg:

Sandberg was never even arrested, much less found guilty of anything, when he was picked up for giving a “known prostitute” a ride in 1993. The rookie officer who gave him a warning for making two right-hand turns without a signal didn’t recognize the councilman, but she did recognize the rider as a convicted hooker. Still, his name was splashed all over the place.

Hmmm… “his name was splashed all over the place.” What does that mean? Billboards? Direct mail letters? OH — you mean the vaunted Journal Star! That’s right, the Journal Star did splash his name and picture all over the place, even though he wasn’t convicted or even charged with anything. Will the hypocrisy never end?

Here the police are doing their jobs, trying to root out crime in Peoria, and the Journal Star, state’s attorney, and some on the city council are talking trash about them and trying to obstruct their efforts. What is wrong with you people? Are you so miserably out of touch with what people in these neighborhoods want and need? Don’t you see the connection between crime and people not wanting to live in the older parts of town?

Bibo concludes her article with these inspiring lines: “Sandberg predicts it [shaming] will blow up in the Police Department’s face. And he’s going to let it. He has his own ideas about deterrents.” Now, first of all, I realize this is the Journal Star saying this, so who knows what Sandberg really said. But assuming this is true, what Sandberg is saying is that he hopes the Peoria Police fail. Did you hear that? One of our council members hopes that the police department’s efforts to curtail prostitution “blows up in their face” — that is, fails miserably and publicly. Isn’t that nice?

And then, “he has his own ideas about deterrents.” What does that mean? He has a better idea for getting rid of prostitution? What is it? Why haven’t we heard it over the last hundred years he’s been on the council?

I’m thoroughly disgusted with the negative attitude that’s been coming from the Journal Star and the city council on this topic. I, unlike Sandberg, et. al., hope this initiative is successful and results in positive changes for Peoria’s neighborhoods. And even if it does fail, I’m still going to thank God for a police chief who’s willing to take risks and try new tactics to clean up Peoria and make it a better place to live.

Uncategorized

Please, MLB, leave Fox after 2006

I have the most basic cable you can get, which means I don’t get FoxSports.  In fact, I only get channels 2 through 22.  So it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Fox’s baseball coverage. 
 
Tonight as I was watching the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Fox, I was reminded of just how annoying Fox’s sports coverage really is.  From the epileptic-seizure-inducing graphics to the mind-numbing rat-a-tat monotone of Jeanne Zelasko, it somehow manages to suck out what little remaining pleasure there is in Major League Baseball since they screwed up the game with expansion, interleague play, wild cards, and an All-Star Game that “counts.”
 
MLB’s television contract with Fox expires in 2006.  Please, for the love of Babe Ruth, give the contract to NBC, CBS, ABC, anyone except FOX!!!

Uncategorized

Johns online at PeoriaPD.com

They’re out there now. If you want to see who has been picked up for solicitation of prostitutes, go to the Peoria Police Department website and click on “Prostitution Information” — or just click here for a direct link.

I like the fact that the police chief said he was going to do it, and he did it. Quickly.

Here’s something interesting: one guy on the list is from Canton and another is from Bloomington. I didn’t realize the prostitutes here got business from the surrounding communities, too. Maybe the online posting of their pictures will get them to stay home or at least away from our neighborhoods.

UPDATE: When I went back to the site at 6:00, they had taken the “Prostitution Information” link off the front page, but the direct link still worked. Maybe they’re not ready to unveil it yet.