No sooner had I sent my last message, then my wife went into labor. Our son was born at 4:50 a.m. today (April 17). So, no blogging for now…. I’ll get back to it in a couple of days!
Thanks to the Peoria Pundit!
Many thanks to Bill Dennis for his post on about my new blog. That was very kind! His site was my inspiration for starting my own. It just looked like fun.
Thanks to everyone else who welcomed me, too. I’ve enjoyed all the Peoria blogs I’ve been reading recently!
I should mention that in my bio it says that I have three children — which is true — however, the third one is still in utero and due to be born anytime now (he was due Thursday). So, if I suddenly fall silent, it’s because I’m in the hospital with my wife welcoming my son into the world. My other two children are daughters, so we’re excited about having our first boy!
Nude Dancing Advocates Keep Writing
The Journal Star has been getting a lot of letters to the editor berating Sandra Fritz and the Citizens for Community Values because they sponsored an advisory referendum asking whether nude dancing should be banned in Peoria (over 60% of voters voted in favor of a ban).
The argument generally is along the lines of “I don’t personally go to strip clubs, of course, but Fritz and her group are trying to limit other people’s freedom and she shouldn’t be telling others how to live their lives,” “no one is forcing anyone to go to a strip club,” “the first amendment guarantees the right to nude dancing,” etc., etc.
The problem is, the Supreme Court has consistently found in favor of municipalities who restrict or ban nude dancing, finding that these kinds of laws do not violate the first amendment to the Constitution (e.g., Barnes v. Glen Theatre, City of Erie v. Pap’s A.M.). It’s a legitimate right of a community to uphold moral standards and protect the community against secondary effects of sexually-oriented businesses (such as prostitution, sexual assaults, and other criminal activity). Thus, the panicky, strip-club non-attenders-yet-principled-defenders can rest easy knowing that curtailing nude dancing won’t infringe on their right to write letters to the editor.
And, I’m just curious… when are we going to hear from the strip-club supporters who actually go to strip clubs? Surely they’re not too ashamed to speak for themselves in the debate.
Leapin’ Lee Ranson
I found this link awhile back and thought (erroneously) that I would be sharing something new by putting it on my blog. But I’ll be darned if the PeoriaTV blog didn’t already have it on their site. Oh well. Here it is anyway — what a great link!
Peoria Chiefs On A Roll
Chiefs lose again tonight, 14-2 against Wisconsin.
Sure am glad they brought in the Cubs affiliate…. All that winning the last couple years was a real drag. This is more like it!
Yeah, that was me
In case you’re wondering if I was the “Chris Summers” mentioned in Phil Luciano’s column today, yes, that was me. He did a really good job on the article. The “pal” I was out with was my wife and two other couples from our church, but he didn’t know that. Still, it was kinda funny — I’ve been calling my wife “pal” all day, and she’s been calling me “buddy.”
My wife called Flat Top Grill to let them know about the problem with the sales tax, but they didn’t believe her and were rather condescending toward her over the phone. So, that’s when I wrote to Phil. Funny how they changed their tune when the media called. It’s too bad they didn’t just listen to their customers. They could’ve saved themselves the embarrassment and a $2,000 charitable donation. Not that we wanted to embarrass them — we just wanted them to charge the right amount of sales tax, and didn’t know who else to call since they wouldn’t listen to us.
But, I have to give them credit for that donation nonetheless. That was a really classy thing to do. And, really, they have good food and good service. I’d go back, but I’m afraid they’ll recognize me. 🙂 I recommend it to anyone else, though.
Disgruntled Cardinals Fan
Well, the Peoria Chiefs baseball team has switched affiliations from the Cardinals to the Cubs this year. You can tell they’re a Cubs affiliate now because they lost their season opener, their home opener, and last night they made four errors.
I don’t understand why, when you’ve got a franchise that won the Midwest League a couple years ago and was in the playoffs last year, you would want to switch affiliations. It was only about four years ago that Albert Pujols was playing in Peoria. Do they really think that being a Cubs affiliate will bring more people to the ballpark?
Maybe they’re right. We’ll see. Cubs fans do show a propensity to root for their team even if they never win a game, a pennant, or a series. So maybe that will rub off on Chiefs fans. It will certainly take the pressure off, if they can draw a crowd without having to win anymore.
Another Voice in the Crowd
It’s been said that everyone’s talking these days, but no one is listening. The blogosphere is like being one voice in a roaring crowd. On the other hand, they say that journaling is good for the mind. So, I’m going to give this a whirl anyway.
At first, since I’m new at this, this will serve as nothing more than an on-line journal where I can post my thoughts on the news of the day or other topics of interest to me. There’s always plenty to talk about in Peoria.