The Weekly Post prototype (image supplied by The Weekly Post)Some say that newspapers are dying, but a newborn venture in rural Peoria County is defying conventional wisdom.
Starting today, Feb. 21, The Weekly Post will deliver news, features, photos, comics and more for free to 5,000 households in western Peoria and eastern Knox counties.
“There is still a place for a truly local newspaper,” said editor Jeff Lampe, a former Peoria Journal Star outdoors writer and current publisher of the monthly magazine Heartland Outdoors. “People want to know what is happening in their community. Despite the growth of Facebook and Internet blogs, community news is not always readily available.
“Our goal is to provide that local information and to become the news source people for residents of Brimfield, Edwards, Elmwood, Kickapoo, Laura, Williamsfield and Yates City.”
Lampe is enlisting regular contributions from area residents such as three other former Journal Star reporters: Terry Bibo, Keith Butterfield and Bill Knight. The Weekly Post will also feature material from local photographers, writers, businesspeople and students.
Bibo is an award-winning columnist who continues to freelance for the Journal Star, covering Fulton County.
Butterfield was a longtime government reporter before becoming a spokesman for Caterpillar, from which he retired last year.
Knight, who retired from teaching journalism at Western Illinois University in May, also writes a twice-weekly newspaper column for downstate dailies and weeklies and does weekly commentaries for public radio.
“Some people think we are crazy to start a newspaper in this day and age. But I still see successful weeklies across Illinois,” Lampe said. “Those successful papers have at least one thing in common: They print stories and features people want to read. That is our goal. We plan to cover the news of west-central Illinois with a passion.”
In an email exchange with Bill Knight, I learned that the weekly paper is free and will be supported solely via advertising. A companion website is planned for the future, but initial efforts will be focused on the printed paper, according to Knight.
Speaking of bad ideas, a recent Word on the Street article says that local officials are still pursuing the foolhardy idea of getting a commuter train to Bloomington instead of a direct Amtrak route to Chicago. Rather than re-explain in different words why this is such a bad idea, I’m just going to reprint an earlier article I wrote on the subject (original post here):
The old Peoria-to-Bloomington commuter train idea is apparently still on the table over at the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Let’s go over this again:
Nobody wants to take a train to Bloomington. The only reason anyone would ever take a train to Bloomington is to continue on to Chicago or St. Louis. And if their ultimate destination is elsewhere, they’ll just drive to Bloomington to catch the train. Bloomington has free parking and virtually no traffic congestion. So a Peoria-Bloomington route is doomed to fail.
Peoria to Chicago, on the other hand, would be a heavily-traveled route. Since Chicago would be the ultimate destination for most train trips anyway (they’re a major Amtrak hub, unlike St. Louis), it makes sense to have a direct route from Peoria. Those in the tri-county area could avoid the commute to Bloomington to catch the train, as well as avoiding the traffic congestion and high cost of parking in Chicago.
Look at it this way: imagine we’re talking about air service instead of train service. Can you imagine anyone seriously suggesting that the best we could do is to offer commuter flights to Bloomington for those who wanted to continue on to Chicago (or any other destination)? With a layover? Where you have to switch planes and transfer your own bags? Would anyone buy a ticket on that flight? No. And they won’t take a commuter train to Bloomington, either.
We need our legislators to start fighting for Peoria transportation options instead of fighting against them. You would think we’d be in a great position having a home-town boy as Secretary of Transportation, and yet LaHood is the biggest obstacle. He’s never supported train service for Peoria. In fact, he’s been downright ornery opposing it. Why? Does Caterpillar not want train service to Peoria or something? And what about Durbin? He supported the Quad Cities in their effort to get passenger rail service–why isn’t he doing more to push Peoria’s effort? Where are our advocates?
The Greater Peoria Area is the third-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the state. There’s demand for passenger rail service here. Instead of the Illinois Department of Transportation giving away millions of dollars to build new and unsustainable roads through cornfields (Orange Prairie Road extension, Pioneer Parkway extension), why don’t they put that money toward a responsible and sustainable mode of transportation that would help the whole region: direct passenger rail service from Peoria to Chicago?
If I told you about a weight-loss program that involves emptying your stomach contents into the toilet before the food can be digested, what would you think I was describing? Bulimia, right?
With Aspiration Therapy, patients “aspirate” (drain) a portion of their stomach contents into the toilet after each meal through an endoscopically-implanted tube, reducing the number of calories absorbed by the body. The tube is implanted in the stomach, and leads to a small, low-profile port at the surface of the skin. Aspiration performed about twenty minutes after a meal will remove about a third of the calories consumed.
Aspiration Therapy System
They call this “minimally invasive,” which is funny in and of itself. But the best line in their promotional material is this: “The AspireAssist is used in conjunction with a lifestyle modification program, and requires careful and comprehensive medical monitoring.” This is equivalent to those 1970s commercials for Sugar Smacks cereal that included the obligatory tagline, “Part of this nutritious breakfast!” Yeah, right. Another of the worst ideas that people have come up with when it comes to losing weight is not to use the best thermogenic fat burner on the internet, all because of fake news and misleading publications.
Judge Brandt ruled in favor of Gary Sandberg today, ordering that Sandberg be placed on the primary ballot for the first district City Council race. You can read the ruling here (PDF file):
Don’t let the title fool you into thinking he’s advocating ignorance. He’s not. On the contrary, the core of his argument is that “news” does not make us better informed, and in fact keeps us from being well-informed citizens. He argues against the short, superficial factoids that get hurled at us through radio, TV, and newspapers, and instead advocates reading books and in-depth magazine or journal articles that provide context and deeper understanding.
Take a little time to read and contemplate his arguments. What do you think of them?
Cheers to all this New Year’s Eve. May 2013 bring greater health and happiness to you, and may you succeed in fulfilling all your New Year’s resolutions.
My wife and I took in the screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Les Miserables” this afternoon. My recommendation: see the stage version, and skip the movie.
It’s not that this musical couldn’t have made a successful transition from stage to screen. There were two major problems with this particular movie: casting and directing.
There were two major characters that were poorly cast: Fantine (played by Anne Hathaway) and Javert (played by Russell Crowe). Hathaway’s melodramatic performance was way, way over the top. Broadway performers know how to act and sing at the same time. Hathaway appears able to do only one or the other at any given moment. Crowe is less objectionable. His characterization of Javert was quite good; however, his voice is simply not strong enough to carry Javert’s singing part. Crowe can carry a tune, but he can’t sell the song. And, seeing as how this is more or less an opera, that’s no small deficiency when you’re the antagonist for close to three hours.
But the biggest problem with the screen adaptation was the directing, which consisted of primarily two shots: closeups and extreme closeups. (I’m exaggerating, of course, but only a little.) Watching Marius sing “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” or Fantine sing “I Dreamed a Dream,” while on a static closeup for nearly the entire song did not display a great deal of either acting or directing skills. If this directing choice was meant to provoke pity and sadness, it only succeeded for the first forty-five seconds or so. After that, the viewers become anxious and jittery as their eyes begin searching for something — anything &mdash else to look at: the out-of-focus background, the borders of the screen, the exit sign, whatever can be found. The poignancy of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” would be captured better by seeing Marius alone in the room with the abandoned furniture for at least part of the time he sings about it. But alas, the set designer’s work is barely seen, and the actor is called upon to convey the full emotion of the moment solely through his face and voice.
Not that the film was all bad. Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), Enjorlas (Aaron Tviet), Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone), and of course the Bishop (Colm Wilkinson, who played the original Jean Valjean on stage) were high points as they all turned in exceptional performances, both in acting and singing. The Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) were entertaining, and Marius and Eponine (Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks) performed well. The set design was excellent.
If you’re a die-hard “Les Miserables” fan, you’ll want to see this movie regardless of the reviews. But if you’ve never seen the musical, don’t judge it based on the movie. The stage version is far superior.
At-large councilman Gary Sandberg, who was removed from the first district ballot last week by the Peoria Election Commission, has petitioned the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court for a review of that ruling.
Sandberg argues in his petition that a requirement that “aldermen” reside in their “ward” for one year prior to the next election does not apply to councilmen in the Council/Manager form of government.
The nearest theater to Peoria that is showing the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in the new “high frame rate” (HFR), or 48-frames-per-second format, is the Rave theater in Davenport, Iowa. I hear tell the HFR version may make it to Peoria eventually, but until then, it’s worth the drive up to Davenport to see for yourself. (Note: if you use Google to look up showtimes, it says that Carmike, formerly Rave, at Grand Prairie has the HFR version, but they don’t.)
The crispness of the images and the smoothness of the motion shots is incredible. It took a little while to get used to it, but not long. I understand the criticism this format has received, but I’m not certain it’s all due to the format. There were some scenes that had a definite look of a BBC videotaped series to them, but I’m not so sure they wouldn’t look that way even at 24 fps.
At times, the limitations of the special effects were exposed (i.e., they looked fake); especially noticeable was when Radagast is racing around on his sled. Also, some normal movement, such as walking, in the early scenes looked like they were a little sped up. Not sure if this got better as the movie went on, or if my eyes just got used to it after a while. Other reviews online have made the same observation.
But other than that, everything looked (strange as it may sound to say about a fantasy-genre film) realistic. Perhaps even hyper-realistic. It certainly is a noticeable advance in film.
As for the movie itself, it’s a good prequel to The Lord of the Rings, but the pacing is slow. There really was no reason to take this little book and turn it into three two-and-a-half-hour films. The result is the inclusion of too much footage that should have been left on the cutting-room floor. Many scenes are needlessly drawn out, especially the whole opening, which does nothing more than set up The Hobbit to be one big flashback.
The big teaser of the film is the dragon Smaug, which we never get to see completely. We see its effects, its tail, its shadow, and ultimately, its eye. But we never see the whole dragon. They’re saving that for the next film, no doubt.
Once the action gets going, however, the movie sucks you in just like the original LOTR, and it’s fun to visit Middle Earth once more as the wizard Gandalf and the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins help the dwarves reclaim their home from the dragon Smaug, and encounter more adventures than they expected along the way.
Published reports so far have not detailed which part of the municipal code was cited by the Election Commission in making their decision. The Journal Star, for instance, just says, “Commissioners cited municipal code that states a candidate has to live for one year in the district in which he or she runs for office.”
Updates will be made to this post as more information becomes available.
UPDATE (12/18/2012): Despite having asked for a copy of the ruling a week ago, the Election Commission would not release it. However, I was able to get a copy from Sandberg. Incidentally, Sandberg asked for it to be emailed to him and signed a document to that effect with the Election Commission, but they wouldn’t email him a copy. They sent it regular mail. It’s unclear why the commission chose this tactic of deliberate and unnecessary delays in releasing public information that was already announced at a public meeting a week ago. I guess just to show us peasants who the lord of the fiefdom is.
The analysis I provided in a previous post was basically correct, except that I missed one thing. You’ll recall that I was unsure how 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5(c) would be interpreted, since it used the terminology of “alderman” and “ward,” and our form of government is council-manager which uses the terms “councilman” and “district.” The answer is found in 65 ILCS 5/1-1-2(8), which states: “Wherever the words ‘city council,’ ‘aldermen,’ ‘commissioners,’ or ‘mayor’ occur, the provisions containing these words shall apply to the board of trustees, trustees, and president, respectively of villages and incorporated towns and councilmen in cities, so far as those provisions are applicable to them.” Based on that, the election commission determined that the one-year residency requirement for aldermen also applies to councilmen.
So far, Sandberg has not filed an appeal to the Circuit Court.
Petition for Judicial Review