The Wonderful Development (aka The Downtown Marriott Hotel Project) is progressing on-budget and on-schedule, according to a report by the City’s project manager, PSA Dewberry. The new parking garage is still expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the renovated Pere Marquette is scheduled to open as the Peoria Marriott Pere … Continue reading Good news: Your tax dollars are being wasted on time and on budget
The Peoria Chapters of the NAACP, the ACLU, the Peoria Christian Leadership Council and the Peoria Area League of Women Voters are partnering in a campaign to prevent voter suppression in Peoria. The self-described non-partisan effort is called “Let Me Vote!” and will kick off with a press conference at 5:30 p.m. Monday, September 24, … Continue reading Let Me Vote! campaign to kick off Sept. 24
Who thinks one-way streets are bad for business? Mayor Ardis’s dad thought so. In a March 9, 1966, Journal Star article, Mayor Jim Ardis’s father (who also served on the City Council), expressed his objection to the expansion of one-way streets in downtown Peoria: James E. Ardis, who operates Ardis & Son Cleaners, 518 NE … Continue reading Who thinks one-way streets are bad for business?
The 5-4 decision released yesterday by the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act would be comical if it didn’t have such far-reaching consequences. Here we have a majority of the supposedly preeminent minds in American jurisprudence using the most tortured logic imaginable to uphold the ACA as constitutional. The whole thing hinges on this … Continue reading Pretzel logic reigns supreme on court
Remember in my last post, how I said Caterpillar had purchased the naming rights for $1 million? Well… Under the “Purchase” section of the Naming Rights Agreement, one of the conditions that must be met for the deal to go through is this: “Pere Marquette Hotel Associates, L.P., a Kansas limited partnership shall have paid … Continue reading Who’s actually paying for the Caterpillar Sky Walk?
If you haven’t noticed, Billy Dennis has been on a crusade against Rush Limbaugh. Lately he’s taken to putting up post after post after post of “stupid” Rush Limbaugh quotes–about one an hour. I thought, just for fun, we’d turn the tables and see if there are any “stupid” Billy Dennis quotes we could find. … Continue reading Stupid things that have come out of Billy Dennis’s blog
Eleven years ago, Aaron Schock was nineteen, just out of high school, and a candidate for the Peoria Public Schools Board of Education. At the time, 200 signatures were required to get on the ballot, and he filed 220. Attorney Bob Hall, a close friend of Schock’s opponent (board president Rhonda Hunt), contested the signatures … Continue reading Schock unopposed thanks to “ruthless tactics” he once decried
The City Council is poised to add another funding source to the downtown hotel project next Tuesday. Keep in mind the funding sources already tapped for this project: HIZ TIF (10/28/2008) — First, they created the Hospitality Improvement Zone TIF (tax increment financing) district. This happened in October 2008 while the mayor and council were … Continue reading How many different funding sources can we tap for the Wonderful Development?
You’ll never guess what’s on the City Council agenda for next Tuesday, 24 January 2012. It’s a request to extend the deadline on the downtown hotel project yet again. Yes. “Time is of the essence,” Councilman Spain breathlessly implored in December 2008 when this erstwhile clandestine project was first revealed to the public, be sure … Continue reading Wonderful Development deadline to be extended yet again
The City Council is voting on a revised redevelopment plan tonight for the undead Wonderful Development. This new plan not only gives the developer $29 million, but also loans him an additional $7 million because he couldn’t get all the private financing he needed. So the question is, where is this $7 million coming from? … Continue reading Peoria to put retiree funds at risk for hotel