Lincolnite

All good things must come to an end, and that includes Robbie's clean bill of health. Robbie picked up a bit of a cold Saturday night, so The Missus and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep while he tried to figure out why it was such a pain in the butt to breathe. He was a little fussy for much of Sunday, too. Fortunately he perked up toward Sunday evening, and he even slept for five whole hours in a row last night, a record. It's funny, I haven't had a problem so far with Robbie's pee, poop, or spit up. But dang, have you ever had somebody else's snot all over your bare shoulder? Ewww! Now that's gross.

Is it just me, or does pretty much every Colleen Kenney article seem like a really bad Bart's People segment?

Looks like I was on to something a while back when I noted how many houses are for sale in Lincoln, along with the heavy FSBO presence. Lincoln is facing a surplus of houses for sale, relative to previous years. Over 2,000 houses are on the market through realtors, and scores more are for sale by owner. Bad news if you're trying to sell, but good news if you're in the market to buy and you want plenty of choice.

Lincoln Fire Chief Mike Spadt has resigned. Mayor Colleen Seng asked for his resignation after new fire trucks -- the center of an ongoing scuffle -- failed to meet the City's specifications, despite assurances from the Fire Department that they did. Mike Spadt has been in hot water with some Lincolnites for years. The focus of much of the ire was the heavily contested LFD takeover of ambulance services. Assistant Chief Rich Furasek will replace Spadt until a permanent replacement can be found.

Five foods you should try this month, just because:

1. A cheese frenchee at Grandmother's
2. The DBQ pizza at Doughboyz Bistro
3. Fried chicken at Lee's
4. An ice cream cone at Zesto (the original on South Street, of course)
5. A slice of pie at Stauffer's

I nearly fainted this morning when I opened the Ground Zero. Jeff Korbelik's restaurant review includes actual ratings using a four star system! It's an interesting, but welcome, move from the article that almost never utters a discouraging word. Here's hoping Mr. Korbelik doesn't suffer from rating inflation. On a related note, this line from this morning's review of Jack Binion's Steak House struck me as pretty funny:

Entrees range from $22 to $48 -- a tad pricey by Lincoln standards -- and do not include salad, soup or, even a side dish.

A tad pricey? Jeff, that's downright obscene by Lincoln standards. There's nothing tad about it.

Don't forget to get your tickets to the Cornhusker Summer Music Games next Thursday, July 13th. Some previews: The Cadets: Cavaliers: Google Video features many more videos.

The Lincoln Police Union has voted to support Mayor Seng's proposed concealed weapons ban (PDF). The vote shouldn't surprise anybody. In general, police officers don't want citizens to possess weapons. Who can blame them? It is in their interests to tip the balance of power in their favor whenever possible. Two things are worth noting at this point. First, when thinking about and/or discussing Mayor Seng's ban, be sure you know what is meant by "concealed weapon":

9.36.140 Concealed Weapon; Definitions. (a) For the purposes of Section 9.36.130 of the Lincoln Municipal Code, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) Concealed weapon shall mean any firearm, stun gun, knife, switchblade knife, any gun which releases any propelled object by spring mechanism, compressed air or compressed gas, or any other instrument the use of which is intended or likely to cause death or bodily injury; (2) Knife shall mean any dagger, dirk, knife, or 1 stilleto with a blade over three and one-half inches in length or any other dangerous instrument capable of inflicting cutting, stabbing, or tearing wounds; (3) Stun gun shall mean any handheld electronic device that is powered by an internal power source such as batteries, and that is capable of introducing an electrical current into the body of a person which when introduced to the body shall be capable of disrupting a person's central nervous system and rendering the person temporarily incapable of normal functioning, for any period of time whatsoever. The electrical current may be introduced into the human body by means of direct pressure to the body from fixed electrodes on the electronic device and/or by one or more electrodes attached to a length of wire or other connection and which upon being fired from a firearm or any other mechanical device, strikes the human body and produces the reaction described herein.

It is a fairly broad definition that I think a lot of folks will be uncomfortable with. It's not necessarily that police officers will go around charging everybody possessing a pocket knife, fork, or toothpick with a felony, but a concealed carry charge could legally be brought against an individual for something that minor if the LPD really wanted to stick it to somebody (so to speak). In my opinion the definition invites too many opportunities for abusive interpretations of the law. Second, remain aware throughout any discussion that Police Chief Tom Casady is not a statistician. He is, on this issue, a salesman. He is marketing an idea he supports. He is obligated not to lie, but he has already shown a willingness to stretch the truth and use innuendo to support his cause. Consider two statistics he cites:

• From January 1996 to August 2001, 5,314 Texans with concealed carry permits were arrested for various offenses, including 41 cases of murder or attempted murder, 79 sexual assaults, 833 assaults and 60 other sex crimes.
• Last year, 1,395 people in Florida committed a crime serious enough to have their concealed weapons permits revoked.

What's wrong with these data? Two things. First, Chief Casady is playing the correlation = causation game. It's a common trap; don't fall for it. Second, there are not comparison data provided for persons without concealed carry permits. We don't know, from these data, whether persons with concealed carry permits are more or less likely than the rest of the population to commit the crimes mentioned here. I don't doubt that the statistics are true, but so what? They are meaningless in the absence of context. I don't know if the universe of crime data support a concealed carry ban or not, but I do know that Casady could find some much more meaningful statistics to aid his case. Instead, he has chosen to be a scare-monger. Hold him accountable. Demand better data. As the ban stands right now, I oppose it. Not only have supporters failed to convince me that there is a problem needing to be solved, the majority of their efforts to date have consisted of little more than lame ghost stories. There are perfectly valid reasons to get behind this sort of a ban, but so far I've heard very few of them put forward by our government officials. (A few citizens, on the other hand, have made the case more effectively.) Until Mayor Seng, Police Chief Casady, and others in local government do a better job of justifying their motives, I'm giving them a thumbs down.

Let's cut right to the chase: would you write in Tom for Governor this fall? I'm giving that effort a big thumbs down. I appreciate their spirit, but their energies are misplaced. Hopefully Rep. Osborne comes forward and tells his supporters to spend their time and money on more worthwhile efforts.

I really feel for the individuals and families that lost everything in Tuesday's house fire near 15th and D. The fire began when a 7 year-old boy, supervised by his mother, accidentally knocked a firework onto its side and leaves were ignited under the house's porch. The accident is especially ironic since the boy and his mother were being careful to place their fireworks on a sheet of plywood to ensure that they fired from level ground. I haven't seen any information about a support fund for the affected individuals yet. If you hear of something, please post details here. In the mean time Red Cross is providing aid.

Today is our third anniversary. Why The Missus continues to put up with me I'll probably never understand. But she does, and for that I am thankful. In three years we have made some pretty decent headway on our to-do list together:

1. House
2. Dog
3. Kid #1
4. Kid #2

Looks like we need to update our list or we'll soon run out of things to keep us busy. Lots of folks out there are looking for the secret to the perfect marriage. We aren't perfect, but I will tell you what has worked well for us so far. In short, we communicate well. We talk a lot on pretty much any topic you can think of. Drugs, sex, rock and roll, the quantity and nature of Robbie's poop over the past 24 hours -- we cover it all. We even managed to always have something to talk about while we were holed up in Boston. Have you ever spent eleven days in almost constant contact with your spouse? (Outside the honeymoon period, that is.) There are lots of opportunities to drive each other mad. But I think The Missus and I came out liking each other even more, and amazingly, even after being together for nearly ten years, I think we learned some new things about each other. On top of it all, though, we are best friends. We were best friends from the very beginning. That's what keeps us so strong. I don't think every successful couple has to be best friends, but our relationship fits our personalities very well. When we first began dating I often mused on how different we were, and that we proved that opposites attract. I even did a psychology project on the topic. Today I see that we are not opposites at all; we are surprisingly similar. She, the daughter of liberal New York Jews, and I, the son of conservative Nebraska Christians. Whodathunkit? And of course many of you have been pretty important in making The Wilsons who we are today. So to you, I say thanks. And to The Missus: Happy Anniversary.

State Senator Marian Price wants automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in every Lincoln Public School building. The Board of Education recently rejected the idea on a 4-3 vote. The Board didn't like the installation costs ($140,000+), maintenance costs, liability issues, and so on. AEDs are proven to help save lives in critical scenarios. I wonder how many lives could potentially be saved by following Senator Price's plan? My gut tells me it's probably quite a bit less than one life per year, but I could be wrong. How much are we willing to spend per life saved per year? It's a valid economics question, even though it does make you feel a little dirty for thinking of a life in terms of dollars. One hundred forty grand doesn't strike me as an obscene cost, but by the time you factor in hidden and ongoing costs, maybe it's not worth it any more. I don't know.

Shame on Councilman Ken Svoboda for using a shady return address on graduation cards his campaign sent to Lincoln's high school graduates. The cards featured a return address of city hall. I'm a little surprised his campaign was dumb unwise enough to let that sort of a thing slip. If you're working on a campaign you've got to know that sort of thing isn't kosher.

Neighbors might not like the idea of the area housing industrial uses, but I think it's great that somebody is already proposing a 300,000 square foot warehouse near 25th and Saltillo Road to take advantage of the future South Beltway. The Beltway needs to be as much an economic engine as a transportation corridor.

Cheers to Jessie Lierz and Paige Bakula, both age 11, who want parks designers to remember big kids, too (last letter):

We would like to express our feelings about the new Roberts Park equipment. We are very displeased with little slides, swings, and no basketball court. Our new park is very small and the builders think there are lots of kids around the age of 2-6 that can play with the equipment. We would like the builders to know that there are a lot of kids around the age of 8-13 who can’t play on the equipment. We would like bigger slides, so it would be more fun for us older kids. We would like one of the swings to be higher so we aren't scraping our feet and touching the ground. We would like our basketball court back, and we would like the baseball diamond that they told us we would have. We would truly like bigger and better equipment for our park. Plus a new bike rack.

Good letter, kids. Good luck to you.