Latest Blog Posts
Poppin’ Wheelies
Hey cool, I (almost) saw this happen!
At 5:38 p.m., a trooper saw a motorcyclist popping wheelies near 27th Street and Old Cheney Road, said spokeswoman Deb Collins.
When the trooper tried to stop the man, he fled, resulting in a short chase that included the assistance of a State Patrol helicopter, Collins said.
I saw the trooper driving strangely at 48th and Highway 2 just minutes later, and just before 7:00 I saw a patrol car parked in the median near 27th and Pine Lake Road. I was confused about why the State Patrol seemed to be doing traffic work in the city.
One thing about this bugs me: why the helicopter? Since when does a doofus on a bike require the trouble and expense of a helicopter search? Yeah, I know, the biker ran away from the cops. But what were the odds that a helicopter search would find the guy? Surely pretty low in this sort of a situation. Assuming there wasn’t reason to believe the biker was linked to a more serious crime, I’m inclined to call the helicopter search a waste. Indeed, it was citizens on the ground who cracked the case:
After troopers ended the pursuit, the patrol started receiving calls from neighbors in the area who said the knew where the bike and driver were, Collins said.
The motorcycle was later found at a home on Birch Creek Drive, and around 7:30 p.m., police arrested the driver at his home on Coronado Drive, Collins said.
Timothy Wright, 19, was arrested and jailed on suspicion of speeding and fleeing to avoid arrest, Collins said. Wright does not have motorcycle license, she said.
I have to wonder if Wright’s neighbors weren’t tickled to finally nail a neighborhood menace.
600 Miles An Hour
The fun Paleo-Future blog recently featured a 1901 story from the Lincoln Evening News on the 600 mph train of the future. Hmph, over a hundred years later and we’re still relying on a slightly less elegant form of transit.
Playing Under a New Star
Lincoln Stars head coach Steve Johnson called it quits to go back home to Grand Forks. Johnson was the team’s only coach in its successful 11 year history. Somebody has some big shoes to fill.
The Lawyer Says to Sue
Herb Friedman, a common presence on local television and radio commercials, has his say about the Time Warner mess in today’s Journal Star. It’s not a bad piece, but I came away feeling like the guy is a little dirty. Friedman proposes that “this is the stuff class actions are made of, and some customers might want to explore that option with counsel.” That’s probably true, but it seems to me it’s a little unethical of Mr. Friedman not to mention his own interest in a class action lawsuit. Mr. Friedman criticizes Time Warner for not being upfront about Navigator; shouldn’t he also be upfront about himself?
Bike And Ride
StarTran won’t be adding bike racks to buses any time soon, sez maintenance superintendent Glenn Knust. One reason is that the added 18” would make the buses too long to fit in the garage. It’s mind-boggling to think that there aren’t 18” to spare in the garage, but hey, whatever. The second reason makes more sense: at 2,500 bucks a pop, the cost/benefit ratio is a little out of whack. At $1.25 per bus ride, that would mean the racks would have to generate 2,000 additional rider trips just to pay for a single bike rack. That isn’t worth it. Not even close.
But hold on a second. $2,500 per bike rack sounds obscene, doesn’t it? After all, isn’t a bike rack basically just a simple metal frame, perhaps with a couple straps? I would think a suitable bike rack could be constructed for about fifty bucks in parts, plus labor. Right? Can Lincoln’s bike riding community explain to me where the extra $2,450 comes from?
Hat tip: foxspit
Ricky’s Back!
Competent to stand trial? Ha! Ricky Turco isn’t even competent to participate in society, as proven by his latest run-in with the police. The judge set bond at $500,000, five times higher than what the County Attorney requested.
The Journal Star apparently got tired of policing the comments on Turco-related articles because they didn’t allow comments about this most recent incident. That’s probably smart of them.
You know, Ricky Turco is obviously a maroon. That’s pretty hard to dispute. But he surely isn’t the only such maroon in town, just the most infamous one right now. I shudder to think that there are plenty of other Turco clones out there. Ugh.
Friday Five
It’s about time the four peregrine falcon chicks at the capitol had names. Here are some of my suggestions:
- North, South, East, and West, in honor of Nebraska’s north-south/east-west road grid.
- Lock, Stock, Smoking Barrel, and Smoking Barrel
- Herbie, Little Red, Durango, and Louie
- George, William, Ernie, and, uhh ... one of these guys
- Blizzard, Twister, Windy, and Drought
A Thousand a Day
Despite my inability to keep anything but the blog updated, Lincolnite continues to draw more and more visitors. The site now averages over 1,000 visitors per day. If you’ll excuse the quick self-congratulations, I think that’s pretty cool. Lincolnite is no Drudge Report, but we have a nice little community of regular and, uhh, “irregular” readers. I would publicly thank some of the regulars but I know I would miss somebody and I definitely don’t want to offend.
If you’re wondering, yes, I do still have grand plans for this site. Time and money are, as always, the major constraints. A sane person might say “To hell with it! I’ll just make it a blog and call it good”. But I don’t wanna, so I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to keep chipping away at this thing until it approaches my vision.
On the plus side, I think I will have some time this summer to devote to Lincolnite. I’ve given up baseball umpiring (for this year, anyway) so that gives me an opening. Also, I’m picking up some nice freelance web development work that’s helping on the funding side of things.
Anyway, thanks to everyone—all 1,000+ of you—who spend a little piece of your day around here. If at any time you have comments, questions, suggestions, or contributions, please let me know.
Lincolnites are…
- ...some of the most materialistic people and superficial people in the country it looks like it falls behind so many other core counties of metro areas.
- ...distressed to learn that during their 24 hour shift Firefighters also require nourishment.
- ...now armed against harmful chemicals from terrorists.
- ...proud of their “state-of-the-art” downtown, too.
- ...so friendly, chances are they’ll quietly watch from afar and then offer their congratulations after your ceremony is over.
- ...struggling with the fact that each household can expect to pay an addition $200 per year after the City and County spend every cent of extra property tax revenue generated by the recent property reevaluations.
- ...doing things for the betterment of Lincoln.
- ...bound to take advantage of the city’s movie theatre abundance.
- ...beautiful in their own special way
- ...depending on the trails for commuting year-round, providing yet another reason for them to be cleared and navigable.
Take a Tour of Whittier
The old Whittier Junior High on Vine Street has been semi-abandoned for a long time. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has plans—or at least hopes—for it, though, thanks to the Antelope Valley Project. Have you ever wondered what Whittier is like these days on the inside? Go ahead and take a tour.
Mission to 9 South Chargrill Aborted
The Missus, Robbie, and I made it into 9 South Chargrill last night, but we didn’t get seated. Their high chairs hadn’t been delivered yet so we would have had to improvise with Robbie. There are some restaurants in which I would have been willing to wing it, but Robbie was a little cranky, there were a bunch of people in the restaurant, and we had no idea how quickly we would get our food and get out of there. I am the sort of parent who wants his kid to be able to adapt to unique situations, but not at the expense of other customers who just want to enjoy a nice meal. So we left and ate at Yia Yia’s instead.
A couple quick reactions. First, 9 South is pretty small. Did I say small? I meant cozy. In a good way. Most tables were full last night at 6. Service looked like it might have been a little slow—not atypical for a new, local joint in the first couple weeks after opening—though that perception was based on pretty limited evidence. The menu is mostly meat-based with a few vegetarian items. Prices were mostly in the $10-$20 range, if I remember correctly. I have a paper version of the menu at home that I need to scan for you.
So that’s strike 2 for the Wilsons at 9 South. We’ll keep trying, though. If any of you make it there, please do report back.
You’re Paying For the Qwest (But Don’t Expect a Discount on Tickets)
Lincoln was axed from the so-called Qwest Center Bill, so Lincoln’s proposed arena and/or convention center won’t see any tax assistance for now. Senator Bill Avery and others hope to change that next year. For now, about $1.4 million that could have gone to programs across the state will now be funneled to the Qwest to pay off construction bonds. Funny, I don’t recall the Qwest’s supporters including a discussion of the facility’s reliance on state tax support when they made their pitches before it was built.
Norfolk Senator Mike Flood proposed the bill. Why is a Senator from Norfolk spearheading a bill that benefits Omaha? Senator Flood says that the Qwest is a “gem for all Nebraskans”, and that the Qwest deserves state tax support because Nebraskans from across the state use the facility. I don’t follow. Why should every Nebraskan have to help subsidize private interests through the use of public funds? Shouldn’t those who use the facility be the ones to pay for it?
Lincolnites need to think about these issues because we will be dealing with them very soon. How much tax support as a Lincolnite or a Nebraskan are you willing to give to the proposed arena and/or convention center? For how long?
Rain and Skeeters
I haven’t noticed any mosquito armies this year—and thank goodness for that. I’m generally an insect fan, but nobody sucks my blood without my permission. That’s just rude. Have you folks in other parts of Lincoln noticed a rush of the little buzzing bozos thanks to May’s heavy rains?
Speaking of heavy rains, my rain gauge showed over 1.25 inches this morning, while KLIN was reporting 68 hundredths at their station. I’m just glad we got some moisture. I had held off on watering my garden because the forecast promised rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. When I looked outside this morning my plants seemed very pleased by the overnight shower.
Lincoln, Nebraska is…
- ...a great place to live and work.
- ...in the Central Time Zone.
- ...a fast growing community with friendly neighborhoods, low crime rates, a great health care system and an excellent educational system.
- ...the tenth healthiest city for pregnancy according to BabyFit.com’s list of Top 100 Cities for Healthy Pregnancies.
- ...the state capital and second largest city in Nebraska.
- ...located in Lancaster County.
- ...a community of 215928 people and is the home of Nebraska Wesleyan University.
- ...recognized nationally for its football team from the University of Nebraska.
- ...very, very radical when it comes to encouraging poor people to have babies the public schools give people backpacks of food to encourage the poor people with babies to have more of them and additionally as was discussed before they offer free-baby care to high-schoolers who have babies.
- ...squarely in the middle, say observers.
The Blogs
-
The blog that covers everything Lincoln
-
The home of the Wilsons
-
In which Mr. T mutters and muses
-
Local and national sports chatter
The Blogroll
- Lincoln Green Scene
- Around the Rotunda
- Don’t Let Me Stop You
- Jack and John in the Morning
- folks from lincoln
- Robot Shuffle
- Taste of Lincoln
- Cheeks of God
- Life in the Red
- The Chief’s Corner
- Michael’s Internal Dialogue
- New Nebraska Network
- Merri Musings
- A Veritable Cornucopia of Useless Information
- Eatin’ in Lincoln
The Archives
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004