Latest Blog Posts
Electric Bills Get a Jolt
Look for a 5 percent increase in your electric bill from LES. That’s lower than the 5.5% LES requested, but higher than the 4% and 4.5% requested by LIBA and the Lincoln Employers Coalition, respectively. What will LES do without the extra 0.5%? That remains to be seen. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a voluntary “support sustainable energy” checkbox on our bills in the future. I don’t see such a thing being extremely successful. Why not? Because LES hasn’t (yet) given us any concrete goals to work toward. “Help LES build five new wind turbines” sounds like something I can get behind. “Help LES make posters and billboards to tell people to be more environmentally conscious” isn’t nearly as sexy.
Winter Doldrums
Are Lincolnites in a winter funk? Or perhaps we’re just masochists? I ask because the third most-read HuskerExtra story this morning is this flashback to October. I’m not sure why anybody would want to relive those days.
LJS Editors Hop on the Snow Wagon
The LJS editors have hopped on board the movement to change Lincoln’s snow removal policies. Mayor Beutler has expressed interest in reviewing the city’s policies as well. Then again, Mayor Beutler has also promised to review overall city spending—with methods including an upcoming citizen survey of some sort—so if the snow budget goes up, something else is probably going to have to go down. The Mayor is under a lot of pressure to keep the budget in check. And there’s the rub. Is snow removal a service Lincolnites are willing to pay (more) for? I think it probably is ... right up until the new tax bills arrive. That’s when folks tend to get cranky.
I wonder what we could accomplish with the equivalent of, say, a buck a person?
Let’s Eat
Mr. T, Moses, and I will be at Burrito Shack (approx. 9th and M) today at 12:45. If any of you would like to stop in and enjoy some tasty grub, I’d love to say hi.
Also, The Missus, Robbie, and I will probably drop by Duggan’s on Sunday to honor George Landolt’s memory with some mass taco consumption. We haven’t decided when we’ll go, but it some of you want to go as a group, we’d be happy to meet up with you.
Vote for Mommy
Chelsea Clinton will be in town today to campaign for her mom. She’ll be on the UNL campus at the Union at 2:00pm, then she’ll head to the Coffee House at 3:00. I could be wrong, but I can’t help but feel like sending in her daughter isn’t enough to get Clinton above the 30% mark in Saturday’s caucus.
Michelle Obama will be in town on Friday to campaign for her hubby. No details have been announced.
An LPD Slip-Up
Chief Casady’s squad is a little red-faced today after a lapse in judgment resulted in the Fourth Amendment helping to free a suspect in the Scheels robbery last October 1. Prosecutors were forced to drop their case against Jameal Gaines when a critical piece of evidence was ruled inadmissible because it had been acquired illegally.
Mistakes like this happen now and then in every police department. The unfortunate thing about this situation for LPD is that the robbery was very high-profile. Losing one of the main suspects due to a violation of his Constitutional rights is very embarrassing.
It’ll be interesting to see if Chief Casady addresses this publicly on his blog. He probably won’t (and maybe even can’t) address this situation specifically, but it would be interesting to read his general perspective on suspect rights during evidence gathering.
UPDATE: Indeed, Chief Casady has chimed in. An excerpt:
The probation order specified the conditions, and number 12 on that list was a requirement that the defendant “shall submit to search of his person, home, and school locker by the juvenile probation officer.” The police officers spoke to the juvenile court probation officer via telephone, who advised them that they could search based on the court’s order.
The District Court, however, ruled that the probation officer can’t transfer the authority of the Juvenile Court’s order authorizing the search to a police officer.
Emphasis in original.
Today’s Don’ts
- Don’t go to school today
- Don’t park on the even side of the street
- Don’t forget to take Mr. Wilson out for lunch
My Opinion of Time Warner Just Dropped Another Notch
Looks like Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner has taken another step toward the dark side. As of today (from my office, anyway), if you try to visit a domain that doesn’t exist, you are redirected to a page that contains “helpful” suggestions and, of course, advertisements. Go ahead, try to visit this website and see what happens.
At this stage you can still opt out of the service. To do so, either:
- Click “Why am I here?”, followed by “Preferences”; or
- Click the “Opt In or Out of This Service” link at the very bottom of the page
On the next page, change your settings as appropriate. I personally recommend setting everything to “Disabled”, but that’s just me.
Unfortunately, this may represent a tiny step toward a future in which internet service providers inject themselves more and more into your daily web browsing routine. The companies will promote this sort of a thing as a “service” intended only to help people find their way on the big bad World Wide Web. Fair enough, though the advertisements strewn across the page lead me to believe that altruism isn’t their sole motivation.
The average user probably won’t bat an eye at this, and frankly, it’s really not that big a deal at this point. I just don’t like the notion that somebody is interfering with the steps between my action (requesting a website) and the expected outcome (either the website or an error arrives). Call me a pessimist, but I see this move as a foot in the door.
The Legalities of Wireless
Richard Bagby of Lincoln is all in a lather over the Journal Star’s advice:
Stealing wireless Internet service from a neighbor is suggested in “A few serious and not-so-serious money-saving tips” (LJS, Jan. 31).
That’s outright criminal.
It’s not at all funny to list criminal activity as a way to save money, even if tongue in cheek.
... You owe the community an apology.
This may be a stupid question, but is it actually illegal to “steal” wireless internet service from a neighbor’s unsecured network? Unethical, yes, but illegal? Does Nebraska have such a law on the books? Does this all fall under the broad definition of wiretapping?
Regardless, if you don’t have your network secured, shame on you.
Beutler Picks Obama
You might be interested to know that Mayor Beutler has endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential race. Beutler’s decision doesn’t seem too surprising to me. His style feels roughly consistent with Obama’s—at least to the extent that you can compare the styles of a mayor and a senator running for president.
Of course, Beutler’s endorsement means approximately nothing in the grand scheme of things. But hey, you should know for whom your local leaders are stumping.
Go West, Young Man
I don’t suspect too many people will mourn the death of Tobacco Hut, but it is interesting to note that it’s probably the first business to close at least in part due to the West O bridge reconstruction. According to the Journal Star, it seems that most other businesses are hanging tough, with just a few layoffs or cuts in hours blamed on the bridge. Then again, we’re only three months into a one year project.
Have you changed your West O travel habits as a result of the bridge work?
The Democratic Caucus
Anyone here planning on caucusing this Saturday? I am. I have never done it before and am interested to see what its like. I am a registered Republican, but I can switch over the night of the caucus in order to participate. You can find your caucus location here. Mine will be at the UNL City Campus union, which I imagine will be pretty interesting to witness.
Slow Food at Bread and Cup
Whether you’re a Bread & Cup fan, or you’re thinking about trying it, you’ll want to read about the Camachos’ recent experience.
Eat for George’s Family
This Sunday at Duggan’s Pub (440 South 11th) there will be a benefit for the family of George Landolt, the infamous George of George’s Red Pepper Grill and Crawdaddy’s fame. You know, the guy behind quarter tacos, mofo salsa, and the big ass burrito. Landolt died last year of complications from diabetes at the age of 50.
George’s tacos will be available at the day-long event. Unfortunately, I can’t find the details online and our Sunday newspaper already made its way to the recycling bin. I believe the timeline was something like Noon until 10pm. A number of bands will perform, and there will be a silent auction.
If any of you happen to still have your Sunday paper handy, could you look up the article and post the details? If nobody posts, I’ll give Duggan’s a call later today.
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