Lincolnite

This won't come as a shock to most of you, but once again the Feds have made matters worse -- not better -- with a new crop of laws and regulations. This time it's a law that prevents public transit systems from using their vehicles for special events. In Lincoln, that means Star Tran can no longer offer Christmas light tours, and Husker game day Big Red Express buses might be out, too. The purpose of the rules is to protect private mass transit operators from unfair competition by the government. That's all well and good. But the law harms rather than helps when no private entity is willing or able to step in and offer the same services. The holiday light tour isn't any big loss from a transportation perspective. Losing Big Red Express, on the other hand, would force hundreds more cars onto Lincoln's already-clogged game day streets. That's probably why it sounds like Lincoln will modify the service rather than eliminate it. That'll mean a net loss of $140,000, but it's plausible that the direct and indirect costs of not offering Big Red Express are higher. If any of you amateur economists out there want to take a stab at the numbers, please go right ahead.

I recently heard about two odd decisions. The first was at the Panera Bread at Southpointe. Apparently "corporate" told them they can no longer sell local newspapers in the store. That's according to an employee who was asked where the newspapers disappeared to. Why can't you get your Cindy Lange Kubick fix along with your morning muffin and coffee? Beats me. I'm told that store management is trying to get the Journal Star to put a vending machine just outside the door. I wonder if Southpointe will let them do that? The other was just a few steps away at Cold Stone. There, apparently "corporate" has told employees to cut back on the friendliness with guests. They are to sing for tips ... and nothing else. Considering that jovial employees -- some might say they are excessively so -- are one of Cold Stone's trademarks, this order is especially baffling. If you're a Cold Stone regular, be sure to let us know if this actually goes into practice.

Lincolnite Karen Tumeh is suing McDonald's because employees at the 27th and Pine Lake location wouldn't let her order at the drive-thru window. Ms. Tumeh is hearing-impaired. Drive-thru speakers don't play nicely with her hearing aid. She could have gone inside, but why should she have to? Notably, the one location is the only one that has caused her problems. On first glance, this sure looks a lot like two stubborn mules going head-to-head. How else can you explain such a small and easily-remedied situation leading to a lawsuit? Surely two phone calls (or letters) -- at most -- should have been enough: one call to the location's manager should have done the trick, but if not, a follow-up with the corporate office definitely should have ended the problem. It's a simple employee training issue. It isn't clear if those phone calls ever happened. If they (or an equivalent) never occurred, then shame on Ms. Tumeh and her attorney for bogging down the courts with a lawsuit when simpler methods should have been tried first. If they did happen, it is unclear how McDonald's responded. I wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Tumeh's complaint was simply the victim of the "It's somebody else's problem" mentality so common in large corporate and bureaucratic structures. If you're into that sort of thing, check out the comments on the article over at journalstar.com. There are leaps to conclusions and boneheaded statements aplenty, and even a little bigotry thrown in. Over 100 comments so far. And over something so very insignificant. ::sigh:: You know, if I were the rabble-rousing sort, I would encourage all of us to gather up at noon, head on over to 27th and Pine Lake, and order at the window in the drive-thru lane. Good thing I'm not that ornery.

Have you ever wanted to jump out of a plane? Now's as good a time as any. This weekend you can take the leap, with a portion of your fee going to support the American Cancer Society. The Lincoln Sport Parachuting Club is putting on the event. If you jump this weekend, you'll experience one minute of freefall -- roughly equivalent to "forever" or "not long enough", depending on your feelings about these things. I have never gone skydiving. It's on my list. I'm not a big fan of heights, but I am a big fan of adrenaline. Even though I dread the thought of jumping from the plane, I love the thought of frefalling for a minute. Is anybody jumping this weekend? Have you gone skydiving before?

The City Council on Monday approved a redevelopment plan that will ultimately result in an "upscale" strip mall at the I-80 airport exit. It's hard to complain too much about a $2.2 million investment in the airport vicinity, an area that could certainly use some TLC. On the other hand, there's that $300,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) that the developers will get to play with. I'll be curious to see exactly what constitutes an "upscale" strip mall, and if Speedway Properties can keep the storefronts occupied. Isn't Speedway the outfit that owns all the (nearly) empty commercial space just west of 9th and Van Dorn? If so, I can't say I'm enthusiastic about their ability to match a project with a location. On the other hand, if they can latch on to all that I-80 traffic, they're golden.

The rerouting of left turn traffic at 10th and Van Dorn is nearly complete. The new lanes are scheduled to open tomorrow. It's a very unusual setup, but then, it's not your every day intersection. It will be interesting to see how well traffic adjusts to the new setup. If you travel near that intersection regularly, let us know what you think of the new lanes, signage, light patterns, and so on.

Lincoln is fortunate to not see many large fires. On Sunday evening I spoke with a veteran firefighter, and he said the last big call he went out on was over a year ago. Unfortunately for the residents at Thomasbrook Apartments, we still see a few big fire events now and then. Residents in ten of the 23 units did not have renters insurance. Honestly, I'm surprised the ratio is so low. I'll bet that's one of the lower uninsured-to-insured ratios you'll find in Lincoln. (I'm just guessing here. Does anybody know the percentage of renters with insurance?) In any event, the folks in those ten units are in trouble. Donations are being accepted at any U.S. Bank location. On the plus side, seeing the firefighters in action hardened the resolve of one of my wife's friends to continue trying to become a firefighter. She lives nearby, but not in the burned building. She spoke very highly of the firefighters at the scene. She said they were professional, courteous, organized, and helpful. Good work, guys and gals. Speaking of firefighters, I want to thank the guys from Station 4 who helped entertain my son at Southern Heights Presbyterian on Sunday night. Robbie spent a lot of time marveling over the ambulance and fire truck, going back and forth between the two. The guys on duty did a good job playing with Robbie and keeping him out of trouble.

Chuck Hagel continues to provide stomach ulcers to members of the hard right with the recent news that he is accompanying Obama to Iraq. Yet there is even more internets rumor-mongering. From The Washington Note - a respectable foreign policy and international affairs blog I follow from time to time:

Senator Chuck Hagel is on the verge of endorsing Barack Obama for President.

Does anyone think this is possible? That would be more than a slap in the face to Chuck's friend John. It would be like an LAPD-style stomp-down. Photo above also from The Washington Note.

Here's some cool news for those of you who have a stack of old electronics sitting around your house: Schaefer's (47th and R) is hosting a Think Green Recycling Event this weekend. The hours are:

• Friday: 10-4
• Saturday: 10-4
• Sunday: 12-4

Schaefer's will recycle: televisions; consumer electronics (i.e. stereo components); game systems; cell phones; rechargeable batteries; and computers and peripherals. In addition, you will receive $100 off a Sony purchase of $999 or more. The newspaper ad says you'll receive $100 off for every TV you bring in; the web ad just mentions a single $100 coupon. So a little confusion there. This is a really good chance to do a little electronic house cleaning. I know I have several items I've been hesitant to throw in the trash, so this is great timing for me. Two tips, though: First, if you are discarding a computer, make sure you have cleaned up the hard drive. If you're only mildly paranoid, you can just format it. If you're really paranoid, I suppose you could enlist the assistance of a hammer. Second, don't forget about other options for your computers and peripherals, such as donation. A ten year-old computer probably won't do anybody any good; a three year-old computer, on the other hand, is probably still usable. Hat tip: Karin Dalziel. Thanks, Karin!

Lincoln's Zoo Bar is celebrating its 35th anniversary this weekend with a street festival tonight and tomorrow night. It should be a fun weekend for one of Lincoln's best known venues. If you like your atmosphere a little mellower, then might I suggest Soul Dawg's appearance tonight at SouthPointe at 6:30pm. That's where you'll find The Wilsons (look for us south of the stage). Oh, and if that's not enough for you, don't miss The Music Man at Pinewood Bowl this weekend and next. Then on Monday, the Cornhusker Summer Music Games returns to Memorial Stadium. The defending world champion Blue Devils will make an appearance. That should keep you busy.

Holy flippity heck. Mayor Beutler's budget just took a pounding from an unexpected source: LES wants to jack up rates by an astounding 12% beginning in September. That's an average of $9 per month for the average residential customer. Beutler's budget only asked Lincolnites to chip in an extra fifteen bucks per year. This means war. No really. Beutler is steamed that LES sprung this on him without so much as a breath of warning. It's an appalling move by LES, and it's so boneheaded I can hardly believe they had the chutzpah to try it. Whatever goodwill LES had built up in Lincoln with their customers/owners and with local government may have just gone out the window. I'm curious what could possibly justify LES requesting a 12% rate increase. Is that really the best they could do? Details will emerge in the coming days, I'm sure. Hopefully local media will have some answers for us soon. UPDATE: Thanks to foxspit for providing a link to the Mayor's statement. It includes this surprising line:

Therefore, in light of this notification from LES, I will urge the City Council to work with me in developing a plan to withdraw the proposed one-penny property tax revenue increase and instead, utilize one-time funds to save those programs.

I admit it, I'm a smoothie fanatic. I could drink the darn things all day, every day. That's why I don't let myself have them very often. But when I do ... mmmm. Who has the best smoothies in town? My current favorite is Juice Stop, and NuVibe comes in second. But honestly, I haven't shopped around very much. I'm sure I am missing some good options out there. The places I'm most likely to miss are those that don't explicitly specialize in smoothies, but I've probably missed some smoothie-centric joints as well. Where are your favorite places to get a smoothie in Lincoln? What chains do you wish would come to town?

Lincoln sure is growing up, isn't it? In all likelihood, we have already reached the magical quarter million mark. Too bad we don't have a nifty real-time population counting billboard or something. We could have celebrated the moment. I think George's quarter tacos would have made a nice celebratory food, don't you? I don't know if 250,000 is supposed to sound like a lot or not. I still frequently run into family, friends, and acquaintances all over town. On the other hand, Lincoln has grown by, what, more than a third since I was a young 'un? And I'm not even very old. Our next milestone is 300,000. Odds are, we'll hit that mark sometime before 2020. I wonder what we'll look like?