Lincolnite

I'm confused about the name of that 4-lane road in south Lincoln. You know the one. It crosses south Lincoln diagonally from the east until eventually it turns into 9th and 10th Streets. What's that road called? I have always called it "Highway 2". That seems to make the most sense to me since it is, in fact, the route of Nebraska Highway 2. I think Highway 2 is the road's most common name. The street signs, however, don't agree. They all call the road "Nebraska Highway". That has always struck me as a remarkably unspecific thing to call the road. After all, there are lots of Nebraska highways around the state. Just around Lincoln there are Nebraska Highway 79; Nebraska Highway 63; Nebraska Highway 43; Nebraska Highway 33; and so on. Nobody would ever call Highway 77 "U.S. Highway" and expect anybody to know what they are talking about. So why do our street signs do that with Highway 2? I have pondered this name confusion for several years. It began back when I first heard about the South and East Beltways. I thought, if we're going to re-route Highway 2 onto the new South Beltway, we will need to rename the current stretch of pavement. From there I decided we should not only rename the road, we should redesign it as well. What is now Highway 2 should become Boosalis Boulevard. Or Lincoln Boulevard. Or whatever. The important part is the boulevard concept. The whole stretch should be prettied up with fancy medians and a more residential feel, rather than the highway-y ugliness that pervades much of the road today. Actually I would love to put the boulevard plan into motion today. Alas, if we can't even find the will to prioritize the beltway there's no way we'll gain any traction toward the boulevard. So back to my main point. It seems to me like the street signs should read "Nebraska Highway 2". If they're going to chop off a word, they should chop off "Nebraska", not "2". Can I get an amen?

While scouring the intertubes this afternoon I came across the hours for the new Sam & Louie's that is going into the former Planet Sub at 1332 P. They'll be open 11 until 9pm Sunday through Wednesday, and 11 until 2am Thursday through Saturday. Clearly they're going after the drunk crowd. Notably they're also going after the Sunday after-church crowd. Several restaurants Downtown are closed all or part of Sunday. S&L must smell opportunity. Well, that or they're a little naive.

When The Missus saw the list of LPS Superintendent candidates, she revealed her own qualifications for a good candidate: "Somebody under 40 whose spouse wants to stay in Lincoln". It's an interesting (and brief) set of qualifications that highlights a common frustration with the people who fill this sort of high-ranking position: they leave too darn soon. The Missus strongly prefers somebody who has every intention of hanging around for the long haul. She even gave a good example, Lincoln Southwest's Ryan Mahoney. There's a downside to encouraging such relative youth, of course. Youth and inexperience are strongly correlated. But surely that's not all bad. Sometimes experience is just a synonym for being stuck in the same old broken frame of mind. With the exception of the candidates from Lincoln -- Marilyn Moore is 60 and Dennis Van Horn is 59 -- I don't know how old the candidates are. I doubt any meet The Missus' strict age requirement. Moore and Van Horn are likely to stay in Lincoln for the rest of their careers, while we simply can't know about the others. Dr. Susan Gourley was here for the rest of her career, which totaled all of 6 years. What do you think about The Missus' quick-and-dirty set of qualifications for LPS Superintendent? What are you looking for in your ideal candidate?

Lincoln's pothole hotline: 441-7646 If that's busy, try: 441-6300. If it's an OH MY GOD THAT HOLE JUST ATTAINED SENTIENCE AND ATE A CITY BUS emergency, call: 441-7701. Please don't bother them will those little bumps and thumps on your favorite residential street. Not yet, anyway. Let's help them -- and our fellow Lincolnites -- by pointing City crews to the most awful of the potholes on the busiest roads first. As I think about this, I'm starting to realize that we need an "unofficial" way to mark big potholes so that other drivers will see them early enough that they can react accordingly. I'm thinking of some kind of marker near the curb, not unlike the roadside crosses people leave at the spot of fatal accidents. A hubcap on a stick would be appropriate, but finding a big enough stick to make the hubcap noticeable can be tough. (Not to mention that jamming a big stick into frozen ground is no walk in the park.) Any ideas, Lincolnites?

After years of discussion, we may know before we go to bed on May 11 whether or not Lincoln will build itself a new arena. May the best choice win.

Justin McDowell sent me the following about Ignite Lincoln. It's a nifty idea, and I'm sure I'll have more to say about it in the future. For now, though, I'll let Justin take the microphone.

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Ignite Lincoln is now looking for people who have a passion and love to talk about it. The event features fast-paced, 5-minute presentations, and is turning to the community to provide some enlightened local entertainment. Lincoln residents are invited to submit presentations about any topic in which they are enthusiastic. Chosen proposals will be presented on stage in front of an audience on April 29 at the Bourbon Theatre. The Ignite format consists of giving each of the 16 presenters 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds following the motto of “enlighten us, but make it quick.” Speakers can come from all backgrounds, including entrepreneurs, technologists, do-it-yourselfers, creative professionals, and enthusiastic knowledge-seekers. Past participants have discussed such topics as how to use the local library, saving the whales, and running a business the Mario Brothers way. Ignite Lincoln is part of a series of global events. Ignite started in Seattle in December, 2006 as a way for people to share their ideas with their local community. Since then, over 200 Ignite events have been shared all over the world. Talks range from playing dirty in Scrabble to being a refugee. This will be Lincoln's first Ignite. Presentation topics are due March 1. The event will take place at the Bourbon Theatre, 1415 O Street from 6 to 8 PM. Tickets are free. Full details about Lincoln's 1st semi-annual event are available at http://ignitelincoln.org/.

If you aren't already sick of hearing about the arena you may want to check out today's City Council public hearing on the topic. The relevant items from the agenda:

Authorizing the execution and delivery of the Lincoln Haymarket Joint Public Agency Agreement and related documents.

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Directing submittal to the qualified electors of the City a proposed general obligation bond issue in an amount not to exceed $25 million for construction of a new Lincoln Haymarket Arena and related improvements at the May 11, 2010 primary election.

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Approving a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Lincoln and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska with respect to construction of the Lincoln Haymarket Arena, utilizing the JPA for financing and other financial agreements related to Premium Seating, and the subsequent lease of the Leased Improvements to Athletics for the use of its basketball teams for a 30 year term to commence September 1, 2013.

With the Winter Olympics fast approaching I've been really wondering if a former colleague of mine would be making his second appearance. Sure enough, 10/11 reported yesterday that Curt Tomasevicz will compete in bobsledding in Vancouver. Curt is from Shelby and is a former Husker football player. I met Curt several years ago through our local baseball umpire association. Curt will compete in the 4-man competition on February 26 and 27. I have no idea how much coverage NBC is going to give to the bobsledding competitions. My guess is they will show a portion of the February 27th events, but that's only a guess. Are there any other Olympians with whom you have ties, or who have ties to Lincoln?

Mayor Chris Beutler has responded to some of Deena Winter's comments in her Wednesday column. The Mayor's piece is worth a read. Unfortunately he doesn't address something I'm curious about, which is the matter of how the joint public agency's liabilities could affect local property taxes. Maybe next time.

Toney the harbor seal is moving out, headed to a salt water swimming hole in Louisville, Kentucky. This leaves the Lincoln Children's Zoo without a seal for the first time since 1990. I never fell in love with the seals, but I know many Lincolnites grew up with them. I, on the other hand, grew up with a certain grizzly that many of you will remember. (Quiz: Do you remember his name and where he came from?) I still miss that old fella. I'm sure the zoo already has plans, or at least ideas, but I wonder what you all would put in the seal location. More aquatic animals? Penguins, perhaps? How about a large prairie dog village? Let's brainstorm!

I had high hopes for the story headlined Assault Charges for Man With Asp. I envisioned a goofy confrontation between two men and a snake. The truth was disappointing:

Fehringer says the suspect took a weapon known as an Asp, a collapsible steel baton, hit one of the victims and threatened the other.

Nuts.

I'm all for the swift completion of roadwork, but is it the state's job to define the specifics of local street repair contracts? Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh thinks so. His LB 838 would require counties, cities, and villages to include incentive and disincentive provisions in road construction contracts; and it would require "minimum" lane closures with penalties of $1,000 per day for "improperly closed" lanes. I have no problem with the state mandating these sorts of things for contracts involving state roads. But what business is it of the state how Lincoln -- or any other locality -- manages these matters in its own contracts? This bill sounds like the punitive project of a guy who thinks he could build a road in a day. I picture Sen. Lautenbaugh sitting in traffic, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel in anger and frustration, sweat beaded upon his brow, swearing under his breath at those good-for-nothing road crews. "I know!", he exclaims one day. "I'll pass a one-size-fits-all law. That will fix everything!" But I digress. Yea or nay on this one, folks?

ESPN doesn't care for Devaney:

Speaking of horses … some might say they would be the easiest form of transportation for getting anywhere close to the Devaney Center when so many people converge here. In the midst of the former state fairgrounds, Devaney is surrounded by bottleneck-creating obstacles: overpasses, drainage ditches, buildings, houses and fences. It's too cold up here for an alligator-filled moat, or they might have that, too. Built in 1976, Devaney isn't going to win any arena beauty contests. However, it's what's inside that counts. And Saturday, that was a whole lot of red-clad fans -- just a couple hundred short of a complete sellout -- and a so-far unflappable team led by those six seniors.

And speaking of the arena, here's the ballot language:

Shall the city of Lincoln, Neb., issue its arena bonds in a principal amount not to exceed $25 million for the purpose of paying a portion of the costs incident to acquiring, constructing, equipping and furnishing the Lincoln Haymarket Arena and related facilities and improvements, such bonds to be dated at the time of their issuance, to become due and payable on such dates, to bear interest at such rates and to have such other terms as may be fixed by the city at the time of their issuance, and to be payable from the income, proceeds and revenue of the Lincoln Haymarket Arena and related facilities and improvements, from state appropriations under the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act and/or other state sources and from other available revenue, income and receipts of the city, including certain city sales, use, occupation and/or property tax revenue, fees or receipts, sufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on said bonds as they become due and payable, provided, however, that approval of this bond issue will not cause any increase in the property tax levy millage limit of the city?

Bleh. Legalese is lame enough as it is, but do they have to add insult to injury by pretending there's no such thing as a semicolon? What an unreadable mess. Here's Mr. Wilson's abridged version: If you vote yes, the City is on the hook for $25 million. But don't worry! We won't use property taxes to cover that amount. Please ignore the remaining $300+ million -- which could affect your property taxes -- which shall remain hidden behind this curtain over here. One last thing: Surely I'm not the only one who thinks the initial arena designs are kind of funky (in a good way). Does anybody out there agree with me? Hat tip: Deena Winter.

Nebraska's gambling hypocrisy continues with the announcement that Mega Millions is coming to the state on March 20. For those of you keeping score:

• Gambling on sports: bad.
• Gambling on horses: good.
• Bingo: bad.
• Scratch-off cards: good.
• Poker: bad.
• Keno: good.
• Slots: bad.
• Multi-state lotteries: good.

If you are looking for a textbook example of "do as I say, not as I do" in state government, this is it.