Lincolnite

Poor Deputy Schmuecker. He -- or rather his cruiser -- has had a string of bad luck. First he hit a deer while responding to a call: And now his vehicle took some damage thanks to a BMW driver who couldn't quite figure out the difference between P and R on the gearshift: You've got to give the guy credit for remaining remarkably patient throughout the traffic stop. He didn't let slip even a single sarcastic comment. Good on him. As for the driver, well, I hope somebody out there recognizes him and gives him an appropriate dose of good-natured ribbing. It's only fair.

John Spatz wants to expand the selection of sellable and usable fireworks in Lincoln by allowing all fireworks permitted in the state. That's a much bigger list of products than Lincoln's pared-down list that excludes things like fireworks with a report. His reasoning is that since so many people break the law as it's currently written, we may as well make a few extra bucks by keeping those individuals' money in Lincoln. I can't really disagree with Spatz on this one. A substantial minority of Lincolnites violate current law, and a substantial majority don't care enough to do much about it. Not that there's much they can do. LPD doesn't have the resources to make even the tiniest of dents in the problem. You know what they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I do disagree with Spatz's suggestion that we extend to July 1st and 2nd the timeframe for using fireworks in Lincoln. I'm perfectly content with the current restriction to July 3 and 4. My family, my dog, and my sanity can only handle so much noise and toxic fumes. I realize some people already cheat and start early, but they're relatively few and far between. Let's keep it that way.

It's time for the final round in Jack & John's Munch Madness. The contenders: Runza Sandwich vs. Valentino's Special Pizza. Who will (and/or should) come out on top? Go vote!

You know your neighborhood crime is out of control when the police chief talks about it on his blog. Fortunately the latest perpetrator is now in custody. His goose is cooked!

Even though I haven't shopped there in years -- maybe even a decade -- I'll be sad to see Gordmans move from their current location near 48th and Vine to north of North 27th and Superior. Why? Because I have many fond memories of shopping at Richman Gordman with my mom. You may think that's an odd thing for a guy to remember about his childhood, but not if you ever had the chance to play on their in-store playground. It was fantastic. Moms would dump their kids off at the playground while they shopped, and the kids would fend for themselves for as long as mom was gone. I can't remember all the features of the play area, but I very clearly remember the big elephant slide. Good times. They used to have a great toy section, too. I remember using birthday money to buy a couple Flipsiders from Richman Gordman, and they even carried Atari 2600 and Nintendo games for a while. So ... who wants to fill 100,000 square feet of soon-to-be empty retail space in a not-so-great-for-retail location on Vine Street? Anybody?

Twenty-eight LPD cops will be suspended without pay for watching videos while on duty. All of the officers were part of the overnight shift. Their suspensions will be served on an extended, staggered basis so that LPD doesn't run into staffing shortages. I'm speechless. Not because cops would do such a thing. (Employees slacking off while on the clock? No! Never happens!) No, I'm speechless because of the punishment. We live in a city where watching YouTube is enough to get a police officer a pretty harsh reprimand. If you don't appreciate how nifty that is you don't read enough news. There are oodles of police departments around the country in which this series of incidents wouldn't have caused so much as a flinch. There are departments where misconduct -- serious, right-infringing, public-harming misconduct -- goes unpunished or gets covered up. Cops buy and use drugs, ignore crimes among certain populations, assault people, tamper with evidence, manufacture crimes, destroy property, and so on. Meanwhile, in Lincoln our police chief gives cops a real good smack upside the head for catching up on their TV watching. Think about that. Neither Lincoln's police officers nor LPD are perfect, but damned if this response doesn't make me feel more -- not less -- confident in them.