Latest Blog Posts
People on the Move
...or maybe not. A sobering tidbit of reality from last night’s 10/11 report: 25%+ of adult Nebraskans are, ugh, obese. “Obesity,” by the way, is when your BMI is over 30. Being simply “overweight” is when your BMI is 25 or over. As we all know, BMI can be quite a poor indicator of “common sense” physical health. Example: For those of you who know me, I’m thin as a paper clip...but according to the BMI formulation I’m straddling the line into the overweight zone.
Regardless, everyone enjoy the long July 4th weekend. I’ve never been a huge fan of Larry the Cable Guy’s humor, but its kind of cool knowing that the Comedy Central taping will be the biggest taped stand-up event in the history of comedy.
Music on the Move
Dietze Music is on the move. Dietze will close its 56th and Old Cheney location and move to Briarhurst Center at 48th and Highway 2—a short half-mile away—at the end of July. In their own words, the new location
… will offer convenient parking, lessons and repairs, a more open retail display environment, with lessons and a place for musicians to congregate and commune. WiFi and flat screen TVs will be available for parents and family waiting for lessons. Guitars, drums, keyboards, microphones and school band and orchestra instrument rentals will continue to be a specialty, with support services in print music and band instrument and string repairs.
In addition, the downtown guitar and drum shop will move to the new location. More details (PDF).
I’m glad to see Dietze continue to grow and evolve because, like many of you, my first instrument came from Dietze. I still remember going Downtown with my mom to pick out my trumpet in 1989. I think the conversation with the sales clerk went something like “Give us your cheapest trumpet. Nah, better make it your second-cheapest.” When I hit high school I went to the south location to select a new instrument, the one that carried me through my Cornhusker Marching Band days and which just may become Robbie’s instrument one of these days.
I’m also interested in Dietze’s move because Briarhurst Center is in my neighborhood. That little strip has quite the eclectic collection of shops. In one stop you can get bread, sushi, bait, a tan, brain training, a sign, a drum, a plant, and a beer. Talk about well-rounded.
A Better Way to Learn
Nebraska has launched a new apprenticeship website which, although sparse, is better than nothing for my favorite approach to job training. There are oodles of industries and occupations that could benefit by being less reliant on formal schooling and instead expand on-the-job training opportunities, including apprenticeship.
How else are we going to develop the next generation of sorcerers?
Love To Sneeze? Have I Got a Dog For You!
I can’t imagine there are many people out there perusing the classifieds thinking, “What I really want is a dog that makes my nose so stuffed up and my eyes so watery that I am absolutely miserable every single day”. But hey, there’s a market for everything.
Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. .0004%
Lincoln has crossed the quarter million barrier. Woohoo! or Boo! depending on your perspective. I suspected this milestone was coming up soon, so a few weeks back I started to blog about it. Unfortunately I jumped the gun; the relevant data was just released Wednesday by the Census Bureau.
Does Lincoln feel like a community of a quarter million? Are we still a small town trapped in a “big” city’s growing body?
Another From the “How Not To Run a Business” Series
Back when Ken Svoboda’s business had trouble with poppies on 84th Street, it made for an amusing punchline. Then Svoboda and the company ran into trouble with the Nebraska Department of Revenue and eyebrows were raised. Now, even the Feds are coming after Svoboda:
The U.S. Department of Labor accused former Lincoln City Councilman Ken Svoboda and his family’s business, Ray’s Lawn and Home Care, of repeatedly and willfully breaking federal labor laws.
Specifically, Ray’s is accused of failing to keep employment records, and making some employees work more than 40 hours a week without paying overtime.
For what it’s worth, the flowers on 84th Street look much better this year.
Time For an Upgrade
Firefox users rejoice: Firefox 3.5 is now available.
Don’t use Firefox? Then please be sure you’re using the latest version of Safari, Chrome, or Opera. Your friendly neighborhood web developer thanks you.
What’s that? You use Internet Explorer? Ugh. OK, if you have to use IE, for Pete’s sake PLEASE be sure you are using the latest version (IE8). Every time you use IE6 God kicks a puppy. You don’t hate puppies, do you?
The Pet Project That Won’t Die (Or Live)
Mayor Beutler’s pet “one stop development shop” just can’t get off the ground. I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
The idea sounds good enough: Local developers, along with Lincoln’s healthy population of folks who think the City does nothing right, have long complained that doing business in Lincoln can be tricky. Ugly, even. Whether or not that’s true isn’t the point. There’s a perception that it is true, and that in itself is a problem. Mayor Beutler’s proposed solution is to bring several offices under one roof to make several pieces of the development process simpler. Sounds great, right?
It’s not quite that simple. For one thing, it sounds like this is going to cost us at least $120,000 more per year. In a City Lincoln’s size that’s real money, and it has to come from somewhere. Furthermore, putting a bunch of people together under one roof doesn’t guarantee anything. Without a system-wide culture shift, nothing changes. Even then developer and public perception has to change as well.
One possibility is to create some sort of “Development Czar” position. That may give some cohesion to disparate offices and departments, but it’s yet another cost to deal with. Jon Camp even thinks a Czar would “de-politicize” the process. With all due respect to Mr. Camp, I hope he isn’t actually so naive as to believe such a silly thing. Nothing in local government is apolitical. Certainly a long-time City Council member should know that.
Other than generic “the process is difficult” complaints, I’m not sure what’s so difficult for developers. I would love to see a list of specific complaints. Better yet, I would love to see organizations like LIBA, the Home Builders Association, and the Chamber of Commerce each come up with their own lists along with a checklist of specific proposed solutions. That would be a huge help for people like me who are still fuzzy on the specifics of the problem and therefore can’t offer up much of an educated argument for or against particular solutions.
What’s your take on the “one stop development shop” and the current state of complaints related to doing business with the City?
The Money Pit
Does anybody else get Tom Hanks’ voice stuck in their head whenever they read about Pershing Center’s latest troubles? Surely it isn’t just me…
South Lincoln Trails Gets a New Link
Users of Lincoln’s extensive bike trail system will enjoy hearing that Lincoln has received $300,000 in state funding for the Cavett Connector Trail project near Cavett Elementary. It’s a relatively limited victory for trail users, but it does provide a link from, say, the 27th and Highway 2 hub to Yankee Hill Road. That’s worth something, I suppose. My big question is why the state is chipping in $300k for what amounts to a residential trail. Isn’t this a strictly local project? In any event, it’s nice to see more and more of Lincoln’s trail system coming together.
Check out Lincoln’s trails plans (PDF).
First Flight Out of Here
So much for that little experiment.
After a short three weeks, Delta is pulling the plug on its Atlanta and Salt Lake City flights from Lincoln Airport. I doubt the news itself comes as a surprise to most of you, though the short lifespan of the routes is a bit odd.
Poor Lincoln Airport. It just can’t quite seem to find an identity. What I’m not able to put my finger on—and what you may be able to help identify—is the cause. Is it a leadership/personnel problem? An airline problem? A market problem? But maybe that’s putting the cart before the horse. What is Lincoln Airport’s identity?
Where in Lincoln is this?
EDIT: Spot on Kirsten! You correctly identified where these pictures were taken!
Hello Haymarket Park
The Wilsons watched the first six innings of last night’s Lincoln Saltdogs game at Haymarket Park. What a great facility. Why haven’t we gone more often?
Last night pretty much had it all for Robbie: he got to cross a bridge and walk right over top of a moving train; he got to watch a baseball game; he met Homer; he met Ronald “Old” McDonald; he ate pizza and a snow cone; and he saw his former daycare provider and her kids. What more could a kid want?
This was only my second Saltdogs game, but it was such a relaxing and enjoyable experience hopefully I’ll be back more often. Heck it almost—almost—made me miss my umpiring days. But then again, no. Relaxing on the berm, not squatting behind the plate, is definitely the best way to watch baseball.
Battle of the Lakes
The City’s Independence Day celebration will be held at Oak Lake again this year. That to the consternation of “traditionalists” who think the festival should return to its previous location at Holmes Lake on the other side of town.
I ask you, Lincolnites: which is the better location for the festivities, Oak Lake or Holmes Lake?
I don’t have a dog in this fight. As much as I love a good community festival, Independence Day for the Wilsons has always been more about spending the day with the family around home. I do have a bias toward Holmes Lake, but that’s only because I have spent much more time there and I love many aspects of the park’s recent facelift.
What’s your druthers?
Sell!
And so it begins. After yesterday’s 4-1 vote, Lancaster County will begin trying to sell Lancaster Manor.
I have tried to follow the issue of Lancaster Manor’s status and future, but I have to admit I still don’t know exactly what to think. There are advantages to either County or private ownership. There is certainly a lot of passion out there from folks who want to keep the Manor a County-owned facility, and that’s great. But it’s somewhat difficult to determine how much of that passion is driven by facts and how much is driven by inertia.
Many of you no doubt have very strong feelings on this issue, and I’m sure some of you have done your homework. Did the County Board make the correct decision yesterday? Why or why not?
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