Latest Blog Posts
The Game
I know Mr. Wilson is eagerly anticipating next year’s Dark Knight, as am I. But in the meantime, thank God for independent film. Here’s the best trailer I have seen all year. I figure any movie that can resurrect people like Hammer for 80s music aficionados like Jwilt is worth my $10. Opening in select cities this week.
My Community, My Choice
In all the hustle to get Lincast out the door, I forgot to post this…
If you had $25,000 to improve Lincoln, how would you spend it? That’s the question Alltel Wireless is asking Lincolnites right now. Alltel is giving $10,000 to
But Alltel will give $25,000 to the one of those organizations that receives the most votes at alltel.com/community. Or Alltel customers can text PARK, FOOD, or HOME to 102102 to vote for the corresponding group. Voting is open through October 19.
To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, or to hear from former Cornhusker Mike Rozier, who was in town to help promote this event, check out Lincast.
(Note: I was not paid to post this message.)
If You’re in the Mood for a Hearty Debate…
If you’re the type who gets fired up over a good abortion debate, the UNL campus is the place to be. Better still, it sounds like there is a chance that folks from Westboro Baptist Church may be on campus today to enthusiastically share their message of love and compassion.
Today might not be the day for school groups to take a field trip to campus.
Cheaper Gas in Lincoln?
I’m skeptical, but it’s possible that the arrival of gas from Sam’s Club could lead to lower gas prices throughout Lincoln. Only Sam’s Club members would be able to purchase the gas. I have a hard time seeing the effects ripple much beyond the North 27th Street corridor. But hey, if my local stations at 48th and Highway 2 want to drop their prices because of pressure from 6 pumps at 27th and Superior, I’m certainly not going to complain.
More on Maria
First, it looks like I owe the Journal Star an apology. journalstar.com did cover Maria Moreno’s murder, but they offered their heavy coverage on Tuesday, not Wednesday (when it appeared in the print version). My jump to conclusions was based on incomplete and incorrect information. Many thanks to journalstar.com editor Steve Smith for setting me straight.
Let me explain the main reason I was primed to jump to conclusions in the first place. I don’t think anybody is ever completely happy with how the media do their job. They leave X piece of information out, or they focus too much on Y, and so on. It’s a battle the media will never win. One of my media-related perceptions is what I consider an undue emphasis on the plight of “pretty white females” at the expense of persons from other demographics. Look up “Madeleine McCann” for one example in the national media.
When I saw the front page of yesterday’s Journal Star, I knew without reading the article that the murder victim was probably not white and not rich. There was something about the way the article was presented and how it was written. Like the fact that the victim’s name didn’t come until the seventh paragraph. The article left me feeling uneasy about the quality of coverage the murder was receiving.
Then I turned on the computer and went to journalstar.com to see if there were any updates on the story. There weren’t. Plus, as I wrote yesterday, I couldn’t even find the article at first. Like I said above, it turns out the story was apparently covered well online the day before. But I didn’t know that, so I got angry.
Now, lest you think I’m accusing the Journal Star of active bias, I most certainly am not. Their overall record doesn’t support that charge. There may be a hundred reasons why Maria Rosario Moreno isn’t getting the coverage that some other victims have received. There could be a whole team of reporters out looking for more information for all I know. She may have been a loner with few friends and no local family; the LJS may not have nor have access to any photos of her; and so on. All that has been said about Maria so far is that ““She was a very nice woman ... And an unbelievably hard worker”, and “She was a pleasant little girl, as far as I’m concerned”. Perhaps that really is all the LJS can gather.
Still, the story seems incomplete. Neither of the two articles so far mention Moreno’s family or any attempts to contact them. We don’t know her hometown, or the funeral plans. Without knowing anything about her life, most Lincolnites will quickly forget about her death.
What I would like you to tell me is this: Am I reading too much into this? Should I just move on? Or is it fair of me to ask why Maria Rosario Moreno’s life hasn’t received at least a few more words on page 1B?
Her Name Was Maria
Her name was Maria Rosario Moreno.
Notice anything wrong with the Journal Star’s website today?
Try the news page. Nothing? How ‘bout the local news page. Still nothing? Look waaaaay down at the bottom, under “More Local Headlines”. See it?
Ex-boyfriend held in woman’s killing
That’s right: school boundaries, the Huskers’ woes, “The Office” parties, and gourmet salt all get front-and-center attention at JournalStar.com. Meanwhile, Maria Rosario Moreno was murdered, and the Journal Star buried her deep on the local news page.
At least in the print edition the murder made the front page. Still, Maria’s name doesn’t come until the seventh paragraph.
At least LJS readers know about designer salt.
Lincast Episode 1
I am proud to announce the arrival of episode 1 of Lincast. Lincast is a podcast dedicated to covering topics related to Lincoln. Episodes will feature interviews, commentaries, debates, music, games, and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time.
I am very excited about this first episode. Episode 1 features:
- An introduction to Lincast.
- A conversation with former Cornhusker and 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier. (No, really!)
- A conversation with Lincoln-Lancaster County Habitat for Humanity directory Marilyn Haley.
The runtime is 21:09.
Update: You may now subscribe to the feed in iTunes using this URL: http://lincolnite.com/lincast/lincast.rss. Lincast will eventually show up in the iTunes store. Until then, you can subscribe manually by going to Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast.
I would love to receive your comments, questions, contributions, suggestions, and so on. Please leave a note in the comments or use the e-mail address mentioned in the show.
Special thanks to:
- Mike Rozier
- Marilyn Haley
- Caitlyn Bransfield
- Kristin Adams
- Mr. T, for pushing me to start up a podcast
Every Journey Begins with a Single Step
Step 1: Create a giant blight zone to allow TIF.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!
In Which I Agree With Jon Bruning
This one’s for Dave K:
Public employees + public equipment = private funds? I don’t think so. That’s why I agree with Attorney General Jon Bruning’s opinion that the Nebraska Historical Society’s “private” account must be made public.
I wonder how often that sort of thing happens in government. I’m going to guess: Often.
Robert at the Park
Robert and I made this video while we played at Zeman tonight. The quality is pretty poor, but hey, it’s YouTube.
Homefront News
Whew, what a busy weekend. I worked late on Friday night and again on Saturday morning. Then I reffed two soccer matches at Doane that night, followed by two youth matches at Den Hartog on Sunday morning. Six hours of running within 20 hours makes Mr. Wilson a tired boy.
During the second youth match we had a bit of a scary situation. A player was hit in the head by an errant free kick. I didn’t see it—like a good referee I was watching the “drop zone”, not the kick itself—but I heard it. I turned and jogged to the player fully expecting the usual ball + face = bloody nose equation. No big deal, right? Instead, I found an unconscious player curled into the fetal position. Crap.
Fortunately, there one of the parents on the sideline was a physician, so I put him in charge. The paramedics were called, but in the end the player walked off the field under his own, slightly disoriented, power. He didn’t leave in the ambulance, but hopefully his parents took him to the hospital to get checked out.
(Aside: Why in the world should two firetrucks and an ambulance respond to a simple blow to the head? Shouldn’t a single ambulance suffice? Can anybody in the medical community explain to me how that is not a tremendous waste of resources?)
In other 625 Elm Street news, Robbie is doing awesome these days. He still doesn’t say many actual words, but physically the kid is pretty darn impressive. He has no fear and, apparently, a relatively high tolerance for pain. That’s great for brushing aside skinned knees today, but does this mean we have a future X-Games participant on our hands? Dad can probably handle that, and mom could probably get used to it. But grandma and Aunt Brooke will have heart attacks if that happens. For now, he walks, runs, climbs, and tumbles as well as some kids twice his age. If he weren’t so shrimpy he could do even more. I’ve even almost taught him to jump. We almost have liftoff. We’ll get there.
Last night we had family photos taken. I’ll post one once we get them back.
South Siders Stink
Ahh yes, in the eternal battle between North and South, northerner Daniel Widders has fired a shot (last letter):
South Lincoln is sending a clear message. If alcoholic women and Alzheimer’s patients are threatening to the sacred soil of South Lincoln, then how much more the fight will be over anyone else. I wouldn’t give stray kittens much hope.
KFRX is Dead
About a week ago I decided to check in on KFRX (102.7 FM). I used to listen to KFRX all the time yeeeeears ago. I figured I’d see what was the latest and greatest in Top 40 music. A sample of what I heard:
[Man ] Where’d you get your body from?
Tell me where’d you get your body from?
Baby where’d you get your body from?[Woman] I got it from my mama.
I got it from my mama.
I got it from my mama.[Repeat over and over and over]
I’m glad to see Top 40’s rigorous quality standards are still being upheld.
Anyway, just a couple days into my listening experiment, KFRX went AWOL. Apparently the format has moved to 106.3, “Lincoln’s Hit Music”. (Such a delightfully generic tagline, don’t you think? It goes well with the music they play.) And KFRX? It will become adult contemporary. Why the format flip-flop after literally decades of Top 40 at 102.7? Who knows. I will never understand the radio industry.
Hop Aboard the Blight Train
If you don’t want to see a new arena in the Haymarket, or if you’re staunchly against the hundreds of acres Lincoln keeps tagging as blighted, you’d better say your piece soon. There’s a public hearing today at 5:30pm—and probably a City Council vote—to determine if 403 acres between Salt Creek and the Haymarket should be declared blighted.
The reality of the situation is that the area will be blighted. If Lincoln wants a new arena—it does—we have to put it somewhere. Considering the absence of proposals to put it elsewhere—or at least the absence of proposals with any serious backing—the Haymarket is effectively our only choice. And by most measures, it’s our best choice anyway.
There is still one very serious sticking point: the cost of an arena. How will Lincolnites respond to funding through TIF, plus, in all likelihood, additional tax-based funding mechanisms? Several members of the City Council appear to be entertaining the notion of letting Lincolnites vote on the arena at some point, so we may find out soon enough.
But that’s putting the cart before the horse. First we need land. If you have strong feelings about those 403 acres, go say your piece tonight.
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