Latest Blog Posts
Where in Lincoln is this?
Edit: To my complete surprise, this was a real tough photo to figure out. For a while there I was worried that no one would correctly answer this one, which would have been the first time since we started this game. Luckily, Nikkidemas came through for you Lincolnites and salvaged your honor (via a PM sent earlier in the afternoon).
The Value of Half-Section Roads
In a letter the LJS titled “Neighborhood trapped”, Gary Sloniker complains about poor access to his neighborhood near 84th and Vine. He laments that Vine Street ends at 84th, eliminating what could have been a handy exit point for the neighborhood to the east.
I don’t know much about the specifics of Mr. Sloniker’s neighborhood’s traffic dynamics, but I do agree with him that Vine Street should not have been cut off at 84th. The same is true for several other streets around town, including South Street (ends at 84th) and 48th Street (ends at Old Cheney). These “half-section” roads help support the grid of streets that lie on section lines, spaced approximately one mile apart. The fewer through roads there are, the more we have to rely on personal automobiles to get around and the more difficult it is to access Point B from Point A. Conversely, with more through roads, you have more options for getting from Point A to Point B, both in terms of route and mode.
It’s possible to take that logic too far, of course. An entire city laid out on a city block grid would be a traffic nightmare. Sure, you’d have a seemingly limitless number of options for getting places, but you’d also have to stop nearly every block. What a pain!
I have always liked the notion of streets laid out more or less on a half-mile, or perhaps a quarter-mile, grid. It increases the number of route options available to people, which decreases traffic pressure on any one route. It also provides more readily-available alternate routes if a particular route is closed or becomes clogged.
I could go on (and on and on), but I’ll cut myself off and simply say that I wish Lincoln hadn’t decided as it grew to rely solely on streets on the mile, eliminating those on the half-mile on the city’s edge. Mr. Sloniker’s complaint is but one of many reasons why I like streets like Vine, 33rd, and South.
Moving Forward at the Event Center
The Haymarket arena may still be dragging along in the planning stages, but the Lancaster Event Center continues to move forward. Now, the Lancaster County Agricultural Society wants to press ahead with plans for adding a hotel and related businesses on the Event Center property. You might be getting a sense of deja vu right now; that’s because talk about building a hotel started over three years ago. Plans were put on hold while talk about the Haymarket arena heated up.
It makes sense to me to build a hotel and perhaps a restaurant or two near the Event Center. North 84th Street is hoppin’ with activity these days, so those businesses are needed whether they are associated with the Event Center or not.
Do you have any complaints about the plans at the Event Center?
Simply amazing
There are no more words folks. We are watching the greatest player in the sport of golf...ever. And we could be watching one of if not the greatest athlete of all time.
What this guy has done this weekend is absolutely amazing.
The 18 hole playoff is tomorrow.
I Have Seen the Face of Google … And He Has a Beard
Many people have guessed what Google looks like. They are all wrong. Google is a middle-aged white man who enjoys hanging out in the SCC parking lot. Meet Google:
Congrats to Nikki for unmasking the All-Knowing One!
Peeping Google
Oh sweet. Lincoln now has a “street view” in Google Maps. Check it out. Be sure to let us know if you find any cool photos.
Hat tip: beerorkid
Holmes Lake is Full
The Wilsons took a walk around Holmes Lake last night.
The lake is as full as I’ve seen it in a while. Who here remembers when it flooded the softball fields approximately 15 years ago?
Not only were there dozens of people walking around the lake, there were also several sailboats in the water.
Portions of the crushed limestone trail had been washed out ...
... and other parts were completely submerged.
A couple dozen people were scattered around the lake taking advantage of the fishing opportunities.
All in all, it was a great night to be out at the lake with the family.
Free Kung Fu for You
Here’s a cool little treat for all you Lincolnites. The folks at the Lincoln Kungfu Club are offering a free introductory lesson to anybody who mentions Lincolnite. Go check out the details and get yourself signed up.
A Smaller Workforce Than in 1990
If Mayor Beutler get his way, you and I will have 50 fewer employees working for us than we did in 1990. That’s pretty incredible. Was City government that bloated in 1990, or are we just really pressing our luck today? Probably a little of both, I suspect.
Interestingly, if Mayor Beutler gets his wish, there’s a chance that public safety personnel will be among the 45 positions cut this year. I’m sure we aren’t talking about large numbers—maybe a couple cops and a couple fire fighters—but I don’t expect the public (or the City Council) to take that news without some grumbling.
Also interesting (to me, anyway) is the possibility of Star Tran’s fare’s being consolidated into a single “very low fare”. Is that marketing-speak for “fares will actually go up, but it’s a bargain compared to other options”, or are they actually talking about lowering fares? How do you lower the fare when the department is looking to lose a substantial chunk of its budget?
What say you about this latest bit of budget information?
A Trip to Rib Ranch
Despite hearing over and over that Parker’s Rib Ranch “is just like Dave’s”—and I like Famous Dave’s—I had failed to give it a try. Until last night that is. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Then the tornado sirens went off, which made the experience a bit jumbled. Still, I collected a few thoughts.
First up, Rib Ranch is a lot like Famous Dave’s. The french fries, for example, must have come directly out of Dave’s fryer. If you like Famous Dave’s, you’ll probably like Rib Ranch. And since Rib Ranch is locally-owned ... well, that’s a point in their favor in my book. If you don’t like Famous Dave’s, whether or not you’ll like Rib Ranch depends on what it is about Dave’s that you don’t like. Give Rib Ranch a try and judge it on its own merits.
The menu at Rib Ranch has plenty of options. There are the usual ribs, pork, brisket, and chicken options that you would expect to find at a barbecue joint. In addition, there are several sandwiches, some salads, and even a veggie burger. Sides include the usuals of beans, potatoes (fries, baked, mashed, romano), and a couple other items I don’t remember. (Like I said, the storm jumbled the whole experience.)
The Missus went with a chicken sandwich and the romano spuds. She enjoyed both, though despite saying “no bacon” twice, her sandwich arrived with bacon on it. That’s a definite no-no, but I quickly snatched the bacon from her plate and gave it a new home. It was delicious.
I opted for the special, a quarter roast chicken and 3 ribs for $10.99. The chicken was very moist and tasty. The seasoning on the chicken was just a touch salty for my tastes, but not unpleasantly so. The ribs were a little disappointing. The meat that was there was plenty tender, but there wasn’t much meat on the bones.
Service was both great and terrible. Our waiter greeted us enthusiastically, made recommendations when asked, and interacted nicely with Robbie. That lasted through the first half of our visit. Then, suddenly, he all but disappeared. Drinks went un-filled, the check took forever to arrive, and he was generally much less attentive than he should have been. I’m willing to keep an open mind and say that perhaps he is terrified of storms and he was curled up in the fetal position in the cooler. Whatever the cause, it was a real Jekyll and Hyde experience for us.
We do plan to go back, preferably on a less chaotic day. Hopefully then I’ll be able to do a more formal review. Have you been to Rib Ranch? How do you like it? What should I order next time?
Parker’s Rib Ranch is located at 6440 O Street. Call 402-467-5110 for takeout or catering.
Mapping Crime
Police Chief Tom Casady announced a new crime mapping tool called, well, Crime Mapping that includes some nifty features for quickly seeing what’s going on near a particular address. It’s short on details of the crimes, but it’s handy for a quick glance. One cool feature is the ability to be notified about crimes that occur near an address you specify. Want to know if somebody is assaulted within a mile of your house? Register for a notification and you’ll get an e-mail whenever an assault is reported.
Wet and Wild
Well that was an interesting evening. I hope you all came through okay. Any wet basements or drowned cars?
Things were actually fairly quiet here at 625 Elm Street. The ol’ rain gauge clocked in at around 2”. Normally that would be quite a bit, but compared to what many folks received, we may have been on the low end. The strangest thing about the evening for me was the lack of wind. I don’t know what things were like around town, but at our house I’m not sure if the winds ever gusted more than 30 miles per hour. In fact, the wind was calm or nearly calm throughout much of the evening. That made the skies all that much eerier.
What did y’all think about the extensive use of the sirens last night? Personally, I think it was the right move. There were enough ominous factors at play to justify keeping the sirens running. Sometimes I think that emergency management services cry wolf too soon and too frequently. (Or too late. During a storm earlier this season emergency management broke into the television broadcast to issue a severe thunderstorm warning for a storm that was already well on its way exiting the county.) But I support last night’s decision 100%.
By the way, if any of you have photos from last night or today, be sure to share them. You can either post them somewhere and give us a link, or e-mail them to me at mrwilson at lincolnite dot com.
Risky Business
Going through the results of the latest survey on risky behavior by teens in Lancaster County is interesting:
- 34% of teens have had sex. That sounds about right
- 10% “rarely” or “never” wear a seatbelt. I was raised to always wear my seatbelt, so this seems weird to me. Why wouldn’t you wear a seatbelt?
- 40% have had alcohol in the past 30 days. That’s an incredibly high number when you consider all the laws, regulations, and programs in place to get the number down. Something is broken.
- 34% have smoked pot. Seriously, 1/3 of teens have used marijuana? Wow. I had the munchies 24/7 when I was a teen, and I was sober as a judge. I can’t imagine how much I might have eaten if I had partaken of the demon weed.
- 13% have attempted suicide in the past year. This is the one that really caught my eye. One out of every eight teens has tried to kill himself. If that number were accurate for my graduating class, that would mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 of my classmates had attempted suicide before donning a cap and gown. I don’t know what counts as an “attempt”, and I don’t know how reliable this survey is. But ... wow.
Let’s Audit City Hall
Today Deena Winter notes that a volunteer audit board is ready to put City government under the magnifying glass. The question now is what areas they should tackle first. One of the ideas floated so far is for them to review the city’s use of tax increment financing (TIF). That sounds like a good idea to me, though I’m concerned that a board of volunteers wouldn’t have the resources or know-how to do the studies and evaluate the data in a way that will truly be useful. Still, I’d like to know what they could find out.
What areas of City government would you audit?
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