Lincolnite

Will Lincoln have a new high-rise to look up to several years from now? That would be great to see. The major problem I have with the idea is that it is inverted. The idea, as presented by the Journal Star, is to build a parking garage that happens to have a high-rise on top. That is backwards. The emphasis ought to be on bringing in a high rise, with a parking garage on the bottom. If we emphasize the parking garage, we'll get the parking garage. If we emphasize the high-rise, our odds of getting both are tremendously improved. Remember The Grand? The proponents (the City, the Downtown Lincoln Association, and others) emphasized the idea of a theater, maybe with some other cool stuff (housing, retail, offices) thrown in. Since the proponents were happy to settle for a theater, they just got a theater. (And a very un-downtowny theater at that.) Parking garages don't mean squat in the big scheme of things, and they certainly won't support the long-term sustainability of Downtown Lincoln. Let's not settle for just a parking garage.

I predict the bond issue will pass today. The margin will be 60/40 in favor, +/- 5 percentage points.

Don't forget to vote today, fellow Lincolnites!

Looks like Lincoln's last smoking ban holdout -- well, other than the Freedom Flyer -- is being shut down. Sultana’s Kahve owner Jamal Husein plans to fight the city's decision. I wish you luck, Mr. Husein, but I don't think even the multiculturalism card is strong enough to overcome the health nannies.

I can't believe it, I actually agree with Jon Bruning! He has risked going to jail by asking the state Supreme Court to force Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns to release his reasons for vacating the grand jury investigating Regent David Hergert. I also agree with Bruning on this point:

"This is not North Korea," Bruning said. "This is America. And in America we have a free court system, we have a free people, we have a First Amendment that allows a free press to write down the free speech of its citizens. "And I am ashamed anytime that our system fails ... by closing itself off and conducting itself in secret," Bruning said. "This government needs to be open, whether it’s the legislative branch, the executive branch or the judicial branch."

Trouble is, I'm not sure how much Bruning himself believes it.

From the Nabity campaign:

Team Nabity Supporters KPTM Fox 42 television station in Omaha is doing an online poll that has been running for over a week. I was in first place for over seven days until KFAB said something this morning and the Osborne and Heineman camps have been stacking the system to get on top. Please take a minute to log onto www.kptm.com and place your vote for Dave Nabity and help us out. I'm told that they count one vote per computer so if you have multiple computers or if you know someone who has an office where there are many computers, please have them vote as well. Thanks so much and lets go get it done! Sincerely, Dave

Ahh, beautiful. It's nice to see our candidates for governor acting with the maturity and professionalism we expect of them.

Matthew Koso is going to jail for 18-30 months. He may get out on probation after as soon as 9 months. I've given this case some thought and I've come to the conclusion that this is as fair an outcome as could have been hoped for. With all due respect to Mr. Koso's love for his now-wife (which I have to assume is sincere), he was an adult having sex with a child. That he later married that child to "take responsibility" for his actions is only loosely relevant. It does not negate the fact that their marriage arose out of a relationship built upon the disproportionate power of an adult over a child. Any jail sentence over three years would have been cruel. Even 30 months seems harsh. But overall, I think the sentence handed down by Judge Daniel Bryan was very fair. Despite his firm rhetoric at the sentencing, he acted with restraint. Too much jail time would destroy a family (albeit an unusual one). Too little, and a message is broadcast that the laws protecting Nebraska's children are weak and not enforced. It's still possible that Koso will appeal his sentence. I don't know that he can hope for a much better outcome than this. Besides, he has other big problems awaiting him, such as how he'll find good employment while having a sex crime on his record.

Lincoln Electric System rates and fees will increase under a new rate plan finalized yesterday. The plan was achieved after some impressive work by a number of individuals and agencies. I can't help but feel dismayed that the plan hits very hard at our community's low-income residents. I'm no defender of "slackers" who fail to pay their bills on time or who write checks that aren't backed by sufficient funds, and I'm not against punishing them for their failure to meet their obligations. Yet I also understand that those who are most likely to be hit by some of the new, stiffer fees tend to have the least ability to afford them. I'm in favor of the fees to the extent that they act as a slacker tax; I oppose them to the extent they are a poor tax. I appreciate why the plan was structured as it was. It was developed in relatively little time and under heavy pressure from Lincoln's largest and most important electricity users. Unfortunately, Lincoln's advocates for those with the lowest incomes don't have nearly as much clout as other groups, so I have to wonder how much consideration was given to their needs and wants. It's easy to be intimidated by fears of raising a huge business's rates by thousands of dollars each month; it's a little harder to understand the effect a few dollars can have on a low-income budget. In the end, we're all paying more for electricity beginning March 1. I fear that LES has pretty much run out of public goodwill, and future rate increases are going to come harder and harder. In the short term, at least, the days of everybody loving LES are history.

Punishing individuals for crimes they did not commit is ridiculous, right? Not according to the City of Lincoln, which is pondering doing just that with a new littering ordinance. Lincolnites ought to be just as fired up over this threat to their rights as they were fired up over the threat to their property during the infamous Samurai Sam's vs. John Q. Hammonds hotel battle last year. The proposed ordinance deals with illegally posted handbills and fliers related to upcoming events. It would punish not only the persons responsible for posting the fliers, but also the owner of the establishment at which the event will occur. That means if Jammin' Joe Smith litters while advertising his upcoming concert at Knickerbockers, both he and Knickerbockers are punished, even if Knickerbockers had nothing to do with the crime. At first blush it's easy to have sympathy with the City on this one. The litter created by illegal fliers is an eyesore, it lowers property values, and so on. It's nearly impossible to catch the deed-doers in the act, so they go unpunished. But we have to punish somebody, right? Wrong. A society that punishes the innocent merely for punishment's sake is a brutal, uncivil, and unconscionable society. If we accept "guilt by association" alone as sufficient grounds for taking punitive action, none of us is safe from prosecution for a host of crimes. Let's address this problem in a sane, ethical way, rather than taking the lazy way out. There are plenty of creative solutions available to us that don't require criminalizing the innocent.

The Missus and I tried to eat at Doughboyz (sp?) this weekend. She thought she had seen a sign on 56th Street saying it was open. Either the sign lied, or The Missus misread it, because Doughboyz is definitely not open yet. The sign on their door promises they'll be open by the end of December. 2005. If you haven't heard, Doughboyz is some sort of Italian bistro in Edgewood owned by the same crew that brought Lincoln Scrumpy Jacks. Last fall I spoke with one of the owners and he said Doughboyz would definitely be open by the end of November. It's now February. You do the math. What's curious is that Doughboyz has been sending out coupons and advertisements since last fall. It seems a little odd to so heavily promote a restaurant that has come to be three months behind schedule. I've sent out a couple feelers to see if I can find out any information. I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday was Daisy's second birthday. Happy birthday, Daisy! We celebrated by letting her attack three balloons at once. It was quite the event. Daisy loves playing with balloons. You know what's sad? I can remember my dog's birthday, but I forgot my sister's anniversary. (I'm still in the process of atoning for that monumental sin.) In fact, I remember very few dates. Let's see, there's my birthday, The Missus' birthday, our wedding anniversary, our dating anniversary, and Daisy's birthday. Those are the only dates I ever remember. I've tried remembering other dates, but I just can't. They don't stick. When I married The Missus I really thought salvation was at hand. "Aha!" I may or may not have exclaimed. "Now that there's a woman in the house, she'll keep me straight!" Unfortunately it doesn't quite work that way. You see, although The Missus is a little better than I at remembering dates, she doesn't yet fully understand just how incompetent I really am in these matters. She still thinks that gentle reminders are enough (i.e. "Your sister's anniversary is coming up, you should probably get her a gift.") They aren't. I hate to admit it, but I need all-out nagging. Better yet, I'd love it if she'd just sign my name to a card and mail it for me. I'm more than happy to make it up to her somehow. The trouble with that approach is it lies on a bit of a slippery slope. I mean, it's not far from having your wife buy gifts for your family members to having your wife buy gifts for herself. Boy, wouldn't that make life easier! But no, I'm not going to go there. I don't want to be that guy. Not until we've been married at least five years, anyway.

It finally happened. Deep inside I knew it would happen eventually. I suppose I should be glad I got it out of the way. Yet I'm not comforted. I went to Valentinaland last night. It's the restaurant that Valentino's is so ashamed of the company doesn't even mention it on its website. My mom e-mailed me yesterday afternoon with the invitation. We haven't really spent much time with my family lately, so The Missus and I felt compelled to go. As much as I disliked the idea -- Upchuck E. Cheese is bad enough, a knock-off would surely be a hundred times worse -- I especially wanted to see my niece, Morgan. Watching her have fun would make it all worthwhile, right? For the most part it did. But I'll tell you, when I walked up to the door and saw their freaky mascot, I nearly turned around. Seriously, is there really any question what the artist was smoking when s/he created this thing? (Is it just me, or does poor Valentina have five fingers on her right hand but just four on her left?) The food is, well, it's Valentino's. Valentino's pizza has always been one of my guilty pleasures, but I've become less and less fond of it over the years. Last night was really the first time I realized just how doughy and blah Val's pizza can be. I feel horrible admitting that after being a Val's defender for so long. I want to like it, if only for nostalgia's sake. But as with Lincoln originals Runza and Amigo's, the quality of food at Valentino's just isn't what it used to be. The overall experience at Valentinaland wasn't too awful. It wasn't nearly as loud and obnoxious as I feared, but neither was it as large. In fact, it's pretty tiny. I don't see kids older than age ten staying interested for very long. Morgan managed to stay entertained throughout the evening. She especially loved grabbing the prize tickets when they came rolling out of the machines. My evening turned out pretty well. I decided to play "The Claw" for a while, to live a Toy Story moment.

Buzz: This is an intergalactic emergency. I need to commandeer your vessel to Sector 12. Who's in charge here? All: [pointing up] The Claw! Alien #1: The Claw is our master. Alien #2: It decides who will go and who will stay. Woody: Oh, this is ludicrous.

My first try went reasonably well. I got a Care Bear latched to The Claw for just a second, but, alas, I failed. I wasn't going to try again -- one try cost $.50, after all -- but my dad and brother-in-law taunted me. I gave it another shot and holy heck, I won a Care Bear! I gave it to Morgan, of course, but not until after The Missus posed with my trophy. And on that note the evening ended. Morgan had a great time and we all survived. I hope that doesn't mean I have to go again.

This is so cool: Curt Tomasevicz, an ex-Husker football player and a pretty decent local baseball umpire, is going to the Olympics in bobsledding. I suppose that explains why I haven't seen him around for a long time. Good luck, Curt!