Lincolnite

My question is pretty much as the title says: How are the Rococo Theatre and Bourbon Theatre doing these days? I haven't heard much about either one in ages. Part of that is the fact that I'm not the target audience for many (most?) of the shows at either one, and part is that I tend to ignore local entertainment news during the college soccer season because I'm too busy to participate anyway. So for those of you who have been to either one lately, how are they looking?

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Governor Dave Heineman is a robot. He doesn't appear to have a creative bone in his body. Instead, he just repeats a series of pre-programmed phrases that appear meaningful at a shallow level, but which don't, in fact, have any real value. Consider his recent comments on child welfare reform. Change is difficult. It will take time. What is best for the kids is in-home placements, not institutional care. The government's not a very good parent. And so on. Doesn't it all sound sterile and robotic? Governor Heineman is dead set on privatizing all kinds of child welfare responsibilities. That's all well and good. But the governor seems to understand privatization about as deeply as Sarah Palin understands foreign policy. Heineman thinks privatization is an end when in fact it is the means. The goal here is not to get government out of the job of parenting; nor to keep kids in the home; nor to save money; nor to shrink government. The goal is -- or rather ought to be -- improving outcomes for kids and, by extension, their families. By making privatization an end rather than a means Governor Heineman and his administration are engaging in a number of destructive moves. Dave Heineman has such a singular focus on privatization I almost wonder if he literally has his eyes closed and his fingers in his ears while yelling "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!". How else can you explain this bizarre statement: "It's real easy to sit there and say, ‘I don't like the direction this is going,' but I don't hear a lot of solutions." Individuals and organizations have been proposing solutions since before child welfare reform went into effect. I suppose it's possible Governor Heineman doesn't hear a lot of solutions, but it's only because he isn't listening. Even if Heineman has managed to ignore the cacophony of voices of individuals and organizations offering suggestions, he cannot say that the Foster Care Review Board hasn't delivered recommendations (PDF) directly into his hands. Heineman is lying when he suggests nobody is proposing solutions. Governor Heineman's lack of leadership on child welfare reform is shocking. Fortunately some state senators are waking up to that realization so there's some hope that this spring's Unicameral session will provide an opportunity for discussion, if not answers. It will take more than that. Governor Heineman and his administration need to be held accountable. That starts with you and me. Regular folks need to learn about child welfare reform and demand fixes. This isn't a partisan issue and it isn't a Left/Right issue. It's a matter of correcting an administration that has gone off course. That's everybody's responsibility.

Kudos to residents near 27th and Old Cheney for putting up a fuss and winning several improvements and changes to the proposed CVS project on the northwest corner. I was starting to think they had acted too late. I guess I was wrong. I do want to point out that several area residents engaged in one fallacy that's all too common in these sorts of battles: the classic "I don't want/need it, so nobody wants/needs it" argument. For example one woman is quoted in today's LJS article as saying "I'm not that sick. I don't need eight pharmacies within six minutes of my house." It doesn't work that way. Similar businesses often intentionally cluster themselves. And whether or not that's what's going on here, the fact is 27th and Old Cheney is an extremely desirable intersection. An argument like "I don't need it so it shouldn't go there" is lazy. So what, you may ask? Lazy arguments in situations like this reek of nimbyism. Outsiders -- that is, those not directly affected by the situation -- don't respond very warmly to nimbyism, in part because they know full well they don't want the project in their backyard either. Better yours than mine! If you want to get more people on board, and thus increase your odds of accumulating enough pressure to get what you want, you need to find ways to appeal to a broader audience. In this case claims like "CVS is involved in meth manufacturing!" and "Traffic jams are inevitable!" are much more likely to resonate outside the neighborhood. I'm not specifically picking on these neighbors. Nimbyism is rampant around these sorts of projects, sometimes for perfectly good reasons. But nimbyism rarely generates sympathy. Play a stronger hand if you want wider support.

Trader Joe's is supposed to open at Southpointe in early December. This weekend I visited Hobby Town, which sits right next to the future Trader Joe's. The parking lot was impressively packed even without Trader Joe's being open. Combine the opening of a new store with the Christmas shopping season and wow that east parking lot is going to be a zoo. Don't forget your walking shoes!

Professor Peter Bleed and his students are sifting through all kinds of stuff found buried underground in the Haymarket, remnants from Lincoln's early days. It's amazing just how much stuff you can find if you dig in the right spot. It makes me wonder just how much tell-tale stuff I've left around. Not garbage taken to the dump -- that's too easy. I mean things I've dropped or left sitting around and forgotten. Who knows what curiosities I've left lying around! Fortunately I can't recall ever losing anything particularly valuable. Maybe a small toy or two, and a few pens and flipping coins on soccer fields. Have you ever lost anything odd or noteworthy that some future generation could find and dig up, only to be confused by what they've uncovered?

Ahh, autumn. The time of year when temps in the 70's and snow can come at any time. I hope we get some more warm weather days in a few weeks because the leaves on our trees have barely begun to fall. It would be a shame if our boys don't get a chance to dive into the leaves in some nice weather. We bought the boys some new snow boots just the other day. We still aren't fully covered with coats, gloves, and hats. Perhaps the fact that KVC still hasn't given us a clothing voucher over four months after our foster kids arrived has something to do with it. And to think these are the folks who are expected to take on even more responsibilities come January 1. We aren't the only ones who are unhappy. Add folks like Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey, Nebraska Appleseed, and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska to the long list of people and organizations who think HHS is nuts. But I digress. The fact is, our foster kids don't have much clothing thanks in part to the fact that we can't get something as simple as a clothing voucher from KVC. The other day our 8 year-old wore a tattered pair of sweat pants with a giant hole in one leg to school. It was a pretty sorry sight, and it's not like a boy in his position needs to give the kids at school more reasons to see him as "different". That's not to say his entire wardrobe is horrible, but his options are thin -- literally -- and his winter clothes are minimal. Fortunately our 3 year-old is about the same size as our son, so those two share most everything. And those two dress very nicely thanks to the generosity of my fashion-conscious cousin down in Louisiana who ships us hand-me-downs every couple months. (No, we didn't buy all those fancy name-brand clothes you see them running around in!) Many foster kids are in the same position as our 8 year-old. And most foster parents are in the same position as us: ready and willing to buy clothes, but the daily stipend we receive just isn't enough to rush out and purchase a decent wardrobe all at once. That's where I hope some of you will step in. In Lincoln there's an organization called the Foster Care Closet (Facebook). They accept clothing donations for youth all the way up to age 19. If you have any clothes sitting around the house for any age kid, please consider donating them. That includes not just the usual pants and shirts, but also shoes, coats ... the works. And although the timing of this plea implies this is some kind of holiday-themed request, I assure you it is not. There is a year-round, ongoing need for nice clothing for these kids who often come into foster homes with nothing more than the pajamas on their back. Often not so much as a toothbrush or extra underwear comes with them. Thanks folks! And no worries if you can't help this time around, hopefully you can find an opportunity to chip in somewhere else.

The world may be ending in 2012, but until that happens 2011 is shaping up to be a fine-looking year. Take these two bits of news: First, Innovation Campus is now all zoned and approved. I know, least surprising news ever. Still, it's another baby step forward for a project that should be one of the most important in the next several decades. And second, Catalyst One might actually happen! Groundbreaking could happen in January. This, ladies and gentlemen, is incredible. After many years and many horrible disappointments, that nasty patch of blacktop on Q Street might be replaced by something more attractive and important. Granted, the project as it stands today isn't one-tenth as awesome as the originally-proposed project, but let's not allow that to dampen the mood. We're getting something, and it's a reasonably good something. I can handle that. For the impatient among you who can't wait for 2011 there's always Trader Joe's opening in early December. That ought to hold you over, right?

Let's say you're dining out at Venue. This is your second visit, and like your first visit a couple years prior you are there largely thanks to a gift card. You enjoy Venue and other "fancy" restaurants, but it's just not a style of dining you get to enjoy very often. Your next visit will probably be no sooner than a couple years from now. The evening goes well, as you would expect it to at a restaurant of Venue's reputation. At the end of the evening the waitress brings the check. The gift card happens to be enough to cover both the amount of the bill plus a generous tip. You set down the gift card and the waitress takes it away. You think you're ready to head home. But you aren't. A few minutes later the waitress returns and tells you that she's very sorry, but their "server is down" and they can't process the gift card right then. She doesn't offer up any alternative other than the unspoken assumption that you will now pay by cash or credit card. She leaves the table. Now, given this scenario what would you do? This very situation played out for us on Saturday night, marring an otherwise beautiful and rare date night for The Missus and me. I won't say what I did or what I think I ought to have done. I'm curious to hear your thoughts first.

Burger King is constructing a new building near Kohl's at 84th and O. That got me thinking about how many Burger Kings there are in Lincoln (ten). And that, in turn, got me thinking about how many of various other restaurants are around town. Without resorting to cheating, do you know how many of each of the following restaurants there are in Lincoln?

• Amigos
• Valentino's
• Taco Inn
• McDonald's
• D'Leon's
• Applebee's
• Juice Stop
• Scooter's
• Subway

Trader Joe's may not plan to open until December 3, but its sign went up recently on its building at SouthPointe. I'm pretty sure I saw a line starting to form on the sidewalk outside. I guess folks are giddy. To the north and east Clocktower (70th and A) is getting a new restaurant that specializes in breakfast and lunch. Gee, that sounds familiar. The Egg and I is a smallish chain with a lone Nebraska location in Kearney. Ever since Clocktower started its renaissance I knew another restaurant was probably on the way. I held out hope that Garden Cafe might make a return. Oh well. So that's the good news. The bad news is Junior Shoe World is closing after a couple decades in business. We didn't shop there much but my sister did, as did many families we know.

So apparently a lot of people are under the unfortunate impression that I ban commenters here at Lincolnite. Put simply, I don't. My memory may be failing me, but I'm relatively certain I have never banned anybody on this site. Well, nobody who wasn't obviously a spammer. Frankly I've never had the need. Sure we've had some spirited discussions over the years, and a few folks have been certifiable buttheads, but buttheadedness alone isn't enough to justify banning someone. Not in my opinion anyway. On occasion I do delete or edit comments. Deleting comments is an act so rare I can't recall the last time I did it. If I delete a comment it is because the commenter has clearly gone over the top. Typically that means the commenter issued an extremely inappropriate threat or insult toward somebody else. If necessary I will delete an entire branch of a comment tree, such as when two commenters find it necessary to engage in a vicious back-and-forth. Again, that's very rare. As for editing comments, sometimes folks get just a wee bit carried away and use a word or phrase that doesn't reflect the standards I like to uphold around here. When that happens I'll do a quick edit and leave a note indicating such. I do not do "stealth" edits to others' comments where I don't identify that a comment has been altered. You may wonder just what is (or is not) allowed in the comments here at Lincolnite. There is no list of "bad" words or things you oughtn't say or do. Blanket bans aren't worthwhile, in my opinion. I merely ask that you be civil and that you use your words in contextually appropriate ways. It's like when I referee soccer: an f-bomb may be a perfectly appropriate reaction after some guy slashes your calf with his cleats, but if you tell the guy who committed a simple foul and who now is trying to help you up what you plan to do to his sister and mother later that evening, don't expect that to go over as well with me. There are no bad words or phrases, only sloppy or inappropriate uses of them. Long story short, if you think you've been banned or you think your comment was unjustly blocked or deleted, chances are very (very!) high that you're experiencing a bug in the system rather than a vindictive system administrator. I was a baseball umpire for a third of my life; I've been a soccer referee for over half of my life; and now I'm living with a kid whose language and behaviors would make R. Lee Ermey blush. I have thick skin. If you've raised my wrath, it won't come as a surprise to you. I hope that clears up some things. If you have any questions just holler via a comment, or feel free to email me directly at mrwilson at [this domain].

• We get new sewers! Woohoo! You may think my exuberance is exaggerated for comedic effect, but it's not. Basic infrastructure needs like the stormwater projects approved yesterday are one of the fundamental purposes of local government.
• Lincoln's budget cycle is now two years long, rather than one. That shouldn't directly affect any of us too much. Rather, the changes will mostly occur behind the scenes with budget personnel.
• Is anybody else surprised that the Democrats couldn't come up with better competition for Governor Heineman? Heineman is on his way to ten years in his office, yet his leadership qualities are weak at best. On the contrary, Heineman seems to lead by, well, not leading. There's plenty of fodder there for an opponent to work with. Sure Nebraska is a Republican state, but the Democrats' showing in this race was shameful.
• Deshler Mayor Alan Holle told voters to vote for his opponent. All but 14% of voters listened to him. In a situation like that, if you don't like the mayor do you vote for him or against him?

Did any of you have voting troubles yesterday? There are plenty of horror stories from around the country about people having difficulties, but so far I haven't seen any reports from Lincoln or Nebraska.