Lincolnite

Yesterday sure was a good day for college football fans. I missed a good chunk of the day since I had to spend most of it in Omaha at a referee clinic, but I caught the 4th quarter of the Husker game and the entirety of the K-State/Texas game. I predicted a Husker loss when the score was 21-10, and I was very nearly proven correct. Thanks to an impressive two-minute drill and with a little help from an unwise ATM defender, I was wrong. Lordy, I hope we don't have to pull that sort of a stunt against the Blundering Buffs. I could tell from the start that the K-State game was going to be interesting. I even called my father right after the first Texas touchdown. "Dad, you've got to turn on the K-State/Texas game. Colt McCoy is done for the day, and it looks like it'll be a doozy." I was right. It wasn't pretty, but it was a classic college game. I'm not Kitty Cat fan, but it was nice to see somebody from the Big XII North pull an upset this season. We may as well begin pondering next week's big matchup. Who ya gonna pick? Ohio State or Michigan? I think I'll be a Wolverine for the day.

Now here's a problem I've never had before: I have too many vacation days at work, and I'm being encouraged to get out of the office before I lose some of the days at the end of the year. It's a nice problem to have. It looks like I have 8 days to use before next year. What should I use them on? I already (kiddingly) asked if I could take vacation and work at the same time, earning double pay, but that idea was shot down. I will probably take off the three days of Thanksgiving week (Thursday and Friday are covered). That leaves five more days. Take off a whole week? Take off Fridays through the end of the year? And then there's the question of what I should do on those days. I always have web work to do. There's lots of work to be done in and around the house. I could be a bell ringer. Any other ideas?

If you've been playing Who is it? and you got stuck, check back and take a look at the clues I just posted in the comments. The clues are: 3. She isn’t Willa Cather, but she spent a lot of time with her. 5. He isn’t a Lincolnite. He is an architect who is very important to Lincoln. 6. Even if you don’t know who he is, you probably know his house.

Now that the 2015 Visioning Group has stepped up to deal with the next decade of development in and around Downtown, I wonder what other pieces of Lincoln could use a little help from an ambitious band of volunteers with the goal of bringing unity to a variety of goals and plans. Five possibilities:

1. Micro-cores. I suggested this the other day. There is an opportunity for more comprehensive and ambitious planning in Lincoln's "micro-cores" like College View, Uni Place, and Havelock.
2. Transportation. Lincolnites love to complain about transportation in the city, so this sounds like a perfect area for a group to step in and make recommendations for change and commitments to help improve the situation.
3. Arts & Entertainment. "There's nothing to do in Lincoln!" I hear it all the time. Is it true? What can be done about it?
4. Recreation. Many, many groups are involved in sports and recreation in Lincoln. Coordination and planning among power players could help improve recreation opportunities across the city.
5. Education. Lincoln has a very strong history of public and private, K-12 and higher education. But coordinated planning among all of the entities involved in educating Lincoln's youth, not to mention entities not traditionally associated with education, has been spotty.

The 2015 Visioning Group has ballooned to about 70 members. They include:

• Lynn Roper, Merrill Lynch executive
• Roger Larson, Mayor’s Arena Task Force member, planning commissioner
• Carl Sjulin, Westgate Bank president
• Mark Hesser, Pinnacle Bank Nebraska president
• Robert Scott, Kinport Corp. co-owner, property developer
• Don Linscott, developer
• Will Scott, Kinport Corp. co-owner, property developer
• Donna Woods, vice president, Woods Charitable Fund
• Ron Harris, MDS Pharma Services executive
• Deane Finnegan, Leadership Lincoln executive director
• Chandler Tyrrell II, president, Lincoln Community Foundation
• Chris Kingery, building construction
• Harvey Perlman, chancellor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Chuck Pallesen, attorney
• Bruce Wright, attorney
• Kim Robak, attorney, lobbyist
• Bill Mueller, attorney, lobbyist,
• Earl Scudder, attorney
• Gates Minnick, retired DuTeau Chevrolet owner, former City Councilman
• Gil Lundstrom, TierOne Bank president, CEO
• JoAnn Martin, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. president, CEO
• Tom White, developer
• Pam Baker, Woods Charitable Fund executive director
• Polly McMullen, Downtown Lincoln Association president
• Steve Pella, Aquila executive
• Joe Hampton, retired developer and builder
• Susan Gourley, Lincoln Public Schools superintendent
• Dick Campbell, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce chairman, Campbell's Nurseries and Garden Center Inc. president
• Don Wesely, former mayor, former state senator
• Clay Smith, developer, B&J Partnership general partner executive
• Angie Muhleisen, Union Bank and Trust president, CEO
• Steve Erwin, U.S. Bank Nebraska market president
• Linda Wilson, former City Councilwoman
• Jon Hinrichs, physician
• James Seacrest, former president and chairman of the board for Western Publishing Co.
• Rhonda Seacrest, arts patron
• Doug Lienemann, president, Haymarket Development Corp.
• Rick Herink, First National Bank Lincoln president
• Jennifer Brinkman, neighborhood leader
• Bill Cintani, Mapes Industries CEO
• Heidi Cuca-Conklin, development director, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
• Terry Uland, executive director, NeighborWorks Lincoln
• Russ Bayer, former planning commissioner
• Scott Miller, Telesis Inc. president
• Janet Labenz, partner, Labenz & Associates accounting firm
• Thomas C. Woods IV, Woods Charitable Fund program officer
• Mike Morrow, attorney
• Brad Hedrick, Windstream vice president and general manager
• Dave Snitily, president and co-owner, Snitily Carr advertising
• Bob Lanik, Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center president
• Drew Stange, NAI FMA Realty executive vice president/broker
• John Sampson, president, Sampson Construction
• Margaret Donlan, community volunteer
• Kathy Campbell, executive vice president of Cedars Home for Children Foundation
• James Strand, former Alltel executive
• Rick Wallace, Community Development Resources executive director
• Mark Koller, president, CEO of HRConnex Inc.
• Tom Henning, president, CEO, Security Assurity Group of insurance companies
• Jim Abel, chairman, Nebco
• Marc LeBaron, chairman, CEO, of Lincoln Plating
• Larry Arth, chairman, CEO, Unifi Mutual Holding Co.
• Tonn Ostergaard, president and chief executive, Crete Carrier Corp.
• Mike Dunlap, chairman and co-chief executive officer, Nelnet
• Kent Seacrest, attorney
• Terry Fairfield, president, University of Nebraska Foundation
• Roger Severin, chairman and chief executive officer, Olsson Associates
• Brad Korell, chief financial officer, Olsson Associates
• Tom Smith, chief executive officer, Smith Hayes Financial Services Corp.
• Nick Cusick, IMSCOR partner
• Liz Fieselman, Foundation for Educational Funding president
• Jim Krieger, vice chairman and chief financial officer of the Gallup Organization
• Frank Hilsabeck, retired Alltel executive

I used to be a decent archer back in my Boy Scout days. I think I need to make a trip out to the new Lincoln Archery Range some day. The range, if you were wondering, is a project of Lincoln Parks and Rec, Nebraska Game and Parks, the Prairie Bowmen, and the Lincoln Trap and Skeet Club.

This is bugging me: Why is it Phreddy's Phillys instead of Phreddy's Phillies?

The 2015 Visioning Group is talking, and the plans are ambitious. Fortunately, the plans aren't especially surprising. The Group has simply built on existing plans and proposals and merged everything together. That's a relief. If they had decided to go out on their own and say "No, this is what we think Lincoln should look like"... Lincolnites should be energized by the Groups existence, if not its proposals. The Group's composition demonstrates that Lincoln's biggest players are willing to ante up. We should be thankful that the folks that will have to foot a large chunk of the bill are willing to do just that. It also signals that these folks think there is money to be made in moving Lincoln forward. None of the group's members is just going to throw his money into a black hole; that they think the projects are worth their investment is a good sign that the projects can succeed. Still, let's not pretend that the Group's ambitions will make all of this easy. We are, after all, talking about big, big money. Well over $1 billion in the coming years, just on these projects. There are many hurdles between today's ideas and tomorrow's (hoped for) reality. And I'll be honest, I continue to be disappointed that all of these big plans are typically limited to the Downtown environs. I would like to see Lincoln consider strengthening its "miniature urban centers" in College View, Uni Place, and Havelock. Investing even small amounts in those areas would go a long way toward keeping those and surrounding neighborhoods lively and vibrant. That's what we want, after all. A strong Downtown is great, but strong cores across the city are better. But don't get me wrong. I'm excited. I'm excited that others are excited, and excitement breeds excitement. Maybe the 2015 Visioning Group's presence in Lincoln will be enough to kick us out of this little funk that I allege we've been in. Let's hope so.

Below are photos of six individuals. Your task is to identify the person and explain what relationship the person has to Lincoln.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

Just some quick thoughts:

• Heineman in a landslide. Surprise surprise. If 75% isn't a mandate, I don't know what is.
• I knew Ben would beat Pete, but 65-35? That's an old-fashioned butt-womping. Makes one wonder how many voters voted against Pete rather than for Ben.
• Fortenberry got a scare early, but he has pulled away easily. Moul didn't seem to put up much of a fight (or maybe she was just overshadowed by the Pete/Ben race and I423). I think Fortenberry is beatable in the right circumstances.
• I'm a little surprised that Amendment 2 lost. Was there even any organized opposition?
• Damn, no video keno. I was really looking forward to being bombarded by flashy games. You're telling me I have to drive all the way to Iowa to spend my quarters?
• I love paper ballots. They're easy to use, they are tangible, and they don't crash.

I shot this video on Sunday:

I have been doing some freelance web development work over the past month, and I'm preparing to do even more over the winter during the soccer off-season. One of the projects I helped with just went live. I didn't do all that much work on the project, relatively speaking, but I'm excited anyway. Why? Because the site will probably be seen by a few hundred thousand visitors every month. The site in question is Power Line Blog's Power Line News. Like I said, my contributions were pretty small -- I chipped in about five hours worth of work -- but I'm proud to have helped the lead developer solve a few fairly big problems in that time. For example, I helped set up the system that fetches RSS feeds from other sites, and then automatically creates discussion forum threads based on the individual posts in those feeds. I don't know who came up with the idea to do that (the lead developer? the client?) but it's a cool idea that was fun to implement. I have really enjoyed the freelance work I have done so far, and I'm really looking forward to a huge upcoming project for a guy in San Francisco. I don't know where this road is taking me, but I'm sure enjoying the ride.

The City Council is considering passage of a new $27 million bond to help pay for Lincoln's streets. Lincoln's street financing gap is estimated at over $135 million, so this would make a small, but not inconsequential, dent. A smallish property tax increase may accompany the bond, should it pass. Lincoln has a long way to go to figure out how we're going to pay for all of our impending road financing obligations (not to mention all of the other items we would like to pay for), but this sounds like a reasonable way to start. I would love to hear if anybody has any better ideas. And before you say, "We should start by cutting spending!", let me say that in general I agree. But. Spending cuts alone won't get the job done. Not unless they are accompanied by a great plan to get the private sector to replace the services that get axed.

This is an odd topic, I know, but bear with me. The other day I was chatting with Lincoln expat DMB, and the topic of potlucks came up. He had attended a potluck supper in Imperial (waaaay out in Southwest Nebraska), so we were talking about the dishes he had eaten. To my dismay, most of the dishes I consider to be standard potluck fare were absent. Clearly a Lincoln potluck is different than an Imperial potluck, and presumably both are different than what you'd run into elsewhere in the country. So what dishes (or variants thereon) are all-but-required at a potluck in Lincoln? A few starters:

• Deviled eggs
• Jell-o with fruit (pears or bananas, usually)
• Tater tot casserole (hamburger, green beans, tater tots)
• Goulash (typically macaroni, hamburger, and a bland tomato sauce)
• Rice Krispy bars

What else should be on the list?