Lincolnite

Ron Powell notes how LPS is somewhat unique in locking its tennis courts to keep out the public. LPS's propensity for locking up facilities is something I first noticed years ago after high school when I tried to find a track to run on. It's an extremely annoying phenomenon for those of us who figure the facilities we paid for ought to be at least somewhat available to us. Should more LPS facilities be open to the general public?

Maybe Nebraska isn't going to find itself in an ugly budget jam after all, now that May tax receipts came in four percent above projections. That follows April's dismal 10% shortcoming. Except ... not so much. It turns out that a big chunk -- $14 million -- of May's receipts involves one-time money. Take that away and receipts are actually down 2-3% from projections. Bummer. State senators, it's sure looking like we'll be seeing you back in Lincoln this fall.

On Sunday, June 14, plan to enjoy some Phat Jack's BBQ at Holmes Lake as part of a fundraiser to benefit City Impact. The event runs from Noon until 7:00pm at the shelter near the playground on North Shore Drive (I think that's shelter #3). In addition, there will be live jazz from 5:00 - 7:00pm. Meals cost $8 for 1, $15 for 2, and $25 for 4. The Missus volunteered for City Impact this spring, so we are planning to go support them. We'll probably get there around 5:30. Beyond supporting the organization, I'm eager to see what Phat Jack's has to offer. They received lukewarm to negative reviews early on, but lately I've heard much more positive buzz. Maybe I'll go run a couple laps around the lake before supper to work up a nice hefty appetite. After all, the more I eat, the more City Impact benefits, right?

I'm a pretty big canine fan so the notion of banning a breed kind of rubs me the wrong way. On the other hand, dogs mauling children is something we should deal with if at all possible. We obviously can't prevent all dog bites or maulings. So what can -- and should -- we do? I won't be surprised if Lincoln ends up with stricter breed-specific legislation in the near future. The first problem, though, is defining breeds. Several different breeds may be classified as "pit bulls", depending on who is making the list. You can't just say "ban pit bulls" and have it hold up. We already have a dangerous dog ordinance (PDF), so a portion of the issue is pretty well covered. Unfortunately, that sort of ordinance only works after the fact. We need to ask ourselves if we want to make incremental changes to the existing law or if we should instead start from scratch. Perhaps other communities have great laws on the books that we could largely make our own. Then again, we would probably end up spending as much time arguing about the particulars of a borrowed law as we would drafting our own anew. Let's take these two things as given: First, nobody wants kids -- or anyone! -- to be attacked or mauled by any animal. Second, certain breeds or classes of dogs are more likely than others, relative to their proportion in the general dog population, to cause bites that result in severe injuries. So Lincolnites, what, if anything, do we do about that?

I noticed an advertisement recently for a place called Blue Mountain located south of the Walmart on 87th and Highway 2. (Near Greenfields, I assume.) Have any of you been there or heard anything about it? I assumed it was some kind of chain, but a quick search doesn't turn up any matching websites. The Missus and I may investigate it on Wednesday evening. Speaking of restaurants, it seems like there has been a fair amount of buzz about restaurants on the south side of town lately, but what about the north side? Is there any north side food-related news I should be aware of?

The Wilsons went to Holmes Lake last night for a potluck with one of our adoption groups. While there, I noticed a big sign announcing a family fishing event on Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. I wish I could take Robbie so that both he and I could learn how to fish, but unfortunately we already have plans. If you've been wanting to take your kid fishing, tomorrow evening might be a good opportunity for you. The sign was posted near the parking lot nearest the "beach" on North Shore Drive, so I assume that's where the event will take place. Speaking of fishing, there were oodles of folks with lines in the water again last night, just like every other day at Holmes Lake. Every time I go out there I'm impressed by the number of folks fishing around the lake. What kind of fish is Holmes Lake stocked with these days? How about other local lakes?

A while back The Missus won a free stay at Pine Crest Farms Bed and Breakfast, located just south of Valparaiso. We will be staying there this weekend. (And assuming I remember my camera, I'll post some photos of the B&B when we get back.) We figure as long as we're in the neighborhood we may as well see what else the area has to offer. Any suggestions? Any sort of reasonable suggestion is welcome, from a pretty drive, to a great slice of pie, to a small town baseball game.

Can we officially call it summertime now that LPS has unleashed the school age horde onto the streets of Lincoln? Yes? Excellent. Sorry for the quick drive-by post today. I am just about to head up to Omaha to help a friend -- occasionally Lincolnite commenter Christopher -- load up for a move to Minnesota. He thinks he wants to be a doctor or something. Psh. I hope he understands how little muscle power I'll be bringing with me. Enjoy graduation weekend, everyone!

For whatever reason, The Wilsons have made venturing to Gateway Mall a regular activity. A typical trip includes dinner in the food court, a ride on the carousel, and then playtime in the play area. I used to get "Japanese" (ha!) from Hibachi San, but lately I've been going for "Chinese" (ha ha!) from Panda Express. Last night's meal featured fried rice, black pepper chicken, Beijing beef, and kung pao chicken, with a Mountain Dew to wash it down. Mmm, tasty stuff. Hey, what's this? Great Wraps is back in the food court under new management. None of us ate there last night, but the fact that the employee up front appeared to be having a good time interacting with and serving customers is already a huge improvement on the previous incarnation of the shop. No trip to the mall is complete without a ride on the carousel. Robbie likes to name his horse each time he rides. Last night his horse was named Corn Dog. I don't know about you, but ... Corn Dog scares the crap out of me. Seriously, doesn't that horse look like it has seen the depths of Hell?

The "Taking Charge" survey results are in, and most of the 1,800 respondents support a property tax increase to cover at least some expenses. I'll let you guess what the LJS commenting community has to say about that. All sorts of information is available online, including the final report [PDF] and host of background information from the Public Policy Center, and also be sure you have read the Mayor's Progress Measures & Program Prioritization 2009 - 2010. So what did the survey find? Let's check out the executive summary:

• Safety and Security are Lincolnites' top priority (40% of the online survey respondents
• 83% want to keep pools open, 43% via property tax increases and 40% by cutting hours. [What about raising fees?]
• 83% want to maintain stormwater and floodplain review services provided by the City of Lincoln, 68% via fees from developers and home buyers and 15% via taxes.
• 81% want to keep libraries open, 42% via property taxes.
• 71% want to raise taxes to maintain the current after school youth programs intended to reduce youth crime.
• 70% want to increase taxes to pay for health screening for the homeless.
• Two-thirds support taxes for anti-West Nile efforts.
• 62% support taxes to pay insurance costs for senior volunteers (with a 2-for-1 Federal match).
• 60% support using property taxes to maintain asbestos inspections of buildings.
• 73% want to halt tax funding for Health Department air quality investigations.
• 71% don't support taxes to keep the Pioneers Park Nature Center free; 49% support using fees instead.
• 63% don't support drafting and reviewing annexation agreements.
• Nearly 60% prefer to eliminate the comprehensive youth tobacco-use prevention program.
• For 5 of 6 Parks and Rec programs, 55% or more want the programs to be fee-supported rather than tax funded.
• Lincolnites are split on whether to support planting as many trees along streets as are removed.
• Lincolnites are split on whether to require mowing weeds at 6 inches or 12 inches.
• Lincolnites are split on whether LPD should continue to write accident reports when nobody is injured.
• Lincolnites are split on whether a variety of "neighborhood protection" activities should continue.
• Lincolnites are split on providing tax funding for Municipal Band concerts.

...and so on. There's a lot of stuff in there and I strongly encourage you to check it out for yourself. I haven't had time to fully digest all of it myself. So two questions for you. First, what parts of the survey results do you agree with, and which do you oppose? Second, we're all but certain to face a combination of tax increases, fee increases, and service eliminations. Where do you think we will see each of those three things?

Actually, Zemann is in our neighborhood. But Calvert is close enough. Lincoln's first swine H1N1 flu case showed up in a Calvert Elementary student over the weekend. The student is now feeling fine and back in class. Do you think little piggy flu virulets can float across Pioneers Boulevard and down 48th Street to our place? Actually, even if they made it this far I'm sure we're still safe. The neighbors had some sort of grilling fiasco last night that pretty much fumigated the entire neighborhood. I'm sure we're safe.

Two questions here: Should churches be allowed to sell fireworks on their property without a special permit? And if so, should those sales be tax-free? Personally I prefer churches be required to obtain a permit for fireworks sales. If nothing else the act of acquiring a permit forces any organization to slow down and be aware of the laws and regulations that govern the activity in which they are about to engage. That's a good thing, in my book. As for the sales tax issue, apparently churches can currently have up to a three-consecutive-day, sales tax-free sale. Seems to me churches are missing a huge opportunity if they don't exploit that. And not with regard to fireworks. Tax-free back-to-school sales, anyone?