Lincolnite

I knew that kids in public schools didn't get as much time for PE and recess as they used to, but this is really pathetic. LPS 4th graders get a whopping 10 minutes of decent physical activity per day. LPS should be embarrassed. Not that they don't have their share of excuses and explanations. Public schools aren't what they used to be. They get to deal with everything from boneheaded politicians, laws, and regulations to boneheaded parents and bizarre home situations. But don't blame the teachers, or at least not any teacher I've ever spoken with. They've been unanimous for years in supporting more recess and PE. No, the ten minutes come from folks outside the classroom, not from within. Maybe we should just install treadmills in every classroom. Then kids would never have to take their eyes off a textbook, much less step outside where they might skin a knee. It's the perfect plan!

It's a far less sexy entry into the Google broadband sweepstakes than some cities have taken, but yesterday Mayor Chris Beutler formally announced Lincoln's efforts to bring the Google Fiber for Communities program to town. What could Lincoln do with gigabit-per-second internet speeds? (I mean after the two-week drop in productivity immediately after the fiber arrives as everybody plays around with their new toy.) It's fun to think about, isn't it?

Tonight is our last night of foster parent classes. Tonight's session will feature a panel of former foster kids, and/or current and/or former foster parents. It's intended to be a Q&A to help us newbies learn a bit more about what it's like to be in the system. I want to come in prepared with a handful of questions. I have some of my own, of course, but I'm curious if any of you have suggestions for questions I ought to ask. What sorts of things would you ask a panel of former foster kids who have either been adopted or who aged out of the system? What would you ask foster parents?

You hear it often. Now there's a website to back up the claim: Lincoln is a Music City. I don't know much about the site, but any locally-operated website that promotes the local arts scene is nifty in my book. Hat tip: beerorkid.

I know almost none of you care about this, but high school soccer starts up today. Check out the Journal Star's pre-season rankings, local boys team summaries, and local girls team summaries. Good luck everyone!

The Bob Devaney Sports Center was funded in part by a tax on cigarettes. Given all the pot busts in Lincoln lately -- LPD raided pot house number nine last night -- it's starting to look like funding the Haymarket arena with a tax on marijuana is the way to go. Who's with me?

If you like reading press releases, the Journal Star published a lightly-edited press release from the folks at No2Arena this morning that outlines the group's three primary reasons for encouraging you to vote "No" on the arena. They are:

1. We're only voting on $25 million out of a $344 million project;
2. Environmental clean-up will cost more than the $7.5 million budgeted;
3. There won't be many new jobs created.

I have raised questions about all three of these issues before. I'm not worried about the money issue. The City has been pretty transparent about its numbers. It's not like arena backers are going around saying things like "At $25 million, the arena is a bargain! Vote yes!". Everybody knows or should know by now that this is a big, 300+ million project. As for item number two, I can only say: show me the data. Until they can do that, the No2Arena folks can stick this item in their little no-holes. The City has a relatively large amount of data to back up its claim that the clean-up will cost no more than $7.5 million. Perhaps it's not enough data to satisfy everyone. That's fine. The No2Arena folks on the other hand bring nothing but denials to the table. That's lazy and lame. They are welcome to make this claim when they have something to back it up. Last is the jobs issue. I commented at length on the topic back in January. In short they are correct. The long-term job situation isn't going to be dramatically improved by the presence of a new arena. Improved, yes, but we're talking on the order of tens rather than hundreds. The arena isn't the only piece in the puzzle, however. It is a catalyst, and if it does its job it should spur growth in the overall economic engine of the city. To the extent it does that there will be new jobs created. You'll have to ask an economist how many, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that number creeps into the hundreds over time. That's just an instinct, not a promise. In other arena news, folks who don't like Deena Winter's negative attitude toward the arena aren't going to like today's column. She has given anti-arena folks a new arrow for their quiver. What she says is that the City's property tax levy millage limit is 50 cents per $100, and that the City currently taxes at half that rate. What anti-arena folks will take away is "City property taxes will double unless you vote No on the arena!". That's going to be a powerful message for the antis that the pros will have a difficult time overcoming.

The Missus said she heard last night that The Photo Shoppe may be moving in to the former Lee Booksellers location in Edgewood near 56th and Highway 2. The Photo Shoppe currently has a single location in Piedmont at 1265 South Cotner, and they previously had a location at 40th and Old Cheney. It sure would be nice to see a local business like The Photo Shoppe make a comeback, and the Edgewood location would give it some great visibility. Does anybody have information that can back up the rumor?

Big Apple Bagels, at 61st and O, is closing its doors. After Homer's left next door its days were numbered. Its last day is March 23. I'm not a big bagel guy so the closing doesn't personally affect me. I'm sure many of you are fans, however, and will be sad to see the store close. I would see Big Apple Bagels on "best of" lists here and there, so they were doing something right. For those of you who loved Big Apple Bagels, where will you go after they close? There's a Panera to the east and Two Twins Cafe to the northwest that might fill the gap. Are there other possibilities in the neighborhood?

If you've ever wanted to see every emergency responder in Lincoln simultaneously say "Oh this is not good", early this morning was the perfect opportunity. Some 20-25 rail cars overturned in the Burlington Northern hump yard around 2:00am this morning, and some of the cars contained liquid chlorine. Several sections of major roads were closed as a result. Fortunately there doesn't appear to have been any major leakage. Nevertheless, I'm sure visions of disaster loomed in at least a few minds early today. Those folks may need a beer with their breakfast this morning.

It dawned on me this morning that I hadn't really realized just how odd it seems that the Lancaster County seal features an elk. An elk? Really? There are oodles of white tail deer in Lancaster County, but elk are mighty rare in the wild. The last time I remember hearing about an elk around here was several years ago when a car hit an elk on the Interstate. So why is an elk representing us today? Because there used to be oodles of elk around here, of course. And, well, why not? The rarity of elk around here got me thinking about the sorts of animals some folks have seen around Lincoln that you just wouldn't expect to see here. Take the time The Missus came across a peacock roaming around The Knolls, for example. The peacock was an escapee so it doesn't really count, but it sure surprised her. My most interesting out-of-the-ordinary animal interactions involve foxes, one of which -- believe it or not -- I hand-fed berries near Beal Slough. I haven't seen a fox in a good ten years. Oh, and there was once a gigantic snapping turtle (I think) sitting on the bike trail. He was not happy that I was so interested in him. My dad's story takes the cake. He's generally a reliable fellow and not prone to hallucinations. But did he really see a mountain lion crossing Old Cheney near 31st Street one morning about a decade ago? It's certainly possible, I suppose, though definitely out of the ordinary. Skeptics will say it was probably just a bobcat, but bobcats are much smaller, and my dad knows what a bobcat looks like. Or how about a large dog? Could've been, but dogs and cats move much differently, and my dad swears this was a cat. What odd sightings have you made in Lincoln?

High school spring sports begin on Thursday this week in Nebraska. Not that you would know it based on local media coverage. My interest in spring sports is as a former track athlete (400m and 800m) and current soccer referee. Soccer is going to have a rough go in March this year. There's no way the fields are ready to be played on, and teams that don't have an artificial surface to practice on probably haven't had much quality outdoor preparation time. A big question among referees is what LPS will do about it. Ideally I would like to see LPS squeeze as many varsity games as possible onto the artificial turf fields at Seacrest and Beechner. That would require some adjustments, yes, but far fewer adjustments than postponing matches until the grass surfaces are ready. It'll be downright ugly if they essentially try to squeeze an entire season into April. So far LPS doesn't seem to have made any moves to do such a thing. That's consistent with their past behavior, which is unfortunate. Anyway, are any of you big spring sports fans? What's your sport and which is your team?

I am by no means a TV zombie, but I do enjoy watching good TV now and then. Thanks to shows like Lost, The Wire, and Band of Brothers, it can be argued that TV is now better than it ever was. The argument being that with the advent of the internet, and with people being just more sophisticated generally, television producers have really had to increase the quality of their programming to compete for viewer attention. Outside of cable news and sports, I do not watch a lot of TV at all. In fact I probably average only about 8-10 hours a week of TV, and most of that is news. I used to be a big fan of Lost, and especially The Office - the second season was brilliant - but I have felt its quality has become less consistent over time. I no longer follow either series. Currently, the only television show besides news or sports I watch – and watch religiously – is AMC’s Breaking Bad. Although it has gotten its well-deserved critical acclaim, this show seems to be still relatively unknown among viewers generally, probably because its plot is somewhat off-beat. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Breaking Bad – it is a very dark comedy about a high school chemistry teacher with cancer (Bryan Cranston) who partners with a doofus drug dealer (Aaron Paul) to make and deal meth. Breaking Bad will begin its 3rd season next week, and I am looking forward to it. Now there is one show that is somewhat popular, and I have no idea why: Glee. I’m sorry to any Glee fans out there, but this has to be the most overrated POS on TV now. And I'm not saying that because I dislike musicals or dancing. I like musicals and enjoy watching singing and dancing as much as the next person. But Glee? I even know guys in the 36-45 year old viewing audience range who LOVE this show and watch it regularly (its so obvious the only reason they like it is because of the high school fantasy thing). Beyond that, I really do not understand its popularity. So, what TV shows do you like or dislike? What shows do you recommend and why?