Lincolnite

My father proposed an interesting idea the other day. Lincoln needs more high-quality high school soccer fields, and it could probably use more football fields as well. But where could they go, and who would own them? My dad's solution is to place them in Seacrest Park at 70th and A and have either LPS or a joint LPS/City partnership run them: His argument is that Seacrest Park doesn't serve much purpose right now. It's greenspace, yes, but greenspace that isn't particularly well utilized. Putting two or three sports fields in there would retain the openness while filling a community need. Parking and other infrastructure are already present so those costs are significantly less than they might otherwise be. I think it's an interesting idea. It's significantly cheaper than some other ideas currently floating around -- such as the long-rumored sports fields near Haymarket Park. What's your take on the idea?

No: Partial freeze expected overnight Wednesday

The good news is that taxpayers won't spend a dime to fix any of the Antelope Valley bridges that are already falling apart. The costs will be shouldered entirely by the contractors. The bad news is that this happened in the first place. Mayor Beutler boasted that the City "did exactly what the public asked of us: we insisted on accountability and held the taxpayer harmless". That's partially true. We're all happy for that, Mayor. But what we really want is to not be placed in this position in the first place. How about some accountability for the individuals or systems that failed? These bridges were signed off on, after all. The City said "Yep, these bridges meet our specifications!" when clearly they did not. That's a big problem. Mayor Beutler may think this episode is over, but I disagree. I want some follow-up. How can the taxpayers be assured that this won't happen again?

You may remember that earlier this spring I complained about the new bioswales and woodchipped areas in the refurbished College View section of South 48th Street. The plantings were a horrible, ugly sight. The bioswales were little more than weedy ditches. The woodchipped areas were quickly covered in weeds which were subsequently killed with heavy doses of poison. The effect was uninspiring. Last week workers began sprucing up the area again. Let's hope they get it right this time. College View's business district is a nice little area. It was a shame to see it appear so incomplete all summer.

Wow:

Per the Grow #LNK team, Misty's will be opening a 3rd location in the old Charlie's bldg in Williamsburg, hope to open before holidays.

Most of you know by now that we do foster care through Christian Heritage. This month, Christian Heritage is trying to recruit thirty new foster families in thirty days. As part of that effort, Christian Heritage is hosting a free outdoor concert featuring Vota on their campus at 14880 Old Cheney Road on Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. The first 300 people will receive free food from Greenfield's. Obviously Christian Heritage's focus is on recruiting Christian foster families. Even if you aren't Christian, if you're even the tiniest bit interested in foster care I encourage you to come learn more. Likewise if you aren't interested in doing foster care, you're still welcome to come enjoy the music and the crowd. I mean, who doesn't like a free outdoor concert? I hope to see a few of you out there on Thursday. Be sure to let us know if you're going so I can try to connect with you. And speaking of foster care, I have some info about our foster parenting journey that I'm eager to share as soon as I'm able. Stay tuned for that.

Something about hearing about Parks and Rec's infusion of cash and how they plan to spend it makes me happy. Lincoln's parks haven't received much love these past few years, what with cutbacks in hours, mowing frequency, and so forth. And frankly some of those cuts were a good thing. (Does every square foot of parkland really need to be mowed like a golf course?) But boy, it was really starting to feel like Lincolnites didn't value their parks at all, and that bummed me out. This year Parks and Rec received $1 million toward deferred projects. You can do quite a few things with $1 million. It won't completely cover outstanding maintenance projects -- we'll need another $2-3 million for that -- but it's a decent start. The big question next year will be whether or not Lincolnites want to continue catching up, or if this one-time infusion really was just a one-time deal. I would like to see the catch-up continue, although perhaps we slow down the pace just a bit. I would also like to see Parks & Rec explore new revenue generation opportunities. I've long believed that we're missing out on some possibilities for things like park and bike path sponsorships. I don't want to get to the point where every park has a corporate name, but what if Pepsi painted a logo on the bike trail every half mile? Perhaps like a modern day Burma Shave ad campaign. I'm curious to learn what Lincolnites think about the state of Parks and Rec right now. Are our parks and rec facilities a priority? How much is too much and how little is too little when it comes to recreational opportunities?

You have no idea how happy I am right now. Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley has released a scathing report condemning Nebraska's child welfare system. I'm reading through the report right now (Executive Summary [PDF] / Complete Attestation Report [PDF]), but the Journal Star's preview has been enough to make me giggle. I can only hope this report brings about massive changes to DHHS and the child welfare system. Heads should roll, right on up to Governor Heineman himself. I'm eager to see how senators, the Foster Care Review Board, and others react to all this.

Buried in this piece is the following: "Beutler said there soon will be an announcement about a parking garage to be built in the very south end of the Haymarket area." That doesn't sound like much, but could Beutler be referring to the answer to the question of whether to build a new parking garage where Barry's currently sits or at 7th and O? I don't know if I would call 7th and O "the very south end of the Haymarket", but it's down there. You might recall that the question of where to place the garage has been controversial thanks to Jon Camp's stake in the matter. The bad part about a 7th and O garage is how much parking would be lost during the construction process. Ahh the price of progress.

My parents are selling their 2002 Honda Accord EX. The specs:

• 4 door
• 4 cylinder
• 74,000 miles
• Sunroof
• Exterior: Black
• Interior: Gray
• Excellent Condition
• No major repairs; normal maintenance schedule - 3,000 to 4,000 miles
• Current tires: 15,000 miles

Asking price is $8,000. Feel free to ask questions in the comments here, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you're interested.

The Guardians of Freedom Airshow is this weekend, September 10th and 11th. (I'll give you one guess what the theme of this year's show is going to be.) Gates open at 9:30am each day and close at 5:00pm. The Blue Angels are among the performers. That all sounds great, but there's one wee little problem: there's no published schedule. Neither the printed advertisement published in last week's LJS nor the website include information about when the various performances will occur. Gates open at 9:30am, but do performances begin then? At 10:00am? At noon? Do all performances happen on both days, on just one day, or do some happen both days while others just happen on one day? And of course the big question -- when and how often will the Blue Angels perform? The event organizers are being deliberately obtuse, of course. It forces people to spend significantly more time on site than they might otherwise. It also helps the parking situation by discouraging a mass arrival or departure. So business-wise it makes sense, but customer service-wise it stinks. It puts a tremendous amount of unnecessary strain on families with young children (like ours), particularly when some of those children (such as one of ours) have special needs and spending all day on an airport runway isn't a viable option. To be clear, I understand that weather plays a big role in all of this. I know that if the weather's crappy at 2:30 the Blue Angels aren't going to perform at 2:30. But that doesn't mean event organizers can't give potential attendees a reasonable approximation that's subject to change. If the weather's perfect, great! They've done everyone a huge service. And if not, oh well, we're no worse off than we are now. Anyway, go have fun at the airshow this weekend. And good luck with traffic.

When it comes to Indian restaurants in Lincoln, The Oven's two locations (Haymarket, 70th and Pioneers) get all the love. The praise isn't undeserved. The Oven has great food, good service, and pleasant atmosphere. But The Oven isn't the only player in town. Yesterday for lunch I went to Taj Mahal (west of 56th and Old Cheney, behind Racquet Club) for the first time. I've lived mere blocks away for seven years, yet it's so easy to forget about (or be ignorant of completely) because it's tucked away in a shopping center and it doesn't get much buzz. I've been missing out. The food was excellent and I look forward to going back. Note that Taj Mahal has an extensive array of vegetarian and vegan options, in addition to its meatier fare. That's good not only for the veg crowd, but for folks with various allergies or food intolerances as well. Sher E Punjab (17th and Q) is another strip mall resident that waits quietly for folks to notice it. It's tiny and unassuming, but I have yet to have an inadequate meal there. There is also Tandoor in Williamsburg near 35th and Old Cheney. I've never been to Tandoor so I can't say much about it. But check out the reviews online -- there's near-universal praise for the food. That's good enough to get me in the door in the near future. Am I missing any other Indian restaurants in Lincoln? Which is your favorite?

Dave Heineman showed up recently to ask the Feds to deny the TransCanada pipeline permit through Nebraska. Or at least through the part of Nebraska that sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer. My immediate reaction: Where the hell has Governor Heineman been all this time? The pipeline isn't exactly fresh news. Folks have been protesting it for many months. The permit could be approved before the end of the year. And now Heineman shows up? Just how effective does he think he's going to be at such a late stage in the game? I can't help but assume Heineman's belated action is nothing more than a political ploy. By waiting until the decision was all but made to pipe up, he gets immunity either way. If the permit comes through, he gets to talk about how the evil Feds don't listen to the states, Obama hates Mother Nature, and so forth. If the permit is denied he gets to take credit. Since he's so late to the party he doesn't actually have to put in much work. It's a total win-win for him. Or maybe I'm too cynical. But that's one of my most endearing qualities, right?