Lincolnite

The University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band will host its annual end-of-band-camp exhibition at Memorial Stadium at 7:00pm tonight. It's a nice opportunity for the kids -- crap, did I just call them kids? I am getting old -- to show off the stuff they have worked on all week, as well as a chance to play in front of a crowd. Several thousand people typically show up each year. The event is free. Enter on the west side. Show up early (6:00 or 6:15, probably) outside Kimball Hall to see the band march into the stadium. The Wilsons plan to go, along with several friends and family. Go Big Red!

Mr. T told me he saw that Super Taco is going into the Building Where Restaurants Go To Die on Sun Valley Boulevard just north of O Street. Can anybody confirm that? I was near there just last weekend but I must have missed it. If it's true, I suggest those of you in the neighborhood give it a try soon. Super Taco has some good eats -- the location at 56th and Holdrege was the site of my first torta -- but that building is a black hole for restaurants.

The Common Answers: Local Eats game ends today at noon, so play now if you haven't already. Results will hopefully go up later today. Do you like the Common Answers concept? Would you like to see it again? If so, feel free to contribute a topic, or even questions. What other sorts of games would you like to see? (During your discussion please remember now to talk about your answers to this week's game. At least not until after the game closes at noon.)

In computing, "vaporware" is software that is long promised but never delivered. I was starting to think the Abbott motocross track was going to go down in local vaporware history like the ill-fated Catalyst One. Fortunately, it now looks like the track will arrive next summer. I won't hold my breath, but the latest news looks promising. I'm no motocross fan, but I am a fan of new recreational opportunities popping up around town. I just hope the track doesn't cause any problems for the nearby soccer fields.

The poor students at Goodrich at Dawes don't really have a mascot. That will not do! Let's help them out. What's the most creative mascot you can come up with? A few starters, all building off the "hybrid" theme:

• The Mutts
• The Griffins
• The Sphinxes
• The Centaurs
• The Ligers
• The Beefalos

I know you can do better than that!

Here's a random bit of info for you local spellers: neither Amigos nor Kings Classic contains an apostrophe. All this time I've been sticking apostrophes in there. Shame on me. Discovering that, however, has made me wonder if there should be an apostrophe in the name Amigos/Kings Classic. An apostrophe-less Amigos makes sense. Kings Classic, on the other hand, feels possessive. Doesn't it? Was the old local chain spelled Kings or King's?

Just a few bullet points from Deena Winter's column today:

• Mayor Beutler wants more power to fire people. Lincolnites will like the general idea, but let's not be too hasty. We want competent city employees, yes, but we don't want a partisan echo chamber at city hall.
• Beutler is considering a spring 2010 vote on the charter changes that would be required to give him more fire power. That could be an active ballot since it's presumably the same one on which the arena will appear.
• Mayor Beutler wants urban growth bonds, which will allow taking future sales tax revenue to pay for infrastructure. Is it sustainable to rely on future sales tax receipts in light of recent lagging sales tax trends?
• Sounds like the railroads are playing along with the Haymarket redevelopment plans. That's good to hear.
• Beutler expects "a large private input into" the arena project. I suppose it would be unrealistic to hope that "large" is equal to 100%...
• We can expect at least four months to chew on any arena-related proposals before we vote. That's a good chunk of time.

You probably don't need to be reminded, but it's the first day of school for most students in Lincoln. Sophomores through seniors are still on the loose, but most everybody else will be in class today. Want to melt your brain a bit? Consider that a few kids will probably show up to their schools today despite the fact that their schools have never heard of them. Their parents will not have bothered to contact anyone. And there's a good chance some parents don't know that school starts today, so who knows when their kids will show up. Oh the stories I've heard from LPS employees... This year's August 19 start seems really early to me. That's just fine. Now that every school is air conditioned -- finally! -- the "we can't start too early because of the heat" argument is weakened. I would love to see the day when LPS finishes first semester before Christmas and second semester wraps up in May. Come to think of it, I made it through my years at LPS with two years of air conditioning: fifth and sixth grade at Calvert. Ahh, those were pleasant years. Now I hear even the band room at Southeast is air conditioned. Bah. Back in my day we sweated like pigs and we liked it! Well, no, actually it was miserable. At least the portables were pleasant.

Last night I thought I did something good. And I did. I was helpful and friendly and all those things. Yay me. Then this morning I was reminded I was supposed to have done something entirely different last night. Crap. I had responsibilities elsewhere that I just plain overlooked. I hate the switcheroo from high to low. In this case it's bad enough knowing that I screwed up, but it's made even worse knowing that a certain someone could have prevented the whole thing had he just spoken up yesterday rather than deliberately staying silent. He would rather permit anguish -- presumably for its "educational" properties -- than prevent it and lose the opportunity to make a point. And here I was feeling good about myself and my prospects for the day. *sigh* I hope your hump day goes better than mine.

Is it just me or does it seem like LPS has an uncanny ability to miss construction deadlines?

We all knew this news was coming: Weather, water conservation spell revenue troubles for Lincoln Water System. You know the drill, a cool summer has led to lower water usage, which means less revenue for LWS, which means budget problems. A similar story is no doubt brewing over at LES. I wish these sorts of stories would include some actual analysis of why lower utility usage is a problem. As they are usually framed -- and as is the case here -- these stories invite mockery. Cynical types might even suggest that local media run these stories the way they do precisely because of the mockery. Personally, I would like to know what fixed costs a utility has to deal with. How much of their budget is flexible and how much is static? Are there things a utility can do to ease the pain of a low-usage year? To be fair, Algis J. Laukaitis's article does mention that certain aspects of LWS's rate structure may play a role in the budget woes. That's a start. Have you noticed your household using significantly less water this year? If so, was it because of a conscious decision to do so, or did other factors (e.g. the weather) play a role?

Homer's is closing the last of its Lincoln stores within the coming weeks. The closing comes fifteen years after Homer's appeared locally when it snapped up Pickles and Twisters (remember them?). The Journal Star reports that there were, at its peak, six Homer's locations throughout town. Darned if I can remember where they all were. Can you help my foggy memory? I only specifically remember a couple:

1. Downtown at 14th and O.
2. South of Holdrege on North 48th.
3. There was probably one in Gateway. Wasn't there?

I have vague recollections of others. Help!

Are you ready to play a game, Lincolnites? I have a new one for you. This one is called Common Answers. Read about it and play today!

Susan Gourley, we hardly knew ya. Dr. Gourley is leaving LPS next year and it is time to start thinking about her replacement. I was going to write a post about two things: (1) the characteristics I expect/desire from a superintendent, and (2) the questions I would ask candidates if I were to sit in on an interview. But as I started to write up my thoughts I realized I haven't put enough thought into the topic yet. So I'm coming to you for some help. What characteristics do you expect/desire from a superintendent? What questions would you ask candidates if you were to sit in on interviews? I will get the ball rolling with a couple contributions. First, I want a superintendent whose emphasis is on education. Not public education, but education. It's an important distinction, and perhaps a counterintuitive one to expect from the would-be leader of the state's second-largest school district. But to me it's critical. Public school officials who emphasize the "public" in public education do a disservice to students and the community, in part by allowing themselves to be distracted by an "us vs. them" mentality. It oughtn't be that way. As for questions I would ask, I might start with something like: Lincolnites love our schools, but we hate taxes. LPS consumes, by far, the largest chunk of our property tax dollar. What can you, as superintendent, do to keep our taxes as low as possible and yet still provide the quality of education we expect and our kids deserve? Have at it, Lincolnites.