Lincolnite

I missed the news from last Friday that the Board of Regents approved the Devaney Center expansion. The facility upgrade will cost around $18 million and will include a basketball practice facility, new training space, and new office space. Not long ago many people feared that if UNL were to invest in Devaney on this sort of project it would signal a vote of no confidence against the proposed Haymarket arena. That sentiment has changed lately, with the buzz now indicating that the Huskers are likely to be behind the arena ... for now. An unfavorable result in next spring's vote could still cause Dr. Tom to call up the renovators to put in place an all-out Devaney renovation. The Huskers can't wait forever, after all. You know, if we were to just put a dome over Memorial Stadium the basketball team could play in there, and it would make a great arena (as demonstrated by the Larry the Cable Guy show). Hmm...

The past several months have been filled with State Fair goodbyes. In many ways I'm sick of hearing about it. Just leave already! And yet... I'm not one to get teary-eyed over the Fair's departure, but boy is it going to seem weird not having it around. Heck, just learning to call State Fair Park "Innovation Campus" is going to feel odd for years to come. (Not least because "Innovation Campus" is kind of hokey.) State Fair Park is the next Miller & Paine; years from now you'll be able to tell how long somebody has lived in Lincoln by what they call that patch of land. The move to Grand Island is going to be a huge disruption to the State Fair. Here's hoping it's worth it.

I get so frustrated with the media sometimes. Take this article from today's Journal Star:

On Thursday, several [County] commissioners said they're perturbed over distribution of a flier with "misinformation" about the county-owned [Lancaster Manor] nursing home. "I want to know who did this. No one's name is on this. ... Where is it being distributed?" asked Commissioner Bob Workman, who characterized the one-page flier as "obnoxious lies." The sheet purports to give myths and facts about the manor's financial history, the Rothner family and Hunter Management, the use of tax revenues, and the need for repairs and new equipment at 22-year-old Lancaster Manor.

So we've got a pamphlet of "lies" floating around out there. Wouldn't it be nice to know what's in it? I know I would like to read it. Tough cookies. The Journal Star isn't interested showing us a copy so we can decide for ourselves just how "obnoxious" the flier is. Grr. And double-grr to the fact that the Journal Star teases us by saying the County Board approved a fact sheet of its own, but we don't get to see that either. The flier, by the way, is being distributed by "AFSCME No. 2468, the local union that represents manor employees". If you happen to see their booth at the State Fair could you grab a copy of their flier and send it my way? I'll post it here for everybody to see.

I'm glad the "ugly house potluck" went well and all, but it got me thinking: Not enough neighborhoods have potlucks for no reason at all. Including mine. Hmm...

Halloween seems like such a fun holiday to really get into. I mean beyond the simple candy and store-bought fad-of-the-week costumes. If you agree, you might be interested in SCC's Halloween props workshop put on by Brad and Tracy Moul (who really ought to swap that M for a Gh). It's yet another of SCC's fun and creative workshops and classes that help give it such a positive role in Lincoln.

Color me surprised. Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn is calling it quits, he says to spend more time with his kids. That forces me to back off from my ongoing accusations that Mr. Osborn is one part treasurer, three parts publicity hound. If this is another act of self-promotion it sure is a bizarre one. Osborn will leave under two dark clouds of accusations. His estranged wife says he abused her, and one of his employees says Osborn told him to violate labor laws (followed by Osborne demoting the guy after he blew the whistle). Yikes. Both matters are just accusations for now, but neither one bodes well for future political aspirations. So is this the end of Shane Osborn's political life, an ending almost as unusual as the event eight years ago that started it? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I realize the audience for this is relatively small, but after yesterday's headaches and heartaches I have to get this off my chest: MS IE 6 Oh how I despise your ways! Please die already.

How many of you fellas would "take one for the team" and volunteer for this duty? I can honestly say I wouldn't volunteer. I couldn't bring myself to ticket people for a crime between two consenting adults. Then again, that's one of the main reasons I'm not a cop. There are a lot of laws out there blocking consenting adults from doing the things they want to do. Having to enforce those laws would drive me nuts.

Yikes, some 180 Pius X students are out with flu right now. That's approaching 20% of the school's population. Judging by the illness's rapid spread it's probably H1N1 (nee swine flu), but in most cases that diagnosis hasn't been confirmed by lab tests. So what now? I guess we just hold on tight and wait for this thing to make its way through the city. This particular brand of flu seems to get its oomph not from being particularly deadly, but through its contagiousness. That's sort of good news, except that it means lots of us are going to be miserable at some point, and the sheer numbers involved mean lots of people will still die even if the overall mortality rate is low. Pius X likely isn't the only place in town being hit hard by illness right now. Is your workplace / school / facility seeing a higher-than-normal incidence of illness these days? Is it just a coincidence that I'm in the midst of a sneezing fit while writing this post?

Ignite Lincoln (Twitter) wants to inspire you:

Ignite Lincoln is the beginning of a set of inspiring talks from Lincoln’s greatest minds. Each speaker has just five minutes and twenty slides to speak their mind.

These sorts of events have been popping up in various forms around the world over the past few years. What will Lincoln's version look like? Umm, well, who knows at this point. But it sounds like fun.

I've been told that Dinner Date, the local company that specializes in do-it-yourself frozen meals, is closing up shop within the next few weeks. That's a bummer for The Wilsons. We haven't used Dinner Date over the past year nearly as much as we used to when The Missus had a full-time job, but she still stopped in from time to time. We enjoyed nearly all of the meals we got from Dinner Date. In fact, a couple of the meals were among our favorite suppers. If you are a Dinner Date fan, you'd best get there soon before they close up shop.

Cutbacks in the newsroom at the LJS are really taking their toll, as shown in this article:

An excavating company drilling near 18th and K streets hit one of the city's fiber optic cables Friday, causing $7,000 in damage to a fiber optic line that helps the city run traffic signals remotely. Officer Katie Flood said when General Excavating's drill hit the cable that runs on the south side of 18th Street around 10:30 a.m. it quickly became obvious.

It quickly became obvious ... that somebody at the LJS fell asleep at the keyboard while writing this piece. The incident did not become obvious to local drivers, by the way. Local drivers have become so accustomed to bizarre traffic signal timing that nothing surprises them any more.

The Wilsons are in the process of acquiring an exciting 1996 Mercury Mystique with 35,000 miles to replace our ailing 1993 Ford Tempo, which I have had since high school. We're getting the Mystique very cheap from family. That, combined with the fact that the Tempo just isn't worth all that much, has removed all the pressure of trying to get as much money as we can for it. Our leading option right now, in fact, is to give it away. To be honest, we have pretty much decided to give the car to a local immigrant family via my wife's church. However I would like to get some feedback from you folks about who in Lincoln accepts vehicle donations and which organizations can really benefit from the gifts. I know the American Red Cross solicits vehicle donations. Who else is out there?