Lincolnite

Lincoln could find itself with as many as four State Champion soccer teams this week. In Class B action tonight, the Pius X boys and girls both take on Omaha Skutt. In Class A action tomorrow night, the East girls face Millard North, while the East boys will face Millard South for the 3rd time this season (having won 5-0 and 3-2 in prior meetings). Congratulations, Pius and East, and good luck!

Lincoln is finally going to get its long-awaited Super Target. The 174,000 square foot store will be located at 40th Street and Yankee Hill Road. In all likelihood it won't be Lincoln's last Super Target.

Star Tran is offering free rides (PDF) this Saturday as part of a National Transportation Week promotion. In addition, Star Tran is running a prize drawing throughout the week. You can enter on any bus.

Every time I see an article like this morning's article about trees along Coddington Avenue, I wonder: do folks across the country react the same way Lincolnites do when it comes to trees being cut down to make way for street widening projects? Lincolnites love their trees, and boy do they get fired up when the trees are at risk. Trees are so beloved in Lincoln that they can even effectively be used as a shield against road expansion, as on South 27th Street, where residents planted dozens of trees in the right-of-way to use as a public relations weapon in light of road widening talk. It worked. I have always had the mentality that anything planted in the right-of-way is at risk. It's a sort of grey area between private property and public property. But one should always know that when road widening time arrives -- and it will arrive on most arterials -- that area will evaporate. Yet time and time again Lincolnites seem surprised when the news comes. Is it all just classic nimbyism? Or does the presence of trees make the discussion deeper, more personal? In which contexts should trees matter, and in which should they be non-players?

I wrapped up my State Tournament reffing assignments today. I was an AR in a match yesterday, and I centered a match today. Yesterday's game was relatively uneventful. Today's match was hotly contested, and ultimately the underdog ended up pulling out the victory. I ended up dishing out a whopping six cautions, two of which were issued thanks to the assistance of an AR and my fourth official. Kudos to them for keeping their eyes on the things they're supposed to be watching behind my back. I also issued a red card (serious foul play) to a player with only 10 seconds remaining in the match. He was a senior. On the losing team. You get the picture. Frustration happens. All in all I didn't hurt my chances to get a center assignment in the finals, which has been my goal all season. The assessor agreed with my calls (and non-calls), he liked the cards I issued, and he thought I was positioned well throughout the match. (He gave me a big thumbs-up for being almost literally on top of the play during a messy scrum in front of the goal that had the potential to dramatically alter the course of the match.) In fact, when he finished talking I asked what I could work on. His response: "I'll have to think about that." Awesome. (He did eventually come up with something, but it was a pretty small technical detail.) I likely won't find out until Monday or even Tuesday if I'll get a center, or any assignment, in the finals (Tuesday and Wednesday). I'm crossing my fingers. I'm also crossing my fingers for my father, by the way. His goal has long been to be the oldest referee to center a State Tournament final. I don't think he's old enough yet to hold that distinction, but it would still be cool if he could get a center this year. He has worked his buns off these past few years, and he has put a tremendous amount of time and energy into improving his own and others' reffing abilities.

Joseph W. Johnson, Jr. asks if the City and Douglas Theaters are too cozy in this morning's LJS letters to the editor:

Am I the only citizen who wonders what is wrong with the picture of enduring alliances among former Mayor Don Wesely, current Mayor Coleen Seng and Douglas Theatres? Now we read that after the a Wesely/Seng-orchestrated, financially disastrous switch from private ambulance service to Lincoln Fire Department service, and after the eminent domain creation of The Grand, owned (through tax increment financing) and operated by Douglas (as is every other screen in Lincoln), Seng now supports a high-rise and civic center proposal which — how amazingly — buys Douglas Theatre’s now nearly worthless properties downtown for millions of dollars. Am I the only one who is concerned?

It's easy enough to blow aside Mr. Johnson's concerns because of how he has chosen to write his letter. For example the Fire Department slam is awfully disingenuous in this context. But the overall question that concerns Mr. Johnson, snarkiness aside, is a reasonable one. To begin, I pin The Grand more on the City and the Downtown Lincoln Association than on Douglas. Douglas just took advantage of what was presented to them. One can hardly blame them. And to be fair, the City's first plan for the block that The Grand now sits on was in fact much more grand, and much less Douglas-centric. It is also unfair to blame the Douglas 3 building sale on some sort of City/Douglas conspiracy. It's a bad building in a prime spot, a nasty combination if our goal is to revitalize Downtown. Combine that with the City's longtime goal of establishing a Downtown park, and a consultant's recommendation that the site would make a great location for such a park, and you've got the buyout we see today. It really isn't surprising or conspiratorial. That brings us to the purchase of the Star Ship 9. The SS9 situation is a little stranger, primarily because I don't understand Douglas' motivation for selling the property so easiliiy. By most indications the SS9 is reasonably popular with the public and it does a fair amount of business. Perhaps "a fair amount" just isn't good enough to keep the theater afloat in the contemporary media entertainment climate. Or perhaps Douglas wants the cash to put toward another project they have their eyes on. In any event I don't immediately sense a conflict of interest. In summary, then, I think Mr. Johnson is overreacting in the context he has presented. I think it is proper for Lincolnites to raise an eyebrow or two, but I don't see any shenanigans. I do have a problem with Douglas' de facto monopoly status, but that's a slightly different issue, and one which Mr. Johnson didn't raise.

Five ways I plan to take a vacation in my hometown this summer:

• Make a long-overdue trip to the University of Nebraska State Museum
• Hit a couple nights of Jazz in June
• Check out Cats at Pinewood Bowl
• Pig out at Ribfest
• Take a walk through every public park in town

I received my reffing assignments for the State Soccer Tournament yesterday evening. For the first two rounds I ended up with one AR (line) and one center. Both of the games should be pretty decent, but as always, what happens on the field may not match what one expects prior to the game. If you enjoy watching soccer, head on up to Tranquility Park (boys) or Morrison Stadium (girls) in Omaha this weekend.

The Missus and I stopped for our first Zesto of the year last night. Zesto is really more of a summer activity, but it felt good to get the first trip under our belts. I expect many more will follow.

Governor Dave Heineman wants you to vacation in Nebraska this summer. The state's new tourism campaign -- slogan, "More Vacation. Less Travel" -- is designed to highlight Nebraska's in-state vacation spots. In light of expected high gasoline prices this summer (a while back I predicted a peak of $3.75/gallon), it's not a bad campaign idea. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Perhaps it says something about my travel habits, but many of my favorite vacation and mini-vacation spots are in Nebraska. They include:

• Henry Doorly Zoo
• Strategic Air Command Museum
• Arbor Day Lodge
• Indian Cave State Park
• Fort Robinson
• Chadron State Park
• Niobrara River
• Ponca State Park

...plus plenty of other places. What are your favorite in-state vacation spots?

I didn't get the response I was hoping for when I asked for you folks to tell me your perceptions of me, but at least a few of you replied. One or two were even semi-serious. Oh well, I said I would reveal the answers to some of the items, so here goes:

1. How old am I? I may sound like a cranky retiree sometimes, but I'm only 27.
2. What is my approximate income? I ain't rich and I ain't poor.
3. Approximately where in Lincoln do I live? 48th and Highway 2 is a close enough approximation.
4. What is my religion? I was raised Methodist, but I don't think I can claim that title today. My core beliefs are two-fold: (1) There is a God and (2) I'm not Him.
5. Which political party is listed on my voter registration card? Republican.
6. On economic issues, do I lean left or right? Right.
7. On social issues, do I lean left or right? Left.
8. What is my opinion of the death penalty? The government screws up too often to be trusted with the power to kill its citizens.
9. What is my opinion of abortion? Morally opposed, legally undecided.
10. What is my opinion of immigration? Let 'em all in through a few controlled access points, and secure the rest of the border to keep out the riffraff.
11. What is my opinion of banning concealed weapons in Lincoln? It'll stop roughly five gung-ho NRA types, and that's about it.
12. Dave Heineman, Pete Ricketts, and Ernie Chambers are in separate carnival-style dunking booths. I have only one baseball to throw. Who do I dunk, and why? This one's easy: Pete Ricketts. He exudes insincerity, and that bugs the heck out of me.
13. I have to leave the country for 10 years, but before I go I can eat at one Lincoln restaurant. Which restaurant do I choose, and why? I really have no idea. Possibly Lazlo's, for sentimental reasons.
14. Describe me in five words or less. This one was for you folks, not for me.
15. Dogs or cats? Dogs by a mile.

Nebraskans and Lincolnites alike apparently think we're spending enough. Nebraskans shot down Amendment 1, the state senator pay raise, 55/45. I'm not too surprised by that. Voters have always seemed to think that low legislative wages encourage humble, "just like me" legislators, even though low wages actually keep out those folks. It will be interesting to see how the $12k salary and term limits interact over time. Meanwhile Lincolnites killed the parks bond. I can't say I'm surprised. The bond faced an uphill battle since it got a late start, and it had the misfortune of following a huge school bond back in February. Sure the parks bond would only cost a cup of coffee per year, but Lincolnites have long been hesitant to approve bond issues. The loss does not bode well for any of the other bonds the Seng administration is looking at. In fact, the overall financial situation in Lincoln looks tricky for a while, with hundreds of millions in projects to be completed, but a sales tax shortfall to deal with and a public that feels like it is paying enough.

Now that Heineman has won the primary over Tom Osborne and we have the benefit of retrospect, was it an upset?

Husker Pilot wants me to take a flying leap and go skydiving with him. I'm considering it, and to be honest I don't think it'll take much effort on his part to talk me in to it. I used to be afraid of heights. Today I have a sort of cautious appreciation for heights. I suppose falling a couple thousand feet is as good a way as any to get rid of my childhood fear completely. (Or to renew it with gusto!) Whether or not we actually do it before Husker Pilot has to head off on his military adventures later this summer is still up in the air. I'll keep you posted.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is one of those days in Lincoln. You know, one of those days that makes you wish you could spend the entire day outside. Working in the yard. Washing the car. Napping under a tree. Reading a book by a lake. So my question is: what's stopping you?