Lincolnite

Yikes, looks like there was a ruckus early this morning and after all was said and done, an LPD officer's use of the TASER may have killed a man. To make things even more interesting, MTV was filming for the show "Busted!" at the time. The deceased is 23 year-old Gabriel Shane Bitterman. LPD responded early this morning while Britterman allegedly held his girlfriend at knifepoint. When Bitterman refused to drop the knife, the officer zapped him. Bitterman died about an hour later. Obviously details are pretty sketchy at this point so don't jump to any conclusions. What we can say at this point is that this demonstrates that TASERs are not non-lethal weapons; they are "less lethal", but a suspect's physiology and/or chemical use, and even bad timing or aim, can still contribute to the suspect's death. Thank goodness harsh or lethal force is not something LPD is known for. Hat tip: Thanks for the heads-up, foxspit.

Two of my former professors have found yet more evidence that there's a strong link between our biology and our political leanings. UNL Political Science Professors Kevin Smith and John Hibbing (and other authors) published their results in Science (view abstract). You're probably not as excited by this sort of research as I am, but frankly I think it's fascinating to watch the intermingling of the social and biological sciences. Before you jump to any conclusions, let's be clear her that the authors are not saying "If your biology is X, your political beliefs are Y". Nobody is anywhere near those sorts of conclusions. Rather, studies like the one conducted by the authors are helping to prove what should seem pretty logical: an individual's physical responses to stimuli have an effect on that individual's attitudes. That's not surprising, is it?

He made a great run, but Lincoln's own Joseph Hall didn't make the cut for the top 5 on NBC's America's Got Talent. But hey, a top 10 finish for an Elvis impersonator? That's not bad at all. Good work, Mr. Hall. Do any of you folks watch the show? (Go on, you can admit it.) I haven't sat down and watched much of it, but I have seen at least one performance by each of the remaining five. I've got to go with Eli Mattson as my favorite, which probably guarantees he won't win.

Mayor Beutler has dropped his housing stimulus plan -- which may have been illegal -- after realizing it wasn't going anywhere. To that I say: thank goodness. The proposal never sat right with me. It always felt like a pander to the local housing and real estate industries more than any sort of a boon to taxpayers. Now we can finally put our energy where it really belongs: getting furniture off porches.

A closely guarded secret, Travel Channel superstar and author Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations fame was in town this week to film scenes for a future show. No one seems to know if this was for No Reservations or for some other series or special. Guess we will find out sometime later. give a talk at UNL, and unfortunately, did not do any filming according to a commenter (sigh).

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that the City had to close the bridge near 18th and Holdrege to vehicle traffic due to safety concerns. The structure hadn't seen any maintenance in almost thirty years. The next question is whether we should fix it, replace it, or just settle for an at-grade crossing. My early vote is for the latter, though that's just a gut call based on limited information. Kinda makes you wonder how many other pieces of our transportation infrastructure are about to age out.

Get ready, horse racing fans, a 1-mile track may be coming soon to the northeast corner of 84th and Havelock. The project would include the track, a grandstand and, of course, various commercial activities. It could even host some of UNLs equine facilities. And the name of it all? Goldenrod Downs. I'm not a horse racing fan so I'm having troubles giving a hoot one way or another about the proposal. The proximity to the Lancaster Events Center makes sense, and the North 84th Street corridor is the happening place to build these days. I guess my only question is about the price tag. Estimates peg the cost at around $50 million. Is there really that much money in local horse racing and related activities?

Have you ever wanted a ferret or two? If so, fate is urging you to get down to Capitol Humane Society. C'mon, you know you're dying to add a couple furry friends to your life. I have only been around ferrets for a few minutes in my entire life, yet I have wanted one for years. The timing isn't right on this pair, so no, I won't be claiming them myself. Perhaps when the kid(s) are older. Or maybe we'll just stick to the pattern from my youth of one dog, plus one hamster per kid. If only prairie dogs weren't illegal. I would totally convert part of my property into a mini prairie dog sanctuary.

Police reports can be a good read. If you haven't already seen it, be sure to see Chief Casady's latest collection.

Today, Deena Winter tells us that at the recent arena open house at Memorial Stadium, visitors were asked to rank various amenities that may or may not accompany the arena project. Some of the items include baseball and soccer fields, a radio control car track, a BMX track, and so on. But one item really caught my eye: kayaking. Wha?! Kayaking on Salt Creek? That would certainly be amusing to see. Presumably they're really talking about expanding water sport options on nearby Oak Lake. If so, the tentacles of the West Haymarket redevelopment project are reaching farther and farther, and the thing hasn't even gone up for a vote yet. EDIT: Mr. T tells me he's seen kayakers in Salt Creek. Huh. That's not the first body of water I'd want to hop in, for a whole host of reasons.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Nebraska's new "safe haven" law has been put to use twice -- for an 11 year-old and a 15 year-old. That's pretty much what critics of the law expected to happen. Actually, in my case that isn't entirely true. As critical as I was of the law when it was passed, I wasn't sure if this sort of "unintended" outcome was inevitable. I feared it would happen, but was I being overcautious? Apparently not. State lawmakers passed a bad law despite the foreseeable consequences and, well, here we are. Look for this law to be up for discussion again in the spring Unicameral session.

It seems so weird to me that Lincoln's schools don't know who's going to show up until the school year starts, forcing the district to hire new teachers after the school year begins. Are there really that many parents out there who don't at least call their kid's school in advance and say, "By the way, I'll be dropping off my kid on Monday"? A portion of the blame undoubtedly falls on an increasing number of parents using kindergarten as free daycare for kids who really ought to wait another year. Did you know that four year-olds can start kindergarten? Yikes. That feels way too young to me for most kids, even if they are "almost five".

Robbie and I went with my parents to Friday night's Husker volleyball match at the Devaney Center. The match was great -- even if we were sitting in the rafters -- but the post-match exodus was a pain. Not that we were surprised, what with all the Antelope Valley Project-related road construction going on. As we sat, unmoving, in the parking lot, I began to wonder if our parking spot just east of the Grandstand hadn't left us destined to wait longer than most. That leads me to ask you folks: Where are the best places to park when attending events at Devaney? Which are the spots to avoid?

I'm not even an apple fan, but for some reason I've had apples on my mind lately. For example, KOLN's report on the region's bumper crop of apples got me wondering about the best places to buy apples. Which local growers typically have the best crops? Do any local orchards offer a good picking and eating experience? I have also seen commercials recently for Nebraska City's Applejack Festival, coming up this weekend. Is anybody headed down the road for those events? And last, my dad reported that he almost accidentally spent $14 for a relatively small bag of apples the other day at Hy-Vee. Apparently the bag he picked up was priced at $4 per pound. Ouch! He opted to skip the apples that day.