Lincolnite

The Industrial Arts building on Innovation Campus is running out of options now that UNL has rejected the only redevelopment proposal offered by the July 1 deadline. For all the talk from the building's supporters about how nifty the building is -- and it is an interesting building -- nobody seems willing to put up the money to save it. From my angle it would have been nice to see the building saved -- and there's still a small chance it could be -- but I'm not going to lose a wink of sleep over its demolition. "Old" and "funny-shaped" aren't good enough reasons to save a building. Neither is the fact that lots of people have fond memories of the building. Those factors make it worthwhile to put in a little extra thought before demolishing the building, but without a viable long-term plan they just aren't enough to save the building outright. I suppose the building's supporters can hope that some white knight shows up with millions in cash and an offer the University can't refuse, even at this late date. He had better hurry up.

This seems appropriate:

One question I haven't seen answered so far in the discussion over the City Forester position is whether such a position is common among municipalities. Which types of communities have one, and which don't? How does Lincoln's forester position compare to others in terms of responsibilities, qualifications, pay, and so forth? I've tried to find an answer on my own but so far my Google-fu is failing me. About the only thing I've discovered is that Omaha recently filled its Forester position after several years without one. That's a step in the right direction. Who among you can help fill the gaps?

The Wilsons went to the Lancaster County Fair -- I can't bring myself to call it the "Super Fair" -- yesterday. Yes, that's right, we went on a miserably hot afternoon. Talk to The Missus about that. I don't know if the fair is particularly "super", but there is a heck of a lot more activity at today's county fair than there was back in my day. It's no State Fair, but I'm not sure it needs to be. It's enough of a fair to satisfy most Lincolnites' appetites for a fair experience each year, and that's probably what organizers are after. The State Fair folks out in Grand Island can't be happy about that. Even the midway is surprisingly adequate. Granted, my expectations for fair midways are pretty minimal. But my kids were pleased, and I never once thought I was going to die while riding the ferris wheel. Still, it is "just" a county fair. You can only squeeze so many exhibitors out of Lancaster County. That limits browsing time. And only so many people are going to be interested in going to a county fair. As a result I think stretching the fair to 10 days is a mistake. I think a five- to seven-day fair would be more "dense" and therefore more enjoyable. Now about those tickets. The "official" word is that you have to go to U-Stop to get your free tickets so that you can get in. You don't. The "tickets" are nothing more than U-Stop coupons, albeit extremely fancy coupons. I appreciate that U-Stop is probably forking over some large amount of cash to support the fair. Good on them. But telling customers to jump through a lame and unnecessary hoop is off-putting and insulting. The tickets need to offer value to fairgoers or nobody will get them. The policy of not requiring a ticket is a good one. But how about those people who do show up with a ticket can redeem it for ... well, something. An even better U-Stop coupon perhaps. Anything to convert the ticket from a burden to a reward. Who else among you have been to the fair, or plan to go this week? What are your thoughts on the experience?

For no reason in particular, Tico's recently popped into my head. I haven't thought about Tico's in ages. Even when I drive right past it on 17th Street I barely give it a thought. I'm curious if this "out of mind" phenomenon is unique to me, or if Tico's -- by all rights a bit of a Lincoln landmark -- is really fading from the local consciousness. Have you eaten at Tico's lately? (I haven't.) Do you know anybody who has? (I don't.) I loved Tico's when I was a kid. During my teenage years I liked to get the three- or four-item platter. The huge plate of food, combined with plenty of complimentary chips and salsa and a bowl of soup, was among the few things that could truly leave me stuffed. Oh, and the food tasted good, too. I suppose I should mention that. These days, though, my tastes for Mexican food have changed a bit. I'd just as soon have a torta from a mom and pop joint as a "fancy" (ahem) dinner at Tico's. Anyway, back to the original question. I still believe Tico's has a role in Lincoln's dining scene. But who's keeping it going these days? Is it you?

Lincoln -- the City, that is -- now owns five golf courses: Highlands, Mahoney, Pioneers, Holmes, and Ager. The courses require zero tax dollars, with user fees taking care of all expenses. All the courses are paid off in full. Let's do a little thought experiment. (And that's all this is; I'm not actually proposing anything.) Why should a city own a golf course? Would Lincoln be better served by selling off one or more of the courses to private buyers? We sure could use an influx of a few million dollars. Why not go for it? One argument against such a sale might be that the private buyer could close off access to the public or otherwise limit accessibility. There are many variations on that basic concern, some likely more valid than others. Those concerns could at least theoretically be put to rest, however, if the City were to place conditions on the sale. Would anybody want to buy a course with X, Y, or Z conditions? I don't know. Rather than continue with pros and cons I'll open the floor to discussion. Should Lincoln hold on to its golf courses?

We nearly always buy Hy-Vee brand milk at the grocery store. We stay away from the more expensive stuff because, well, the Hy-Vee milk tastes just fine. Why pay more? So it's only rarely that we purchase a different brand. We occasionally pick up a gallon of Viva from the convenience store around the corner, but only in a pinch. Personally I'm not a fan of Viva's taste. If I'm going to pay more for milk, I'd rather buy Robert's. Or at least that's what I used to think. A couple weeks ago The Missus bought a gallon of Robert's milk. It was on sale or she had a coupon or something like that. It was ... well, it was most definitely not right. It wasn't spoiled so we didn't throw it out. It was still drinkable, just not ideal. We made our way through the gallon and passed it off as a fluke. The next week The Missus came home with two gallons of Robert's. She was willing to give them a second (and third) chance. Good on her. Unfortunately, gallon number two was just as funky as gallon number one. At that point we decided we wouldn't be buying any more Robert's milk. But hey, we paid for it so we made our way through. Again, it wasn't spoiled, it just wasn't perfect. It tasted like something you'd get in a shady cafeteria. Then I opened the third gallon. It just plain stunk. I took three steps over to the sink and dumped it out. It's official: no Robert's milk shall again enter 625 Elm Street. Note that all three gallons were no fewer than 7 days from their expiration date. All of the milk looked OK (no funny colors, no chunks), and all the containers were intact. Have any of you had problems with Robert's milk lately?

Two bus routes that shuttle an average of 3.5 riders per hour combined have been described as "critical links" in Lincoln's transportation network by supporters. With all due respect to the few folks who use the 56 and 57 buses, unless they're transporting organs for transplantation, there's nothing at all "critical" about bus routes with a performance record that poor. Sorry, folks, but those routes have got to go. That doesn't necessarily mean they should disappear altogether, however. Maybe they can be reinvented by modifying their path through the city. Maybe not. Either way, Lincoln is probably better off subsidizing taxi service for those 3.5 riders per hour than putting two wasteful buses on the road. Deena Winter snuck in a bit of StarTran trivia in her column today. She says that StarTran's average ridership is "14 per service hour". Wait a second ... is that an average of 14 people per service hour across all buses throughout town? That's what her column implies. I suspect she instead means that average ridership is 14 per bus per service hour. Anyway, that would be much more representative of my experience from when I used to ride the bus each day. It's still not a great number -- especially when you consider StarTran's historical reluctance to purchase smaller, more efficient buses -- but it's much easier to swallow.

I'm impressed, Gateway. Seven new tenants are coming soon. That's an impressive figure for a mall could use some good news after a couple years of declining occupancy. Even more importantly, two of the retailers are biggies: Dress Barn and a Toys R Us "Holiday Express" store. Then there's Victory Ride Skate Park. Really, a skate park inside the mall? I'm having a very difficult time imagining how that will be successful. Now if Gateway could just fill the Steve & Barry's space. Personally I vote for something along the lines of a Dave and Buster's or Amazing Pizza Machine. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me a large entertainment and dining center could be very successful in that location. Who's with me?

The Lancaster County Fair kicks off tomorrow and runs through August 14. That's right, it's a ten day event. I can't quite wrap my head around that. Back in my day the county fair lasted, what, three or four days? And it barely filled up that much time. Admission is free but -- get this -- you have to go to a U-Stop to get tickets. How remarkably stupid. I've heard the claim that requiring tickets to the event helps them track attendance. That's absurd since anybody can pick up any number of tickets and yet never actually go to the fair. If a person dares to show up without a ticket will they actually be turned away? For what it's worth, last year The Wilsons went to the fair without tickets in hand and nobody seemed to care. For that matter, there was nobody to give the tickets to even if we had them. I don't know if the same will hold true this year. Robbie had a great time at the fair last year and we barely dropped any cash. Now that we have three boys in the house the fair will no doubt be a less-than-relaxing experience, but it ought to be a good time and a great opportunity for the boys to burn off some energy. Perhaps we will see you out there. Addendum: I just checked the schedule of events. I'm surprised there's no model train exhibit this year. Booooo!

Lincoln's bars currently close at 1:00am. Plenty of people -- mostly night owls and bar owners -- want to see that extended to 2:00am. The City Council, meanwhile, is presently non-commital. This is a tricky issue for me. On the one hand I'm just fine with bars being open 24 hours a day. In that sort of situation some problems are solved (such as the "rush" of drunk bar patrons at closing time) and others are created (such as issues with police resource allocation). From a "no closing time" perspective a later closing time is "better", or at least acceptable. On the other hand, we all know that night life comes with a down side. I'm not enamored with the possibility that a later closing time could cause more problems. The trouble is, I don't actually know that it'll create more problems. Perhaps the same problems will just occur an hour later, or they will be spread out over a longer period. But intuitively it seems like troubles will increase. Although intuition is an OK starting point, intuition alone doesn't make good policy. Overall I'm leaning toward supporting the later time. Lincoln has a relatively healthy nightlife scene right now. We should embrace that. Barring any shocking data from similarly-situated communities -- i.e. a later closing time drastically increases drunk driving fatalities -- adding an hour to that experience is worth a try. It has the potential to enhance Lincoln's music scene; the Husker night game post-game experience; and it will extend the evening for concert-goers at the new arena once it opens. Of course, this is coming from a non-drinker and a non-participant in the current 1:00am scene. What do I know? I'm sure many of you have a better perspective on this.

Husker volleyball single-game tickets go on sale this morning at 8:00am. You can buy the tickets online or call the ticket office at ... um, well, I can't find the phone number right now. So just buy them online.

The Missus and I spent the weekend at The Cornhusker for a conference put on by the Nebraska Foster and Adoptive Parents Association. I have several quick thoughts to share. I'll start with my reactions to The Cornhusker:

• I've been in The Cornhusker before, but I had never previously spent the night there. It has been kept up well. Our room was in very good condition, as was the remainder of the hotel and conference center.
• The urinals on the main floor of the conference center use approximately one Olympic swimming pool worth of water when flushing. It's pee, people! Flushing one of those urinals is like using a fire hose to put out a birthday candle.
• That wasn't the only evidence that The Cornhusker hates Mother Nature. The conference center's air temperature was kept somewhere between "damn that's cold" and "I can't feel my extremities". And this is coming from a guy who loves air conditioning! It was impossible to tell what the actual air temperature was -- the thermostats appeared to be broken; one said the temperature was 102 degrees -- but I'd place it no higher than 65 degrees in some of the meeting rooms. What a waste of energy.
• Our room's thermostat, by the way, was set to 60 degrees. The only explanation I can come up with is that every employee at The Cornhusker is Canadian.

OK then, enough of my griping about that. Now on to some thoughts and reactions from and about the conference itself:

• There are a lot of things wrong with foster care in Nebraska. Depressingly, there have always been a lot of things wrong with foster care in Nebraska. I can't help but feel like we're spinning our wheels.
• Foster care pay rates in Nebraska suck. See here and here to compare Nebraska to other states. Go ahead, try to find a state that pays less than Nebraska. Many, if not most, foster parents are being paid somewhere around $10 to $12 per day per child. Try to imagine effectively raising a child on that amount. Include food; clothing; entertainment. Did you remember school supplies? Christmas presents? Birthday presents and a party? How about karate and piano lessons, or maybe soccer and basketball. Did you include a budget for fixing or replacing all the things your child will break, such as those holes in the wall from his latest bout of rage? Don't forget an allowance; the cost of utilities; and certainly don't forget to account for your own time and energy. How's your budget looking now?
• The Missus and I, at 29 and 31, were young compared to most of the attendees. We guessed that most of the attendees were middle to lower-middle class, income-wise. Thinking about those things made us wonder about other demographics of foster parents in Nebraska. What are the consequences of foster parent demographics? Should we -- that is, Nebraskans -- try to adjust the average foster parent demographic?
• RAD is rampant among foster kids. I've always thought of RAD as a problem for foreign orphanages. It's not.
• Foster parents need therapy. Seriously. The State places a tremendous burden of responsibility on these people and yet provides them with startlingly few resources and even fewer rights. Foster parents are stressed out, confused, and unempowered. They want to talk, vent, and be respected.
• The public at large seem to perceive foster parents in two ways: they're martyrs and/or they're nuts. I agree we are must definitely nuts, though I would argue our motivations justify our insanity. I'm concerned by foster parents who perceive themselves as martyrs. Most don't feel that way, but they represent a sizable minority. It's not a healthy attitude to hold.
• For all of the bads, being a foster parent really doesn't suck. Or at least it doesn't have to suck. If you go into the system with realistic expectations; a bit of patience; some energy; and the courage to go over or bust through the occasional bureaucratic hurdle, you'll be just fine. The first item -- realistic expectations -- is the biggie. Education is your friend.
• No, I didn't say that last bullet as part of some sort of justification to myself that I'm doing the right thing. The Missus and I knew what we were getting into. Some things have gone better than expected, others worse. But on the whole we're quite pleased, particularly since nearly all of the bumps we've experienced in the road are relatively easily fixable.
• Foster care in Nebraska needs legislative help. I'm going to contact my state senator to try to get some things started. You could do the same. And if you happen to work in the Unicameral and you want to help, I would love to speak with you.

And finally two general observations:

• It's fascinating watching people at a buffet. People tend to take as much food as they can carry, even if that means they end up with a ridiculous quantity of food. The only reason I didn't fall prey to the phenomenon was that I was aware of it. Had I not thought about it I'm sure I would have done the same thing. Combine the quantity problem with a quality problem -- the conference did not serve health food! -- and you've got a whole ballroom full of people eating at least an entire day's worth of calories at one meal.
• Conference and event organizers hate vegetarians. I'm not demanding special treatment, but c'mon, through me a (metaphorical) bone. Yes, technically a bowl of lawn trimmings covered in Sysco dressing is technically vegetarian. But we can do better than that. And not just for vegetarians.

Sheesh, I think too much about food.

Some of you are just a weeee bit excited about Trader Joe's coming to SouthPointe. If you just can't get enough TJ news, good ol Jack Mitchell has said that TJ's liquor license is on the City Council's agenda today. That's nowhere close to a store opening, but hey, big fans just want to see progress. In other SouthPointe news, did you know SouthPointe is supposed to be a Williamsburg-style lifestyle center? I suppose it is a "lifestyle center" in that it is an important part of the local consumerist lifestyle. And although I've never been to the original, I suppose it could share a few qualities with the outdoor shopping malls of Olde Williamsburg. Still, I probably would have described it as a prototypical early 21st Century outdoor mall. I guess that's why I'm not in marketing.