Lincolnite

Jack Mitchell doesn't take kindly to the Omaha World-Herald's two days worth of articles mocking Lincolnites' crappy driving skills. Unfortunately for the OWH, our own badged blogger throws water on the stories:

I could reduce our rate dramatically with the stroke of a pen by not submitting reports on non-injury crashes with damages of less than $1,000 to the property of any one person, or by declaring a moratorium on non-injury traffic crash investigations anytime the snow starts falling in appreciable quantities.

In other words, our cops are more complete with their paperwork. But I don't know, Lincolnites. Maybe we should let them have this one so they can spend some time working on their real problems. It's the least we can do.

Did you hear about the high school basketball coach who was fired after his team won 100-0? I didn't realize until just this morning that Lincoln Southeast's girls basketball team has put up similar numbers: 92-8, 97-18, 87-19. Yet I haven't heard anybody call for coach John Larson's head. I wonder why? Make no mistake, I'm not calling for coach Larson to be fired, or even punished. I liked the guy as a person back when I was in high school, and I have no reason to think he's out to humiliate anyone. Everything I have ever heard suggests he's a stand-up guy. Moreover, I have been a sports official for over fifteen years now and I have been a part of some of the worst blowouts you will ever see. I have only once heard a losing coach accuse the winning team of "running up the score" in one of those games (in a little kids' game). The losing team isn't happy, sure, but they seem to recognize both that their opponent is that much more skilled, and that asking their opponent to completely shut down would be more embarrassing than a lopsided score. Maybe folks around here understand all of that, thus preventing any fury. Or maybe it's simple ignorance; perhaps people don't know about these scores, due in large part to local media keeping such blowouts relatively subdued in their coverage. With regard to high school sports I wouldn't mind seeing some mercy rules enacted. Soccer could definitely use a "running clock' rule for large score differentials. (Even if the clock were to run the entire second half, that's still 40 minutes of discomfort.) Basketball could use a rule. Many baseball and softball leagues have mercy rules, but I don't know if any are used in high school matches. I was thinking that football might have some sort of "running clock" rule but I may have imagined it. Would you do anything to address blowouts in high school sports? Just for fun: I have been a participant in blowouts with the losing team, the winning team, and as an official. One of the worst maulings came in a soccer scrimmage against Capital City Gold. The coach wanted to experiment with players in different positions. I somehow ended up in goal. I was terrible. I gave up seven goals in something like 15 minutes. Now, in all fairness our defense did a crappy job by letting them get off that many shots. Still, I proved that day that I am no goalkeeper. Yikes.

On Friday I posed a question about the legality of u-turns in the vicinity of 56th, O, and Cotner at intersections that are marked with signs prohibiting left turns. The question arose in my mind while reading a post on Chief Casady's blog. Believe it or not, just 32 minutes after I left my original comment on the Chief's blog, Scott Opfer, Manager of Street & Traffic Operations for Lincoln, confirmed that the signs will be changed:

We agree that we should change the "fixed" signs on the medians to the R3-18. We will likely leave the L.E.D. signs, which are mounted on the traffic signal mast arms, as they are currently (a lighted "No Left Turn" sign).

That's a speedy response! Thanks, Chief Casady and Mr. Opfer!

Thanks to Karin for alerting me to a problem some Time Warner Cable internet subscribers may be experiencing. Apparently TWC has been getting slammed by a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack on their DNS servers, resulting in slow performance across the network. Phrased another way, a bunch of dorks are hogging TWC's internet address books so that your computer has to wait in line for ages while trying to look up the info needed to find google.com. Since it appears to be a DNS attack, you may find relief by switching to OpenDNS. It may sound like voodoo to you, but there is a handy step-by-step guide you can follow. I'm curious how many of you have experienced the slowdown. Have you tried switching to OpenDNS, and if so, did that help?

Robert Wilson performs a dramatic reading of Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee:

A traffic question: is it legal for an eastbound vehicle on O Street to perform a u-turn at Cotner Boulevard? Signage at the intersection indicates that left turns are prohibited. As far as I can tell Lincoln's rules of the road (PDF) treat left turns and u-turns separately; thus, a prohibition against one does not seem to affect the other. In addition, a sign (PDF) is available (R3-18) that would clearly prohibit both u-turns and left turns. Since that sign isn't posted, one assumes u-turns are allowed. But the performance of a u-turn at that intersection is surely unsafe, isn't it? It's not the oncoming traffic that concerns me, but the trailing traffic that likely won't understand why some bozo has stopped and turned on his left turn signal when left turns are clearly forbidden. What say you, Lincolnites? Is a u-turn at Cotner and O prohibited? Should it be? Update: I probably ought to clarify that Tom Casady is the reason I started thinking about this.

A couple days ago I mentioned that somebody may be distributing illegal gambling devices in the Omaha and Lincoln areas. A suspect has been nabbed. The State Patrol arrested him for, among other things, "promoting gambling". It's illegal to promote gambling? Bizarre. Hat tip: nikkidemas.

The Wilsons had supper at Grandmother's (70th and A) last night. Grandmother's has always been one of my local favorites. My extended family used to eat there fairly regularly years ago. We were one of those groups that fills half of the recessed portion of the dining room. Grandmother's has changed over the years, but not a lot. They still serve the same clam chowder, so popular with some people that the older woman at a table near ours last night, when asked if she would like a cup or a bowl, replied "How 'bout a gallon?" One of my favorite aspects of the restaurant is the layout. You have a separate bar and dining room, which gives two very distinct eating areas. There are lots of booths which are ample sized and very private. And there is enough flexible table space that just about any size group can be accommodated. Grandmother's probably won't win any "best in Lincoln" awards for their food because they tend to play it pretty safe. That's ok. Sometimes safe is what you're in the mood for. If I could offer them a suggestion it would be to work a little bit on their presentation. For example, The Missus' turkey melt, though tasty and just as she ordered it, looked awfully lonely on its too-big plate. It wouldn't take much of a change to perk up some of the dishes. All in all, Grandmother's is the sort of local classic you tend to forget about. Fortunately, Gene, aka "Mr. Ten Thousand", got me thinking about it again. Thanks, Gene! (And check your mail.)

The state's Foster Care Review Board special study may indeed show "good trends", but to me many of the numbers are pretty sad. Eighty percent of the children in the study received "appropriate" services? That means a full 20% got inappropriate services. I admit to not knowing the details behind those numbers, but doesn't that sound like something we as a society ought to improve upon? The study and related documents are on the FCRB's website.

Soccer officiating is a great way to stay in shape, make some money, and support youth sport activities. Depending on your age and ability level a variety of opportunities ranging in intensity from relaxed to hyper-competitive are available. Soccer's basics are easy to learn, so new referees can get started after just a little study. The real fun part (in my opinion!) is that soccer's complexities will continue to challenge you for a lifetime. The high school soccer season is only weeks away and we need new referees in Lincoln and surrounding areas. Our referees work games for Lincoln Public Schools; Lincoln Lutheran; Lincoln Pius X; Norris; Waverly; and, for the first time this year, Seward. Game assignments are flexible according to your needs and abilities. If you would like to get started refereeing or if you have questions, please contact me at mrwilson at lincolnite dot com or post in the comments.

The calendar still says February, but it sure is starting to smell and sound like spring. I notice the smell each morning when I step out to get the newspaper off the front porch. This morning it was particularly noticeable. I haven't looked at the forecast, but it smelled like the start of a beautiful day. And then there are the sounds. Birds, mainly. Last night Robbie and I stared upwards at a rather large and noisy flock of geese flying north over the house. And I have noticed more general bird chatter, the sort of chatter you curse when you're trying to fall asleep with the windows open. I'm still rooting for one more good snow storm, but after playing in the yard with Robbie last night -- including a wild ride over the grass on the sled he got for Christmas -- I sure won't mind the arrival of spring.

A final decision by the City Council is half a year away, but it looks like two City Libraries could close. The Bethany and South branches could be the victims of Lincoln Libraries' need to chop 9% from its budget. That's a big chunk, and presumably the alternative to closing the two branches would be substantially crippling services across all branches. In this case I prefer the Library Board's Harvey Perlman-esque vertical cut. Well, no. Actually I prefer Mr. T's fanciful dream of a landmark Downtown library, supplemented by healthy community libraries scattered conveniently throughout town. Killing off the two branches is only my second choice. I'm curious what you folks think. Will the City Council actually vote to close the two branches? If not, will it be because extra funds magically appear, or because the Council opts for an alternate plan?

I don't see what Mike Foley is all hot and bothered about. It seems to me this video demonstrates impressive efficiency from some of Nebraska's public employees. If only all government moved this swiftly!

I don't know about the rest of the just-approved firefighters contract, but the minimum staffing level provision stinks. I suspect the firefighters will say the provision ensures public safety. But employment contracts aren't about protecting public safety, they're about getting the best deal for the person signing the contract. That's true in the private sector, in government, and with union and non-union jobs. The staffing level at Lincoln's fire stations should be governed by federal and state regulations, and accepted standards from relevant national and international organizations. Maybe Lincoln's firefighter staffing levels are currently improper. Police Chief Tom Casady comments all the time on how Lincoln's police staffing levels are very low relative to our peers; perhaps firefighter levels are low as well. If so, the firefighters should bring the fact to light. The minimum staffing provision wasn't exactly sneaked into the contract so it's not as though the union is getting away with something underhanded. I'm not angry with the union. I am disappointed that the City is letting employees dictate this sort of thing. I don't want firefighters telling the City how many firefighters should be on the job; I don't want teachers controlling teacher numbers; and so on. I suspect some of you disagree. Have at it!