Lincolnite

I'm generally a fan of Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady, so it's difficult not to be happy that he appears to be on his way to becoming LIncoln's first public safety director. The role would oversee both the Lincoln Police Department and Lincoln Fire & Rescue. There's a press conference set for 9:00am today. My first question about this to Mayor Beutler, however, is rather pointed: Why are we creating a new position for which there is questionable need, no demand, and zero money? I'm sure the press conference will (attempt to) answer some of that, but I don't expect to come away satisfied after that sort of canned appearance. Unless, that is, local media actually do their job instead of helpfully parroting the City's talking points, which I can't fathom happening. (Was that too sharp for a Friday morning? I'm cranky because one of my boys called reveille at 5:00am.) I'm ever so tempted to continue, but I just don't feel comfortable speculating at this point. I'll keep my yap shut -- er, fingers tied? -- until after the press conference. But you, dear readers, may feel free to speculate and rant at will. And check in later today to see if I've had a chance to formulate any further thoughts based on today's developments.

I was a huge fan of the College View streetscape renovations when they were first completed. The new street, sidewalks, lights, and so forth looked fantastic! But one thing baffled me: what was with the ditches on the side of the road? No matter, I was sure they had a cool plan. Well it's springtime, and the plan for the ditches appears to be to let weeds take over and for water to pool up both in the ditches and on the street. That's not quite what I expected. It's possible, I suppose, that the plan is to plant native grasses and such to populate the ditches. Maybe we'll even see cattails. The effect could be pretty cool, in theory. Water running off the roads would be filtered by the plants rather than piped into the storm sewer system. I can dig that. If that's where they're headed, they've got a ways to go. Speaking of College View, have you noticed the newly-woodchipped patches on various corners? What's the deal there? They're already covered in weeds! Today they look bad; without some sort of major intervention they're going to look downright godawful within a couple weeks. As with the ditches, I hope there's some sort of marvelous plan that just isn't visible yet. If not ... yeesh.

What is it with people and their fear of nursing homes (last item, "Not in my backyard")? The objection over a "memory home" -- a euphemism for a nursing home devoted to Alzheimers and dementia care -- at 27th and Wilderness Hills Blvd. is just plain silly. Neighbors' complaints include:

• Traffic problems. Apparently area residents are extreme optimists. Have you ever spent much time in an Alzheimers care facility? Nobody wants to go there. Any traffic problems will be limited to vehicles driving extremely slowly while turning into the facility and vehicles speeding while driving away from it. Neighbors should be more concerned about how few visitors the residents get, not how many. (Which reminds me: I haven't gone to see my grandmother in a long time.)
• Reduced home values. Maybe, but I can't imagine the effect will be measurable compared to the fact that there are a large shopping center and two major arterials within spitting distance. If you were shopping for a house, which would your eyes be more drawn to as a source of problems: a quiet, residential, home-like facility; or a Kohl's?
• Wandering elderly people. I'm starting to think the neighbors are toying with us. This isn't The Simpsons, for Pete's sake! Senile old people don't just escape and terrorize the neighborhood. Well ... I suppose they could, but not in any sort of well-run facility. Every Alzheimers facility I've been in has been locked down so tightly it's almost depressing.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: nursing homes and similar facilities are harmless neighbors which, if they're doing it right, should be welcomed as neighborhood assets rather than greeted with pitchforks and torches. I happen to live near two such facilities. In fact, my two youngest boys go to Homestead every Wednesday to play with the residents. The residents love having the boys around, and the boys are learning some wonderful lessons via intergenerational interactions. I understand some cases of nimbyism (even though I often don't agree with them). But this ... this is just silly. The complainers need to take some time to think about who is actually harming the neighborhood.

The City Council is leaning toward passing a new ordinance that would require all landlords -- rather than the current subset -- to be responsible for trash pick-up at rental properties. That sounds reasonable enough. But oddly, the City is going around advertising that they don't plan to enforce the law. That's ... odd. Or rather it's troubling. The general idea isn't so awful. The City doesn't want to harm landlords who have already signed leases with tenants under the assumption that the tenants are responsible for trash pick-up. By the strict letter of the law, the landlords would have to eat the cost of trash pick-up until they could get a fresh lease signed. The City's position is that they'll only go after landlords if their tenants are deadbeats. Fair enough. Yet it invites trouble that's really not necessary. It puts landlords in conflict with tenants who know the new law and therefore refuse to pay for trash pick-up. That, in turn, creates headaches for the City, which has to come in and be the enforcer. The law creates confusion on its own; the City's stated intent to perform patchwork enforcement is even more confusing. Since we're dealing with less-than-stellar tenants and landlords, confusion is not going to turn out well for the community as a whole. The matter could be resolved fairly simply, if imperfectly, by amending the ordinance so that landlords become responsible for trash on leases signed on or after the date the law goes into effect. To prevent shenanigans, the amendment may state that the law applies to everyone -- regardless of lease terms -- on a date 6, 12, 15, 18, or even 24 months after the law's effective date. The downside, of course, is that we have to wait a little longer for some of these issues to be sorted out. Am I on the right track?

I'm sure we could make one heck of a Lincolnite bucket list if we wanted to. Here's an entry that ought to be on there: spend an hour on Holmes Lake Dam on a morning like this, and another hour on a comparable evening. It's beautiful, and gloriously peaceful. The thing that always gets me is how many birds -- and how many different kinds of birds -- are out there. I'm no birdwatcher but it's easy to appreciate the variety, especially since the primary visitors to my yard seem to be mourning doves and starlings. I see tonight's forecast looks pleasant. Hint hint.

It's a dark and rainy Friday. What better time to have some fun with a little game? Below are a series of crossword-style clues. How many answers can you figure out?

1. Home of everybody's favorite tiger beetle. (14 letters)
2. A squeaking noise made by certain ungulates? (13 letters)
3. A rather elementary body of water. (10 letters)
4. A lake perhaps named after a doorstop. (9 letters)
5. A waterway worth its pay. (9 letters)
6. Zombie road race. (11 letters)
7. The sower's favorite sunning spot. (12 letters)
8. Body of water with gutters? (11 letters)
9. Underwear-covered limb? (12 letters)
10. Where squirrels go fishing. (7 letters)

Feel free to add your own clues to go along with the theme! (If you don't want spoilers, be sure not to read the comments until you're ready!)

...the little tyke named Vincent who accompanied his mother to track practices while you were training for the State Track Meet is now himself preparing to run at the State Track Meet. Yeesh, how time flies! The photo of Vincent and Carol Moravec that accompanies that article shows the Lincoln Southeast track. I have to laugh a little bit at how nice the track is now. Back in my day it was a crappy cinder track ... and we liked it! Well, no we didn't. But running on that track did teach us how to power through the turns. If you didn't hold on tight you'd skid right off the track! Best of luck to all the competitors at this weekend's State Track Meet. The meet is a wonderful spectacle. If you haven't ever been there, think about going to check it out sometime. In total I spent less than 8 minutes competing on that track back in 1996 and 1997, but those are 8 minutes I love to recall. Good times.

Deena Winter has pointed out that a local tax increase is all but certain in the very near future. What surprised me about her piece is that she suggests this will surprise some people, the LIBA crowd in particular. Really? I have a difficult time understanding how anybody who has paid any attention at all to Lincoln's budget situation over the past few years could possibly be surprised by a potential tax increase. The writing has been on the wall for at least a year. If any of Beutler's supporters are or were blind to that, shame on them! Ms. Winter notes that the City budget was all but a non-issue during the recent election. She's right, but don't blame Chris Beutler for not bringing it up. It's unsurprising that he would keep it as quiet as possible -- any incumbent would do the same. Rather, it's a testament to just how incompetent the Buffington campaign was that they couldn't or wouldn't make hay out of the issue. City Council candidates could have done a better job with it as well. And local media. And, well, all of us voters. I don't know if folks just don't care, or if we've just resigned ourselves to the fact that it's going to happen, or what. We've played this game for a few years now, after all. Perhaps budget fatigue has set in. Some of the cuts being threatened have been threatened many times. Are the villagers tired of Little Boy Beutler crying wolf? Where do you fit into this picture? How about your family and friends?

Last night's match-up of two unbeatens in the Class A Boys State Tournament final marked the end of my high school soccer season. After several years of hoping for an assignment as referee on a final, I finally got my shot this year. And what a fun match it was. The players, coaches -- and heck, even the spectators for the most part -- made it easy for me; they did their job, I did mine, and everybody got along great. Add in absolutely perfect weather and a full moon rising over the field and you've got a recipe for something pretty special. You can find additional coverage of the match from 10/11 (click the "High School Sports" tab), Omaha World-Herald, and Grand Island Independent. Now what? Now I start training for a half-marathon. I plan to run the Lincoln Half Marathon next year for sure, but I may also add this fall's Omaha race if things work out. I'll probably pick up some other road races here and there as well. My body is not built for distance. One challenge will be learning to deal with that. My largest challenge, however, is far more daunting. My body doesn't deal well with heat. (That's an understatement, by the way. My problem is significantly larger than "I sweat a lot".) I need to find ways to deal with overheating and dehydration. Over the summer I plan to do a lot of experimentation with different approaches to minimizing the impact of the heat on my ability to, you know, live. If you see me passed out on the side of a bike trail, please kick me a couple times to check on me. It's probably too early to set concrete time goals for myself, but I can't help thinking that it would be nice to break 90 minutes. That's somewhere around a 6:50 pace. I'm way off that pace now so I have my work cut out for me. Even if I don't make it, I'm looking forward to finding out some things about myself in the effort. And if I do make it ... well, I'll be dang pleased. Now that soccer season is over I hope to be able to get back to a better posting routine here on Lincolnite. I know I've slacked off a bit lately. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

I should probably know the answer to this, but when did El Chaparro open a third location on North 10th Street in the North Bottoms in the former George's Red Pepper Grill location? That's in addition to the original location at 13th and F, and the second location near North 48th and Leighton. Whenever it happened, Mr. T and I had lunch there on Saturday. It was a spur-of-the-moment deal so we didn't have a good camera to snap any photos. That's unfortunate because the meal was quite picturesque. Mr. T ordered a simple chicken burrito chicken chimichanga. It was nothing fancy, but the dish gets bonus points for being topped with a glob of real guacamole -- that is the stuff made with avocados, not that green sour cream posing as guac that you find at some restaurants. I ordered the cinco tacos. Being the indecisive sort I asked for one of each kind of available meat: hamburger, chorizo, chicken, barbacoa, and lengua. I went into the meal planning to eat a light lunch of two or three of the tacos, saving the rest for later. I ate all five. They were fantastic, and at six bucks you aren't going to find a better deal very often. El Chaparro isn't the sort of place you go for fancy environs or five-star service. All I ask from these simple restaurants is that service be adequate and friendly. It was, as it always has been on my trips to El Chaparro's other locations. As for the atmosphere ... well, you read the part about it being in the old George's building, right? That building is lucky to still be standing. Still, the restaurant is clean and simple with several clues that the restaurant is an unapologetically low-key affair. If the packaging bothers you, you're probably better off sticking with the Morales restaurants (Las Margaritas, El Toro, et alia). But to my tastebuds El Chaparro's food is better, and I value food over flair. It hadn't dawned on me until I started writing this that El Chaparro is slowly becoming less of an also-ran in Lincoln's competitive field of Mexican restaurants. When they had a lone location at 13th and F they were pretty easy to forget about. But three locations? Surely that's worth paying attention to. I doubt we're looking at a DeLeon's-style explosion any time soon, if ever. El Chaparro doesn't have a mainstream sort of vibe to it. But if you like Mexican food and you're willing to get off the beaten path, you're running out of excuses not to stop by El Chaparro.

Yesterday morning the phone rang at 6:01a.m. That's never good. I picked up to hear the voice of Huntington Elementary Principal Rick Devney. The message was:

"Good Morning Huntington Families and Staff, "This is Mr. Devney calling to inform you that we have been advised by the Lincoln Police Department to close school today for all students and staff. The police are in the Huntington neighborhood dealing with an unsafe person at 46th and Knox street. This situation is currently unsafe for us to gather for school. Our before and after school CLC will be closed as well. We will plan to resume school tomorrow. Thank you for your support."

The news was certainly unexpected, but I quickly guessed it had something to do with shots fired near the Capitol the day before. It turns out I was wrong. In fact, there was an unrelated standoff at 48th and Knox. It must be that time of year. Being interested in happenings around Lincoln, I quickly scrambled to find out more information. At that time of the morning only 10/11 and KLIN seemed interested in the story. Confusingly, both media outlets were reporting that contrary to the message conveyed to us by phone, the start of school was merely delayed. Odd. Perhaps they had made a mistake. I checked LPS's website where I discovered that LPS, too, was talking about a delay rather than an all-out cancellation. In addition, they used the word "delayed" in a tweet at 6:17am. I asked LPS for a clarification at 6:29am. They replied at 7:30am confirming the "delay" rather than cancellation. Finally LPS made the cancellation official just before 10:00am. Let's start with what LPS did right. They sent out a communication to families and media early, and they made it available via as many sources at that sort of message can reasonably be expected to be distributed. That was good. Unfortunately, they sent out two conflicting messages. That was bad. LPS's emergency communications plan failed somewhere. The school and the district should not be giving out different information. The message should not be different depending on the media used to distribute it. Furthermore, LPS failed to take responsibility for the confusion. The district eventually declared the "delay" message to be correct, but they didn't take the additional step of formally voiding the "cancelled" message. They allowed the two messages to coexist. In this case no harm was done, but it's not difficult to imagine circumstances in which contrasting messages could be harmful or even dangerous. In response, first LPS needs to figure out why an incorrect message was delivered by telephone. Why was Mr. Devney's script wrong? The cause might be something as simple as the fog of sleep clouding the responsible parties' judgement. In any case, safeguards should be put in place. Second, LPS should review how it deals with this sort of hiccup when it does happen. They should not permit two different messages to coexist. Firmly assert "THIS is the official message; any earlier contradicting message is wrong". Perhaps even put a timestamp on the message ("As of 7:33am..."). I'm torn on whether LPS should have sent out a follow-up phone message to families to say "Hey, we goofed. School is just delayed, not cancelled." On the one hand that would have made the messages consistent. On the other hand, if the follow-up call didn't go out very soon after the first it may have been even more confusing. I know I would have appreciated the follow-up, but I'm not sure that's true for everyone. I didn't write all this to pile on LPS. I'm not angry with them, although I was pretty annoyed at the confusion yesterday morning. The fact is, this situation wasn't a very big deal. Sure it meant families had to figure out what to do with their kids for the day, but in the big scheme of things that's not so bad. But imagine more complex or more dangerous scenarios. If LPS isn't getting their emergency communication plans correct in a simple situation like this, how can we have confidence they'll do things correctly when all hell breaks loose? LPS slipped up. No big deal ... as long as they learn from it.

Huntington Elementary is closed today, thanks to LPD activity in the neighborhood. This I know thanks to a 6:00am phone call from Rick Devney, the school's principal. Apparently LPD is dealing with "a bad dude" -- those might not have been Dr. Devney's exact words -- and shots have been fired. Portions of North 48th Street are closed off, so be sure to check for the latest updates before you head off to work. 10/11 is following the action; no updates yet from Channel 8 or the Journal Star. So ... I guess I need to go figure out what to do with an 8 year-old today. Suggestions? UPDATE: LPS now says school is "delayed" until further notice. I could've sworn the message said no school. I must have still been asleep. Goodrich@Dawes is also out for now. Stay tuned. UPDATE 2: Here's a transcript of the phone call we received:

This is Mr. Devney calling to inform you that we have been advised by the Lincoln Police Department to close school today for all students and staff. The police are in the Huntington neighborhood dealing with an unsafe person at 46th and Knox street. This situation is currently unsafe for us to gather for school. Our before and after school CLC will be closed as well. We will plan to resume school tomorrow.

LPS's website isn't in agreement with the message going out by phone. UPDATE 3: LPS has confirmed that this is a delay, not a closure. For now.

I've long wondered how Beal Slough got its name. Both parts of the name are a mystery to me. Who (or what) was Beal? And why "slough", as opposed to creek or stream? I still haven't figured out the Beal part. There are a couple Beals out there in Lancaster County's history but it's not clear if any of them lent their name to the Slough. I'm sure the answer is out there but I have yet to stumble across it. Perhaps one of my research-oriented readers can take on the task. As for its designation as a slough, that seems to be an oddity. The word slough can refer to a small creek, but it doesn't seem to be very common. Actually, "slough" is used for different types of water features in different parts of the country. The word can refer to a marsh, a swamp, a portion of a river delta, an alkaline pond, or just a regular ol' stream. So that wasn't too exciting. What about Dead Man's Run? Surely there's a great story there. Unfortunately my google-fu turns up nothing. I figure Jim McKee has answered the question somewhere, but I came up with nothing. If he hasn't already covered the topic, perhaps one of his upcoming columns can discuss the history of Lincoln's waterways. Anyway, do any of you have any idea who Beal is or who died at Dead Man's Run?