Lincolnite

The Missus and I have made a mistake. We have let Robert control us at night. If he cries, we get up and feed him or hold him. Great for Robbie, not so great for mom and dad. We put up with it because Robert is such a great kid in pretty much every other respect. He is cute. He is smart. He is well-behaved. He is patient. He is adaptable. We let him off the hook at night because "he is so good to us in every other way." (By the way, I am knocking on wood furiously as I type this.) But you know what? He is 7 months old. He is capable of sleeping through the night (he does it every now and then), so he needs to sleep through the night. And not just for mom and dad's sake. We owe it to Robert to help him reach his full potential. On Tuesday The Missus and I finally put our foot down. We decided to apply the Ferber method beginning that night. We had used it off-and-on before then, but that was the problem; we didn't use it consistently, so we weren't really using it at all. I gave Robert a lecture about our plan and why we were doing it. He did his best to listen, and he apparently took the speech to heart. He slept through the night on Tuesday. That was easy. I was ready to go again last night, and this time Robert woke up at midnight. I let him cry for a while to see if he would put himself back to sleep. No luck, so I went in to comfort him. I wasn't planning to pick him up, but his diaper was really full, so I changed him. I set him back in his crib, rubbed his chest and head, and walked out. He responded by screaming bloody murder. Well, ok, I knew that was coming. I let him cry, and he was only violently pissed off for 30 seconds or so. After that it was just regular crying. I waited ten minutes before going back in. I rubbed his chest and head again, I offered a calming "shhhhh" or two, and I left. He followed with another round of pissed off crying. Within ten minutes the crying was down to an occasional soft whimper, and then ... silence. He was out. The whole thing had only taken 30 minutes. Not bad. I don't enjoy listening to Robert cry, and I especially don't enjoy it when I'm the cause. But boy, will it ever be worth it to get over this hump and have him sleep through the night every night. Supposedly the Ferber method often works within a week. We'll see about that. As for Robert, he was none the worse for wear this morning. When his mom went to get him up at 6:45, he was passed out on his stomach in the corner of his crib. He had slept from 8:00pm until 6:45am, with just that little 30 minute hiccup in the middle. Once he rubbed the sleep from his eyes he was bright-eyed and ready to go. Just as all the experts have told us -- experts being moms who have been there, done that, of course -- despite the temporary fuss, he'll be just fine.

I like Chris Beutler. He is coming to this spring's mayoral election prepared with some solid ideas and proposals. Good for him. His latest proposal -- his first was related to road construction funding -- is to create an economic development advisory board by the name of the "MOVE Council" (Mayor’s Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy). (Note to Mr. Beutler: enough with the awful acronyms already!) The eleven-member board would be composed of members from various community groups, such as LIBA, Homebuilders of Lincoln, and so on. I am of two minds on the proposal. On the one hand, I'm glad to see Mr. Beutler charging head-first into the campaign with an array of ideas for what he will do if elected. Good for him. On the other hand, this proposal is awfully vacuous. What will MOVE actually do? Not much, I'm afraid. Its task will be to come to a "consensus" on economic development topics. But any consensus likely to come from an ideologically diverse group will be watered down and hardly worth the effort. After all, consensus-seeking strips out bold, controversial ideas by design. Consensus is great for times when you don't want to tick anybody off, but it's usually not worth much for solving complicated problems. Furthermore, by shifting the burden of finding a solution to an unelected board, Mr. Beutler is effectively proposing to shrug off responsibility for one of the most important parts of his job. One is left to wonder: does Mr. Beutler have any opinions of his own on the topic of economic development? I'm sure he does. I refuse to believe that his best idea is passing the buck to an unelected board. Come on, Chris, tell us what you would do.

It's without its Wal-Mart, but the proposed Prairie Village North development at 84th and Adams was finally approved by the Planning Commission. The only catch is that without Wal-Mart, the project doesn't have an anchor tenant. Oh well, one step at a time.

Should the city allow alcohol in city parks? That's the question the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board wants to ask the City Council next month. The Board thinks it's high time we update our policies, a switch from less than a decade ago when the Board shot down a similar proposal. Don't get too bent out of shape over the proposal. The Advisory Board only wants to allow alcohol in certain places within certain parks in certain situations. Folks won't be able to down tequila shots while twirling on the merry-go-round. Generally speaking I think it's a good idea. I would offer one amendment to the proposal. I think organizers of events at which there will be alcohol should be required to pay a small additional fee on top of the usual facilities rental fee. That fee would go toward paying for any additional police or maintenance/janitorial expenses required as the result of the policy. It shouldn't be a huge fee -- I don't expect a mass outbreak of trouble -- but it should be enough to act as a small insurance policy. A portion of the fee could even be refundable if there are no problems. What do you think? Is it a good idea to allow alcohol in some parks in a few specific situations? Is my addendum a reasonable one?

That, folks, is a quote from Bob Dole wanna-be City Councilman and one-time-potential-Mayoral-candidate Jon Camp. The quote makes me wonder if his yard signs this year will read "Jon Camp is a d!@#head". Combined with his earlier gaffe, one has to believe that perhaps Camp is utilizing some sort of self-deprecating viral marketing campaign for his re-erlection bid.

I don't know about you, but I am strongly against auctioning off street names to the highest bidder. I realize we're having a bit of a budget problem these days, but is that worth sticking our children with street names like Best Buy Boulevard, Dr. John's Drive, and Super Saver Street? And what if special interest groups get into the game? As soon as one group gets its street, you just know all sorts of unsavory groups will start showing up. Sure, I'm probably exaggerating a bit. But to me, the idea has the distinct and overwhelming odor of trouble.

The City Council voted not to raise the Mayor's pay, which is probably smart, considering the Mayor's hiring freeze announcement. I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about the pay raise; it was a relatively small raise (2.5%) that wouldn't have had much of an effect on the Mayor's $75,000 salary. I do wonder about mayoral candidate Ken Svoboda's decision to vote for the pay raise, though. Seems to me it would have been better for him to sit out this vote.

Just now I was thinking about animals I have seen in Lincoln (thanks to this post). Most of Lincoln's animal life is pretty bland. Sure, there are pockets of black squirrels here and there, and the turkey vultures are great fun to watch as they soar overhead. But what else do we have? I have seen a few muskrats over the years. Once I almost ran into a huge snapping turtle while riding my bike on the bike path between 56th Street and 48th Street. I fed wild berries to a fox along Beal Slough one day before baseball practice many years ago. My parents had turkeys in their yard (near 40th and Old Cheney) once. Occasinoally you'll catch a heron or a crane standing in one of Lincoln's puddles. I'll catch sight of a raccoon every once in a while. Frankly, I'm surprised Lincoln isn't overrun by raccoons. Seeing a big ol' cecropia moth in the wild is fairly rare, but they're out there. (I raised cecropia moths for a while when I was in 4-H. They are beautiful.) And I should note that my dad claims to have seen a puma one morning while driving on Old Cheney in the low spot between 35th and 27th Streets. What's the most unusual animal sighting you've had in Lincoln? Not counting sightings at zoos, circuses, fairs, or other exhibitions, you wiseacres.

The Journal Star is resuming its There Oughtta Be a Law" series this year. A couple of the ideas are good, most are not. Many show a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between local, state, and federal government, and a frightening number suggest trampling all over the First Amendment. Do you have any early favorites (for various definitions of "favorite") among the options? Mine is "Abolish the death penalty." Short, sweet, and to the point; it doesn't even come with an explanation like all the others do. A close second (for a much different reason) is: "Allow public policing of handicapped parking spots: Allow concerned residents to call in license numbers of vehicles illegally parked in handicapped slots and allow police to issue citations to the offenders based on this information. Too often, offenders have left by the time police get there." Frankly, I think tire-slashing should be legal in such cases, but that's just me. In the end, I'm really not a fan of "There Oughtta Be a Law"-type series. If there's one thing we don't need, it's more laws. I wish the Journal Star would run a "There Oughtta NOT Be a Law" series. Until then, here's my proposed law: The number of laws in the State of Nebraska is fixed at the number on the books on January 1, 2007. Before any new laws may be passed, a previous law must be repealed. Well, it would have to be a constitutional amendment, but you get the picture.

Would anybody care to tell Dr. Fowler what's wrong with his answer to his math quiz in this morning's Journal Star (not online, as far as I can tell)?

Elisa swims laps in the pool. When she first started, she completed 10 laps in 25 minutes. Now she can finish 12 laps in 24 minutes. By how many minutes has she improved her lap time?

Dr. Fowler's answer? 0.5 seconds. Is it just me, or do Dr. Fowler's math skills on this problem resemble Verizon's?

Lincoln needs to cover an estimated $9 million budget gap for 2007-2008. Where are we going to find the money?

1. Exploit the fact that people can't resist throwing coins into water by installing dozens of fountains (or even just buckets of water labeled "Wishing Well") all around town.
2. Reopen Robber's Cave for one month, and advertise it as "Your last chance to relive your childhood memories!" Charge by the minute.
3. Set up a dunking booth featuring Mayor Seng, the City Council, and Mike Spadt. Charge $5 per ball.
4. Instead of paving the Antelope Valley Roadway with concrete, use gravel.
5. Rename it the Lincoln Children's Museum and Sweatshop.

Welcome to the world, Samuel Michael! Little Sammy was born a plump 9.5 pounds at 5:40 tonight. See ya tomorrow, Sam!

I don't usually do this sort of thing, but beerorkid tagged me and, well, he's a good friend of Lincolnite, so what the heck. Here's the game: I have to tell you six things you may not know about me. Here we go...

1. My middle name is Curtis, after my uncle who died shortly after he was born. According to my grandma the doctor screwed up and baby Curtis was strangled by the umbilical cord. Today he probably would have lived, but he would have been severely handicapped. Several months ago The Missus and I acquired my grandma's piano. Come to find out, my grandpa bought her the piano as therapy after Curtis died.
2. Although most people perceived me as a goody-goody in high school, I could cause a bit of trouble now and then. I even had two run-ins with the police, both of which I talked my way out of, and once I was chased by a man with a shotgun. My crimes in each case? TP'ing, trespassing, and setting off a firework. Nothing to keep me from the presidency. Stupid teenagers.
3. Back in the day I was known as Dr. Rudy -- a takeoff of Dr. Ruth -- for my ability to offer counseling and relationship advice to my friends. My parents gave me the nickname Spud for my love of potatoes.
4. I have all sorts of physical weirdnesses, mostly the result of a particular genetic anomaly shared in 150+ forms by as much as .07% of the population. To name two, I have no tear ducts and two toes on each foot are webbed. There are lots more. On the plus side, I have been blessed with a very high tolerance for pain. I even sat through an oral surgical procedure during which a portion of my mouth wasn't fully deadened.
5. Alcohol and caffeine are the only recreational drugs I have used, though I support a person's right to drink, inhale, or inject anything he wants into his own body. I have only been drunk once, the night of my bachelor party. Nobody believes me, but I remember the entire evening. I spent much of the following morning puking. My body has rejected alcohol ever since that day; I get nauseous before I even take a sip. I consider that a blessing.
6. If I ever face the death penalty, my last meal will be: meatloaf; mashed potatoes with meatloaf gravy; green bean casserole; red (cinnamon) pickles; homemade rolls with butter; chocolate layer dessert (something like this); and milk (1%).

I suppose I have to tag a few people. Mr. T, DMB, you're up. I'll pick on Neal, too, but only because I'm hoping for cartoons depicting his six items. And you know what? I'm going to tag Gary and Sue as well. They mentioned "that Lincolnite guy" on the air one time, so I know they check in now and then.

The good news is ... well, no, there isn't any good news. The bad news is Lincoln's budget gap for 2007-2008 is projected at $9 million. Yeouch. Most of the easy answers have already been used in earlier budget cycles, so Lincoln may have to pull out the heavy artillery in order to close the gap. That'll be especially interesting this year, an election year in which four City Council members are up for reelection and one is running for mayor. If anybody seriously proposes a tax hike, you can bet it won't be one of those five. I suspect the bulk of proposed solutions will involve covering the $9 million with nickels and dimes across the budget. That's one way to go, but I don't think it's likely to be successful. Rather, I would like to see some proposals that sacrifice a sacred cow or two. Let's take a serious look at some vertical cuts. Axing entire programs or services is almost never popular, but by discussing the idea I think the community will get a better idea of where we stand. And if finding the $9 million in a few big chunks is too difficult to swallow, then we can go back to the nickel and dime idea. But let's not start there.

Lincoln's website helped Lincoln rank second on a list of top digital cities as ranked by the Center for Digital Government. And it's true, InterLinc offers a lot of services, several of which I use regularly. The folks behind InterLinc should be applauded. If I had to recommend changes to InterLinc to make it even better, I would offer three. First, the organization of information starts to fall apart as you get deeper into the site. The first couple layers of the site are easy enough to navigate. The problem tends to begin with individual departments. Data are not organized consistently within a department's site, and they are not consistent across departmental sites. Fixing the problem won't be easy and will require a certain amount of standardization (which is rarely popular), but it could be done. Second, the quality of content could be improved. At the very least, somebody should edit content before it goes live. Typos and odd grammar don't help city government's image. Beyond that, information could be more descriptive and more complete. Third, and most critically, the entire site needs an accessibility overhaul. The current site is not nearly as friendly as it could be to various assistive technologies (such as screen readers). The City should consider having an accessibility audit conducted to ensure the site meets all state and federal requirements. If it doesn't -- and I don't think it does -- the City could, at some point, face legal action. There is also the 1998 design of the site to consider, but that doesn't bother me all that much. Content comes before design, and for the most part InterLinc does a good job getting the content right. Still, a visual overhaul while working on the third point above would make a lot of sense.