My initial reaction to the new behind-home-plate seats at Wrigley Field is that they really are jarring when the TV camera hits them just right. It isn't so much the seats themselves, but the very awkward way in which the wall juts out from either dugout.
The most important thing, in practicality, is how the famed brick wall backstop (copied at too many new retro staidums to count) looks on TV when the centerfield camera shows the pitcher's mound and batter's box. And from that angle, everything looks normal. The masons did an excellent job of recreating the wall so the casual viewer will notice no difference.
And I suppose, eventually, I will notice no difference when looking at the angular portion of the wall that cuts into the playing field to make room for the new $250 seats. I would prefer the corner be eased a little bit, perhaps to reflect the gentle rounded edge of the wells down the right- and left-field lines.
Just like every Wrigley traditionalist, I didn't really want to see the lights go up in 1988 (even though I was not yet 10 years old). But now, 16 years later, it must be argued that the light standards on top of the roof really do look like they belong there. A night game at Wrigley still is a bit odd-looking, but the lights look like they fit.
I highly dislike the new digital message board affixed to the manual scoreboard in center field. But there are plenty of traditionalists older than me that despised what it replaced - the old light-bulb board that looked like an overgrown Little League scoreboard (Which I know was actually two message boards ago, but let's not quibble here).
All in all, I'm willing to accept little changes because it means the park will continue to be viable. The Tribune Company knows the stadium is its gravy train. I really, really dislike the proposed bleacher expansion plans, but that may be a concession needed to keep the ivy-covered walls at the corner of Clark & Addison.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Monday, April 12, 2004
My apologies…
… to my lovely wife, who bore the brunt of my stupidity in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday.
I had been in a dutiful deep sleep, so as not to bother the pregnant lady, when I swear I heard the television (more specifically, ESPN's "Bseball Tonight"). Thinking I had forgotten to utilize the sleep timer (oright up there with picture-in-picture and artificial hearts on the list of society's greatest inventions), I flopped an arm on the remote and pushed the power button. Which, not surprisingly, turned the TV on.
Realizing my mistake, I flipped the TV back off ASAP. However, since this is an older TV (bought with Kristie's babysitting money in her junior high years), the pop and whine of simply turning it on jarred Preggo from a deep sleep to which she would not return for some three hours, long enough to watch copious amounts of "Wings" and "Cheers" reruns, as well as a few episodes of "Unwrapped" on The Food Network.
I apologized, but I don't know how you can ever really make up for something like that.
I had been in a dutiful deep sleep, so as not to bother the pregnant lady, when I swear I heard the television (more specifically, ESPN's "Bseball Tonight"). Thinking I had forgotten to utilize the sleep timer (oright up there with picture-in-picture and artificial hearts on the list of society's greatest inventions), I flopped an arm on the remote and pushed the power button. Which, not surprisingly, turned the TV on.
Realizing my mistake, I flipped the TV back off ASAP. However, since this is an older TV (bought with Kristie's babysitting money in her junior high years), the pop and whine of simply turning it on jarred Preggo from a deep sleep to which she would not return for some three hours, long enough to watch copious amounts of "Wings" and "Cheers" reruns, as well as a few episodes of "Unwrapped" on The Food Network.
I apologized, but I don't know how you can ever really make up for something like that.
The numbers don't lie
Cubs starters over the three-game weekend series with Atlanta posted the following numbers:
21 2/3 innings pitched
12 hits
4 runs (all earned)
7 walks
21 strikeouts
That's with Mark Prior on the DL.
21 2/3 innings pitched
12 hits
4 runs (all earned)
7 walks
21 strikeouts
That's with Mark Prior on the DL.
Friday, April 09, 2004
Friends folly
Since I'm in a TV mood today, I think it's time to raise some issues with the recent "Viewer's Choice" of the Top 6 Friends episodes of all time.
They were aired in reverse order of votes received, with the "most favorite" episode running Thursday.
1. TOW The Prom Video
2. TOW Ross Finds Out
3. TOW No One's Ready
4. TOW Everybody Finds Out
5. TOW The Rumor
6. TOW The Proposal Part 2
(Friends neophytes may not know this. but TOW stands for "The One With" or "The One Where" Every Friends episode is named like that.)
There are two problems, in my book. First is the omission of TOW The Embryos. Most folks will know this better as the one where the girls and guys play Ross' quiz game. It ends with Monice and Rachel losing their apartment. It's called TOW the Embryos because Phoebe gets pregnant with her half-brothers triplets.
This episode is a classic, and could easily have replaced TOW the Rumor, a recent Thanksgiving episode featuring Brad Pitt as Ross' high school friend (they started a rumor that Rachel was a hermaphrodite). Ugh.
TOW the Embryos is right up there, for me, with TOW No One's Ready. Not only is this episode incredibly funny, but it was shot in real time on just one set, almost as if it were a one-act play. The give-and-take among the characters is well-written, and the episode is very well acted.
Embryos/No One's Ready are both memorable, to me, because of how quotable they are. I understand TOW Prom Video (where Ross & Rachel officially get together for the first time) is probably the most significant episode (and it bodes well for our hopes they'll reunite somewhere in the final four episodes), and I guess I don't have a problem with it earning the top honors.
I could go on (believe me, I could) and would encourage people to e-mail me for further argument. Head over to the Friends site at TV Tome, which includes more information than anyone could ever need. So I'll stop rambling now.
They were aired in reverse order of votes received, with the "most favorite" episode running Thursday.
1. TOW The Prom Video
2. TOW Ross Finds Out
3. TOW No One's Ready
4. TOW Everybody Finds Out
5. TOW The Rumor
6. TOW The Proposal Part 2
(Friends neophytes may not know this. but TOW stands for "The One With" or "The One Where" Every Friends episode is named like that.)
There are two problems, in my book. First is the omission of TOW The Embryos. Most folks will know this better as the one where the girls and guys play Ross' quiz game. It ends with Monice and Rachel losing their apartment. It's called TOW the Embryos because Phoebe gets pregnant with her half-brothers triplets.
This episode is a classic, and could easily have replaced TOW the Rumor, a recent Thanksgiving episode featuring Brad Pitt as Ross' high school friend (they started a rumor that Rachel was a hermaphrodite). Ugh.
TOW the Embryos is right up there, for me, with TOW No One's Ready. Not only is this episode incredibly funny, but it was shot in real time on just one set, almost as if it were a one-act play. The give-and-take among the characters is well-written, and the episode is very well acted.
Embryos/No One's Ready are both memorable, to me, because of how quotable they are. I understand TOW Prom Video (where Ross & Rachel officially get together for the first time) is probably the most significant episode (and it bodes well for our hopes they'll reunite somewhere in the final four episodes), and I guess I don't have a problem with it earning the top honors.
I could go on (believe me, I could) and would encourage people to e-mail me for further argument. Head over to the Friends site at TV Tome, which includes more information than anyone could ever need. So I'll stop rambling now.
Bachelor buffoonery
Judge if you will, but Kristie and I are huge fans of "The Bachelor." I blame it on my old roommate, who dutifully watched the first season (where Alex spurned Trista for Amanda, leadinmg to Trista's reign as "The Bachelorette."
The main thing I remember about the first season is, well, nothing. I mostly sat in the same room while the TV was on. During the finale, my roomie couldn't make it for the start of the show. I taped it for her and then, when she came home before the show ended, had to work hard to keep her from watching the ending before the beginning.
After Kristie and I got married and moved to Fulton, we dutifully followed the Aaron season. I lost hope in the dude when he ditched Gwen in the cut from 3 to 2, and then he was stupid enough to pick Helene over Brooke.
We were even bigger fans of Trista as the Bachelorette, and watched every episode of her castoff, Bob, as the Bachelor. I think he should have picked Kelli Jo, and not just because she's from Wheaton.
Kristie harbors an all-consuming hatred for Meredith, so we did not watch her as the Bachelorette, Thankfully, Nick at Nite has been running full house at 8 p.m., giving us something to watch on Wednesday nights.
But, with the new Bachelor season, we started following again. Not that I've ever heard of backup Giants QB Jesse Palmer, but at least we don't hate him… yet.
(side note: when I say "watch" the Bachelor, what I really mean is tape it, then watch it the next night. Doing this, you can cut a 2 hour show down to about 45 minutes. It's appalling how much of the show is taken up by commericals and "Next, on the Bachelor…" segments. That, and we like our instant gratification. I hate waiting 10 minutes to see what happens on "The Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever.")
So... back to Wednesday's show. The dummy forgot a girl's name! He's down to his final rose, looks right at Karen, former Miss Rhode Island, and says Katie, the name of some floozy in an ugly blue dress. He immediately recognizes his mistake, then has a tete-a-tete with host Chris Harrison. He can't take a away Katie's rose (through Chris would have let him), but he can't let Karen go because that might be his one chance at true love (I kind of hope they both get cut next week).
Fortunately, Chris tells Jesse he can let Katie stay, if she wants, and also ask Karen to stay. The host magically produces another "last rose of the night" and Karen gets her flower. The most amazing thing, to me, is that this has never happened before.
How, if you're meeting 25 people for the first time, do you remember all of their names — especially when all that champagne is flowing? I always though the guys had a little crib sheet or an earpiece or something. Turns out they were just winging it.
Anyway, all of this leads me to two conclusions. One, we may not be able to follow this season at all if this baby ever shows up. And two, we need TiVo.
The main thing I remember about the first season is, well, nothing. I mostly sat in the same room while the TV was on. During the finale, my roomie couldn't make it for the start of the show. I taped it for her and then, when she came home before the show ended, had to work hard to keep her from watching the ending before the beginning.
After Kristie and I got married and moved to Fulton, we dutifully followed the Aaron season. I lost hope in the dude when he ditched Gwen in the cut from 3 to 2, and then he was stupid enough to pick Helene over Brooke.
We were even bigger fans of Trista as the Bachelorette, and watched every episode of her castoff, Bob, as the Bachelor. I think he should have picked Kelli Jo, and not just because she's from Wheaton.
Kristie harbors an all-consuming hatred for Meredith, so we did not watch her as the Bachelorette, Thankfully, Nick at Nite has been running full house at 8 p.m., giving us something to watch on Wednesday nights.
But, with the new Bachelor season, we started following again. Not that I've ever heard of backup Giants QB Jesse Palmer, but at least we don't hate him… yet.
(side note: when I say "watch" the Bachelor, what I really mean is tape it, then watch it the next night. Doing this, you can cut a 2 hour show down to about 45 minutes. It's appalling how much of the show is taken up by commericals and "Next, on the Bachelor…" segments. That, and we like our instant gratification. I hate waiting 10 minutes to see what happens on "The Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever.")
So... back to Wednesday's show. The dummy forgot a girl's name! He's down to his final rose, looks right at Karen, former Miss Rhode Island, and says Katie, the name of some floozy in an ugly blue dress. He immediately recognizes his mistake, then has a tete-a-tete with host Chris Harrison. He can't take a away Katie's rose (through Chris would have let him), but he can't let Karen go because that might be his one chance at true love (I kind of hope they both get cut next week).
Fortunately, Chris tells Jesse he can let Katie stay, if she wants, and also ask Karen to stay. The host magically produces another "last rose of the night" and Karen gets her flower. The most amazing thing, to me, is that this has never happened before.
How, if you're meeting 25 people for the first time, do you remember all of their names — especially when all that champagne is flowing? I always though the guys had a little crib sheet or an earpiece or something. Turns out they were just winging it.
Anyway, all of this leads me to two conclusions. One, we may not be able to follow this season at all if this baby ever shows up. And two, we need TiVo.
The problem with Cubs fans
Some dude called into The Score Thursday afternoon to complain about Alex Gonzalez's offensive production. He wondered if Dusty Baker could find a way to play both Mark Grudzielanek and Todd Walker in the middle of the infield. The caller said he "couldn't stomach another season" of Alex Gonzalez at shortstop.
Dummy.
See, defense up the middle is a crucial part of a good baseball team. Michael Barrett's passed ball in Thursdays game against the Reds showed that, and we all feel much better with Corey Patterson playing between Alou and Sosa. And, if we ignore Gonzo's crucial error in the most important Cubs game in my lifetime, we know Gonzo should have won the Gold Glove in 2003. No less an expert than Peter Gammons called that snub the worst of all the postseason awards.
To top THAT off, it's not as if Gonzo is an absolute slouch at the plate. Yes, he had an awful slump in 2003. But, on the season, he hit 20 home runs. His .228 batting average isn't stellar, but it was seventh on the team for guys that played 100 or more games. And where does he bat? Seventh.
He was fourth on the team in runs and hits, which means he has to be doing something right. He was also second in strikeouts, which Cubs fans seem to not be upset about, seeing as how they typically revere Sammy Sosa.
Is Gonzo an offensive threat? Not hardly. But in terms of what they're paying him, where he's expected to hit and how good his defense is, he's certainly a better value than Sosa, who is being paid to have the type of offensive season he had three years ago, when clearly, he is not the threat the Cubs need batting third.
Of course, the season is just three days old. So let's not get too excited about anything yet. Batting numbers need two to three weeks to sort themselves out.
Dummy.
See, defense up the middle is a crucial part of a good baseball team. Michael Barrett's passed ball in Thursdays game against the Reds showed that, and we all feel much better with Corey Patterson playing between Alou and Sosa. And, if we ignore Gonzo's crucial error in the most important Cubs game in my lifetime, we know Gonzo should have won the Gold Glove in 2003. No less an expert than Peter Gammons called that snub the worst of all the postseason awards.
To top THAT off, it's not as if Gonzo is an absolute slouch at the plate. Yes, he had an awful slump in 2003. But, on the season, he hit 20 home runs. His .228 batting average isn't stellar, but it was seventh on the team for guys that played 100 or more games. And where does he bat? Seventh.
He was fourth on the team in runs and hits, which means he has to be doing something right. He was also second in strikeouts, which Cubs fans seem to not be upset about, seeing as how they typically revere Sammy Sosa.
Is Gonzo an offensive threat? Not hardly. But in terms of what they're paying him, where he's expected to hit and how good his defense is, he's certainly a better value than Sosa, who is being paid to have the type of offensive season he had three years ago, when clearly, he is not the threat the Cubs need batting third.
Of course, the season is just three days old. So let's not get too excited about anything yet. Batting numbers need two to three weeks to sort themselves out.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Seven months of excitement
With all of the old columns up, I'll be posting new columns as they run in the Herald, which right now is every other Wednesday.
In case you missed it, baseball started Monday.
It actually started last week with two early morning Yankees-Devil Rays games in Japan. Or I suppose you could say it started Sunday night with the Red Sox-Orioles game from chilly Camden Yards.
But for Cubs fans (and count me among the afflicted), baseball started at 1:10 p.m. Monday in the place baseball is supposed to start — Cincinnati. In that river city, they treat baseball properly, as a holiday with a parade and everything. I don’t know how those good people tolerated Pete Rose for so long.
Actually, if you’re a true baseball fan, the sport never really stops. Days after Josh Beckett recorded the final out of the 2003 World Series, I was back on the Internet tracking down transactions. Who has time for football, basketball and hockey when baseball games are played into October and start up again in February?
Readers of this space that also frequent other news sources, print, broadcast or otherwise, are probably by now overrun with touchy-feely, happiness is a warm puppy, can you believe it’s really spring again Opening Day columns.
The regular news columnist penning a few words on baseball each April is about as reliable as a Sammy Sosa strikeout with the bases loaded. As soon as April Fool’s Day rolls around, the hardened columnist takes a break from rattling bones at City Hall, checks to see just when the hometown nine plays its first game and writes a few lines about how green the grass looks.
Puh-lease.
Most of those guys couldn’t tell a shortstop from a strong safety. They may have watched the Red Sox game Sunday and remarked about the shaggy hair of centerfielder Johnny Damon. Just about everyone that controls an ounce of ink has made the requisite “The Passion of the Christ” joke. But how many of them remember trying (and failing) to get Damon on their fantasy team when he had led off a record 10 games in a row with a base hit while playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2000?
Your average “baseball-fan-for-a-day” journalist can probably tell you about the ivy at Wrigley Field or the exploding scoreboard at the former Comiskey Park. But do they know how to spell Grudzielanek without checking the Baseball Almanac? Can they explain why ex-White Sox Steve Lyons took his baseball pants off on national television?
OK, that’s a trick question. No one can explain anything Steve Lyons does.
Fortunately, I harbor no ill will against those who only care for baseball in April and October. It takes a special kind of dedication (some would call it insanity) to follow each of a team’s 162 games. And when the johnny-come-latelies do show up, it lends credence to the argument that baseball still reigns superior over football.
Face it — the baseball playoffs last October captivated a good chunk of the country for three weeks. Not too many folks paid attention to the NFL playoffs until the Super Bowl, and all everyone could talk about after that was a wardrobe malfunction (maybe that explains Steve Lyons).
Major League Baseball is so popular these days, Fox is broadcasting a Red Sox-Yankees game live in prime time April 16. The NFL may return to prime time next fall, but not without a five-second delay. And while baseball gives us Red Sox-Yankees, football gives us Monday night matchups like Dallas at Seattle.
Not that I’m bitter. I enjoy other sports. They do provide some entertainment in the few months each year where baseball is alive only in newsprint. And there are plenty of folks out there who prefer football or basketball or hockey to the true national pastime. There are even some who enjoy soccer, though I suspect those people have the misfortune of a remote control that broke while the TV was set to the Spanish channel.
Baseball is here and I couldn’t be happier. The Cubs are already in first place, and I’ve got seven straight months of excitement ahead. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
In case you missed it, baseball started Monday.
It actually started last week with two early morning Yankees-Devil Rays games in Japan. Or I suppose you could say it started Sunday night with the Red Sox-Orioles game from chilly Camden Yards.
But for Cubs fans (and count me among the afflicted), baseball started at 1:10 p.m. Monday in the place baseball is supposed to start — Cincinnati. In that river city, they treat baseball properly, as a holiday with a parade and everything. I don’t know how those good people tolerated Pete Rose for so long.
Actually, if you’re a true baseball fan, the sport never really stops. Days after Josh Beckett recorded the final out of the 2003 World Series, I was back on the Internet tracking down transactions. Who has time for football, basketball and hockey when baseball games are played into October and start up again in February?
Readers of this space that also frequent other news sources, print, broadcast or otherwise, are probably by now overrun with touchy-feely, happiness is a warm puppy, can you believe it’s really spring again Opening Day columns.
The regular news columnist penning a few words on baseball each April is about as reliable as a Sammy Sosa strikeout with the bases loaded. As soon as April Fool’s Day rolls around, the hardened columnist takes a break from rattling bones at City Hall, checks to see just when the hometown nine plays its first game and writes a few lines about how green the grass looks.
Puh-lease.
Most of those guys couldn’t tell a shortstop from a strong safety. They may have watched the Red Sox game Sunday and remarked about the shaggy hair of centerfielder Johnny Damon. Just about everyone that controls an ounce of ink has made the requisite “The Passion of the Christ” joke. But how many of them remember trying (and failing) to get Damon on their fantasy team when he had led off a record 10 games in a row with a base hit while playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2000?
Your average “baseball-fan-for-a-day” journalist can probably tell you about the ivy at Wrigley Field or the exploding scoreboard at the former Comiskey Park. But do they know how to spell Grudzielanek without checking the Baseball Almanac? Can they explain why ex-White Sox Steve Lyons took his baseball pants off on national television?
OK, that’s a trick question. No one can explain anything Steve Lyons does.
Fortunately, I harbor no ill will against those who only care for baseball in April and October. It takes a special kind of dedication (some would call it insanity) to follow each of a team’s 162 games. And when the johnny-come-latelies do show up, it lends credence to the argument that baseball still reigns superior over football.
Face it — the baseball playoffs last October captivated a good chunk of the country for three weeks. Not too many folks paid attention to the NFL playoffs until the Super Bowl, and all everyone could talk about after that was a wardrobe malfunction (maybe that explains Steve Lyons).
Major League Baseball is so popular these days, Fox is broadcasting a Red Sox-Yankees game live in prime time April 16. The NFL may return to prime time next fall, but not without a five-second delay. And while baseball gives us Red Sox-Yankees, football gives us Monday night matchups like Dallas at Seattle.
Not that I’m bitter. I enjoy other sports. They do provide some entertainment in the few months each year where baseball is alive only in newsprint. And there are plenty of folks out there who prefer football or basketball or hockey to the true national pastime. There are even some who enjoy soccer, though I suspect those people have the misfortune of a remote control that broke while the TV was set to the Spanish channel.
Baseball is here and I couldn’t be happier. The Cubs are already in first place, and I’ve got seven straight months of excitement ahead. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
The wonders of medical science
How is that doctors, and specifically we're talking about the doctors that bring babies into the world, can know everything about what you should eat, what you shouldn't eat, what supplements you need and basically everything that should or should not happen to your body when you're pregnant... but when they jam their hand up a cervix they have no idea when the baby's coming out?
Let's put it this way: If you had today in the pool, you're SOL. And if you had anything before Easter, it doesn't look too good for you, either.
Grrrr.
Let's put it this way: If you had today in the pool, you're SOL. And if you had anything before Easter, it doesn't look too good for you, either.
Grrrr.
Finished
I have now completed the upload of all of my old Clinton Herald columns. I posted them as close as I could to the day they appeared in print, so most of them are found in the archives. I will continue to post new columns as they come about. As of the present, that's every other Wednesday.
Sadly, Kerry Wood did not pitch his no hitter yesterday. In fact, I think the first batter fouled that up. But still, the Cubs won and we can all be happy about that, even if Joe Borowski just about gave me a coronary.
On a side note, my Cubs jerseys are about the only thing in the house that fit Pregnant Kristie, and I think she looks pretty good in them. She went to Hy-Vee yesterday (first day of Spring Break) and said about six store employees asked her if she needed help finding anything. Add that with a choice parking spot by the sign for "new and expectant mothers," as well as an extended back rub during our nightly viewing of "Full House" reruns, and I'd say she had a pretty good day.
Sadly, Kerry Wood did not pitch his no hitter yesterday. In fact, I think the first batter fouled that up. But still, the Cubs won and we can all be happy about that, even if Joe Borowski just about gave me a coronary.
On a side note, my Cubs jerseys are about the only thing in the house that fit Pregnant Kristie, and I think she looks pretty good in them. She went to Hy-Vee yesterday (first day of Spring Break) and said about six store employees asked her if she needed help finding anything. Add that with a choice parking spot by the sign for "new and expectant mothers," as well as an extended back rub during our nightly viewing of "Full House" reruns, and I'd say she had a pretty good day.
Monday, April 05, 2004
A baby update
Just in case you're wondering, the official due date for the first day of the rest of our lives (not that that's a bad thing) is April 15. Lately, Kristie's been hearing from everyone who had their baby early. And although we're still 10 days off the projection, hearing from everyone else who came in ahead of time kind of rubs it in that the kid isn't here yet.
Me? I was three weeks late. I don't believe the kid will come until it's good and ready. But she doesn't want to hear that, either, because no right-minded pregnant woman (if there is such a thing) wants to wait any longer than she has to to pop that kid out.
And, just in case anyone forgot, the Cubs season starts at 1:10 Central this afternoon.
Me? I was three weeks late. I don't believe the kid will come until it's good and ready. But she doesn't want to hear that, either, because no right-minded pregnant woman (if there is such a thing) wants to wait any longer than she has to to pop that kid out.
And, just in case anyone forgot, the Cubs season starts at 1:10 Central this afternoon.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Sucks to be this guy
In a word... ouch:
A 65-year-old Cicero man working at a recycling factory on Chicago's West Side was killed Friday afternoon when he fell into a plastic-waste shredder, police said.
Read the full story at www.chicagotribune.com
A 65-year-old Cicero man working at a recycling factory on Chicago's West Side was killed Friday afternoon when he fell into a plastic-waste shredder, police said.
Read the full story at www.chicagotribune.com
Another day
The purpose of this post is basically to make sure I can also update from home. And so far, it appears that I can. Which is nice. Umm... not much else to say today.
The weather is beautiful. I think we'll be heading to Super Target today to update our baby registry, and hope the walking around doesn't induce labor. Of course, if a week of teaching didn't do it, I'm guessing shopping won't have a major effect.
Baseball starts Monday.
The weather is beautiful. I think we'll be heading to Super Target today to update our baby registry, and hope the walking around doesn't induce labor. Of course, if a week of teaching didn't do it, I'm guessing shopping won't have a major effect.
Baseball starts Monday.
Friday, April 02, 2004
My second post ever, sort of
Now that I'm getting the hang of this, things are starting to make some sense. I've found a way to post-date the columns so they are sorted by their original publication dates. Hope this clears some things up (although, as I write this, I haven't told anyone about the blog, so I'm mostly just clarifying nothing. Whatever).
My first ever post
Well, welcome to my blog. I'll try to post all of my Clinton Herald columns, and maybe, just maybe, get some old B-J stuff up as well. And, of course, the new baseball season starts Monday, and my new life as a parent starts any day now.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Generation What?
This column was the one to finally register with Kristie's co-workers. Probably because they know exactly where I'm coming from.
Wow, do I feel old.
It’s not because I’ll be 25 in August. It’s not because my little brother and sister are now college students. It’s not because I see the spring-breakers on MTV and think they should wear clothes a few sizes larger, or at least apply liberal amounts of sunscreen. It’s not even because my wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks (though I’m sure actually seeing the baby will age me a few years overnight).
I was cruising along happily, living as a young, vibrant twentysomething, up until yesterday. I was not aware how old I have become until I got the chance to speak at Clinton Community College’s annual Career Day Tuesday morning.
Perhaps it boils down to being an overall boring guy. Maybe my subject matter wasn’t as exciting as criminal justice or sports management. But when I stood at the head of the class trying to impart the wisdom of my (almost) three years in the print journalism business, I felt I was making as much impact on those students as I do on our cats when I try to convince them not to jump on the table.
The gap between high school juniors and a guy three years out of college is more broad than I had once thought. That’s why I don’t envy any of the numerous college admissions counselors gathered in the CCC cafeteria Tuesday. Their job is to somehow be relevant to 16-year-olds and convince them to spend piles of their parents (and the government’s) money at one particular college or university. They spend their lives talking to kids that, for the most part, could care less.
But it wasn’t all bad. I really enjoy career day. Even if one kid has a question that I can answer about the business, I feel I’ve made a difference. I don’t fault the students for not being too excited about my presentation, because students in general don’t care too much about newspapers at all these days.
When I was a junior in high school, I wrote for the school paper. I loved every minute of it, but it didn’t exactly get me too thrilled about reading something besides the sports and comics every morning.
And just because a student isn’t moved by the journalism session doesn’t mean they won’t be thrilled by the veterinary medicine talk. As I understand, the students got to pick four topics that interested them. I’m just happy a handful decided to come out and see me at all.
I think the college does a great job of organizing the event, which draws students from all over the county. There are far more qualified speakers than me, and many do a very good job of captivating the interest of kids that aren’t really sure what they want to do with their life. And why should they? They’re 16. I’m 24, and people my age don’t know what they want to do yet for sure.
So I thank the college for inviting me back this year. CCC Career Counselor Cynthia D’Andre and her staff run a great operation. If they have me back next March, I promise to try to be a little more exciting, and a lot less old and boring.
Wow, do I feel old.
It’s not because I’ll be 25 in August. It’s not because my little brother and sister are now college students. It’s not because I see the spring-breakers on MTV and think they should wear clothes a few sizes larger, or at least apply liberal amounts of sunscreen. It’s not even because my wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks (though I’m sure actually seeing the baby will age me a few years overnight).
I was cruising along happily, living as a young, vibrant twentysomething, up until yesterday. I was not aware how old I have become until I got the chance to speak at Clinton Community College’s annual Career Day Tuesday morning.
Perhaps it boils down to being an overall boring guy. Maybe my subject matter wasn’t as exciting as criminal justice or sports management. But when I stood at the head of the class trying to impart the wisdom of my (almost) three years in the print journalism business, I felt I was making as much impact on those students as I do on our cats when I try to convince them not to jump on the table.
The gap between high school juniors and a guy three years out of college is more broad than I had once thought. That’s why I don’t envy any of the numerous college admissions counselors gathered in the CCC cafeteria Tuesday. Their job is to somehow be relevant to 16-year-olds and convince them to spend piles of their parents (and the government’s) money at one particular college or university. They spend their lives talking to kids that, for the most part, could care less.
But it wasn’t all bad. I really enjoy career day. Even if one kid has a question that I can answer about the business, I feel I’ve made a difference. I don’t fault the students for not being too excited about my presentation, because students in general don’t care too much about newspapers at all these days.
When I was a junior in high school, I wrote for the school paper. I loved every minute of it, but it didn’t exactly get me too thrilled about reading something besides the sports and comics every morning.
And just because a student isn’t moved by the journalism session doesn’t mean they won’t be thrilled by the veterinary medicine talk. As I understand, the students got to pick four topics that interested them. I’m just happy a handful decided to come out and see me at all.
I think the college does a great job of organizing the event, which draws students from all over the county. There are far more qualified speakers than me, and many do a very good job of captivating the interest of kids that aren’t really sure what they want to do with their life. And why should they? They’re 16. I’m 24, and people my age don’t know what they want to do yet for sure.
So I thank the college for inviting me back this year. CCC Career Counselor Cynthia D’Andre and her staff run a great operation. If they have me back next March, I promise to try to be a little more exciting, and a lot less old and boring.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Another foray into politics
While many people were focused on the high-profile Senate primary, with both parties clamoring to find the best candidate to sccueed Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, D-Ill., we in Western Illinois had the small matter of a statehouse seat to sort out.
Let me start by saying I’m not telling anyone who to vote for.
But I’d strongly suggest local Illinois Democrats support state Rep. Mike Boland in Tuesday’s primary.
Endorsing political candidates can be a slippery slope, whether it be for a local city council or President of the United States. In recent history, the Clinton Herald has not endorsed political candidates, though the paper has come out with a stance on particular issues, like the building code and the instructional support levy in Clinton.
A paper cannot, in good faith, endorse a particular candidate until its editorial board has met with all of the candidates. That can be tough to arrange, given everyone’s busy schedules these days. Even if the candidates can all be brought in, there must be a system of questions and further analysis to determine why one candidate should get the paper’s nod over another.
The Herald editorial board did meet with Boland last week, but not for the purpose of forming an endorsement. It was a very productive meeting, and I’ll get to that in another column.
What’s important here is the main reason leading me to support Boland: It’s nearly impossible to find a trace of his opponent anywhere in the area.
I have known for months that Boland faced opposition in his Democratic primary, but no one from his opponent’s camp ever came forth to announce plans to run for the office. Working the political desk at a newspaper during campaign season, it is not unusual to be swamped in faxes, e-mails and phone calls from various politicians wanting to inform the world of their political plans.
We got those press releases from Boland, as we did from Iowa Rep. Steve Olson, R-Grand Mound, and his potential opponent Jim King. I was invited to a press conference where Maquoketa Democrat Tom Schueller announced his plan to replace retiring Rep. Bob Osterhaus. Rep. Polly Bukta, D-Clinton, announced her plans at a public event.
But Dennis Ahern, who is running against Boland in the primary, is barely a presence in northwestern Illinois.
The reason, I suppose, is quite simple: Ahern doesn’t need votes from this part of the district to win the primary. The amount of time it takes to travel to campaign stops around Illinois, from Morrison to Fulton to Thomson to Savanna to Mount Carroll, is likely not worth the effort to someone connected to a strong base of voters in East Moline and the Rock Island County area.
In truth, Boland probably doesn’t need those votes either. But that hasn’t stopped him from working and campaigning heavily in the area. Somewhat of an anomaly in Illinois, Boland is the rare politician that covers his entire district, even though it may not provide political benefit.
Perhaps I’ve been spoiled working in Clinton during the presidential caucus season when everyone that’s anyone made sure to stop at least once (with the exception of The Rev. Al Sharpton, whom I still have not yet met). I had to contact the Whiteside County Clerk’s office to get a specimen ballot just to learn Ahern’s name. I could find no record of Ahern on the Internet or in phone books.
At this point, I’d like to see Boland survive his primary challenge. He’s put in five good terms at the statehouse, and he has been good to people in the area.
Local voters who don’t like Boland would be better served if he survived to face Republican Steve Haring in the general election.
Haring, who faces no primary opponent, would at least provide an opponent that can debate Boland on the entire district. Though he is a Savanna native, Haring has a good deal of knowledge of the southern part of the district. If he and Boland face off in November, local voters can be assured things like the Thomson prison and U.S. 30 will be key issues.
If Boland falls on Tuesday, the general election could easily be voted on a north-south split, which could unfairly eliminate political parties from the race. Local voters deserve two choices of politicians who understand their needs.
A Boland-Haring race could still be split north and south. But it would prevent a far better choice than a race between Haring and Ahern.
After all, this is still America. And even though it’s Illinois, it should be one person, one vote — regardless of where those people live.
Update: Boland trounced Ahern, especially in the northern part of the district. He garnered 86 percent of the vote in Carroll County and 88 percent in Whiteside County.
Let me start by saying I’m not telling anyone who to vote for.
But I’d strongly suggest local Illinois Democrats support state Rep. Mike Boland in Tuesday’s primary.
Endorsing political candidates can be a slippery slope, whether it be for a local city council or President of the United States. In recent history, the Clinton Herald has not endorsed political candidates, though the paper has come out with a stance on particular issues, like the building code and the instructional support levy in Clinton.
A paper cannot, in good faith, endorse a particular candidate until its editorial board has met with all of the candidates. That can be tough to arrange, given everyone’s busy schedules these days. Even if the candidates can all be brought in, there must be a system of questions and further analysis to determine why one candidate should get the paper’s nod over another.
The Herald editorial board did meet with Boland last week, but not for the purpose of forming an endorsement. It was a very productive meeting, and I’ll get to that in another column.
What’s important here is the main reason leading me to support Boland: It’s nearly impossible to find a trace of his opponent anywhere in the area.
I have known for months that Boland faced opposition in his Democratic primary, but no one from his opponent’s camp ever came forth to announce plans to run for the office. Working the political desk at a newspaper during campaign season, it is not unusual to be swamped in faxes, e-mails and phone calls from various politicians wanting to inform the world of their political plans.
We got those press releases from Boland, as we did from Iowa Rep. Steve Olson, R-Grand Mound, and his potential opponent Jim King. I was invited to a press conference where Maquoketa Democrat Tom Schueller announced his plan to replace retiring Rep. Bob Osterhaus. Rep. Polly Bukta, D-Clinton, announced her plans at a public event.
But Dennis Ahern, who is running against Boland in the primary, is barely a presence in northwestern Illinois.
The reason, I suppose, is quite simple: Ahern doesn’t need votes from this part of the district to win the primary. The amount of time it takes to travel to campaign stops around Illinois, from Morrison to Fulton to Thomson to Savanna to Mount Carroll, is likely not worth the effort to someone connected to a strong base of voters in East Moline and the Rock Island County area.
In truth, Boland probably doesn’t need those votes either. But that hasn’t stopped him from working and campaigning heavily in the area. Somewhat of an anomaly in Illinois, Boland is the rare politician that covers his entire district, even though it may not provide political benefit.
Perhaps I’ve been spoiled working in Clinton during the presidential caucus season when everyone that’s anyone made sure to stop at least once (with the exception of The Rev. Al Sharpton, whom I still have not yet met). I had to contact the Whiteside County Clerk’s office to get a specimen ballot just to learn Ahern’s name. I could find no record of Ahern on the Internet or in phone books.
At this point, I’d like to see Boland survive his primary challenge. He’s put in five good terms at the statehouse, and he has been good to people in the area.
Local voters who don’t like Boland would be better served if he survived to face Republican Steve Haring in the general election.
Haring, who faces no primary opponent, would at least provide an opponent that can debate Boland on the entire district. Though he is a Savanna native, Haring has a good deal of knowledge of the southern part of the district. If he and Boland face off in November, local voters can be assured things like the Thomson prison and U.S. 30 will be key issues.
If Boland falls on Tuesday, the general election could easily be voted on a north-south split, which could unfairly eliminate political parties from the race. Local voters deserve two choices of politicians who understand their needs.
A Boland-Haring race could still be split north and south. But it would prevent a far better choice than a race between Haring and Ahern.
After all, this is still America. And even though it’s Illinois, it should be one person, one vote — regardless of where those people live.
Update: Boland trounced Ahern, especially in the northern part of the district. He garnered 86 percent of the vote in Carroll County and 88 percent in Whiteside County.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Don't look back in anger
Another piece on the demolition of the old movie theaters, which are directly across the street from our office (not known as "Herald Tower," but maybe someday).
“Show me the money.”
It’s fitting I start this rant about the old downtown movie theaters with that movie quote.
You don’t have to show me the $2 million it cost to build the Clinton 8. You don’t even have to show me the $99,500 asking price for the Capri III/Cinema I we reported last April.
What I’m talking about is $10,000 — the amount of money spent to acquire the old downtown four-screen complex, which is now owned by local businessman Tim Clark, so that it can be turned into parking.
Here is my point: There has been no shortage of people, many former Clinton residents, complaining the city didn’t do anything to preserve the old buildings that will end up as parking lots by the end of the summer.
It doesn’t take much for a California or Colorado resident to suggest the city spend $10,000 of its money — of my money. Move back, vote, pay some property taxes — then tell the city how to spend its money.
To be sure, there are people still living here who are sad to see the old buildings go. Most of the yearning is based on a long individual history a person had with the theater, as they would with a school or church. Many people refer to the May 15, 1940, world premiere of the Lillian Russell film — held when the theaters were called the Capitol and Rialto — as the reason for preservation.
Yet for all of this desire to keep the old buildings up, no one came forth with $10,000 in the six months the buildings were for sale. Many people sent message to the Clinton Herald Web site, suggesting the building be used to show art house movies or re-converted into a spot for stage plays.
Two problems.
First, the owner wouldn’t sell unless the buyer agreed to a 20-year no-compete clause. Competition is not desirable against a $2 million investment. Furthermore, if the theaters could have been profitable showing movies, isn’t it reasonable to assume that the cinema company would have retained its ownership of the downtown theaters and kept showing movies?
Second, while stage plays would be OK under the no-compete contract, we already have a stage in town. It’s called the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre. No, it’s not a year-round theater company. No, it probably doesn’t have enough seats or the most modern accommodations. But the city is, through the Vision Iowa program, working at making improvements to the boat. Why should the city spend money to build up what would likely be a competitor?
The root of the argument is economic viability. If Cinema Entertainment Corp. could have make money showing second-run movies downtown, you’d better believe it would have tried. If a theater company thought it could make money running shows September through May in a downtown stage setting, wouldn’t such a company have come along — especially since the building cost just $10,000?
The problem, of course, is that the cost is far more than $10,000. Asbestos removal is expensive and dangerous, not to mention the rehabilitation costs. It’s safe to say there is no theater company with its eye on Clinton waiting for the perfect opportunity to serve an untapped customer base, much the way Home Depot is preparing to move in because estimates show it can clear between $20 million and $26 million in annual sales.
Look, I love old buildings. In my hometown is an old high school building I went to freshman year. It was built during World War I. The classrooms have hardwood floors, the gym looks like it was used as a backdrop for “Hoosiers” and Marlon Brando allegedly rode his motorcycle through the halls to cheese off the principal (whose son lives across the street and taught world history when I attended).
It’s going to cost someone at least $8.5 million to even think about saving that structure, which is far more important to the look of the town than these theaters are to Clinton. But I’d be a hypocrite and a fool if I begged the leaders of my old town to spend my parents’ taxes on saving a structure. I’m happy to read that architects and developers in the community are working to save the building but skeptical of their options.
I know of no such efforts in Clinton. All we have here are people criticizing a downtown businessman for doing what he thinks is necessary to keep his business viable in the downtown area. Just like Clinton’s old theaters, I’d rather have that old school come down in my hometown than see it in various stages of disrepair every time I visit home.
Money makes the world go ‘round, and the same is true in Clinton. That’s why there will be a new Maid-Rite near the Clinton 8 while there were no restaurants feeding off the Capri III/Cinema I. That’s why Home Depot won’t have problems selling off its outlots. That’s why the Howes and Van Allen buildings can be redeveloped into apartments while old churches, schools, post offices and movie theaters sit around like the mean, ugly, not-quite housebroken puppy at an animal shelter.
Love often saves those puppies. And it would take a similar love, or at least a dedicated business mind, to save the theaters and other such buildings. But it also will take money. And unless some white knight is planning to ride into Clinton with bags and bags of cash, we’re going to have this discussion again and again.
“Show me the money.”
It’s fitting I start this rant about the old downtown movie theaters with that movie quote.
You don’t have to show me the $2 million it cost to build the Clinton 8. You don’t even have to show me the $99,500 asking price for the Capri III/Cinema I we reported last April.
What I’m talking about is $10,000 — the amount of money spent to acquire the old downtown four-screen complex, which is now owned by local businessman Tim Clark, so that it can be turned into parking.
Here is my point: There has been no shortage of people, many former Clinton residents, complaining the city didn’t do anything to preserve the old buildings that will end up as parking lots by the end of the summer.
It doesn’t take much for a California or Colorado resident to suggest the city spend $10,000 of its money — of my money. Move back, vote, pay some property taxes — then tell the city how to spend its money.
To be sure, there are people still living here who are sad to see the old buildings go. Most of the yearning is based on a long individual history a person had with the theater, as they would with a school or church. Many people refer to the May 15, 1940, world premiere of the Lillian Russell film — held when the theaters were called the Capitol and Rialto — as the reason for preservation.
Yet for all of this desire to keep the old buildings up, no one came forth with $10,000 in the six months the buildings were for sale. Many people sent message to the Clinton Herald Web site, suggesting the building be used to show art house movies or re-converted into a spot for stage plays.
Two problems.
First, the owner wouldn’t sell unless the buyer agreed to a 20-year no-compete clause. Competition is not desirable against a $2 million investment. Furthermore, if the theaters could have been profitable showing movies, isn’t it reasonable to assume that the cinema company would have retained its ownership of the downtown theaters and kept showing movies?
Second, while stage plays would be OK under the no-compete contract, we already have a stage in town. It’s called the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre. No, it’s not a year-round theater company. No, it probably doesn’t have enough seats or the most modern accommodations. But the city is, through the Vision Iowa program, working at making improvements to the boat. Why should the city spend money to build up what would likely be a competitor?
The root of the argument is economic viability. If Cinema Entertainment Corp. could have make money showing second-run movies downtown, you’d better believe it would have tried. If a theater company thought it could make money running shows September through May in a downtown stage setting, wouldn’t such a company have come along — especially since the building cost just $10,000?
The problem, of course, is that the cost is far more than $10,000. Asbestos removal is expensive and dangerous, not to mention the rehabilitation costs. It’s safe to say there is no theater company with its eye on Clinton waiting for the perfect opportunity to serve an untapped customer base, much the way Home Depot is preparing to move in because estimates show it can clear between $20 million and $26 million in annual sales.
Look, I love old buildings. In my hometown is an old high school building I went to freshman year. It was built during World War I. The classrooms have hardwood floors, the gym looks like it was used as a backdrop for “Hoosiers” and Marlon Brando allegedly rode his motorcycle through the halls to cheese off the principal (whose son lives across the street and taught world history when I attended).
It’s going to cost someone at least $8.5 million to even think about saving that structure, which is far more important to the look of the town than these theaters are to Clinton. But I’d be a hypocrite and a fool if I begged the leaders of my old town to spend my parents’ taxes on saving a structure. I’m happy to read that architects and developers in the community are working to save the building but skeptical of their options.
I know of no such efforts in Clinton. All we have here are people criticizing a downtown businessman for doing what he thinks is necessary to keep his business viable in the downtown area. Just like Clinton’s old theaters, I’d rather have that old school come down in my hometown than see it in various stages of disrepair every time I visit home.
Money makes the world go ‘round, and the same is true in Clinton. That’s why there will be a new Maid-Rite near the Clinton 8 while there were no restaurants feeding off the Capri III/Cinema I. That’s why Home Depot won’t have problems selling off its outlots. That’s why the Howes and Van Allen buildings can be redeveloped into apartments while old churches, schools, post offices and movie theaters sit around like the mean, ugly, not-quite housebroken puppy at an animal shelter.
Love often saves those puppies. And it would take a similar love, or at least a dedicated business mind, to save the theaters and other such buildings. But it also will take money. And unless some white knight is planning to ride into Clinton with bags and bags of cash, we’re going to have this discussion again and again.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Money makes the world go 'round
One of the true joys (note: sarcasm) of covering city hall is the annual budget process. No matter how many times you explain it to the 'outsiders,' there are just some rules that don't make sense. Here's one reporter's feeble attempt.
The upcoming budget approval cycle in Iowa won’t be pretty.
Not for schools, not for cities, not for counties.
Some jobs already have been lost. Many more are likely to go, either through layoffs or attrition. Capital improvement projects will remain on the drawing board, tax rates will increase and nobody is going to come out unscathed.
Except maybe the state legislators who hold down income and sales tax increases and rail against cities, counties and schools for raising property taxes. Meanwhile, those same state legislators tell local bodies what they can do with their money, what they have to pay for and sometimes decide not to cover their planned budget contributions.
I’m not trying to single out any one lawmaker. When the 90 Clinton County folks planning to be in Des Moines Thursday meet with those legislators, there will be handshakes and smiles and an element of honest goodwill. I, however, will be holding my breath and wondering how soon I’ll have to write another story about depleted budgets and the hard decisions that come about during fiscal crisis.
As I write this column Tuesday morning, I have yet to hear Clinton City Council members and city officials discuss their reactions to a proposed budget down in expenditures $623,173 from two fiscal years ago. Over the same period, reserve balances have declined $459,738.
But numbers don’t mean as much as words in this case: Three police and three fire positions are on the chopping block, as is one recreation position and some part-time jobs. And depending on who accepts early retirement incentives, more jobs probably will go unfilled.
Already the complaints have come in, suggesting the city do away with “things that are useless and wasteful,” as one reader posted on our Internet site. Another delivered backhanded compliments about downtown streetscape improvements, blaming City Administrator Jeff Kooistra for wanting to cut public safety budgets.
There are three things people need to understand about municipal finance:
1. Public safety accounts for 70 percent of the city’s budget. It’s not like the police and fire departments have extra money, but they do have a bigger pot to work with.
2. After all the city has cut over the past three years, what is left but the bare minimum?
3. You can’t spend road money on general fund departments — in the same way that school districts cannot spend building money on textbooks or salaries. Road money is generated through the road use tax formula. If the city doesn’t spend it on roads, it has to give it back to the state. And we all know there are plenty of roads in Clinton that could use some attention.
As Kooistra puts it: “We’re dealing with what the state hands us. We don't have any authority to change some of those things. You can’t spend street money on firefighters. The law won’t let you do that.”
And let’s not forget who should be getting the blame for the current financial situation. It isn’t the city administration or council members. It isn’t the individual departments. City employees have worked very hard just to keep the status quo, putting off capital improvements or hiring new people, scrimping and saving to keep serving the public.
No, the fault here lies with the state of Iowa and its Reinvent Iowa legislation. If you want more police and fire protection, call Des Moines, not City Hall. And yes, that may mean things like income or sales tax on certain things will have to go up, even in an election year. But the city does not deserve to keep taking the fall for the state’s decisions.
Kooistra said he and City Clerk/Finance Director Deb Neels ran several numbers and determined Clinton might have been OK if the state hadn’t cut about $550,000 in state shared revenues and bank franchise fees. While all the talk last year was about the earlier-than-anticipated loss of machinery and equipment tax replacement, Kooistra said the city’s plan to deal with that loss, formulated before he arrived, was good enough to carry it through some rough spells. But that extra half million dollars is crippling.
Maybe some people will take early retirement. Maybe someday the lost state allocations will be restored. In the meantime, costs are rising all over — state-run retirement funds with required contributions, employee health care and the general cost of doing business. Simple things like running a thermostat at City Hall or putting gas in a Parks Department lawn mower cannot be ignored.
I’m not saying we should support laying off firefighters and police officers. It’s just sad to think we have no other choice. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be angry — we should be outraged. But when that anger is misplaced, nothing positive will happen.
The upcoming budget approval cycle in Iowa won’t be pretty.
Not for schools, not for cities, not for counties.
Some jobs already have been lost. Many more are likely to go, either through layoffs or attrition. Capital improvement projects will remain on the drawing board, tax rates will increase and nobody is going to come out unscathed.
Except maybe the state legislators who hold down income and sales tax increases and rail against cities, counties and schools for raising property taxes. Meanwhile, those same state legislators tell local bodies what they can do with their money, what they have to pay for and sometimes decide not to cover their planned budget contributions.
I’m not trying to single out any one lawmaker. When the 90 Clinton County folks planning to be in Des Moines Thursday meet with those legislators, there will be handshakes and smiles and an element of honest goodwill. I, however, will be holding my breath and wondering how soon I’ll have to write another story about depleted budgets and the hard decisions that come about during fiscal crisis.
As I write this column Tuesday morning, I have yet to hear Clinton City Council members and city officials discuss their reactions to a proposed budget down in expenditures $623,173 from two fiscal years ago. Over the same period, reserve balances have declined $459,738.
But numbers don’t mean as much as words in this case: Three police and three fire positions are on the chopping block, as is one recreation position and some part-time jobs. And depending on who accepts early retirement incentives, more jobs probably will go unfilled.
Already the complaints have come in, suggesting the city do away with “things that are useless and wasteful,” as one reader posted on our Internet site. Another delivered backhanded compliments about downtown streetscape improvements, blaming City Administrator Jeff Kooistra for wanting to cut public safety budgets.
There are three things people need to understand about municipal finance:
1. Public safety accounts for 70 percent of the city’s budget. It’s not like the police and fire departments have extra money, but they do have a bigger pot to work with.
2. After all the city has cut over the past three years, what is left but the bare minimum?
3. You can’t spend road money on general fund departments — in the same way that school districts cannot spend building money on textbooks or salaries. Road money is generated through the road use tax formula. If the city doesn’t spend it on roads, it has to give it back to the state. And we all know there are plenty of roads in Clinton that could use some attention.
As Kooistra puts it: “We’re dealing with what the state hands us. We don't have any authority to change some of those things. You can’t spend street money on firefighters. The law won’t let you do that.”
And let’s not forget who should be getting the blame for the current financial situation. It isn’t the city administration or council members. It isn’t the individual departments. City employees have worked very hard just to keep the status quo, putting off capital improvements or hiring new people, scrimping and saving to keep serving the public.
No, the fault here lies with the state of Iowa and its Reinvent Iowa legislation. If you want more police and fire protection, call Des Moines, not City Hall. And yes, that may mean things like income or sales tax on certain things will have to go up, even in an election year. But the city does not deserve to keep taking the fall for the state’s decisions.
Kooistra said he and City Clerk/Finance Director Deb Neels ran several numbers and determined Clinton might have been OK if the state hadn’t cut about $550,000 in state shared revenues and bank franchise fees. While all the talk last year was about the earlier-than-anticipated loss of machinery and equipment tax replacement, Kooistra said the city’s plan to deal with that loss, formulated before he arrived, was good enough to carry it through some rough spells. But that extra half million dollars is crippling.
Maybe some people will take early retirement. Maybe someday the lost state allocations will be restored. In the meantime, costs are rising all over — state-run retirement funds with required contributions, employee health care and the general cost of doing business. Simple things like running a thermostat at City Hall or putting gas in a Parks Department lawn mower cannot be ignored.
I’m not saying we should support laying off firefighters and police officers. It’s just sad to think we have no other choice. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be angry — we should be outraged. But when that anger is misplaced, nothing positive will happen.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Caucusmania
Just like Eric Karros urged all Major League Baseball players to spend one season playing for the Cubs, I suggest all reporters that don't despise politics to either move to Iowa during a presidential nominating year, or at least find an outfit that will sned you over here for a few weeks. Especially if they give you an expense account. Food and lodging here is pretty cheap. Anyhow, I have a felling you'd enjoy the madness.
I hereby formally extend my sympathies to the people of New Hampshire.
For after months and months of being stationed in a relatively hot spot on the 2004 Presidential Campaign Trail, you and I are now just in the rear-view mirror of everything that comes with Iowa’s “first in the nation” caucus status.
Don’t tell that to the party leaders. Those folks are already hard at work planning for the mid-March party conventions. On both sides of the aisle, I salute the effort. It takes an awful lot of dedicated volunteers to keep the two-party system afloat. And though they sometimes line up like the Jets and the Sharks from “West Side Story” (without the fancy choreography, of course), I know they’re all working for a better country.
You don’t have to agree with their particular beliefs, but we should all have so noble a cause. As a side note, I urge those who don’t know which party fits their personality to visit www.presidentmatch.com and take the candidate survey.
But now that the national media has descended on New Hampshire, trying to learn in a week what was discerned over several months in Iowa, I can truly appreciate my first caucus experience.
Like anyone else who grew up in a late-primary state such as Illinois, I never met a presidential candidate in person until I shook hands with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry April 6, 2003. I had never met any Senator for that matter, though I had encountered Rep. Jim Nussle several times and participated in conference calls with Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley.
While I was excited to meet Kerry that day, I was perhaps more excited to be in the company of reporters and photographers from the Boston newspapers following Kerry around Iowa.
As the campaign wore on, I was around Time magazine reporters following John Edwards and CBS television cameras tracking Howard Dean. I met Ed Asner as he traveled with Dennis Kucinich. As the caucus date drew near, the campaign events seemed to grow larger in scale with more national media attending each happening.
What started as awe of my big-city colleagues grew a little toward resentment, especially at the Dean pancake breakfast at Washington Middle School where local print journalists (me, mostly) were ushered to the back so the still and video photographers could get the best angle of the governor donning his green apron and flipping flapjacks to a lens-friendly cross section of hungry Iowans.
I read with great interest stories in the Chicago Tribune detailing life in Iowa. Those accounts allowed me to contrast my suburban background with my current life experience. It also allowed my parents to sort of see what I’d been up to lately without waiting for me to pick up the phone and call.
Following the campaign pales in comparison to actually learning what goes on at an Iowa caucus. Through calls with local party leaders, caucus goers and even the Iowa Secretary of State, I finally understood the nuts and bolts of something most people know of but relatively few know about.
I kind of reveled in my newfound knowledge of things like platform resolutions and viability thresholds. We put together a pretty nice package for the Herald and, by the time I actually went to cover a caucus precinct, I actually new what was going on.
There I was, in the Clinton High School commons, counting heads in candidate groups and checking my numbers with the precinct secretary and the vote reporting folks. The standard line is that a caucus is truly democracy in action, and I have a hard time arguing that point.
Politics aren’t for everyone. Even though people say you lose your right to complain when you pass on the chance to vote, plenty of non-voters find time to complain, and that will never change.
Even for those that follow politics, a caucus may be too personal an event. Though Republicans don’t get to argue about presidential candidates, they still debate party platforms, and that process can get plenty heated, I assume.
I can’t say any one thing sticks out in my mind about my first Iowa caucus. It was fun, I learned quite a bit and still feel that, in some small way, I was part of the process of helping pick someone who may one day be the president.
It was fun while it lasted.
That said, I’m in no hurry to get to 2008.
I hereby formally extend my sympathies to the people of New Hampshire.
For after months and months of being stationed in a relatively hot spot on the 2004 Presidential Campaign Trail, you and I are now just in the rear-view mirror of everything that comes with Iowa’s “first in the nation” caucus status.
Don’t tell that to the party leaders. Those folks are already hard at work planning for the mid-March party conventions. On both sides of the aisle, I salute the effort. It takes an awful lot of dedicated volunteers to keep the two-party system afloat. And though they sometimes line up like the Jets and the Sharks from “West Side Story” (without the fancy choreography, of course), I know they’re all working for a better country.
You don’t have to agree with their particular beliefs, but we should all have so noble a cause. As a side note, I urge those who don’t know which party fits their personality to visit www.presidentmatch.com and take the candidate survey.
But now that the national media has descended on New Hampshire, trying to learn in a week what was discerned over several months in Iowa, I can truly appreciate my first caucus experience.
Like anyone else who grew up in a late-primary state such as Illinois, I never met a presidential candidate in person until I shook hands with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry April 6, 2003. I had never met any Senator for that matter, though I had encountered Rep. Jim Nussle several times and participated in conference calls with Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley.
While I was excited to meet Kerry that day, I was perhaps more excited to be in the company of reporters and photographers from the Boston newspapers following Kerry around Iowa.
As the campaign wore on, I was around Time magazine reporters following John Edwards and CBS television cameras tracking Howard Dean. I met Ed Asner as he traveled with Dennis Kucinich. As the caucus date drew near, the campaign events seemed to grow larger in scale with more national media attending each happening.
What started as awe of my big-city colleagues grew a little toward resentment, especially at the Dean pancake breakfast at Washington Middle School where local print journalists (me, mostly) were ushered to the back so the still and video photographers could get the best angle of the governor donning his green apron and flipping flapjacks to a lens-friendly cross section of hungry Iowans.
I read with great interest stories in the Chicago Tribune detailing life in Iowa. Those accounts allowed me to contrast my suburban background with my current life experience. It also allowed my parents to sort of see what I’d been up to lately without waiting for me to pick up the phone and call.
Following the campaign pales in comparison to actually learning what goes on at an Iowa caucus. Through calls with local party leaders, caucus goers and even the Iowa Secretary of State, I finally understood the nuts and bolts of something most people know of but relatively few know about.
I kind of reveled in my newfound knowledge of things like platform resolutions and viability thresholds. We put together a pretty nice package for the Herald and, by the time I actually went to cover a caucus precinct, I actually new what was going on.
There I was, in the Clinton High School commons, counting heads in candidate groups and checking my numbers with the precinct secretary and the vote reporting folks. The standard line is that a caucus is truly democracy in action, and I have a hard time arguing that point.
Politics aren’t for everyone. Even though people say you lose your right to complain when you pass on the chance to vote, plenty of non-voters find time to complain, and that will never change.
Even for those that follow politics, a caucus may be too personal an event. Though Republicans don’t get to argue about presidential candidates, they still debate party platforms, and that process can get plenty heated, I assume.
I can’t say any one thing sticks out in my mind about my first Iowa caucus. It was fun, I learned quite a bit and still feel that, in some small way, I was part of the process of helping pick someone who may one day be the president.
It was fun while it lasted.
That said, I’m in no hurry to get to 2008.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Pete and repeat
What do you get if you mix Pete Rose and Pete Gray? A one-armed bandit.
That's funny only if you know that a) Pete Gray was a Major League Baseball player despite having just one arm; and b) Pete Rose is a crook. I don't like that guy, never really did, and think it'd be a crime if he gets into the Hall of Fame before Ryne Sandberg or Ron Santo.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — I don’t like Pete Rose.
I never really did in the first place, and I really don’t like him all that much now.
In case anyone missed it last week (and really, how could you?), Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in hits, games played and at bats finally admitted, after 14 years of lying, that he bet on baseball. In the pantheon of well-kept secrets, this ranks right up there with professional wrestling passing as actual athletic competition.
So Pete Rose gambled on baseball. As such, his lifetime ban — handed down in 1989 by a respected commissioner who suffered a fatal heart attack just eight days later — is now justified. I say (as if what I say really matters to the powers that be) keep him out of baseball.
Since there’s already so much Pete Rose memorabilia in the Hall of Fame, let’s just give the joker his plaque, making sure to include the sentence “banned for life for betting on baseball.” Then, forbid him from ever working for a professional baseball team ever again.
This expulsion is the punishment for committing what has been called baseball’s ultimate sin — gambling. So grievous is this crime that it has created somewhat of a cottage industry with movies like “Eight Men Out” and the contrived glory of the late commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (also known as baseball’s chief racist).
I question why gambling is treated so harshly while other crimes against the integrity of the game are punished lightly, if at all. I understand that gambling is forbidden because any sport loses its respect with fans as soon as the events on the field are controlled by anything besides the players, a Rally Monkey or the ghost of Irv Favre.
I totally agree that banishment is a punishment that fits the crime of gambling. I don’t know whether or not Shoeless Joe Jackson actually was on the take in the 1919 World Series, but I do know that he deserves the same reinstatement consideration extended to Rose these days.
My real problem is with baseball’s weak stance on players who use doctored equipment (Sammy Sosa, anyone?), growth hormones, steroids and other drugs (Sosa again, we all suspect) and Hall of Fame pitchers explicitly known for cheating (Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford, I’m looking at you).
Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe were banned for life because their personal financial involvement with games may have altered how they performed, Rose as manager and Jackson as player.
Sosa, meanwhile, was caught cheating, red-handed and on video tape (just the way we Americans like our celebrities to be tarnished) and what does he get? An eight day furlough. But wait! He appealed the ruling and had one day knocked off for good behavior.
(As an aside, noting how well the 2003 Cubs played in his absences, for the corking and his raging toenail injury, I was seriously hoping he’d go elsewhere this off-season so the Cubs would have the bank to go after Vladimir Guerrero, or at least Magglio Ordoñez. But I suppose that’s an argument for another time.)
Baseball just adopted a performance enhancing substance abuse policy. After waiting so long to join the ranks of sports authorities that test for steroid and other such bad influences, all the National Pastime could do is come up with a policy so toothless it was quickly ridiculed by just about everyone except the Pope (who was too busy trying to find a way for the Angels to sign Guerrero).
If you want to give an admitted cokehead like Steve Howe eight or nine chances, that’s fine with me. I believe in giving someone a chance to turn things around. But here’s the deal: a pitcher on cocaine, while wreaking havoc on his family and personal life, has no competitive advantage over sober players.
I wouldn’t let the guy on a roster if he can’t pass a drug test, but I’d sooner have him on my team than a guy that juices up just to hit the ball an extra 50 feet.
Don’t steroids and corked bats and doctored balls take away as much from the integrity from the game — if not more — as gambling? I know the “no betting” rule is the one posted in every major and minor league clubhouse, but how can baseball let actual, proven crimes against the game just fade into the background?
Once again, I’m not advocating leniency for Pete Rose. Let Charlie Hustle fry, for all I care. But it’s about time baseball started cracking down on the cheaters and not just those that have a little action on the side.
Cheating is wrong. When Sosa got caught with his corked bat, all that really happened, in the grand scheme of things, is that Mark Grudzielanek got sent back to third base and Slammin’ Sammy sat out for a week with no pay. I doubt people will think twice about voting for Sammy when the Hall of Fame ballots come out, seeing as most people have already forgiven the chump.
But, unlike Rose and Jackson, Sammy will be free this year to arrive late to spring training, miss the cut-off man whenever possible and strike out with the bases loaded three or four times a week. It isn’t fair and it isn’t right — but it’s baseball.
That's funny only if you know that a) Pete Gray was a Major League Baseball player despite having just one arm; and b) Pete Rose is a crook. I don't like that guy, never really did, and think it'd be a crime if he gets into the Hall of Fame before Ryne Sandberg or Ron Santo.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — I don’t like Pete Rose.
I never really did in the first place, and I really don’t like him all that much now.
In case anyone missed it last week (and really, how could you?), Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in hits, games played and at bats finally admitted, after 14 years of lying, that he bet on baseball. In the pantheon of well-kept secrets, this ranks right up there with professional wrestling passing as actual athletic competition.
So Pete Rose gambled on baseball. As such, his lifetime ban — handed down in 1989 by a respected commissioner who suffered a fatal heart attack just eight days later — is now justified. I say (as if what I say really matters to the powers that be) keep him out of baseball.
Since there’s already so much Pete Rose memorabilia in the Hall of Fame, let’s just give the joker his plaque, making sure to include the sentence “banned for life for betting on baseball.” Then, forbid him from ever working for a professional baseball team ever again.
This expulsion is the punishment for committing what has been called baseball’s ultimate sin — gambling. So grievous is this crime that it has created somewhat of a cottage industry with movies like “Eight Men Out” and the contrived glory of the late commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (also known as baseball’s chief racist).
I question why gambling is treated so harshly while other crimes against the integrity of the game are punished lightly, if at all. I understand that gambling is forbidden because any sport loses its respect with fans as soon as the events on the field are controlled by anything besides the players, a Rally Monkey or the ghost of Irv Favre.
I totally agree that banishment is a punishment that fits the crime of gambling. I don’t know whether or not Shoeless Joe Jackson actually was on the take in the 1919 World Series, but I do know that he deserves the same reinstatement consideration extended to Rose these days.
My real problem is with baseball’s weak stance on players who use doctored equipment (Sammy Sosa, anyone?), growth hormones, steroids and other drugs (Sosa again, we all suspect) and Hall of Fame pitchers explicitly known for cheating (Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford, I’m looking at you).
Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe were banned for life because their personal financial involvement with games may have altered how they performed, Rose as manager and Jackson as player.
Sosa, meanwhile, was caught cheating, red-handed and on video tape (just the way we Americans like our celebrities to be tarnished) and what does he get? An eight day furlough. But wait! He appealed the ruling and had one day knocked off for good behavior.
(As an aside, noting how well the 2003 Cubs played in his absences, for the corking and his raging toenail injury, I was seriously hoping he’d go elsewhere this off-season so the Cubs would have the bank to go after Vladimir Guerrero, or at least Magglio Ordoñez. But I suppose that’s an argument for another time.)
Baseball just adopted a performance enhancing substance abuse policy. After waiting so long to join the ranks of sports authorities that test for steroid and other such bad influences, all the National Pastime could do is come up with a policy so toothless it was quickly ridiculed by just about everyone except the Pope (who was too busy trying to find a way for the Angels to sign Guerrero).
If you want to give an admitted cokehead like Steve Howe eight or nine chances, that’s fine with me. I believe in giving someone a chance to turn things around. But here’s the deal: a pitcher on cocaine, while wreaking havoc on his family and personal life, has no competitive advantage over sober players.
I wouldn’t let the guy on a roster if he can’t pass a drug test, but I’d sooner have him on my team than a guy that juices up just to hit the ball an extra 50 feet.
Don’t steroids and corked bats and doctored balls take away as much from the integrity from the game — if not more — as gambling? I know the “no betting” rule is the one posted in every major and minor league clubhouse, but how can baseball let actual, proven crimes against the game just fade into the background?
Once again, I’m not advocating leniency for Pete Rose. Let Charlie Hustle fry, for all I care. But it’s about time baseball started cracking down on the cheaters and not just those that have a little action on the side.
Cheating is wrong. When Sosa got caught with his corked bat, all that really happened, in the grand scheme of things, is that Mark Grudzielanek got sent back to third base and Slammin’ Sammy sat out for a week with no pay. I doubt people will think twice about voting for Sammy when the Hall of Fame ballots come out, seeing as most people have already forgiven the chump.
But, unlike Rose and Jackson, Sammy will be free this year to arrive late to spring training, miss the cut-off man whenever possible and strike out with the bases loaded three or four times a week. It isn’t fair and it isn’t right — but it’s baseball.
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