|
|
Still Waters,
the
em space, Where They Stand,
By
the Numbers,
How We Stack Up,
What's
Up With That?
|
|
|
|
|
National
chains are great
income generators, but...
[AUG.
20, 2001] I
just hate it when this happens. The "to be or not to be"
situation with Casey’s trying to pop up a store next to the
Postville Courthouse should be a real lip smacker for a curmudgeon
like myself who likes to chew on such tasty issues. It should be,
but the issue involved is so large and carries so many twists and
turns that I just can’t get a good bite on the whole question of
whether it is "nobler in the minds of men" to say
"Build it and they will come" or to say "Not in my
back yard."
|
|
On
its face, it seems ludicrous to turn down a national chain that will
bring potential property and sales tax to a city that does nothing
but line out businesses that have said goodbye to the tax rolls of
Lincoln. For years the Postville Courthouse shared a venue with a
less-than-attractive home on the site in question. When the home was
torn down, the vacant lot, replete with a berm of soil and native
weeds, sat silently next to Postville No. 2 and then Postville No. 3
for several years. I don’t recall any concern regarding historical
import at that time. I guess, "Times they are a-changing."
Now
it seems some Lincolnites, including Mayor Beth Davis, are concerned
that a modern-looking store next to the Postville site will be a
visual detriment to the hoped for surge in tourists who they believe
will soon be coming to visit the site if not the building per se.
I
don’t see the problem or issue here. According to state and
federal guidelines it will not be possible to make the area a
historic district. It won’t be possible because the homes and
businesses surrounding Postville, although lovely and functional,
are by no means historic. Both agencies it seems are sticklers for
following this guideline. Maybe that is why they call such things
historic districts. My picture of tourists following signs to a
historic district and then seeing such non-storied
structures as Dick Logan’s, O’Donoghue’s Radiator, the 5th
Street Food Mart, and both the Bruns station and the modern business
mall across from it will only cause people to ask what the heck we’re
talking about.
I
also don’t understand the thinking that says we will tell a
business where it would be best to locate in our town. National
companies have their own research teams to determine locations. To
continue to assume we can keep a posture of asking businesses to
become part of our community when and where we think the majority of
the town will approve means we aren’t really interested in
becoming part of an economic expansion.
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
Saying
all this, I still have an extremely large "but" in my
efforts to form an opinion. I have to ask why Casey’s wants to
build just down the block from the convenience store and the Bruns
station. I wonder if Casey’s believes that the neighborhood is
capable of maintaining additional, similar business. Or have they
noticed active businesses with plenty of customers that they believe
they will be able to attract away from these established merchants.
The question is rhetorical. I don’t imagine my calling the Casey’s
main office will produce an answer to my conundrum. Especially since
a Casey’s spokesperson said they have studied the Lincoln market
for three years but were unaware of a Casey’s having been on Limit
Street. I can’t buy that one.
I
wonder if a Casey’s would move the market to a greater competitive
stance in gasoline or simply end up being a new player while Lincoln
loses one or two others to the power of a national chain’s pricing
strategy. One new business up, one or two old ones down, is a habit
we seem to have turned into an economic science in Lincoln.
Will
we ever know how many businesses Wal-Mart caused to close in this
town? Will we ever see competition for them that will cause them to
price their products at the same low levels Wal-Mart stores in
Bloomington and Springfield are forced to meet? National chains are
great income generators for small communities, but their cutthroat
business approach carries a dark side to their establishments as
well.
Like
I said, so many questions, and for the life of me I can’t
determine the answer. The city council will give us their decision
tonight. I have to be honest. Whatever they decide, I have no idea
if it is correct or not. Maybe I’m just getting old.
[Mike Fak]
Reply to
Fak
(not for publication):
mikefak@msn.com
Response
to Fak's commentary:
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
|
|
|
Keeping
everything in perspective
By Mike
Fak
[AUG.
8, 2001] Well,
fellow Logan County residents, what do you feel like chewing on this
week? Old buildings that need the subtle touch of a bulldozer?
Perhaps a few buildings that have a color palette that even a French
impressionist painter would say is a bit much? How about another
case of a business, say a Casey’s, trying to come to town but
being told not to build where they think they have a chance to make
a go of it?
|
|
We
can talk about being the only city in Illinois that thinks it’s a
good idea not to give second chances to handicapped citizens for
parking violations, or we can ask why a county board can’t get an
easement from a city council to enter the age of the Internet.
Geez,
that should be enough for any city’s plate. In fact it looks like
we have our own buffet of problems in this city of 13,500 in a
county of 33,000.
Yeah,
it is. But you know what? In the event we decide to talk about these
issues, in the event we decide to actually determine the majority
opinion on what should and should not be part of our present as well
as our future, we might just get through all this. We might get
through all this until the next crop of strange and special problems
grows in Logan County.
We
are not alone, however, in living in a topsy-turvy kind of
community. In fact if we decide to take the boxing gloves off just
long enough to put our glasses on, we might read that strange and
divisive issues are the norm in small communities
The
Cullman Times in Alabama tells the tale of farmers in the Joppa area
trying to prevent a petroleum pipeline from going under their
fields. Urban residents ask how anyone can argue about a pipeline
and pumping stations that will bring new jobs to a depressed
community.
The
Idaho Falls Times writes about an arsonist who is burning the
prairies and asks why the local law enforcement officials can’t
catch the guy.
[to top of second column in
this commentary]
|
In
Wisconsin, the Chippewa Falls Herald reports with dismay that
"America’s dairy land" has imported a record amount of
waste from surrounding states and worries about contamination as
well as landfill capacity becoming overburdened.
We
may choose to read the story out of the Morrisville News and Citizen
in Vermont. It seems that the rural area has one sheriff to patrol
several towns. It also seems that some towns don’t feel this
one-man police force spends as much time in their town as another’s
and says they won’t throw their money into the kitty to fund this
lone ranger. In an all-or-nothing agreement between the area’s
towns, removal of financial tithes could mean no one has police
protection.
I
could write a book about other small towns facing strange but, to
them, crucial issues. I trust I have made my point.
Yes,
Lincoln and Logan County have their own special brand of problems.
But they are no more or less than other small communities, or for
that matter, larger ones as well.
We
will survive. We will endure. Just as long as we communicate with
each other and thoroughly chew on the issue rather than each other.
Remember, the day after tomorrow, we still have to live with each
other.
[Mike Fak]
Reply to
Fak
(not for publication):
mikefak@msn.com
Response
to Fak's commentary:
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
|
|
|
|
|
The em
space is a staff writer's commentary section with observations about life experiences in Logan County and
beyond.
—
Mary Krallmann
|
|
Four eyes times four
As I made a quick trip to
the grocery store one night, the numbers on the car’s instrument panel
looked uncommonly clear, which I was happy to see. I’d just been feeling
a bit annoyed with getting used to my newest lenses. The prescription was
especially for distance vision, but apparently the improved view farther
away came with slightly less clarity for things up close. I hadn’t
thought of that. As the saying goes, you should be careful what you ask
for; you might get it.
With the brand-new glasses,
sometimes I had a tendency to look twice or blink at the gauges inside the
car because they didn’t appear the same as before, but it was a minor
difference. What’s out there on the road ahead is more important to see.
The figures on the dials
always looked fine after I took my glasses off, but here I was driving,
using lenses, and the numbers on the speedometer were as sharp as could
be. Almost immediately it became clear what was wrong. Yes, the numbers
inside looked stronger than with my newest lenses, but the words and
numbers on the signs outside were harder to read.
Earlier I’d been
comparing how things appeared through the newest glasses and the previous
pair, and I must have inadvertently switched them at the end of my
informal testing session, leaving the older set in the new case in the
car. The two pairs are almost the same size and shape, and I hadn’t
noticed the difference when putting them on in the darkness.
I decided it was time for
further comparison of the four pairs of glasses I have available. I wanted
to see which are useful for what and which are due to be given away. I’d
almost forgotten I still had the oldest of the four. I do like to keep at
least one pair in reserve in case of breakage or loss. Also, it’s handy
to have a pair in the car and another in the house, in case I want to
vegetate in the corner chair and read what’s on the television screen
across the room. One pair of glasses appears to be just right for that
distance but not for much else.
 I laid out all the glasses,
put them on and took them off over and over while checking different
distances, and made a chart.
If I wanted the lenses
primarily to consult the phone book, I should give them all away. Reading
is almost hopeless with three of the pairs and works with the
second-newest mainly at arm’s length. I’m glad naked eyes are allowed
and still adequate so far.
When it comes to reading
the instructions for my newest watch, I think the sales plan must have
been to encourage purchases of magnifying glasses along with the
timepiece. All the eyeglasses I have were hindrances to seeing the print,
but, setting them aside, I got most of the basics into focus eventually.
Considering that the 60 words describing how to set the alarm were printed
in a space smaller than my cheapest return-address labels, I can’t see
that normal people should be worried if the letters aren’t crystal
clear.
Proceeding to the
visibility of the numbers on the bedside alarm clock, I determined that
from the doorway it was easier to read the time with any of the glasses
than with my eyes alone. Fortunately I don’t sleep in the doorway.
 Moving on to the mirror, I
evaluated the ugliness quotient, or UQ, of each pair. I don’t think I’ve
ever come home with a design I was thrilled about, but every time the
buying issue comes up, I try to pick one and get it over with. Styles and
personal opinions change, but in my latest rating the second-oldest pair
ranked as the worst.
My chart wasn’t showing a
clear pattern, but the next stop, the front porch, gave me a chance to
compare views of an actual road sign. There the newest glasses and the
oldest came up as the winners. The newest and oldest lenses also did the
best job of letting me zoom in on the lettering on a distant building —
lettering I normally don’t notice.
Just then a multi-colored balloon appeared
between the trees, and that was the prettiest sight of all.
[Mary
Krallmann]
|
|
|
|
|
Where
They Stand
|
|
Where
They Stand is a commentary section that poses a question about a
specific issue in the community. Informed individuals present their
position with facts, opinions or insights on the issue. The
following commentaries have been printed, unedited, in their
entirety, as they were received. If you have further comment on the
issue, please send an e-mail message, complete with your name,
address and telephone number to ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com.
|
|
|
|
|
By
the Numbers
|
|
Population
estimates in Logan County
|
| 30,798 |
Total population,
1990 |
| 15,380 |
Rural population -
49.9%, 1990 |
| 15,418 |
Urban population -
50.1%, 1990 |
| 2,875 |
Projected births,
1990-1998 |
| 2,736 |
Projected deaths,
1990-1998 |
| 3,143 |
Persons below poverty
level - 11.8 % |
| 258 |
Average marriages per
year |
| 135 |
Average deaths per
year |
|
|
Alexis Asher
|
|
| Logan
County high schools: 1960-2000 |
| 1962 |
Middletown
High School consolidated with New Holland |
| 1972 |
Atlanta
High School became part of Olympia School District |
| 1975 |
Elkhart
High School consolidated with Mount Pulaski |
| 1979 |
Latham
High School became Warrensburg-Latham |
| 1988 |
New Holland-Middletown
High School consolidated with Lincoln Community High School |
| 1989 |
San
Jose High School consolidated with Illini Central (Mason City) |
|
