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Still Waters,
By
the Numbers, How We Stack Up,
What's
Up With That?
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Commentaries
posted do not necessarily represent the opinion of LDN.
Any opinions expressed are those of
the writers.
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The rumor mill
[FEB.
1, 2003]
There's a special rumor
going around town, along with all the other rumors. The various news
organizations get wind of such rumors, call the people who are
involved, and attempt to make news out of them with important things
like facts and quotes. This one will have to stay a rumor.
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The subject is the closing of the Eagle
food store.
I have spoken with various staff
members out at the Eagle store, from cashiers and stockers to
assistant managers. Most of them have heard the rumor by this time,
have talked about it openly in their staff meeting, and from the
cashiers to the store manager, no one has heard anything from up above
about the store's closing. However, some of them admit that they
might be the last ones to know.
I wish I could dispel this rumor, but
at this time it will have to remain a rumor.
Some six months ago our Lincoln Eagle
store changed over from a Country Market store to Eagle Discount
Foods. Veteran Eagle shoppers were dismayed that many of their
favorite items either disappeared from the store or moved somewhere
else in the store. Eagle made this changeover because they were
losing market share to the other food stores in town -- Kroger, IGA
and Aldi. The move to become a discount market brought in many new
customers who seem to have become Eagle customers now.
Those of us who have shopped there
forever notice that there seem to be a lot more customers in the
store now. That's a good sign.
While lowering prices may have helped
lure more customers to that store and extend the longevity of that
business here in Lincoln, I think there is something more
fundamental that is keeping customers away from Eagle.
Getting to the Eagle store is difficult
and always feels dangerous. With just one entrance to the store,
which it shares with Wal-Mart, connected to an overcrowded and badly
designed Wal-Mart parking lot, I think shoppers are repulsed and
frightened away. These driving problems place a psychological
barrier to shopping at Eagle that can easily be remedied.
[to top of second column in this
commentary]
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Compare this to the Kroger parking lot,
with two wide entrances on Woodlawn and another two around the
corner on College, not to mention the back entrance from the east
side. The parking lot at Kroger is easy to get into and most of the
time easy to get out of. But I always feel like I am taking my life
into my hands trying to get to Eagle!
So, let me propose three action steps
here to help preserve our Lincoln Eagle store:
1. We need to shop there more
often; otherwise, it will probably go away. Spread your shopping
around, and keep your money here in the county if possible.
2. Mention to the clerk, the
manager, the assistant manager and just about anyone else you see
who works in the Eagle store that you would shop there a lot more
often if their parking lot was more accessible with an entrance/exit
on the east side of the lot.
3. Contact Jeff Mayfield, the
Logan County economic development director; the Logan County Board;
the Logan County Highway Department; and IDOT to let them know that
we need another entrance to that shopping center because it is just
so darn dangerous!
Every
business Lincoln currently has to be preserved, and more will come
to town if we support them. If not, Logan County will become a ghost
town. It's just that simple.
[Jim
Youngquist]
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Attitude leads
By Jim
Youngquist
[JAN.
28, 2003]
Well, I'm finally reacting
to the news that the new economic director for Logan County has been
named. Looking back, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find
out that Jeff Mayfield had been selected.
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Pleasantly because I believe Mayfield
will bring something to the job that this county really needs:
enthusiasm, positive outlook and energy.
Jeff Mayfield is an optimist with a
capital "O." He always has a big smile on his face, a boisterous
hello for anyone that he meets and an ear to hear if you have
something to discuss with him. He usually disagrees if your point of
view is negative, cynical or divisive, hoping to adjust your
attitude to help you see things on the positive side.
These are excellent traits for someone
who will help direct our economic efforts in this county.
In the time I have known Mayfield, he
has been an associate minister at Jefferson St. Christian Church, on
staff at LCC/LCS, on the chamber board (was going to be president of
the board this coming year), our primary sportswriter here at LDN, a
sports radio commentator at FIX 96, talk show host on Channel 5,
husband, father and friend. He's the kind of guy that everyone wants
as their friend, every board wants as a board member and every
employer wants as an employee.
Our county is known as the place where
nothing good happens. It was good once, and now it is all downhill
from there. Old things close up, go away, and nothing economically
viable seems to take their place.
[to top of second column in
this commentary] |
I've long thought that it's because of
the dour attitude most people in this county seem to carry around
with them that few things are tried and many things fail. I've heard
a thousand times, "Oh, that wouldn't work here!" and "Just what were
they thinking when they tried that" and the ever-popular "I could'a
told you that wouldn't work!" Most people around here think this
county is a dead-end, fading, doomed-to-die kind of place.
I do know this -- attitude leads. If
you have a bad attitude, it often becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy, and usually you'll have bad results.
If you have a good attitude, often the
positive energy that accompanies your rosy disposition can help
carry off a project that other people would forecast dismally.
There are those people out there in the
county right now who are probably questioning Mayfield's ability to
carry this off. While he doesn't have a master's degree in community
development, or a Ph.D. in economic theory, or even an M.B.A., he
has guts and he has spirit.
And because
of that, I can't think of a better man for the job.
[Jim
Youngquist] |
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[JAN. 27, 2003]
Looking back, there were many days I
didn't believe we would make it this far or last this long.
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It began as a dream to create, to
communicate and to do something significant for Logan County.
Together with many fine people, we were able to create Lincoln
Daily News and bring you the news about our community six days a
week for the past three years.
There were many times in the last three
years that the news was thin, many times when help was scarce and
many times that money was short. Technical problems abound in this
technologically-dependent business, resources are sometimes very
thin, and the temptation to rush a story is always present. But,
because of the bulldog tenacity of our managing editor, Jan
Youngquist (the most underpaid worker in Logan County), we have
pressed forward every day to deliver a high-quality publication
about good people.
My great thanks to Mary Krallmann, our
copy editor, who slavishly works long hours to make us all sound so
good. Mary has to read the drivel we write, correct the grammar,
the spelling, the wording and even add punctuation to a particular
writer's articles (who shall go unnamed here). Without her, LDN
would surely never have survived.
Our publication is known for accurate
writing with a positive outlook. Much thanks to our regular writers
who give so much of themselves: to Joan Crabb, Lynn Spellman, Jeff
Mayfield and Greg Taylor. You have proven that a small cadre of good
writers can cover the important news in this community to rival,
even at times, exceed the competition. Together we have certainly
caused the "other paper" to improve a great deal.
Much thanks to Gina Sennett for her
artistic and technical skills that make LDN look good every day; to
Bob Frank for his photos of the people and events of the county; to
our past, part-time, seasonal and intermittent writers who have done
an excellent job with positive reporting.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
To those fine men, Tom and Ryan
Seggelke and Sam Redding, who helped start LDN, who labored hard,
cast a vision and helped push it down the hill, I also again say
thanks.
Lucky Eichner pours her whole self into
the job of selling and coordinating advertising, a tough job. I am
thankful for her friendship, her devotion and her successes.
I am extremely grateful to our
advertisers, both past and current, to all our sponsors, and to
those who keep sending us "subscription" money to keep us going.
Your support, your encouragement and your assistance mean so much to
the staff of LDN. You have kept us going.
And last but not least, we want to
thank those who read LDN on a regular basis, recommend it to their
friends and have made LDN their hometown paper. Our readers from
across the county and around the world now number slightly over
5,000. We did it all for you!
To all of you on our third birthday, I
just want to say thanks.
And many happy returns!
Jim
[LDN's
first
posting]
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By
the Numbers
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