Peoria Illinoisan

Margaret Geary, Treasurer for the City of Delavan, the Township Park District, American Legion Post 382, the local grain elevator, and the Ladies Cemetery Association.

Basically, she controlled all the money for the town of Delavan. Unfortunately, the lure of the boat got to her and she ended up stealing $32,100 from the city to gamble. $24,000 of that from the Ladies Cemetary Assoc, a group of 13 women who take care of the upkeep on the local cemetary. Apparently, they were the easiest target and least likely to check the books.

My first thought was the initial comparison to Pekin’s Ex-Mayor Howard, who also used city money to gamble, but the comparison stops there. Lyn Howard was just plain dumb. Margaret Geary, on the other hand, knew how to take advantage of small town trust… until she got caught.

There is a suggestion that maybe she can mow the cemetary for 3-4 years as payback. If I were her, I’d BEG for some jail-time instead, and then move as far away as possible. Can you imagine what being hated by everyone, including a bunch of old ladies in a small town would be like?

HELL

Sources:
PJStar
WEEK25

It must be a slow news day at the Journal Star… and how boring must the Pekin City Council meetings be.

The big news? Pekin revised an ordinance that requires parked cars to be lit up at night. Now you only have to light up you car from 1:30 to 4am instead of all night. The city of Pekin writes 4,500 parking violations, with the majority of them being ‘light’ violations. At $10 ea, that’s $45,000 and an average of 12 tickets per night. Why do they enforce it? Apparently, 40 years ago a drunk driver crashed into a parked car. Now they say it helps emergency vehicles and police navigate the streets while rushing to house fires caused by meth labs.

Do they not have street lights or headlights? And will they crash into one of the twelve cars that doesn’t have it’s interior lit up?

What a dumb law.

Peoria’s most under-rated golf course was robbed on Sunday afternoon. It is reported that the robber took the money from the cash register, the clerk’s wallet, and his cell phone. I can’t imagine November is the most lucrative time of year to rob a golf course… probably why he took the guys wallet. Hell, there was probably more cash in the old man’s wallet than in the cash register. I doubt too many crackheads read blogs, so I’ve give out a free tip. Next time you rob a golf course, STEAL THE GOLF CLUBS! They’re worth alot more than the November 27 green fees in the register!

Don’t bid on eBay unless you read the entire description!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8235917501

The title of this auction is
XBOX 360 PREMIUM Edition BOX

The word BOX being the key, because that’s all you’re getting.

It got 16 bids and went up to $800 before a good samaritan registered under the name “WhatARipOffYouAre” and saved newbie “tbeever”, feedback 1, from getting ripped off.

Or this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62054&item=8233990085
The same thing, by the same seller. Unfortunately, “Icollector02″, with a feedback of 404 was not so lucky. He actually paid $530 for an empty box, and only had the balls to leave NEUTRAL feedback!

In a confirmation of a rumour, Peoria fixture Lagron Miller is moving out, and One World is expanding into the space. It’ll be wierd to have Lagron Miller missing from Main, though I believe they’ll thrive in a better location.

Kudo’s to One World for expanding, and thank you for being there. It is the kind of place that every College area needs. If you haven’t eaten there, you should. Go on a weekend night and see some live Jazz, drink a Martini, and eat from their delicious and eclectic menu. You know, they would never succeed in CampusTown… or even try. The atmosphere is great, and you cannot reproduce that by tearing down old buildings for a strip mall.

Now if we could just do something about that human hair place…

ADDEMDUM:

From the news report:
The Peoria City Council will vote tomorrow night on whether to grant Lagron-Miller 150-thousand-dollars.

The low interest loan would help with renovation costs for the new site.

I fail to understand why the city would loan Lagron Miller $150,000. Isn’t that a bank’s job?

Is this somehow related to the fact that Lagron Miller doesn’t fit into the Med-Tech plans as much as an expanded One World does, so the city is dangling a little carrot to help them move? Lagron Miller seems thrilled to move out and combine their warehouse with the store, apparently in a more fitting retail area. So why are we giving them a loan?

There is a very fine line between what makes the best and what makes the worst album cover.

Record 24th Storm of 2005.

KEWANEE - Kewanee police are warning residents not to give personal and financial information over the phone to callers they don’t know.

In a news release Friday, Police Chief Jim Dison also warned people not to cash checks they may receive as pre-payment for “lottery winnings.”

Several banks and residents have reported numerous attempts to get vital information such as birth dates and Social Security numbers as well as banking information, he said.

Residents might be contacted by someone claiming to represent a business, lottery or bank and asking for such information as a routing number or institution identification number, he said.

Do not give out such information without knowing for sure who is getting it, he said.

Let me think real hard about this. If someone calls and asks me for my bank routing and account numbers, I shouldn’t tell them? Brilliant!

Police, Fire & Courts

This didn’t get much press, but ADM gave The Junior League of Peoria $150,000 to go towards Peoria’s new Children’s Museum.

Report from WEEK25

Junior League Of Peoria

We’re not the only town who doesn’t appreciate it’s hometown celebrities… Notice the line which includes “acknowledge him in a meaningful way.” Sound familiar?

From the Duluth News Tribune Letters to the Editors:

Duluth should play up its Dylan connection
Bob Dylan’s connection to the old National Guard Armory on London Road is the stuff of legend. Dylan is our native son and it is past time for Duluth to acknowledge him in a meaningful way.

I suggest that the city establish, with appropriate low-key signage, a designated walking route along existing streets that would connect some of the local sites associated with him: The armory where he saw Buddy Holly, the hospital where he was born, Bayfront Park where he performed, Nettleton school where he attended kindergarten, the house he lived in. The route could begin and end at Leif Erikson Park, which is not only astride the Highway 61 that Dylan immortalized, but is near the Armory.

I also suggest that Duluth further solidify its claim to its own legitimate history and heritage; Leif Erikson Park — honoring an Icelandic corsair with scant connection to North America, much less this region — should be renamed for Dylan. (It even has a stage; how about an annual festival?) We not only can do the right thing but also create the coolest locale in Minnesota, with practically no physical changes at all.

DONALD DASS

DULUTH

…I mean taxes… and revenue for East Peoria… and monies for a Grade School…

After a five year free ride, they successfully reduced their taxes from 18mil to 15mil, and now, in it’s second year of a good tax paying corporation, they want the tax bill reduced to 11mil. Finally East Peoria is standing it’s ground. They already screwed up the view of Peoria’s Downtown (yeah, I know there was nothing there before), now they want to screw East Peoria again. I love the way companies this size work… they make all kinds of promises, and after everything is signed and dotted, they come back and say “Oh, didn’t we tell you about that extra fee?” and “Yea, these discounts are required” “Taxes? Thanks for the free ride, but now that we have to pay, we think they’re too high.”

I’m no Walmart basher. I shop there myself… but this is hardly the way to gain public support when you’re already being attacked left and right.

I wasn’t aware that Britain didn’t have a Music Hall Of Fame. It’s their version of Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is their 2nd year. What’s funny is that they don’t only induct British groups, it’s open to everyone. Personally, I feel this is a little redundant, although it is an insight into how the British view music history.

They break it down into decades. I don’t know all the rules, but here’s last years and this year’s inductees:

2004 inductees
The five founding members were:
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
Bob Marley
Madonna
U2
The five members chosen by the public in October 2004 were:
Cliff Richard and The Shadows
The Rolling Stones
Queen
Michael Jackson
Robbie Williams
Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, was awarded honorary membership.

2005 inductees
The 2005 inductees were selected by a panel of 60 people from the music industry:
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
Joy Division/New Order
The Kinks
Pink Floyd
The Who
The late DJ John Peel is also to be made an honorary member.

Note in year one, The Beatles were the only British group. Year two, we have The Kinks, The Who and Joy Division as the only two British Bands joining Britain’s Music Hall of Fame.

The Beatles and The Who are no brainers for British rock bands. I’ll admit I don’t know enough about Joy Division & New Order (different eras), but I do know how much the Britains admire the totally British band, The Kinks. I doubt most Americans can name more than a few songs of theirs, and if you were to put together a list of 60’s groups, according to this list, we have The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, The Who & The Kinks.

A best of list doesn’t get any better than that…

The Line up includes Ozzy Osbourne & Jamie Cullum

John Peel (Performance Buzzcocks, Peter Hook, Datsuns, El Presidente and The Soledad Brothers - Damon Albarn Inducting him)

Bob Dylan (Alanis Morrisette confirmed for tribute performance)

Pink Floyd (attending but not performing)

The Kinks (attending but not performing. Pretenders performing Tribute)

Jimi Hendrix (Tribute Performance supergroup including Slash)

New Order/Joy Division - performing

The only inductee performing is New Order/Joy Division? Pete Townshend wasn’t available? They couldn’t find anyone better than Alanis Morrisette to do a Dylan song? Chrissy Hinde is singing instead of Ray Davies?

Sounded like a dream concert, until I saw who was performing…

Peoria rib shack reports stolen money

Four unknown black men took an undisclosed amount of cash from Grandpa John’s Rib Shack Sunday night, police said.

About 9 p.m., the four men, between the ages of 20 and 30, entered the restaurant, 200 W. McClure Ave., demanding money. When men came making the demand, a manager left the restaurant and called police, a report said.

I’ll bet if given the chance, knowing his favorite eatery was being robbed, he might do something like this:

Peorian tackles alleged robber
A homeless Peoria man who allegedly stole a woman’s purse after she left a Central Peoria drug store Friday night was tackled by a good Samaritan and later arrested by police.

Police, Fire & Courts
Bill Dennis, Peoria Pundit