Peoria Illinoisan

Over the weekend I took my third trip in as many years to the Lincoln Home, the Lincoln Museum and the Lincoln Tomb, all in Springfield. (aside- I drove by the Governor’s Mansion too, but it was vacant)

The Lincoln home is interesting, but it depends on how good your tour guide is. Compared to the new museum, it seems underfunded and forgettable, but I’m beginning to find a new appreciation for it. It’s well worth your time, just remember to stay on the gray carpet. Touch the walls or inadvertently step off of the carpet runner and you’ll get an ass chewing. Fair warning. It is the place where Abraham Lincoln spent all of his years in Springfield, including the “lame duck” period before he moved to Washington. Not as glitzy as the new museum, but well worth your time.

The Lincoln Tomb. What can I say? Massive and beautiful, yet humbling to walk through.

The new Lincoln Museum is really cool and well worth the hour drive from Peoria. It’s very well done with a lot of interactive exhibits and special effects to keep the youngin’s interested, including two “theaters” with shows that change periodically. $7.50 for adults, $3.50 for kids 12 and under, which I don’t think is all that bad, really. Expect to spend about two hours, if you have young children and don’t read all the signage.

Here’s the thing- it’s depressing as hell, except for the main lobby and the gift shop, that is.

The country is splitting at the seams, Lincoln is elected with less than a majority vote; he is determined to end slavery and restore the Union. The Civil War ensues and 600,000+ Americans die. Lincoln is elected to a 2nd term, the Union prevails, the 13th amendment to the Constitution is enacted, and then he is murdered.

In a nutshell, that was his presidency.

As our tourguide at the Lincoln Home said “Abraham Lincoln planned on returning to Springfield. He did. In a coffin.”

The Abraham Lincoln Museum exposes you to the horror of Slavery, and the mind-numbing death and destruction of the Civil War. In doing so, it sets the stage for Lincoln’s unflappable moral compass. Just as the Civil War ends and he is beginning to arise as a great leader and savior of our country, he is murdered.

Lest we forget Mary Todd Lincoln, the aristocrat who married down to Abraham. She not only had to endure the death of three of her four sons, but also witnessed her husband take a bullet through his head.

She was soon after declared insane by a court of law; turned in by her only remaining son.

Like I said, it’s quite inspiring and well worth the visit, but if you have young children it can become quite emotional and overwhelming for them, so be prepared to explain all about Slavery, the Civil War and why everyone hated Abraham Lincoln.

I swear, I have not been playing Hootie and the Blowfish on repeat for the last hour, no matter what my sidebar LastFM chart says.  Besides, I turned off my music when I left work.

Darn practical jokers.

Hey, did you hear District 150 is hiring Japanese teachers?

Chinese.

Huh?

Chinese, not Japanese.

Yea, whatever they are…

Not to turn this blog into a countdown of murders in Peoria, but really, what the hell is going on around here? Last night saw the official #8.

8 murders in 4 months. Multiply that out and we get 24 for the year.

Or, if you figure we only had 4 murders at this point last year, a year that saw 18 murders total and sparked televised violence forums… we could end up with 36.

36 murders in Peoria.

That doesn’t count the near daily occurance of shootings where the victim actually lived. Heck, yesterday afternoon I heard what I thought was a gunshot and I told my wife “I don’t know if that really was a gunshot or not, but I don’t know what else it would’ve been. How sad is it that when I hear noises, I just expect them to be gunshots and it’s becoming part of our daily lives.”

Want to know what outsiders think of our fine city? Here’s an exerpt from the a student letter to the Bradley Scout:

“As a Chicago-area native who grew up seven miles outside downtown (not in those “rich” suburbs most think Bradley students are from), I didn’t expect Peoria to be so bad. But after almost four years of various run-ins with crime and some scary scenarios, I feel safer at home.”

“After Jason picked me up at my house, we headed over to the overly priced but irresistible restaurant [Steak’n'Shake]. But not until he made fun of my off-campus neighborhood, describing it as unfriendly and unsafe-looking (in more polite words than he’d used)”

“Though Peoria isn’t the most dangerous city in the world, it also isn’t the safest. But I guess that preconceived “Bradley bubble” pops when something hits so close to home.”

I’m leaving out the details of what happened in the story, but the term “Bradley Bubble” stood out to me. This is the first time I’ve heard that term used. Is that really what people think? Don’t leave the safe-haven of the Bradley Campus because once you do, you’re on your own, and Peoria is not a place where you should be venturing out.

I generally don’t feel unsafe. I’m either extremely naive, or I think I understand when and where to go exploring. Don’t walk around Campustown at night. Actually, don’t walk around anywhere at night. Don’t turn off the major streets in the South End except during the hours of 10-12am, preferably on a Sunday. Same goes for parts of the East and West Bluffs.

I hate to say it, but as I write this I’m beginning to think that “Bradley Bubble” thing has some truth to it.

Last Tuesday I was reading the update on Peoria’s 8th murder in the parking lot of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It turned out to be suicide, and as I read the comments, I found one particularly touching. I don’t know if it was just the mood I was in at the moment, or the general feeling that our city is imploding, but I thought it too good to be buried in the comments section of the local updates section. Heck, I was already mad about the murder #7. I decided that I would reprint it, but before I did, I emailed the author to ask if what she wrote was true.

Her response: “Everything I wrote I saw, I did not hear the gunshot and just happened to see the first police car pull up and looked out like anyone naturally would.

So, yes I saw as they tried to revive him and the girl friend being taken away screaming, I watched as everything went from a bit of hope to hopeless…..he was gone. And as they covered his body in the sheets. Then a group of his family came screaming. From my bedroom window you could see everything lying in my bed and so I still saw as they took pics of his body and the corner came to pick the body up. It was just all very sad.”

Reprint of the Journal Star comment, with permission of the author:

Last night, I witnessed a very tragic and unfortunate incident. A young man and his girlfriend pulled their car into the church parking lot next door to my condo, the young man got out the car and shot himself in the head and took his own life. We are living in a time were people are struggling for there lives, they are stressed, overwhelmed, depressed these are…….hard times. People are turning to everything but GOD!

As I watched people outside screaming, and different ones trying to revive the young man, as they pulled the sheets over his body my heart became very heavy. I didn’t know him, but so many questions ran through my head, I wanted to understand so bad, what was he thinking? What was so horrible that caused him to give up the fight for his life, when God had not given up on him? Why did he feel like no one had the answer? As I mature, I’m learning that life is a journey and we don’t always understand where we are and why we are there, but we trust that the Master is holding us in his hands. We trust that God has the map to our life and knows the end results. Sometimes people loose that hope, and that is when they need to be reminded that they are loved and someone still cares, we are human.

I shared this story with the people I loved because you never know who you may come across one day and you never know why God puts people in your life, but stop to think if there just might be purpose.

Whether it be a mother, a father, sister, or brother. Or maybe it’s a wife, a husband or just a girlfriend or a boyfriend or even simply just a friend there is “Purpose in Relationship”. Make sure the ones you love, know you love them. When you say you love someone mean it, you never know whose heart you hold in your hands. Be careful of whose heart you break, you never know how powerful that key is. There is also responsibility in relationship, no matter what kind of relationship it might be. If it’s a ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a word of advise, or a prayer when they cross your mind, there is responsibility in relationship. I pray I’m playing my roll in any relationship God has blessed me with. I pray I am able to speak life into someone as I continue this journey and we can stop loosing people to senseless deaths. I hope your prayers are the same.

Remember, “No matter how hard life gets when you hit the very bottom of the barrel the only way to go from there is up.” We don’t have bad day’s just some days are better then others.

…at both home and work…

Though I would like to say that I find the Park District’s backpedaling rather amusing.

Journal Star: “I believe the ordinance we would ultimately adopt would likely go further” than the city’s historic preservation ordinance, Cassidy said.

Cassidy added the park board has significant funds planned for restoration of many of these structures, including $200,000 to $250,000 for restoration of the cannon wall.

Wait a minute… it was about this time last year that they secured a bid to tear down the cannon wall.  Now they’re the preservationists?  Why the sudden change of heart!?

Update for clarification purposes on my off the cuff commentary: I really don’t want the park or the structures in it to be designated as landmarks, I just want the Park District to do the right thing.  I agree wholeheartedly with CJ Summers who says this: “The situation now has the City holding the Park District’s feet to the fire to follow through on their stated historic preservation plans in a timely manner.  Hopefully that will be all that’s necessary, and on June 5 the council request can be voted down.”

And I really am too busy to blog…

The senseless murder of Dequarrius Sims over the weekend stands out to me as a real tragedy.  He’s not the typical gangbanger who “had it coming.”  By all accounts this kid seemed to be on the right track.  Smart, funny, athletic, well loved by his classmates.  Even played in the band.  Just 17 years old- a Junior at the much aligned Manial HS, he had aspirations of attending College and rising above the world he lived in.  Someone who could be held up as a role model.

As I heard his baseball coach talk about him on the radio I had the feeling that the murder of this kid on the South Side will someway somehow spark a change in this community- a rallying cry, if you will- but as quickly as that thought entered my head, it vanished.

The reality is that in a few weeks when we make it up to 9 or 10, to those who did not know him, he’ll just be remembered as another murder victim in our plagued city.

#7 of 2007.

My web hosting company (Billy) is doing a major upgrade to all BlogPeoria sites and we have been warned that any new posts will likely not survive during the upgrade process, so assuming all goes well, I’ll be back later in the week.

Check out The Word On The Street- CJ makes the headlines again, and Mayor Ardis doesn’t like preservation commission’s retorict “A Shot Across The Bow”.  I have to agree, the language is a bit strong.

In other news, we’ve got two more murders.  If you’re counting, that makes 8.

Peoria is noted for her importance as a manufacturing and commercial center.  It is a city of well-paved streets, beautiful homes, good schools, fine churches and hospitable people.  Wonderful natural resources.  The most extensive coal mining center in the United States west of Pittsburg.  The largest consumer of corn in the world.  Greatest distilling district in the world.  A prosperous, modern thriving city of 80,000 population, destined to surely become a city of 125,000 inhabitants within the next ten years of the Twentieth Century.

-introduction to the softcover book “Views of Peoria and Vicinity,” copyright 1908

Six murders so far and we’re only in the middle of April.

My wife went to bed last night in our West Bluff home only to hear what she described as 5 or 6 9 shots fired (in a quick burst of 4 and then a burst of 5), followed by a flurry a sirens.  I don’t know if they were celebratory shots fired in the air by a newly elected official or what, but this town seems to be reverting back into the freewheeling wild west town of yesteryear.  I enjoy thinking about the romance of the good ‘ol days, but not that much.

Update:

Shots were fired on Bourland around 10:15 last night, injuring one man.  (Bourland is intersected by Columbia Terrace, two streets east of University).  Thank’s to Jennifer for the tip, whose friend’s house was hit by gunfire.

Scary stuff- thankfully it didn’t result in murder #7.

Dinner was a grilled ham and cheese with soup. Because I am the family’s designated “canned soup buyer,” I was asked to pick one out. I had no idea that I was such a chicken fan.

My soup options are (many in multiples):

Chicken Noodle
Chicken Broth
Chicken Gumbo
Chicken Corn Chowder
Chicken Noodle O’s
Chicken with Egg Noodles
Chicken and Stars
Grilled Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Chunky Chicken Noodle
Chunky Fajita Chicken
Chunky Chicken and Dumplings
Zesty Chicken Gumbo
Dora the Explorer Chicken Noodle

Non-Chicken choices:

Double Noodle
Mega Noodle
Cream of Mushroom

The Peoria Park District gets alot of grief on the blogs, much of it deserved, but I’m going to stand alone and applaud them for landing in the final four for the “National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management” for the category of a district with a population of 100,000 - 250,000 which is presented jointly by the American Academy for Park & Recreation Administration and the National Recreation & Park Association.

According to the Journal Star article (which I can’t find a link to): it is “the highest honor posible for a park and recreation facility. […] Finalists are selected from a group of several hundred nominees, based upon the district’s operations, progress, community service, continuing development and future planning. […] The Peoria Park District has received the award in 1971, 1994, ans 2001.  It was also a finalist in 1979, 1991, 1992, and 1993.”

This is a snapshot of my ‘unique’ visitors in chart form for the past month.  As you can see, I average 100 or so per day but flew to over 1,400 hits on Monday.  Now you’d think I’d spent hours doing research and scouring old microfiche to come up with a post deserving of this type of attention.  Nope.  At the risk of alienating my regular readers, I strung a bunch of YouTube videos together, added some commentary, and got listed on a popular fan site.

Visitors came from all around the world- Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Ireland, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, Finland, Austria, Canada, Sweden, France, a few “unknown country,� and of course the United States.  Some of the people who stopped by live in towns with names such as Harrow, Mechelen, Latorre, Merraneset, Apeldoorn, El Dorado, Dakar, Edinburgh, Wien, Aberystwyth, Amersfoort, and Uppsala.  A few even left comments, which was nice of them.

In the big scheme of things, it means very little.  I don’t sell ads and I’m hardly going to change the world, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun.  Isn’t that what blogging is all about, anyway?