Peoria Illinoisan

Randall was a bit ahead of himself, but he was right – the Peoria Radisson @ Jumer’s is no longer. There was no-one at the front desk, but a cleaning lady told me the name change occurred last week. She wasn’t sure why. It is now called the Peoria Castle Lodge. “Nothing’s changed except the name,” she said.

One has to wonder if this west bluff icon will have a future as a Hotel. For the sake of the nice cleaning lady, I hope so, but I’m not optimistic.

WMBD 1470:

Two 19 year old male teenagers are in custody Wednesday afternoon after being positively identified as the suspects by the victim of an alleged attempted armed robbery on Newman Golf Course.

Peoria Police report the incident occurred on the 16th Fairway of the course about 1:15pm. The victim told police the two approached and attempted to rob him at gunpoint. As the victim fled on a golf cart, one of the suspects fired a shot, but the victim was not struck. The teens then fled on foot. Officers apprehended the suspects about 10 minutes later in the 2000 block of Forrest Hill after a foot chase.

The suspects are identified as 19 year old Tyler Williams and 19 year old Nicholas Williams. They are both charged with aggravated and reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, attempted armed robbery and no FOID card. Peoria Park District Police are assisting Peoria Police in the investigation.

Note to thugs – rob me in the Campustown parking lot, rob me walking around downtown, rob me when I’m driving around not so great areas of town taking photos, rob me damn near anywhere, but STAY OFF MY GOLF COURSE! Churches, Schools & Golf Courses are OFF LIMITS. Got it!?

* filmed at the intersection of Main St & Maplewood Ave.  Bradley’s new parking deck is in the background.

It has been nearly two years now since the Peoria Park District enacted a historic preservation ordinance, but I don’t recall hearing a word about it since. I emailed Park Board President Tim Cassidy regarding the status of the ordinance, with emphasis on the restoration of Glen Oak Park’s two fenced off and deteriorating items – the iron suspension bridge and the stone fort & cannon fronting the lagoon. This is what he had to say…

“In late 2008 the Board considered PPD staff recommendations regarding repair to the cannon wall at two public meetings. I have requested those minutes and will provide upon my receipt.

It was decided that a pile and lagging wall would be constructed in front of the cannon wall to stabilize wall’s base and allow access to structure subsurface so as to be able to do a thorough examination of wall to determine what repairs and method would be required. A structural engineer is to be retained to assess extent of any foundation failure and provide recommendations for stabilization or re-building foundation and to provide cost estimates.

Placement of the pile and lagging wall was recently complete after some delay due to rainy spring and Clyde West fishing derby. Clay fill now needs to be placed which will be done within the next three weeks.

After fill placed, structural engineer will be able to begin analysis and present recommendations to Board. There is money in the 2008 budget related to the foregoing. We are in need of engineer’s findings and conclusions for further consideration of funding issues if such is needed.

As for the bridge this presents a more complex issue. Repair/renovation costs have been placed anywhere from $44,000 to $105,000 with some considered opinions that even after any such work the bridge would still not meet full pedestrian design loading weight standards and there will remain a risk of single point catastrophic failure . Quite frankly the Board has not made a final decision as to what needs to be done with the bridge in the long term given that even after substantial monetary investment, there still would not be a functional bridge. One alternative for consideration is that the bridge not be reopened for pedestrian use due to real safety concerns but continue as ornamental structure. Again, no final decisions have been made. I would certainly be open to any ideas.”

Between home and work I have four new phone books.  Two will go in the landfill, and the other two will replace last year’s and collect dust in a corner. I will defend the print newspaper until the day I die, but there will be no love lost when the phonebook disappears.

If anyone has had trouble commenting here, at Name This Peoria Landmark or Overhead In Peoria, the problem has been rectified.

While reading the bio of Pete Townshend on the British music magazine New Musical Express’s website, I found this line quite telling of the difference between the British and American audiences.

Whilst Townshend’s solo work has never matched the quality of the songs he wrote for the Who, taken as a whole catalogue it is highly impressive and he joins the likes of Ray Davies as one of the era’s best songwriters.

According to NME, Pete joins Ray Davies as one of the era’s best songwriters, only after his entire Who and solo catalogue is combined. Pete Townshend is a great musical force and deserves every accolade afforded him, as does Ray, but unfortunately here in America, most people don’t know who Ray Davies even is, and if they do, just barely. It’s a shame, really.

Here’s a great version of the song “In A Moment” from Ray’s latest solo album Working Man’s Cafe.

While we Peorians may not be as blunt as New Yorkers, there are some things said in Peoria that can raise an eyebrow, elicit a laugh or leave you in dismay. In that vein, I started a new site, Overheard In Peoria. Email me your “overheards” stories to PeoriaIllinoisan@Yahoo.com, or OverheardInPeoria@Yahoo.com.

A series of posts my wife emailed me while browsing the ever popular Overheard In New York:

Police officer in van, on loudspeaker: Move to the right! (people in cars ignore the order) Retards! You heard me! Move to the right!
–27th St & 10th Ave

Dunkin’ Donuts giant coffee cup mascot: Beautiful Saturday folks, come to the grand opening of Dunkin’ Donuts right down the block…
Tourist bro: Dunkin’ Donuts sucks!
Dunkin’ Donuts giant coffee cup mascot: Get out of here, you asshole!
–Canal & Lafayette
Overheard by: Christian

Saleswoman: Hi, can I help you?
Rich woman: (ignores her)
Saleswoman: Hello…? Hi. How are you? Can I help?
Rich woman: What do you want?
Saleswoman: Um…I was just saying hello?
Rich woman: Oh! You were being friendly! How cute! Hello to you, too.
–3rd & Madison Ave

Crazy, loud hobo on train, repeating: “Jesus” is a six letter word! “666″ means the devil! So, Jesus is the devil!
Fed-up passenger: Hey asshole, “Jesus” is 5 letters, not six!
Crazy hobo, pensive: Well, shit, there goes my whole argument.
–5 Train

Train conductor: Ladies and gentlemen,that yellow line on the platform is there for your safety. Please stand behind it when the train enters the station, for your safety and for my stress level. Thank you.
(next stop)
Train conductor: Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to repeat myself, but stand behind the line! It is for your own safety! Your ignorance causes the trains to run slowly because I have to slow down to keep from hitting your ignorant self! Thank you. Stand clear of the closing doors.
–Downtown 6 Train
Overheard by: Always stands behind the yellow line

In what’s becoming an annual event, postage rates goes up today.

Standard letters increase from $.42 to .44 for one ounce; additional ounces up to 3.5 remain at $.17

Standard large envelopes increase from $.80 to $.88 for one ounce; additional ounces remain at $.17

Odd sized envelopes increase from $1.17 to $1.22 for one ounce; additional ounces remain at $.17

Priority Mail up to a pound increases from $4.85 to $4.95.  Anything over a pound is priced according to zone.

A printable PDF of all rates can be found here.

Greg Stewert of the Journal Star Sports department has an interesting article about a local guy who had 12 hole-in-one’s in an 18 month stretch, including 5 in a mere 6 days. It was a big story last year and the Journal Star voted it as one of the top 10 sports stories of the year. The problem for Curt Hocker is that no-one seems to believes him.

“I could not take it anymore,” a reader said in an e-mail to the Journal Star on Christmas Day, the day the list of top 10 stories appeared. “There are questions about some of his hole-in-ones. Outright tricks on the people he was playing with, deceiving them. It is too bad that this story is so high up on the list, with the truth of this farce yet to be told.”

The reader — a member at El Paso Golf Club who has known the Hocker family more than 30 years — asked to remain anonymous. He’s not alone. It appears nobody at the club now wants to talk about the story everyone was talking about last fall. [...]

What’s most perplexing about Hocker’s story is that he can’t prove he actually made any of the 12 strokes of genius he says he did. So far, none of the 27 witnesses he listed to those various shots have said, on the record, that they saw a golf ball go in the hole. Ostracized by many at the club, Hocker said he still plays with a core group of guys. Listed as witnesses to multiple aces, Hocker said those guys would come forward and back up his story. So far, none of them have.

On the other side, nobody can prove he didn’t do it, either. The idea that Hocker somehow faked 12 aces/double eagles is as unbelievable as the story itself. As one club employee put it: “There is no way all of them are fake.”

I find myself agreeing with the last line that he probably did make several holes in one in that stretch, but a dozen? Ok, it’s possible and it has happened before, but after being trumpeted in the news over the course of many months how can not a single playing partner verify even one ace? Why would they hang him out to dry like that? Call me jealous if you like, and I would really like to believe, but there are some big holes in this cinderella story and no-one is talking.

On one hand you’ve got kids from Manual horsing around, throwing things at each other and jokingly saying to their team-makes that they’d kill them if they didn’t win. They didn’t win, a few of the runners were kicked out and their coach chastised them for their lack of respect, as they walked away ignoring him. It was only a few out of many, but it made the whole team look bad.

On the other hand you’ve got the kids from Dee-Mack Jr High whose coach (I assume he was a coach, otherwise an overbearing parent) looked like the kind of guy who would love to engross you in stories of his glory days and acted like an Army Sergeant barking out commands and insults meant as motivation. They did well and seemed to win many events.

The rest of the teams? Coaches gave encouraging pep talks and hoped the practices payed off. Kids gave their all in winning or losing. Parents cheered either way.

Isn’t that the way it should be?

Kirk Wessler has additional photos from other angles {here}

The Journal Star, in this case the editorial board, never miss an opportunity to promote the Kellar trail:

More than a thumbs up, let’s give a hearty pat on the back to the Recreational Trail Advocates for recently heeding our Piggy’s warnings.

Shortly after seeing our litter mascot pointing out the trash that had collected along the Kellar Branch rail line, a dedicated clean-up crew of seven went out to the site just south of Pioneer Parkway.

While cleaning up trash along train tracks is admirable, let’s call it for what it is and that would be a way to get publicity for their cause. It worked, but I would like to take this opportunity to give a hearty thumbs up to everyone else who cleans their neighborhood without fanfare or the need to issue press releases. One that I know of is the students of St Mark’s grade school who have been doing this weekly for several years now. They are called the S.M.A.R.T. kids – St.Mark’s Against Random Trash. Congratulations, kids.

The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby

Dire Straits: Romeo & Juliet

Bob Dylan: Sweetheart Like You

The Grateful Dead: Friend Of The Devil

Joni Mitchell: Help Me

Pink Floyd: Welcome To The Machine

The Rolling Stones: Love In Vain

Bruce Springsteen: Rosalita

Paul Simon: Graceland

Stevie Ray Vaughn: Pride & Joy