Burying the lede?
The City Council made history – again – on Tuesday, sealing the deal on what most members believe is an even better plan for the long-vacant Sears block.
Fair enough. This is a big story, although calling this thing a “done deal” is a fact error until the city can actually acquire several private lots of land, a situation which is far from certain.
But I really object to the placement of these paragraphs:
But as city officials were praising this opportunity to revive Downtown and the riverfront, residents from the East Bluff and South Peoria pleaded for help with the drug houses and violent crime in their neighborhoods.
“There’s problems on the south side, in the East Bluff, West Bluff, the north end. It’s all our older neighborhoods,” said LaVetta Ricca, president of the Olde Towne South Neighborhood Association.
At-large Councilman Eric Turner complained of a drug house on the West Bluff that’s been operating for a year, and the shoot-out on the East Bluff over the weekend “that was like the OK Corral.”
“The only reason I bring this to this forum is that it seems to die (without action) otherwise,” Turner said.
These are the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight’s paragraphs.
What’s wrong? Not enough room or time for a second story on this topic? I absolutely guarantee that the murder Brian Alexander (whose name isn’t even mentioned in this article) is of far more interest to people in the East Bluff than the phony pronouncement of a “done deal” on the Sears block.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
