A Chicago Tribune editorial correctly, I think, points out that ethanol doesn’t reduce our consumption of fossil fules, is a burden on taxpayers, contributes to fuel shortages and puts money in the pockets of politically connected billionaires. Did you know that the United States refuses to allow foreign athanol makers sell their product in the [...]

How strange. WMBD 1470s Dave Dahl was giving a live report from the scene of a possible fatal shooting in the 100 block of West Arcadia. Just moments later, Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard was on the phone with Markley and Luciano discussing the noise ordinance that the city council approved the previous night.
I [...]

As predicted, Roger Heaton will be named U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois, not Congressman Ray LaHood’s son Darin or the guy who went around telling folks he was “Bob Kjellanders guy,” which is like advertising you plan to be corrupt.
The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board should be happy with this decision (free registration may be required).
UPDATE: [...]

I had a wonderful time at Bradley University today, lecturing a roomful of “seasoned” citizens about blogging and the news business. They were slightly less rambunctious than the high school and junior high school students I’ve taught as a substitute.
I was supposed to be able to use the Internet during my presentation, but [...]

Sometime Tuesday, one Peoria City Council member turned to another and asked (I’m paraphrasing) “What do you think of that new fire tax.” The second council member hadn’t heard one word about it. Granted, there’s some meetings being held to discuss ways to change adjust how the city taxes its citizens to pay for [...]

Ray LaHood is spreading around the pork again. This time, he’s arranged for $766,666 to go to three non-profit organizations that promote “rural housing and economic development.” In my experience, “economic development” usually means some well-connected developer is gonna be getting some cash.
Meanwhile, he’s bragging about the “earmarks” he’s bringing home to his district, but [...]

Gary Sandberg is a well-educated, intelligent person. That’s why I was surprised that he seemed to be ignorant of Godwin’s Law, which generally holds that it is unwise to inject comparisons to Nazis when debating public policy.
Yes, I agree with him that by giving police the power to impound vehicles without benefit of due process, [...]

I just received the following update from Peoria City Manager Randy Oliver:
Today, we received the orders from last Thursday’s ordinance court and there are minor corrections to the earlier e-mail information.
West Bluff had five cases up last Thursday, four for HPC violations & one for zoning violation. The total fine & cost balance entered [...]

A sympathizer sent me this tip about a notice in the Libertarian Party of Illinois News:
Chapter organizers, Damon Dillon and Richard Reeves, invite allLibertarians from Tazewell County and surrounding areas to join them this Wednesday night (April 26) from 7pm to 9pm at the Morton Public Library (315W. Pershing Street) in Morton, Illinois. This is [...]

My two cents: I’m not going to predict the the revised anti-noise ordinance will pass at tonight’s Peoria City Council meeting. But I hope it does not.
I think it violates due process to take peoples’ property away from them without a judge’s ruling of “guilty.” I think it calls for selective enforcement by outlawing [...]

The following was posted on the East Bluff Peoria Yahoo site:
In case you missed it, Supt. Hinton announced that the brakes were on (at least temporarily)as far as the location of the new “Glen Oak School“. A forum for public input - yes only ONE (at least so far) will be held at Woodruff [...]

The following was posted on the East Bluff Peoria Yahoo! mesage board:
Last Monday, at the Neighborhood Alliance, it was voted to adopt a 4 point message to be written up and sent to the “powers that be” on the school/park issue. The paraphrasing is mine:
1. Don’t use any existing park land for schools.
2. Schools must [...]

In the past, I’ve written about the fundemental intellectual dishonesty of open primaries. IlliniPundit has a post that illuminates the crooked thinking that goes into that sort of behavior. Let Republicans pick their own candidates and vice versa for Democrats.

No. No. No. Unions thugs are supposed to beat up strikebreaker and Pinkerton goons, not retirees who are suing the company to get back their lost benefits. No doubt the guy will blame the mess on the media. Or blogs.
They are using arsenic in Morton to rid the town of an unsightly nuisance. {Sarcasm [...]

Today’s Word on the Street makes a good case that Ray LaHood’s son Darin would be a lousy choice for U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois because it could give the congressman too much influence over which officials get investigated for corruption. As loyal readers of my blog know, Ray isn’t as lily white as [...]