Today’s news: Barbarians at the gate

After a short absence, here are today’s news links, via the Journal Star:

• A commenter points out that Peoria County’s new $11.2 million radio communication system still won’t allow them to communicate with counterparts in East Peoria and elsewhere. Why not? And why would the county want such a system. Certainly the bad guys travel across the bridges. Perhaps they think there’s some sort of force field in place. NOTE: A commenter to MY site says this is not true, and that officers in the field can communicate across jurisdictions.
• Apparently that its that same force field that Peoria Civic Center enthusiasts thought would keep patrons from traveling a few block across the river. Who woulda thought those folks in Tazewell County knew how to build anything?
• Wasn’t this the plot of a Chevy Chase/Goldie Hawn movie?
• By the way, Pekin is not a hotbed of gang activity. Well, not anymore. History shows the place certainly WAS once a hotbed of organized criminal activity. But their uniforms didn’t have much color to them.
• Arg! ‘Tis not a pirate ship docked on the mighty Illinois River, matey.
• Gov. Blagojevich was in Peoria yesterday. Waitaminute, let me check my wallet. Damn! Now I’m missing $50 million that was budgeted for things.
• Phil Luciano actually picked up the phone and talked to someone before he spouted his mouth off about 4 a.m. liquor licenses.
• Wanna watch Bradley University games on television? Better get cable.
• The good news is that the school bus that caught fire won’t be used to carry kids anymore. One presumes insurance covers this sort of thing. The other good news is that the driver got the kids off the bus. The bad news is OMG! A SCHOOL BUS CAUGHT ON FIRE! OK, panic attack over.