Posts Tagged ‘ surface transportation board ’

Local: Sen. Koehler picks an odd time to argue for property rights

January 26, 2008
By Billy Dennis

I can’t find a clip on the Web, but I think I must have heard it on WCBU. State Sen. Dave Koehler attended the rally in support of turning the Kellar Branch into a walking/biking trail. Sen. Koehler was indignant over the fact that the Surface Transportation Board wouldn’t let the City of Peoria and...
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Posted in Local | 5 Comments »

Local: Showdown at the Kellar Branch (UPDATED)

December 5, 2007
By Billy Dennis

This just in, an alert sent out by Peoria City Manager Randy Oliver: Dear Mayor and Council: We just received a call that both Pioneer and Central Illinois Rail were attempting to access the Kellar Branch line this morning. One of the Rail Carriers wants the other for trespass. We advised the Officer...
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Posted in Local | 6 Comments »

Media: Is the JS edit board dishonest, or just plain dumb?

November 1, 2007
By Billy Dennis

Never hesitant to let accuracy to get in the way of its opinions, the award winning (snicker) editorial page of the Peoria Journal Star today asserts that there are “no obvious customers” on the Kellar Branch* line. Really? Lets count them: Carver Lumber, Obrien Steel and the ready mix plant on Van Buren (the name...
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Posted in Local | 13 Comments »

Sin of omission: JS keeps public in the dark about scope of Carver Lumber losses due to Kellar Branch project

January 26, 2006
By Billy Dennis

I’n no fan of the Journal Star’s editorial page. Time and again, the newspaper prints editorials that cross the line from opinion and into the relm of deceptive propaganda. There are simply some issues that this paper will not cover fairly on the front page or the editorial page. The Kellar Branch story is one...
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Posted in Misc | 8 Comments »

Carver Lumber wins: The STB stays Kellar closure

January 20, 2006
By Billy Dennis

Leave it to C.J. Summers to be on top of the Kellar Branch closure case. He’s reporting that the Surface Transporation agrees with Carver Lumber that the Kellar Branch cannot be closed until the City of Peoria finishes work on a new line allowing the lumber company to receive deliveries. The decision states: The Board’s...
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Posted in Local | 8 Comments »

Peoria: ‘It would not be appropriate’ to keep Carver Lumber from leaving city

January 20, 2006
By Billy Dennis

The City of Peoria’s legal staff has responded to Carver Lumber’s request to the Surface Transportation Board to re-open the Kellar Branch. It seems Carver has lost $25,000 since the line was closed. Leave it to C.J. Summers to provide spot-on commentary on the matter: That’s what the city’s attorney Tom McFarland wrote to the Surface...
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Posted in Local | 1 Comment »