Peoria Pundit

I really, really do.

“They can’t believe _we’ve_ killed a thousand men and women over there.”
– /Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, on CNN’s Larry King Show describing
what she hears from citizens during her travels across America./

Ann, I believe those people were killed by /our enemies/. You know, the
terrorists. The insurgents. But then, I suppose the only enemy you
acknowledge is the Republican Party.

Poor Ann. She’s put her foot in her mouth.

Kerry insists that if he were president, Osama bin Laden would be
captured. Capturing Osama is what the War on Terry is all about, Kerry
says. Capturing Osama is the very definition of victory, in fact. So why
invade Iraq and not devote resources to Afghanistan where they can look
for him, Kerry asked.

Ummm … maybe because he isn’t in Afghanistan.

Retired Gen. Tommy Franks says intelligence shows that bin Laden is in
Pakistan, where U.S. troops are not allowed to go.

Dumbass.

This is the man who wants to lead us in war.

Neither Bush nor Kerry had a spectacular presentation. Both of them
stayed “on message” — Kerry insisting that going to war without U.N.
approval was a mistake and Bush insisting that true leaders don’t send
“mixed messages.”

But I think Bush did a credible job making a case for staying the
course. Oddly enough, Bush scored big points on the issue of North
Korea, of all things, by insisting that Kerry’s wish for bilateral talks
without China was poor policy. It makes sense to me, and I think it
makes sense to voters who might not follow the issue that closely.

I would have hammered home the foolishness from Kerry that he would set
a specific time frame for withdrawal from Iraq.

I predict Bush will pick up a couple points in the polls.

CNN is giving Bush Hell for saying “They attacked us” regarding the
pre-emptive war in Iraq.

Well, there are those of us who think the War in Iraq is part of the war
on terror, whether Saddam knew about 9/11 in advance or not.

This isn’t a police action folks. THis is a war between the United
States and Islamofascists and their supporters. Those who are not with
us, or against us. It’s what they call a “target rich environment.” So
it was wrong to pick one of those targets, and a particularly dangerous
and nasty target to begin with?

? /Journal Star/: Armory may be history

/The city can demolish the State Armory, a historic building across
from Taft Homes where First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President
Lyndon Johnson both spoke, a judge ruled Wednesday.

But whether the state, which has a “preservation covenant” on the
building, allows the demolition remains to be seen.

Peoria County Chief Circuit Judge John Barra agreed with the city
that the building at 523 NE Adams St. is unsafe and a nuisance after
years of neglect.

“We’ll have to review it,” said Bill Wheeler, legal counsel and
associate director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. The
covenant requires the owner to “preserve and maintain the exterior
envelope, interior vestibule and the entrance corridor.”

“We’re not familiar with the legal proceedings to date,” Wheeler
added. “We’re not in any kind of financial position to come in and
rescue the building, unfortunately.” /

Here is the odd thing: There’s movement to get the building repaired and
renovated. I’ve seen the plans. Why agitate for demolition? Why not
throw the city’s economic development bureaucracy behind the project
Chase is planning? What am I asking? This is Chase Ingersoll. THere’s no
way they will work with him.

Still, why the rush to get it demolished right /now/?

Driven around town recently? There are other buildings that look much,
much worse that do not have the historical significance. Been down to
look at that rotting eyesore at the corner of Southwest Adams and
Western Avenue?

Its funny how the tag historic preservation can be slapped on something
in this town to protect if from an apartment building being built next
door, for example, but when its something really historic like the
Armory, the city wants to demolish anyway.

Will the usual historic preservation crowd get behind an effort to safe
the armory? If not, it will be hard to take any of their concerns about
other properties seriously in the future. They’ve been silent so far.

Could the land be “in play,” with a politically connected developer
having his or her own plans for the site? It is right across the street
from Taft Homes and everyone knows the Powers-That-Be had been wanting
to demolish and redevelop that prime riverfront property for years.

BTW: Good reporting by Jennifer Davis.

Finally, someone in the “official” media has dared
utter the phrase.

/Not since nearly a dozen years ago, when Joseph Miller murdered
four women, have the words serial killer been uttered.

Not since then has a joint police task force assembled to
investigate a string of similar deaths.

But the recent homicides of at least two Peoria prostitutes and the
suspicious deaths of three other Peoria prostitutes is forcing
authorities to look at a possible connection.

“How can you not look at this with at least some connections,” said
Peoria County sheriff’s Capt. Dave Briggs on Tuesday. “We’ve got a
problem here – whether it’s a problem with one person or several,
but there are women here who are being taken and dumped in rural
areas of Peoria and Tazewell counties.”/

Well, they say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to
solving it.

I’m willing to bet that they’ve been investigating these as serial
murders for months now without admitting it to the public.

But with five dead bodies, the media and the public isn’t buying any
story that that they /might/ not be connected.

And Kudos to the JS for printing pictures of all give known victims. The
picture quality isn’t all that great, but I think four of these woman
look enough alike to be sisters.

Unfortunately, the pics are not available on the JS Website. They aren’t
posted at the Peoria Police Department Website.

It seems to me that if the authorities wanted people with information to
call in, they might want to disseminate those pictures as widely as
possible.

Perhaps they’ve heard of this new invention that does a pretty good job
of disseminating information.

It’s called the /Internet/.

My posts about the
situation at Big Al’s
(if in fact there really is a “situation”) have created some debate at
Strip Club List , the site
where I got my information (after a tip from someone with second-hand
information from a witness).

I’ve attempted to reply, but my posts get erased. Go figure.

So, I’ll answer questions about my blog, my motives, background and
qualifications here:

/ PeoriaPundit.com is about local news and the media in Peoria, IL.
My credentials? I have a degree in journalism and I worked in
newspapers in small and medium sized markets for 20 years. I have
been in Big Al’s more than once, as well as Elliott’s and Club
Cabaret. I certainly don’t want Al’s or any other club to close.

Politically I’m libertarian. I have no moral ax to grind. I just
want all businesses treated according to the same rules. And I made
is clear in my posts on the subject that this is what over people
are saying is going on. Comments made on my blog back that up. I’ll
meet with any dancer — in a public place — who wants to discuss
that goes on in any club’s closed-off VIP rooms./

Peoria’s first official Blogger Bash will be begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday,
Oct. 13, at the Recovery Room, 802 W. Pioneer Parkway in Peoria (map
here ).

Any blogger who lives in Peoria and the Peoria area, as well as friends
and family, is invited. This includes people who run serious political
blogs and people who blog about the pets.

If anyone one else wants to show up and get autographs or have their
picture taken with their favorite blogger is welcome to do so, although
I plan to charge.

Daddy has a new PC to build.

*ahem*

Anyway, this is a social event, not political, so there will be bloggers
of diverse political backgrounds attending. There might be /some/
shouting. But I expect it to be a /civil/ event. Warning, I have NO ROOM
at my place for anyone needing a place to crash, so don’t ask.

Because this is happening during the middle of the week, many of us will
have to work the following day, or may be arriving soon after work. I
know this puts a damper on the drunken nature on the event, but there
was no other option. The guy organizing the event, namely /me/, not only
works second shift but also works every Friday and Saturday, without
exception. If there is a second annual Peoria Blogger Bash, this may change.

The bash is being held in an open bar. I do not have reservations.
Anyone can show up and there will probably be people coming and going
throughout the evening. The Recovery Room is essentially a
medium-to-large-size neighborhood bar. It has two pool tables and two
dart boards. There should be enough tables and bar stools for the week
kneed among us to sit.

I have commitments from Stephen and Alex. I expect to hear from everyone
whose blog is listed in my blogroll under Peoria Blogs and Central
Illinois Blogs.

There isn’t a link available yet, but I just saw Marcella Teplitz
arguing against closing Fire Station 3. Completely impractical, she said.

Funny, Marcella was gung ho for the closure of Fire Station 11.

Station 3 is located is the Marcella’s Second District. Station 11 is
located in Bill Spear’s 4th District.

You do the math. So is station 11. (See correction in the comments section).

A post
from Alex’s new site:

Anyway, when I got the new templates I lost all my links, now I have
to schedule an evening to get all those links back, but I wanted to
let all of you know that I just added the link to Bill’s blog, it is
called the Peoria Pundit and you will find it quite interesting, you
will also learn a lot about _how the Iguana chews_ in this beautiful
river city.

I appreciate the link. I think it was a compliment.