Peoria Pundit

I suspected is was about this.
A little known fact of the March 13, 2007, agreement through which GateHouse Media bought the Peoria Journal Star and other Copley Press newspapers in Illinois was that Copley would pay termination benefits for certain  employees.
The lawsuit filed by GateHouse against Copley on Wednesday accuses Copley of breaching that agreement. I received a 14-page PDF file, submitted to me one of of several people who managed to get access to it.
The gist is this: Copley had been making these payments in the “tens of thousands of dollars” until on or about March 2009, when Copley stopped making payments to reimburse GateHouse for termination pay and continued benefits for employees terminated on or before December 1, 2007. The suit alleges this was a breach of their agreement and contrary to past behavior by Copley.
GateHouse wants to be paud actual and compensatory damages of $63,790.95. The company [...]

Original post by Billy Dennis

WMBD-31’s Iris Perez had a good report at 6 p.m. about how some Peoria businesses were charging too much sales tax. But there was a minor gaff:
If you shop at any of the businesses at the convention center, civic center or three downtown hotels you’d be shopping in the hospitality improvement, or HIZ zone, you’ll be taxed 9% sales tax, instead of the statewide 8% tax.

Not quite. That 8 percent rate comes from a combination of state, city and county taxes. And it does not include the 2 percent Hotel, Restaurant and Amusement tax.So the state-wide tax is NOT 8 percent.
But the report was otherwise very clear and complete. The “Joel Summers” she interviewed is the father of C.J. Summers. It was Joel who tipped off C.J. to the scandal.

Original post by Billy Dennis

I don’t know much, just these details that hit my inbox a few moments ago:
Gatehouse Media Illinois Holdings, Inc. v. The Copley Press, Inc. et al
Plaintiff: Gatehouse Media Illinois Holdings, Inc.
Defendant: The Copley Press, Inc. and Does
Case Number: 2:2009cv05536
Filed: July 29, 2009
Court: California Central District Court
Office: Western Division – Los Angeles Office [ Court Info ]
County: XX US, Outside California
Presiding Judge:
Referring Judge:
Nature of Suit: Contract – Other Contract
Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract
Jurisdiction: Diversity
Jury Demanded By: None
Additional details, speculation anyone?
UPDATE: I’ve done Google news searches for “GateHouse Media” and “Copley Press” and found NOTHING about this suit. It was filed two days ago and involves two news organizations. Yet there is nothing being reported. Nice. Real nice.
Mainstream media, cover thyself.
UPDATE 2: If you have a PACER subscription, you can go here, login, and then send me the juicy details.
UPDATE 3: Here is a search of this site for “GateHouse Media+Copley.”

Original post by Billy Dennis

Via Editor & Publisher:
GateHouse Media’s Times Newspapers, a group of six community papers in Central Illinois, is the pilot site for SpeedyAd, the newest product from MultiAd, Peoria, Ill., is a self-service advertising solution that allows newspapers to reach new print advertisers via the newspapers’ Web sites.

This is what Blogads has been doing for years now. It’s based on the premise that it’s better to let advertisers stumble onto your Website, become dazzled with your brilliance, then spend an hour of so designing and uploading as ad and uploading it to your site.
So, good luck with that.

Original post by Billy Dennis

There aren’t many details yet, but police are investigating a murder in the 1500 block of West Margaret.
Source at the scene tells me that the crime scene is the home near his, and they’ve got his driveway blocked off with yellow police tape.
UPDATE from source: “whole block is on lockdown, can’t leave house, residents have to prove they live in a house to enter it, drug dogs & crime tape everywhere”
Apparently, they think the bad guy is still around.
More updates: Back door of victim’s home apparently kicked in. Speculation is the lock down means they’re looking for CSI-type evidence and police might be expecting all out gang war and don’t want bystanders shot It’s a very weird scene with crime tape all over.
I’m familiar with the neighborhood. Homes on this block are well-kept. Not a stereotypical gang neighborhood.
UPDATE (from source): “Body bag just came out, mother screaming in grief after [...]

Original post by Billy Dennis

I don’t know much, just these details that hit my inbox a few moments ago:
Gatehouse Media Illinois Holdings, Inc. v. The Copley Press, Inc. et al
Plaintiff: Gatehouse Media Illinois Holdings, Inc.
Defendant: The Copley Press, Inc. and Does
Case Number: 2:2009cv05536
Filed: July 29, 2009
Court: California Central District Court
Office: Western Division – Los Angeles Office [ Court Info ]
County: XX US, Outside California
Presiding Judge:
Referring Judge:
Nature of Suit: Contract – Other Contract
Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract
Jurisdiction: Diversity
Jury Demanded By: None
Additional details, speculation anyone?
UPDATE: I’ve done Google news searches for “GateHouse Media” and “Copley Press” and found NOTHING about this suit. It was filed two days ago and involves two news organizations. Yet there is nothing being reported. Nice. Real nice.
Mainstream media, cover thyself.

Original post by Billy Dennis

From my inbox:
The Chadwick Homeowners Association will be having a contractor painting the decorative stamped entrance way on Polo Place next week. This work will require Polo Place to be closed to all traffic between Koerner Road and Vauxhall Place from August 4-6. All traffic to and from the Chadwick subdivision will need to use the Chadwick Estates entrance at Eagle Creek Drive to Stratton Court for the duration of the project.

I’ll try to not be traumatized.

Original post by Billy Dennis

There aren’t many details yet, but police are investigating a murder in the 1500 block of West Margaret.
Source at the scene tells me that the crime scene is the home near his, and they’ve got his driveway blocked off with yellow police tape.
UPDATE from source: “whole block is on lockdown, can’t leave house, residents have to prove they live in a house to enter it, drug dogs & crime tape everywhere”
Apparently, they think the bad guy is still around.
More updates: Back door of victim’s home apparently kicked in. Speculation is the lock down means they’re looking for CSI-type evidence and police might be expecting all out gang war and don’t want bystanders shot It’s a very weird scene with crime tape all over.
I’m familiar with the neighborhood. Homes on this block are well-kept. Not a stereotypical gang neighborhood.
UPDATE (from source): “Body bag just came out, mother screaming in grief [...]

Original post by Billy Dennis

Two days ago, citizen journalist C.J. Summers blew the lid off how some north Peoria businesses were ripping off customers by charging a tax that didn’t apply. C.,J. found no one at the state of local level really gave a rat’s ass, as long as they got theirs.
Two days later, the Peoria Journal Star has a story about how the City of Peoria decided to make them stop after all. Turns out the State of Illinois screwed up and sent out a misleading letter that convinced these businesses that they had to charge this tax when they really didn’t have to.
So there’s a lot of blame to go around.

Original post by Billy Dennis

• @rose_mcgowan1 Look closely at this picture. Is that a penis? http://mypict.me/fJgI in reply to rose_mcgowan1 #
• RT @TorturedFanBase #cubs regain first place #
• @ChuckGoudie @daveshomeroast That is complete bullshit. These two cases share NOTHING in common. Certainly not in scope. in reply to ChuckGoudie #
• @davesmith3 I had my issues with LaHood. But Schock hasn’t really been caught in a lie while sitting in Congress. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @daveshomeroast Oh, bull. That’s not even comparable. I think the “beer summit” was a cool thing. in reply to daveshomeroast #
• Still, Schock seems like a nice guy. her is at his best when he is being independent for real, not the calculated way politicians do it. #
• He would have benefited from eight years or so as a legitimate businessman (not property speculating, a real business). #
• @davesmith3 He’s benefited from good timing. But he is smart. And he is not lazy. I deplore his ability to play to the crowf. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @davesmith3 I’m not a huge fan, no. He’s a work in progress. His greatest successes and victories are in winning elections, not legislation. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @davesmith3 Boy, is THAT an open ended question. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @cameronrodseth It has been more than a decade since I watched pro basketball in any way other than accidentally. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• @davesmith3 I reckon I’d spend $5 having something from one of downtown Peoria’s pushcart5s. Or, I can have a nice $10 lunch at Kellehers. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @cameronrodseth Somewhere the greed mongers who run baseball convinced us to equate their little pony show as baseball itself. It is NOT. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• @cameronrodseth Baseball has been “big business” for decades. Every single MLB team could die in a fire and BASEBALL would survive. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• @davesmith3 Neither than I. If I were to win the Lotto, I would be ashamed of myself to spend that much on lunch. in reply to davesmith3 #
• @WiredPig One can always dream …;-) in reply to WiredPig #
• I might go downtown and have lunch at the pushcarts, but I’m also leaning toward Kellehers … #
• @davesmith3 Well, since we only have one restaurant … the diner at the one intersection in town … it’s easy to say … in reply to davesmith3 #
• Going to eat some Chinese tonight … I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that. #
• @WiredPig (now you are learning how comedy writing works …) in reply to WiredPig #
• @cameronrodseth Actually, baseball would benefit from growing a pair and having some integrity. Babe Ruth never needed roids. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• @cameronrodseth I have NO problem is all roiders were permanently banned from baseball. All of ‘em. Scum of the earth, they are. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• @cameronrodseth No …. the point should be that other evil-doers need to be kicked out of the sport. in reply to cameronrodseth #
• Looking for a lunch date tomorrow … (and get your mind out of the gutters, people) #
• @MortonMalaise Hey, thanks for the image. in reply to MortonMalaise #
• @cameronrodseth And the point is …? in reply to cameronrodseth #