Thursday, January 26, 2006

Thursday/Friday Open Thread

The skybridge thing surprisingly didn't generate much discussion, so what would people rather talk about?

Updated Friday:
Check out this link
Its the city's CAT grant application, with tons of awesome renderings and maps and stuff of what Centennial Park and the Market District could look like. Why the city doesn't publicize this stuff more I'll never know. These are the kind of things that get young people excited about their city.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

What ever happen to VanFossens Train/OWI thing? Did it get swept under the rug?

Anonymous said...

Spring is just around the corner and…………………………………

‘LOUD MOTERCYCLES WILL BE AND ARE A THORN IN THE QUALITAY OF OUR LIFE”

Does anyone else find the roar of loud motorcycles offensive? I will not try to understand why some people modify the exhaust system on their motorcycle so that they can be heard from half a mile away. Such people are clearly inconsiderate. Many of these people seem to take additional pleasure in racing their bikes late at night through our neighborhoods. Loud motorcycles not only disturb the peace of our neighborhoods; like graffiti, they also foster a poor image of Davenport.

The shallow argument that it is a safety measure is far, far out-weighed by the negative response from non-riders. I also noticed that riders with very loud pipes tend to not wear very good protective riding gear either. So it isn't hard to draw some conclusions even if they might not be true.

As is the status quo in our city the police seem to ignore these loud motorcycles until one of our city council members brings it to Chief Bladel’s attention.

A more effective way to discourage loud motorcycles is for the police, on a regular basis to stop and cite these offenders, as is done in other cities and towns.

Anonymous said...

1) A VanFossen update would be interesting.
2) Loud motorcycles are the least of our worries. Our police officers have better things to do... like wiping camera lenses. It's not just motorcycles, it's cars too. Go listen to Meyer's pick-up. At least motorcycles with loud pipes only make noise near you for a short time. Move near the car wash on East Locust and complain about stereos... they don't move till the car is clean.
3) The skybridge thing is a shame. Why aren't there any cameras pointed at that... It seems to be our solution to everything.
4) Did anyone notice the Fly is back. He/she just won't allow anything to be posted and all the archives are gone.

Anonymous said...

Thank God the rental inspection program is changing. From the standpoint of a homeowner in Davenport, I am thrilled that the City will finally be doing annual drive bys of every property in Davenport. For too long, all they have been doing is wasting time with good landlords by finding torn screens in their properties, and they never seem to have time to crack down on the real problem landlords (and homeowners too, for that matter). If I understood it right, the new ordinance will force them to drive by everything in town, and go into those properties that are really problem properties. Should free up some time for them to do a real job (and maybe even force the lazy ones to find new employment).

cruiser said...

Here's a quote to get you thinking-
Parking Issues
Kyle Carter - D1 Downtown Partnership
In an effort to ensure the fluid exchange of traffic downtown, tickets will now be distributed to anyone “plugging” meters beyond their designated time allotment. Cars that have been parked in the same space for consecutive sessions can expect to be ticketed in the near future.
Getting a parking ticket with time on the meter sure ought to bring in the tourists.

Anonymous said...

7:25 poster

Enough Dan! We got it!

Anonymous said...

Who is Dan?

Anonymous said...

Who is anonymous?

QuadCityImages said...

I'm sure they're referring to Dan Lubell, who is the head of a local rental association.

Anonymous said...

Dan Huber, D1

Anonymous said...

Loud motorcycles SUCK! Enough said. Davenport Police do your job.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I agree some motorcycles are way to loud. Just today I heard several loud motorcycles racing down Brady. It will just get a lot worse as we start to get warmer weather. How many idiots will die this year, from driving to fast on their motorcycles. I predict at least five. The cops need to ticket these idiots.

Anonymous said...

No, ya know what I find offensive? HOw dirty Davenport is and how crappy the homes towards downtown look and how the city cares less....

No that is offensive.

Anonymous said...

Ya - we should rename D1 to DD ---- Dirty Davenport.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
QuadCityImages said...

Let's try to behave ourselves...

Anonymous said...

This from Reuters today. I wonder if the QC will be affected?!?!

Kraft to cut up to 8,000 more jobs, profit up

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT - news) on Monday said it would cut up to 8,000 more jobs, or 8 percent of its work force, within 3 years as higher commodity costs and sluggish sales will force it to find more places to cut expenses.

News of the restructuring -- which came as the company also reported higher-than-expected earnings before items -- helped lift Kraft shares more than 3 percent in after-hours trade on the Inet electronic brokerage system.

The job cuts are part of the second major restructuring announcement Kraft has made in 2 years and will add $2.5 billion in restructuring charges to a plan first announced in 2004, the company said. Kraft has already cut 5,500 jobs in the past 2 years.

The announcement came as the maker of brands including Oreo cookies and Jell-O gelatin, posted a 23 percent increase in net income, though part of the increase came because the company had an extra week in the 2005 quarter.

"You'd like to think that they were closer to being done," with restructuring, Gregg Warren, analyst at Morningstar, said about the restructuring charge.

However, higher costs for ingredients like coffee and nuts, packaging and energy have hammered Kraft and other food companies and Warren said other companies could also announce new plans to try to cut costs and get leaner.

"Everybody is realizing that big move to get bigger 5 or 6 years ago, is really stifling a lot of companies," Warren said.

Kraft said commodity costs were up more than $800 million in 2005 compared with 2004.

Price increases have only been able to match part of the higher costs and in some instances also encouraged consumers to buy less expensive brands, especially in Europe, the company said.

Kraft said it expects to close up to 20 additional facilities under the expanded restructuring, generating an additional $700 million in annual savings.

The company posted a profit of $773 million, or 46 cents a share, for the fourth quarter, compared with $628 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $9.7 billion, but would have been up only 3 percent without the extra week, the company said.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were 56 cents a share. Analysts on average had forecast 54 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. However, not all analysts treat Kraft's restructuring charges as one-time items.

Kraft shares closed Monday at $30 on the New York Stock Exchange and traded at $31.07 on Inet Monday afternoon. The shares trade at roughly 15.7 times estimated 2006 earnings, compared with 16.5 times for the Dow Jones U.S. Food Producers Index (^DJUSFO - news).