Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Mid-week Open Thread 2

I'll try this again, although random discussion only seems to happen in threads dedicated to something in particular. There are plenty of things that I don't feel like writing a whole post about right now.

Lots of good articles at QCTimes today, so many I won't bother linking, just go there.

TouchPlays probably getting the boot (Good)
Aldermen trying to be the boss of the legal dept (Pointless)
Clinton getting ADM plastics plant and more jobs (Good)
Bill Wundram thinks that ties and corsages mean innocent kids (Not true when I was in high school)
Davenport's upcoming new website (Good)
Centennial Bridge lights coming on tonight! (Good!)
IL considers graduation requirement for drivers licenses (Good)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so relieved Iowa did the right thing on the Touchplays. I didn't agree with the people who were claiming getting rid of these would take money from small businesses. But I've seen so many other decisions in this great state happen as a result of misguided hype. This is good news!

Anonymous said...

Getting rid of the touch screens (which I have yet to play) shows the lottery comission who is in charge.

Meanwhile I noticed that Galesberg is going to have the Railroad Hall of Fame. An estimeated 200,000 visitors a year. THe first place the railroad went over the Mississippi was right HERE.

Too bad Davenport couldn't get that tourist attraction. Well at least we have the Sky Bridge.

Anonymous said...

I'm an IL resident, and I didn't know about the move to deny dropouts drivers licenses until I read it here. I never read QCT, but I always read blogs, and this information did not appear in either the print Dispatch/Argus, or online. Kudos QC Images!

QuadCityImages said...

I think the QC is close enough to Galesburg to benefit from the railroad museum, and its also far from a done deal. I could definitely see it as a day trip for someone coming here for a trip to check out John Deer Commons and the HQ in Moline.

Paladin, what's your opinion on the graduation requirement?

Anonymous said...

The best thing is the Council taking over as the directors of the legal department. At Alderman Barnhill's meeting, a constituent mentioned all of the loopholes in Malin's current contract. The question was then asked; shouldn't the legal department have advised aldermen against signing such a document? Then the truth came out.
The legal department works for Malin. They did not want to be too critical of Malin's contract, because they did not want to piss off their boss!

Anonymous said...

Is it our esteemed Alderman Ronald W. Van Fossen who is delinquent on the payment of property taxes on several parcels located on South Concord or is it someone else?

If it is the alderman it certainly sets a piss poor example for the citizens of Davenport to say nothing of misconduct by an elected official. If I can pay mine he can pay his!

QuadCityImages said...

I would say he's not exactly a leader in setting a good example...

Anonymous said...

That's him, Alderman Deadbeat!

Anonymous said...

He's not worried - he has already paid back the Landlords and Tappendorf. He is home free now to represent the folks who elected him. We should see good decisions from him now.

Anonymous said...

I believe the article about the Galesburg Railroad Hall of Fame said that backers were looking to raise $250,000 to get it designed and then they will go out and try to raise tens of millions of dollars to get it built. A more accurate statement would be that some people in Galesburg have a very grandiose wish for a Railroad Hall of Fame. Don't get me wrong, I hope it happens, but if dreams were horses, beggers would ride.

Anonymous said...

Being intrigued by the Van Fossen accusation I took the liberty to check the Scott County on line property tax records and found that Ronald W. Van Fossen owes $1,481 in delinquent proprty taxes, this figure does not include penalties and interest on the delinquent amount. There is a limited amount of past payment history available on the county records but it appears that Van Fossen amy also well be a habitual delinquent taxpayer.

Although $1,481 is not exactly what you would call a budget buster it does bother me that someone who has been elected to help run this city and will cast votes on how much property taxes I have to pay can't even pay his own damn taxes.

I doubt if this issue will get much beyound this blog but I feel that Van Fossen should receive a public censure from Mayor Winborn along with the proviso that all past and present property taxes be made on a timely basis and failure to comply will result with action to remove him from the council.

Politicians live in a fish bowl and the public has the right to hold them to a higher standard of conduct, Van Fossen had better get used to it or get the hell out.

Anonymous said...

The reality of not paying your property taxes in Iowa is that you help your county, not hinder it. The state gets paid 24% per year on your delinquent taxes. This may not look so great, but as a taxpayer I wish more people would pay late so my tax dollars could earn more of that kind of interest. Maybe my property tax bill would not have to be so high if more folks did not pay on time. I say get off the guy's back, he is doing us all a favor.

Anonymous said...

Paying 24% interest on delinquent property taxes says a lot about someones ability to make financial decisions pertaining to the city.

I wouldn't want that person as my financial advisor.

Anonymous said...

I was at my favorite convenience store/gas station last night when I saw what I would guess to be about a 16 year old girl purchase a single cigar, I didn't know girls that age liked cigars, at least they didn't when I was growing up.

I suppose maybe the cigar was going to be used for a different purpose (not a Bill Clinton type deal) but who knows. These places also sell cigarette rolling papers, the last time I saw anyone roll a cigarette was about 1955 and it was my grandfather, the only reason he did it then was because he had been doing it that way since about 1915.

We are trying to eradicate drugs from our society and these clowns want to help the drug business along. Anything to make a buck I guess.

QuadCityImages said...

Some convenience stores also have scales (for gold prospectors?) and several in IL just got busted for selling the tiny roses in glass tubes which are just a semi-legal way to sell crack pipes at gas stations.