Great Mississippi Valley Fair 07

One more event in the busy summer schedule of festivals and fairs. "The fair" is also another thing that we probably take for granted. I've heard that it compares pretty favorably with many state fairs.

There's always plenty of food to be had. Since I skipped the Louisiana things-on-a-stick vendor at the Bixfest, I had myself a Pork-on-a-stick last night, which was delicious. There's also a trailer with enough ice cream treats to be a traveling Dairy Queen, so I sampled some of that too. The diving show has a different theme this year, and its also quite a bit smaller and shorter than last year. I'm not sure what happened there, but its still worth the 20 minutes to watch it. Its at least more exciting than the slow-paced chain saw art that I spent a while watching. Maybe someday they'll get some grandstand acts that I care to see...

One Open Thread Centre

Looks like the Putnam building has a new marketing campaign. Maybe its just me, but the website listed doesn't seem to work yet. That doesn't seem like an ideal message to bix visitors who may have gone home and tried to look into this building. I'll check again later today; maybe it was just a typical internet outage.

Update: The website works now, although as Snarky pointed out, its unfinished at this point.

My busy times are slowly winding down, so hopefully I can return to daily posting soon. For today though, this will be an open thread.

A sad note, and a few other things

Pilots killed at two air shows -CNN
Jim Leroy was one of the pilots who was recently killed during these two air show accidents. He was the last surviving member of the Masters of Disaster stunt team that I believe performed at the QC Air Show, and he was just here this year flying the same Bulldog stunt plane that he was killed in. He was considered one of the top air show stunt pilots in the world, which just goes to show how incredibly dangerous their profession is.

Skatepark news vans
There's a lot of talk about the cars that keep pulling up onto the cement apron around the skatepark, but has anyone stopped to wonder where they got the idea? I drive past the skatepark on almost a daily basis, and whenever there's any kind of story the news vans feel its their right to drive right up there onto the berm. Why is this any less bad than the kids doing it?

Fair traffic fun
This article mentions that the police are going to move the barricades for the locust street construction to try and match the flow of traffic. For those of you who have been to bigger cities, I imagine this will be similar to the middle lanes where they have the lights that show which direction the lanes are going. This allows lanes to be used for traffic into downtowns in the morning, and out in the evening. It'll be interesting to see how it works on Locust.

Wells Fargo Street fest relocation
Does anyone know the reason for moving the Bixfest back west of Brady? I heard it was to be closer to both the jazz fest and the 3rd street bar scene, but I wondered if there were other reasons. It seems to work better there, especially having the main stage in the parking lot next to the Mississippi Plaza. Anyone dislike the new/old location?

Some Bix Pix

The Brady Street Hill.

The men's and women's winners, Duncan Kibet and Wude Ayalew.

The Race for the Jackpot wasn't even close this year, with Christy Lazaridis easily getting the $3300 prize. The shot on the right is of the post race party, taken from the roof of the Crescent Lofts. The Wells Fargo Street Fest, back in its old location west of Brady.

Picnic Table-Garbage Can-Bottle-gate

I'm throwing out a discussion thread about the Alderman Meyer incident. The QCTimes' posting of the police reports, showing 2 completely different stories, are required reading before any commenting.

I don't know Alderman Meyer personally. We've corresponded via email, but never really in person. That said, I have a really hard time believing that he acted the way the lady at the skatepark is accusing him of. The swearing I could maybe believe, but the crap about running this town and owning the skatepark has to be an exaggeration. If those statements by Ms. Fuller are somehow proven false, I would hope she would be in some trouble herself.

That said, even the things that Alderman Meyer has admitted to doing are fairly serious mistakes. Losing your temper is no way to solve a situation, and now this is just one more circus-like incident hanging over the city council's chambers. More scandal and controversy should be the one thing we can all agree that we don't need.

Stuff I missed, or did I?

I have been in news/information withdrawal lately, with no internet access and not even the ability to read the news on my phone. It bothered me greatly, but now that I am back, part of me wonders what it is that I miss.

I start reading people slamming on Malin, slamming on Winborn, slamming on whoever... I guess its just not the stuff I read blogs for.

I will admit that Winborn's decision not to seek reelection is pretty big news, especially since back on the Louisville trip I heard him say that he was going to run again. I wonder if another 8 months of negativity changed his mind? Yerington, Howard, Lynn? None of the above, please. If it had to be someone who's already been involved, I'd probably pick Ian Frink. I think someone new might be a good idea though.

Lets try to keep things civil around here today; I've seen enough wasteland lately.

Long Weekend (for me) Open Thread

Over the next few days, or for as long as a week, I'll have very little opportunity to post anything. Among other things, I'll be driving and flying a combined total of over 3000 miles. Use this thread for discussing anything in the mean time.

Also, did anyone see those clouds yesterday morning? I didn't have a camera with me, but I managed to get the shot on the right with my cell phone. They were probably the most ominous looking clouds I've ever seen in Davenport. I really expected them to start swirling around and destroying stuff at any minute. Fortunately I don't know anything about meteorology, and they didn't do anything like that.

Have a good weekend, and I'll definitely be back in action in time for Bix festivities.

Where in the QC is this? #16

This one's probably too easy, but its all I have time for right now. Where is it?

The second guesser, Anonymous at 11:04 AM correctly identified the image as the clock tower on the depot in Rock Island. As Anonymous said, its now a reception hall known as Abbey Station, operated by the owners of the Abbey Hotel.

12 Headlines that would be good for Davenport

Every morning I when I start reading the paper, I hope for some positive news for Davenport instead of the usual circus and controversy. Here are a dozen of the kind of headlines I'm waiting to see. I don't feel that any of these are impossible, and some are downright probable. Some of these are good only for Davenport, such as #2 and #8, and some are good for the whole Quad Cities. In keeping with my belief that downtown is the heart of Davenport, about half of these are downtown-oriented.

Please add your suggestions for the list in the comments.

1. "X Company" to build 20 story corporate headquarters in downtown Davenport
Something like this would be the last piece to tip the scales for downtown success.

2. Alderman Van Fossen resigns his position on city council
No need to explain this one.

3. 20 story condo tower to be built in downtown Davenport
Similar to #1. If Moline can have one, why not us? Or even a mixture of #1 and #3.

4. (Dave & Busters, InPlay, GameWorks, pick one) to open downtown Davenport entertainment venue
See this blog post.

5. Brady Street Cinema and former hotel site to be redeveloped
Its a huge site, and currently providing a terrible first impression of Davenport

6. Toyota to build 2000-employee manufacturing plant in Davenport industrial park
Sure, we shouldn't pin all our hopes on heavy industry, but we shouldn't ignore it either.

7. 46th Street bridge to be built between Brady and Eastern, connecting the last piece between Harrison and Elmore.
I haven't even heard about this lately, so I'm guessing its years away. It would certainly help out 53rd and Kimberly, although at the expense of people who live on 46th.

8. New operator for Davenport casino license to build state-of-the-art casino hotel downtown
I'd settle for the same headline with "IOC" replacing new operator, but I don't see that happening.

9. Event similar to X-Games to be held at Davenport skatepark
We've got a world-class skatepark now, so why not add an event the size of Sturgis on the River to take advantage of it?

10. Amtrak returns passenger rail to the QC area
Say goodbye to I-88 tolls anyone?

11. Quad City International lands direct service to Phoenix
Ok, this one's slightly selfish, but I'm pretty sure I've read that Phoenix is the biggest final destination for QCIA travelers.

12. BRAC reverse decision, TACOM to stay at Arsenal
At this point the move to Michigan isn't going to save any money until 2030 anyway, and who knows what will be happening by then. Might as well leave them here.

Another home invasion, Van Fossen, and more cameras

Early this morning there was another home invasion robbery, this time near 13th and Carey. The victim stated that he was upstairs and he heard shots fired at the house and the front door kicked in. With a description like this, you can imagine the number of squad cars that started heading his way. Unfortunately, the victim gave 911 dispatchers the wrong address, so all the officers were surrounding a house 4 blocks away. By the time they made it to the right house, the suspects had escaped. It sounded like they had some leads, and some of the stolen property was recovered as well. Stuff like this makes me long for the heavy police crack down that we saw after the murder of Vincelina Howard.

Judge issues injunction against Van Fossen -QCTimes
This is the story that just won't die. It doesn't help that Webb's lawyer has had it in for city hall for years and years. Does anyone really think that Malin, city staff, and the Howard/Frink side of the council is working to protect Van Fossen? They're just as sick of his antics as the rest of us, and he nearly always votes against them anyway. What is in it for them to protect him? People who think the whole council is a secret society/good-ol' boys club are a bit too paranoid for my tastes. If anything people should be accusing them of running him out of office to take a vote away from the Lynn/Hamerlinck side of the council. Also, the guy is doing serious harm to the Van Fossen name by not resigning.

Davenport to set up more cameras in city -QCTimes
In some ways, I don't mind this, but in other ways I find it worse than the speed cameras. At least those only work when someone is definitely breaking the law. With all the politics that get tangled up with the DPD, I can imagine some admittedly unlikely scenarios where the cameras are misused.

Davenport alderman writes his novel in spare time -QCOnline
If any of you Davenporters don't usually read QCOnline because of its focus on Illinois news, check out this profile of Alderman Meyer. I learned several new things about my Alderman.

Jeff Speck at the Figge review

I attended Jeff Speck's lecture last night at the Figge, but due to various issues wasn't able to write a post about it until now. Cruiser has already posted his impressions of the evening here.

As others have said, the turnout was excellent. People wearing everything from a bicycling outfit, to jeans, to suits, which is great. There were people standing along the aisles of the auditorium in the Figge, and he seemed very well received. I wondered how many people were there for the free museum admission and free grub, but the number of people buying his book and having it signed after the event really showed that many of the people were really into Speck's points.

As far as the lecture itself, it was pretty textbook new urbanism stuff. Jeff pointed out during his talk that planners and others familiar with new urbanism may find it a bit basic. Many of the topics, such as building narrower streets, alleys, houses that look like houses instead of garages, and walkability have been discussed around this and other local blogs. I think this is the perfect introduction to this topic for people who have only heard a bit about new urbanism, or maybe have just a passing familiarity. This makes sense, since the lecture was taken in part from the Mayors Institute on City Design. I can definitely see it having an impact on people who were elected for skills other than city design and planning. One thing that I really have to commend him on was his illustrative images. He's been able to find intersections, developments, and photo angles that really show the downsides of suburbanization. Some of the sprawl images caused an obvious negative reaction from the crowd.

Mr. Speck admitted to not knowing all that much about Davenport and the Quad Cities specifically, and even hinted at coming back sometime to give a lecture that is directed more at our particular issues. I think this would be a great thing, especially now that at least 150 people are familiar with the concept. One of the only things that I took issue with was his criticism of the Skybridge. He discussed how strange it is to build a parking garage away from a casino, build an enclosed bridge from there to the boat, and have people walk over downtown without ever hitting the streets. I agree that that would be strange, but disagree that that is the point of the Skybridge. To me it will always be an observation bridge and landmark, and after the boat leaves that will become even more obvious.

All in all, it was a great event, and it was good to see so many people out at the Figge for something related to city planning and design. I was able to meet Jeff Speck, and I now know that he's at least been shown both this blog and Cruiser's. I'll be very interested in the results if he takes a closer look at the QC area and comes back with his specific suggestions for our issues.

Airport or car dealership

I was over at the airport Sunday to pick someone up, and I kept trying to catch a glimpse of one of the few PGA folks coming to the John Deere Classic that I actually recognize. As I heard a guy who had just grabbed a piece of luggage containing a set of clubs say into his phone, "I've got your clubs," I realized that PGA pros have people to wait at baggage claims for them.

When I was leaving I saw that a section of the short-term lot was blocked off, and was filled with brand new Buicks for the arriving players and tournament officials. There were 3 or 4 rows of precisely parked vehicles. I believe these are Buick Lucernes.

Serious Child Abuse

Thanks to Alderman Meyer for emailing us bloggers this police release.

Date: July 8, 2007 (15:02)

Reference: SERIOUS CHILD ABUSE

For Release: Immediate

Saturday, July 7, 2007 5:47 pm 1630 West 42nd Street

A two year old child is in serious condition at University Hospitals in Iowa City. He was taken there by air ambulance after initial treatment at Genesis Medical Center.

The little boy was found unresponsive when emergency personnel responded to a medical assistance call at 1630 West 42nd Street at 5:47 pm Saturday.

It is very apparent that the child sustained a severe beating as there was extensive bruising and trauma to the majority of the child’s body.

The mother, LIZABETH GARCIA, 24, has been arrested and charged with CHILD ENDANGERMENT with SERIOUS INJURY. She claims that the injuries happened as long as three days ago but that she did not seek medical attention for the child because she was afraid that DHS (Iowa Department of Human Services) and the police would get involved. Therefore the child was left to suffer.

Garcia said that injuries happened when she left the child in the care of her boyfriend while she went to work. The location of the boyfriend is currently unknown.

The boyfriend has been identified as HERMAN CARL MORRIS, also known as JAMES DOZIER or JAMES WILLIAMS. He is a black male, 27 years old, 5”10” tall and weighs 170 pounds. He is currently wanted on arrest warrants unrelated to this horrific crime. Those warrants, from the Davenport Police Department and Rock Island County include:
• Sex Abuse 2nd degree
• False Imprisonment
• Felon in Possession of a Firearm
• Assault with Intent to Commit Sex Abuse

A car owned by Garcia is unaccounted for and it is thought that Morris/Dozier/Williams might have that car. The vehicle is a green, 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme four door. It has Iowa license plates 520 SIN.

Anyone having any knowledge concerning this information and/or the location of the Morris/Dozier/Williams is asked to immediately notify their local law enforcement agency or Crimestoppers.

Blue Sky July Open Thread

Good luck to all the competitors that will soon be descending on the QC area to participate in the John Deere Classic. I'm hoping to make it over there on one of the free days, although it promises to be just as hot as last year.

Congrats to the SoLo blog, as the very next post by Ambrose Fulton will be #600 for the oldest active Davenport politics-related blog around.

Jeff Speck at the Figge

If you haven't already heard about this from the QCTimes article, RCReader article, QCOnline article, or Cruiser's post, here's the info. As you can see, I'm late in the game on posting about this.

Jeff Speck is the author of Suburban Nation: The rise of sprawl and the decline of the American dream. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't yet read this book, even though its right down my alley. Maybe I'll pick one up and get it signed Monday. He's an expert on New Urbanism and city design, so it should be a pretty interesting presentation. You also get a free chance to check out the Figge along with the free lecture and free snacks.

Date: Monday, July 9th, 2007

Venue: John Deere Auditorium, Figge Art Museum (2nd floor gallery)

Schedule:

5-6 p.m.: Reception (heavy hors d’oeuvres and beverages [cash wine and beer bar])

6-7:30 p.m. Presentation

• 5 minute intro from Mayor Winborn
• 60 minute presentation from Jeff Speck
• 20 minute Q&A

7:30 – 8:15 p.m. Book Signing: Suburban Nation: The rise of sprawl and the decline of the American dream (sponsored by the Design Ranch)

4th of July Flood

Once in a while mother nature has to remind us who's really in charge. In a repeat of last year's storm, we got several inches of rain last night, and a lot of roads are flooded and washed out. Of course Locust Street near St. Ambrose was flooded and closed, but also Eastern and 29th. I think when the floodwaters start hitting the bridge the city starts worrying about the structural integrity and closes Eastern, because it didn't look like any water was actually over Eastern.Here's the view looking northeast towards Brady Street and Arby's from the Sancho's parking lot.

Hopefully the newly laid asphalt on the bike path east of Eastern survived the flood waters. I doubt this piece of submerged equipment near Jersey Ridge is going to be in good shape when crews get back to work tomorrow.

Clintons visit

Here are a few images from today's Bill and Hillary Clinton rally in downtown Davenport. It was great to see an urban location chosen for something like this, instead of just something with corn of a fairgrounds in the background. We need to show people there's more to Iowa than what they stereotypically think. Just to preempt any political debate that we don't really need, just remember I'm registered Independent and attended this as an important downtown event only.
Hillary and Bill, working the crowds. Check out the rest of my images from this afternoon on my flickr page here.

Monday morning assortment

I took a drive/walk around downtown last night around 3am, hoping to get some good images with my camera and tripod. I didn't have much luck, with the shot of city hall to the right the only one that came out ok. I didn't see another pedestrian while I was out. Not exactly a vibrant street scene, but I didn't see any criminals or drug dealers out either.

Speaking of downtown and crime, the QCTimes has an editorial today that fits with the argument I've been making around this blog for 2 years. Downtown in safer than many neighborhoods, but a couple of bad intersections and a lot of bad perception and media attention lowers people's opinion of downtown safety.

In the opposite of downtown news, QCOnline has a piece on Prairie Heights. It mentions a mixture of residential and commercial, but last time I saw the plan there was little to no commercial mixed in with the residential areas. Maybe someone in the know can correct me on this. I'm looking foward to seeing homes going up in the next couple months.

Thanks to whoever's decision it was to paint dotted lane lines across Brady at 3rd Street. The lanes jog by half a lane's width as you go through the intersection, and I've seen a lot of near-accidents there. Now its 100% obvious what lane you're supposed to end up in when you make it to the east side of Brady.

Davenport is growing

Here's yesterday's QCTimes article about the 2006 Census Estimates.

I did a few minutes of web searching, and managed to find Census data, or estimates for the following years:

2000 --98,359
2001 --97,956
2002 --97,735
2003 --97,512
2004 --98,351
2005 --98,964
2006 --99,514

Thanks to David for providing a link to the rest of the data I was missing earlier, and I have revised my graph accordingly.


When the 2005 estimate came out, a big deal was made that in 5 years we only gained 605 new residents. Even this QCTimes article from April mentions how we were one of the slowest growing metros from 2000-2005. What these statements don't really take into account is that we hit the bottom of the curve during this 5 year period. While its not impressive that Davenport grew from 98,359 residents to 98,964 in 5 years, its a lot more impressive that we grew from 97,512 to 99,514 in 3 years. Its also often true that census estimates are lower than what ends up being the case when the actual census comes out.

Reading blog comments, QCTimes comments, most letters to the editor, and folks speaking to the city council, you constantly hear "I'm moving away because of the (skybridge, stormwater fee, push pin, Craig Malin, parking meters, skatepark graffiti, baseball team name, or dozens of other inane reasons)" but its clear that this isn't what's really happening. Whether these negative nuts are really moving away because of the ominous threat of riverfront push pins or not, Davenport is growing. At this rate we'll soon be back over 100,000 for the first time in years.

Dan Vance passes away

A guest editorial by Colonel Davenport

Love him or hate him, Dan loved Davenport. He was a worker, loved the inner city and wanted Davenport to succeed. A Vietnam vet, disc jockey, elected official and small time newspaper man, the guy lived for a better America, a better Davenport.

As bloggers, political want to bee's, or the interested citizen; few are willing to step forward and serve. Dan was one guy that was willing to do so. I pray Davenporters realize his contributions and his desire for this great city to be better.

May the good Lord embrace the soul of Daniel Vance, and provide grace and comfort to his extended family.

George

Regular blogging will resume later today

A few news article links

Moline moves closer to curbside recycling -QCOnline
Good job Moline, and welcome to the 1990's. We'll see what kind of uproar they have over a new $2.50 recycling fee. Probably not much of one. Nobody can throw an uproar like Davenporters.

Sonic set to open Davenport location -QCTimes
When I drove past this last week, it looked almost ready to go then. The article makes it sound like all their carhops are on skates, but that hasn't been my experience at Phoenix-area Sonics. Also, I wrongly thought that Sonic is what was going in on the NE corner of 53rd and Elmore. Since the article explains that they're looking farther south, near American, does anyone know what's going in at Elmore and 53rd?

Oh yeah, and this little bit of news...

IOC proposes expanded, land-based Bett casino -QCTimes
"Haynes said the Isle’s interest in building an expanded, land-based casino in Bettendorf does not mean it is focusing its Quad-City operations at that site. She said its casino in Davenport, the Rhythm City, is entirely separate."
Right.....
That must be why you're trying to shoehorn a cheap casino into an existing space instead of building a new, top-of-the-line hotel/casino complex near the Blackhawk.

Also, don't forget Alderman Frink's ward meeting at the River Music Experience tonight at 5pm.

Something completely different

After all the feisty debate that went on yesterday, I figured we needed a nice non-controversial subject for today's post. What could be less controversial than city-sponsored graffiti/art at our new million dollar skatepark?

This one was my favorite of the completed sections. There were a couple of guys already skating down there at 5:55, so I had to avoid being run over. Actually they were very respectful of this weirdo taking pictures, and I thank them for that.

The one on the left appears to still be in progress, although I do like the Davenport logo at the top. The image on the right isn't really my thing, but different art for different folks. I do like the haunted-looking riverboat.

The Concrete Rodeo that is painted on the image is mentioned in today's QCTimes article about the new paint work. It says:

The Davenport skatepark will host the Concrete Rodeo 2007 Tour today. The tour is hitting 37 cities in 19 states. Prizes will be awarded in eight age groups, and there will be boys and girls divisions. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the tournament begins at 11 a.m. There is a $25 entry fee. The skatepark will be open for public use during the tournament.

Chalk one up for the positive side

Davenport, Rock Island share national honor -QCTimes

Here's Bill Wundram's take on it.

People around the country are starting to catch on to what we have here.
Now if only people around the Quad Cities would do the same.

Every time friends of mine come into town, or I show first-time visitors around they seem impressed. I guess a lot of the locals have forgotten just how bad things were in the late 80's when they complain about how things are going now.

Saturday morning image

Three different eras of architecture: 1920's, 60's/70's, and modern. One of the things I like about downtown Davenport is the mixture of buildings. Mississippi Plaza, the Figge, and the skybridge gave it that bit of steel and glass modernism that it needed.


Don't forget the Taste of the Quad Cities in Moline. Its not exactly a beautiful day for it, but I'm still going to try and make it over there for lunch.

2 upcoming ward meetings

Election time is coming up, so its time for everyone to start having ward meetings! Actually these 2 Alderman have had them before, so that's not fair criticism. We'll see if Dumas, Van Fossen, Howard, or Brooke suddenly has one.

From IanFrink.com
Ian Frink, ald. at large, will host an all-wards meeting at 5 pm, Wed. June 27th, at the River Music Experience (2nd floor): corner of Main and Second. The meeting is the second in the city's third ward since taking office and first all-wards meeting downtown.

Topics of discussion will include current items before the council, an update on downtown and riverfront planning, and any other ideas brought forward by citizens.

Topics may be submitted prior to the meeting via email (ian@ianfrink.com) or by calling 563-508-2842.


From the QCTimes:
Alderman Barney Barnhill, 7th Ward, will host a ward meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. June 28 at Kaplan University, 1801 E. Kimberly Road, Davenport. Attendees should use the north entrance.
Topics up for discussion will include current items before the council and any other ideas brought forward by residents.

Open Thread!

I finally got a new inner tube for my bike, and decided to ride to work last night. It showed me that I'm out of shape in my old age! Just kidding folks. Actually I wish I had brought my camera with me, as I saw tons of wildlife (even deer) and other interesting things on my way home this morning. I missed Bike-to-Work Week by a month, but its never too late to save gas/money/the environment/take your pick.

Good job to the council, including Keith and Bill Lynn, who passed the Downtown Design Guidelines last night. If the Village of East Davenport is worth protecting from crappy buildings, I would hope that our downtown core/central business district is worth protecting as well.

The second house across from Sacred Heart was torn down yesterday, which really opens up a new view of the Cathedral. They really knew how to build 'em back then.

Other than that, I'll just call this an open thread.

Bill Boom makes it official

I got this email from Bill tonight. Its a copy of his remarks from his candidacy announcement today.

June 18^th, 2007

To whom it may concern,

My name is Bill Boom, and I am making my candidacy for Alderman of the 3^rd Ward of Davenport official Tuesday, June 19^th at 3:00pm. You have been invited to this important event that will be held at Riverview Terrace Park at the end of Washington Street and Clay Street. The fact that I was narrowly defeated (9 votes) in the last election cycle by the current sitting incumbent, I feel this will be one of the most competitive races in the next city wide elections. Please join me, many supporters, elected officials, and city dignitaries for this important event.

Thank you for your consideration,

Bill Boom

Baseball, 2 demos and a house flip

These are 3 random things, but a certain other blogger used the Randomness title already today.

I went to the Swing game Saturday night with my family, and as Pioneer mentioned on his blog, it was pretty packed. It was John Deere night, free "flying disc" night, and fireworks night, in addition to being the day before Father's Day and in the midst of Sturgis. The Swing turned a triple play, which is probably the first time I've seen that live at any level of baseball. Having a good crowd like that really demonstrates the difference that attendance makes to the excitement of the game. With that big of a crowd, there actually was a "roar of the crowd" instead of a "cheer of 300 people." Apparently the Thrivent/Special Olympics-sponsored night last week involved $2 tickets, and had over 6000 people in attendance. If the soon-to-be new owners of the Swing are able to lower ticket prices a bit, maybe we can see big crowds for most games. Once we start having big crowds, with more excitement during the game, then more people will want to return for more games. I've said before that it makes more sense to me to have 5000 people paying $5 than 2500 people paying $9, especially when you factor in concessions. I'm no business major though...


For those of you that don't make it SoLo to see these kinds of things, demolition has finally begun on the two houses south of Sacred Heart. The first house on the corner is already gone, and the next house to the south looks ready to go this week. I've asked before, but does anyone know what the plans are for these? I believe they're owned by the Cathedral.


I noticed this on the city's website the other day.

Investor's Opportunity
1711 Grand Avenue
Davenport, Iowa 52803

This privately owned building is being recommended for demolition as part of a code enforcement effort by the City of Davenport.

The goal is to make the public aware of buildings that are being considered for demolition by the City of Davenport in an effort to locate interested investors that are willing to rehab the buildings and return them to code compliant condition and as active, tax producing properties.

Here's a shot of the home in question. Apparently the city is recommending people try to buy it off of the current owner before they (the city?) are forced to demolish it. Hopefully someone is inspired by all these shows on TV and decides to snap it up and renovate it. Too bad since its SoLo you can't resell it for a profit...


If you can't find something worthwhile to comment about these widely varying stories, you're not trying hard enough.

RiverCenter quiz

This is all in relation to today's QCTimes article about the newest RiverCenter Casino news.

Here's a Saturday morning quiz. Match the quotes to the Alderman that said them. This was inspired by this post over at Information Swimming.

#1 said the Alder Theatre should be split off from the RiverCenter and run separately. The newly renovated theater will likely be successful. The city should look at other options for the RiverCenter.

#2 said “I have a hard time seeing us keep it open on the shoulders of the rest of citizens who have to come up $630,000 every year.” “We should look at the cost of shutting it down or selling it.”

#3 said the city subsidizes a number of cultural and recreational activities in Davenport from the Figge Art Museum to recreation programs. Failure to hire someone to run the RiverCenter would “cause considerable harm to the other businesses downtown,” he said.

#4 said “In my two-and-a-half years on the council, not once have we seriously considered alternative uses for the RiverCenter." “It’s time to cut it loose.”

#5 said “When I hear that we are only subsidizing it at ($630,000 a year), it gives me a cold chill,” “I’m still concerned about the direction the RiverCenter is going. I would like to see the subsidy reduced a whole lot more.”

Hint: All the answers can be found here and here in the QCTimes archives.

Answers: (technically I should have found a way to make these upside down so you can't spoil your guessing, but here you go anyway)

#1 is Shawn Hamerlinck
#2 is Ron Van Fossen
#3 is Barney Barnhill
#4 is Keith Meyer
#5 is Bill Lynn

How much do you want to bet that some of those people will be exhibiting a bit of flip-flopping in the coming months? Ah, the internet, where people can't hide from their past statements.

More Wilco stuff

Here are the rest of my decent Wilco images, since people seem into that.




And here's a short video clip that I took.

601st Post Open Thread

While signing into Blogspot this morning to throw up this Open Thread, I noticed that the previous post was the 600th for the Quad City Images blog. The 500th would have been more of a milestone, but I guess I wasn't paying attention whenever I hit that.

Here's an image from last night's Bix at 6. For those of you who in the last 2 years have decided to become appalled by this event, I recommend crossing the route at 4th and Iowa. The cop there was letting cars go across sooner than they would waiting for the light, and the only time that its completely too busy to cross is when the initial crowd comes by for maybe 10 minutes at 6:02 or so. That's around the time I took this picture.I might actually have several posts today, although every time I make that claim I get too busy to write them all. We'll see.

Wilco and a message to the Adler

Thanks to Wilco for putting on a heck of a show last night at the Adler. I'm no longtime fan, but I enjoy their music, and the tickets were cheap, so I decided to go. I'm certainly glad I did, and their opening act, Low, was just as good.

Unfortunately, the whole evening was nearly ruined by a fight that broke out, and the Adler's absolutely horrible response to it. During the second song of the encore, for whatever reason there was a fight near the stage along the aisle. Now, for those of you that don't know Wilco, it really isn't that type of concert. No mosh put, no crowd surfing, etc. At a typical professionally run concert, some sort of security or bouncers would have immediately escorted the fighters out of the theater.

Unfortunately, last night the fight was allowed to continue for several minutes, with someone clearly getting the worst of it. I could see one guy kneeling down and clearly punching downwards at someone already on the ground. People were yelling for security, and the band, while still playing, was looking very dismayed that nothing was being done. As soon as they finished the song, the band itself asked for some security up there. They had to be wondering what would happen if these two or three nuts decided to take that fight onto the stage. Literally the entire Adler was focused on this, and others in my group saw a guy with a bloody face. The best security response that seemed to show up was one of the 70-year old guys in top hats that hold the front doors open for people.

Somehow the fighters were finally removed, but it had completely killed the mood of the whole place. Wilco did the final song of their encore, and the concert let out. However, instead of talking about the great show, everyone was talking about the fight. Many of us were standing around outside talking on the sidewalk in front of the theater. Now, everyone knows that I rarely criticize the DPD, but they really made a bad situation worse last night. They were quite rude with people who were very harmlessly standing around talking after the concert. Had it not been for the fight, these crowds downtown would have been no issue. I'm sure the cops were using their typical experience where if they drive away from a mob, they'll just be called back there 2 minutes later for a fight. However, none of the Wilco concert goers except for the 2 or 3 involved idiots had any interest in fighting. We wouldn't have needed the 4 or 5 squad cars that were parked along 3rd street if 1 or 2 police officers had been present at the concert. It was a small fight, and would have been over in seconds if there had been any officers on hand to stop it.

A number of out of town people were at the concert, because it was the opening concert of their US tour, and one of their ONLY midwest stops. I heard of people coming from as far away as Minneapolis and Madison. Instead of leaving in a great mood after a great concert in a beautiful historic venue, people left talking about a terrible lack of security and overbearing police. The worst part is that this isn't even the first time. There was also a fight at folk singer John Prine's concert last March. Reading some online reviews of that concert gives mixed opinions on whether the problem was quickly taken care of, or there was a similar lack of security.

Please, folks in charge of the Adler, and city officials.... get some serious security at these concerts. Don't just assume that because its peaceful indie rock folks that 2 jackasses won't ruin it for everyone. And DPD, maybe next time try not to treat said peaceful indie rock fans like a violent mob when they're standing around harmlessly on downtown sidewalks and plazas.

Here's Wilco's tour list, which shows us among a very impressive list of cities around the world. I wouldn't expect us to continue getting quality acts like this if things aren't changed at the Adler.

Here's a forum where people are already reviewing the show. Surfing around this forum has shown me that people were in town from all over the US for the concert.

Central's new gym

Here are a couple of images of the construction underway on Central's new "auxiliary gym." I'll be curious to see if the final design fits in at all with the 100+ year old portion of the building, and the existing gym. As part of the project the building that was known as the "Annex" in my day, and I'm sure something else in my parents' era, is being demolished. In the second half of my 4 years at Central the building was the detention headquarters, so students were threatened that they would be "sent to the Annex." At the time it also housed Central's Iowa Communications Network classroom, or ICN, so it made for an interesting mixture of people in that building. I'd suspect that the ICN classroom was relocated into the main building during the massive renovations that have occurred in the last 7 years.

Baseball movie and a good blog post

Just a couple of things this morning:

Baseball movie to be filmed at John O'Donnell Stadium -QCTimes
This is pretty neat stuff, especially if it shows Davenport in a good light. Hopefully it won't be something like Dominican baseball player deals with hick farmers or something similarly stereotypical. The fact that they chose a stadium that sits near 2 downtowns gives me some hope that it will show the real Iowa, instead of the NYC idea of Iowa.

The $600,000 question -Information Swimming
Pioneer98 has a great post on his blog, and if any of you don't normally read it you should at least check this one out. It summarizes several of the things going on lately, and points out how divisive we, as Davenporters, seem to be.

Post-Storm Cleanup Day

Last night's storm didn't seem that dramatic downtown, but when I got to work I started hearing about all the damage that it caused. The Fire Department was quite busy all night responding to power lines down calls, and trees on fire, etc. The hill beneath the Putnam had quite a few large branches and trees down.

Hope everyone came through the storm ok.

Thursday Assortment

Here's yesterday's QCTimes article about the RiverCenter-casino thing. The comments are strange, but they always are. I wonder where all the people who have been saying we need to dump the RiverCenter for years are now that the city actually mentions doing it.

Here's an RCReader editorial about the casino thing, which takes an unsurprising jab at city officials for the last IOC deal. The editorial assumes a lot, considering that none of us have seen the deal yet. I think people should hold their criticism until we see the agreement. Hopefully we get a chance to before its approved.

Farther down the page on that Reader link there is some mention of the Oneida Landing project, specifically directed at its effects on the flood plain. The last I knew the plan was for the bottom floor to be parking garage that could be opened up to allow flood waters to pass underneath the building, minimizing any hydro effects. Maybe that's changed, or maybe the Reader hadn't heard about it.

And then, of course, we have a slight rehash of my Tuesday morning rant. My Alderman has taken the time to prove he doesn't support downtown Davenport.

Here's today's QCTimes article about the continuing struggle to pass a common sense ordinance which would initiate downtown design guidelines, similar to what the East Village already has. The article quotes Alderman Meyer as saying, "Downtown Davenport is a failure."

Nice.

3 Images Open Thread

No one seems to use my open threads anymore, but here's one anyway, with pictures.

There must be things going on in the QC other than the usual few subjects that always get talked about around the blogs.

Here are some shots I got on a 2 hour downtown walk-around after the air show Sunday. I'll probably have another post later today.The alley between the 2nd/Ripley parking ramp and the New Ventures Center, looking East.

The Arsenal Bridge, and a lot of grain cars passing underneath the Skybridge.

Downtown Davenport should secede from the Third Ward

For years, the residents that live in the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Davenport, along with 3rd Ward Alderman Keith Meyer, have complained that downtown gets all the resources, and the rest of the ward is left out. Their point is valid, and the "fringe" around downtown should receive that attention that it deserves.

Today though, I, as a downtown resident, would like my Alderman to realize that while the Third Ward may not consist solely of downtown, his ward DOES INCLUDE IT. However, everything Alderman Meyer does seems to be against a successful downtown. There are numerous examples of this, but the one that inspires this rant is his maneuver to defeat the Downtown Design Guidelines. Here's a link to today's QCTimes article which mentions it; the design standards story is past the parking story.

Alderman Meyer proposed an amendment to the ordinance that makes the design guidelines voluntary. Can someone explain how that would make any sense? Would the East Village be satisfied with design guidelines (yes, they already have them) that have no teeth? If Walmart decides they want to build a 1 story suburban-style store downtown, apparently that's just fantastic. Does Keith even believe we need a downtown? Should it be different than any other commercial district? These guidelines are approved of by downtown businesses, but apparently Meyer knows better than they what's good for them.

With hundreds of new residents moving into downtown, I don't know that Alderman Meyer can continue down this route and expect to continue being elected. In the last election Bill Boom missed a chance to speak to the 80+ residents of the Crescent Lofts, and he lost by 9 votes. Now there are even more downtown newcomers in the 4th Street Lofts, CityView apartments, and Mississippi Lofts. Does anyone think that many people who recently made the choice to live downtown are going to vote for someone that consistently votes against downtown projects and amenities? These are the very reasons many of us moved down here, and the Crescent, 4th, and Mississippi Lofts would not even exist without River Renaissance. Meyer already lost the D-33 precinct 96-70 in 2005, and with over 200 apartments added downtown in the last few years, that 9-vote lead from 2005 is making the 2007 election look like it'll be pretty interesting.

And yes, I tend to rant on Tuesday mornings.

Airshow 2007

I'm getting lax on my posting, so I'll try to do better on that this week. In the mean time, here are some images from the Quad City Air Show yesterday.
The United States Air Force Thunderbirds. As someone who goes to the air show literally every year, I usually start heading for the car during the final act, because its basically the same as 2 years ago. However this year, after sticking it out through the rain and mud, we stayed through the Thunderbird's performance, and I'm glad. It was quite impressive and there were even a few maneuvers that I don't remember from previous years.

A UH-60Q Blackhawk, which hadn't made an appearance at the air show lately, and an A1 Skyraider, which I don't recall ever appearing at the QCAS before.

Jim LeRoy's Bulldog stunt plane, and of course... everyone's favorite triple jet semi, Shockwave.

A few more pictures can be found on my Flickr page.

A good afternoon to stay inside

I woke up and the air raid sirens were going off, so I happened to turn on my police scanner. The USBank at 4004 Northwest Boulevard was just robbed, so the police were flying out that way. Then all the calls for power lines down and poles on fire, and such started coming in. Its one of those days where you can really see how difficult and stressful it is to be an emergency dispatcher.

Currently the police are following a person who matches the description on I-280.
Update: It doesn't appear that that person was the suspect, but officers are considering to look for people matching the description.