Parking ramp tragedy

By now most have heard about the incident at the parking ramp
early this morning. The local Guardian Angels were on patrol
when they heard a woman was yelling ‘rape’ in the Harrison St.
parking ramp. The police were notified and when officers arrived
a young man took off in a car. He drove up to the top floor
hitting a few vehicles before he stopped the car and ran.

I’m not sure if anyone knows exactly what happened but at some
point the young man ended up four floors down on the sidewalk.
This is a sad story for everyone especially the young man. More
details are sure to come out and until then anything said by me
would be speculation. I was informed the fire department and ambulance arrived quickly but nothing could be done.

This is tragic on several levels as the young man died too soon, a
young lady may have been assaulted, and those who responded
may have some sleepless nights. The young man is not a suspect in the sexual assault and is just guilty of running from the police. The
Guardian Angels and Police aren’t the bad guys but were just doing
there jobs, and the Medics just answered another 911 call.

The QC Times has an updated article online with the young man’s name and what is known to this point.
Comments are always welcome.

Web cruisin’

Since it looks like we may have a heat wave in our future
here are some links about cars. Hopefully you will find
something that interests you and that you haven’t seen
before. These links were sent by family and friends or just
found while cruisin’ the internet.

Cars and train stories have been around since there have
been cars and trains. This web page looks at the story about the Model A on train tracks. It is probable that somebody tried this back in the day.

A really great site with plenty of pictures that covers just
about any car is remarkable cars. If you want picture of a Cord, Auburn, Model A, Nova, or street rod, it’s probably here. I know I found some car makes I’d never heard of.

Another site with pictures is Cars We Drove in the 50s & 60s. I may have used this one in a post before but I like it and since I’m getting older I may not remember if I did anyway.

Langdon’s Stovebolt is a site dedicated to the Chevy inline 6. There is even a link that lets you listen to the owners car revving up. It’s a pretty wild six and sounds sweet. It also contains a parts catalog, a how to
section, and links.

There’s a video on YouTube that I find interested. It’s called
Shonky and the SoundRacerV8. Basically it is about a device that turns your
daily driver econobox into a hot rod just by plugging in this
device and tuning your radio to a preset station.

There are a view sites to cruise on a Sunday if you’re not
watching the racing or working on the ride.
Comments are always welcome.

A benefit and a birthday

If you don’t have anything planned for tonight why not cruise
out to the Orthopedic Specialists Sports Complex (the bubble)
at 5003 North Brady Street. A fundraiser is being held from
7pm to 10 pm tonight for Justin Coon, a 25 year old young man
who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He is in need of a new
wheelchair lift for the van that gets him to his doctors’
appointments here and in Iowa City.

Admission is free and there will be a raffle, a silent auction,
and a bake sale along with activities for children. Although I’m
not sure what all will be going on I’m told by the wife that we
will be attending the event.

On another note, Happy Birthday! to John Moeller. Enjoy your day.
For your birthday here’s one of those ‘little Johnny’ jokes-

Little Johnny attended a horse auction with his father. He watched
as his father moved from horse to horse, running his hands up and
down the horse’s legs and rump, and chest… After a few minutes,
Johnny asked, ‘Dad, why are you doing that?’ His father replied,
‘Because when I’m buying horses, I have to make sure that they are
healthy and in good shape before I buy. Johnny, looking worried,
said, ‘Dad, I think the UPS guy wants to buy Mom …’

Comments are always welcome.

Enjoy it

This is going to a light hearted post based on an another email I received from a friend. The words are supposed to be George Carlin’s, but I’m not sure. At any rate here are some thoughts on aging-

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to
get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old,
you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never thirty-six
and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump
to the next number, or even a few ahead.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey,
you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life! You
become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21.
YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Ooooh, what happened there? Makes you
sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s
no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa!
Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it,
you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a
day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you
HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there.
Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST92.’

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become
a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay ‘them.’

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is
the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s name isAlzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5 Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person,
who is with us our entire life, is ourselves (and Jesus). Be ALIVE
while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it’s family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next
county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.
Comments are always welcome.

Late rant

Better late than never. An old friend stopped by and I haven’t
had a chance to post yet. Following, in no particlular order,
are some things to think about.

The chart above pretty much sums up what I feel our government
is doing. It would be funny if we weren’t the one paying for
all the incompetent thinking in Washington, D.C.

Speaking of Washington, Obama is going to hold his first
televised meeting on the health care issue. I don’t know why
he insists on riding this dead horse.

As we know by now the City Council has passed the sewer rate
increase. It looks like there is going to be a cap of $10,000
and a $500 deductable for the homeowner. That doesn’t make it
free, but it still sounds like a good deal. The QC Times story
is here.

The thing about this rate increase that bothers me is that nobody
is willing to say how big further rate increases are going to be,
or when to expect them, only that there are more rate increases in
our future. I also wonder how this increase is beneficial to
bringing more employers to our area.

I could go on but I’ve got things to do and people to see so I’ll
end it here.
Comments are always welcome.

Ward meeting

At the last minute I decided to attend the 5th ward meeting last
night and found out a few things. You may already know what I am
about to post but I will do it for those who don’t. I couldn’t stay
for the entire meeting so might have missed something, but here’s
some of what was discussed.

The sewer rate hike was a priority and the increase is going to be
$13.29 per quarter or $4.43 per month. This rate hike will include
sewer lateral repairs or replacements after July 1. From my under-
standing this will include everything except within 4 foot of the
house. It was explained that this is due to the city not wanting
to be liable for damage to foundations. It also won’t cover
replacement of sod but is cheaper that the insurance offered with
the water company and covers more.

The city is going to go ahead with the sports center purchase and
plans to rename it “River’s Edge”. It was mentioned that the city
may run a contest to come up with a name at a later date. It was
explained that while the city would go to one rink with the other
to be used as a soccer field or like use that it would be done in
such a way that it could be returned to an ice rink in a matter of
days.

Alleys were talked about and now the city just has to get 50% of
the owner occupied houses to agree to a new alley. All the properties
along the alley would share half the cost of the improvement. If
your alley has potholes we were told the city will fill them if they
are called.

The Blackhawk hotel came up and should be completed next year. The Forrest Block building was also mentioned and will have to be done
by late this year or the developer would lose the government money.

Discussion of starting a charter school and crime also came up. The
city is working with schools to see what will work best for us. On
the crime front, our new police chief has been pushing toward
charging criminals in federal court. Inmates have to serve a larger
portion of their sentences in federal prisons. We will also be
getting more NETS officers as soon as they finish training.

If you were there and I missed something feel free to add it.
Comments are always welcome

Really wierd accident

Sometimes strange things happen at racing events. Like this
past Sunday. During the NHRA Arizona Nationals a female
spectator was hit by a wheel and tire and died. The wheel
and tire came off Antron Brown’s dragster in an accident he
walked away from. We’ve seen wrecks like this and worse,
but don’t remember a spectator getting killed before.

Anytime you have vehicles that can go from 0 to 400 mph in
1,000 feet things can get wild. Usually when something tragic
happens a new safety feature is implemented and that’s good,
but this time other spectators have said they don’t want any
special measures taken. They’ve stated they don’t want a mesh
netting put in front of them or any such measures that might
block their view of the races.

Here’s NHRA’s take on the incident.
And this wasn’t the only wreck at the strip either. Vinnie Deceglie
ended up going the track on his top after he hit the wall when
he shifted into 5th gear. That story is here.

It certainly doesn’t help comfort the family of the woman that
this was the first spectator fatality in the track’s 27 year
history and we offer our condelances to her family and friends.

Comments are always welcome.

Budget news release

The following is the news release about the budget. To the best of my knowledge it is as written. I changed it from a word file to a notepad file in case some of you couldn’t open a word document. So here’s what we
got-

City Administration

Communications Office
226 West Fourth Street – Davenport, Iowa 52801

Telephone: 563-326-6151 Fax: 563-326-7736

http://www.cityofdavenportiowa.com

Media Release

Davenport Council Improves Services, Cuts Taxes

February 22, 2010
At a six hour meeting Saturday, Mayor Gluba and the City Council reviewed details of the FY11 budget in development. The budget, to be approved at the March 10 City Council meeting, will include
several service enhancements and a tax rate reduction.

The FY11 budget funds the Eastern Avenue Branch library, which will open in June. The budget includes a record level of street and sewer improvements, more than $55 million in FY11 and $192 million over the six year capital program. The capital budget also includes renovation of Central Fire Station, the oldest operating fire station west of the Mississippi, in FY15. New to the upcoming budget is the operation of the Quad City Sports Center by the Davenport Parks and Recreation Department. Parks and Rec will operate the facility, to be renamed “Rivers’ Edge”, with user fees rather than property taxes. The budget also includes a partnership with the Putnam Museum and Davenport School District for the School District to create a Children’s Village learning center in the former Davenport Museum of Art on Fejervary Hill.

At the operational level, the budget continues to fund a record number of police officers. The budget includes $100,000 to fund partnership efforts to improve K-12 education and enhanced funding of economic development and marketing to attract and retain business and jobs. The DavenportNOW program continues, with a ten year, 50% City property tax rebate for new investment by existing and new homeowners and businesses.

For Davenport homeowners, the budget includes a new service to repair sewer lines, funded through the first increase in the fixed sewer rate in 18 years. The rate increase will cost the typical homeowner $4.43 per month. Low income elderly or disabled homeowners are exempt from the rate increase. Golfers will also see a fee increase, of $2 per round at Emeis Golf Course and $1 per round at Duck Creek and Red Hawk Golf Courses, to support golf course improvements. Even with the increase, Davenport golf fees remain the best value in the region.

The City Council supported cost saving efforts by employees, reviewing a report of well over 100 cost saving measures. A net reduction of 13 full time employees is projected in the budget, and 132 non-union employees will continue to lead on cost saving through a scheduled deferral of a general wage increase. Non-union employees will receive a 1% increase July 1, 2010, January 1, 2011 and June 1, 2011 rather than a 3% increase on July 1, 2010 granted union employees under current contracts. Operational adjustments
within the Police Department have reduced overtime expenses and the budgeted $447,988 in overtime is expected to be sufficient for the upcoming year. Improved efficiencies and risk management is allowing the City Council to reduce the operating levy by .05. This will save a homeowner of a $250,000 house, $5.86 and an owner of a commercial property valued at $500,000, $25 per year.

The budget discussion Saturday included two notable service enhancements for the Summer of 2010. Funding was provided for combining the Red, White & Boom fireworks display with the IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union Blues Fest in LeClaire Park. Admission to the Blues Fest will be free that day, and the Quad City Symphony will play as the fireworks explode over the river. The budget also includes a first ever “Discover Davenport Kids Summer Pass”. The details of the summer pass, a unique program to give children access to
community cultural and recreation facilities all summer long, will be
announced March 3.

City of Davenport

Comments are always welcome.

Budget update II

Myself and I think QCI received an email from Craig Malin concerning
the upcoming budget. I will post it in it’s entirety and when the press
release comes I will post that if it isn’t too long.

From: Malin, Craig (ctm@ci.davenport.ia.us)
Sent: Mon 2/22/10 9:40 AM
To: ‘QuadCities@gmail.com’ (QuadCities@gmail.com); ‘cruisa holic’ (cruisaholic@hotmail.com)

Gentlemen:

By early afternoon, we’ll be issuing a media release on the budget in development. In a nutshell, we’ll be improving a few services and offering a few new ones while managing our employee count down and reducing the operating levy by .05 (the operating levy was also reduced in FY07 by .22).

We’re issuing the media release, in part, because the media doesn’t cover our meetings completely. The Mayor, Council and department heads spent six hours going over the operating budget in detail on Saturday and the only media that was present was Channel 4 (for about an hour). The meetings are open to the public and a few hardy citizens show up to watch and participate, but I suspect the detail work of local government just isn’t the spectacle that the media requires to commit resources to covering the meetings.

I’ll send you guys a copy of the media release later today and we’ll be posting all the budget info on our website as it nears completion. The City Administrator recommended budget will be presented to the Finance Committee on March 3, with a final Council vote expected on March 10.

Craig
Comments are always welcome.

A couple of things

Since we seem to have our share of snow to shovel today this post
will feature some upcoming things to keep our minds off the snow.
At the very least there could be something listed that you may want
to attend.

The 5th Ward meeting is tomorrow at 6 pm and will be held in the
Genesis East Medical Office Building #2 in the lower level. It is
located at 1230 W Rusholme in Davenport. If this gets cancelled
due to the weather I will update.

Then February 17 and 28 the 41st Annual Rod & Custom Car Show is
being held in Monticello, Iowa. It is again being held in the
Berndes Center, 766 N Maple St., in Monticello. It will run from
8 am to 8 pm and the entertainment is Joanie & Potsie from the
Happy Days tv show. And Dave Palmer will be DJ.

The first Cruise-in of the year hosted by the River Valley Classics
will be on June 26. The events this year will not be at North Park
Mall but at the Fairgrounds. They will also start at 5 pm instead of
6 pm.

The first Cruise-in hosted by the Quad City Cruisers will be held
April 17 at Southpark Mall by the JC Pennys. It will start at 6 pm
and is scheduled to go until 9:30 pm.

And the Vintage Tourque Fest will be held May 1, 2010 in Farley, Ia.
It is held rain or shine, limited to pre-65 rods and customs and will
feature bands, vendors, art, a swap meet, show cars inside, and hot
rods on the dirt track. Admission is $5 for spectators or you can
enter a car for $20. All money collected goes to Helping Hannahs Heart. For more information go here.

There is a lot more events to post about and we will at a later time.
Now we have to put on our coats and boots, gas up the snow blower, and move some snow.
Comments are always welcome.