ROGER MONROE

Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria says it’s time for the Peoria Park District to cancel its annual July 3rd fireworks show. He feels Glen Oak Park, on the edge of the East Bluff, is too dangerous.

The city spends an estimated $50,000 to provide coverage for the day/night event which draws thousands of families. Park police also patrol the grounds to prevent potential trouble. Make no mistake, there has been trouble over the years during and after the fireworks, but not in the park. Everyone knows the East Bluff has been a crime area for decades, fireworks or no fireworks. Second District councilman Chuck Grayeb acknowledges that when he told us, “We need to pay attention to our law enforcement advice and recommendations.”

On the other hand, Robert Johnson, president of the Peoria Park District board, strongly opposes cancellation of the fireworks program. No shrinking violet, Johnson believes the event serves thousands of men, women and and children. They get to enjoy the zoo and other amenities including the open areas and picnic facilities.

We talked with a couple of residents across from Glen Oak Park and got mixed comments. They said they enjoyed the fireworks from the comfort of their homes and loved watching families gather to celebrate the founding of the country, but worried about bad people doing bad things at night.

However, they admitted they worry about that every night. They also expressed concern about the lack of progress for construction of a new amphitheater promised two years ago. In talking with others who live elsewhere, the common thought was, “Why do we have to have two fireworks shows?” One person suggested people can still have picnics, fish at the lagoon, listen to music, visit the zoo, during the day and then go home when night falls when the trouble makers wake up and come out.

In the end, I expect Johnson and park trustees will decide to move forward with this year’s July 3rd fireworks with hopes “all will be calm and bright.”

QUEST ACADEMY GETS AN ‘F’: Peoria School District board members finally threw in the towel and said enough is enough after spending more than $3.2 million a year to educate students at the Quest Charter Academy.

By a vote of 5-1, the board denied the Quest request for another five-year contract, and for good reasons. The Academy had failed to meet established goals such as attendance rates, test scores, and qualified instructors, said board members. In an amazing development, an appeal by some people associated with the charter school has been filed with the Illinois State Board of Education to overturn the school board’s decision.

Huh?

How dare they try to tell taxpayers what they can or cannot fund? Where the hell were they when the school board, by a 4-3 vote, decided to close Woodruff High School and send close to 1,000 northside students to Peoria High, Manual and Richwoods? The board member who cast the deciding vote has disappeared quicker than a magician’s rabbit. She didn’t know the difference between Forest Hill and Hillside Village.
Quest Academy receives $3.2 million to educate 450 students. Time to close the doors.

ATHLETES ARE PERFORMERS: I remember when a player in college and in the National Football League made a tackle and then calmly walked back to his position for the next play. The same when a receiver caught a 30-yard pass and trotted back to the huddle. In basketball, if a player made a 25-foot basket, he ran back to play defense.

With the advent of television, things gradually changed. Players suddenly became “hot dogs.” Today, a football player making millions to make tackles or catch passes, has to pound his chest and run away from his teammates, so TV cameras can be sure and give him credit.

This self-adulation has spread to some athletes in high school. Show business is alive in sports — that includes basketball officials who are now shaving their heads and eyebrows for the TV folks. Any three officials with their bald heads could be human signs for pawn shops. Even public address announcers at basketball games have to get into the circus acts with their dramatics elongating their voices, “Three points by Bobby Smithhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Getting back to basketball and the bald-headed officials, I wish they could spend more time improving their officiating skills instead of shaving their heads. As one of many examples, in the game between Purdue and Northwestern, the officials gave Purdue 46 free throws to only eight for the Wildcats. Justifiably outraged, Northwestern coach Chris Collins went after one of the referees and was ejected. The Big Ten, known for years for having the worst officials, fined Collins $5,000.

They should’ve fined the three bald heads and ordered then to wear hair pieces or at least put on powder to diminish the shine.

In 1988, after 10 years of experimenting, the National Basketball Association officially went from two- to three-man officiating crews. Other leagues eventually did the same. Some basketball fans feel all it did was go from two bad officials to three. That may be rather harsh, but too often true. Dr. Gene Sidler, host of the popular bradleyfans.com website, did some research about officiating Bradley basketball games this season.

As of Feb. 12, Dr. Sidler reports that Bradley’s opponents have shot more free throws than Bradley. The Braves have attempted 392 free throws. That ranks 11th in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meanwhile, the other three Valley teams with winning records like Bradley are the top three in attempts. Indiana State fired up 507, Southern Illinois 504, and Drake 480.

Sidler says, “Usually winning teams get fouled more than losing teams. But, Bradley’s opponents have been gifted with 479 free throws, a whopping 22% more. That’s a huge disparity for a team that has won 70% of their games.”

Bottom line is Valley officials don’t like Bradley. So fans, boo the guys when they’re introduced. They deserve it.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “I wanted to have a career in sports when I was young, but I had to give up the idea. I’m only six feet tall, so I couldn’t play basketball. I’m only 190 pounds, so I couldn’t play football, and I have 20/20 vision so I couldn’t be a referee.” — Jay Leno