By Greg Speck

Have you ever heard of the Riverfront Visitors Center? Sure you have. But, what do you know about it? Well, for starters, it’s located in the oldest commercial building standing in Peoria. It was originally built in 1852 and is the only pre-Civil War commercial structure still standing in Peoria. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1998, the building was moved two blocks hoisted on 16 hydraulic jacks, and was hauled by a 2 ½ ton truck to its present location. Now it’s a one-stop shop for all your Peoria Area information needs – the “go to” place to go for area maps, guides, brochures, merchandise and so much more!

According to one of their brochures, this former Powell Press Building once housed a grocery and dry goods store, church, soda parlor, tire retailer, novelty store, and a printing company with a saloon in back. Curless furthers shares that the building is reportedly haunted due to the sudden death of John Schwab, a well-known saloon keeper on Adams.

The Riverfront Visitors Center is one arm of the Peoria Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, which is a non-profit, member (partner) based organization. Larry Curless, who is the Center’s Manager, explains that typically, the need for tourist information begins at the Riverfront Visitor’s Center. Hotel staff often refers their guests to the Center. Sometimes a visitor may be just passing by, or they may have seen the sign on the expressway leading them there. Sometimes they arrive looking for some other company, or an issue. Whatever the reason for stopping by, they can get a lot of information there!

Curless says that part of his role is “to also deliver information on the number of participants registered for an upcoming event to hotels and motels, within the event’s focus area.” At the time of this interview, he was out delivering information for the upcoming Illinois Music Educational Association, which is the largest group that they have hosted. He was also delivering visitor guides to the eight-county Chamber of Commerce Associations.

He stressed that their volunteers are great “life-long Peorians. “They have a super knowledge of the area and of the resources available.” According to Curless, they are the unofficial tour guides. They pick their own volunteering schedule as hey may have other volunteering roles. The volunteer’s primary role is always to provide the best one-on-one to the visitors who go there for more information.

“We greet the visitors and give them as much information as we can. We do this through our knowledge of the area, our travel brochures of Peoria, and of other counties, as well as brochures on the History of Peoria in seven different languages” says Curless. Area maps are distributed as well. Peoria memorabilia and souvenirs are sold with postcards at the top of the list.

Basically, visitors to Peoria want to know about good places to eat, what is there to do in Peoria, and where is a good play to stay.

The Riverfront Center recently hosted The Yule Walk where 200 visitors attended the event for an evening of story telling, dulcimer songs, info gathering by tourists and of course, refreshments.

Leslie Williams, the Communications and Media Relations Manager of the Peoria Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau explained that she “strives to maintain relationships with members regularly, communicating with travel writers,  media connections, news directors and reporters.” Williams writes the press releases for the various conventions, sporting events, and other attractions. If a staff member or a partner makes the news, notification goes out to Facebook and is posted on their website (www. Peoria.org) as a way of further promotion of the positive activities that are successful.

Williams further explains that funding is one of their biggest challenges. They have previously received Tourism Grants from the State of Illinois. According to Williams, they receive funding in the form of  a percentage of the sales taxes on the number of occupants who stay overnight for an event. They also receive a percentage of the sales taxes on hotel occupancy from other cities in the eight county area. Williams covers/promotes a total of eight counties; however, she’s quick to explain that she promotes Peoria first, as it receives that biggest draw of visitors.

Lelonie Luft is the Partnership Sales Manager. She solicits members, businesses, private organizations including restaurants, and social service organizations, for their partner-based organization, PACVB. This is all within an eight-county area. Luft said that she knows all of their members. These members are promoted through their Peoria Area Visitor’s Guide, or the Annual Partnership Book.

Additionally, Luft says that members receive notification of the coming attractions four times per year. According to Luft, you don’t have to be a member to benefit from being promoted by the PACVB, private or public from a list of attractions, dining information, and entertainment available. Luft further stressed that members are always first, but that she and the other staff will also promote non-member activities, such as one day conferences because it promotes the whole area.

“Sometimes,” says Luft, she “will go to the individual city officials within the eight counties in an effort to promote “groups of people.” This usually occurs after Luft has solicited the individual businesses or organizations and they feel that for whatever reason, that they can’t be a partner. City officials believing that they are acting in the city’s interest, will sometimes pickup the total cost of promoting their activities, businesses and organizations for the good of the whole.

Bob Marx is the President and CEO of the Peoria Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. In a recent Peoria Journal Star article (11/15/2011) Marx said, “We bring in $10 to $12 million a year to this community in tourism dollars, but we need to be more transparent in our activities. We need to do a better job letting the city know what a bureau does.”

Marx explains that he is a coach, mentor and leader to the people who work with him. According to him, the five funded cities that he works with know what the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau can and can’t do. Thirdly, he stated that “there is a need for an annual business plan, whose purpose is to attain goals and objectives.”

Marx point out that “Our return on investment to Peoria is in the millions of dollars spent here on the activities that far outweighs the outlay.”

Back in May of 2011, Marx was quoted in an Inter Business Issues article that “Peoria brought in 141 meetings and conventions of 200 or more in 2009, and 117 in 2010. The Office of Tourism issued an extremely conservative economic impact of those meetings tallied over $6 million spent in our area both in 2009 and 2010 or more than $12 million in incremental revenue from the convention trade.” Marx further pointed out that in 2010, “66 sporting event of all kinds that ‘Played in Peoria.’ It is important for each and every resident in our area to know that the PACVB does not receive any funding for our operations from city/county general fund collections or income. We are entirely funded from taxes paid from hotel occupancy (beds) from visitors when they stay at one of our hotels.”

“For Peoria to be recognized nationally, it needs greater visibility and cities need to continually advertise reasons for coming to Peoria and make it as easy as possible for people to make Peoria a destination.” said Marx.

Just days before Christmas, House Speaker John Boehner announced a Republican decision to accept a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut, preventing roughly 160 million working Americans from having to pay one thousand dollars extra in taxes over the coming year. The tax cut was set to expire December 31^st. The $33 billion package also includes an extension of benefits for millions of long-term unemployed Americans and Medicare payments for doctors also set to expire at the end of the month.

President Barack Obama had personally appealed to Boehner in a phone call, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had addressed a letter to the Speaker requesting him to reconvene the House, which had adjourned for the holidays, and approve the Senate’s short-term extension. Republicans had opted for a one-year extension of the benefits package rather than eluding responsibility to constituents by “kicking the can down the road,” as several members of the GOP have stated. Despite opposition, Boehner continued to assert the GOP as “the party of lower taxes for the American people.”

“We have fought for lower taxes for the 21 years I’ve been in this Congress,” he said. “We’re going to continue to be the party of lower taxes.”

Differences between the parties also encompassed how to fund the programs for the next year, a sticky point which both sides will take up after returning to Washington in late January. Republicans favor offsetting costs by freezing the wages of federal employees; however, Democrats have long sought a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, those making upwards of one million dollars annually. The party temporarily dropped their plea after it became clear Republicans refused to consent.

A Wall Street Journal editorial accused House Republicans of giving Obama the upper hand in the political arena and advised the party to pass a quick extension of the benefits package in order to “cut its losses.”

Reaching Consensus

Boehner finally reached across the aisle and conceded to the Senate’s demand after the House adjourned the Tuesday before Christmas, caving to mounting opposition from Democrats and some Senate Republicans who had already headed home for the holidays after approving the short-term tax cut legislation. Senate Republican John McCain (R-Ariz.) stated in a tweet that the Wall-Street Journal was “right on the mark” after calling the House strategy a “fiasco.” The agreement came just nine days before the deadline.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested a compromise later adopted by House Republicans that provided for the passage of the two-month extension in exchange for a conference committee appointed by Senate members for the purpose of coming to terms on a longer-term solution. The proposal received support from both the President and the Senate Majority Leader, the former praising Congress’ efforts to “end the partisan stalemate” while also emphasizing the urgency for congressional action to extend the payroll tax relief for the remainder of 2012. The bill was passed by unanimous consent, which did not require all House members to return for a vote.

Before consensus had been reached, Obama, who had delayed his Hawaiian vacation because of the deadlock, chided House Republicans for their unwillingness to compromise on an issue on which “an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree.”  The White House also launched its own campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and whitehouse.gov entitled: What Forty Dollars a Paycheck Means to American Families. Congress’ latest action prevented working Americans from losing $40 from each paycheck beginning January 1^st.

Peorians Weigh In

Central Illinois residents have followed the squabbles in Washington closely over the past few weeks, some expressing anger over Congress’ inability to reach an agreement on a one-year extension while others are grateful a short-term solution has been passed.

“I’ve been unemployed for over a year after my company downsized and over 200 workers lost their pay,” says Martha Yates, a 42-year-old single mother of three. “For me and my kids benefits for two months is better than no benefits. It’s not a job, but it’s something.”

Ray Bachmann, a computer programmer, is thankful for the two-month extension but still says Congress isn’t doing its job. “It would be nice if workers had some certainty about what’s going to happen for the remainder of the year rather than practically living month to month without any knowledge of what’s going to happen next. Congress hasn’t lived up to my expectations. I’m hoping they can put something more long-term together in the future.”

The downstate Illinois writers in this issue are: Pepper Bauer of Mapleton; Ray Pierce and Cindy Baker of Peoria; Derek Kohlhagen of Morton;  Janice Croom of Bloomington; Jim Courter of Macomb; T.R. McKay of Hampton along with James Linn and Tacuma Roeback of Chicago and Danny Hankner of Davenport, Iowa.

Illustrations are by Ed Levene of Peoria and Amy Frasca of Champaign.

Published by Downstate Story, Inc., an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, the magazine aims to present original fiction by Illinois writers and writers with ties to Illinois and the Midwest as a quality alternative to today’s mass-market publishing.  The cost is $10 and is available at bookstores and gift shops, or can be ordered from the publisher or website.

The publication makes an interesting gift from the region, and is easily mailed.

THE FACTS

1. Limited edition. Probable collector’s item. Original art.

2.  Politically correct. Contributors paid for their work. No government funds used. Union printer.

3. Something for everyone.  Stories reflect diversity of authors, and include romance, horror, fantasy, mainstream fiction.

4. Promotes quality reading.  Content  realistic but not X-rated.

5. Promotes Illinois and Midwestern writers and artists.

6. Unusual concept for the arts.  Provides outlet for local writers and artists to reach local audiences.

7. Original work. None ever published before.

8. Quality work. Stories and art comparable to work in Harpers, Atlantic, The New Yorker.

9. No poetry.

DOWNSTATE STORY, Voume. 20

Authors:

Pepper L. Bauer, Mapleton, IL

Ray Pierce, Peoria, IL

Cindy Baker, Peoria, IL

Derek Kohlhagen, Morton, IL

Jim Courter, Macomb, IL

Janice Croom, Bloomington, IL

Dan Hankner, Davenport, Iowa

Tacuma Roeback, Chicago, IL

James Linn, Chicago, IlL

T. R. McKay, Hampton, IL

Artists:

Ed Levene, Peoria, IL

Amy Frasca, Champaign, IL

CHRISTMAS NOTES

The radio airwaves in December were filled with Christmas music. At the risk of being accused of a degree of bias, WOAM, in my opinion, played the most and best music of the season 24/7 with commercials coming in second. Not so with other “Christmas music stations.” Bah humbug, as Stan Freeburg would say.

Interestingly, one TV channel played “The Christmas Story” over and over and over. It sure brought to mind wonderful Christmas memories as the era depicted was when I was a young boy. It was a great movie. By the way, what happened to the large leg lamp that used to be prominently displayed in the front yard of the house facing I-74 in East Peoria? I missed it this year.

One of the most emotional Christmas stories I’ve even read was written by author Norm Kelly. It was about a Christmas he experienced with his family. At Norm’s request, I read it live on “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” with Mannheim Steamroller’s arrangement of “Silent Night” as background music. A number of listeners said Norm’s account brought tears to their eyes. He’s a damn good writer, but this story was even too personal for him to narrate. I found it difficult to read as well.

One of the most enjoyable traditions of Christmas is the exchange of cards. All of the cards, especially those with notes, are warm and wonderful to read several times over a cup of hot chocolate. My favorite was the one Nancy and I received from Jonathan Winters. On the cover was a picture of Jonathan in a Santa suit with Betty Furness. It was a photo taken for a Christmas commercial for Westinghouse. Remember the company slogan? “You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse.” The inside of the Winter’s card was a more recent photo of Jonathan in a Santa suit without the customary beard. He also drew a unique tree and penned a personal note. A collector’s item for sure.

POLITICAL NEWS

What’s going on in the local Republican Party? Rumors are flying. There are all kinds of races for Republican precinct seats. In Medina 1, Linda Lehman is running against Karen Taylor and in Medina 5, W.G. Lippert will face Brady Miller in the Republican primary. In other GOP primaries Blair Gambill opposes Beverlee Hayes in precinct 48 and in the 75th, its Matt Gill opposing Michelle Quinn.

In other GOP contests, William Lopotko and Tiffany Tebben want to represent the party in the 74th while Glendon Morton and John Spangler do battle in the 86th. More surprises on the ballot include the withdrawal by long-time GOP operative Mary Alice Erickson in the 77th precinct in favor of Donald Hoerr II and over in the 89th precinct Karen Oberlander has filed petitions opposing Aaron Shock as precinct committeeperson. Wow! Wouldn’t that be something if Shock lost? It would make national news!!!! Not going to happen. In another surprise, Jody Pitcher wants to unseat Eric Turner as the precinct leader in the 72nd.

So what’s going on? In my political days, getting people to be precinct committeeman was like pulling teeth. No one wanted to go door-to-door pimping for candidates. I mean, going door-to-door distributing campaign literature. No one. It was a thankless job. I know I did it for many candidates from my Dad to Ray LaHood.

While I volunteered for Ray, my Dad volunteered me for his campaigns when I was a teenager. But, I digress. Here are two rumors floating around the political grapevine. One is Aaron Shock wants to have stronger control of the Republican Party in Peoria County. The other is many Republicans want Rudy Lewis out as chairman of the Peoria County Central Committee.

To achieve those ends, one has to have the majority of precinct committee votes. I have no idea why there are so many contests for precinct leadership. Lewis, by the way, is running against Democrat Tom O’Neill for Peoria County Board District 17.

On the other side of the political aisle, Allen Mayer, who’s run for more offices than anyone in recent county history, will have opposition for his District 6 county board seat. The on again and off again politician will face fire fighter Rich Waldron. It’ll be interesting to see if the fire union has any political clout left these days. If they do, Mayer could lose. And as predicted in this column, Republican Brad Harding will have a contest for his District 16 county board seat in the general election next November. Democrat Bill Atwood has filed his petitions.

STRAIGHT THOUGHTS

There’s been a lot of changes on the local TV scene. New weather people are on Channel 25 and a new sports guy is on Channel 31. I won’t mention their names because they could be gone next month. Folks, there’s no security in broadcasting.

I can’t leave 2011 without remembering two special people, one in entertainment and the other in sports. Don Mathews, former basketball player and coach, died suddenly, and wonderful entertainer and friend, Mike Dentino passed away after a very brief illness. I was pleased to have paid a lengthy tribute to Mike in this column several months ago when he was alive. He thanked me profusely for the column. The week before he fell ill, Mike appeared on “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” as he had done many times before. We paid tribute to Mike on our program the day after he died. The three hour tribute was recorded and will be made available to his family and friends.

I knew Don Mathews much longer than Mike and we had mutual friends. I don’t want to scare future guests on our morning program, but Don also had recently appeared on our show. As a player, teacher and coach, Don touched many lives during his life-time, as did Mike. And for the life of me, I don’t understand the lack of coverage in the local media about the two of them. With due respect, one of the TV stations spent more time praising a donut maker in Bloomington who passed away than Don or Mike. But that happens when news editors are hired from out-of-town with no connection to the community or any knowledge of community history.

Congratulations to former State Senator George Shadid. He and his wife are moving into a their newly constructed home in the Edwards area a short distance from where they lived before moving into their apartment on State Street. George apparently misses the wide open spaces and a larger area for his “green thumb.” He has a reputation for growing some of the best tomatoes in the state.

What’s all the moaning about a bill requiring people in the back seat of cars to wear seat belts? They’re at risk as much as those in front seats. Canada has had such a law for over 20 years. I know. A friend of ours received a warning citation about 10 years ago when we were stopped not far from Calgary. Obviously, the Canadian trooper was not persuaded by our argument that we didn’t know since the U.S. had no such law at the time. Bottom line is everyone in a car should wear a seat belt just like people on motorcycles should be required to wear safety helmets.

PEORIA JOURNAL:

IS IT A NEWSPAPER

OR MAGAZINE?

As I opened Christmas boxes of lights and ornaments for decorations this season, I noted one of the packing papers was a Peoria newspaper from 1951. I sat down and opened it to read for a few minutes. I was fascinated by the huge difference between that paper and one printed today. Can you believe that on page one in the 1951 edition there were 19 stories. Get that. 19! Today’s Peoria paper has a meager three and two of them are not news, but feature stories that could be located anywhere, if at all. All of the stories in 1951 were news, interesting news.

I would recommend Peoria Journal publishers revisit what was done over 60 years ago. They just might save the newspaper. In the meantime, they need to figure out whether they want to be a newspaper or a magazine printed on cheap paper.

I wish I knew what the real story is on the so-called “affiliation” between Methodist Medical Center and the Iowa Health System plus the departure of former CEO Michael Bryant. While I applaud the appointment of long-time employee and nurse Debbie Simon as permanent CEO replacing Bryant, questions continue in the medical community about the affiliation. Why was it necessary if hospital finances were so solid? In a recent news release, the connection between Methodist and Iowa was called a “senior affiliation,” but no delineation was made or defined. After OSF St. Francis announced its $400-$500 million building program, recently completed, Bryant announced plans for a new Methodist Hospital costing an estimated half-billion. Those plans were scrapped, apparently, in favor of a new Hamilton parking deck and a new Hamilton entrance with a second skywalk and the closing of the main entrance on Glen Oak. Some question that entrance and the crooked drive, especially van drivers who have to negotiate the “hair-pin” turn.

Don’t you just love to root for local and area athletes as they compete? It was exciting to watch Metamora football star and now quarterback for Purdue, Caleb TerBush, lead the Boilermakers to victory over Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. We cheered when Peoria Central’s D.J. Richardson and former Bradley star Sam Maniscalco helped the Illini win in two overtimes against a scrappy Minnesota Gopher team. What a game!

HEALTH ITEM

Is it possible after all of the high caloric foods we ate over the holidays to drop 11 pounds in seven days? The famous TV physician, Dr. Oz, thinks so. In a recent show he pointed to African mango as something we can eat or ingest to successfully lose weight. I won’t go into the details outlined in a magazine article about how it works, but I’ll tell you I visited Naturally Yours in the Metro Center to learn there’s been a rush on the product known as African mango seed extract. They were plum out of the supplement since there are studies that claim it will not only help you lose weight, but will reduce LDL cholesterol by 46% in four weeks.

Dr. Oz says taking 150 mg. of African mango seed extract twice a day will also reduce belly fat. My name is on the call list when it arrives at Naturally Yours.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it.” —Ben Franklin

After all, it was local workers who voted to unionize, and central Illinois donors and hospitals who are watching the rather embarrassing proceedings.

Personally, I’ve benefited from a Red Cross CPR class and donated blood and money to the Red Cross, but recent actions that some suspect did not originate with local management are troubling.

Representing the Red Cross, Wisconsin lawyer Michael Modl erroneously described planned leafleting by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) at a Dec. 21 blood drive at the Par-A-Dice casino as “picketing” and the event was cancelled. Modl asked AFSCME to refrain from its protected, concerted activities; AFSCME planned to distribute handbills thanking people for donating blood and updating them on Red Cross negotiations.

“The real reason for the Red Cross cancelling the blood drive [is] they are ashamed of their behavior towards their employees and the union, and do not want the donating public to find out about it,” said Kent Beaucamp, regional director of AFSCME Council 31.

Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the Red Cross broke federal law in eight Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) and federal Judge James Shadid issued an injunction that the Red Cross rescind changes in employees’ terms of employment and bargain in good faith. The NLRB said the Red Cross illegally changed wages, hours and working conditions following the June 1, 2007, representation election. Workers voted 112-48 in favor of unionizing, according to the certification – made on October 7, 2010, after Red Cross litigation delayed even counting ballots for more than three years.

The Red Cross nationally says that it treats all employees fairly.

“We value each of our highly trained blood services employees,” said Stephanie Millian, Red Cross director of biomedical communications.

In a statement offered when the NLRB filed suit against the Red Cross in August, the organization said it “strives to treat our unionized employees with fairness and respect.”

However, the national Red Cross has widespread problems with employees. Disputes have involved unions including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT); Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Communications Workers of America (CWA); Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU); United Auto Workers (UAW); United Steelworkers (USW); International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA); the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and AFSCME, in St. Louis, plus Arizona, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington state and West Virginia.

Hundreds of Unfair Labor Practice complaints have been issued against the Red Cross nationally since the mid-1990s, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been called in to facilitate bargaining about 150 times.

Some say the problems aren’t the fault of local leaders.

“Despite contentions by the American Red Cross that negotiations are handled on the local and regional level with workers and unions most affected, [lack of progress] suggests that the Red Cross national Human Resources Department is actually coordinating and directing the efforts to de-professionalize the workforce,” said author Philip Dine, who wrote a comprehensive 2009 report, “Labor Relations at the American Red Cross and Its Impact on Employee and Donor Safety.”

“Contract negotiations that used to be handled by regional or local officials are now run by the national Red Cross, coinciding with contentious negotiations.”

Jim Nowlan, a member of the Central Illinois Chapter Board of Directors, says he has noticed a trend toward consolidating away from local control.

“I’m on the board of the disaster side, not the blood-services side, but the Red Cross overall is experiencing what I’d call a centralization of authority to Washington [headquarters],” Nowlan said. “It seems like recent reorganization has taken some of the activities that used to be controlled locally and taken them up above even the regional level, to the division level or higher.”

St. Louis Red Cross worker Duane Jablonski, a 21-year Red Cross employee and a 30-year donor, says the organization used to take “incredibly good care of employees,” but that changed in the last 10 years or so. Jablonski said he’s “not a disgruntled employee; I’m definitely a dedicated employee” – but he says he’s seen the atmosphere change from “a pride thing to work for the Red Cross” to one where “they just use you up and throw you away.”

In Peoria, the ULPs range from not furnishing information as required and refusing to bargain in good faith in more than a dozen bargaining sessions, to illegally changing pay, pension contributions and health benefits, and improperly reclassifying bargaining-unit workers as supervisors. In Administrative Law Judge Arthur J. Amchan’s decision on the NLRB charges, he said the Red Cross must “cease and desist and take certain affirmative action designed to effectuate the policies of the [National Labor Relations] Act.”

Represented in negotiations by another Wisconsin attorney, Charles Pautsch, the Red Cross could appeal the order, further delaying an agreement.

“We’d like to resolve all the issues at the bargaining table rather than have a third party impose decisions,” said AFSCME Council 31 representative Tim Lavelle.

Besides the mandatory bargaining issues of wages, hours and working conditions, unanswered questions include the ULPs, a dispute about the Red Cross changing its past practice of 3 percent annual merit pay following a yearly evaluation, and the consequence of the Red Cross stopping its contributions to workers’ 401(k) plans.

“Our position is we can settle all this in negotiations,” Lavelle added.

Millian, the national Red Cross spokeswoman, said, “Whether we have reached tentative agreement on an item, or an issue is still being disputed, each is a local matter applicable to the local bargaining unit employees.”

If that’s so, it’s time for local leaders to negotiate.

Contact Bill at: bill.knight@hotmail.com

This past summer for the very first time, a fish was photographed using a “tool.” When I was in college, humans were considered the only critters to use tools. It’s gradually become obvious that we aren’t as unique as we thought. There are a lot of animals that use “tools,” anything from sticks to stones, to obtain food. There was even a crow that used a tool to make a tool. We are only now becoming aware of the richness of the animal kingdom, the diversity of behaviors, and amazing abilities of a wide variety of animals.  Perhaps this will bestow upon us the gift of humility.

There may finally be a partial answer to one of life’s most persistent questions, which dates all the way back to the time of Noah. How many species are there in the world? Recent research at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia now provides a reasonably accurate estimate… 8.7 million species.  6.5 million of these live on land, 2.2 million live in the oceans.  This number excludes the vast world of bacteria.

We may not all be mathematicians, but we continue to multiply… On Halloween of 2011, the Earth’s human population hit 7 billion. How many people is this? If we all joined hands, we could form a line that could encircle the Earth 175 times… or reach to the moon and back nine times. Each year the planet gains about 80 million people.  This is equivalent to adding the entire population of Germany… each year! You don’t have to be a population expert to realize this is unsustainable and threatens all life (ours included).

Joplin, Missouri was hit by a monstrous EF 5 tornado this past May, which killed dozens of people and left much of the city looking like a war zone. Unfortunately it was only one of many natural disasters that occurred in 2011. There were ten major weather disasters just in the United States. Brazil was beset with landslides, Pakistan and Australia dealt with horrific floods, East Africa suffered through drought, as did China.  Greater frequency and intensity of storms as well as a lack or precipitation are attributable to global warming.

Speaking of global warming… Climatologist, Dr. Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, stated, “The year 2011 is another exclamation point on the overall downward trend that we see in sea-ice extent.” According to Dr. Georg Heygster, physicist at the University of Bremen, Germany, we are witnessing the lowest coverage of sea ice since records began. This alarming rate of loss is outpacing computer projections. It’s possible the Arctic summer could be ice free by 2030. Back in the mid 70’s, satellites began recording the extent of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. At one point there were 3 million square miles of it. Last summer that number had shrunk to 1.67 million square miles… the second lowest extent on record. This trend is catastrophic to animals adapted to the Arctic environment.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Lab were able to look back as far as 550,000 years at climate in great detail (thanks to a 260 foot long sediment core).  It was discovered that the southwest undergoes periodic megadroughts lasting centuries.  The most recent one included the so-called “dust bowl.” People in the southwest could be in for a period of cooler wetter weather, unless greenhouse gasses interrupt the cycle.

Dr. Joachim Hallmayer admits there is much we don’t understand about autism. But his research suggests that environmental factors are responsible for more than half of the risk for developing the condition. A study of nature versus nurture… that’s what Stanford University School of Medicine conducted in deciphering whether autism is triggered by genetic or by environmental factors. Genetics accounts for about 40 percent. Now the challenge will be to unravel exactly what these factors are.

Mosquito transmitted disease is responsible for vast amounts of human suffering. Examples include malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, West Nile, and dengue. An Australian team has come up with a novel approach to combat dengue fever (a deadly disease that sickens up to a hundred million people each year). Using ultra thin needles, they injected vector mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a harmless bacterium found in most insects. Scientists are uncertain why this prevents the mosquitoes from spreading dengue, but it does.

Chinese researchers discovered that genetic material known as microRNA from plants, can not only survive digestion, but can show up in the blood stream where it sometimes combines with human RNA. This can impact the body’s ability to deal with such things as cholesterol or flu viruses. Effects could be beneficial or harmful. This opens the door to a whole new area of dietary and therapeutic research.

The Yellowstone River was tainted with 40,000 gallons of crude oil in July, thanks to an Exxon Mobile pipeline that burst beneath the river in Montana. 140 residents were evacuated due to fumes, and the spill travelled some 240 miles downstream. Two factors may have contributed to the spill: debris stirred up by flood waters, or thick abrasive and acidic Canadian crude, which likely corroded the pipe from the inside. We continue to pay a heavy price for our continuing dependency on oil.

For more info, do a Google search for:  top science news 2011.

So, WMBD 31 joins WEEK/WHOI in the not-treating-their-workers-right camp. And then you have the Journal Star, which is working towards the day when not one single non-management employee and all the staff reports will come from press release or mindless story-writing robots, or something.

But don’t worry. We’ll always have public television and public radio … as long as Republicans don’t cut funding too much. But don’t worry, we’ll always have blogs and social media to keep us all informed … as long as Congress doesn’t pass the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would let the Journal Star and the TV stations the ability to demand that the Websites stop publishing on their say-so alone.

Well, we can also scribble the news on the side of empty brown garbage bags and tuck them under peoples’ car wipers. They haven’t illegalized that yet.

Koehler calls it quits in the 17th

Dave Koehler says he is NOT going to run for the 17 District seat in the House of Representatives.

That’s good news for Cheri Bustos, who has been the leading candidate for the seat, and the leading fund raiser. It’s moderately good news for three other non-name candidates in the Democratic Party because now they just have to face Bustos.

It’s bad news for Peoria County Board member Allen Mayer who was planning to seek the Democratic nomination for Koehler’s Illinois Senate seat, but has decided to drop out. Firefighter Rick Waldron was going to seek Mayer’s seat on the County Board, but who knows what he is going to do now.

It’s bad news for James Polk, the former Peoria City Council and current ICC board member. He is going to continue to seek the Democratic nomination for the Illinois Senate seat, but will have to face Koehler in the primary. It’s bad news for Pat Sullivan, who will now have to face the tough-to-beat Koehler (probably). But then Sullivan will no doubt be the toughest foe Koehler has faced.

And Koehler’s decision will have absolutely no effect on Robert Shilling, the current 17th District representative. The Republican has almost zero chances of getting re-elected, whether he faces Koehler, Bustos or a ham sandwich.

So why is Koehler dropping out? He told the Journal Star it’s because he wants to help clean up the mess in Springfield. Which is BS of course, Bustos was killing him in fundraising, and being (temporarilly) the choice of Dick Durbin didn’t mean diddly squat.

Bustos has proven herself to be a solid Democratic candidate and a good communicator. Koehler, on the other hand … well, he marched with a bunch of local Republicans in the Santa Claus Parade. I’m just saying that people who vote and pay attention to politics people notice these things.

Silence is not so golden

Why is it when I am watching local stations on Comcast recently, the sound cuts out, for minutes at a time? Are the managers at the local stations aware of these issues? Have they adopted a “good enough for horseshoes and hand grenades” strategy of product quality? Maybe it will cost more to provide viewers will reliable sound, and the thinking is, well, we’re not losing enough viewers to make it cost effective to actually fix the problem, so why bother fixing it? Or maybe the laziness is all the fault of Comcast?

Who knows.

With the exception of Ron Paul, who I’m convinced is still a political Libertarian, I’ve found myself pondering whether the Republican candidates for President in their zeal to appeal to the Righteous Right have displayed more their arrogance or their ignorance. Both of which I find flabbergasting, to say the least. However, in speaking with one of my sons last evening, the puzzle was resolved.

“It’s both, Mom, it’s arrogant ignorance,” he said. And listening to these Good Old Boys over the past weeks try to out-do one another in their attempt to blatantly violate that document they pay such raucous lip service to – our Constitution – I thought, he’s so right.

Could it be that, just as with so many of the bills they ‘yay’ or ‘nay,’ they’ve never bothered to read this document? Or is it that they figure that so few Americans have read both it and the other of our Founder’s documents that they can slip their proselytizing propaganda by those of us who have?

Whichever, as one who adores genuine history and abhors the re-writing of it that is so prevalent of late, I would like to offer to those candidates who appear to be running for Pulpit Master rather than President just the final 20 words from Article 6 of the Constitution proper: “ … no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or Public Trust under the United States.”

These treasured words come down to us, lady and gentlemen, from the original framers of the Constitution you seek to swear an oath to uphold and preserve; they are not an amendment, nor should any American voter allow any of you to amend them with your particular brand of superstition.

Europe and the USA have many things in common, one of which noted currently is the massive debt crisis both are experiencing because of politicians who fail to learn from history. George Santayana noted that those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. In both Europe and the United States, power-hungry politicians have been trying to buy votes with money we don’t have, taxing not only this generation but every generation in the future, guaranteeing a lower standard of living for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. These short-sighted politicos, thinking only of the present, seem to think they can go on forever, steadily increasing the public debt, by just printing more and more money without an equal increase in goods and services, hoping to find someone to buy our consequently less and less valuable bonds. As history has repeatedly shown us, this does not work. Every society that has tried this has collapsed. A prime example is the Soviet Union. If socialism were a better system, we would all be speaking Russian. Previously democratic civilizations and nations that have tried this have collapsed into dictatorship. Some noteworthy examples are the Greeks, the Romans, and the post-World War I Weimar Republic of Germany, the latter printing so much money that its currency became virtually worthless, bankrupting the country, and resulting in the establishment of Hitler’s Nazi (National Socialist) party dictatorship that brought on the horrors of World War II.

It is time to rid ourselves of such history-ignoring, out-of-touch-with-reality, power-mad politicians, ousting them from power, and never let them in office again.