UNINTIMIDATED - BY GOVERNOR OF WISCONSIN SCOTT WALKER

A book that is a  must read by members of all political parties. That is, if you desire ANY steps toward sanity in governmental bodies, elected and appointed people and voters, who caused the mess in most states and our country.

Why Legalize Marijuana?

Two innocent unlucky people were killed by an alleged drunken motorist yesterday in the Peoria area. My heart goes out to the survivors of this tragedy.This nation loses approximately 42,000 lives per year in vehicular accidents. Far to many of these accidents have liquor involvement. Yet prohibition was tried and failed badly. People will drink and get drunk, prohibition or not. Not all people who are drunk, drive and have accidents. Almost all people who drink, drive.

People will use marijuana, legal or not. This drug can be bought in 15 minutes or less in any city in the country. Do the users know it is harmful to themselves? Most do but they think they are invincible and bad things happen to other users, not to them. Most users can handle the immediate harm just like all alcohol users can handle alcohol.

Most of the blue noses will say, "no way, legalize marijuana". (many of their kids, friends and acquaintances smoke a narcotic, cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc., all can be deadly habits, and use marijuana). They usually don't get drunk in public nor smoke illegal marijuana in public.Kids can fool their parents quite easily by lying if asked if they do certain things considered problematic to their health. Most all kids have some type of sexual encounter in their teens and many do not tell their parents or they lie to them.

But the blue noses are slowly losing the battle to people who think like me. I have never used illegal drugs. I seldom drink. I have no desire or need to use either. But I do know many people who use one or both, many times as "closet drinkers or marijuana users".

Many who are employed in eradication of marijuana do not want to see it legalized for fear of losing their jobs. The marijuana producers, distributors and dealers, join the bluenoses and frightened legislators, in efforts to stop legalization.

The benefits of of legalization are immense. Employment would rise drastically as money freed up from those employed in eradication, arrests, incarceration, etc., would be employed in preventative education, rehab of those who would find support in stopping or at least curtailing their personal usage

Illegal drugs today are used and distributed with no taxes to the governments. Tax revenues would have many uses including training and employing people to teach mandatory preventative education of those who would no longer be illegal buyers, rehab including job training and help in securing jobs for those coming off addiction; many times, with criminal records involving marijuana that prevent them from getting a living wage job.

Many prisons and jails would be relieved of the average $25,000 a year incarceration of those arrested and convicted. Family life would be enhanced by bringing prisoners back to their families. Costs to the user would be greatly reduced.

As a nation we should have enough voters to realize the truth in what I have just written. Sad, but as 42,000 people are killed yearly in vehicular accidents, no one would consider the banning of vehicles. No one in their right mind would try prohibition again. While some progress has been made in slowing the use of tobacco,: and that's a maybe, it depends on how many people surveyed, lie.And people lie a lot. Look at D.C. Springfield Chicago, etc.; cheating and lying goes on everywhere, including widespread cheating in our educational systems.

Learning from the mistakes made by states that already have legalized marijuana sales, should be very helpful for states considering legalization.

Blow all the hot air at me you like if you don't agree with most of what I have written. As has been written and said millions of times, "don't let the facts confuse one's thinking and stop one from doing the right thing".

If you read my blogs, you may be aware of my call for a national debate on the subject several years ago. All laws should be basically uniform but our elected officials don't always agree to do what another state is doing. Legalization of most things should be uniform so innocents are not arrested just because they travel outside their state. Or city or county, for that matter.

T

Peoria Journal Star Endorses Incumbent Mayor Dave Ransburg Over Jim Ardis

No Twitters' in election year 2005 but the PJS was rather scathing in their criticism of Mr. Ardis who defeated the incumbent Mayor Ransburg by 2700 votes .Raansburg was endorsed by everybody who was anybody, or thought they were. Still, Mayor Ardis is serving his third term while Ransburg is leaving his position as Chairman of the Peoria Riverfront Museum (PRM), a disaster some 15,000 of us voters saw long before the first spade of earth was turned.

In writing, "Ransburg has done a fine job as mayor; keep him" the PJS also wrote. 'Ransburg laid plans for a $100,000,000 first class Downtown museum that will attract tourists and boost the quality of life for Peorians. The vast majority of the support (money) will come from the private sector"

In actuality, the public sector, not the private sector, paid roughly 70% of the supposedly $97 million dollar museum. The PJS, and all reporters,  but Phil Luciano, continues to lie about who is paying for the museum, it's unknown and publicized cost and that it is, to this day, underfunded.  Ex-Mayor Ransburg promised to personally raise $10 million dollars when he never "personally" raised $1 million. They still mis-inform the public about the failed projection, especially the 240,000 attendees to the museum has turned out to be 145,000 and many of those are free.

In letters to the editors, Ardis struck back and criticied the PJS two times in year 2005 and a rather lenghty criticism of the PJS on 12/13/07. After several years of snipping at Mayor Ardis, the PJS finally found  the opening they were looking for and ran the "twitter' deal as front, full page, and on and on and on. Then, at first opportunity, wealthy Peoria City Councilperson Chuck Weaver, who envisions himself as succeeding Ardis as mayor, jumped into the fray to abet the PJS and it's columnists' to heavily criticize the mayor on the City Council floor.

Our Chief of Police, whose Detective Department seems wanting, found himself between "a rock and a hard spot", over-reacted and used more force than seemed necessary. (Some good lawyer, who supports legalizing "Mary Jane", as I do, should get the case against the unfortunate guy who owned or rented the place where the twitter 'tweeted' those really nasty tweets,  freed from any charges)

 It appears Ardis and the Chief made a mistake. So all the mayor's enemies, including those who supported Ransburg way back then, want to brand the mayor's career on this mistake and  make him a whipping boy, somewhat similar to what they, mainly the PJS,  have done with all others they do not like.

Jim, I have a great regret that this has happened to you and your family. Just another reason why the PJS, often called the "Urinal Star", has been such a deterrent to the those with "made" reputations are reluctant to run for public office. The PJS is one of the most liberal newspapers in the country which is evidenced by the frequent appearances of educated Socialists like Gene Robinson, one or so PJS reporters, etc.,  get so much more print space than factual reporters like Jonah Goldberg and Charles Krauthammer.

I dropped my PJS subscription but my wife bought a copy of today's paper. I will blog more on it's contents later.To the Journals credit, the paper was an interesting read today, once you wended your way through the ads.

Best wishes, Jim. We have not always agreed but being mayor of this town, is no EASY task.As I was quoted by the PJS way back when the Peoria Historical Society was being basically shut out of the new "artsy" museum, "there are too many big egos in this community". Plus a prejudiced major newspaper, not enough major businesses, weak school boards and strong unions, especially in the public education field.

City of Peoria Saves Drivers Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars with Flashing Yellow Turn Signal Lights

Thanks to the City Council and Staff. For those opposed to these every day savings of time and fuel, should go back to drivers school or in fact, shouldn't be driving.

Low Risk Release of People in Prison Good Idea If.....

there are jobs awaiting them. Providing them with very low cost housing for first two years after release if needed, low cost private job training or re-training facilities, low cost private mental health facilities, low cost health care where needed, transportation to and from facilities where needed and counseling readily available.

If it costs $25,000 a year or more to incarcerate, adequate rehabilitation funding should become available.

Put these things in place with competent people offering guidance and proper controls in place; then "go for it". Long overdue.If the government iw largely in charge of the above, expect a law or failure.

Placing them in public Vocational Schools like the big disappointment Woodruff Vocational School here in Peoria are largely a waste of time and money. In fact, Woodruff is not really a Vocational Training School. It is four schools combined in one building. Vocational Training school? Hardly.

That "private" is about 80% better than public is a proven fact. Unless the "crony" system rears it's ugly head.

Welfare People, Big Pension People Or Stupid People PAY to See Cubs Games???

No others should, especially people who have a job. Or are people more stupid than I believe. Take your kids to a little league game or if old enough, make them get a job.The last time I paid to see these pathetic bush league players stumble around over their wallets was 35 years ago.

Of course, families are bonding on overpriced everything and consuming lots of junk food and beer.  Better off taking their kids to a nature park or fishing.

Arrogant Castro should be sent to right field and the right fielder sent to minors. As Castro proved again today he is NO shortstop. The right fielder was out of position when he pretended to be hurt and he can't hustle. (where were all the high paid coaches? Plus the team has no closer. Period.

But then this team plays in Chicago that is in Illinois and Illinois is the  home of the most arrogant president in history. And felon Ex-Governor Blago. So what' difference is another loser??

Why do I watch, I'm multi-tasking and surfing.for a little stupid TV diversion.  I'd like to take the  wealthy owners to the woodshed. They no little about baseball and don't want a winner. They would need to give the overpaid winners more money.

So sad.

Leadership in the City of Peoria

Of course, I support freedom of speech. I have been ridiculed verbally, on TV and in print, yet few people have come to my defense or even get my side of the story. The ,medias in Peoria listen to only side of the story and print near libelous things without ever asking as in my case, my side of the story.. I hare been more supportive of Mayor Ardis in his first two terms. We have disagreed on the ugly museum and I was right, I'm not supportive of the ugly new Marriott, and I have great doubts about the sports center out north. Even though indoors at times, we have a lot of bad weather in Peoria,  In a few years it will probably ask for taxpayer dollars, just like our minor league baseball has been bailed out by $1.6 million oif tax dollars.(last year)  Mr Ardis succumbed to pressure from the elite that support and fund him. 

As to the Chief, his Detective Martin totally mishandled my theft of jewelry which I will never recover or the theifs' brought to justice

It is time for some changes to be made at City Hall.

Merle.

Foo Bar	3:44 AM (10 hours ago)
to me

Mr Widmer,

I've read your work and believe I understand the political principles which drive you. My impression has also been that you are generally supportive of Ardis and his leadership. I wonder, however, if you might take some time to think about your larger political goals and priorities and ask yourself if his recent decision making can be allowed to stand. I hope you will consider writing about the long history of (often nasty and personal) speech targeting politicians in our country and how our country would not exist without that tradition - which is why we take our first amendment rights as seriously as we do (or as I do, anyway).

I hope you will reflect on the conservative principles of stewardship of public funds and the appropriate uses of government and particularly of its police powers. I hope you reflect on government intervention in disputes which can be solved much more quickly, cheaply, and cleanly when individuals or small groups in society solve them on their own. We used to be a society that solved problems on our own - increasingly we are falling victim to to nanny-state thinking and to a "legalistic" culture in which all problems are solved with the criminal justice system.

After reading some of the messages at the root of the recent uproar I am convinced that Mr. Ardis and Settingsgaard are lying when they claim it wasn't clearly parody. Maybe you don't believe they are. Either way - the problem should never have been solved in the way they chose to solve it. I hope to read your thoughts on these matters.

Joe

From Friends to Enemies - The Joe Stowell, Sr. Family

I'll try to make this long story short. I first met Joe when he was basketball coach at Armington and I was basketball coach at Heyworth. When I left coaching, I became a salesman with a major company and a basketball referee. Joe hired me to referee games at Robertson Fieldhouse where Joe was then freshman coach. Joe encouraged me to become active in Bradley basketball. I was later to become a member of the Bradley Chiefs Club. I  was elected Vice-President and next in line to be President of the club until Joe was terminated and some resented that I was not a Bradley graduate.  I also led the fundraising drive that raised the most money in the club's history. Dick Versace succeeded Joe and fund-raising went ballistic.

When Joe became head coach at Bradley, I was among Joe's strongest supporters. I was one of four (Jim Maloof, Bill Roecker and I believe Grant Bush) who met with Dr. Jerry Abegg, President of the University to try to save Joe's job when so many felt he needed to be replaced. Dr. Abegg agreed to let Joe coach another year. When Joe didn't do some of the things Dr.Abegg requested he do, strong alumni convinced Abegg to terminate Joe.

I supported Joe to the end of his coaching career which came after he was removed or retired from being head coach of women's basketball. I had hired Joe, Jr. and Jim; later gave them my stock portfolio, hired Bradley graduates that Joe recommended; Dana Davis, Bob Humbles, David Booth, etc. Joe and I met for coffee frequently, went fishing, went to various places to play the horses or poker. Joe was later arrested in a high stakes gambling group, one in which I had never participated.

 Jim Stowell had handled some of my investments but when he and several others left en-masse to join another brokerage, I turned down Jim's request to transfer my funds to his new firm.

Jim was not happy

I depended on his recommendations to be in my best interes

My too late advise to others is seldom put your savings in the hands of friends but in the hands of those with the most proven track record; a mistake I regret making more than once.

So it came as some surprise that my arrest, first ever, in Sarasota on a "staged" misdemeanor, hit all the news media in Peoria within a couple of days. I was released within a couple of hours from non-confinement on $120 bond. Eight months later, I have yet to have a hearing and none in sight. Unfortunately, I had to hire an attorney but he is very capable as he was once States Attorney for Sarasota.

This is where the real revenge of the Stowell's began. Joe, Sr.called me and asked to have back a low cost Bradley Brave wrist watch he had given me 30 or more years ago. He also suggested I had borrowed a shotgun from him 40 years ago and never returned it. He had admitted he had lent the shotgun to others. Then I was able to secure a copy of an email Jim Stowell had sent to all the medias in Peoria of a clipping that appeared in Sarasota's version of the "National Inquirer". He wrote that the clipping had been sent to him by his brother Jerry, now a teacher in a Sarasota middle school. Jerry Stowell, some may recall, was head basketball coach at Metamora High School before he took a middle school teaching position in Sarasota. Records of  why he left  Metamora are confidential.

Jim tried his hand as being an elected governmental official and was not successful.

My "activist" shoulders are broad. Few know the research I do on what is happening in this community, the State of Illinois, my country and world events.  I earned no "brownie" points on my position as to why the ball park would have trouble succeeding, why the RiverPlex would strain Peoria Park District's budget while competing against private enterprise with taxpayer dollars, or why the PRM would be an attendance and financial failure, why Peoria County shouldn't own the museum building, etc. Or why Peoria School District would suffer from outside interference like the State and Federal government, a too large unpaid board, and an unforgiving union. (Read my dozens of blogs on the subject).

Few know the real story of my life. But many are interested in reading about other people's misfortunes. (The medias have made me their favorite "whipping boy" especially the Journal Star) Few suffer personal attacks for things that remain hidden in their "closets". Yes, my judgment at times may not be as good as I get older, hard of hearing and with less energy and at times, patience. Many of  my successes are largely forgotten and overshadowed by half-truths and personal attacks on me. I still have many friends but many friends and supporters are either dead, moved out of the area or are in some type of home they may not prefer.

Some of my "yesterdays" were not what I envisioned and  "tomorrow" may not be what I envisioned either. I am not alone. However, I am always ready to start a new day, hopefully optimistic, but wary of the future. It's hard to believe I will be too soon approaching 90 years on this planet. This blog that I thought long and hard about posting,  is my 2500th+ post since learning how to use a computer in year 2004.. All older posts are available to read by using the search bar appearing on all my posts.

When I was a 19 year old farm boy just drafted into Post WW2, I had no idea that one day I would attain to being one of Peoria's most successful business man (my name has stood on a business I founded for more than 50 years) a political servant and ending my days in some sort of personal and media generated notoriety.

Good grief!

Arkansas, ACLU, and Voter ID

Three cheers to the Arkansas politicians who overrode the Governor's veto of the law to require voters to present a photo before casting a vote. 100 boo's to the ACLU who has filed a lawsuit to continue to allow voters to vote without a photo ID..

Poor people can't afford a photo on an ID card? Infringes on their rights? That is plain Democrat bullshit because anybody with any smarts know that all these people who oppose new Voter ID laws, vote Democrat.

Kudos to Arizona and Kansas who already have Voter ID photos required before voting.

Never happen in Illinois because of our lack of competent leadership. Who are those leading this state into eventual bankruptcy? Why, those people who don't even know who FDR, Thomas Edison or George Washington was. Or the size of our current National Debt and it's projected amount in the year Obama, hopefully, leaves office.

Merle Widmer Has New Computer and New Email Address

I've been without a computer for almost a week. My new computer is a Lenovo from Nerds on Call. My new email address is on the right side of my blogs. Also find me at http://widmer-peoria-watch.blogspot.com

Add me to your list of favorites as I have a lot of information to blog on. And no, I have only been arrested once in my lifetime and I have never been been found guilty.

More on the Stowell brothers including  the emails sent by Jerry and Jim Stowell to all the media they could think of. They might want to ask their dad, Joe, Sr. a question.

Hmmm.

Peoria Chiefs Comm Baseball Club LLC 2013 Partnership form 1065 Schedule K-1

My personal tax reporting form for 2013 showed under "Ordinary business loss" $30 dollars on the three quarters of one share of stock I paid $50,000 for in 1994.. Opening night drew 2800 plus while in 2012, opening night drew 3200.

Interesting.

Interesting also after the City of Peoria forgave $1.6 million cash they gave this privately owned club 10 years or so ago. And the new bank reduced the interest and Cat bought naming rights.

Peoria's Journal Star Reporters Continue to :Lie About PRM Numbers

In Sunday's JS,. veteran show biz reporter Steve Tarter continued to spread his myth about the cost of the "boondoogle on the riverfront", the PRM. Steve continues to write the cost of the museum to be $40 million when the actual cost of the museum project, not including the Caterpillar Visitors Center was last reported to be $97 million.

Overall, taxpayers contributed $41.6 million or more through the 1/4 cent sales tax. Plus interest on the 20 year bonds as all the money from this facility sales tax has gone to the PRM construction. Overlooked by Tarter is the value of the land donated by the City of Peoria, estimated value from $12-18 million. Plus the money raised by Ray LaHood of federal funds, taxpayer cost, of around $6 million to help finance the underground garage, Grants from NASA, taxpayer cost, a Labor-Employment training grant of $95,000, courtesy of the feds through LaHood, Sewer, street alignment, etc. paid by the city, well over $1 million, courtesy of the taxpayers, ISHA donation, cost to the taxpayers who support ISHA, planing, architects, consultants, trips totaling over $10 million dollars BEFORE a spade of earth was turned, etc, total up to over $72 million cost to taxpayers while the touted private contributors in the end, contributed about one third the cost (they originally  promised to pay 2/3rds of the $97 million dollar museum) that drew 145,000 visitors well off the projected 240,000 visitors per year touted frequently by the JSEB,  JS Reporters Scott Hillyard and Steve Tarter.

Only Phil Luciano of the JS got it right in his columns, plus myself, C..J. Summers, Karrie Alms and 15,000 no voters.

Again, in Sunday's JS, Tarter continued the myth of projected attendance of 180,000, a reduced offered by departed PRM Administrator, Jim Richeson when he quickly saw that those of us that studied the facts, were right and he an many Peoria elites, were wrong.

The museum will lose over $2 million a year, the business community will NOT get the $16 million a year in new business, all of which I projected in my 20 plus researched blogs covering this boondoogle on the riverfront.

And Peoria County taxpayers are stuck with owning the entire musuem building.

Better an empty hole as the JSEB folks stated? No, a green park, tree and benches, outdoor ice skating rink, an aquarium, etc. Millions of dollars that could have gone  for far more worthy causes to make Peoria really earn the status of an All-American city.

So sad and an ugly edifice to-boot. And a museum with an imitation IMAX; an IMAX that was guaranteed to be in the museum is instead a privately owned venture out on the Northwest corner of Peoria.

Peoria Riverfront Museum Faulty Construction May Cost Taxpayers $2 million or More

According to a Peoria County Board Member, Peoria County, who owns the PRM building (you may recall I warned the County about ownership and voted against County ownership) will most likely be held responsible for the massive construction .problems that have and are occurring at this new $97 million dollar boondoogle opposed by 48% of the voters.

I understand that the local architect and the Chicago Contract overseer are denying responsibility. Of course, what's new?? Possibility of a lawsuit and the lucky legal firm is rubbing their hands. Don't be surprised if the law firm has connections with the PRM Committee member or members.

Did it ever appear in print who got the bond bid and if they had connections with anyone on the PRM Committee?

The damaged Ansel Adams piece or pieces damaged by moisture WERE SURELY insured by the PRM people. But how sizable is the deductible??

Oh well, those that know more than the rest of us will surely step forward and bail the County out of this dilemma.

Want to bet???

Drugs Smuggled Over and Under and Around Our Borders -

Sorry folks, we are the users and the law of supply and demand never changes.The health experts can harp on how bad it is for your health. Did it stop excessive drinking or my wife and several millions of others from being alcoholics??? This country will NEVER stop drug use, not even slow it down as the economy worsens and the economy will with the National debt reaching 20 Trillion and states like Illinois going bankrupt by year 2017.   We have too many Democrats and a lot of Republicans in command not smart enough to follow the successes of Wisconsin. Wise folks will read the book, "Unintimidated", by Governor Scott Walker  . Merle   April 4, 2014 By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents have uncovered two drug-smuggling tunnels underneath the U.S.-Mexico border, both surfacing in San Diego-area warehouses and equipped with rail systems for moving contraband, officials said on Friday. The discovery led to the arrest of a 73-year-old woman accused of running one of the warehouses connected to a drug smuggling operation, according to a joint news release by four federal agencies. The tunnels were discovered as part of a five-month investigation by the so-called San Diego Tunnel Task Force. Federal law enforcement officials said the first tunnel, which connects a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico, with one in an industrial park in the border community of Otay Mesa, is about 600 yards long and is furnished with lighting, a crude rail system and wooden trusses. The passageway is accessed via a 70-foot shaft secured by a cement cover and includes a pulley system on the U.S. side apparently intended to hoist contraband up into the warehouse. The second tunnel was even more sophisticated, built with a multi-tiered electric rail system and an array of ventilation equipment. "Here we are again, foiling cartel plans to sneak millions of dollars of illegal drugs through secret passageways that cost millions of dollars to build," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement. "Going underground is not a good business plan. We have promised to locate these super tunnels and keep powerful drug cartels from taking their business underground and out of sight, and once again, we have delivered on that promise," Duffy said. The two tunnels are the sixth and seventh cross-border passageways discovered in the San Diego area in less than four years, according to the task force. Since 2006, federal authorities have detected at least 80 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in California and Arizona, and seized some 100 tons of narcotics associated with them. http://news.yahoo.com/two-drug-tunnels-rail-systems-found-u-mexico-163343844--finance.html

What AREN'T Those Illinois Democrats Up To???

What Are Those Illinois Democrats Up To? by rsmb9

By Ron Brzoska

Most bad news is buried on a Friday. The most famous example is that companies tend to do their layoffs on a Friday. I have noticed that government has taken to this strategy in the last few years. Think back to how many times you have heard about a tax increase, bill, resignation, or report with a negative result on a Friday. The idea is that the public is so focused on the weekend that they won't be as upset by the news, if they even care at all.

This past Friday, The Illinois General Assembly passed a couple of joint resolutions out of committee hoping we wouldn't notice.

The first one was HJRCA52. This resolution is about voting rights and was filed by Speaker of the House, and Illinois Democratic Party Chairman, Michael Madigan. If passed, it will be on the ballot in November for adoption to the state constitution. The language is very harmless on its surface and quite admirable.

No person shall be denied the right to register to vote or to cast a ballot in an election based on race, color, ethnicity, status as a member of a language minority, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or income.

The language is so good that it passed with bi-partisan support... even though no one could understand why it was needed. My state rep, Ron Sandack, voted for this resolution in committee even though he has been quoted asking for an instance where someone was discriminated against, which would call for this resolution. Afterall, the Illinois Constitution already says "All elections shall be free and equal." Funny though, it is just like government to take a seven word sentence and turn it into a forty word sentence. To answer Representative Sandack's question, HJRCA52 is not about policy; it's about agenda. Madigan and the Democrats do not want voter ID legislation to go through. The tactic that they have taken is to equate voter identification with discrimination, particularly racism. Madigan just wrote his resolution to leave no stone unturned. No one is for discrimination, so even the Republicans will vote for it. Madigan wants Republicans on the record for the time when someone tries to introduce a bill for voter identification. Either he will portray the politician as racist, or the legislation as such. Then Madigan will point towards the state constitution and the overwhelming vote that placed his resolution there as reasons to defeat any voter integrity initiative. You don't get to be king of Illinois for forty years by being dumb.

The second resolution is SJRCA40. This is the latest attempt to introduce a progressive tax system.  A little more than a week ago, the first progressive tax bill was rejected in committee. It was very easy to see that it was a tax increase on every person on Illinois, which isn't going to be very popular, but that doesn't mean the Democrats want to stop trying. Speaker Madigan had floated the idea of a "Millionaire Tax" and here, on Friday, Senator Don Harmon (D) got his progressive tax resolution through his committee. How convenient. SJRCA40 reads as follows:

There may be one tax on the income of individuals and corporations. This may be a fair tax where lower rates apply to lower income levels and higher rates apply to higher income levels.

Please note that there is no mention of millionaires. Please note that the language used is "lower" and "higher". This not only indicates initial subjectivity when the rates are established, but allows for the rates to be changed to satisfy the opinions of higher and lower incomes at a future date. There also is nothing written into this resolution that limits us to two tax brackets. This resolution doesn't place a limit on the number of tax brackets. This, my fiends, is a progressive tax system by any other name.

So what do we do? We tell the truth in any forum we possess. We tell the truth over and over again. We bring sunshine to the intentions of Illinois Democrats and we wake up the voters. Democrats don't want to stop election fraud because they thrive on it. If you disagree, you will be labeled a racist. The Democrats want to tax your prosperity. If you disagree, you will be labeled as greedy. The truth, specifically the truth spoken loudly and by many, is the only way out of this.

rsmb9 | April 5, 2014 at 11:33 PM | Categories: Illinois | URL: http://wp.me/pzsAi-qf

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Common Core - The Big Picture

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From Education Week [American Education's Newspaper of Record], Thursday, April 3, 2014. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2014/04/field_testing_an_on-the-ground.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

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Field-Testing of Common-Core Exams Gets Off to Shaky Start at Md. High School

By Liana Heitin

Rockville, Md.

At Thomas S. Wootton High School, teachers and administrators seem to be in agreement that field-testing for the common-core assessments is off to a bumpy start. [See http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/21/26fieldtests_ep.h33.html ]

 

I spent the morning of April 2 in a computer lab at the school with 9th graders who were randomly assigned to take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, tests in English/language arts. This was the group's second attempt at completing the computer-based tests, which are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. [See http://www.parcconline.org/ ]

Last week, students at the school encountered technical difficulties-software systems that "weren't jiving," said Joseph Du Boyce, an assistant principal at Wootton High School-and eventually were sent back to their regular classrooms without taking the exam.

The school was originally slotted to administer the tests over five days, but because the Montgomery County, Md., district has had 10 snow days this academic year, school officials chose to condense the testing window. About 90 students will take the field tests over two nearly-full school days, this week and in May.

Both PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium have been field-testing their assessments this spring. By early June, when the process is complete, more than 4 million students in 36 states and the District of Columbia will have taken near-final versions of the tests in mathematics and English/language arts. As my colleague Catherine Gewertz explained in a recent Education Week story, this spring's field-testing is a critical part of the assessments' design process, aimed at figuring out what works and what doesn't. [See http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/21/26fieldtests_ep.h33.html ]

On the day I visited Wootton High, Mr. Du Boyce began by walking students through a Java update intended to help prevent software problems. He repeatedly urged the students to "be patient"-though his own actions revealed some edginess. He circled the lab with purpose and breezed through the instructions, which he later told me were "very unclear" and "poorly written."

"Let's pray this works," he said to students as they clicked the sign-in box on their computer screens.

The students, for their part, were both quiet and relaxed. Wootton, ranked among the state's top-five high schools by U.S. News and World Report, is known for churning out high Advanced Placement scores and graduates who end up at top-tier universities. Less than 5 percent of the 2,300 students there receive subsidized meals (a common indicator of poverty). Mr. Du Boyce told me the students were well aware that the field tests did not carry high stakes-in fact, he'd told them not to worry about their performance to relieve the anxiety that accompanies most testing days at the school. [See http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland ]

As the students began the PARCC test, Mr. Du Boyce was rushed out of the room to address a technical problem in another computer lab. A few minutes later, the two remaining proctors realized that none of the students had headphones, which were supposed to have been distributed before the test began. A couple of students raised their hands when they reached items that required them to listen to a reading-though some did not and plowed on. About 10 minutes after testing had begun, a staff member entered with the headphones PARCC had provided. The proctors couldn't help but laugh as they picked apart the mess of tangled cords.

'We've Been Learning'

David Connerty-Martin, a spokesman for PARCC, said the point of the field-testing is to discover problems.

"This is what's supposed to happen. This is so when we do the operational test next year in the spring of 2015 that we don't have these kinds of issues," he said. "If the instructions need to be rewritten in part, we'll do that. If there are pieces of software that need to be disabled in order for the test to work, we'll do that. And we've been learning those types of things."

Of the 200,000 students who've completed PARCC tests so far as part of the trial run, the "vast majority" have done so without incident, he said. There have been technical glitches here and there, he said-some at the local level and some with the platform-but "the good news is there are no systemic issues. There have been no major outages, there's no device that isn't working. This is part of the process."

For those I spoke with at Wootton High, the most frustrating part of the field-testing experience has been the amount of time it's taken away from classroom instruction.

"These kids are going to be double-tested," said Jennifer Martin, an English teacher there whose students were pulled out for the PARCC field-testing, referring to the fact that students still must take Maryland's high school exams this year.

 

"Couldn't you get volunteers to do this [field-testing] in the summer? We're robbing kids of several days so that Pearson [the company that developed the delivery platform for PARCC] can benefit." Some parents, she said, have chosen to opt their children out of the tests so they would not miss additional instructional time. (Ms. Martin has previously written blog posts for Education Week Teacher - See http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_ahead/2013/06/teacher-advocacy_advice_make_the_economic_argument.html ]

She recounted that one of her students welled up with tears upon learning that she'd been selected for PARCC testing, and that it would coincide with an exam-review day for one of her classes. The administrators ended up rearranging the field-testing schedule.

"I think that our school has handled it as well as it could be handled," said Ms. Martin.
JeanMarie Joseph, a special education teacher at the school who has taught for 28 years, said she's seen the evolution of states tests and understands there are often "rough spots to iron out" with new assessments. However, having experienced the computer difficulties while administering the test to a student with special needs, she said, with PARCC, "I've been underwhelmed so far."

The Big Picture

Mr. Connerty-Martin emphasized the need to think broadly about field-testing.

"This is an unprecedented, large-scale, multi-state collaboration," he said. "In order to make sure the test is fair and accessible and of the quality that we all intend it to be, you need to go through the process of testing the test."

In fact, some schools have requested to get involved, he said, to have more time to get to know the tests before they count.

"This is an opportunity for students and teachers to play a very active role in shaping the assessment that they will have to take for real next year," he said.

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SIDEBAR PHOTO: Chris Thompson, athletic director and history teacher, holds up a tangled nest of headsets meant for 9th graders taking the PARCC field tests at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Md., Wednesday, April 2. Photo by Swikar Patel/Education Week

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Twilight Years

   If Clint didn't really say this, then I did!  Merle

 My Twilight Years ~ Clint Eastwood

    As I enjoy my twilight years, I am often struck by the inevitability
that the party must end. There will be a clear, cold morning when there
isn't any "more." No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate
together, no more phone calls just to chat.

    It seems to me that one of the important things to do before that
morning comes, is to let every one of your family and friends know that you
care for them by finding simple ways to let them know your heartfelt beliefs
and the guiding principles of your life so they can always say, "He was my
friend, and I know where he stood."

    So, just in case I'm gone tomorrow, please know this.

    I voted against that incompetent, lying, flip-flopping, insincere,
double-talking, radical socialist, terrorist excusing, bleeding heart,
narcissistic, scientific and economic moron currently in the White House!

    Participating in a gun buy back program because you think that criminals
have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your
neighbors have too many kids.

    Regards,

    Clint

Caterpillar - Dow's Best Performer of the Year

Hope it keeps rolling upwards.

Ford Hood Mentally Ill Killer

Mentally ill and still had access to a weapon? This country has an over abundance of "sickos"; many being treated by psychiatrists. Psychiatrists almost always feel 'they are making progress' with the sick individual.

Hmmmm.

My heart goes out to the victims and all relatives and others affected.by a mis-diagnosed killer. Little satisfaction that he killed himself. Too bad the other sick Ft. Hood terrorist didn't kill himself or get killed. Our overt compassion keeps this killer expensively alive. Too bad.

I have a small connection to Ft. Hood. When I was a sales manager in Dallas, we covered Ft.Hood and I had an opportunity to visit the base.

Shake the Lousy Weather Blues With Stephanie

Hey beautiful people!

I am looking forward to a couple of gigs this weekend and I'm crossing my fingers that YOU can make one of them.  I love to return home and see all of the faces I miss when I'm in Chicago.  I will be playing with Larry Harms at the Contemporary Art Center tomorrow (Friday) with their Live at the Five Spot series.  It will be SWINGING with Derel Monteith on keys and Larry on sax, plus a couple of other hot players.  Bring a bottle of wine or grab a drink from the bar and kick off your weekend with us.  We play from 5:30 to 7:30.

On Saturday, we'll be hitting at Swinger's Grill in Normal, IL at 8pm and playing till 11:00.  We love Swinger's - great staff, yummy food, and we will do all we can to make the music sizzle.  We look forward to spending the evening with all of our twin city peeps.

Come on out - Spring is springing (slowly but surely) and we are swinging!

~Stephanie

Peora City Council - Conflicting Reports on Proposed Water Company Deal

A copy of a letter sent to all City Council People asking for clarification of the proposition which is cloudy and apparently not well thought out. There is money needed to REPLACE very old and worn water mains, money, vast  amounts needed to replace and repair our antiquated sewer system, vast  amounts needed for our all over the city public transportation systems, etc., and it all can't come like raindrops out of the sky.

 

It is GOING TO COME FROM LARGELY PROPERTY TAX PAYERS. Get real council and Mayor, that is if your capable. Most of you, if not all, supported the failing PRM which was an indication you DID NOT DO YOUR HOMEWORK like those of us who led the oppposition did.

  Merle

 

Honorable Members of City Government, 

The Water Company Franchise option, as presented, is unnecessarily complex. The street improvement project is not an essential part of the Water Company Franchise question.

We can agree that the City streets need repair and maintenance. Does the City have an itemized plan in hand? This would include the name and location of each section of each street, and a detailed description of the repair or maintenance. This would then result in a total of the estimated expenses and estimated completion dates. Is this plan available on line?

With this itemized plan in hand, the taxpayers can now discuss the method of payment of this particular plan. Of course, sunset would be included.

With the street issue identified and isolated, we can now examine the Water Company Franchise option.

What is the advantage for the City to grant a 20 year Franchise to the Water Company?

Respectfully,

Terry Rowe

Caterpillar's New Headquarters???

Four days back from a winter in Florida and I believe I know where the new Cat headquarters will be. It will be built in downtown Peoria after Taft Homes have been destroyed and the Taft residents are relocated to Weavers Ridge and Edgewild or places similar, that vacant land and the land bought by the city a dozen or so years ago directly south of the Taft Homes, the dilapidated and eyesore old Coliseum or Armory is given to Cat in return for tearing it down and Cat buying up old stuff on either side of Jefferson and building a St. Francis type walkway over Jefferson and there you have it. All this land with no cost to Cat except they may throw in the demolition as they did for the "boondogle on the Illinois River front" in the future known as the BIRF. Doesn't have a good sound , does it, but neither does the museum attendance figures. Published lately?? And the guaranteed $16 million NEW business courtesy of two Bradley Economic gurus??

Buying some old buildings downtown may have some use for Cat or have been a smokescreen or a backdoor deal with the mayor. (I understand Mayor Jim and one other Councilman had been working with Petersen owner of all or most of the hotels on the Northwest side of town, in privacy about a location and funding of the new sports complex for two years of so) This All-American City is really best known for it's transparency. Just ask the board and head honcho of #150.

Hmmm.

Surely the JSEB and it's staff of investigative reporters have figured this out the day Phil interviewed the two head honchos overseeing public housing in Peoria.

All speculation on my part so any one "pissed" at me needn't  bother to have your attorneys threaten me.

Mike Everett and the Peoria Area Unions Position

Some of you may have noticed that one the most ardent supporters of the "water company - City of Peoria  proposed 'back-door' tax' is Mike Everett, President - West-Central Building Trades Council. Here is what Mike Everett wrote on 9/11/08 about union support of what is now know as the Peoria Riverfront Museum "boondoggle" as those of us who studied the proposal knew that it's outcome would be just that.  Here is what Mike wrote in the JS:

"The West-Central Illinois Building and Trades Council strongly backs the "build the block" in Downtown Peoria. We represent 20 individual construction craft unions. Most of our 15,000 construction members live here in Central Illinois.

For too long the old Sears block has remained vacant. PRM and the Caterpillar Experience are the perfect projects to fill this empty hole in the center of Peoria.

Through an unprecedented agreement between Caterpillar; the Museum Collaboration Group and the Greater Peoria Area Contractors and Suppliers Association, these fabulous new facilities will be built with 100% local labor. This will mean hundreds of of jobs for our highly trained skilled building trades.

This project will have something for everyone: a museum for high school sports and other scholastic events, art and history , a digital IMAX theatre, a powerdome planetarium, Illinois River Encounter, traveling Smithsonian exhibits and a high-tech Caterpillar Visitors Center. This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Our community is a great place to live, (except for 5-6 months of each year, my comment) work and raise a family. But we cannot rest on our laurels. We have to step up and take our lives into our own hands.

To the building trades, this is not just another construction project. It is a choice to move our community forward. We fully intend to put our money where our mouth is.

So far we have eight organizations from the union construction industry pledging $485,000 to this project, and we are just getting started. Together we can "build the block."

Hmm. Anyone but me have any questions here? No IMAX but that is 'old hat'. 100% local labor? Hm. Eight constructions companies kicked in $485,000. How much did the other 12 kick in?? Was it pledged in cash or "in-kind"?? Big difference. Was it ever 'paid' and if so why no further info appeared in our local main rag. Why not?  What happened to the Lakeview Museum lady head honcho who seemed to have disappeared from her job? What happened to the Museum Director? Discharged or  so our local rag indicated. What happened to the IMAX? What happened to the 800 a day visitors? Why and what happened to to the promised $51 million Caterpillar Visitors Center later scaled to $37 million even with the top floor inhabited by Caterpillar off-limits corporate people.? Why is the Visitors Center top floor occupied by Cat staff unrelated to the VC?? That was NEVER mentioned by Cat or our local rag.

Now I find we have all kind of projects being floated around to raise money for our almost totally deteriorated sewer system and our water server and who will gain the upper hand in the deal now being studied by an out of town attorney.. And is it a back-door tax? And when an officials guarantees something, who know whether this employee will still be with the City or still with the water company 5 or so years from now. And as our unworthy president has proven, contracts are easily side-stepped or broken.

Then I catch up on reading the IP Magazine and it tells me I own a residence in a place nearly worthy of  God's Heaven. Then, I drive the south side and then I  have some conversations with some knowledgeable residents and then I head home dodging potholes and, and, and, and, and...........contemplate buying tickets for the NCAA Championship in 2022 to be played in Bradley's new Basketball arena holding at least 50,000 fans.with Geno and the Bradley Board and mascot being in the final four and, and....... then I remember Rome wasn't built in a day and.........Manual and Central Boys Basketball will NEVER EVER be the near what it was just a few years back, Or have you forgotten Chuck, Wayne and Van??

Florida to Illinois Highway Conditions and Gas Prices

Yes, I'm back from a winter in Bradenton, Fl. Drove 1100 miles Thursday to my daughter's home in Edwardsville. She had just returned from Germany after a visit with her son, Bill Greytak , Jr. who was leaving for his new service assignment in the Mediterranean area.

Gas prices were around $3.59 a gallon  in Florida but in Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, gas prices dropped to as low as $3.22. Then I hit Illinois where gas prices were the same as Florida but the temperatures and potholes in Illinois were hardly similar.

When I returned to Peoria on Friday AM, I was expecting to see a lot of worn out infrastructure but by this time today, I had driven on Peoria roads worse than I ever remember. Sure, it was a bad winter but Peoria is similar to IDOT roads, build them with low bid and then start maintenance almost immediately after the last yard of cement had been poured. Around the University-Main reconstruction area i observed what I have observed for as long as I can remember; 4-5 guys standing around while one piece of equipment and it's operator were the only things working.

Sure, weather conditions are not always ideal but the weather is not much different from the workers.

One thing noteworthy about Florida maintenance crews was that highway workers often worked in divided high traffic areas without one single bumper truck while Illinois usually has two and one time on RT. 57, three bumper trucks protecting 2-4 workers. Traffic being slower in the city, one bumper truck is sometimes one bumper truck too many.

As I have blogged before, the unionized states will never get their failing infrastructure repaired because there appears to be little incentive to work very hard. Hardly any surprise as the main job of unions is to keep all members employed. Slow down is the business managers message to those newer employees wishing to impress.

And so few women highway workers with the few white ones doing more work than any man and seldom any woman working a large piece of equipment or driving a truck One is ,more likely to see woman with brooms or holding stop signs. Still, the pay and benefits are top notch so why complain and complain to who without the fear of losing even a broom or sign job??

Where is the money coming from in Peoria? Maybe from the government but the government gets their money thru "back door tax" deals, raised fees in which the public has little or no input and multiple other taxes.

After 2-3 days in Peoria and catching up on old news, Peoria city residents or those who pay any taxes, must see their taxes raised and raised and raised. Those unionized, those on large pensions and the wealthy are mostly OK but the burden grows more heavily on the less fortunate workers every year.

But then, as one public works manager told me, the union bosses and business managers run the construction and repair shows..Note that union boss Mike Everett is a prime pusher of anything that keeps his union people employed. Such as the deal with IA and the city.(See Mike's comments verbatim on the PRM project above)

And of course, the "you must use all union people in construction" deals, such as the $500,000 pledge by the union to the PRM Committee or Committees. In-kind I suspect as our local news trumpet never explained whether the pledge was in cash of "free"??? work. If in "free work" who set the condition of "$500,000 worth of free work", Mike Everett or the PRM honchos??

Good question, Merle.

.