The few, the proud…the eloquent!

(Update on the bomb-outside-the-Forum story from the PJ Star.com):

Ex-Marine pleads not guilty in Macomb

27-year-old accused of throwing explosive device into crowd

Thursday, November 29, 2007
JODI POSPESCHIL
OF THE JOURNAL STAR

MACOMB – A former Marine accused of throwing an explosive device into a downtown crowd earlier this month allegedly told police “that wasn’t no firework” just before his arrest.

Chad Schafer, 27, of Macomb faces numerous felony and misdemeanor counts, including possession of explosives and possession of cocaine.

He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to throwing a lighted device from his apartment window on the west side of the Macomb square on Nov. 9. The flaming device landed in the crosswalk leading off the northwest side of the square and exploded.

Macomb police Lt. Dave Burnham testified Wednesday that he was on patrol in the area when he heard a “loud explosion.” Burnham said the explosion sounded much louder than an M-80 firework.

Police located Schafer coming from an apartment adjoining his own, and he initially told police he’d thrown fireworks out the window. He later told police it “wasn’t no firework” and that it was a homemade device created from items he purchased on the Internet.

Police got a search warrant for Schafer’s apartment and found drugs and drug paraphernalia but no other explosive devices, production parts or fireworks.

Burnham said the video cameras in two city squad cars recorded the explosion and both cars, parked about one block away, appeared to shake from the blast. No one was injured.

Burnham also testified Wednesday that Schafer admitted setting off two similar explosions in Macomb; one in September and one two weeks prior to the crosswalk case. He also said that Schafer had experience with explosives while he was in the military.

Judge Ed Danner ruled that there was probable cause to continue the cases. Schafer continues to be held in the county jail on $30,000 bond.

Jodi Pospeschil can be reached at 686-3041

I couldn’t help but simultaneously cringe/crack up upon hearing a certain hometown-related news story on WIUM Tri States Public Radio this morning.

First, some background:

Folks in Carthage and the surrounding area have been lobbying to get markers and state support for better ways to point out (and lead tourists to) Abraham Lincoln’s ties to the area.

(One of said ties is that his relatives are buried in nearby Fountain Green, a village that now houses little other than an a never-endingly huge junk-car graveyard, in which my poor old Boat [#1] was laid to rest.)

As the story explained,

CARTHAGE, IL (2007-11-27) The Courthouse will get the first Hancock County wayside parker as part of the Illinois “Looking for Lincoln” program.

Economic Developer Brenda Pyatt says the market will tell about the only trial in which Lincoln’s client was both convicted and hung.

In addition, she says it will tell about how the customs of the time made the hanging a social event, with children dismissed from school for the occasion.

[In the actual radio broadcast this morning, she also pointed out that the families packed lunches, too, to bring to the hanging. Appetizing!]

Lincoln’s client was an Illinois riverboatman who stabbed a companion while their boat was pulled up across the river from Beardstown.

The trial was moved to Hancock County to seek a more neutral venue.

More information: Pyatt says applications have been filed for several such wayside markers in the county. She says whether the county receives grants to set up the other markers will depend on funding at the state level.

The marker will be installed on a corner of the Courthouse lawn.

© Copyright 2007, wium

“Is it just me, or does this taco taste kind of …game-y?”

I heard a rather interesting tidbit when I was home for the holiday and just had to share:

A couple of years ago, a certain area drinking/eating establishment (of the kind that caters to veterans of war) became a storage site for the local food pantry, when said pantry received so much donated deer meat that it ran out of freezer space.

After awhile, the same drinking/eating establishment began hosting (for profit) a rather… should we say…flavorful weekly special:

“Taco Tuesday.”

True story. I heard it from the horse’s (not the deer’s) mouth.

(No word, however, on whether said veterans’ club has offered up freezer space for squirrel season.)

The rumor I’ve been hearing about Macomb getting a new restaurant has finally been confirmed by the Macomb Journal!

The name of this new chance for culture and cuisine?

Buffalo Wildwings.

(Sigh.)

A new restaurant and hotel and the need to improve several homes were the focus Friday of a news conference by Mayor Mick Wisslead.

At the news conference, which he called “all good news,” Wisslead said the new Hampton Inn and Buffalo Wild Wings are planned for Macomb’s east side.

Wisslead said the Hampton Inn will be an 80-room, four-story facility and will include a meeting room designed to hold 90 to 100 people. The 50-room Holiday Inn Express hotel next door will make it easier to market Macomb for meetings and events, he added.

Wisslead said the city now has 400 rooms available for overnight stays.

The Hampton Inn will be a $5 million project when furnishings, construction and lot purchase price are added in.

Wisslead hopes construction will start in December.

The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant planned on the lot in front of the Macomb Wal-Mart store has applied to the city for a liquor license.

Wisslead said developers hope to have the restaurant open by Feb. 3, which is Super Bowl Sunday.

He said construction costs were estimated in the building permit at $900,000. The metal shell of the building is in place.

Wisslead said the city did not offer the developers of either project financial incentives such as enterprise zone or tax increment financing benefits.

Wisslead also discussed the need to improve some housing stock in the city. “We’ve made that our New Year’s resolution,” he said.

One of the properties in the 500 block of West Washington Street brought the city and property owner to court several times over maintenance issues. It was purchased by a neighbor and demolished and will now be green space.

Community Development coordinator Ed Basch said another eight vacant houses are being looked at because of their deteriorating conditions. Basch said the city is trying to work with property owners, but in some cases court action may eventually be required before improvements are seen.

“We’re trying to take the path of least resistance to get these housesbrought up to code,” Basch said. “We’re getting good cooperation from some of the owners.” Wisslead said several people have also inquired about business opportunities on West Adams Street after it was identified as a possibility in the city’s recently-completed comprehensive plan. He said there are no concrete plans yet but “at least people are talking about it.”

An item in the Family section of this week’s Hancock Journal-Pilot announces this upcoming event:

Smith Family Reunion in Nauvoo

…even your hate-speech is gravel-road-influenced:

Campus Crime Reports

2007-11-12 to 2007-11-14

On Nov. 13 at 3:40 p.m. a student reported that a hate-related message had been written in the dust on his vehicle while parked in Q-Lot.

On Nov. 13 at 5:29 p.m. a student reported that two iPods, valued at $400, were stolen from Higgins Hall.

On Nov. 12 at 10:47 p.m. a student reported she has been receiving harassing phone calls from an unknown individual.

On Nov. 12 at 11:58 p.m. OPS received a report from a hospital employee regarding a student seeking treatment after being sexually assaulted in her residence hall room by a person known to her. The incident is under investigation.

This Macomb Journal brief about my boss’s retirement wants you to know that you—all of you—is invited:

Maguire says goodbye

A retirement reception for John Maguire, assistant vice president for University Relations at Western Illinois University, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the University Union Lamoine Room. The pubic is invited to attend the event.

Maguire will retire Nov. 16 after more than 30 years at Western. He has been named director of public relations and fund development at McDonough District Hospital in Macomb, starting Nov. 19. He joined Western as assistant director of news services in 1977, and was named director of news services in 1982. Five years later, Maguire was appointed director of University Relations; he was named assistant vice president for University Relations in 1994.

…What You Actually Hear When You Call the Number for Cinema I and II in Macomb—y’know, the only theatre in town—for info on show times:

Not the standard female-sounding computer voice that tells you to select one or two, but the voice of the one and only Larry Jarvis— aforementioned local (living) legend (longtime manager of the place)—speaking into an answering machine, saying,

“Unfortunately, we absolutely do not take checks or debit cards, and, while we do have an ATM machine, it is very persnickity, and only accepts certain times of ATM cards, only from banks that aren’t really located around here. Refills on large popcorn…”

Photo credit:
Western Courier from 2004

This is what you get when they finally start building better roads in Forgotonia. Ah, life: always a trade-off.

True story from the Hancock County Journal-Pilot:

Citizens finds way around service breaks; Rt. 336 construction crews cut phone lines 5 times since May

A new effort to provide an alternate route for phone service may end the increased number of times the 9-1-1 system and long distance services go down.

Citizens Communications began work this week to buy circuits from Lightcore to run an alternate path for their phone service in Hancock County. The phone line to Macomb runs along Rt. 136 and has been cut five times since May.

Central office technician Mike Lionberger said the plan is to provide at least some service if the line is cut in the future.

“The redundant line would take calls to Alexis, then to Monmouth and then to Macomb,” said Lionberger. [sounds fast!] “Hopefully, we’ll have it up and running by the end of the year.”

The alternate route would provide about 50 percent of long distance service. It may mean local fire and police departments can stop manning lock boxes to provide 9-1-1 service when a line is cut.

Construction crews along the Rt. 336 expansion between Carthage and Tennessee have cut the fiber optic lines five times since May.

Maria Hopp, 9-1-1 administrator, said the last four line breaks were July 13, Aug. 1, Sept. 12 and Oct. 9.

“This happened very few times before the interstate came through,” said Hopp. “It was probably not even once a year.”

When the lines are cut, it takes down every service provided through phone lines. Along with 9-1-1 service, all ATMs and credit card machines go down for all businesses who use that section of line. It effects everything from banks to retail stores to gas stations, any business that relies heavily on the internet.

Once a line is cut, it takes time to repair the line.

“The shortest time in the last six months was five hours,” said Hopp. “The longest time was 11 hours.”

Hopp said 9-1-1 is not notified when a line is cut. She said they usually notice something is wrong when long distance goes down. [Gee, that's a comfort!]

You can read Chapter One of “Hope No One in My Hometown Needs to Call 9-1-1…” here.

You gotta love any news story that includes the words “toilet water” and “Q-tips.”
Damage from Macomb fire lessened by toilet

MACOMB – Extensive damage to a Macomb home was avoided Thursday when toilet water prevented a fire from spreading.

The Fire Department was called to 1302 E. Adams St. at 2:25 p.m. Thursday. A resident had returned to the house to find it filled with smoke.

Macomb Fire Chief Andy Taylor said a jar candle had been left burning in the home’s bathroom on top of a box of Q-tips. The Q-tips eventually caught fire and the burning stack dropped into a garbage can between a vanity and a toilet. Taylor said the flames heated the tank of the toilet so much that it cracked and the water that spilled out extinguished the fire.

Investigators believe the fire started sometime after noon. Taylor said the home is owned by Michelle Bell.

Macomb firefighters were at the house for about one hour clearing it of smoke. Taylor estimated the damage to the bathroom* at about $10,000.

(*Damn, how much is the HOUSE worth?!)