I’ve been spending more time on the David’s Bridal website lately than I would care to admit. Honestly, as the book Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress helped me realize, the store/chain is actually worth giving a chance, and for a reason you might never expect. (Hint:  feminism, and/or the belief that not all bodies should be a Size 0).

Anyway, I just have to say, despite my softening stance against the company, I still think….they need to hire me as an editor.

Sale on Bridal Party gifts:

When my Seattle family members were here in Forgotonia this past weekend for my grandmother’s memorial service, we spent some time walking around the courthouse square in Carthage (my hometown).

Among the many, many interesting items we saw in the display windows of the sad, now-empty stores (or the weirdly re-purposed ones),

(a geode display in the old Royalty’s, for one example;

a spooky sleep-apnea-mask display in the old Sherrick’s Drug Store for another,

oh! And the bedpans right up front in the still-functioning McHugh’s Drug Store)

was this rather entertaining sign for…well, g’head, give it a read:

Um, thanks..?

Ok, I feel slightly guilty about posting this. (I did, after all, serve on the newsroom staff of a paper that once printed a recipe for Hot Crap Dip. Yes, you read that right.)

And I understand all too well the understaffed, overworked nature of newsrooms these days.

But my sophomoric sense of humor just can’t let this one slide. Tee heee.;)

Ooops!

I feel kinda sorry for this reporter, as well as for the editor(s) who didn’t catch it. (Check out snopes.com for more on the matter.) (Thanks to esteemed reader in Monmouth for pointing this one out to me.)

I also can’t help but wonder if the guy in the story ever calls local bars saying “I need Amanda Hugginkiss” !

Oops!

Check out this snafu in this article about the Vishnu tour in the Western Courier on Friday:

(I try not to be too harsh in poking fun at any newspaper, student or professional, because I’ve been in their shoes. But this one made me truly LOL. Couldn’t resist!)

The Friends of Vishnu want to respect the wishes of Ira Post and keep it a wildlife sanctuary, where no animals are harmed. The current caretaker of Vishnu Springs is Morris Wells, who helped get people to and from the parking area.

McDonough County sheriff Johnny Carson was also on site to help. He estimated that throughout the six hours that Vishnu was open to the public, roughly 1,000 people attended.

Go ‘head, give it a good read.

I have driven past this sign on East Calhoun in Macomb for many months. And each time, I have wondered: WTFrick?

But a few other questions have arisen as well.

1. Shall we begin with the unique spelling of “Maqom?”

   The first time I noticed this sign, probably on a trip home from the Aldi or from bein‘ over ta’ the Wal-Mart’s, I thought, “Holy typo.”

   I figured this church is struggling for cash. When the deacon or whoever got back from the Signprinter’s and realized the mistake, they didn’t have the money to do a re-print.

   And yet…

2. It’s so far off the mark ….maybe it’s not a typo?

   I mean, something about that curly Q in place of the “C” seems purposeful to me.

   So here are other potential theories:

   A) There is some kind of alternative movement in Macomb that I am just not hip and young enough to know about. The members of the movement have a great collective sense of humor and the use of “Maqom” is supposed to be like….using the word “rawk” for rock-n-roll.

   And yet there’s that whole fact that it’s in front of a church…

   B) It is the church’s attempt to draw in the youth through “hip” use of Kwik-e-Mart grammatical grossness. Some of the elders sat around at church council and said, “Hey, I know! Let’s spell it with a Q! And leave off the B! And we could use ‘Rite’ and ‘Nite‘ in really cool ways too!”

   C) Is it not referring to Macomb at all, but instead a word from some ancient or perhaps African language.

   D) Some other and better theory (which you should leave in the comments section below)?

3. Now, let’s move onto larger questions.

   Namely:

   A) seriously what is this place?

   B) Why is this Church of Maqom “restored“?

   The placement, er, rather propped-up-ed-ness, of the sign, leads me to think this is the latest incarnation of something that existed once before.

   Is that indeed the case? If so, what happened to the first church?

   C) Or is the word “restored” some kind of denominational indicator (such as “Fresher! Now with more fundamental roots!”)?

   
   If you’ve got better theories—or if you know the answers to any of these questions— please let me know.

   I simply can’t go to Aldi again without knowing the answer.
   

Condo’s for sale.

Oh really, it is? Which one?

I drive past this gated-community-in-development every weekend that I’m in Davenport visiting C-Nor.

On Sunday afternoon, I decided I just can’t take it anymore: it must be made fun of it publicly.

The entrance to this gated community has lots of ornate fountains and concrete statues of (horrifically ugly) fish at the entrance.

Yet nothing says “class” like ….”condo’s.”

This story from today’s PJ Star caught my eye for several reasons, not the least of which being that I just joined Macomb’s own chapter of the Young Business Professionals two weeks ago.

(That and, how, you know, one of my biggest obsessions in life is the fact that I’m a ‘YBP’ in a region I’ve heard state legislators refer to many times as suffering from “the great brain drain” :

(Oh and p.s., there are some real beauties in the comments section!)

Peoria ranked as hot spot for young professionals
Group ranks city a top draw for white-collar types

By PAUL GORDON
of the Journal Star
Posted Jun 15, 2009 @ 09:57 PM
PEORIA —

An influx of white-collar jobs coming into the area at Caterpillar Inc. the last several years and continued growth in the local health care market has brought more young professionals into the city within this decade.

That’s perhaps one reason why Next Generation Consulting, a firm which studies and consults on hiring trends and workplace issues nationwide, has named Peoria one of the 60 top hot spots in the country for young professionals.

Peoria ranks No. 16 in the firm’s top 20 cities with a population of between 100,000 and 200,000 – which NGC tabs its “Mighty Micros” – according to a release from NGC and the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.

Springfield ranks No. 5 in that category and is the only other Illinois city ranked in the top 60 except, of course, for Chicago, which is ranked No. 13 in the largest city category.

…Jessica Moroz, the local YPO’s other co-chairman, said she and the group believes creation of a YPO here a few years ago and the activities it undertakes has helped raise Peoria’s image among young professionals nationwide and with groups like NGC. She said she attended a national YPO conference last year at Cocoa Beach, Fla., and found Peoria was known.

“Our group has helped raise the awareness of young professionals by also working to demonstrate all Peoria has to offer, which is actually quite a lot for a city this size,” she said.

In her job with the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, Moroz sees the business trends. Noting the continuing growth of the local health care industry and the fact Caterpillar has hired more salaried professionals than assembly line workers the last several years, she said it is important the YPO, chambers of commerce and other organizations do what it takes to keep young professionals in Peoria once they get here.

“We were extremely excited to get this ranking because it shows how much has been done in Peoria to move forward with the things that make it a good place for young professionals. We need to keep doing it,” Moroz said.

In a news release, NGC founder Rebecca Ryan said simply being a cheap place to live or one with an abundance of jobs isn’t enough.

“The next generation is very savvy about choosing where they’ll live. They look carefully at quality of life factors like how much time they’re going to spend in traffic commuting, if they can live near a park or hike-and-bike trail, and whether a city’s downtown stays awake after five,” she said. [Wonder why Macomb didn't make the list? heh.]

For more information or to see the full report, go to www.nextgenerationconsulting.com or to peoriachamber.org and click on YPO.

Paul Gordon can be reached at 686-3288 or pgordon@pjstar.com.

Are you kidding!!!!!! I seen those young professional at CAT they were all from INDIA and PAKISTAN , I mean the majority were from that part of the world. Go up to Bradley university all you see is Indian and Pakistanis students who are majoring in engineering, so they can get those jobs at CAT. But another thing, a lot of them were laid off also. If i was a young hot professional I would not come near Peoria or the surrounding area’s, all thats here is hick’s. Go to Chicago where there is lots to do and people are more open to diversity

Or,

“The epitome of what Tornado Ali hopes to never become.”

Or

….come up with your very own caption and leave it here!

This story is really interesting– for one thing,

• I wasn’t aware Industry had a coal mining area.
• Second, I didn’t really realize coal mining jobs were still an option in this area.
• And third, the “Indiana bat” ? !? Who knew??

from yesterday’s Journal Star

McDonough coal mine permit is renewed

By JODI POSPESCHIL

Journal Star

Posted Apr 21, 2009 @ 11:06 PM

INDUSTRY —

Renewal of a state permit was granted last week for a coal mine in rural McDonough County.

The Springfield Coal Co. LLC was granted a fifth renewal of “Permit 16,” for about 1,150 acres of mine property in rural Industry. The Springfield company bought the mine from the Freeman United Coal Mining Co. last year.

Renewal was granted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Mines and Minerals. The permit takes effect May 8 and runs through May 7, 2014.

In January, a group of area residents requested a public hearing on the renewal, and about 50 people gathered at the Industry elementary school with IDNR and mine officials. Several people spoke at the meeting. They included opponents who asked numerous questions about the mine and argued issues such as impact on the land and on animals that live there.

In the 18-page renewal ruling, the IDNR answers each of the questions raised by opponents of the mine during the January hearing. Questions ranged from how the mine affects ponds on its property to what’s being done to protect endangered animals that live on the site, such as the Indiana bat.

IDNR officials said at the meeting the company is clearing a separately permitted area in hopes of starting new mining at the site.

Several people spoke in favor of the new permit during the January meeting, saying new mining would bring needed jobs to the area as well as lowering energy costs.

Mining in rural Industry has been limited since most of the company’s 75 employees were laid off in 2003.

During the January hearing, state officials told opponents the mining company has a right to successive renewal of the permit. The burden to show why that shouldn’t continue is on those who sought the public hearing [.... more from yesterday's Journal Star]

Jodi Pospeschil can be reached at 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.

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ford350

1 day ago

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This is great that they got the permit I think they need to move faster on the permit for the canton mine there talking about opening. All the people that are againist these mines are a buch of idiots people need lobs and work these mines will provide that. There worry and the wildlife well they will adapt they always have and always will. Why didn’t the tree huggers complain when they wasted 3500 acres of good farm land in fulton county just to make a place for the duck’s ,geese, and fishing. With the new laws on reclamation this land will be better then it was before. and the farmers can farm it again. I have drove around the area and seen some of the mines that have to do this and you would never know it had been mined except for the one lake left at the end where they finished mineing. Thats at least better then what they did in the banner area years ago when all that area was stripped and just left alone now it a conservation area that makes ‘NO’ money at all for the state but cost us the tax payer money to maintain it. I could go on and on about the mining and the tree huggers but we need the coal to maintain life not more conservation area’s. To me more conservation area’s are a waste of good farm land and tax payers money.

cgiselle12

22 hours ago

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Coal is quickly becoming the dinosaur of all fuel sources. It’s time to move on folks. It’s dirty, and it’s unnecessary. http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/dirtytruth/

Mimi

13 hours ago

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This is depressing news, why are we still mining coal??? Why are we moving backwards instead of forwards, it makes no sense. Can’t they set up a wind farm? And to ford350…..it is scary to me that there are ppl out there that think nothing ever need be conserved. The idea that we should just take what we want when we want and never think of the consequences is dangerous and childish. We aren’t the only living creatures in this world. Let me guess, your a litterbug too-lol.

ford350

2 hours ago

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Thank you all for the comments. NO I am not a litter bug. You say setup wind farms did you read a while back where there was a county that everyone there was aganist it. It killed the bird, bats, ducks, ETC. and the county wants more money to let the company building the wind tower’s to pay more money to use there roads now there is GREED a company is trying to help reduce pollution and the people see a cash cow and jump on it. No wander this country is in the shape it everyone wants it dictate how everyone else should conduct there lives. I am sorry that you are offened by my comments but life will go on FOR A WHILE!

This is (an apparently un-edited) news release which ran in yesterday’s Macomb Journal

Schuyler County Sheriff Don Shieferdecker is warning all Schuyler County residents of the gypsy movement within the next few weeks. According to a press release from Shieferdecker, the gypsies move from the southern states and head north every spring. The gypsy movement from south to north usually occurs during April and May.

During their travels, the gypsies stop at residences and offer home repair, roof repair, yard cleanup, driveway sealing and house painting, among other services. One of their scams is to offer a work service but actually use inferior products at a high price. Residents who are approached by someone other than a local contractor that was called to perform a service should ask to see a driver’s license, get a license plate number and call the Sheriff’s Department at 217-322-4366.

Another scam involves posing as a distressed driver with car problems. According to the press release, past cases show a person stopping in front of a home. The person raises the hood of their car, pours a jug of water over the engine, and then walks to the door of the home to ask to use the telephone to get help. The home resident looks outside, sees the steaming engine, and lets the person into their home to use the phone. While the resident is helping the person find phone numbers, two or more people enter the home and quietly enter the bedroom, carrying out stolen items in a pillowcase. Schieferdecker asks all residents to use caution before opening the door to strangers. Any resident who feels uncomfortable should not open the door and call the Sheriff’s Department at 217-322-4366 for assistance.