Knight column: Regarding concealed carry...
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- Published on 15 July 2013
- Written by Bill Knight
In the last week or so, Florida vigilante George Zimmerman was excused for his shooting and killing an unarmed youth, Illinois lawmakers overrode Gov. Quinn's pocket veto and enacted a concealed-carry law, and the Illinois Rifle Association filed suit because concealed-carry isn't happening fast enough for it.
Feel safer?
Me neither.
Some common-sense rules for guns could save lives and money, and Americans are changing their attitude toward them. However, "gun control" may not help curb violence any more than everyday Americans packing heat.
Most gun owners aren't crazy or criminal.
So? Most motorists aren't maniacs, either.
Compare a driver's license, which requires training and testing to ensure safety, then insurance and monitoring driving records. A Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card requires far less.
In Springfield, the General Assembly's conceal-carry law – which bans hidden firearms at 23 places, including schools, libraries, government buildings, public transportation, taverns, public gatherings and any private property where the owner prohibits them – gives the State Police about six months to form an application process, after which they'll take a few months to screen applicants to exclude juveniles, violent offenders, people being treated for mental conditions, subjects of warrants, and those with DUIs on their record. There'll be a seven-member licensing board to hear appeals and a 16-week course costing $150, but 300,000 people are expected to seek permits.
In Washington, 46 U.S. Senators this spring caved in to pressure from the National Rifle Association and its gun-manufacturing patrons, killing a mild measure to check the backgrounds of people wanting to buy weapons – despite 90% of U.S. citizens supporting the idea. The NRA and some gun-rights advocates try to puff up their claim to bear arms as preparation for resisting or even combating tyranny (despite many of their vehicles festooned with "support the troops" or "back the badge" bumper stickers).
But tyranny can be fought with the First Amendment, too, according to a St. Louis law professor
"The strength of this [Second Amendment] assertion is significantly weakened by the power of the First Amendment," says Gregory P. Magarian, a constitutional law expert at Washington University.
Further, is the Second Amendment an equal/universal right, as claimed by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, or Ted Nugent or Yosemite Sam (presumably)?
On an airplane? At an All-Star Game? A corner tavern?
(The NRA's definition of an absolute right to bear arms is reminiscent of a comment by a favorite fictional vigilante, author Lee Child's ex-Army MP Jack Reacher:
"People have the right to bear arms," [she said.]
"Drug dealers don't," I said. "I never saw an amendment that says it's OK to fire automatic weapons in the middle of a crowded neighborhood. Using bullets that go through brick walls, one after the other. And through innocent bystanders, one after the other. Babies and children."
She said nothing.
"You ever seen a bullet hit a baby?" I said. "It doesn't slide right in, like a hypodermic needle. It crushes its way through, like a bludgeon. Crushing and tearing."
She said nothing.
"Never tell a soldier that guns are fun," I said.
The law is clear," she said.
"So join the NRA," I said. "I'm happy right here in the real world.")
More prudent background checks are no threat to Americans' liberty; they wouldn't be a list of weapons to be confiscated if the military or police decide to disarm the country. Now, criminals can stroll into gun shows and exploit the loophole that lets them buy whatever's being hawked, like vegetables at a farmers market or knick-knacks on Spoon River Drives.
Thugs with guns are a menace. But, apart from judicial niceties, so are armed and self-appointed "neighborhood watch" zealots. If they wield weapons, so are fools and drunken citizens and aggressors in domestic-violence situations – maybe more than gangsters.
"Guns in the home are used more often to frighten against intimates than to thwart crime," according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
Besides the street and the home, there's the danger on the job.
"When a person is killed at work in a violent manner, that is workplace violence," said Carol Fredrikson of Phoenix' violence prevention advocates Violence Free. "When a bystander is killed in a place of business, that is workplace violence."
The FBI defines workplace violence as "action or words that endanger or harm another employee or results in other employees having a reasonable belief that they are in danger."
A gun-toting customer or supplier or stressed-out co-worker laid off so some executive can get a bonus would persuade most of danger.
"Businesses and organizations are catching on that preventing workplace violence in any form can save a lot of money," said W. Barry Nelson, director of the National Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Violence. "Businesses are finding that the residual effect is quite pervasive--lost work time, lost customers, lost time on the job for employees."
The United States' rate of homicides is higher than other industrial nations with gun-control laws. Regulations on guns have worked elsewhere. Is American exceptionalism so complete that it extends to the quality of our abusers and criminals, too?
No matter where on the spectrum one sits, it's not illogical that society would dramatically reduce domestic violence and violence in general if there were fewer handguns in circulation, concealed or not.
However, laws passed even with the best of intentions won't help, according to a gun owner, Sam Harris, who says he's sympathetic with the goal but unconvinced of laws' effectiveness.
"The problem is that with respect to either factor that makes a gun suitable for mass murder – ease of concealment (a handgun) or range (a rifle) – the most common and least stigmatized weapons are among the most dangerous. I support universal background checks, better mental health screening, a national registry, limited-capacity magazines, a ban on 'assault weapons,' checks against the terrorist watch list, etc. But they will do very little to prevent the next Newtown.
"We could make a gun license as difficult to get as a pilot's license, requiring dozens of hours of training," Harris continued. "But I am under no illusions that such restrictions would make it difficult for the wrong people to acquire guns illegally."
Still, he added, "when the next lunatic arrives at a school armed with legal pistols and a dozen 10-round magazines, we should be prepared to talk about how an assault weapons ban was a distraction from the real issue of gun violence."
Is there no choice between all guns in the hands of authorities and everyone carrying weapons?
Unless something is done, there will surely be more murders and massacres – of unarmed teens in hoodies or innocent bystanders in malls or classrooms – despite changing demographics supporting some reforms.
Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy said, "We're going to have tragedies. It needs to be controlled in a reasonable fashion."
'Anything Goes' under the tent at Corn Stock
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- Published on 10 July 2013
- Written by Paul Gordon
As the title of the show suggests, it was "Anything Goes" when it came to staging the next musical at Corn Stock Theatre's tent in Upper Bradley Park.
From an elaborate set to a wood floor in the pit to period costumes and wigs, Corn Stock made sure director Travis Olson and his cast of 36 people have been able to put on a top notch show for audiences that are already snatching up tickets for the nine-show run that begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"Anything Goes," with Cole Porter music, is considered by many the ultimate song-and-dance musical and Olson said he believes his cast and crew will deliver on the promise.
"First of all, it's Cole Porter. So you know it's great music, the kind you'll be singing or humming when you leave the theatre. I mean, how can you go wrong with Cole Porter? You can't, really," Olson said before a recent dress rehearsal.
"Anything Goes" continues through July 20. Show time is 7:30 p.m. for each performance. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for students and can be reserved by calling 676-2196.
The musical is set in 1936 and takes place on a ship, the S.S. American, sailing from New York to London. It centers on passengers Hope Harcourt, traveling with her mother and her fiancé, and Billy Crocker, traveling as a stowaway with his boss Elisha Whitney. Other passengers, including nightclub star Reno Sweeney and her dancers known as Angels, and gangster-in-hiding Moonface Martin, add to the comical antics aboard the ship.
Among the notable songs in the show are "I Get a Kick Outta You," "You're The Top," "It's De-Lovely," "Friendship," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," and of course, "Anything Goes."
"Anything Goes" was among Olson's top five shows when Corn Stock asked him to direct it. He didn't have to ponder the decision long before accepting. "Besides the fact it is a show people have loved for years, I knew the hype would be there because the show is on tour. And, of course, I knew we had the talent here to do it right," he said.
Starting with the on-stage performances, the show stars Andrea Williams as Hope Harcourt, Kyle King, in his Corn Stock Theatre debut, plays Billy Crocker, Erin Durbin Craig portrays Reno Sweeney, and Mike Reams is Moonface Martin.
Other notables in the cast include Emily Hardesty as Bonnie Letour, Tim Drew as Elisha Whitney, Mark roe as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh and Barb Couri as Mrs. Wadsworth T. Harcourt.
The Angels, who will dance up a storm on the wood floor laid for that purpose because of the number of tap dances in the show, will be portrayed by Nicole Barth, Stacey Brewer, Alex Buchko, Amy Fischer, Megan Locke, Jordan Martin, Ingrid Peelle and Sara Beth Tolbert. Dancing sailors are Lance Franken, Andrew Harlan, Evan Frazier, Jay Williams, Nick Brockamp and Frank Drew.
The choreographer, Olson said, "really worked them hard, but she also made it fun. And considering the choreographer is the incomparable Erica Franken, you know it's going to be good. She took our ideas and ran with them."
Other backstage stars for this show include Chris Franken, who built the three-deck set designed by Olson, including the moving steps that help to open the upper stage of the tent for dance numbers. "The set is a character of its own. It's the first thing audiences will see and it is spectacular," Olson said.
Lisa Chamberlain and her costume crew hand-made nine of the 10 costumes the Angels wear during the show and were able to find vintage costumes for other characters.
"It's a really nice blend, with the costumes and the new wigs we bought. The show is set in 1936. That was right on the cusp of the styles of the 1940s and some of the older characters are in costumes that take them back to the 1920s," Olson said.
The eight-piece orchestra, which includes musicians capable of playing more than one instrument, "is as good as any live orchestra I've heard in any show. I have a hard time distinguishing between it and a recording, it's that good," he said. He credited music director Katie McLuckie.
"This has been a great cast to work with. We've had fun and we're ready for an audience. It's a show we can be proud of," Olson said.
Lucas Steel: A stimulus success story
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- Published on 03 July 2013
- Written by Paul Gordon
It isn't just coincidence that has Congresswoman Cheri Bustos visiting different manufacturers in her district during the week-long July 4 break from Washington, D.C.
"This was a good opportunity for me to tour the district and get a good feel for what people do day to day in their work. I did it this week because manufacturing really is so important in America and what I've learned this week and earlier is how hard our citizens work," Bustos said Wednesday after touring A. Lucas & Sons steel company in Peoria.
"I can tell you that I would put up the workforce I've come to know in this district against any workforce in the world," she said.
During her campaign and since her election last November, Bustos, the 17th District Democrat from East Moline, has supported legislation that would help keep and create jobs in this country. Since being sworn in she has sponsored and co-sponsored several bills that would do that, including:
The American Jobs Matter Act that would enable to government to consider American job creation when awarding bids for taxpayer-funded contracts.The Invest in American Jobs Act that would strengthen Buy America requirements for transportation and infrastructure projects.The Bring Jobs Home Act, which would eliminate tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for companies that return jobs to the United States.The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which would hold countries that create an unfair trade advantage by currency manipulation responsible for their actions.
During the week Bustos has visited manufacturers throughout the 17th District, including in Rockford, Freeport, Moline and Canton. After the Lucas Steel tour on Wednesday she toured the Alexis Fire Equipment plant in the Knox County town of Alexis.
During her tour of Lucas & Sons, Bustos learned how plates of steel can be bent, signing her name to a piece she bent so it can be placed next to a signed plate bent by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin when he visited the plant on another occasion.
She also saw the 1909 time clock still in use today at the factory that employs 25 men who finish off steel beams to be used in various applications, mostly in construction.
Then she saw the newest addition to the factory on Washington Street that is Peoria's oldest continually operated company at 155 years old. That is the technologically advanced equipment that cuts and drills the beams, taking a process that would normally take hours by hand and cutting the time to mere minutes.
That technology was acquired by Lucas a few years ago with a federal grant of $350,000 as part of the economic stimulus program. It was receipt of that grant that led Margaret Hanley, president and CEO of Lucas & Sons to welcome Bustos for Wednesday's tour.
"American tax money has helped me with that grant, so I felt it was my turn to give back a little," she said. "I want to do what I can to keep jobs in the U.S. We're a small, family owned business that is proud to show that manufacturing is alive and well here."
The grant, as mentioned, enabled Lucas & Sons to modernize a part of their operations. Fabricating a beam used to take four hours and it now is done in about 20 minutes.
Bustos said meeting workers when touring companies in her district "is what I live for. When I'm in Washington it's hard work doing what I can to help my constituents, but when I come home this is the sort of thing I love to do. Here is where I get to see first-hand what it is the citizens of the district do every day and I get to talk with them and hear what their concerns are."
She said walking into the Lucas & Sons plant was "like stepping back in time" when seeing the century-old time clock, the hand cart on rails still used to move steel from one part of the plant to another and some of the old processes still is use every day.
"Then it was great to see the new technology and to see the how the Recovery Act helped this company and is helping other people. Recovery still is not happening as quickly as people would like but it is happening and programs like the one that helped this company are working. This is what the Recovery Act and the legislation I am supporting are all about. There are success stories and this is one of them" Bustos said.
Movie review: World War Z a bust
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- Published on 05 July 2013
- Written by Tim Wyman
(115 minutes, rated PG-13 for violence, language, adult situations and scenarios)
(1 star out of 10)
There is little doubt in many critics' opinion that Brad Pitt is an exceptional actor. I have watched the vast majority of his work, including his latest film, World War Z, and there is little argument he is a truly gifted artist.
I'm hoping maybe one day he will be able to pick out a script that is worth a bucket of spit.
The behemoth-budgeted and latest entry into the string of hopeful, yet mediocre summer blockbusters is Pitt's World War Z. The premise is the same as every other zombie movie to come lumbering down the Hollywood track of late. A virus has mutated and affected all of humanity, short a few actors, who spend the entirety of the movie avoiding being bitten (because that is the only way to ever spread a zombie virus) and seeking an eventual cure.
World War Z, with a production cost well in excess of $200 million and thus making it a Top 20 movie in terms of producing, is more than visually appealing and it is truly remarkable how good movies can look when that kind of money is invested. However, short of a few performances, that is about all that is good here.
The film is based, from my understanding, very loosely on a book by Max Brooks, son of Hollywood comedic legend Mel Brooks, and the iconic actress, Anne Bancroft. I cannot comment on Brooks' writing style or abilities because I have not read more than the first ten pages of the novel, but if I am judging based solely by the end result of the movie, Max got his mother's sensibilities and his father's looks.
The book that Brooks penned was an oral history of the zombie apocalypse and to his defense, the movie is nothing at all like that, solely focusing on Pitt from start to end.
Pitt plays a United Nations pandemic disease investigator, for lack of a better title, who before the whole zombie thing worked in every abject-poverty hole in the world stopping outbreaks of cholera, ebola, and syphilis. Then at the incessant nagging of his wife, he retires to a desk job in Philadelphia. We are subject to all this seen-it-a-million-times drivel prior to the arrival of the first zombie.
Yeah. Snore.
The scuttlebutt in the Hollywood tabloids is that it took more than the five credited writers to complete the movie. Evidently there were a few who tried their hand at fixing the screenplay who said no thanks for the screen credit. Now I understand why they reshot the third act. Why invest $133 million when you can go full-out $200 million?
When the zombies finally do appear is when the film lost me entirely. For whatever reason the team of writers, headed by Matthew Michael Carnahan, ignored the laws of physics, biology and well, logic when it came to human zombies.
In the World War Z world zombies seemingly acquire super powers of speed, strength and a stunning ability to take a punch or bullet. The movie provides no real biological reason for the zombie to want to bite healthy humans other than we would lack a plot point. We do not see zombies eat the non-zombies for sustenance or anything like that. Evidently, they just want to bite someone and make a friend.
We do see that this virus allows them to move much like cheetahs, have the strength of gorillas, the ability to build human walls hundreds of feet tall all without the ability to communicate. Maybe A-Rod can have part of this virus injected into him by Biogenesis.
Biology as an impediment? Not in this movie. For the zombie, it is simply bite and, poof, within 10 seconds the virus has mutated inside the human body. Mind you there are approximately 100 trillion human cells for the virus to commandeer in that 10-second window (or 400 billion in the brain) but who cares about DNA replication that works faster than nicotine when spending $200 million.
I am not exaggerating. It is 10 seconds. It is a plot device.
As I said there were some performances that stood out. Relative newcomer Mireille Enos played Pitt's wife and did an exceptional job of convincing me of someone who is terrorized, yet attempting to stay strong so she can fight for her children's life as best she can.
In the middle of all this jumping from white-knuckle chase to white-knuckle chase David Morse shows up and knocks the socks off his little corner of the movie. Although I am not sure Morse was that good or if he was just such a welcome respite.
Director Marc Foster should get some kudos, too. He got mostly wonderful performances out of his actors and together with cinematography from Ben Seresin and editing from Roger Barton and Matt Cheese, this was a wonderfully visual movie. Hats off to the CGI department too.
In the long line of big-budget summer movies, World War Z is a bust. I strongly suggest you avoid this one and see one of the other mediocre movies that are populating the multiplexes across the country.
In fact, go to the bookstore and find a potential script for Brad Pitt that is worth a #^$@.
I give this move 1 star out of 10.
The Pere Marquette is back in grand fashion
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- Published on 28 June 2013
- Written by Paul Gordon
The Grand Lady is back, but for all the cosmetic surgery she received over the last year or so she isn't easily recognizable.
But EM Properties and the Marriott Corp. are ready for people to come see the refurbished Hotel Pere Marquette, which officially reopened at 3 p.m. on Friday.
But as remarkable as the hotel is now, this beauty goes well beyond skin deep. It has entirely new organs, as well, because hotel owner Gary Matthews, president of EM Properties, spent millions to also replace all the Pere Marquette's electrical and plumbing works. It has new paint, flooring, lighting, woodwork and in many cases walls from top to bottom.
The ribbon was cut Friday during a ceremony attended by many of Peoria's political, civic and business leaders, all of whom heaped praise upon the work done to transform the 86-year-old, 14-story building into one that Marriott officials in attendance said was more than worthy enough to carry their banner.
"Obviously this is a huge milestone for me, but this project means so much to so many in this community. It launches a whole new era of economic development and civic pride," Matthews said during the ceremony.
Mayor Jim Ardis said that "words cannot adequately express the importance of this project to Peoria."
And Caterpillar Chairman Doug Oberhelman, in congratulating Matthews for his "vision, perseverance and execution" also congratulated the community for coming together to make it happen and to attract such a "class company with class management" as Marriott to manage the Pere Marquette and to build a Marriott Courtyard Hotel next door.
That project is underway and will be completed in 2014, upon which the two hotels will be connected to each other, sharing many amenities, as well as connected to the Peoria Civic Center via skywalk.
Oberhelman said it will become important to the 20,000-plus visitors Caterpillar brings in and expects to continue bringing in every year. That will include Caterpillar's board of directors, which he said will stay at and have its October meeting at the Pere Marquette.
"This has been our home since 1910 and will be our home for a long time to come. But Peoria and the Pere Marquette are known throughout our facilities around the world. All over the world I hear two questions: How is the Pere Marquette doing and is Big Al's still open?" Oberhelman said.
Big Al's indeed is open, but not where it was when this project started several years ago. It moved to a new building at Jefferson and Harrison streets to make way for the new Courtyard hotel.
The Pere Marquette will have 286 rooms on 12 floors, including a renovated presidential suite, bridal suite and other suites. It will continue to have four ballrooms, all redone as well. That includes the Cotillion Room, perhaps the most elegant of them all, which now can be accessed from the Main Street entrance and up the grand marble stairwell into the Palm Court. That is the area where the registration desk once stood, but that has been relocated to the ground floor where the American Café once operated.
Seven meeting rooms have been redone and there are new common areas that could even be used for gatherings. One is what the hotel calls the "Greatroom." It includes the new lobby bar area but extends well beyond where the previous bar was and includes new seating areas, including sofas and comfortable chairs.
The entrance to the new restaurant, called Table 19, is off the Greatroom instead of the foyer along Madison Street, where the entrance to the previous hotel restaurant, Carnegie's, existed. The restaurant is another area that looks completely different and is more open than before.
Throughout there is artwork and antique pieces that help tell the story of the Pere Marquette's rich history. "Our hotel has a rich heritage in the City of Peoria and we welcome the opportunity to preserve this tradition," said Laura Lojas, sent from Cincinnati to Peoria by Marriott to manage the Pere Marquette. "The exquisite refurbishment and quality craftsmanship will immerse guests in genuine sophistication, whether they are here for work or play."
Another sent by Marriott to Peoria is Matthew Ianetta, the executive chef at Table 19. Originally from Boston and sent here from Atlanta, Ianetta said he and his wife are enjoying the big-city feel in a small metropolitan area that marks Peoria.
"We really like it. It's so nice to have such a quick drive to work. In Atlanta it was easily an hour each way. I am excited to be here and I am anxious to serve our guests and give them a taste of what we will do here, what they can expect from us," he said.
Friday night marked the opening night for Table 19.
Other new amenities at the Pere Marquette will include valet parking, new pre-event areas outside the ballrooms and a business center on the second floor that is open 24 hours a day.
Completion of the Pere Marquette leaves the Marriott Courtyard as the only part of the three-phase project to be finished. Earlier a new 400-space parking deck was completed and it also will be connected to the skywalk to the Civic Center.
The Marriott Courtyard will be 10 stories with 116 rooms. It amenities to be shared with the Pere Marquette will include a swimming pool and whirlpool.
All told the project will cost $93 million by the time it is completed in about a year.
The price originally was higher but the city and Matthews whittled it as the project moved along. There were times, because Matthews had to face delays in getting financing arranged, that the city nearly pulled the plug on its end of the project, that being a redevelopment agreement for the issuance of bonds.
But Matthews persisted, got everything in order and the project moved forward.
However, he admitted Friday, "There were times I wasn't sure we could pull it off."
He praised the leadership of Ardis and City Manager Patrick Urich and the rest of the City Council in working with him to get the project started, nearly five years after he first announced it.
Asked if the headaches and such that accompanied the project were worth it, Matthews replied, "In spades."
