respublica

Amtrak to test 110 mph in Illinois

With Governor Quinn onboard, Amtrak will see how traveling 110 mph works out between Chicago and St. Louis today. High speed train travel is always talked about, but logistically it may be difficult to do in this country, not because the trains and the tracks can't handle the speed, but there are so many stops. Maybe that makes no difference, I'm just not sure why.

Today's speed test will only cover the 15 miles between Dwight and Pontiac which is ironic, at least to me, since I-55 through Dwight has long been a speed trap. I received a ticket there along with many others. So I smile when I think of a train speeding out of Dwight. 

In any event, it would be fantastic to have more trains running in the midwest and west with easy access and direct routes. Then if the trains went fast, all the better. If you live on the east coast train travel is direct and easy, out here it's more indirect. I've read ridership is up on Amtrak which makes sense when you see how exhausting air travel has become. 

Gambling now legal in Illinois bars and restaurants

Yesterday the new law allowing bars and restaurants in Illinois to have video gambling machines went into effect. State legislators passed this law back in 2009 and expect the tax revenue to be around 375 million dollars a year which will then be used to fix bridges and schools.

Not every local city in Illinois is going to allow this type of gaming and some, like Collinsville, plan to put the question to voters on the November ballot to get a feel for how residents feel about this. Here's the irony in the local gambling issue, cities with casinos like Alton and East St. Louis are wary of competition to the casinos since these businesses have been a source of good tax revenue over the years. Collinsville has Fairmount Park Race Track's competition to keep in mind.

What's ironic is that the state and presumably Gov Quinn passed the legislation allowing veterans halls, bars, restaurants to have the poker, bingo, slot video gambling machines, but Gov Quinn vetoed legislation allowing the 2 or 3 Illinois race tracks to do the same. The obvious place for the new gambling machines would be in places where gambling has always been allowed. But sorry Fairmount Park, everyone else can have this revenue but not you.

This is all very weird.

Local gambling and citizen input

Illinois passed a law in 2009 which would allow video gambling in bars, truck stops, veterans halls, etc and now many local municipalities are struggling with whether or not to opt out or give their businesses the okay. All of a sudden any number of metro east city councils are debating this and last night Collinsville voted unanimously to send the question to the November ballot as an advisory referendum.

It seems a tough issue for most cities, they are intrigued by the taxable income and the arguments by bar owners that the profits would help their businesses. But, they are also being lobbied by those opposed to gambling which include many church leaders and people who deal with the bad effects of gambling on families.

Some cities like Swansea just went ahead and voted not to allow video gambling while others like Collinsville and possibly Edwardsville will be getting voter advice during the election. A tough decision for sure.

Road closure update

The ramp from westbound 64 to eastbound 55/70 in Illinois will be closed beginning Monday and end around January 31. IDOT is suggesting 255 as an alternate. This work involves the new Mississippi River Bridge construction.

Local traffic news

Two lanes of I-64 westbound downtown will open tomorrow at 6 am after several days of the entire stretch being closed. However, after 10 am, two lanes of the 3 will close until the afternoon rush at 3 pm.

So some bit of reprieve for Illinois morning commuters.

Also, Illinois State Police will be adding automatic traffic enforcement systems in all construction zones where workers are present. These will be vans with radar and cameras to record the speed of the vehicle and images of the driver and license plate. A first speeding in construction zone offense will be $375. A second offense fines you $1000 with the codicil that if your second offense is within 2 years of the first you will also have your license suspended for 90 days.

Illinois' Cottage Law makes farmers markets better

Granite City's Melting Pot Market hasn't allowed vendors to sell homemade goods like jelly and baked goods during its 3 years in business, but that has changed since Illinois enacted the Cottage Law. This law allows vendors to sell these things after passing a 15 hour sanitation test and paying a $50 registration fee.

Here's the line in the story which is arguably the most over the top description of saleable food I've ever read:

"The law allows non-potentially hazardous foods, like apple pie, dried oregano or peach preserves, to be produced in a home kitchen and sold at open-air farmers markets."

 It's nice to know apple pie and oregano are now not considered hazardous. 

In other news, Granite City has a farmers market?

Transparency in Illinois

State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has created a new website which provides a full accounting of Illinois public dollars.

Named The Ledger, the site will allow you to perform searches on specific revenues, expenditures, and entities, or even track a state employee's salary. You can even send an FOIA request.

No small job pulling this together, but it may be the first stop for anyone wanting financial information on the state of Illinois.

Too bad

The University of Illinois fired basketball coach, Bruce Weber today. Not really a surprise, but sad it had to happen to a nice guy.

The unclog your drains law

Here's a new Illinois law which just caught my attention.

If you need a drain cleaner (Drano, liquid Plumr, etc) in Illinois you'll now need to show ID at the store checkout.  

Someone threw Drano at someone in 2008 so now all of us have to jump through hoops in order to unclog our sinks.  If someone today were to throw a 2 liter bottle of Coke at another person causing a concussion, will ID be needed to buy soda in 2016?

It's almost as if when someone gets to the statehouse or Congress they forget what it's like to live in the real world.  

Memorialize the cows

Seriously.  PETA is seeking to have highway memorial signs put in place in memory of cows who died on Illinois roads.  

The state's Roadside Memorial Act specifies that only relatives who lost loved ones in highway crashes may request memorials.  Peta spokesman counters:  "Because there are no surviving family members for animals in the meat trade, we ask that you waive this requirement of the program and allow concerned Illinois citizens like me to apply in lieu of a relative."

Alrighty then.