The Bloomington Address

Southern Indiana Flood Pictures

2008-03-20T15:01:00.002-05:00

Received some pictures from the Southern Indiana floods. Pictures taken over the last two days by unknown photographers include French Lick and West Baden area shots. Our thoughts go out to the families affected by the flood.

Another Moron With A Gun

2007-10-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

From the HT online:
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/10/04/news.qp-5597617.sto

What is it lately with idiots and their guns?

Keyston J. Rice, 21, faces a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness.
Bloomington police were called to Campus Corner, 1150 S. Clarizz Blvd., at 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. Officer Stephanie Barnes reported that when she arrived, witnesses said a man had shot his gun numerous times before leaving the scene.................................Rice initially told police he’d only fired one warning shot in the air, but he later admitted to firing multiple warning shots. Witnesses told police Rice did fire shots in the air and straight ahead.

Brilliant. Not only did this joker act extremely recklessly with his gun by shooting it at an unknown, unidentified target he also fired shots straight up in the air. Hello? That only works in the movies, don't you watch Mythbusters? Those bullets fired up have to come down eventually and killing or seriously injuring someone two blocks away when the bullett comes back down is even more appauling than shooting someone on the other side of the bushes that you fired into.

Police arrested Rice and also cited him for violating a city ordinance that bans shooting guns within the city limits. Rice was taken to Monroe County Jail. Bond was set at $2,000 surety, $500 cash.

Not enough in our opinion. This was a legal gun permit holder and its people like this that create the image of reckless, old west gun fighters for the rest of us who are responsible gun owners and permit holders. We certainly hope that they make an example out of this character and whatever happens, take his weapons away and revoke his permit to carry. The majority of Licensed To Carry gun owners in Monroe County are responsible and concerned citizens. They don't need someone like this running around with a permit to carry.

College Mall Construction Zone

2007-10-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

Just a friendly warning to those who work in or want to frequent the College Mall in the mornings this week. If you use the entrance next to Applebee's (between Smith's and Sears) they have the doors locked until just after 9 a.m. everyday. The Mall doesn't officially open during the week until 10 a.m. anyway, but for those that have to work in the mall and are expected there before 9 a.m. good luck with that.

The construction mess is behind Applebee's in the alley near Old Navy's back doors. It is a complete mess, brought on by the construction of the new food court. If you are unfortunate enough to have or work for business along that corridor, sorry about your luck. Your back doors are almost completely blocked, rendering delivery of goods from shipping companies difficult at best. If you arrive to work before 9 a.m. for get about it. You won't be able to get to your backdoor without scaling a barricade and shuffling around the great crater they have created, and you won't have access to your front door until after 9 a.m..

We are not aware if other Mall entrances are open, common sense would say yes. Then again that has not been verified and no one has ever accused the mall planners of having a great deal of common sense when it comes to making things accessible and customer friendly. Just look to the bottle neck created at the entry road in front of TGI Fridays and you will see that planning for traffic flow and customer access isn't been a well thought priority. Add that to the amount of empty spots around and you have an increasingly less useful shopping resource. In our opinion it just thank goodness for destination stores like Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, Smith's Sport'N Shoe, K&S Menswear, and Sears keeping customers coming in at all. Otherwise, the new and long overdue food court would be a moot point.

Whats The Deal With Stoplights In This Town?

2007-09-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

I just don't get it. Who in the heck is responsible for the stoplights in town and the surrounding county?? Whoever it is they do a horrible job at it. Actually I spoke with someone close the the traffic committee and some of the problem lies in the State Highway department.

No surprises there really, but they are responsible for the moronic installation of a stoplight at Fullerton Pike and 37 (at the Monroe Hospital) that was unnecessary when it was installed (before the hospital) and ridiculously counter productive now that the hospital is there. The problem? When the lights were installed originally it never made sense. There were know plans for a hospital, the rumor was that it was going to be the home of the new Menards but in another travesty of local zoning management, Menards had to be moved because the zoning wasn't approved. That intersection was deemed dangerous because of accidents that occurred there. There were a few but in nearly all cases they were caused by idiot drivers in a hurry not by a lack of a traffic signals. The installation of the traffic signals never made sense because of two reasons:

The didn't install turn arrows to allow for crossing traffic on green. Almost all the accidents that I saw or read about were caused by someone either trying to turn into highway traffic in a hurry or crossing on coming traffic. People in a hurry to get to work or school or home, simply can't wait for little obstacles like semi trucks doing 60 MPH on a four lane highway I guess.
There was no need to cause highway traffic to stop yet again to allow for a minor access road to cross a major highway when you could see for over a half mile in both directions. Afterall that is why the over passes were installed at the crossings north of it (45/37 and 48/37) because in a 3 mile stretch on the only major north-south traffic route there were 4 or 5 stop lights along the way.

If you got hit by a semi truck while trying to cross at 37 and Fullerton Pike, it wasn't because a semi-truck materialized out of thin air and you didn't have time to react. It was because the world revolved around you and the truck should have stopped, swept the pavement of all debris and then directed traffic so you could cross without getting your tires dirty.

Now that the Hospital exists, I believe there is a necessity for a traffic signal. However not one without turn lights. I have seen more accidents at that intersection since the lights were installed than I ever witnessed prior to their installation. Now what you get is people travelling on the the higway looking turn accross on coming traffic to Fullerton Pike having to do exactly what the lights were installed to prevent, which is close your eyes and gun it to get across and hope on coming traffic can stop because there is no turn light insalled to allow safe turning. During peak hours like home rush hour, the North Bound turn lane on 37 is backed up 10 cars deep at times and only 1-2 cars have the ability to get turned during the long Green light so people are forcing their way across after the light turns yellow and sometimes red. A simple turn arrow would aalleviate a lot of accidents IMO.

Now on to the real reason for this post, which is another (previously unreported) idiotic stop light. This time I believe it falls under the jurisdiction of the City. Its at the corner of Thompson and Rogers (Across from the old RCA plant location). This light does have a turn signal attached to it, but the problem is it lasts all of 3 seconds. On a good day you can get 3 cars turned on a green arrow. Most times if the first car isn't rolling when it turns green you only get 1 through. Rush hour always bring huge lines at that light and most of it is turning south onto Rogers from westbound on Thompson (or what ever it is named between Walnut and Rogers. At 5:00pm on weekdays there is always 8+ cars trying to turn left at that light and dozens coming from the other direction going straight to Walnut. Makes for a ridiculously slow ride home when the line turning keeps growing and only 1-2 are turning during each light. If you added 3 more seconds to the turn arrow it would clear up half of the traffic congestion at that intersection during peak rush hour.

Rant over.

Teen Arrested After Altercation With Gun

2007-09-27T09:20:00.000-05:00

From the Herald Times: Teen Arrested After Altercation With Gun

Coryell faces preliminary charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm.
Bloomington police were called to the 500 block of Granite Drive at 12:30 a.m. Police said a man told police he allowed Coryell to test his subwoofer that was for sale.
When Coryell didn’t return the subwoofer or pay for it, the man went to Coryell’s home and demanded the item be returned or paid for. The two argued outside before the man saw some friends. The man spoke to his friends about the dispute, then went into Coryell’s home. When he entered the foyer, he later told police, Coryell pointed a gun at him and told him to get out of he’d shoot.

Hold on just a second here. What is wrong with this picture?? Let me look at this again. Ok, the guy is approached by someone who wants to test out a speaker (oh, sorry sub woofer) before he buys it. The guy ok's this teenager (19) to install the subwoofer in his car. When the guy fails to pay for the sub woofer or return it, rather than call police to report an obvious theft he goes to the teenagers home and gets into an altercation. Then finds a 'group of friends' to report instead of police to discuss it with. After this 'discussion' the friends wait outside while he forcibly (assuming forcibly because it doesn't sound as if he was going to be invited) enters someone's home. Sounds about right .

So now looking at it from the teens side. You have just had an argument with the guy only to find him breaking into your house with a mob waiting outside for you. Do you not have a right to defend yourself and your home? I think yes and can guarantee you that if someone breaks into my home there is gonna be at least one armed resident prepared to repel boarders, if you know what I mean. ;) The problem in all of this is that this 19 year old stole property and rather than let the police do their job this guy went vigilante and decided to take care of his own business. I guess I can understand that in principle but if you go so far as breaking the law yourself by trespassing in a threatening manner (I fully believe unwanted entering of someones home and leading a gang to be seperate threatening manners) then you should fully expect to have a gun pointed at you.

This is NOT intimidation with a gun that should result in the 19 year old sitting in jail. Rather this is breaking and entering with intent to do harm, resulting in someone being forced to defened themselves and their home. What should have happened is the police should have been called and arrested the 19 year old for theft, not for defending his home from a vigilante and his gang...err discussion group.

Free Coryell now or charge him with theft, but do not charge him with intimidation for protecting himself.

Darland new town marshal: HeraldTimesOnline.com

2007-06-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

Darland new town marshal: HeraldTimesOnline.com

What a brilliant move by the Ellettsville Town Council. 9 candidtate, 5 interviews and they select Gary Darland to be the new Town Marshall? Even the man himself was surprised:

“There were some big names in law enforcement. Honestly, I was stunned when they called and told me I had the job. I actually thought it was a joke — I didn’t recognize the voice. I don’t really know the council, so there was definitely no politics involved.”-Gary Darland on being hired for the job.

No, the joke is on the poor citizens of Ellettsville who now have more of the 'Good'Ol Boy' committee running things. The current town council has been noted for being more proactive towards improvement and that makes this decision even more shocking. The Monroe County Republican Party couldn't force feed the Monroe County's citizen's as a whole the "Darland Party" as sheriff back in 1998, soundly handing the sheriff seat to the Demorcrats. They failed again later when they tried to give Darland the Coroner's job in the next major election. So if he failed at sheriff, failed at coroner, and lives 45 plus minutes from Ellettsville, why not give him the position of town marshall? Makes sense to me.

Gordon and Johnson Get Whats Coming To Them - Sort Of Anyway

2007-06-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

NASCAR.COM - Gordon, Johnson docked 100 points for violations - Jun 26, 2007

Well I guess NASCAR couldn't wiggle out of it this time. With the precedent previously set, they handed out identical penalties for Both the #24 and #48 teams as they did with the #8 team. Unfortunately they didn't have the bolts to make the penalties meaningful. With the exception of the loss of crew chiefs and some pocket change, the points losses really don't amount to much as Gordon remains a top the points chase and Johnson only moderately dropped. In any regards, thanks NASCAR for doing it partially right none the less.

Let's just hope when Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson are next caught with illegal modifications the penalties reflect the fact they keep getting caught for it.

How Many Times Can One Team Break The Rules?

2007-06-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

NASCAR.COM - Hendrick: COT's gray area should be better defined - Jun 23, 2007

"Well, I don't necessarily say they bent the rules -- I think they thought they were working inside an area in which they could.." -Rick Hendrick

What are we missing here? We don't work with NASCAR everyday, but we do know a few things that apparently Hendrick Motorsports doesn't. First, if it looks like a skunk, acts like a skunk, and smells like a skunk, its probably a skunk. Either that or a #48 Crew Chief, driver, or team representative.
Second, the template is there to protect the integrity of the competition. It doesn't mean, its there for everyone to follow except for the team with the most money. It also doesn't mean, its ok to 'game' the system by making illegal modifications under the guise of "The template still fits".
Hendrick also said that he believes they have already been penalized enough. Huh? His reasoning? Well why not:

"This is a penalty, we're behind everybody else because we didn't get any track time. Starting in the rear, nobody's ever done it and won a race here...... This is a big penalty not being able to qualify and get a good starting spot and a good pit spot. I'm not going to say it's impossible but we're just hoping for a good finish. If these two cars finish in the top 10 I'll be real happy."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Budweiser Team were hit with $100,000 in fines, 100 championship points, and loss of a crew chief for 6 races. That was for an illegal spoiler bracket, and it was also a claimed accident. I don't recall any one from Hendrick complaining that they [Earnhardt's Team] had already been penalized enough by starting at the back of the race.

"We'll have to see what the penalty is, ,but I don't think that the penalty fits the crime in this case, when you're talking about the top of a fender and you're doing it by hand."

Wait a second, didn't he already say that they were already penalized? More sanctions may be forthcoming (there certainly had better be some points docked, otherwise they [NASCAR] are cheating the fans from fair racing), but until that is announced how can anyone say that the penalties don't fit the crime? Furthermore, at least for the #48 team, they have been caught how many times circumventing the system now? At least three, if memory serves and they received a Championship for it last season.

What is NASCAR to do though? Well how about show some in integrity of their own and enforce their own rules? NASCAR has said many times that skirting the edges of legality with modifications to the "Car of Tomorrow" would not be tolerated. They also said that minimum penalties would be a loss of 100 driver points and $100,000, which is strangely what they hit Earnhardt, Jr. with earlier this year. They also banned Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. for 6 races and as far as I can recall Eury Jr. had never been caught or even accused of cheating, unlike Chad Knaus who has built a reputation on sitting in the Trailer for illegal modifications and skirting the rules. If NASCAR wanted to stand up for the fans, competing drivers, and the sponsors they would stay on the strict line. The punishment of Dale Jr. was firm, the next offenders should have been scared away by those penalties implemented. Yet they weren't afraid of those infractions, why should they be 100 points means literally nothing to the #24 team well in the points lead and only a minor irritation to the #48, $200, 000 for the team is just pennies in the bank and loosing their crew chiefs for 6 races is only minor hindrances. Examples should be made and precedent set. The violated the rules after another team was caught and punished, so double the penalties. Dock each team 200 driver points, each team $200,000 in fines, and remove their Crew Chiefs for the next 12 races. Let's see who the third team to cheat will be then, heh?

If NASCAR follows true to it's usual form though, Jeff Gordon can do no wrong so therefore chances are that only the usual slaps on the wrist will be forthcoming. It will be a disgrace to the sport and an insult to the fans and sponsors if nothing serious is done to discourage further 'testing of the gray' areas. So hopefully those at NASCAR grow some bolts, and make the right decisions.

Sad Day Indeed

2007-06-19T08:25:00.001-05:00

Well we at the BtownAddress have received some very sad news. Our sources have reported that our beloved Coach Terry Hoeppner has lost his battle with brain cancer and has passed away at the age of 59. Coach Hoeppner was a wonderful human being, with a large heart, and love of Indiana Football. Coach Hoeppner brought life back to a football program that was in shambles, and he brought the excitement and camaraderie back to the fans in the stands. Coach Hoeppner will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers will be with his family, friends and players during this difficult time.

Hep - Thanks for the memories and thanks for being our coach. You will be missed.

Note: We corrected the erroneous age that was listed and apologize for any problems it may have caused.

No Colts Car At the 500

2007-05-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

ESPN.com: PDM angry NFL won't allow Colts-colored Indy car

In a brilliant PR move, it seems that local resident's can't see a "Go Colts" race car circling the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. The team owner of Jimmy Kite's #18 (appropriate for a race in Indianapolis) car had requested permission to paint the car Blue and White (the team colors of the Colts) and generically put "GO COLTS" on the car. The idea was squashed when Indianapolis officials blocked it due to 'sponsorship concerns'. This is apparently due to another No Fun League ruling that prohibits the 'cross sport promotions'.

Ironically, there was no problem that Colt Tight End Ben Utecht sang the National Anthem or that Peyton Manning would be the Grand Marshal of the race and be the official race starter. The official response from Tom Zupanic (The Colts VP of Sales and Marketing) included:

"You could end up on the car with someone who's a competitor of one of our sponsors"

Huh? He wasn't using a trademarked logo, just the words "GO COLTS" and wasn't planning on putting it anywhere but on the side of the car as a "Thank You" from the fans. The team however felt that he would use the Colts connection to strum up support from real sponsors wanting to be in association with a 'Colts Team'. Come on. That is just silly. So silly, the frustrated primary owner of PDM Racing Paul Diatlovich said:

“I’m extremely upset with the narrow-minded, pin headed leadership of the Colts team and the NFL, it’s inexcusable. All we’re trying to do is say thank you.”

Narrow minded indeed.

Frankly, I don't understand why he couldn't paint the car Blue and White (as far as I know there is no trade mark on color combinations), he already owns #18 so there cannot be an 'official objection' to it from anyone out side the IRL, and paint the Phrase "GO INDIANAPOLIS" on the side. As far as I know, advertising ones own hometown on a race car is still allowed in America....Isn't it? I suppose the lawyers and so-called officials could probably tie the phrase "GO COLTS" to all the fan support signs common around the city though, so perhaps "THANKS INDIANAPOLIS"? Nah, I am in support painting it blue and white with the #18 on it and then writing "NA-NA-NA-NANA" on it.

Emergecy Alert System Tests

2007-05-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

Is anyone else frustrated with the local cable companies Emergency Alert System? This morning like most Friday mornings the kids cartoons were interrupted by the screeching of the Alert System being activated. As usually it displays a text message on the screen but never any audio to tell you if its a real emergency or only a test. This is particularly frustrating on days when the "Tests" occur and there are actually Thunderstorms in the area. Don't get me wrong, I am all for testing the alert system but who reports back if its working? The test it and it rarely is working properly IMO. Is there really a point to testing the system if no one is reporting back the problems? Since I don't know how it is supposed to work. I cannot possible be expected to report when its not working, can I?
The last time the there was a Sever Thunderstorm Warning, the cable went to flashing and the Emergency Alert System has been activated in your area only to have dead silence. No verbal message, no on screen text message, just silence. Nice. A few years ago, I stood on my front porch and watched the funnel cloud form nearby (thankfully it never touched down) and the cable went to the Alert activation and again nothing. I would be more happy to do what I always do during a storm-watch the weather or news channel for alerts and warnings. Even that is rendered difficult by the poor cable television over-ride. The screen goes all wavy, screeches and goes to a screen telling you its been activated. No message about why or where. Nothing to indicate when its expected to be or what you should do about it. At least the news will occasional flash the National Weather Service Bulletins and show you a map of where the storms are.

Recent Rash Of Mass Shootings

2007-04-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

Just heard today that there is yet another mass shooting in the United States. This time at a shopping mall near Kansas City, Missouri. Earlier it was on the campus of Virginia Tech. Both cases, these attacks occurred in what are known as 'Gun Free-zone's', or in other words places like schools, shopping center's, amusement parks, etc. which attempt to prohibit the transporting of firearms and other weapons into public areas.
Unfortunately this often results in 'prime targets' for the criminal's who would carry out such acts of violence as mass shootings. The chances are that law-abiding, properly licensed gun carriers will be following the 'no gun's' request and the bad guys are not going to. Thus, the criminal is free to do as he pleases until law enforcement finally arrives. In the case of a shopping mall, as in the Kansas City incident, the mall security most likely is not prepared to respond as they typically are only allowed a set of handcuffs and perhaps some pepper spray. The good news is that unlike the tragedy that fell upon Virginia Tech, police were fast to react and the coward was not taken down by his own gun.
Anti-gun media will undoubtedly call this evidence for more gun laws, stronger restrictions, etc. On the other hand, had a few law-abiding Missouri citizen's been armed, this may have been stopped more quickly. For sure when Seung-Hui Cho was walking room to room at Virginia Tech firing more than 100 rounds at defenseless students, had a few students or teachers been armed (directly violating the Universities Policies) someone may have saved many more lives by ending the unchecked shooting spree before it left more than thirty innocent victims dead.

Shooting at Virginia Tech Was Predicted

2007-04-30T09:26:00.000-05:00

As early as February of last year, students at Virginia Tech were concerned with the 'Gun Free Zone' policies of the University. As was reported by the Roanoke Times in January of 2006, a Bill in Virginia that would have allowed licensed, concealed carry on campus was rejected by the General Assembly without any objections.
House Bill 1572 which was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, would have allowed for the lawful carry by licensed citizens of firearms for personal protection. University spokesman Larry Hincker was reported as being happy with the decision by the General Assembly saying "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus." according to the Roanoke Times report. I wonder if he still feels the same way?
A few days following the Roanoke Times report, a personal blog known as The Liberty Zone reported on the 'lack of common sense' and ended its report in February of 2006 with this ominous prediction:

"And I'm sure the armed criminals are appreciative of the General Assembly's actions as well. This will help them victimize their prey and give them a full college campus of disarmed targets."

Eerily disturbing only a year later.

More information on Students seeking the right to carry on Campuses can be found at the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus website.

Colts -World Champions of Super Bowl XLI

2007-02-04T22:38:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts, the 2007 Super Bowl XLI champions!!! The Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in a monsoon down in Miami, Florida. The Colts watched as their opening kick off was returned for a Touch down and like many, I found myself screaming at the TV. The entire first half was turnover after turnover by both teams in a torrential down pour. At the half time break, the colts clung to a two point lead but everyone had that feeling that the second half was gonna be fun (if you were a Colts fan :) ).
Coming out from the opening drive of the second half the Colts dominated the Bears and homegrown Rex Grossman struggled a bit in the rain against the Colt defense. All in all, Grossman played a great game and its sad that someone had to loose but at least the Colts are World Champions!

Again Congratulations Coach Dungy, for a long over due and much deserved Super Bowl Ring and Lombardi Trophy.

Congratulations are also in order for Super Bowl MVP: Peyton Manning.

Thank You To Coach Sampson

2007-02-01T14:37:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since IU basketball fans have felt the excitement of taking on top 25 teams and knowing confidently that the Hoosiers can compete and win. This is not an intentional knock at former IU coach Mike Davis though. This is something IU has missed for quite some time, and even before Coach Davis' departure.
Watching #25 IU last night at home vs. #2 Wisconsin was a pleasure. You can see how well coached and prepared the Hoosier players are for each and every game. The air inside Assembly Hall is electric from the time the players enter the building until the last fan has left. We owe it all to Coach Kelvin Sampson. Coach Sampson coming in was already fighting an up hill battle. The stigma that surrounded his departure from Oklahoma combined with the well publicized riff with Illinois over recruiting, had some fans wondering what was going to happen to the program. Well no matter what the outcome of the remainder of this season, Coach Sampson has proven just how great of a coach, educator, and person he is. Seeing a team on the court that is fired up and playing each play is amazing for fans, seeing a coach fired up on the side lines trying to pump up an already ignited home crowd is just spectacular.
Close losses to Butler, Duke, and Kentucky were heart-breakers, but you could feel that IU had the ability and desire to win those games. They just came up a bit short. Going into Connecticut and coming away with a road win in that hostile of an environment shows the heart of the players and the ability of the coach to control the game. Winning at home, against the #1 team in the Big Ten and the #2 team in the NCAA - all we can say is WOW. Not one time in the second half of that game did the group of us watching every think that IU was defeated. When Coach Sampson started pumping up the crowd, we could tell this game was gonna go IU's way. It had too, he was willing it to happen.

Thank you Coach Sampson! Thank you for bringing the excitement back to IU Basketball, for teaching the players how to win, and most importantly thank you for every thing you do for the players, fans, university and community.

Things That Make You Say - What The.....?

2007-01-30T15:22:00.000-05:00

Well as part of my travels, I often pass by the new Monroe Hospital on Highway 37 just south of town. I have been travelling this way since long before the hospital was a thought in the founders minds. The intersection of Fullerton Pike and Indiana 37 has always been a point of controversy. There have been accidents there often as far back as I can recall. When I was a teenager, I traversed the intersection every day on my way to school (after turning 16 and getting my drivers license) and saw my share of accidents at that intersection. At that time it was as it should have been, no stop lights on the highway, only stop signs for the cross traffic.
Some said it was a danger to people pulling out onto or crossing the highway. There were some fatalities and eventually it was decided (wrongly IMO) that a stop light was needed on the Highway. Now bear in mind that you could see on coming traffic 1/2 mile or so in both directions, so any accidents were (IMO) a product of impatient drivers 'forcing' their way across the highway. The stop light wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I could definitely agree that it made traffic crossings easier and maybe even safer by building stop lights at that intersection. HOWEVER, the idiots responsible for the decision didn't bother to add turn lights on and off of the highway. This did absolutely NOTHING for safety at that intersection. If anything it gives a false sense of safety because crossing traffic now 'assumes' that highway traffic will be stopping for the Red Light when in fact often times it results in those drivers impatiently speeding up to run through the red light or even worse the lack of a turn light for the highway traffic results in the same impatient drivers continuing to force their way across the on coming traffic resulting in more accidents.
This all being said, the addition of the Hospital at this intersection demands the highway to have a stop light and now it is very necessary for traffic to be controlled at that crossing. However since the ignorance of the planners still hasn't allowed them to add the necessary turn lights, accidents are only going to increase at tragic increments. On my way through the other day, I came upon the aftermath of one of these accidents. There was no report that I saw in the newspaper, and I did not witness the crash just the scene afterwards so I don't now what happened for sure. Given the intersections history and the placement of the wreckage though, I would speculate someone was trying turn across the highway and managed a head on collision with a north bound traveller. Had the traffic planners had their heads outside their body cavities, they may have foreseen this and added the necessary turn lights for the intersection.
Now that the hospital has opened, traffic has increased significantly. This ignorant stop light configuration is causing more problems than it solved. What needs to happen, and happen immediately is the installation of the much needed turn arrows. If we are going to have a stop light at this intersection (which now I firmly believe is a necessity) we MUST get the proper turn lights installed to allow safe crossings of the north and south bound lanes. It always fails to amaze me at the serious lack of foresight that the planners of Bloomington and Monroe County have in regards to domestic growth and expansion. We only can hope that the madness ends soon and someone realizes that things are not being done as they should be. If not, I fear there are going to be some tragic consequences.

Colts Win, Colts Win!

2007-01-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

Well its official, Peyton Manning has gotten the monkey off his back. Trailing 34-31 and forced to punt the ball away following a horrendous 3 downs with just over 3 minutes or so to play. The Indianapolis Colts defense came through and forced a Patriots punt. Manning took over with just over 2 minutes remaining at their own 20 yard line. Manning marched down the field quickly and efficiently with pass after pass completed.
With 2:01 remaining Manning completed a short pass across the middle to Reggie Wayne for 14 yards but a roughing the passer (blow to the helmet) tacked on to the end of the play. A couple of Joseph Addai runs up the middle left the Colts with 3rd and 2 from the New England Patriots 3 yard line, a perfect time for the Colts signature play action pass to the end zone. That apparently is what the New England Patriots defense was thinking also, because they appeared completely surprised when Addai took his third straight hand-off right up the middle for the go ahead score. Follow the extra point, the Colt's prepared to kick off leading 38-34 with exactly 1:00 minute remaining.
Tom Brady took over with :54 seconds remaining and looked poised to march down the field for another of his miraculous last minute game winning drives. The Patriots marched quickly to mid-field and just were crossing into Colts territory with just over :20 seconds remaining. Brady lined up in the shot-gun formation and looked to Troy Brown over the middle to put them within striking distance for 4 plays into the end zone for the win. The often under estimated Colts defense stepped up, and Marlin Jackson picked off the pass to Brown ending the Patriots run at another Super Bowl appearance.
There were many big plays by many players on the Colts team on Sunday. Perhaps overlooked by the performances of Manning and Addai on the last drive were the plays throughout the day by the offensive line and Dominick Rhodes the Colts second running back. Rhodes carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and caught 4 Manning passes for another 38 yards. Addai cleaned up the last possession, but Rhodes ball control kept the Colts moving and in the game throughout the day. Rhodes one slip up was a fumble at the goal line, which ended up in offensive center Jeff Saturday's hands for a Colts touch down. If we were giving out the game balls, Saturday and Rhodes would have shared it.
Congratulations go out to Coach Dungy and the Colts on a great AFC Championship! Thanks for a great season and an exciting championship game. Now just 'shuffle' the Bears out of Miami and bring that Lombardi Trophy home to Indianapolis.

Local Soldier's Family Homeless After House Fire

2007-01-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

A local family has lost its home and most of their belongings after a fire destroyed their Bloomington home. National Guardsman Kenneth Caincross is stationed in Iraq, and at the time of this blog may not even be aware of the fire. Caincross' wife (Anita) and two children were home at the time the fire broke out, fortunately Anita Caincross was able to rescue both children and the family's dogs from the fire and everyone is safe. The cabin the family called home, apparently wasn't so lucky. It was a completely destroyed, taking most of the family possessions with it. Fortunately the cabin was insured, but that isn't much consolation right now to a family without a roof over their heads.

According to the radio station Hoosier Country 105 this am, Anita Caincross spent most of her December organizing care packages for our hero's over sea's. Bad things shouldn't happen to good people, and everyone is encouraged to give back to the family who has done so much for our fighting men and women overseas but contributing whatever they can to aide them in getting back on their feet.

Anyone willing to help can do so by contacting the Monroe County Red Cross at 812-332-7292 and making a donation.

Bob Knight Breaks All Time Win Record

2007-01-02T10:25:00.000-05:00

Well like him or hate him, Bob Knight is now the all time winningest coach in NCAA history. Knight surpassed the great North Carolina Coach Dean Smith with 880 career wins when his Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated New Mexico 70-68 on Monday. His fans and supporters tout this accomplishment as the pinnacle of a Hall of Fame career and his detractors say its just another game won by a bully who hasn't won a game of importance in 15 years. The administrators of the Btown Address stand somewhere in the middle. We have the greatest respect for Coach Knight and appreciate everything he has done for College Basketball and for the student athletes he has coached over the years. Even though he has stated many times records and accomplishments are meaningless to him, we congratulate Coach Knight and thank him for his contributions to College basketball.

Update: AJ Ratliff

2007-01-02T10:20:00.002-05:00

Updating an earlier rumour that Hoosier A.J. Ratliff was leaving the team, his appearance and participation in the Hoosiers defeat of Ball State over the weekend solidified the concept of 'Don't believe what you hear and only half of what you read'. Ratliff released a statement that a missed practice was at the stem of the rumour although it was just a scheduling miss-communication.

AJ Ratliff Rumored To Be Leaving IU Program

2006-12-27T13:03:00.000-05:00

Take this as just a rumor at this point, but possibly breaking news over the next few days if the rumor is indeed true. Sources wishing to remain anonymous, have reported that IU Basketball Junior A.J. Ratliff has left the IU Basketball Program. No word as to what factors may have been involved in his departure (if true) but the former Indianapolis North Central High School Star has struggled to find consistency in his game under new IU coach Kelvin Sampson, is averaging 9.5 points per game.

Again, at this point there are no details and this should be just considered a rumour. Any further details that are uncovered will be posted as soon as possible.

Indiana's current record stands at 8-3 with their next opponent at home against Ball State on Saturday.

Longhorn Steakhouse

2006-12-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

The Longhorn Steakhouse (721 South College Mall Road; 812-334-1600) is one of Bloomington's newest restaurants. Having finally had the opportunity to visit the restaurant, I was looking forward to checking it out. First, I must stress that we took a large party (about 20 adults) on this particular visit as this was more of an annual Christmas party for us.

It is important to note that we wouldn't recommend the Longhorn Steakhouse for large party visits. We were unfortunate enough to be there on a day where there was another large party dining in. Although we had reservations, we were the smaller party and they just don't have the seating for more than one large party at a time. We were kind of shoved into the back corner and unfortunately had to be spread out a bit from each table since they couldn't really be combined into one as it would have virtually cut off the bath rooms. The restaurant wasn't extremely busy, being a week night and straight up 5:00pm the dinner rush hadn't really kicked in. We were spread out over 4 tables (2 were combined giving us 3 actual seating spaces) and divided off in three groups and ordered our food. They gave us two servers to handle our service, but the service was incredibly slow although very pleasant and friendly.

In total, we ordered many different items and I can say we got a pretty good sampling of the menu. There were no complaints about the drinks that were chosen (about half of us ordered alcoholic beverages) and the drinks arrived relatively quickly after being ordered. We sampled several appetizers including their "Texas Cheese Fries" and "Firecracker Chicken Wraps". The appetizers arrived and there were no complaints, everyone was hungry and they all were good eats. Dinner orders were then taken, and the real wait began, because dinners arrival was incredibly slow.

When the food finally arrived, it wasn't complete. Dinner basically arrived in waves and it was disappointing because basically 12 of each table got their dinners and were half-way finished before the other half received theirs. The wait was almost worth it as the food was really good, no one reported an unsatisfactory meal. The only complaint about the food that is recalled was that a table favorite the steak with lobster tails were a tad small for the price, but apparently the flavor made up the difference fairly quickly. One guest meal arrived and was incorrect and had to be redone, that took quite sometime and they ended up taking most of it to go. Deserts were also ordered by a few and again no complaints. The one bright point about the service, the manager complimented the deserts which was about a $30 savings I would guess.

All in all the food was excellent and I suspect that a smaller party would have had a better experience. It was just a shame that the service was very slow and there were a few other minor problems added on. All in all the experience was fair, and wouldn't deter me from visiting again.

Overall Rating: 2
Rating Scale: 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Ok, 4=Good, 5=Excellent

Update - Counterfeit Money

2006-12-15T14:32:00.000-05:00

Some interesting information has turned up that is relevant to article we posted earlier in the week regarding Counterfeit Money that we wanted to update everyone on. Reporter-Times.com (a Martinsville, IN based news site) reported on Wednesday, that Two Camby, Indiana Brothers were arrested on charges including forgery and drug possession and were apparently caught after passing some counterfeit $100 bills in the local area. Reports of fake $100 bills have come in from several locations with in easy driving distance of Mooresville, including here in Bloomington.
Hopefully the two men arrested by Mooresville authorities, were the ones responsible locally and no further incidents will be uncovered. The suspects, 25 and 19 were apparently captured on camera passing fake $100 bills containing identical serial numbers. You can read the complete article on here: Reporter-Times.com.

Casa Brava-Bloomington

2006-12-14T09:08:00.000-05:00

Had dinner at Casa Brava (3482 W. Third Street; 812-339-1453) last evening. Casa Brava is my favorite 'Authentic Mexican Cuisine' in town but the dining experience is always hit or miss. The food is almost always good, my personal favorite is the Taco's Carne Asada which is a simple meal consisting of three tortillas filled with marinated, sliced steak and is served with a side of beans with cheese, and the Pico de Gallo. As I was dining with the family on this occasion, there were two adults and two children. Meal choices for the evening in addition to my choice were the children's Cheese Quesadilla meal which included Mexican rice, and beens for the kids and a dinner combination #17 for my better half which was comprised of One burrito, one enchilada, Mexican rice and beans.
Now the reason the dining experience is hit or miss depends mainly on the diners. For two adults, who are not in a hurry to be anywhere else the experience is fine. For a family with small children or someone looking for a good meal in a hurry it is a different story. Don't get me wrong, the servers, managers, and hostesses are more than pleasant to deal with. We have never had a less than friendly service from anyone on our visits to the Bloomington location. The problem is with the speed of service. When you have two small children ready to eat dinner, don't stop by Casa Brava expecting happy kids. Our experience was started off with a short wait to be seated. That was, IMO shorter than most west-side restaurants for the dinner rush. Once seated we had a couple minutes wait before our drink orders were taken. At least for the kids, the chips and salsa came quickly as the bus-boys or hostesses bring that out rather than our server. Our drinks were taken and others around us were seated. We waited approximately 15 minutes after our drinks arrived before our waiter came back to take our order. During that time our server delivered drinks and took orders from the customers who were seated later, around us. Not pleasant with 2 hungry kids sitting at the table nibbling on chips. Once the order was taken, the food didn't take very long to prepare which was good because by that time the table was getting pretty rowdy.
The quality, temperature, and flavor of the food was all great as usual. That is the reason to continue coming back with the kids, the flavor is always great. The kids took quick care of the rice, beans and quesadilla, and the adults thoroughly enjoyed their meals too. The dinning room was kept clean and tidy, which unfortunately was part of the speed of service problem as our server kept helping the bus-boy's clean and straighten tables around us rather than take our order. The bathrooms which have a tendency to be less than spotless were in pretty good shape on this visit too. Then came time to wrap it up, which brought us back to the speed of service. Our waiter removed some of the cleaned plates from the table asked if there was any deserts to be ordered and when we stated that we had finished, he left to presumably get our check. We waited another 10 minutes of him walking back and forth past us without bringing the bill. Finally one of us had to take the kids and go outside leaving one behind to show we were ready for the bill. Another 5 or 6 minutes past before the server had a 'DOH' moment (which I could clearly see on his face) and he came running with the bill. He apologized sincerely for the wait, and thanked us for coming in. As I said, always very polite and pleasant-just slow. Then needed to wait a few more minutes at the front desk for a cashier to walk by before I could pay and join the family sitting patiently outside on the bench.
All in all, the experience was ok, just need to make a mental note not to come when the kids are starving for a quick dinner. Two adults and two hungry kids ate for $36 before the gratuity.

Overall Rating: 2 (note: would have been a 3 had the service been a bit faster)
Rating Scale: 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Ok, 4=Good, 5=Excellent

Counterfeit Money

2006-12-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

Apparently there is a big problem locally with regards to counterfeit money being distributed. I overheard a bank teller, explaining to a customer in line that crooks are taking $1 and $5 dollar bills and somehow blanking and reprinting the paper to $100 bills. In speaking to a couple of retail managers this problem is bad for them in more ways then one. First the counterfeits are fairly tough to catch since they are printed on real money. The normal security checks may not be effective because the security pen's come back positive (that is indicating real money) and checking for the special strip is ineffective because at a quick glance it is easy to see the strip but hard to tell if it says 1 dollar or 100. Also as far as I know, the updated security features were not added to money until the mid 1990's. So older money may not contain some or any of the newer security features.

This has also caused a lot of paranoia amongst retailers locally because they are suspecting money of being funny, but the normal tests are proving unhelpful. Some older money may not contain the magnetic strip and if a retailer suspects a bill is phony but the security pen checks out what are they to do? Now retailers are being extra cautious with $100 bills and this results in three things:

The customer is left feeling abused as their money is scrutinized by sometimes more than one store clerk as they try to determine if the $100 bill they used was real or not.
Slows down the check out process resulting in longer wait times for other customers in line while the clerk(s) check the $100 bills being used to make purchases.
Subjects the retailer and/or clerks to criticism of being paranoid or of not trusting their customer.

Personally this isn't much of a problem since I almost never carry cash, preferring the ease of a Check/Debit card. What is one to do though, if they prefer to pay cash for everything? You can of course stop by your bank and cash out the large bills in your pocket for smaller ones. This doesn't guarantee though that you will speed up the process, other bills besides $100's have been counterfeited in the past. Weary retailers may scrutinize your ten $10 bills as much as they would have your one $100 bill. It is more likely to speed things up however as retailers are probably going to be less concerned with phony $10 bills (note: counterfeiting a penny is just as illegal as counterfeiting a $100 bill) than $100 ones but it means carrying 5 to 10 times as much paper money on your possession as you normally would have.

We searched Google online to find advice for identifying and catching counterfeit bills. There were lots of sites about the subject, we weren't able to locate one that answered our specific questions. The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing offers a lot of great tips on new bill identification including this Youth Game that walks through with visual examples of some of the false prints. According to their website, the government didn't start adding the advanced security features to money until 1996. That doesn't help the local merchants and retailers who may be asked to accept $100 bills from the 1980's. We were unable to locate during our search anything concrete on what retailers were expected/supposed to do with money that tests ok, but is probably fake.

Our best advice to shoppers this holiday season who wish to pay cash for gifts:
Be patient. The clerks and retailers need to be as thorough as their companies require them to be when taking paper money this year. The bad apples always spoil it for the rest of us. The banks won't accept the phony money as deposits from the retailers so they have to do their best not to accept it from their customers. Retailers are people too, they are not in the business of giving things away so they are going to be extra cautious in checking to be sure the bills being used are legitimate. Everyone needs to just be patient and courteous of everyone else and so long as you aren't trying to pass counterfeit bills, you will be happily on your way as soon as possible.

Chirstmas Season

2006-12-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Well the Christmas season is in full swing. Visited the College Mall (2894 E 3rd Street) this morning, which opened at 9am. There were already quite a few cars in the parking lot and groups milling around inside. Is anyone else frustrated by the new trend of the kiosk's? I am talking about the ones where you can't walk past them without one of the cheesy sales people pushing hand cream or some other gimmick product at you. One in particular is located at a junction in the mall that you have to walk by. There are always two or three people working the kiosk, and pushing some kind of hand cream or finger nail treatment products. I liken this to a bad used car dealership. I am coming to the mall to do some X-mas shopping, I know what I want to get and in most cases where to get it from. I don't want these 'dolled' up pretty boys pushing nail care products to me for my wife. If I wanted to go somewhere to loose money and be assaulted by unwanted solicitors, I would just go to Las Vegas. You would also think, that this mall would have a food court of some sort. It is after all the only real (and I use that term rather loosely) mall in town. The busiest place in the mall this morning, was the Chic-fil-A.

New feature hopefully coming soon! I thought it might also be interesting and useful to add store reviews so look for some of those in the near future. If anyone has anything they would like to see added, all comments are welcome! Feel free to let me know via my Profile link, I am always interested in hearing about things that might be utilized to improve the reading experience.

Thanks and take care.

TGI Fridays

2006-12-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

The local TGI Friday's (2846 E. Third Street; 812-331-1382) is a fairly recent addition to the Bloomington restaurant scene. Affectionately known as "TGI Fingers" following a April 2006 incident where a cook nipped the tip of his finger off in a sandwich and in the confusion of rushing him to the hospital the sandwich was unknowing delivered to the customers table. Fortunately the customer noticed the finger before the incident got worse. All kidding aside, TGI Friday's has long been one of my favorite 'chain restaurants' and trips up north to Greenwood always resulted in stopping by the Greenwood location.
During the recent visit, the wait time was moderate. Nothing more or less than expected for a lunch time stop. No appetizers really today, rather I just ordered the Jack Daniels Sampler as a meal. The Sampler consists of ribs, shrimp, and chicken strips smothered in their signature Jack Daniels Sauce. The amount of food you get for the money can't be beaten. The meal plus a soft drink only totaled around $10 and I had left overs to take with me. The service was pretty good, with the hostess and server being more than pleasant to deal with. The manager was highly visible which is always a plus in my book for any restaurant, and also was very pleasant to talk to.
The food took a little longer than I would have expected to arrive but when it did so it was at a good temperature and was as described. The restaurant was clean and the tables were quickly bussed as well. The bathrooms were also in pretty good shape, considering the lunch rush that had just gone through. All in all the experience was above average.

Overall Rating: 3
Rating Scale: 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Ok, 4=Good, 5=Excellent

Goings on in B-town

2006-12-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

Well it was a balmy 7 degree's this am and according to the radio station the windchill made it feel like 1 degree. Of course that is to be expected, after all it is December in Southern Indiana. Not a whole lot going on in B-town this morning. Noticed the Mall was dead as usual, except the the long line waiting outside the electronic store waiting for some silly video game system. Must mean its getting close to Christmas.

Thanks for stopping bye, I am just getting started with this blog so I welcome any and all comments. I will try and add some more later.

Take care.

The Peach Garden-Chinese Restaurant

2006-12-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

On the recommendation of a friend, visited The Peach Garden (536 South College Avenue; 812-332-3437) recently. It would seem that the majority of their business comes from delivery orders (which according to their site can be placed online or via telephone) but we chose to dine in on our visit.

The hostess was very courteous and attentive to our needs and the service was pretty good. The dining area is a bit small, but made for a cozy, family friendly setting. The soups and appetizers were all good. I would recommend the Hot & Sour Soup, Szechuan Wanton's (for those who like it a bit spicy), or the Beef Sticks to start with.

The entrees were served up quickly and were nice and hot. Table recommendations were the Mandarin Chicken, Twice-Cooked Pork, and Chicken with Broccoli. Personally I like the flavor of the Mandarin Chicken, but having sampled them all none would disappoint the taste-buds.

All in all it was pleasant dinner, with great tasting food, and all at an affordable price. Two adults and two kids were able to eat for just under $40 which included soda's and appetizers. I would highly recommend The Peach Garden to anyone seeking good, authentic Chinese cuisine in Bloomington.

Overall Rating: 4
Rating Scale: 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Ok, 4=Good, 5=Excellent