Category: Illinois

Mount Vernon City Council Continues Aging City Artificially

August 21st, 2007 · · Illinois, Legislation, Mount Vernon 3 comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Okay, we know that more and more Americans are “graying” as the last great population boom gets older. Good for them. Unfortunately, the Mount Vernon City Council sees fit to ignore residents’ pleas and destroy a neighborhood to gain possible monetary increases from a new old folks home.

For months that I have been following this story, residents of the proposed development area have been fighting in every way imaginable to stop this development from being approved. Frequent appearances at city council meetings, petitions, etc.

Now, seemingly as a snub to the very people they are supposed to represent, the council vastly passed 3 measures to allow this  destruction.

For the city, this could mean new income and more old people to drive our average age even higher. For the residents, this will mean heavier traffic, construction in their once peaceful neighborhood, and absolutely no positive outcome.

One comment in an article from the Register-News has Councilman David Wood saying, “… Mt. Vernon has been negative, at best neutral, to developers.” Can you blame them, Davey? Some slick guy comes in claiming to have a great plan to help and grow our town while destroying a neighborhood. How about we build this next to your house, Dave? Better yet, you go ahead and buy one of the homes in that area and tell us how great it is to live there once this development starts.

What happens when/if the old folks don’t buy the condos/apartments and the developer cuts losses? Do we get another remote ghetto? Sounds like a winner to me.

When/if the old folks do come, what do they do for our local economy? Buy breakfast at Denny’s? Yay! More support for minimum wage jobs. Oh no, they’ll go golfing. Okay, I’m sure that the caddy they use can support his family on that wage.

Mount Vernon’s age was tilted to the high side when the 2000 census was taken. I have no doubts that it is even more so now that we have GreenTree. Bad news for council: YOU CAN’T SUPPORT AN ECONOMY SIMPLY ON RETIRED-PERSON’S INCOME.

It just can’t be done that I have seen. Real employment and development needs to come our way, not more retirement villages alone.

I see nothing wrong with retirement homes/apartments/whatever. I do have a problem with city council ignoring the people they were elected to represent and trying to turn Mount Vernon into a retirement community.

People in this area drawn to criticism and negativity

August 19th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon 4 comments - Tags: , , ,

I was looking at the most active local forums we have over at the R-N, and noticed something truly sad – negative articles seem to have all of the attention.

The most stark evidence I have noticed, the fact that got me off on this tangent, is that the local Walgreens DC is expanding and will be adding new employment. This article has ~3 replies. However anything that involves scandal, rumors, or personal attacks is flourishing with the attention of all attached to those boards.

What happened to no more than three months ago when everyone was clamoring that we need growth and expansion? I know this isn’t a new business, but it is growth in a positive way.

Guess this is just further proof that sensationalism sells. Heard a rumour? Great, we’d love to discuss that matter. Got good news? Blah.

Maybe I had it posted two days earlier, and the online group had already read about it. Maybe they just enjoy being negative.

Monday is Back-to-School Day for our household

August 16th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, School One comment - Tags: ,

The acquisition of First Cellular by Alltel Wireless was tough and put many people out of work, however it has also given some of us the chance to return to school. Luckily, I am one of those who is able to return to school and pursue a real education.

To the matter at hand – Monday will be the first day of school for Erich, Amaya, and myself. I don’t know if Amaya is more nervous about going the first time or if it’s dad returning with more  butterflies flittering about.

Tomorrow Em and I will take the kids to their “Open House” at the primary center. Hopefully Amaya will be full of wonder and excitement more so than being shy or nervous. She has the habit of getting nervous around strange people. It is a good trait and an iffy one. I’m betting once she meets some friends everything will be fine.

Erich is just fine. He’s ready to get right back into the school routine. He doesn’t seem to mind the schedule at all. I’m sure he’ll still be groggy when it comes time to wake up at 7 and get ready though.

We have the kids’ supplies ready to roll and in their backpacks, but still need to get gym shoes. It’s always nice when the kids feet decide to grow all of a sudden and they need shoes.

I guess we’ll see how tomorrow goes.

Walgreens Distribution Center to expand/upgrade in Mount Vernon

August 14th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, Technology 7 comments - Tags: ,

Details are a bit fuzzy at this point, however an anonymous source close to the local distribution center has confirmed that Walgreens will be expanding at their Mount Vernon location. A building permit was applied for by the company and there has been much buzz about this fact.

At this point, all that is known is that there will be new space built or added on that will include the addition of automated equipment to assist with the shipping of e-commerce and makeup supplies. The Mount Vernon DC is the only center in the country that ships makeup for Walgreens.

The new automated equipment will help actually bring items to employees to be “picked” and shipped to stores. While there will be new automated equipment in this addition, of course employees will be needed to run this part as well. New hiring has not been confirmed, but one could assume this will be the case.

We hope to have more details this afternoon, and we ask forgiveness if this is old news to anyone or everyone.

Update: Very little in the way of details, but here it is – The new construction and/or renovation in the Black Building is expected to cost ~$80 million. E-commerce and central pick will be transferred in 4 phases. Phase 1 will involve 100% of the e-commerce being moved and 20% of the central pick. The other 3 phases will finish the movement of central pick to this new area.

The higher level of automation will be accomplished by using technology from Kiva Systems. To be honest, the robots remind us of “Roombas”, only designed to move products instead of vacuuming a floor. Here is a video of the ‘bots in action at a Staples DC via FastCompany.com.

Krieger’s – New in Mount Vernon

August 12th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon 2 comments - Tags: , ,

Emily and I went to Krieger’s today for lunch. They have cleaned up the old Franky’s, and it seemed slightly nicer.

The menu provides simple fare to be expected in a bar/sports grill atmosphere – burgers, chicken, etc. There were some items that sounded interesting, but mostly bar food. I tried the “bison burger” and Emily had the chicken florentine (I think). The burger was okay, but I am pretty sure it was pre-made and cooked from frozen. Nothing you can’t get at any other joint. Emily had the chicken that came with some rice as the side. It looked great, and she said it tasted fine. I didn’t quiz her on how tasty it was, but she didn’t say it tasted bad (and she would have).

Overall, I have to say that this is another establishment that does not appear to offer anything other than what you can get at Applebee’s or Chili’s. They do seem to be a dollar or two less, and the money you spend stays closer to home rather than going to a national chain. It’s a small plus, but enough to have me go there instead of Applebee’s or Chili’s most of the time. They really need to differentiate themselves or I can see no reason for most other people to choose them over the national chains.

Overall – Same stuff, different name on the door from my first impression.