Our nice weather has put me in a foul mood.
It’s not the weather that is making me surly. It is the fact I’m outside more now and seeing the driving habits  in my neighborhood.

In Chadwick Estates, the streets are quiet and the lawns manicured.
It is the kind of idyllic neighborhood most would like to live in, except, perhaps, for the property taxes.
Lately, people there and in adjoining neighborhoods have seen something new move in — fear of crime. Burglars are the reason residents there and some adjoining subdivisions are on edge.

There has been a lot of praise heaped on the effort to outlaw indoor smoking in the Land of Lincoln.
There is praise for groups like the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association for their dogged pursuit of a law here.
They won the battle and indoor smoking is outlawed in public places.

The Times-Observer has been all over the local blogosphere, of late as a result of our move to #1 News Plaza.

t was an incredible moment, incredible in its honesty.
It occured during the discussion of deferring the re-appointment of board of review members Gary Shadid and Nancy Horton at last week’s Peoria County Board meeting.
County board chairman Tom O’Neill listened to a handful of county board members — both Democrat and Republican — talk about deferring the vote for one month.

No one connected to the Peoria County Board of Review, last year while talking to a Peoria Times-Observer reporter, said ousted member Dave Peters lacked integrity.
They simply implied it.
The reporter was asking about why the board of review was racking up tremendous numbers of protests.

I forgot all about Mother’s Day — well at least as far as getting a story in last week’s paper in advance of the holiday.
I didn’t forget it to the point of failing to get something from the kids for their mother. That would be stupid.
But, it got me thinking about the idea of belated Mother’s Day cards.

Flu is no stranger to Peoria, says North Peoria historian Norm Kelly.
Peoria, in early October of 1918, was pleasant after a pretty blistering summer, Kelly said.
The war was raging, and several Peorians were listed in the local newspapers as wounded or dead. The final count was 211 dead. Most folks here, he said, were trying to do their part for the war effort with one eye on the news reports.

Neglect is the root cause of weeds. Neglect can also be the root cause of a municipal budget in the red. In both cases, there is one action to overcome the issue — trim.
Our city council, however, has some trouble seeing that, at least when it comes to, of all things, weeds.

Something smells at the administrative offices of District 150. Again.
We have yet another scandal at the school district, possibly involving the firing of a principal who is a whistle blower on another school official. At the root of this is alleged misuse of school funds and missing financial records.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
— Proverbs
Boy, there’s wisdom in those words. I received yet another lesson in that last Thursday from one of my daughters-in-law and a Von Steuben Middle School language arts teacher.

Jerry Fix is confused and angry.
Fix, a North Peorian, sees American auto makers being destroyed by a free enterprise system that allows foreign autos to be sold here.
Fix, 80, is also upset that America, in his humble view, is being held hostage by foreign oil.
Fix is not one of those Americans who just sits and carps about these issues. He has an answer. 
“The only thing that can turn things around is a militia,” Fix said.
He wants to shut off American docks to the delivery of auto imports and keep domestic oil here at the point of gun muzzles carried by citizens.

It is no secret media types do not like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity.
Therefore, it is no surprise that many media types at the national and local level are finding every way possible to criticize and belittle those who organized and attended the local Tea Party and those held in other cities.

Russell Dill said he is hoping for gridlock in downtown Peoria today.
It is April 15 — Tax Day — and Dill told me last week he expects several thousand people downtown to protest tax policies at the federal level.
I went down there today to watch what would unfold. You can watch the TV news tonight to see if the expected masses showed up.
I doubt they did. But, even a few people showing up is better than nothing.

Several months ago, I was asked to think about writing a column on an alleged hate crime involving a gay student at a local high school.
I thought about it for close to a week and then decided to pass because I thought it hit just a bit too close to home for me.