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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Merry Christmas to all!

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Shortly after I get off work, I will be heading up to my hometown of Brighton for some quality holiday time with the family.

Because of my teaching gig at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, I wasn't able to get Christmas cards out to many of my friends and relatives this year. Instead, I created a PDF card/newsletter to share with them. I also am sharing it with you, the regular readers of this blog. You can download it here: http://www.rogerkramercycling.org/card08.PDF

I took the cover photo nearly 20 years ago while I was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Although it was taken in the spring, I thought it would be an appropriate photo for a Christmas card.

Regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas or another holiday this time of year, I wish all of you the spirit and peace that the season of Christmas is supposed to represent!

Labels: Christmas

Roger 0 comments 6:00 PM

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Looking for gifts for the cyclist in your life?

In case you're still Christmas shopping and haven't decided what to get the cyclist in your life, check out some merchandise from the 2008 Tour of Missouri!

Still available are the popular beanie pictured here and a wide range of shirts and hats. You can get 20 percent off your purchase if you enter TOMSALE.20 while you check out!

Labels: Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 12:29 PM

State continues Tour of Missouri backing

On Tuesday, the Missouri Development Finance Board approved spending $500,000 to support media coverage of the 2009 Tour of Missouri. The board contributed the same amount for this years' race, The Associated Press reported.

The race's $3.7 million budget also includes $1 million from the state tourism division. The rest comes from corporate sponsorships and donations.

The third annual race is to run Sept. 7-13, and the community of Hannibal is making a push to become a start city for a stage of the race, the Hannibal Courier-Post reported. Hannibal, of course, is best known as once being the hometown of author Mark Twain.

“I feel pretty good about it, said Beau Hicks, executive director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The next thing is it feasible for us to be a start city where they spend the night at? Can we work that issue out? I was pretty clear I’m not asking my hoteliers to give free hotel rooms. Once we work that out as a start city, I think we’ll be just fine."

Hannibal has about 850 motel rooms available, so I would think there would be enough rooms to handle the teams and support staff. My hunch is the economic benefits also may spill over to nearby Quincy, Ill., which has more than 1,000 motel rooms.

Labels: Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 12:31 AM

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Gov. Blagojevich arrested

Unfortunately, it's politics as usual in Illinois.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested today on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired, The Associated Press reported.

A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.

Blagojevich joins a long line of Illinois governors who have faced criminal charges, according to a list posted at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Otto Kerner, governor, 1961-1968. After he left office and became a federal judge, Kerner was convicted on counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury and related charges. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Kerner was released early from prison. He died in 1976.

William Stratton, governor, 1953-1961. Indicted on charges of violating income tax laws. The charges concerned the abuse and spending of campaign fund contributions. Stratton was acquitted in 1965.

Dan Walker, governor, 1973-1977. Convicted in 1987, Walker served 17 months for obtaining illegal loans used to finance a chain of quick oil change franchises for personal gain. The loans also funded the operation of an 80-foot yacht, the Governor's Lady. Walker was head of the thrift that provided the loans.

George Ryan, governor 1993-2003: Convicted of political corruption in 2006 for using his office as governor and earlier as secretary of state to enrich himself and his friends at taxpayer expense. He is currently serving a 6 1/2 year sentence.

Sadly, I'm not surprised by the Blagojevich charges. The way politics is carried out in this state makes it rather tempting to take place in wrongdoing, plus Blagojevich's performance in office has been erratic, to put it nicely. He's thumbed his nose frequently at downstate taxpayers, and the most symbolic example of that is his decision to commute back and forth from Chicago to Springfield, the state capital, instead of staying in the Governor's Mansion in Springfield.

As for his record on cycling issues, he signed bills requiring motorists to give 3 feet of space while passing cyclists and allowing cyclists to use their right arms to signal turns. He also approved millions of dollars for bicycle trails.

On the other hand, he attempted to use his line-item veto powers to gut the state's Complete Streets plan, a move that was overwhelmingly rejected by the General Assembly.

Labels: Illinois, politics

Roger 1 comments 11:20 AM