A Good Year for the Outlaw

Schock says closing Guantanamo poses risks to U.S.
Really? What a…pardon the pun…shock. Hint to PJS editorial desk. You could have saved a couple of words by just typing:
Schock Spouts Party Line
See? Much easier, plus you can reuse it on a regular basis. You’re welcome.
Oh, and to Aaron…you had to leave the country to say [...]

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Our radio station staff volunteered to help a charity yesterday by standing at busy intersections with plastic pails collecting money. The corner I was at is controlled by 4-way stop signs, which are always interesting, and I knew I was in for fun.
Some observations I made during my two-hour stint:
1. Many drivers don’t know how [...]

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Received this from Bryan Bloodworth and the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington today:
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – John Y. Butler, president of Central Illinois Arena
Management Inc., announced Friday that he has purchased the shares of CIAM from former business partner and co-owner Mike Nelson. The acquisition, which closed Friday, gives Butler sole ownership of the management company, [...]

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Regent Broadcasting (owners of clusters of stations in both Peoria and Bloomington eliminated their news department at their Evansville cluster last Friday.
This shouldn’t affect the Peoria stations at all…because they don’t even have a news department to begin with. But Regent owns WJBC in Bloomington, that city’s only radio news department. Could it affect [...]

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One of the 175 UAW workers that found out yesterday he’s being laid off this week at Cat-Mapleton is one of my best buddies. We were chatting online last night and he told me the news, the closest I’ve been to the layoffs at Cat. You know it’s going on, and you feel for all [...]

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Ah, April 1st. My favorite holiday!
In the past few years, I’ve been known to play some pretty elaborate pranks on the radio stations I’ve been working at, either as an on-air host or as a behind the desk manager.
Some of my favorites:
Kenny Chesney’s stoppin’ by! – A few years back, while doing afternoons on WXCL [...]

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Anybody ever remember Illinois’ highways in such bad shape after a hard winter like this? The underpass in Laura on Route 78 would make the organizers of the Baja 100 proud. I set a new record in the Charger the other morning, hitting a rut and flying OVER the train tracks instead of driving under [...]

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As I’m watching the “new” WHOI 10 pm news last night, flipping back and forth with WEEK, I’m thinking to myself, “Lee Ranson has got it made! He can’t go wrong!”
Think about it…Lee gives two opposite forecasts, one on each station, and one of them HAS to be right! Then, at year’s end, he claims [...]

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TWO NEW UPDATES BELOW
Individual meetings are happening right now with WEEK management and WHOI newsroom employees, with each employee finding out their immediate future. WEEK as entered into a direct-share agreement with WHOI to produce the ABC affiliate’s news.
My source tells me the WHOI newsroom is indeed closed. There are no newscasts being prepared [...]

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I saw a letter to the Journal Star bemoaning all of the road kill being allowed to rot on the sides of our Illinois highways last week. I agree, btw, it is sad to see that we have to do this. With the price of gas, the powers that be are making the pickup crews [...]

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Over at Bill Dennis’ site, contributor Diane Vespa recently asked Colleen Callahan, candidate for the 18th District House Seat in Illinois, “where’s the beef?” regarding Ms. Callahan’s supposed “vagueness” and “lack of accountability”.
I currently, btw, have a question at the end of that post’s comments section that has gone unanswered.
So I visited Project Vote Smart this [...]

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I put the headline in the form of a question, as I’m not sure if the law I’m about to discuss needs changing, it just seems like maybe it should.
Also, let me start (to deflect the snarks before they mouth off) by saying I have ALWAYS stated publicly on my blog, on Billy’s blog and [...]

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Billy Dennis wrote this:
I don’t know whether or not Ali al-Marri is a terrorist or an enemy combatant or not. Some of the evidence the U.S. government says it has against the guy is pretty damning. But I know one thing: The United States is a nation that should operate under the rule or law. [...]

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So the City of Peoria is preparing to spend $30,000 to have a new logo designed, and people are upset about it, particularly where there are potholes to fix.
So here’s the solution:
The new city logo should be the image of a pothole.
I’ll even offer a discount. Pay me $10,000. Keep the other $20,000, and you don’t even [...]

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“He can sing,” Diane correctly stated as we walked to the car last night. She’s right, as always, and she was talking about Craig Morgan, the country singer who performed in Carver Arena after Friday night’s Rivermen game. And Craig Morgan is about to go from “decent singer with a nice following” to “country superstar” thanks in no [...]

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For Billy Dennis. This is the definition of commentary, and the fact that it’s right on only accentuates how well it’s done.
Bravo, sir. Well said. Well said.

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I am so intrigued by the “callahanforcongress” website, and the subsequent questions about it’s authenticity, that I can’t let it rest.
This is a list of candidates for ALL offices in the State of Pennsylvania this year, including those running for Federal positions. The name “Callahan” does not appear on the list.
Today I called the City [...]

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Full disclosure: I am the PA announcer for the Peoria Rivermen hockey team, and have been for 11 of the last 12 years. I love hockey. I desire to see the Rivs draw better. The front office works incredibly hard to try and draw more fans to Rivermen hockey fans. That being said…read on… 
My good friend [...]

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A friend asked me today if this year’s edition of the Peoria Rivermen were a good hockey team? I said they were. He asked if they were over .500, I said “yes and no”. He was confused. Moreso than normal.  
So, are the Rivermen over .500 or not? Depends on how you look at it. Peoria’s record [...]

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True hockey fans know and accept that fighting – not the gratuitious, do-it-because-you-do-it-every-game style, but the “time to stick up for myself and my teammates” style – is a major part of adult hockey. Many newbies to the sport feel it has no place in the game, all the while enjoying the mugging that is [...]

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I spent a bunch of time cleaning my keyboard this morning after spitting up while reading the Letter To the Editor in the PJStar from a Sharon Robinson. 
Oh…my…supreme being.
Was that woman serious? Actually, considering it was written by a Peorian, she probably was. Sadly, Peoria has more than it’s share of these kinds of close-minded, [...]

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Dick Cheney (or, in actuality, a guy doing a fairly bad impression of The Dickster) called the Scott and Gin radio show Friday morning and delivered the “Optimistic Weather Forecast” for Peoria and Central Illinois. It went something like this:
“We’re in the final throes, if you will, of winter. I predict no more snow will [...]

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Why is it here in Illinois that people refuse to dim their lights until the last possible second, if at all? Is it that hard? Are the drivers that selfish?
Particularly maddening is as you approach a hill, you can see the glow from the oncoming car’s lights, and they’re bright. I ALWAYS dim my [...]

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I’m still amazed at this one.
How about 40 days of officials and legislators and law enforcement people getting together to figure out better gun laws?
How about 40 days of raiding the homes and vehicles of known criminals and convicted felons and getting the drugs and guns and everything else they shouldn’t have?
How about 40 days [...]

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Earlier this week one of my alter-egos had this description of road conditions, more of a “recap”, really, from the last week, during a phone call to the Scott and Gin show.
First, the freezing rain starts to fall. It’s at this time the roads get slippier than Britney Spears’ sanity. Then, they start to ice [...]

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