Siftings
Oct
28
14 in 16
"But it’s crime-ridden and smells like urine." Amanda was considering applying to Columbia University and I explained what New York was like. Born in the Second City, the Big Apple has never been a favorite. The words too fancy. The people too abrupt. She knew I was kidding, but no 100_ _ zip...
Oct
27
Two Urban Midwest Districts
The enrollment charts (here).
February, 2017 Update
The disparity between Kalamazoo's success and Davenport's continued enrollment decline has only gotten worse. Kalamazoo enrollment is now 12,772 and Davenport's has fallen to 14,490. Update the graphs if you want, because I don't have...
Oct
26
A Thousand Things I’ll Miss ...
In random morning traffic, I recognize I'm behind Kevin Wellman. Kevin was Colin's Little League All Star manager in his 12 year old season.
We don't make it to a red light where I can jump out and thank him one last time, so I'll do it here. Thank you Kevin, for not asking Colin to bunt....
Oct
23
Craig’s Friday Countdown - Mary’s 20
Been a little busy, so I'm outsourcing this week's countdown to Mary Schmich, a terrific Tribune columnist who assembled a lovely little list of life lessons from the 2015 Cubs season.
You can find it (here).
My end of season essay is forthcoming. As soon as I stop sobbing....
Oct
11
Primary Colors
“Cubs fan” was the answer. The question was, “What is your religion?” The lady in the scrubs was not amused. Or maybe she thought the pain was causing delirium. “That’s not one of the choices”, she explained. “Maybe I’m at the wrong hospital then”, I replied.
Here’s the thing. Dying...
Oct
08
Heading Home
The tragic era has passed. Brothers Curt and Dave Utter, best friends and sometimes roommates, were taken much too young. In their early twenties and within a year of each other, cancer and an aneurysm took two bright lives from family and friends who still grieve for futures lost. The...
Oct
07
This Just In
The City of Davenport's agreement to have a private developer build a road to $250 million in taxbase and 2,000 jobs was comparatively shrewd. More (here).
10/7/15
Oct
06
Double Check ?
Recently asked if I double-checked with Legal on the Elmore Drive agreement before it was placed on the agenda, the answer is yes.
An original printout of the double-check e-mail from 2014 is (here). A 2015 printout of the e-mail was provided to Brian Wellner on June 15, 2015 via hard copy and...
Oct
05
R.I.P. Rand
“I hear your son is a good ballplayer.” I don’t remember the first words everyone says to me, but I remember Rand’s. Colin had just started Pony League, and the City Council had just grown tired of losing another legal skirmish the City should have won, so I found myself walking into a conference...
Oct
04
Divides
Scale. The scale of the West is the enduring memory. Colin summarized east/central Wyoming thusly last year. “I looked out the window and then started watching a movie. When the movie ended, I looked out the window and couldn’t tell if we had moved.” The Jeep would have traveled at least 150...
