QPD Cracking Down On DUI's

Ya can click on the link above and read the whole article from WGEM's web
page. I just want to point out several quotes from it.

Chief of Police is quoted as:

"DUIs may be a concern in the Quincy area"

"We haven't had a surge"

"not more drunk drivers"

"50 percent above last year's DUI break."

"The Quincy Police Department is confident the number of DUIs will be down by the end of the year"

I don't know about the rest of the city of Quincy feels about this, but I for one think time and effort is being wasted for the the all mighty dollars being generated off of the DUI cases. Lets face it. Quincy is a German town. The people of Quincy like to drink beer. Can you explain why the K of C BBQ is one of the largest in the state ?? Why the majority of events in the city serve beer at their events?? We like BEER!!! Now don't get me wrong, DUI is against the law and violators should be prosecuted....BUT, to sit in Taco Bells parking lot and wait for the poor sucker that doesn't use his signal to turn onto Broadway as he leaves is almost entrapment not enforcement.

Meth is a much larger problem in this area and you can read about it here.

.....and as I write this I see that the QPD is stepping up the K9 force by 1. Good start.

What amazes me is the with all the technology out there, we can't have a "methalizer" that drivers would blow into to determine if the driver is under the influence of Meth. I mean come on...with all that toxic crap that is used in the making of this stuff, no one can come up with anything better than a urine sample ??

Guess for now, I will have to watch how much I drink and watch how I drive home, but for once...just once, I would like to see patrol cars lined up on Broadway as I approached and have the officer lean in my window and ask " Have you been using Meth tonight?"....just as I glance over to see a line of outdoor toilets on a portable trailer...............

Cans ONLY !!!

Ever did see Popeye whip out a Plastic Bag of Spinach ???

Chav-es up your ass....

Who this dickhead think he is ????


The event, one of a series designed to boost the Venezuelan leader's popularity in the U.S., was organized by Citgo, a Houston-based energy company that is owned and controlled by the Venezuelan government

Thanks For Playin'........

The Bears delivered the first shutout of Favre's 16-year career on Sunday, beating the Green Bay Packers 26-0 at Lambeau Field.

Come to Quincy.....Bitch !!!

For most celebrities, getting smacked with a DUI is an instant image crisis. For Paris Hilton, it could be a career boost.

"Paris Hilton being arrested just makes her more famous," said veteran publicist Michael Levine. "She has devoted her entire adult life to appearing to be the princess of parties."

Don't Let Quincy Hear about This !!!!!

Notices of Hannibal's city manager opening will be placed in local newspapers, according to Page. Advertisements will also appear in the metropolitan newspapers of Kansas City and St. Louis.

Friday's Open Thread......

Been missing for a while, so I'll open 'er up for this weekend.

Keep 'er clean !!!

Welcome Obviously Quincy....

Take some time to check out the new Blog !!!

Welcome !!!

Help Wanted.....

Ahhhhh.....

Once again the "good ol' boys" hiring system is still up and running in the city's personnel department. If ya' missed the Sunday's article in the QHW by Doug Wilson, it's worth reading.

To look over Carpers "resume" and tell me that he is the best person qualified for this job, I'll show you some neighbors who are more than happy to have an ethanol plant so close to their house.

Really folks......this is NOT a political reward.


Please......


Hats off to Doug Wilson for running this story !!!

Just in Time for K C......

By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY
A nationwide crackdown on drunken driving aimed primarily at men ages 21 to 34 began Wednesday as federal authorities reported that alcohol was a factor in 16,885 traffic deaths last year.
"Drunk driving is one of America's deadliest crimes," Acting Transportation Secretary Maria Cino said. "Our message is simple: If you drive drunk, you will be arrested."
Cino announced an $11 million campaign of television, radio and Internet advertisements. The campaign — "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest." — is the largest such effort ever and will coincide with increased roadside sobriety checkpoints between now and Labor Day.
The ads show authorities pulling over three men driving in vehicles filled with beer, wine or liquor and tell viewers: "Make no mistake: You will get caught, and you will be arrested."
Alcohol was a factor in 39% of all traffic deaths in 2005, Cino said. Male drivers ages 21 to 34 were involved in more alcohol-related crashes than any other group, followed by men 35 to 44.
It is illegal to drive in the USA with a blood-alcohol content at or above 0.08%. The number of fatalities in crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator who was illegally drunk dipped slightly.
Deaths in crashes involving a driver with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15% — nearly twice the legal limit — rose modestly.
The overall number of alcohol-related traffic deaths represented a small decline from 2004. The total includes people killed in crashes in which at least one driver had a blood-alcohol reading of at least 0.01%.
Twenty-three states recorded decreases in alcohol-related traffic deaths from 2004 to 2005. But Eric Bolton, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the data represent a "snapshot" and not a significant trend.
The figures have shown little improvement in recent years. In 1997, for example, 16,711 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes.
Safety advocates predicted that the enforcement campaign would bring results.
"Everybody in this country's going to hear about this campaign," said Jim Champagne, Louisiana's top highway safety official and chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "We will be using sobriety checkpoints at a level that we've never done before."

Insight 0 Quincy -2

Seems Insight will drop two channels from the Cable channels Quincy now has. Also mentioned that Qcy has NO chance of getting the NFL channel. I will wait for my bill this month to see how much that will shave off my bill.........

Conflict of Interest ??? YA THINK !!!!

An interesting side-note to all of this, Hubert Staff is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Western Illinois Economic Development Authority. WGEM asked him, if representing the people of the Ewbanks neighborhood in this matter was a conflict of interest? He said, "no it was not."

Quincy vs. Village People....

By Edward Husar
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Two major business organizations are opposing a proposal to allow a new village to be incorporated just northeast of Quincy's city limits.
The Great River Economic Development Foundation and the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce convened a press conference Thursday to announce their joint opposition to the formation of the village of Ewbanks. The groups will ask the Quincy City Council to withhold its consent when the council votes on the issue Monday night.
Doug Aeilts, chairman of the GREDF Board of Directors, and Glenn Bemis, chairman of the chamber's governing board, addressed members of the news media in the lobby of the Oakley-Lindsay Center.
They issued a joint statement saying, in part: "The formation of new municipalities within the 1 1/2 mile jurisdiction of the city of Quincy would present a significant roadblock to future development, jeopardize the long-range plans carefully developed by the joint efforts of our organizations, the city of Quincy and Adams County, and result in the waste of the investments already made in infrastructure to support this planned growth."
Aeilts and Bemis said GREDF and the chamber are committed to fostering economic development in Quincy and Adams County, and they believe allowing any new village to form so close to Quincy would be counterproductive.
"What it effectively does is limit the growth, particularly of the city of Quincy, but then also raises the complexity of the jurisdictional boundaries between all the various new entities that could be there," Aeilts said.
The Ewbanks proposal calls for creating a village three miles long and about three-quarters of a mile wide generally along the west side of 60th Street. If the village is incorporated and adopts zoning regulations, Aeilts said, the village — just under two square miles in size — would be able to exert zoning control over an area totaling more than 12 square miles within 1 1/2 miles of its boundary.
Aeilts said the amount of territory in Ewbanks' control would be comparable to the current size of Quincy. He said that could hurt Quincy's hope of expanding in that direction.
"In effect it cuts off the entire northeast quadrant of the city of Quincy from additional growth," he said.
Bemis called the Ewbanks issue "one of the most significant decisions facing the City Council in the last 25 years."
He warned that the creation of a village so close to Quincy's border would not only cut off future growth but also reduce future tax revenue going to the city.
"What this will do is reduce the tax base needed to support redevelopment, will result in higher taxes for Quincy businesses as areas of new tax bases are blocked, and would prevent the city from recovering much of the cost of infrastructure invested into to support a carefully developed comprehensive plan," Bemis said.
He also said creating a new village with its own zoning rules so close to Quincy would pose a headache for future developments along the fringe area.
"With multiple sets of zoning, building codes, etc., contractors, developers and other people coming to town — new businesses — will have an absolute nightmare trying to work through," he said.
Hubert Staff, an attorney representing a group of residents seeking for form the village of Ewbanks, took issue with some of those arguments.
"I think it's the height of arrogance for GREDF and the Chamber of Commerce to assume that only the city of Quincy has the wherewithal to do proper planning," Staff said.
"I think there are other units of government, including hopefully the new unit of government of Ewbanks village, that also could conceivably adopt a plan that was not inconsistent with Quincy's plan."
Staff said concerns about the village's ability to inhibit Quincy's future growth "are based on a false premise" that Quincy is trying to annex aggressively to the northeast.
He said at the current rate of annexations, it would take 50 to 70 years for Quincy to reach Ewbanks. Reaching the village sooner, he said, would require changing the city's policy to use only voluntary annexation and to have developers pay for infrastructure improvements, such as water, sewer and streets.
"This City Council and previous City Councils have not shown a willingness to involuntarily annex nor to build the infrastructure and say build it and they will come. So their premise is not based on fact nor history," Staff said.
When asked Thursday if a proposal to build an ethanol plant in the Ewbanks neighborhood had anything to do with the opposition to the incorporation of Ewbanks, Aeilts said the issue is "related" since a main reason the village is being proposed is to fight the plant proposed by Energy Resource Partners.
"But our position specifically is dealing with the creation of new municipalities within the mile and a half jurisdiction of the city of Quincy," Aeilts said.
Staff said: "In spite of what they say, I believe this is an attempt to support Energy Resource Partners in the location of this ethanol plant on the Mittelberg property."

Meth remains an issue in area

This Just In......

The number of area methamphetamine lab seizures might be leveling off, but meth continues to be a major area law enforcement issue.


...and I thought it was traffic safety.......

QIPS ?????

This is so damned funny, I can't resist posting it. You can read the whole article on the link above, but I'm going to take pieces out cause there so damned funny.

The Quincy City Council is considering a plan to build three hydroelectric power plants on the Mississippi River.
The council's Finance Committee agreed Monday to recommend the council seek federal permits to build hydroelectric plants at Lock and Dam 20 at Canton, Mo., Lock and Dam 21 at Quincy and Lock and Dam 22 at Saverton, Mo.

In recent years, an Ohio power company has held the permits for most of the locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River. However, the company did not take any action to move forward with any hydroelectric plants, and the permits lapsed.

Hint #1: If somebody already looked at it and didn't take any action......WHY ???

Quincy officials feel it would be in the city's best interests to seek permits for the three dams closest to Quincy. The application fee would total $15,000 for all three locations. If the permits are granted, the city would then spend an additional $45,000 to update a feasibility study conducted in 1983 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

$60,000 spent and we're just LOOKING at it ???? Who gets this money ??? Next paragraph>

The original feasibility study showed that many of the locks and dams on the upper Mississippi — including all three in this area — have favorable capabilities for producing hydropower, according to Mike Klingner, who heads the Quincy-based Klingner & Associates engineering firm.

Ching Ching !!!

Several factors could make this an attractive opportunity for the city. For one thing, federal legislation signed last year will require power companies by the year 2012 to buy at least 8 percent of their power from so-called "green energy" sources, which are comprised of any renewable, non-polluting energy source, such as wind energy, solar energy or hydroelectric energy.
That means power companies will be looking for new sources of energy, including any hydroelectric plants that begin operating in coming years. "The demand is definitely going to be there," Klingner said.
If Quincy were to build and operate the three hydroelectric plants — or even if it ultimately decides to take on just one such project — the city would be able to use some of the generated power to meet the electrical needs of, say, the city's wastewater treatment facility. Then it could sell the surplus electricity to a local power company, such as AmerenCIPS or Adams Electric Cooperative.

Hint #2: Who runs the city wastewater plant ??? Not the city, they couldn't efficently run it. How do we expect them to run a power plant ???


That means, for example, that if one 15-megawatt plant were to be built, it would cost between $22.5 million to $30 million. If three plants that size were built, the total cost would be $67.5 million to $90 million.

...and what's the payback on $90 million investment ????

In addition, the city would face about $300,000 in engineering costs plus $150,000 for an environmental impact assessment for each location — just to prepare a draft license application. More engineering fees would come for final plans and permits.

....and I would guess that Klingners would be the one for the studies ???? Ching Ching !!!!


Pete Pohlman, a GREDF spokesman, said conditions appear to be right for a city such as Quincy to take on such a project. "We think it's a natural for the city," he said.

Just like "natural" disaster.......

Mayor John Spring also likes the idea. "It has great potential," he said.

...so did the Titanic.....

QPD Christmas in July......

40 new pistols - $4,600
40 new night sights - $3,000
40 new Holsters - $3,854
40 new Surefire lights - $9,306
5 new patrol cars - $85,206
More needed auto equipment - $ 6,799


Wonder how they'll pay for this.....hmmm.

Best Award That Their Money Can Buy For The Motori$ts of Quincy I$........

By Rodney Hart
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
The Quincy Police Department has been chosen as the third-best department in the nation for traffic safety in 2005 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police also honored QPD with the 2005 Rookie of the Year award.
The international award will be presented to QPD representatives Oct. 27 in Boston, while the Illinois award will be given Aug. 3 in Chicago.
The Illinois Law Enforcement Challenge is designed to recognize law enforcement agencies addressing traffic safety issues. Each year since 1975, an average of 40,000 Americans lose their lives as the result of traffic crashes.
Agencies provide certain policies, discuss and document officer training, elaborate on public information and education efforts, report on enforcement activities and articulate how effective they believe their efforts were in these areas.
Competing with other agencies in the state with regard to size and type of agency, each application is separated based on the number of sworn officers. Judges then review each application, carefully assigning points based on set criteria.
Quincy Police Department Traffic Safety Officer Neal Meyer said there were 634 accidents in Quincy during the first six months of this year, down from 732 during the same period last year.
There were 1,527 reported vehicle accidents in 2005, down from 1,667 the year before.
"We were shocked and pleased to receive the awards," Deputy Chief Curt Kelty said. "We thought we might get something, but we didn't know it would be this."
Kelty said the department has placed an increased emphasis on traffic safety.
"When we compared traffic safety to more traditional crimes, we saw we were experiencing more problems in the traffic enforcement," he said.
Kelty said the awards are a result of the department's "continuing endeavors to educate and inform our officers and our community about the importance of traffic safety in the areas of impaired driving, speeding and occupant restraint."
The department has put increased emphasis on traffic safety. Programs like the school safety speed zones, where signs were put up and 20 miles per hour speed limits are strictly enforced, have helped educate the public.
Kelty said lowering speeds and increasing seat belt use lower accident numbers.
Meyer said one-third of all accidents are rear-end collisions, with almost all rear-end accidents caused by excessive speeds.
"We have done things like the school safety zones and seat belt enforcement that have made drivers more aware and safer," Meyer said.

Fishing ??? Try the Mississippi Please....

Copley said his department has focused on traffic safety, resulting in a 43 percent increase in traffic stops from 2004 to 2005. Citations increased by almost 35 percent, while vehicle searches and driver searches increased by 44.2 percent and 45.1 percent, respectively.

The increase in vehicle searches is, in part, attributed to a problem Copley calls "fishing." He says young and aggressive officers are looking to make big arrests with vehicle and driver searches without much reasonable suspicion to base the searches on, "hoping to get lucky on the search."

"There are at least six individual officers who appear to be conducting a lot of searches without success," Copley said. "Now that the problem and the officers have been identified, we are working with the officers to alleviate this problem."

Copley said officers will get more "coachable sensitivity training" and information on the legalities of conducting searches.

QPD also will do a better job in the search reporting process and require officers to explain why the search was conducted.

"We want to get away from searching the vehicle just because we can," Copley said. "We want officers to have a good reason before they ask a person."

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT

TRY TO PLAN YOUR ACTIVITIES FOR THEEARLY MORNING OR LATE EVENING HOURS WHEN TEMPERATURES ARE A BITCOOLER. DRINK LOTS OF WATER OR OTHER NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES...

I'm Gettin' That Feelin' Again.......

Oil Prices Continue Their Rise, Topping $78

Oil prices briefly topped $78 per barrel Friday and stayed near record highs as intensifying violence in the Middle East raised concerns of a possible supply disruptions. OPEC tried to reassure the market.

I think that the sun coming up also raises oil prices.....