http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/verizon-how-much-do-you-charge-now/

Unfortunately, Prussing’s assumption of Walden’s duties remains secretive and inept.

In July, Urbana pundit Michael Fuerst emailed Urbana Economic Development Manager Tom Carrino to inquire why Menards, despite having purchased Urbana land in 2005, has not yet built its Urbana store

Mr Carrino responded in part:    “Menards has indicated to us that due to the slowdown in the economy, they are not currently building new stores.”   Whichever Menards’ senior executive told Urbana such was most confident that Urbana Bozos and Urbana city staff would unquestioningly believe such a falsehood.

Unsurprisingly, an internet search reveals that, in contrast, Menards has prospered and expanded  in the current economy.  In  2009 Menards has opened stores in Waukesha WI (Mar 09), Escanaba MI (Mar 09), three stores in Ohio (Jan 09, Feb 09, and April 09) Warsaw IN (May 09), and Columbia MO (April 09), and  stores are about to be constructed in Fairfield Township OH, Jefferson City MO, and  New Lenox IL  —  many of these location being much less desirable than Urbana.

In response to an email pointing this out, Carrino bureaucratically noted:

The City administration and Council have been supportive of the project, and Menard’s has acknowledged that support.

Menard’s has expressed their continuing commitment to Urbana both verbally and by expending considerable funds on engineering and design work over the past three years.

Carrino has not responded to Fuerst’s subsequent email which included

If indeed Menards has given any assurance recently, written or otherwise, I would expect that you, Ms Tyler [Community Development Services Director] and Ms Prussing would be elated to publicly share the details.    But without such details from you, the concerned citizens of Urbana must assume that the “continuing commitment” you  allege is as unsubstantial as a delinquent tenant’s mantra that “the check is in the mail.”

…. Menards did spend significant funds for engineering and design tow years ago, which of course means that the money was spent “in the last three years.”    But your inability to attest to more recent spending, strongly suggests that the project is indefinitely delayed. ….

The only explanation you have offered for the delay is “the economy.”   Documentation of Menards’ recent activity certainly disproves this.

I am also concerned that the mayor and city staff has not been forward with the City Council about all this.

I and all the citizens of Urbana  pray for and anxiously await the explanation as to why new Menards stores exist in multiple midwest locations, but not in Urbana.

Click here to see the actual emails between Mr. Carrino and Mr. Fuerst, all of which had been forwarded by Mr Carrino to his supervisor Ms Libby Tyler, Urbana’s Director of Community Development Services

David Pogue, technology editor for the New York Times, tells us what to do about the time and airtime wasting messages that are foisted upon us by the cellphone carriers

The Mandatory 15-Second Voicemail Instructions By DAVID POGUE

Last week, in The Times and on my blog, I’ve been ranting about one particularly blatant money-grab by U.S. cellphone carriers: the mandatory 15-second voicemail instructions.

Suppose you call my cell to leave me a message. First you hear my own voice: “Hi, it’s David Pogue. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you”–and THEN you hear a 15-second canned carrier message.

• Sprint: “[Phone number] is not available right now. Please leave a detailed message after the tone. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press pound for more options.”
• Verizon: “At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)”
• AT&T: “To page this person, press five now. At the tone, please record your message. When you are finished, you may hang up, or press one for more options.”
• T-Mobile: “Record your message after the tone. To send a numeric page, press five. When you are finished recording, hang up, or for delivery options, press pound.”

(You hear a similar message when you call in to hear your own messages. “You have 15 messages. To listen to your messages, press 1.” WHY ELSE WOULD I BE CALLING?)

I, the voicemailbox owner, cannot turn off this additional greeting message. You, the caller, can bypass it, but only if you know the secret keypress–and it’s different for each carrier. So you’d have to know which cellphone carrier I use, and that of every person you’ll ever call; in other words, this trick is no solution.

These messages are outrageous for two reasons. First, they waste your time. Good heavens: it’s 2009. WE KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THE BEEP.

Do we really need to be told to hang up when we’re finished!? Would anyone, ever, want to “send a numeric page?” Who still carries a pager, for heaven’s sake? Or what about “leave a callback number?” We can SEE the callback number right on our phones!

Second, we’re PAYING for these messages. These little 15-second waits add up–bigtime. If Verizon’s 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday, Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That’s your money. And your time: three hours of your time a year, just sitting there listening to the same message over and over again every year.

In 2007, I spoke at an international cellular conference in  Italy. The big buzzword was ARPU–Average Revenue Per User.  The seminars all had titles like, “Maximizing ARU In a Digital Age.” And yes, several attendees (cell executives) admitted to me, point-blank, that the voicemail instructions exist primarily to make you use up airtime, thereby maximizing ARPU.

Right now, the carriers continue to enjoy their billion-dollar scam only because we’re not organized enough to do anything about it. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to sit there, waiting to leave your message, listening to a speech recorded by a third-grade teacher on Ambien.

Let’s push back, and hard. We want those time-wasting, money-leaking messages eliminated, or at least made optional.

I asked my Twitter followers for help coming up with a war cry, a slogan, to identify this campaign. They came up with some good ones:

“Where’s the Beep?”
“Let it Beep”
“We Know. Let’s Go.”
“Lose the Wait”
“My Voicemail, My Recording”
“Hell, no, we won’t hold!”

My favorite, though, is the one that sounds like a call to action:

“Take Back the Beep.”

And here’s how we’re going to do it.

We’re going to descend, en masse, on our carriers. Send them a complaint, politely but firmly. Together, we’ll send them a LOT of complaints.

If enough of us make our unhappiness known, I’ll bet they’ll change.

I’ve told each of the four major carriers that they’ll be hearing from us. They’ve told us where to send the messages:

• AT&T: Send e-mail to Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations:
  MS8460@att.com
• Sprint: Post a complaint here:  http://bit.ly/9CmrZ
• T-Mobile: Post a complaint here: http://bit.ly/2rKy0u
• Verizon: Post a complaint here:
  http://bit.ly/FJncH

Three of the four carriers are just directing us to their general Web forums. Smells like a cop-out, I know. (As for AT&T: Props to the guy for letting me publish his e-mail address! Hope he knows what he’s in for!)

Yet all four carriers promise that they’ll read and consider our posts. And we have two things going for us.

First, I have a feeling that the volume of complaints will be too big for them to ignore. To that end, I hope you’ll pass these instructions along, blog them, Twitter them, and spread the word. (Gizmodo, Consumerist and others have agreed to help out.) And I hope you’ll take the time to complain yourself. Do it now, before you forget.

Second, we’ll all be watching. I’ll be reporting on the carriers’ responses. If they ignore us, we’ll shame them.  If they respond, we’ll celebrate them.

Either way, it’s time to rise up. It’s time for this crass, time-wasting money-grab to end for good.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/technology/personaltech/30pogue-email.html?8cir&emc=cir

Here is the link to the article from New Scientist magazine.

2. Extended Warranties

3. Gym Memberships

4. Overdraft Fees

5. Organic Produce

6. Auto Insurance

7. Music downloads

For more information:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106780/7-Things-You%27re-Wasting-Money-On

A job well done at Carrie Busey School

Sunday June 8, 2008

My daughter just finished her first year at Carrie Busey (kindergarten). What a positive experience it has been for both of us. The atmosphere in that school is very much family-oriented. Everyone with whom we came in contact was friendly and helpful. I found that very comforting – knowing that my daughter was in the hands of such warm and caring people.Her teacher, Jennifer Carswell, is absolutely amazing. I volunteered quite often at the school, and I never once saw Mrs. Carswell raise her voice, when I know at times she was having a challenging day. My daughter blossomed under her guidance.

Zanita Willis is an amazing person. She was a great choice for school principal. She cares so much. Willis is constantly interacting with the students and parents and making each and every one of us feel special. Kudos for a job well done! We are excited to continue our journey with the Carrie Busey family we’ve come to know and love.

DELORES PLOWMAN
Champaign

Westview elementary has been outstanding

Saturday June 7, 2008

Due to the fact that Champaign’s schools are most often criticized in a public forum, I wanted to thank Westview Elementary School in a public forum. My daughter is currently a first grader at Westview.

Honestly, as the time for my daughter to start elementary school was approaching, I tried to figure out some way financially to send her to private school. Unfortunately, I never did win the lottery.

My daughter ended up at Westview. This fact has certainly reinforced my belief that everything happens for a reason. We have experienced nothing but the best at Westview.

Mr. Nadrozny and Mr. Morrison are an outstanding team of leaders. I have had no fears that my daughter is not safe and very well taken care of during her school day.

Mrs. Braun is the most wonderful kindergarten teacher I have encountered in my life. Mrs. Woods has also proven to me that Westview is a top-notch school which provides a wonderful academic and nurturing environment for its students.

After a battle with cancer, my mother and my daughter’s only grandmother passed away. I cannot imagine how much more difficult it might have been for me if Westview was not understanding about our many visits to the Mayo Clinic.

Thank you, Westview, for all you do.

TINA TUNES
Champaign

An April 22 News-Gazette article described Champaign schools’ programs to ensure high school students score well on required standardized tests. In contrast Urbana High School, due to poor student test scores, now sits on the federal government’s ”bozo” list. UHS must now reorganize, to the detriment of other programs at the school. Urbana’s school superintendent cited the need for “more rigor” in UHS’s curriculum. Parents should be concerned about possible similar problems at the middle school level.

In March, vigilant Champaign school staff prevented an unauthorized pick-up of a child from an after-school program at Westview Elementary. In contrast, Urbana schools await the financial settlement from the Jon White affair.

Champaign will be opening a special academy for struggling high schoolers. A joint program by Champaign’s city government, schools and park district will soon benefit children in northwest Champaign.On May 30th a News-Gazette story described a program at Central High where students with disabilities and those without worked on teams to solve practical problems. One featured project was an analysis of swimming pool passes for the Urbana Park District. (One would hope the Urbana Park District and UHS would coordinate such an effort.),Thus, educational innovation seems lacking in Urbana.

Combining the above with Urbana’s relative lack of movie theaters and businesses to serve families (an important consideration with today’s high gasoline costs), one suspects that if Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings could visit Savoy-Champaign and Urbana, they might sing “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be [Urbana] Bozos.”