Jul 26th, 2008
Peoria in the news
Peoria was indirectly in the national news twice yesterday. Most prominently was President Bush’s visit for a Republican Party fundraiser. Bush usually stops by for some trade or transportation press conference with CAT as the backdrop, so this was a bit different. The fundraiser was held at the Weaver Farms, just a few minutes from our house. They reportedly closed off I-474, and much of the surrounding War Memorial drive stretch, as the motorcade passed. They surrounded the farm with City of Peoria dump trucks and some semi trailers as a temporary barricade. For $500 you got lunch and a speech, and for $5000 you got a picture with Bush. The whole affair lasted about 2.5 hours, and then Air Force One departed back to DC.
Aaron Schock is the primary beneficiary of all this and will have an even larger campaign war chest following the event. Which brings me to a gripe: do his fundraiser proceeds get debited for what it cost to fly Air Force One round trip, manage a battalion of Secret Service and state police, mobilize City of Peoria resources and block off roads? I doubt it. Who pays that bill? The event was not public, and the press wasn’t even allowed in. Schock would have probably had no problem winning in November anyway, so while it’s always interesting when dignitaries visit, this latest trip seems a bit wasteful.
On a completely different note, our Peoria Chiefs made the news by being part of a messy brawl in Dayton. The worst part by a mile was Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo winding up and beaming a fan in the head with a baseball. (The guy was injured but not seriously.) Castillo has been charged with felonious assault, had his passport held, and I hope his baseball days are done (at least in the US). If so he may well be sent back to the Dominican Republic to think for the rest of his life about what an insanely stupid thing he did.
(Both photos are from The Peoria Journal Star)