CAT Tracks for November 13, 2011

CAT Tracks for November 13, 2011

An unholy war was waged this past week in a corner of cyberspace (aka Cairo News - Topix) reserved for disgruntled Cairoites...or those who like to pull the chain of Cairoites.

As they say...

"War is hell."

If you wish to tour the battlefield and climb down into the trenches, you can follow the links for Tree cutting in Cairo and Cairo Streets.

In a nutshell:

Trees were topped at a property at 22nd and Pine in Cairo...catty corner from the Cairo School District Central Office. (I mention this only for location purposes. I'm sure that CSD #1 had nothing to do with this dastardly deed...for once.)

Cairo Public Utility does this occasionally to keep trees out of the power lines. Whether this particular attack on trees was CPU or "the City of Cairo", I haven't a clue.

At the same time - coincidentally or not - alleged workers for the City of Cairo allegedly cleaned a lot immediately south of the site of the tree-cutting (allegedly choosing NOT to clean a lot a block further south allegedly next to property owned by a former member of the Cairo City Council allegedly because he likes seclusion, and an obstructed view.)

The blame for this assault on trees was laid at the feet of the Mayor of Cairo by 1958Cairo who launched the "Tree Cutting in Cairo" thread. As is normal for Cairo Topix, various anonymous posters proceeded to assault 1958Cairo and 1958Cairo's family.

Not to be deterred, 1958Cairo branched out and attacked the general condition of the rest of Cairo...asserting that the Mayor of Cairo and the aforementioned alleged city workers using alleged city equipment should turn their attention elsewhere, namely the trash allegedly strewn about the city streets from 2nd Street to Union Street and beyond.

To support the allegations, 1958Cairo opened a second front in "Cairo Streets", posting picture albums and video of assorted trash scenes (to include a dead dog.)

Have to admit...

...there is a certain lure to such fare, especially for one like myself who is well known for having an opinion about anything and everything.

But...

...I also have a very strong opinion about anonymous posting on the Internet.

I can see people not wanting to identify themselves...that voicing one's opinion in a public forum can have negative repercussions in their personal or professional lives. There are so many stories (so many TV shows and movies) of attacks on "whistle-blowers"...firings, physical assaults, even death.

(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: It's why the Cairo Association of Teachers muzzles its nontenured teachers...advising them "If you have a problem with the administration, tell us. CAT will investigate and if we find evidence of wrongdoing, we will find a tenured teacher to lodge the complaint...or file a class action grievance." Reason: Nontenured teachers can be released at the end of the year without being given a reason...so long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye. To release a tenured teacher, there must be cause...a specific reason must be given, there must be a hearing.)

Fear retaliation for expressing your views? Easy solution...keep your mouth shut, keep your opinion to yourself!

But as I said...

...some of us have an overwhelming urge to comment, an astute opinion that just MUST be shared!

So, get on Cairo Topix, choose whatever moniker suits you...and fire away!

And, actually, I'm good with that...

...until it gets personal.

You wanna make an observation about whether trees should be decapitated, whether alleged city workers are used to clean up alleged private property, go for it. It's a free country, First Amendment rights and all that.

But...

...you wanna trash a person and her/his family while hiding in the bushes of anonymity, well, you are (putting it nicely) a coward. Yo mama...

...didn't raise you right.

As with "common sense"...common decency just isn't very common anymore.

YOUR name should be freely and readily available to the person whose reputation you have called into question so that s/he can pursue legal action. A potential lawsuit for libel might make one more cautious about littering the information highway with garbage.

So...

...I fought temptation. I did not enter the fray.

(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Ouch, quit twisting my arm. Okay, okay, all right! I guess since I'm paying for this website and everybody knows Ron Newell is the author...)

Being a frequent visitor to the neighborhood of the tree massacre...I think it is absolutely wonderful that they cleared the adjacent lot of the massive overgrowth. You can actually see the two real trees that are left! It was years overdue!!!

I personally cut the corner of the abandoned property across the street...so that drivers can see approaching traffic. (A car carrying my sainted 95-year-old mother was almost rammed while attempting a blind turn at that intersection.) While cutting that corner, I would glance at the area in question and shake my head, knowing there was no way in hell that one old man with a 22-inch push mower could attack such a wilderness. Hell, there might have been lions, tigers, and bears in there...snakes for sure! So...the clearing of the lot? I'm lovin' it!

As for allegations that city workers were used to do the dirty work, whether favoritism played a role...I wasn't there, don't know the facts, will bite my catty tongue. (Personally, my feeling is...one down, so many more to go! Let's get to it!!!) But...you can't have it both ways. You can't get on the Internet and b*tch about the city workers taking breaks, sitting around, not working...then attack them because they are clearing a city eyesore that was a hazard to anyone who ventured into the area. (Well, actually, I guess you can...simply use a different moniker!)

As for the personal attacks on 1958Cairo and the family...ABSOLUTELY WRONG! If you are going to make such attacks, sign your damn name to it so we can delve into your closet...share what we think we know about you!!!

I did have to sympathize with 1958Cairo about one thing...that the cleaning of the lot unveiled a view that was even worse! I can't argue with that one even a little bit. Drive down MLK Avenue in the neighborhood between 22nd and 23rd Streets. That location was the site of several arson incidents. There are like four burned out hulks in that one-block stretch...not to mention the overgrowth that dominates the lots on the east side of the street. Hell, I drive by there everyday when making my tours of Cairo with my trusty camera phone...hoping to garner a picture of Bigfoot. Enquiring CATs want to know!

Yes, 1958Cairo...it's an ugly view. However, instead of lamenting the loss of one of Cairo's "forested areas", I would accept that blessing and launch a call for the City of Cairo to now turn its attention to the burned out hulks..."Mr. Mayor: Tear down those walls!"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my introductory remarks!

Seriously.

Actually, we are gathered here today for my own personal outrage about the mean and trashy streets of Cairo, Illinois.

In my little town...

We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars razing decaying remnants of an abandoned downtown area...an area that has been immortalized with pictures and videos on the Internet...NOT in a positive manner.

On August 12th, I documented the leveling of the 200-300 block of Commercial Avenue - Turf War. On September 9th, it was the planting of grass in Straw Bury Fields.

End of story, right?

I don't know...

...let's turn on the TV and find out!

Yep...

...smack dab in the middle of the newly cleaned block, somebody decides to unload a not so flat-screen TV. It's been sitting there for a couple, three weeks.

Sigh...

Well, as you might suspect, I have an opinion about this!

First of all, let me place primary blame on whomever planted this TV at this particular location. I mean...so many vacant properties in Cairo that have NOT been cleaned up. They could have dumped the TV in the lot that the city workers cleaned up this past week and it would have (probably) been hauled off. Or, they could have added it to the burned out hulks in the 22nd and 23rd Street of MLK Avenue. Or they could have added it to the never-to-disappear "Cairo Mound 2" (aka former City of Cairo Dump.)

And, speaking of which...

The City of Cairo gets a big assist in this matter!

I've been seething about this for quite a while...months even:

The City of Cairo (or the trash disposal company it has employed) allegedly has a policy (contract) that says that trash deposited in front of a residence/building that has no utility service meter shall not be picked up. It sits there...forever...next to the nicely tended property of a city taxpayer/utility user.

The City of Cairo (possibly on orders from some higher authority like the state or federal EPA) has closed its public dump site. Have trash in excess of what you know the city trash truck will pick up...too bad...parcel it out. (After the Flood of 2011, I had lots of water-soaked stuff to remove from my basement. Fortunately, this was before the City of Cairo closed its public dump site. I piled stuff in my trunk and back seat and drove it downtown and placed it in the dumpsters that were provided. Made several trips over that first week back in town. If it happens again...what's a taxpayer to do?

Well, I could rent a dumpster. (Read this one in The Cairo Citizen, so this is not an allegation!) Do you have a large item that the city trash collectors will not remove...like a couch, a mattress, a box springs...a TV? Call City Hall and for $75 they will have a dumpster delivered to your house so that you can place the item in it to be hauled off. The TV in the picture above? Tell me...with a straight face...that if it had been your TV...that you would call the city, rent a dumpster for $75, so that you could put said TV into the dumpster for removal. Even the city ought to think that that is dumb! I don't know about you, but where I live...they would either have to put the dumpster in my narrow street and create a traffic hazard...or place it in my front yard. tearing up sod in its placement and/or removal. Given that choice, even I would be very tempted to load said TV into my trunk, drive the streets of Cairo in the dead of night, and, and...oh, guess that's what happened. (Disclaimer: I would be tempted, but it was NOT I...this time!)

BTW: Another concern expressed by the City of Cairo is "outsiders". Apparently folks from Kentucky and Missouri or Northern Illinoisans have designated Cairo as their own personal trash depository. That is supposedly one of the reasons given for the city trash trucks not picking up trash deposited in front of abandoned Cairo properties...that the trash is from "outsiders" who don't pay property taxes or utility bills in Cairo. Well, hell...we'll show them! Dump your trash on us...we'll get even! We'll keep your damn trash! So, there!

Actually, the location of the TV...at the South end of town...does raise suspicion of a Kentucky connection. On the other hand...deposited as it was, near (dry) Kentucky's favorite Cairo location, they probably felt like they did pay their fair share for trash removal!

I said I had been seething for a while...

To the City of Cairo:
If you want to clean up the city...WONDERFUL! It IS looking better. Yes, we've got a long way to go, but we have made a BIG start with the downtown demolition. I and others are doing our bit by cutting some abandoned properties.
(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Okay...just remembered another pet peeve. Whomever is doing street repairs for the city...they need to clean up after themselves. I can't mow anything but the perimeter of the lot down the street from me because when the city replaced the water lines on my street, they dumped huge chunks of concrete from the sidewalk and street into a vacant lot...and left it. I noticed a few weeks ago that the same thing was done down on maybe 20th and MLK...concrete chunks dumped in a vacant lot that was being mowed by a neighbor. Now, weeds will take over a once tended lot.
UPDATE...CORRECTION: Drove down MLK Avenue this morning to verify the address that I gave in the paragraph above. The corner was actually at 21st Street instead of 20th Street. More importantly...the pile of concrete chunks has been removed...oh happy day! Alas, "my" pile is still there...not that you would notice if you drove by, overgrown as it is by 8-foot tall weeds.)
To the City of Cairo:

Work with us...don't place obstacles (ordinances or piles of concrete) in our way!