City Beat
CITY BEAT: MEMORIES OF THE TEXACO LIGHTHOUSE AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
The photo of the Texaco Lighthouse, which is printed on the front page of today’s edition, was shot before I was born, but I do have memories of The Lighthouse from my teenage years in the 1950s. Back then, Texaco, Shell and Standard were dominant names in the minds of the motoring public and…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: POSTAGE INCREASES, DUI ARRESTS AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
EVERY Thursday morning, before I take the elevator in our building up two floors to the WSOY studio to appear on Byers & Co., I always grab a copy of that week’s Decatur Tribune off of the front counter to give to Brian. Last Thursday, as we were discussing the community and national news of…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: VIVID MEMORY OF N&W RAILYARD EXPLOSION 50 YEARS AGO FRIDAY
It doesn’t seem possible that the N&W Railyard Explosion in Decatur that attracted the attention of major television news programs happened 50 years ago this Friday — on July 19, 1974. According to the investigative report “GATX 41623 and four other tank cars loaded with isobutane gas were uncoupled at the west end of Decatur…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: IT’S BEEN 60 YEARS SINCE IT ALL STARTED IN ROOM 538 IN THE STANDARD OFFICE BUILDING
My “Viewpoint” on page 3 of this week’s print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune is a focus on July 15, 1964, and what happened on that day in Room 538 of the Standard Office Building in downtown Decatur. There wasn’t anyone robbed or murdered in that room on that…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: TAX ON GALLON OF GAS NOW MORE THAN WE ONCE PAID FOR THE GAS ITSELF!
I know I’m showing my age, but I remember a time when gasoline could be purchased at Decatur area stations for 25 to 30 cents per gallon! (Sometimes even less during a gas war at competing stations.) Last Sunday, July 1, Illinois’ second-highest in the nation gas taxes went up again as the state motor…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: SOME THIS AND THAT FROM HERE AND THERE
I went skydiving last week…sort of. I was in a hurry to get to my car (the infamous possessed Christine) and I left the back of our building in a rush and my mind filled with thoughts about why I needed to leave in quick fashion. There is a step down from a higher than…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: AGE DISCRIMINATION FOR DRIVER’S LICENSE, LINCOLN SQUARE AND ASSORTED SUBJECTS
• AGE DISCRIMINATION — I write about my experience in taking the vision and road test to renew my driver’s license in this week’s “Viewpoint” column on page 3 of the print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune. For the past thirteen years, Illinois has been the only state in the nation…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: GREAT TO SEE THE CENTRAL PARK FOUNTAIN UP AND RUNNING
As I was walking through Central Park one day last week, it was great to see the fountain up and running for the season! The fountain is usually operating for the summer several weeks earlier than this year, but the “turn-on” date was pushed back because of needed sandblasting, resealing and repainting. According to…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: JUNE 6TH — 80 YEARS BEFORE AND AFTER D-DAY, 1944
As the headline on this week’s “Scrapbook” feature indicates, it will be 80 years tomorrow (June 6) since D-Day happened. To those of us who are older members of our community, it doesn’t seem possible that 80 years have passed since what many believe was THE most important day of the last…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: THERE’S PLENTY TO DO AND SEE IN DECATUR THIS SUMMER
I’m old enough to remember hearing complaints about the lack of “anything to do” in Decatur during the summer. That has certainly changed in recent years and even though the Decatur Celebration in the downtown area ended its late summer presence a few years ago, the community hasn’t missed a beat in providing plenty of…
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