Brewmaster

The title of this thread might need to be changed to "Scioto Mile Park News" since this development is moving south of the Arena District and North Bank Park.

Wow! I'm an expert! :-D I agree with John for the most part. We are probably heading down a long (sometimes frustrating) path of exhausting all other options. First, thanks mostly to special interest groups and ag-state legislators, we are heading down the path of corn based ethanol. It isn't taking us long to realize that this isn't the way to go. Corn prices are heading through the roof and the energy balance on the distillation process is hardly what any engineer would call "sustainable". Without subsidies, the price of gas also goes through the roof (don't forget, even regular gas is required to have 10% ethanol as an additive now). Second, the government finally seems to be willing to raise mpg standards (or at least discuss it). Thanks to Ford and GM already getting slaughtered by our more efficient neighbors in Japan, I think we could see some positive actions on this soon. This is a good and necessary step, but one that won't pay off for years. The average car spends 12 years on the road, so there's a huge turnover period, and any increase in standards will likely be phased in slowly. In other words...not much help here. After that it all depends on who's in office after Bush. If we end up with another repub, it's possible to see huge tax breaks for coal to liquids projects and continued subsidies for ethanol (corn and cellulose). If there's a democrat in office, it's probably more likely that we'll see more subsidies on cars themselves. They're probably more likely to spend the big $$$ on infrastructure projects like rail...paid for through tax increases. The wildcard here is probably CO2 regulation. Everyone seems to be guessing that sometime in the next 5-15 years, the US will be part of some sort of CO2 regulations. If that only targets stationary sources (i.e. power plants and manufacturing processes), we won't see much outside of vastly higher electricity rates. Some will filter down into transportation fuels through the increased cost of refining, but it probably won't come with the sticker shock of the electric rates. Our region will be especially hard hit due to our reliance on coal for the vast majority of our power. Good CO2 legislation will DIRECTLY force individual energy users to make better decisions. A surcharge will be added to carbon based fuels, or some sort of CO2 rationing system (cap and trade) will be imposed on each person. My personal favorite model includes an ebay-like internet system where energy users can buy and sell allowances to offset thier emissions. IMHO, CO2 regulations may be the straw that breaks suburbia's back. Suburbia not only has outrageous household utility bills, but it's obviously more dependant on cars for mobility. This is where John hit the nail on the head.

You owe me a new keyboard. Now mine _as vomit _tuck be_ind _ome of the key_.

It's much more eye-opening when you annualize it... 10,000 miles/year = $4,850 12,000 miles/year = $5,820 15,000 miles/year = $7,275 20,000 miles/year = $9,700

^ Depressing. That also makes you wonder how much input the mayor's office had in that terrible story on NBC4 this week. I hate conspiracy theories, but this is all a little strange.

It's being aired live tonight at 6 on GTC-3. If you're closer to a computer, the webcast will be here... http://www.columbus.gov/tv/index.htm Here is an overview of what he's proposing... http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/22/20070222-B1-05.html

Gooden had a great contract year last year, but has been just an average 4. I think Andy could step right into the power forward role. The problem is depth. Without Andy off the bench, you need Pollard at the 5 and now Marshall becomes your power forward which isn't really his cup of tea. Marshall is good at one thing...camping out on the wing and stretching the defense. He can't bang around inside for rebounds. All that said...we aren't going anywhere in the postseason without a point guard. I say pull the trigger. We need a guy who can hit clutch free throws down the stretch and protect the ball. Bibby can also do something Snow can't do...play offense! I also don't trust Booby Gibson in playoff crunchtime...yet.

^ I'm not sure I understand the change to the shrinkage and evaporation rates, but I think that's by design. It seems like a sneaky way to increase the gas tax by removing some of the fudge factor. He seemed to quickly glaze over the part saying that station operators won't simply pass this along to customers...but of course they will. They've got pretty slim margins as it is. If that's the case...excellent work Mr. Governor! Very clever first step!

Well...here's my letter...

^ You're right about the free stuff too. Everyone at the airport had monsterous plastic bags full of schwag (power bars, protein, supplements, shirts, etc...).

Not really sure what I was thinking here...comfest is still a couple months away. It's the Gallery Hop that's gonna be nuts!

I like that idea! Perhaps we can give out an honorary award for sloppy, poorly reasearched, and lazy journalism. I think the "Dan Rather Award for Modern-Day Journalism" has a nice ring to it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rather Also, an "online petition" might help with all of the letter writing I've been doing and garner a larger impact response from urban ohioans to this sort of thing. I'm thinking of a somewhat standardized response that people can click on to show thier support, or perhaps cut and paste into an email.

His "support" is hardly what I would call support.

^ That's a cool article. My wife and I were just researching taking a trip on the Coast Starlight to check out San Fran, Portland, Seattle and maybe Vancouver.

Just a heads up...tonight at 11 on NBC4, they'll be doing a special story on the streetcar plan. I'm not expecting much, the promos I saw asked the question, "Streetcars: Good for Columbus, or a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars? We'll get beyond the politics and explore!" It was complete with doomsday music. Then, they showed clips from some skeptical old guy and Bill Lhota. Oy!

i agree! but i just looked again at the zoning map and the lot and also looking at that tower rendering i am wondering if there is a side 'wing' to the building we cant see from that rendering. what do you think? if so that would give it more visible support. if not --- i suggest tenants get a porch glider couch & a waterbed for their apt, but dont get that little gift thing you put on your desk with the metal balls that hang on strings and clang or they'll go nuts! I thought the same thing at first, but in your original post, it mentions a public garden will be going in that space. Architecturally, I think it's pretty cool the way that they are meshing it with with the existing buildings. It looks like the residential tower comes jutting out of the top of the 6 story glass building.

I see a flash of a better vision for transportation in that quote. I also see a glaring promotion of sprawl in that as well. Rural areas are disenfranchised? Yeah...let's just build loads of new highways and extra lanes so rural counties can attract businesses to relocate out of our cities. Am I reading that wrong?

^ Why does the budget go from $939 million in 2007 to only $260 million in 2015??? Since almost all of ODOT's funding comes from gasoline tax revenues, I would expect the budget would be fairly flat.

I can't even imagine the swaying that the residents in the top floors are going to feel. Probably enough to make you seasick. I'd be scared out of my mind to be anywhere near that building when a Cat 2-3 hurricane hits NYC again! :-o

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/16/20070216-A1-05.html PROJECT SLOWDOWN Governor: Roadwork too costly Friday, February 16, 2007 James Nash THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday applied the brakes to Ohios ambitious road-building plans, saying the state will take on more than $1.2 billion in debt by 2014 if it sticks to its project schedule. Strickland said he hasnt decided to kill any specific undertaking and emphasized that the state would continue to fund roadwork necessary for safety, congestion relief and economic development. But he signaled that the Ohio Department of Transportation will slow the rapid pace of construction that former Gov. Bob Taft dubbed his "Jobs and Progress Plan." ......

What kind of car do I drive? Trading a car in and downsizing is much easier than most people think. A Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Prius, and hell...even a Yaris would fit most people's needs (i.e. get from Point A to Point B with the occasional groceries or 2-3 passengers in tow). If you're driving an SUV right now and handling $2/gal gas, you could easily double or triple your mileage. In other words, I can now cope with $4-6/gal gas.

Our country was built upon cheap abundant energy. Well over half of our electricity comes from coal and natural gas, and nearly 100% of our transportation fuel comes from crude oil. It's definitely not a bunch of crap.

That area is the definition of sprawl and will be an interesting case study on how the new ODOT manages it.

We "should" have been doing this for decades...but haven't. Nothing motivates people to change what they're doing like money. Cynical, but true. Increase the gas tax...public transit ridership goes up...demand increases...routes expanded...new systems installed...working poor rejoice...everyone wins. It isn't a painless cycle, but the end result is a good one.

I can't believe I just read that. I'm completely in shock. Speechless. :clap: