Casino Question on Nov. 8 Ballot

An off-topic commenter who types in all caps wants you to know about a rumor that a casino is coming to Plainfield. Also I have been deleting numerous emails from another annoying person who wants people to vote "No" on the question.  Today I realized that my nearly life-long aversion to gambling has prevented me from even thinking about this question. I tried to inform myself online with no luck until I came across an overview by Ballotpedia, which includes both sides of the issue. Click on the link below.

Ballotpedia Overview for Public Question 1

 (Allowance for Casinos in Two Additional Counties)

My dislike for gambling comes from seeing its effects on relatives in both my family and my ex-husband's family. It is too easy to get caught up on the fantasy of luck that will solve all your problems. In fact, the gambler often loses much more than he or she ever gains, leading to debt and even prison for taking money to support the gambling habit.

At my 1958 wedding reception when relatives were filing up with envelopes as was the custom, one gambler uncle whispered not to tell his wife that he had taken out some of the gift money! In my family, as a child I felt queasy at the sight of daily racing forms used for betting. Visiting Atlantic City, I had no desire to enter a casino and felt sorry for those mindlessly playing the slot machines. 

The arguments pro and con casino expansion appear to be based mostly on economic considerations.. Look at your sample ballot, read the overview at the link above and vote!

Lot 6 Gets Makeover

A very popular parking lot was among four locations that just received milling and paving with funds left over from a larger road project.

Municipal Parking Lot 6 downtown, Melrose Place and Melrose Avenue in the West End and Academy Street in the East End were refurbished at a cost of $150,000, according to a resolution the City Council passed on Oct. 11. The city had joined the Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council to save costs on road resurfacing and the contractor, Tilcon New York of Piscataway, was able to add the lot and the small streets to its schedule.

City Administrator Rick Smiley said Lot 6 will soon have two pay stations for credit card use and more lights. For a short time while work is being completed, attendants will take parking fees, he said. As of Friday, the paving was complete and striping will follow. (Old-timers will recall when there was a booth and an attendant taking fees before parking meters were installed.)

The parking lot is behind Bill's Luncheonette and other popular East Front Street destinations. Here's how it looked in March 2015:

Potholes

Milled

Repaved

Footing for Pay Station

Entrance/exit with planter

The parking lot once had an entrance on the west side and exit on the east side. When it was changed to an entrance and exit both on the west side, trucks tended to run over the concrete because the turn off East Second Street was too sharp.   Now it should be easier for delivery trucks and such to make the turn. And I really like the addition of a planter!

I need to do an update on the statistics below, but besides income from parking meters, the city receives income from monthly parking permits. Most of the lots need upgrades. 

Here is a 2009 overview of municipal parking lots.

Art Does the Trick

This traffic control box was one of four in the city to be covered with art in December. This box used to be covered with posters and advertisements, but I realized yesterday the artwork has stayed clean. Well, there was one small stick-on ad for naughty toys that has since been removed.

Read Plaintalker's post on public art here.

Read more about Union County's Art Outside the Box program here.

The first time I visited Seattle, I was amazed by all the public art. It is funded through a 1 percent for art allocation of capital improvement money. Here is the rationale:

The program specifies that 1% of eligible city capital improvement project funds be set aside for the commission, purchase and installation of artworks in a variety of settings. By providing opportunities for individuals to encounter art in parks, libraries, community centers, on roadways, bridges and other public venues, we simultaneously enrich citizens' daily lives and give voice to artists.

Read more about Seattle's Public Art here.

A former chairman of the Plainfield Cultural & Heritage Commission here proposed a plan to set aside $50,000, or about $1 per person in Plainfield for art. The commission ran into problems with appointments a few years ago and lacked members for a while. I believe it still gives grants, though the commission's 2015 budget amount was $27,500.

Next Clean-up on Park Avenue Sunday

Besides cleaning litter, Queen City Pride Plainfield NJ is also taking down illegal signs on poles.

Queen City Pride invites volunteers to join an effort Sunday to clean up Park Avenue from Sloane Boulevard to Seventh Street, up the east side and back down the west side, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The organizers are dubbing it the "Puttin' on the Ritz" campaign, which gave me an instant earworm of the Irving Berlin song. But then the hip-hop dirge "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash took over my brain as I pondered some other urban issues around Park & Seventh.

Anyway, the Oct. 15 turnout was the best yet, organizers said, They are recommending the effort as a way for those who need civic hours for Boy or Girl Scouts, Confirmation or school to gain credits. 

The group now has a Facebook page and has taken down 350 of those ads people post on poles.

Congratulations to all who took part or will join in on Sunday!

Frontiers Presents 1967 Rebellion Program

LWV Candidates Forum Wednesday

League of Women Voters 

of Plainfield

Candidates Forum

Wednesday, Oct. 26

7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.

Plainfield Public Library

Anne Louise Davis Room

800 Park Ave.

Two Third Ward candidates

One Democrat - One Independent

Seeking 1 4-year term

See Candidate Information Here

A Carolina Mantis Visits Block 832

Today was a good news/bad news kind of day, with bits of progress mixed with obstacles - and one big surprise.

click to enlarge

For all the years I have been watching mantises in the back yard, I have seen only long, slender green or bronzy-brown ones. Today literally on my doorstep I found a different one, with big spotted wings and an unusual shape. I was on my way out to the post office with a long-delayed package to send to Seattle, so I just took notice of the little stranger and hurried on. 

Back home, I didn't see it at first, but realized it was worth looking up and studying. When I spotted it trying to climb up a short step, I used a letter from my messenger bag to transport it around back to a Cosmos plant. Its odd shape, grayish color and large wings were clues to its identity. Because of the hot weather, the Cosmos was swarming with huge bees, but their wingspan was almost as large as the mantis and they would have been hard to catch.

 The other mantises were five or six inches long by Autumn, while this one was closer to two inches.

I took a lot of photos, but my aging camera declined to take macro shots, so only a few were good. 

The sunlight hit the creature's wings in this shot, in a way that emphasized its lacy wings. 

Google images turned up a name - Carolina Mantis. I went out with a ruler later to verify its size and forgot my camera, so missed the chance to get a photo of the mantis dining on a suitably small bee.

I find these little nature vignettes in the heart of the city simply entrancing, especially after all the recent household turmoil and of course the nerve-wracking final weeks before the election. It made up for all the mishaps of the day as well. 

--Bernice