eted:bLog

Activities are mounting even more!

Since I wrote my last quick update here I have been asked to join the cast in Jacksonville of the thriller, “Wait Until Dark;”  I was also asked to perform in “New Salem Harmony,” at New Salem by the man who wrote it, Mark Mathewson;  I was invited to speak before “The People Speak,” at the Liberty Brew and View showing of that documentary at Capitol City Bar & Grill;  our electro-acoustic combo, “Hot Bag O’ Donuts,” was asked to perform at “A Rally for Nonintervention,” on the Capitol steps in Springfield;  I was asked to host an open mic at Broadway Nites;  and I was asked to create a portrait of Lincoln using soybeans which will be auctioned off at the Macon County Fair to rival the Butter Cow at the Illinois State Fair.

Add to this the previous work of Access 4 Producers Group organizing and website maintenance;  my other music project I am working on, Rebel Bass, is working to release the recording we made last Fall and preparing for a mini tour this Summer;  the radio shows;  and trying to finish up my portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln.

See my website at http://www.TedKeylon.com for dates and times of these events if you are interested.

IDOT held a public info forum at Crown plaza the other night and are taking comments at their website here:

http://www.idothsr.org/

I got an e-vite from Michelle Higgenbotham, but it is in picture form so I couldn’t copy and paste it here and on the website very easily. It asks that you post comments on IDOT’s website about the 3rd Street proposal. I suggest you let them know how you feel, especially since they are asking.

This just in from Steve:

To Rail Rally Participants

The House Railroad Industry Committee originally scheduled to review HB 4626 this Wednesday, October 7th, has been postponed by Speaker Madigan at the request of Chairmen Van Meter and Mayor Davlin. The county and city are providing IDOT and UP time to put together a Memorandum of Understanding that will confirm an Environmental Impact Study will be initiated on the 10th Street corridor and mitigation money allocated for 3rd Street will be used to mitigate 10th Street if the EIS shows it is the better place to consolidate all railways (3rd and 19th Street).

In place of the hearing, we are encouraging all of our friends to join us at the IDOT Open House, Wednesday, October 7, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 South Dirksen Parkway. We plan to get together at 5:30 p.m. however you can go on your own anytime between 4 and 7. They will have comment forms available for you to let IDOT know how you feel about their support of UP’s second rail on 3rd Street for increased freight. Organizers of the open house have indicated that “the public meetings will be an open house format, so you may visit the event at any time. There will be a continuous PowerPoint presentation and exhibits that provide an overview of the Environmental Assessment, purpose and need, summary of improvements and constraints, and next steps. Representatives from IDOT will be available to discuss the study and answer your questions.”  They could not confirm whether or not officials from UP would be present.

Let’s make sure IDOT knows that no matter how late they are holding a meeting to tell us what they have already decided to do, we are a well educated group, we know the main issues, and we resent having been talked down too and insulted by the Secretary. Remember (9/5/09) “This is the only alternative (Third Street) that’s going to work. The other alternative is walking away,” Hannig said in a conference call with the editorial board of The State Journal-Register. “We have to ride the horse that we have, and that’s Third Street,” he said. And then again (9/9/09) SJ-R summed up Hannig’s view from an second conference call in two sentences: 1.) This is the only plan we’ve got so get used to it. 2.) Hey, Springfield, shut up about this and don’t blow our chance at $2 billion in federal money. Well the only thing to shut up in Springfield will be the train whistles once we get the tracks consolidated and create a 5 mile quiet zone with a surrounding green way and a bustling multimodal center for travel and commerce.

Steve Combs on behalf of the Grassroots Coalition for Consolidation

Michelle Higgenbotham was able to get a word with Governor Quinn in Chicago yesterday! Also we were able to break into Chicago media on two TV stations and a radio station . . .AND . . .

Two big victories with the City Council and the State of Illinois! This from President of the Enos park Neighborhood improvement Association, Steve Combs:

“City Council will not sell city property to Union Pacific! Madigan wants State to withhold state money from Union Pacific and IDOT if second rail goes down 3rd Street corridor! Who would have every believed those headlines 8 weeks ago!”

This just in from Steve Combs:

“Monday night, 7 p.m., at the Dove Auditorium, Prairie Heart Institute, St. Johns Hospital, the Coalition for Consolidation will host the first, and only, public forum to which Senator Durbin, Gov. Quinn, IDOT Secretary Hannig, and Mr. Payette (Union Pacific) have been personally invited. None of our state or federal representatives will attend but County Chairmen Van Meter, Mayor Davlin, Chamber President Plummer, and both the City/ County lawyer Ed Gower and the Coalition lawyer Clayton Harris III will be available for your questions. In addition approximately 20 other special guest including the CEO’s of both St John’s Hospital and Memorial Medical Center will be present.

On Tuesday, September 29th, 5:15 p.m. the Coalition will be present at a special session of the City Council called to vote on a resolution to confirm that the aldermen will not allow city property to be sold or transferred to Union Pacific for the construction of a second rail line on the 3rd Street corridor.

On Wednesday, September 30th, 4:15 p.m. we will meet in the Lincoln Home parking lot to walk or be driven on the Springfield Trolley Tours trolley to Durbin’s office at 825 S 8th Street. We will hand deliver the petitions signed at our rallies and collected in the neighborhoods. If you have some of the petition sheets please bring them with you to any of the next three meetings. A big thanks to all of you. Together we have helped change the topic from “it’s a done deal” to “the railroad and IDOT are having trouble justifying their application to FRA”!

Steve Combs

Grassroots Coalition for Consolidation

494 6668″

I was on the Fly Over Zone on WQNA this morning talking about the Railroad Issue and the town hall meeting this Monday.

They want to have a person from each side of the issue come on and debate it on their show. I wonder if they will be lucky enough to get someone from Union Pacific to talk.

http://www.flyoverzone.com

OK! I have an info site up now at:

http://www.SpringfieldRailroaded.net

Also Job Conger took some photos of the rallies that you can see in his SpringfieldSeen album on FaceBook here (you will need to log in to FaceBook to see them):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2306&id=1384850080

Also, If you are on FaceBook, you can join our group here (again, you will have to log int to FaceBook):

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1039582047207&f=1&e=0#/group.php?gid=165181427315

I am starting a category here on my personal bLog about the Railroad issue currently effecting my hometown of Springfield, IL.

I have been getting a lot of questions about this issue since I began posting more content on my FaceBook profile about it. It seems that there is no online factsheet about the issue either so I contacted  a point man, Steve Combs about it and he sent me some vital information which I am going to use to put together a factsheet online on my server later this evening.

So much is going on that I cannot keep up with it, mainly a rally is scheduled tonight at 5pm at the Illinois Association of Realtors Building, 522 S. 5th. in Springfield and a City Council meeting will be dealing with the issue next Tuesday from what I have heard.

Below are the media talking points that Steve gave me this morning just to get started. They answer many questions I have been asked.

Bottom line: I think this is critical. The current plan Union Pacific has is to increase rail traffic along 3rd Street to up to 40 trains per day at an increased rate of 31 mph over the current speed making the new speed 110 mph.

Nine overpasses will have to be built that will stand 30 feet high and four city blocks long, thus blocking traffic from 5th to Spring Streets (which might be mitigated by tunnels for car traffic). This will negatively impact the historic district, the medical district, and the Dana-Thomas House.

Here are the Media Talking Points:

EPNIA supports the consolidation plan to move the 3rd Street and 19th Street rail systems to the 10th Street corridor

IDOT must initiate an Environmental Impact study to provide data for all three rail lines to insure an updated and equal analysis of the positive and negative impact of each line before a valid decision can be made

IDOT must provide “early and ongoing” collaboration with citizens who will be affected by a transportation project (Public Act 93-0545)

City and County investments of over $1 million into the planning of a multimodal terminal for buses, taxis, and trains on 10th Street must be included in any financial evaluation to determine which corridor is in the best interest of the citizens of Springfield

Union Pacific will be using tax payer money to add a second line down the 3rd Street corridor which provides us, the tax payers, all the rights of early and ongoing information and assures that IDOT must protect our interest to ensure that the project is in harmony with its surroundings and will add lasting value to our community (Public Act 93-0545)

Union Pacific’s increase in rail traffic from 12 to 15 trains a day to a minimum of 40 and up to 60 trains a day is not in harmony with the surroundings of the neighborhoods, medical district, and the revitalized downtown business and tourist attractions and certainly will not add to the lasting value of our community