Citywide internet could offer an economic boost

City’s and towns across the country are starting to offer citywide wireless internet as an economic development tool. While Coles County has several wi-fi hot spots, we are way off from full coverage.

Both Mattoon and Charleston could benefit from such an incentive. This would be highly popular on Charleston’s heavy business oriented square. And Mattoon is trying to attract new business. Such a feature could help improve that effort.

Before long, this will be expected for a downtown business district. Coles County should take a step up and offer it while it is still considered an advantage.

The service is made available by placing wireless antennas a top power polls and buildings. Those antennas would then be connected to the internet. Each hub has a range of up to 1000 feet. A hub would be placed about every two to three blocks to insure coverage.

Some cities are offering the service for completely free as an economic development tool. Some are offering the service for free but users are subject to advertisements from the provider. And some are offering pay subscriptions as an alternative to DSL, Cable or other broadband services.

City-wide wireless internet is not without its risks. Studies show that while growth of public Wi-Fi usage was up a full 43 percent from 2004 to 2005, 58 percent of people will only use it if the connection is free. Why pay for the cow if the milk is free?

And the frequency used for this is the same as many wireless phones. The frequency is getting crowded and subject to interference. And as with any new technology, security is also a worry. But proper software and firewalls will protect from most security concerns.

But it is far cheaper than running fiber optic cable to every structure in the city. To run fiber-optic lines directly to every home and business, which will increase broadband capacities well beyond those available from cable-modem and DSL service today. would cost about $2,000 to $3,000 per household to run fiber, wireless can be deployed for about $20 to $25 per household
Philadelphia has become the poster child for citywide internet access. They plan to serve their 590,000 households with wireless service by years end. Tempe, Arizona; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Salt Lake City, Utah; Spokane, Washington; have all ventured into providing their cities with wireless internet. And the list of cities offering this is quickly growing.

Smaller cities are beginning to follow. Coles County is home to the 17th largest phone company in the nation. We should play on our communications background and offer citywide wireless internet to our citizens.

How many beatings can Sarah Bush take?

First, Sarah Bush offered the Mattoon YMCA funding to merge their facilities with a Sarah Bush wellness center. A new site was to be constructed near the hospital. It was thought by Sarah Bush, that both their and the YMCA’s needs would be fulfilled.

What they didn’t count on was a huge opposition from the Mattoon community on the YMCA leaving downtown Mattoon. Amidst the opposition, Sarah Bush withdrew the offer to avoid further controversy.

While their intentions may have been good, their plan was poorly executed. They should have done their homework before offering the YMCA the funding. The plan turned out to be a public relations nightmare for both the hospital and the YMCA.

Before the dust settled on the YMCA deal, Neoga residents were informed David Padgett PA-C was asked to depart from Sarah Bush. The outcry from Padgett’s patients was tremendous, and once again Sarah Bush took a public beating.

Out of respect for the confidentiality to Mr. Padgett, Sarah Bush never publicly replied to the criticism. Rather than defend themselves, the hospital took the condemnation and the public relations strike. One can’t help but wonder if the hospital could have helped their image during the ordeal without violating the privacy of those involved.

On the heals of the Neoga controversy, Sarah Bush has let go two more popular health care providers; Dr. Spaniol and James Pitts, PA-C. Once again, the hospital is taking a public beating through letters and paid advertisements with little or no response.

All of this bad press comes while they fight to keep Carle from adding a competing surgical center in Sarah Bush’s back yard. Those in favor of the surgical clinic are monopolizing on these problems. Some have a lot to gain from the proposed surgical center.

Protecting the privacy of personnel involved in the dismissals is the correct policy, and Sarah Bush should be commended for doing so. And they appear to have the community’s interest in mind with the YMCA offer. After all, they withdrew the offer the offer when the opposition was evident.

But their public relations throughout these ordeals have been very, very poor. One can’t help but wonder if the business reputation would not have suffered so much if these situations were handled differently.

Sarah Bush has begun to fight to regain their high public image. A pamphlet of Frequently Asked Questions is being circulated addressing many of the issues causing the bad press over the past couple of years. Hopefully this is the first in a public relations campaign to repair their image.

Sarah Bush, together with is forerunner, Memorial Hospital, have been providing healthcare for nearly 100 years and has a long-standing reputation for excellent healthcare in the community. They have survived controversy before, lets not bury them over a string of bad press.

Enticing FutureGen

Illinois offered up an $80 million in incentives to FutureGen last week to help attract the proposed power plant to this state. $17 million will be a direct grant to FutureGen for plant construction and infrastructure improvements.

Now that the selection process has begun, states are beginning to make their pledges to FutureGen to bring them to their state. FutureGen has stated site requirements will be their main focus when determining the location of the plant, but that hasn’t stopped financial incentives from being offered.

Kentucky has offered $2.4 millions in incentives, including 215 acres of free land. Wyoming has pledged $31 million in enticements. Ohio has offered $33 million in grants and a financing package that will save FutureGen $120 million. West Virginia and North Dakota are also working on incentive packages.

Texas has taken an out of the box approach by not only appropriated at least $20 million if one of their sites is chosen but has agreed to take ownership of the CO2 produced by the plant. The new law in Texas assumes responsibility if something goes wrong with the CO2 injection process. “We’ve been doing it for 25 to 30 years in the Permian Basin with no incidents,” Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams said. “That’s not a couple incidents. That’s not a few incidents. No incidents.”

Locally, officials continue to praise Mattoon and Charleston’s cooperation by using effluent from their water plants for cooling water to the plant as an edge on attracting FutureGen. And the huge community support Coles County has shown for the project will help as well. Over 300 people from across the County attended the informational meeting at Riddle Elementary School earlier last month.

Illinois, and Coles County are definitely in the game with their offering. It will be interesting to see how these enticements play when FutureGen makes their final decision. And it will also be interesting how politics play in the choice. The race is on; the next big announcement comes July 21, when we will learn the finalist sites.

Should the State be selling its assets?

Last week, former Governor Jim Edgar, joked if the current governor had plans to sell the governor’s mansion. The comment was made in opposition to the plans for selling the Illinois Lottery system to private investors, for $10 billion, to fund education in the State of Illinois. This proposal seems odd since the revenue from the lottery is already supposed to fund education.

Under the plan, $4 billion would be used for a four-year plan to increase education funding. The remaining $6 billion would fund an annuity to replace the lost lottery revenue stream with a $650 million annual payment until fiscal 2025.

After that point, the $10 billion would be gone, and the lottery presumably still would be in private hands. The plan does nothing to relieve school districts’ reliance on property taxes for funding. And lacks a long-term plan to maintain funding in later years. That could put Illinois back in the position of figuring out how to pay for education with little cash and lots of obligations.

The timing of the announcement came just days after state Sen. James Meeks abandoned his bid for governor because Blagojevich promised him an education plan that included more money for schools. Meeks, a popular Chicago minister, could have hurt Blagojevich's re-election efforts by drawing votes away from the governor.

The proposal won’t be debated until after the November election so its effect on the election will not be known.

The Governor has also proposed to sell the Illinois Tollway system. Based on the recent sale of the Chicago Skyway, the Illinois Tollway system could bring the State $18 billion. While this will have little direct effect on those in this area, it still may not be in the best interest to downstate residents.

Last year it generated $630 million in operating revenue. Debt service on the system, combined with all operating expenses, totaled only $310 million, meaning the Illinois Tollway generated almost twice as much revenue as it cost to operate and finance.

Who has the proceeds for such an investment? Five companies were qualified for the Chicago Skyway sale. Three were foreign companies and the other two were consortiums of companies that included foreign companies. The chosen firm was comprised of firms from Spain and Australia.

Every time you pay a toll on the Chicago Skyway, you send a little money overseas. Do we want the State system follow a similar path? What about the lottery system? All the talk about keeping money local, shouldn’t the State follow that path as well?
While the sale of the tollway and lottery may bring quick revenues to the State, is it smart for a cash-starved, debt-laden state to sell its most profitable assets? These proposals seem to be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.