ON DEADLINE | Ted Schnell

What the tech? Social media for fun, work, fighting crime

2012-07-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

(Photo illustration by Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

First in a series

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Monday, July 2, 2012

It’s no secret that since at least 2007, criminals have been using Facebook, Twitter and other social media to plan burglaries, to stalk ex-girlfriends, and even, in one extreme case in 2007, to bully a child badly enough that she committed suicide.

What the tech? EPD is online to fight crime

2012-07-04T01:30:00.000-05:00

Elgin police Detective Mark Whaley looks over a
Facebook page. Police have added social media
to their arsenal of investigative tools used to solve
crime. (Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

Second in a series

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Tuesday, July 3, 2012

When someone vandalized two memorials on Elgin’s downtown riverfront last week, it was social media that eventually called police attention to the incident. Within a matter of hours, city crews had cleaned up the damage.

What the tech? Protecting yourself online

2012-07-04T01:00:00.000-05:00

(Photo illustration by Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

Third of three

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Wednesday, July 4, 2012

That waterskiing photo you posted to your Facebook page — the pic from the Wisconsin Dells — seemed like a fun idea at the time. You let all your friends know just how much fun you’re having on your vacation.

Elgin Firefighters Memorial graffiti sparks outrage

2012-06-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

Vandals also hit Pioneer Family statue

Elgin Public Works employees Dave Christensen,
left, and Liz Price work to remove graffiti from the
Elgin Firefighters Memorial early Friday evening
as co-worker Katie Thrun steps out of the picture
to grab gear from the van. (Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Friday, June 29, 2012

“Nice,” was the comment of a passerby, her voice dripping with sarcasm Friday afternoon as she stopped for a moment to see what a photographer was taking a picture of on Elgin’s downtown riverfront.

Elgin tax, fee changes win thumbs-up from bond-rating agencies

2012-06-16T01:46:00.000-05:00

Two of the “Big Three” bond-rating agencies have
endorsed Elgin’s 2012 budget and the restructuring
of the city’s revenue streams to make them more
diverse. (Illustration/Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Saturday, June 16, 2012

A long-anticipated comprehensive evaluation of Elgin’s finances in 2011 refutes criticisms of the city’s handling of its economic crisis heading into 2012, and while skeptics may try to dismiss the report’s assessment, two of the world’s financial powerhouses have not.
Read more »

Council awaits Gilliam’s return to review finance report

2012-06-16T01:41:00.000-05:00

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Saturday, June 16, 2012

City officials will wait until June 27 to review the comprehensive annual financial report on Elgin’s 2011 finances, a report City Hall believes will dispel critics’ claims about the city’s budget, which saw the addition of new taxes and fees and an increase in the city’s sale tax.

Sustainable Elgin looks to dam for power

2012-05-17T02:59:00.001-05:00

Elgin is considering the feasibility of adding a small
hydroelectric power plant on the eastern end of the
Kimball Street dam, in the general area of that fence.
(Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Thursday, May 17, 2012

For some it may seem like a dream beyond the city’s financial grasp, especially after Elgin started 2012 with layoffs, budget cuts, several new taxes and fees, and continued questions about the economic stability of the region.

Area firefighters salute their fallen

2012-05-17T02:48:00.000-05:00

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Saturday, May 12, 2012

With an American flag suspended between two aerial ladders leaning up toward the sky above them, residents and family members gathered with firefighters and paramedics from around the area Saturday to honor emergency crews who died in the line of duty in the past year.

Hundreds gather to honor slain Marine

2012-04-14T00:06:00.001-05:00

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Friday, April 13, 2012

Hundreds of people, many bearing American flags of different sizes, lined up along two downtown Elgin streets on Friday afternoon to show their respect for a slain Elgin Marine and support for his family as his remains returned home from overseas.
Read more »

3 years of pain starts at Route 20-McLean

2012-03-05T01:00:00.000-06:00

Intersection reconstruction to run through 2014

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | March 5, 2012

For the next three months, construction crews will be working hard at Route 20 and McLean Boulevard essentially just to get ready for a massive, $40.6 million project, whose construction is expected to run through 2014.

McLean/Route 20 work begins next week

2012-03-02T01:00:00.001-06:00

Traffic changes on Walnut, South and Lillian

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | March 2, 2012

City officials ramped into high gear this week after receiving short notice that the state next week will shut down the eastbound ramp from McLean Boulevard onto Route 20 for as long as 90 days as a massive, three-year, $40.6 million reconstruction of the intersection gets into gear.

Center City area also facing road projects this season

2012-03-02T01:00:00.000-06:00

This is a rendering for the city of Elgin of the
Riverside Drive Promenade as envisioned
by Hitchcock Design Group.

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | March 2, 2012

Expect Elgin’s Center City to be a busy place as the weather turns warmer — there are a handful of road construction projects on the way, both directly downtown and in the immediate area.

Featuring prominently in the work will be the $10 million Riverside Drive Promenade project, which includes demolishing the Riverside Drive parking deck and transforming that section of riverfront into the Riverside Drive Promenade. City engineer Joe Evers said Thursday work on the project should get under way in June or July and extend into 2013.

Two Batavia men charged in Elgin bank heist

2012-01-20T18:34:00.000-06:00

These Elgin State Bank security photos were posted

on the FBI's http://bandittrackerchicago.com website.

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 20, 2012

Federal charges were filed Friday against two Batavia men accused of concealing their faces and brandishing handguns to rob an Elgin bank on Wednesday evening.

Douglas Kelley, 27, and Lucas G. Marin, 29, both of Batavia, were each charged with one count of bank robbery, a felony, in a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

OCTAVE errs on chamber accusation

2012-01-19T18:05:00.000-06:00

Defends other criticisms of business license

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 19, 2012

Insinuations that the Elgin Chamber of Commerce somehow concealed about 130 member businesses from the city administration when it began its business license program are false, BocaJump learned Wednesday afternoon.

The special interest group Elgin OCTAVE has been pressuring the City Council to dump the business license and publicly has offered a litany of criticisms of the program. But on Tuesday morning, Chuck Keysor, one of OCTAVE’s founders, wrote in an email to supporters and other interested parties that a Freedom of Information Act request he filed with the city revealed documents indicating “the chamber of commerce provided the original list of Elgin businesses to the city, around which the business license program was built. But amazingly, that list was missing about 130 of the chamber's own members! And not only were they not on the first list; they are still not on the newest list received two weeks ago!

“Are you shocked and disturbed yet?!”

Keysor stands behind other chamber criticisms

2012-01-19T17:37:00.000-06:00

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 19, 2012

While acknowledging he ultimately was wrong about who supplied the city with a list of businesses used to initiate Elgin’s business license, OCTAVE spokesman Chuck Keysor said the group continues to stand by other criticisms it has leveled about the issue.

“… I still stand by the list of all the other issues I raised a few minutes ago,” he wrote, referring to an email he sent in which Keysor outlined an array of issues with the business license program, all of which have been aired publicly before the City Council and in emails to OCTAVE supporters and others following the group.

VIDEO: Elgin Snow Command ready for winter

2011-12-07T01:00:00.000-06:00

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Dec. 7, 2011

When snow hits, whether it’s a light dusting that’s enough to make the roads slick or a monster storm like February’s blizzard, which left 18 inches or more of snow in its wake, people expect to be able to drive to work, go to the doctor’s office or head to the grocery store.

Prigge speaks out against racism allegations, innuendo

2011-10-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

Councilman breaks council silence to defend police

John Prigge

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Oct. 28, 2011

Councilman John Prigge said Thursday he simply had had enough when he decided Wednesday night to break the Elgin City Council’s silence over “unfounded accusations and innuendo” about racism in the Elgin Police Department.

Stressing that he had been speaking on his own behalf Wednesday night and not on behalf of the council, Prigge said Thursday he had been biting his tongue each time the issue was raised publicly during recent City Council meetings.

The allegations erupted over the summer when Elgin police Lt. Sean Rafferty was suspended for five days without pay. The suspension order censured Rafferty over a 14-year-old photograph and over an incident in 2009 or 2010 when a “race-based joke” was sent as a text message to a black fellow officer. Rafferty is white.

Elgin seeks grant for Slade boat ramp

2011-08-13T03:22:00.003-05:00

Looming budget woes cast shadow on project

A look at the approach to the Slade Avenue Park
boat ramp reveals cracked, crumbling asphalt.
(Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
A drive west down Slade Avenue in Elgin ends at a park laid out along the edge of the Fox River on the city’s East Side.

There is an area for parking to the right, and the driver brings his car to just a crawl as a couple of bicyclists slip out from a wooded trail to the left. They’re headed north on the Fox River Trail, a bike path that meanders through the area, following a shoreline made lush and verdant by this summer’s rains.

We asked, you answered:

2011-08-06T23:41:00.002-05:00

What you #LikeMostAboutElgin

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump

What a city we live in. Nestled along the Fox River, Elgin got its start as a rural town that grew into a center of commerce and industry, noted for its watches, for its dairies and long known as the City of Churches.

Illinois Supreme Court ruling renews hope for Riverside Drive Promenade

2011-07-12T01:18:00.003-05:00

Published July 12, 2011

A court ruling Monday may free up funding for the Riverside Drive Promenade project. (Hitchcock Design Group)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The first thing you might notice while walking along the old Riverside Drive parking deck that juts out over the eastern shore of the Fox River in downtown Elgin is the element of decay.

Weeds have grown upward from cracks in the pavement. A concrete barrier bars vehicles from most of the deck’s former southbound lane, because the deck’s underpinnings have weakened with time and may not support a vehicle’s weight.
Read more »

Tech shifts how city gets the word out

2011-06-24T04:00:00.002-05:00

Published June 24, 2011

Getting the word out today involves more than a press
release, says Elgin City Manager Sean Stegall, who says
the city must look at multiple information platforms,
such as the Internet, as well as traditional media.
(Image by Stock.xchng vi)

First of two
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The explosive growth of new media over the past 15 years has seen a correspondingly dramatic shift in the way people gather and share information – even how they communicate individually with each other.

“You can never communicate enough,” City Manager Sean Stegall said Wednesday afternoon.

More media vie for city ad dollars

2011-06-24T03:55:00.018-05:00

Published June 24, 2011

Information is gathered today in far many more ways
than when it was delivered on your front porch.
(Image by Stock.xchng vi)

Second of two
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The dominance of traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television once meant there were relatively few choices for “getting the word out” about anything.

For cities, government agencies, civic groups and businesses, press releases typically were the way to go, sometimes sparking enough interest that an editor would assign a reporter and photographer or cameraman to cover the story.

BocaJump: Live-blog council coverage

2011-06-22T14:58:00.013-05:00

Published June 22, 2011 | BocaJump publishes a short council preview story that sits on top of the Cover It Live widget users will click on to follow the meeting. Beneath the widget is a rundown of the City Council agenda.
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
A day after flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder heralded a tornado warning amid heavy rains over Elgin, the City Council will be asked to approve spending $252,527 to add six new weather warning siren systems on the city’s Far-West Side.

Coincidence?

Yes – the agenda was set last week, long before storms raked the city on Tuesday evening.

Is Prigge solo on downtown carnivals?

2011-06-20T14:41:00.001-05:00

Published June 20, 2011

(Image by Stock.xchng vi)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
Downtown Neighborhood Association President Karin Jones admits that carnivals in Elgin’s Center City seem to have run their course as fundraisers for the organization.

But they remain a viable interest in the eyes of local nonprofits, Jones said Monday, and they help make the downtown a hub of activity when they operate, drawing residents into the area to walk around, perhaps visit a business or two while they’re out having fun.

Jones said she has worked as a volunteer at the carnivals, she has visited them with her family and has had fun doing so, all the while watching others have fun as well.

Court threat from downstate inmate

2011-05-03T14:35:00.009-05:00

Published May 3, 2011
Emergency personnel stage near the MABAS decontamination unit, which has facilities for people to undress and shower as part of decontamination in hazardous materials incidents, outside the Second Appellate Courthouse in downtown Elgin on Monday afternoon. (James Jordan • BocaJump)By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The police tape is gone and all was quiet Tuesday outside the Second Appellate Courthouse in downtown Elgin, but authorities say a threatening letter sent with suspicious white powder has been traced to a prison in southern Illinois.

Elgin Police Department spokeswoman Susan Olafson said Tuesday the letter containing the threat and the white powder has been traced to a downstate prison, although she did not have the name of the facility.