“Sweet Hitch-Hiker” April 2, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.1 comment so far
A great highway song from a great American band, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Museum waits and waits and waits April 1, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Museums, Vehicles.add a comment
The Illinois State Police Museum, located on Route 66 on the northeast side of Springfield, Ill., was initially awarded a $100,000 state grant in 2002 for expansion.
Eight years and three governors (of two political parties) later, the museum is still waiting for that grant, according to the State Journal-Register.
And while the $100,000 grant would be used to expand, it won’t buy as much expansion as when it was first approved, said foundation president Joe Davis.
“We could have built it for $100,000 (originally). Now, it’s going to cost more,” said Davis.
The money is said to be on its way — again — thanks to a $31 billion construction program approved in the summer of 2009 by Gov. Pat Quinn and the legislature. [...]
A spokeswoman for state Rep. Ray Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, said it is uncertain when money will be released for a variety of projects, including the state police museum.
Much of the (dis)credit for the money stall has to be laid at the feet of now-disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Chicago, who was in office six years before the Legislature removed him from office over corruption charges. Dozens of capital-improvement projects were put on hold during his tenure, including the museum’s.
The Illinois State Police Museum specifically sought property on Route 66 because of all the tourism traffic there and the highway playing a crucial role in the early days of state trooper patrols. However, because of the cramped space, the museum has room for only four vintage vehicles and a motorcycle of the 11 cars it owns.
Computer pioneer dies April 1, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, History.add a comment
Ed Roberts, a pioneer in the personal computer industry, died today at age 68 after a bout with pneumonia.
According to an obituary on TechFlash, Roberts created the early MITS Altair 8800 computer, which inspired Paul Allen and Bill Gates to launch an early version of BASIC and thus giving birth to Microsoft.
What does this have to do with Route 66? All of this pioneering PC work happened in Albuquerque, right off Central Avenue (aka Route 66). In fact, a statement by Microsoft’s co-founders refers directly to this:
“The day our first untested software worked on his Altair was the start of a lot of great things. We will always have many fond memories of working with Ed in Albuquerque, in the MITS office right on Route 66 – where so many exciting things happened that none of us could have imagined back then.”
You can read about Microsoft’s old digs in Albuquerque here.
According to the statement, Roberts went to medical school and became a country doctor in the second half of his career.
We don’t do that April 1, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Publications, Web sites.add a comment
I like practical jokes as much as the next guy. The ones by these folks and anything involving Brad Paisley are pretty funny.
But doesn’t it seem counterproductive for news outlets to engage in such foolishness, even if it is April Fool’s Day? (Yeah, Science magazine, I’m looking at you.)
I’ve invested a lot of time building up credibility for Route 66 News. So I’m not about to throw that away with one day of tomfoolery. Just letting you know.
We return you to regular programming.