dangerous

While we get many things right here in Rockford, studies continue to say that crime is the real albatross around our city's neck.

When you think of caterpillars, you often think they are cute little fuzzy creatures and often think they are safe. This one is not and should be avoided at all costs.

On Tuesday of this week, you may have noticed an increased Rockford Police presence in the areas of Charles Street from 9th Street to Parkside Drive and Broadway from 9th Street to Alpine Road. You may have even met the police up-close-and-personal.

Both my kids are (depending on the chart you look at) millennials, that group of Americans that are constantly (usually with good reason) excoriated for narcissism, bad manners, lack of respect, inability to deal with things that don't go their way, etc. Now, according to Chicago AAA, they're the worst-behaved drivers on our roads.

It's certainly not the kind of ranking any city aims to receive, but in crunching the numbers from the FBI, which looks at the rates of violent crime in American cities, Rockford ranks high, and that's not good.

Today's my day to talk to you about driving here in Illinois. Earlier this morning, I posted some analysis of summer road trips that has Illinois ranked as the 16th worst state for summer travel (click here for that report). As soon as I finished up that post, I got an email from Expedia that gives a few numbers from their Road Rage 2016 Report. Not surprisingly, Chicago gets the nod for rudeness

I guess I never considered the possibility that a Blue Marlin might be a reader. Perhaps, like many of us in school (see what I did there? School?), this marlin was forced to read Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. And, unlike me (and many of my fellow students), this marlin actually retained some memory of what the book was about...

If you're not familiar with the extreme sport of freediving, Wikipedia defines it as: ...a form of underwater diving that relies on divers' ability to hold their breath until resurfacing rather than on the use of a breathing apparatus such as scuba gear...

The photo above is part of campaign in Great Britain to educate people on the dangers of leaving their dogs in a hot car during the summer, even if you only leave the dog for a few minutes. The ice sculpture dogs are part of the overall awareness campaign, by showing that a dog will "melt away" (or die, in real life) in about 20 minutes during summer heat...

People disagree all the time over things like tattooing, piercings, and body modifications. However, there seems to be a high degree of unanimity when it comes to the latest "body trend," sunburn art. It's a bad, bad idea. If you're willing to forget that you're increasing your chances of melanoma, how about the fact that it just hurts like hell...