The cerulean warbler, tiny and sky-blue with a cheerful, chirpy call, is an endangered bird in Wisconsin and is not doing well elsewhere in the country. But its numbers in the forests along the Lower Wisconsin are healthy.

See, DNR survey shows diverse bird population — and highlights protection efforts.

During the week, each morning, I’ve posted photos of wildflowers near a parking lot on our college campus. There are two reasons for posting them. Those photos appeared Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

First, the flowers make beautiful photographs, however poor the photographer. Seen as they are, they’re lovely.

Look back over the photos from the full week, seeing these plants closely, and I think you’ll agree. Even my poor photography cannot spoil them. They’re living wonders.

Second, they reveal not merely natural beauty, but diverse and plentiful life — each small patch is home to both plants and animals, a small ecosytem all its own. A person might conclude that plants like this are all a jumble, but they’re more than that — they’re beautiful plants and animals of an interdependent order.
Natural lawns are like this, too. I don’t have one, but I can see that they’re beautiful and representative of a created order. These beautiful but harmless lawns should not be mowed down, in whole or part, by municipal mandate.

There are things to be said in favor of a homeowner’s natural lawn.

It’s a legitimate use of private property, earned by private citizens, and cared for by them. No bureaucrat bought the properties on which these lawns grow — they were not earned at his labor, were not nurtured with his time, and should not be subject to his meddling. This is the arrogant presumption of publicly-paid officials: that they may not only draw a salary at public expense, but may restrict and control the fruits of others’ salaries at their whim and discretion. It simply shows an official’s disrespect for the boundary between public and private, to regulate ever father. To other communities, it makes Whitewater a subject of criticism by contrast with their own practices.

Sometimes an official will insist on regulating private property, but will wail, gnash his teeth, and rend his garments at the slightest criticism of his public performance. Regulations should rest on the presumption that private property should remain free of public meddling. Similarly, those regulations should be free of motivation from spite, pique, and retaliation for public criticism.

It’s wrong to contend that these are merely weeds, as that’s simply misinformed and ignorant. They’re not weeds, but a delicate, small ecosystem of living things. It merely battens on ignorance to contend otherwise.

Lawns like these, few in number across the town, cause no harm to others, although one can expect specious arguments along those lines. Should such arguments be made, they will merit a thorough and comprehensive refutation, debunking flimsy arguments. That’s a refutation that one should be happy to make, if the necessity were to arise.

Someone, somewhere, saw the beauty in the wildflower flowers planted near the campus this summer. He was right to do so. Plants like these, and other wild varieties grown with care by homeowners in town, and worth admiring, and defending.

Here are photos of wildflowers near a parking lot on the UW-Whitewater campus.

Here are photos of wildflowers near a parking lot on the UW-Whitewater campus.

Here are photos of wildflowers and a spider near a parking lot on the UW-Whitewater campus.

Here are photos of wildflowers near a parking lot on the UW-Whitewater campus. They’re a nice touch beside the parking lot.

The exhibit will run from August 1 to September 12th, and will be open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 pm. On August 1st, it will be open form 1 to 4 p.m. The show takes place at Whitewater’s Cultural Arts Center, on 402 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI.

See, Exhibit honors late Whitewater photographer, and the art that inspired him — Walworth County Today.

Here’s a question about (limited) government: If the residents of a town want an official fired, is the fundamental problem that they’re asking that he be fired, or the reason that they’re asking? In the Township of Linn, not far from Whitewater, a group of residents want the police chief fired.  They’ve filed a complaint against him with the town board, “accusing [Police Chief] Wisniewski of disrespecting a superior, neglecting his duty and “repeatedly belittling officers and eroding department morale.”  See, Linn residents want town police chief fired. 
 
Longtime readers of FREE WHITEWATER know that I’ve posted on this matter before, following local press coverage of several issues.  The town’s chief sold a lawnmower that was part of a criminal investigation, a police lieutenant who complained about the sale was fired, and the municipality later reached a five-figure settlement with the fired officer.  (As one could guess, the lawnmower — worth far less than good government and sound policing — was sold to a relative of another officer in the department.)
 
The chief was briefly suspended, and these charges seem to stem from conduct related to that lawnmower sale, but taking place since that time:
 

The complaint, which accuses Wisniewski of several infractions that stem from the lawnmower incident, including lying to the sheriff’s office during an investigation, states “his inclination to retaliate has been a threat to local citizens and has hindered and done irreparable harm” to the town.

The complaint also states his “capricious and retaliatory mindset” has cost town taxpayers more than $100,000 for legal fees.

The residents who signed the complaint have asked the town board to place Wisniewski on administrative leave and convene the town police committee as soon as possible. They also have asked that Wisniewski undergo an updated background check, routine physical examination and psychological evaluation.
“We have reason to believe that Mr. Wisniewski could be a danger to himself or to the township as well,” the complaint states.

 
Those are no light charges.  If even some of these claims prove true –and I’m not a resident of Linn, and don’t know — they would certainly disqualify anyone from serving effectively. 
 
There’s a deeper question, underling the issues in this matter: what does on think of citizens complaining this way?  For many places, including my own small town of Whitewater, Wisconsin, I’m sure the very idea of it would be unsettling to local officials.
 
They’d consider a complaint against an official an affront to decency, order, morality, propriety, and the physical laws of the known universe.  There’s lip service about good government from many local officials, but nothing more. 
 
A complaint about a public official — even a small town one — would be less welcome than a petition in support of cannibalism.   
 
It’s not, of course, the community that’s threatened, but officials themselves, and so they contend that questions about their conduct amount to a challenge to all civilization.  A few people like this will make their way into government, and then they hire others like themselves, making the lion’s share of a political culture in their own, pale images. 
 
Looking at my own town, I’m trying to think of those occasions when our city manager has expressed genuine frustration or irritation in a public meeting.  I can think of only two occasions.  Those times were not about our many empty buildings, idle spaces, high child poverty, increasing municipal debt, multiple conflicts of interest, or officials’ penchant to exaggerate, distort, and preen. 
 
No, the only two public meetings of so very many where I saw Kevin Brunner, our city manager, show frustration involved criticism of our city’s tree pruning.  He complained, on separate occasions,  that employees were being maligned and later that lawful criticism of them was egregious.  
 
That’s it.  
 
Defenders, and detractors, too, might say that he gets upset behind the scenes more often.  So what?  When it matters, he acts only to defend the status quo, and boast about the empty accomplishments  of a failing municipal administration.
 
If anything like the complaint in Linn happened in Whitewater, so upset would the dim and dull leaders of the town be that their anxiety would cause the earth to break open, and the lot of them to fall into a vast sinkhole of consternation.  
 
And yet, and yet — all of this is nothing more than a citizen concern, to be aired and addressed.  If true, acted upon; if false, dismissed.  That some cannot see as much, is a disgrace to them, and a burden on the cities in which they live.

Good evening,

Whitewater’s Independence Day parade was among the biggest of recent memory, with local groups and out-of-city participants from as far as fifty miles away. I published some scenes from the parade, in an earlier post.

Just a bit ago, I watched the fireworks from across Cravath Lake, looking toward downtown Whitewater. Thousands of residents and visitors lined the sidewalks, parks, and streets near the lake. Others parked farther away, and watched the display from their cars.

The thunderstorms earlier forecast for tonight held off, and people brought blankets and chairs to watch the celebration. It was a lovely night, the conclusion to a very fine holiday for Whitewater.

Here are a few photographs of the show:

The crowd was happy and appreciative, but I thought subdued, too. The weekend was wonderful; their concerns were surely elsewhere. I took no surveys, and so I can offer only my own assessment. I’d guess there’s an underlying worry among many about the near future, a concern about the next few years, despite a justifiable pride and hope and fundamental optimism about America’s greater future. In that way, this time feels to me like nothing so much as the Bicentennial. Then, like now, people were justifiably proud of America’s heritage, but uncertain about what what might wait just ahead.

We came through that time, and we will come this one, too — difficult, with travel over hard ground, but well within the ability of Americans. Although one might have doubts about the road ahead, and legitimate skepticism about local politicians’ solutions, it’s impossible to be other than optimistic walking through tonight’s crowd.

They, above all others, are the ones who sustain the city, and support the country, that will yet see better days on their account.

It was kid’s day at Whitewater’s Independence Weekend fair. A few quick shots, from many hundreds happy moments, of many hundreds (or thousands) of kids.

Over at Walworth County Today, there’s a photo gallery of fourteen of Whitewater’s nineteen historic landmarks and places. The galley has photographs of the

• Birge Fountain, 1903; 402 W. Main St.
• First United Methodist Church, 1872-73; 145 S. Prairie St.
• Nelson Salsbury House, 1874; 404 W. Main St.
• Engebretsen Dorr House, 1895; 622 W. Main St.
• G.W. Esterly House, 1876; 604 W. Main St.
• Sanger Marsh House, 1861; 522 W. Main St.
• J.J. Starin House, 1860; 507 W. Main St.
• Newton M. Littlejohn House, c. 1859; 428 W. Main St
• White Memorial Building, 1904; 402 W. Main St.
• The restored 1890 Whitewater Passenger Depot; 310 W. Whitewater St.
• Stone Stable, west of the depot, circa 1845
• Indian Effigy Mounds. These effigy mounds, dating from 400 BC to AD 1500
• Bassett House, 1857, with additions in 1858; 708 W. Main St.
• Hamilton House, 1868, remodeled in 1881 and 1887; 328 W. Main St.

Readers can easily guess which photos I find truly beautiful.

It’s a frosty morning on Palm Sunday weekend in Whitewater, but warmer weather lies ahead. This picture is of one side of Cravath Lake, near downtown Whitewater, in early morning.