Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS
Budget, Daily Bread, University, UW System
Daily Bread for 5.28.23: UW-Whitewater, and Most UW System Campuses, Have Projected Budget Deficits
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 79. Sunrise is 5:20 AM and sunset 8:23 PM for 15h 02m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 58.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1987, an 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet air defenses and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow.
Kimberly Wethal reports UW System projects a $60M deficit:
Most University of Wisconsin System schools are projected to have structural deficits in the millions of dollars at the end of 2023-24 without additional state support, System President Jay Rothman warned Thursday.
System officials released financial forecast numbers Thursday that show all universities except UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout are projected to have tuition fund balances in the red by summer 2024 because of planned one-time expenses and structural budget deficits. Most deficits hover between just under $3 million and $6.5 million, with UW-Milwaukee being a standout with a projected $18.8 million deficit.
Projected deficits total $60.1 million across the ten schools facing shortfalls. Shoring up finances will be difficult without more investment from Legislature, though, Rothman said.
Universities are spending down their reserves to balance their budgets, which Rothman said is unsustainable in the long run. He didn’t rule out closing campuses in the future, stating the System needs to face “economic reality” while keeping closures as a last resort.
Of the ten campuses running deficits (where figures in parentheses indicate a deficit), UW-Whitewater is at a projected $4,784,006 loss:
UW-Madison: $2,858,979
UW-Milwaukee: ($18,811,666)
UW-Eau Claire: ($5,662,460)
UW-Green Bay: ($6,358,828)
UW-La Crosse: $1,123,457
UW-Oshkosh: ($5,381,929)
UW-Parkside: ($3,645,509)
UW-Platteville: ($6,520,360)
UW-River Falls: ($2,950,824)
UW-Stevens Point: ($5,618,318)
UW-Stout: $283,899
UW-Superior: ($400,107)
UW-Whitewater: ($4,784,006)
Only three of the System campus are, by Rothman’s figures, in the black.
Looking only at individual campus deficits, however, and not by programming expenses across each school within the entire System, makes it impossible to prioritize which System campus deficits (or portions thereof) are most easily remedied. Platteville, for example, is at a $6,520,360 projected loss, and Green Bay a projected $6,358,828 loss, but knowing what constitutes each loss is necessary to make an ordered series of cuts (or, as Rothman may hope, increases to some budgets).
Within the entire System, even if operating without a deficit, there may be some institutions for which deficits will continue for sound reasons, with some programs compensating for losses in others. These topline numbers are concerning, as so many schools are operating at a loss, but the toplines are also inadequate for knowledgeable remedial action. Line-by-line detail is what’s needed.
Service Dog Receives Diploma Alongside Owner:
Animals, Daily Bread, Drink, Faraway Places
Daily Bread for 5.27.23: Would You Try Mongolian Fermented Horse Milk?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:21 AM and sunset 8:22 PM for 15h 01m 28s of daytime. The moon is in its first quarter with 49.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1930, the 1,046-foot-tall (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
Would You Try Mongolian Fermented Horse Milk?:
If you’re a fan of kefir and yogurt, you might be excited to try ‘airag,’ a traditional Mongolian drink made from fermenting mare’s milk.
The process has remained largely unchanged since the 13th century, and the fermentation process gives it a slightly sour taste with an alcohol content of over 2%. So, maybe this one’s not for your breakfast table…
It’s hard to find outside of Mongolia, but Beryl Shereshewsky has tracked it down for a taste-test.
Here’s that link (opens in a new window): http://bit.ly/MarsCTX.
[spacer height=”100px”]Art, Daily Bread, Film
Daily Bread for 5.26.23: The Opening Scenes of Peter Jackson’s King Kong
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 5:21 AM and sunset 8:21 PM for 14h 59m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 39.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1927, the last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
Although film director Peter Jackson was born in New Zealand, the opening scenes of his 2005 King Kong are as affectionate a depiction of ordinary Americans persevering during the Depression as any ever filed. They are not meant as though a documentary, of course, but are instead a 21st-century look at 20th-century Americans getting by as best they could.
Jackson’s King Kong is beautiful throughout, but nowhere is it more loving — and respectful —of ordinary Americans than in these opening scenes of living through hardship.
Our people have overcome difficult times before. We can do so again.
Jupiter’s lightning resembles Earth’s, NASA data show:
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, May 30th, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tuesday, May 30th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Action/Adventure/SciFi
PG; 1 hour, 45 minutes (1961)
Tidal waves! Tsunamis! Earthquakes! Global warming! And the sky is on fire! A race against time as the fantastic futuristic submarine Seaview attempts to save the Earth before it’s burnt to a cinder! A classic film starring Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden, and Frankie Avalon.
We’ll be celebrating 12 years of films shown by Mark. He’ll bring the cake!
One can find more information about Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at the Internet Movie Database.
Cats
Friday Catblogging: Riding in Style
by JOHN ADAMS •
Fisher the Maine Coon Cat rides in a style befitting a social media celebrity:
City, Daily Bread, Legislation, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.25.23: Narcan
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 66. Sunrise is 5:22 AM and sunset 8:21 PM for 14h 58m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 29.8% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1738, a treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners:
Cresap’s War (also known as the Conojocular War, from the Conejohela Valley where it was mainly located along the south bank) was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A final settlement was not achieved until 1767 when the Mason–Dixon line was recognized as the permanent boundary between the two colonies.
Wisconsinites shouldn’t require legislation to see the need for naloxone in our schools. We have a statewide problem that calls for ready access to emergency medication. In the absence of private action, however, a bipartisan effort to provide lifesaving medication advances, as Corrinne Hess reports in Wisconsin’s public and private schools could have Narcan under new proposal (‘Bill would require schools maintain supply of opioid antagonist on site, in an accessible location’):
Under current law, Wisconsin school boards and the governing bodies of private schools are required to supply standard first aid kits for use during emergencies.
The bill adds that schools would be required to maintain a “usable supply” of an opioid antagonist, like Narcan, on site and in a place that is accessible at all times.
Some school districts have already done this, including the Denmark School District and School District of Beloit.
Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, who is a police officer in the Village of Cadott, co-sponsored the bill. He says the opioid epidemic knows no boundaries and is affecting youth across the state.
“Overdoses in Wisconsin are taking place not only at our universities, but at our high schools and middle schools as well,” James said. “This should not be about the image of our schools, but about life and death.”
See also from 12.15.22 @ FREE WHITEWATER Prudent UW System Campuses Are Installing Opioid Overdose Kits. On 3.25.23, UW-Whitewater announced UW-Whitewater partners with Wisconsin Voices for Recovery to install overdose kits.
If boosterism, toxic positivity, tax incremental financing, or public relations were what its proponents believe them to be, then Wisconsin would not be where we are now.
And yet, and yet, we are here now.
Conservative Populism, Daily Bread, DeSantis, Politics, Populists, Presidential Race 2024, Republicans, Trump
Daily Bread for 5.24.23: For Trump & DeSantis, It’s One or Neither
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 71. Sunrise is 5:23 AM and sunset 8:20 PM for 14h 56m 43s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 22.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Board of Review meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1961, Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
After so much talk about whether DeSantis would run, or what Trump might think about a race against the Florida governor, DeSantis at last announces his candidacy this afternoon (5 PM CT, 6 PM ET) on Twitter Spaces. Although Twitter is in disarray, and was never significant in a town like Whitewater, Twitter under Elon Musk is a conservative social media platform.
Conservative populism — Trumpism, really — now faces having to choose a candidate to lead that movement. Trump and DeSantis cannot in 2024 both lead conservative populism: it’s one of them or neither of them.
The two men are unlike, and leadership under one is certain to be different from leadership under the other.
If one of them or another populist wins in 2024, then populism nationally, but also in many states and myriad more cities and towns, will have bolstered prospects that will be felt on councils and boards across the country.
Should a populist candidate fail, however, then that movement will face a far greater disappointment than it did from their less-than-expected results in 2022.
The choice of these populists cannot come soon enough, as those of us in opposition, and all America, will then have a more tangible choice to make.
Where do EV batteries go when they die?:
Budget, City, Daily Bread, Government Spending, Local Government, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.23.23: A Wisconsin Shared Revenue Deal Hasn’t Been Imminent for Months (Obviously)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 83. Sunrise is 5:24 AM and sunset 8:19 PM for 14h 55m 03s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 14.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1854, the Milwaukee and Mississippi railroad reached Madison, connecting the city with Milwaukee. When the cars pulled into the depot, thousands of people gathered to witness the ceremonial arrival of the first train, and an enormous picnic was held on the Capitol grounds for all the passengers who’d made the seven-hour trip from Milwaukee to inaugurate the line.
Shawn Johnson reports (in a good story worth reading in full) that Here’s where things stand on an effort to boost local government funding in Wisconsin:
For most of this year, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans who run the Legislature have seemed on the cusp of a deal that would overhaul how the state funds local government expenses like police, emergency medical services and roads.
They can still get there, and maybe soon. But they’ve hit obstacles recently that could endanger the agreement.
Earlier this month, Evers threatened to veto the first version of the plan proposed by Assembly Republicans because he said it included too many strings, and not enough funding.
Then last week, GOP Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said Republicans in his chamber would likely remove a requirement that Milwaukee voters pass a referendum to raise local sales taxes. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, responded by warning that LeMahieu’s suggestion could kill the bill.
The dispute threatens an otherwise broad agreement that the state needs to help local governments — from Milwaukee to Wisconsin’s small towns — who’ve reached a tipping point when it comes to paying for basic services constituents expect.
….
The Assembly and Senate must pass the identical bill in order to send it to Gov. Evers’ desk. If the Senate makes one small change, the Assembly has to vote again on whether to “concur,” or agree with that amendment. In the case of removing the referendum requirement, Vos said that won’t happen.
The Senate could back down, or the two sides could send the bill to a conference committee to negotiate a compromise. Or they could end up not agreeing on one of the biggest issues facing state government this year, one that everyone at the Capitol seems to be talking about.
There may be a deal today, perhaps tomorrow. Know this, however: supposedly connected operatives, lobbyists, and public relations men have been telling people for months that a deal was imminent.
Months is not the definition of imminent. The definition of imminent is likely to happen very soon. Months is a longer time than very soon. Self-described political movers-and-shakers (and everyone who thinks of himself this way should seek a remedial education, counseling, or spiritual guidance) are, in fact, no more than big talkin’ posers.
Shawn Johnson’s story at WPR nicely shows how slowly the negotiations have gone. A deal hasn’t been imminent for months or it would have already happened.
Meteor lights up night sky near Cairns, Australia:
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Culture, Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 5.22.23: People Bring Color
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:24 AM and sunset 8:18 PM for 14h 53m 19s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 8.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1968, “Milwaukee Bucks” was selected as the franchise name after 14,000 fans participated in a team-naming contest. 45 people suggested the name, one of whom, R.D. Trebilcox, won a car for his efforts.
People bring color:
See Waiting for Whitewater’s Dorothy Day, Something Transcendent, and in the Meantime, An Oasis Strategy, and The Community Space.
Music
Monday Music: Buddy Guy, Cognac (Official Audio) ft. Jeff Beck, Keith Richards
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread, Politics, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.21.23: The Wisconsin Political Deceivers from a National Story
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:17 PM for 14h 51m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 3.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1917, the Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses, and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
Erik Gunn reports New York Times report finds political network with Wisconsin ties deceived donors:
Three Wisconsin men are identified in a New York Times report published Sunday as organizers of a network of political nonprofit fundraising groups that raised $89 million, ostensibly for political ends, but spending very little of that on anything except to pay the fundraisers themselves or other consultants.
The Times report [link is open] described a series of robocall campaigns by five different but closely connected groups that raised money in small amounts from donors “who were pitched on building political support for police officers, veterans and firefighters,” the Times reported. “But just 1 percent of the money they raised was used to help candidates via donations, ads or targeted get-out-the-vote messages, according to an analysis by The Times of the groups’ public filings.”
The newspaper report, published online, stated that about 90% of the money raised was paid back to fundraising contractors in what a lawyer who advises Republican campaigns described as “an elaborate self-licking ice cream cone” in which money that is raised goes to pay the cost of raising more money.
Four of the five nonprofits remain active, according to the Times.
The Times identified the organizers of the groups as John W. Connors, Simon Lewis and Kyle Maichle. The three “were all active in college conservative politics in Wisconsin about 15 years ago, when Mr. Connors was the leader of campus Republicans at Marquette University,” the newspaper reported.
All three operate consulting firms that have contracted with one or more of the nonprofit fundraising groups. The nonprofits have paid altogether $2.8 million to the three, according to the Times, while paying most of the remainder to other consultants that did not appear to be connected with the organizers.
“In their calls, the groups identified themselves to potential donors as political organizations,” the Times reported. “Beyond that, they were often vague about whom they supported and how.”
(Emphasis added.)
Sneaky Bear Attempts to Creep Into Colorado Home:
Daily Bread, Education
Daily Bread for 5.20.23: Beyond Enrollment
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 71. Sunrise is 5:26 AM and sunset 8:16 PM for 14h 49m 43s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.8% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1862, President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening eighty-four million acres (340,000 km2) of public land to settlers:
An extension of the homestead principle in law, the Homestead Acts were an expression of the Free Soil policy of Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms, as opposed to Southern slave owners who wanted to buy up large tracts of land and use slave labor, thereby shutting out free white farmers.
The first of the acts, the Homestead Act of 1862, opened up millions of acres. Any adult who had never taken up arms against the federal government of the United States could apply. Women and immigrants who had applied for citizenship were eligible.
There are few college administrators or faculty members — and no sensible ones — who think that enrollment numbers alone will secure a school’s future. With declining demographics, colleges are compelled to place more emphasis on retention. Corrinne Hess reports College completion program yields impressive results for Milwaukee students from low-income families (‘All-In Milwaukee graduating its first class with 90 percent success rate’):
Mailyn Santibanez-Tanon was the 2021 valedictorian of Milwaukee Public School’s Reagan High School. The first-generation student knew her parents couldn’t afford to pay for college, so she planned to attend technical college instead.
To say her plans have drastically changed is an understatement.
All-In Milwaukee, a college completion program that provides financial aid, advising and career support has been quietly changing the lives of hundreds of limited-income, high potential students in Milwaukee like Santibanez-Tanon.
Santibanez-Tanon, 19, is now a sophomore at Marquette University. She’s on the dean’s list in the College of Business administration with a double major in accounting and supply chain management. And has already completed an internship at Johnson Controls.
Now she has plans to study abroad and has two more internships lined up at Johnson Controls and Deloitte. She hopes to become an auditor.
“It was a long shot to ever aim for Marquette,” Santibanez-Tanon said. “But it has been amazing. It has been a ride.”
All-In Milwaukee is based on the successful model of Wallin Education Partners in the Greater Twin Cities Area. The Milwaukee program currently has 415 total students, all receiving discounted tuition at eight partner universities and one-on-one mentoring throughout their college careers.
The program has worked. This spring, the first cohort of students is graduating.
Of the 41 students who enrolled four years ago, 29 are graduating, and another eight are expected to graduate in the next one to two years, said Allison Wagner, executive director of All-In Milwaukee. That’s a 90 percent success rate.
Programs like this only seem expensive until one considers the enduring benefits of supported graduates who will become supportive alumni.
New Sunspot blasts flurry of strong m-class flares in amazing time-lapse:
Budget, Daily Bread, Local Government, State Government, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.19.23: Wait, So It’s WISGOP Assembly v. WISGOP Senate? Hard to Believe These Congenial & Cooperative Politicians Can’t Agree Among Themselves
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 65. Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:15 PM for 14h 47m 52s of daytime. The moon is new with nearly none of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1780, New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada:
Since communications technology of the day was primitive, most people found the darkness to be baffling and inexplicable. Many applied religious interpretations to the event.
In Connecticut, a member of the Governor’s council (renamed the Connecticut State Senate in 1818), Abraham Davenport, became most famous for his response to his colleagues’ fears that it was the Day of Judgment:
I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.
Davenport’s courage was commemorated in the poem “Abraham Davenport” by John Greenleaf Whittier. Edwin Markham also commemorated the event in his poem “A Judgement Hour,” found in The Gates of Paradise and Other Poems.
(Citations omitted.)
Davenport’s position is a reasoned expression of faith in uncertain conditions. Those of us who are religious (I worship with a liberal Episcopal Anglo-Catholic parish) will find in Davenport’s demeanor a worthy model of faith in action.
Scott Bauer reports Wisconsin Republican lawmakers at odds over local government funding bill (‘Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu says he expects changes to legislation boosting state aid to local governments, which Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says “could kill the bill.”‘):
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Senate and Assembly Republicans are at odds over a key ingredient of a proposal long sought after by local governments, first responders and others that would significantly boost state aid to pay for essential services.
The Assembly passed a wide-ranging bill on May 17, following months of closed-door negotiations, that would increase aid at least 15% for all local governments in the state, and give Milwaukee city and county the ability to raise additional revenues if voters approve higher sales taxes. Milwaukee city and county leaders oppose that provision, which appears to also be a sticking point between Assembly and Senate Republicans.
But Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said May 18 that the Senate will likely remove that provision, and make other unspecified changes, when it votes on the bill, likely in early June.
The Senate and Assembly must approve the same bill before it would go to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who on May 17 said he was confident that a bipartisan compromise could be reached.
But Vos told The Associated Press that the Assembly would not pass a bill that does away with the vote requirement for Milwaukee.
“That could unfortunately kill the bill and all of our good work,” Vos said. “Requiring voter approval for enacting a new tax, which was included in the original Evers proposal, should not be all that controversial.”
Vos said on May 17 he was “done negotiating” on the bill.
LeMahieu said at a news conference on May 18 that he had “no idea” that Vos would say he’s done negotiating.
“That’s unfortunate that he’s drawing a line in the sand now with this version of the bill and stopping negotiations on a bill that not everybody’s in agreement on,” LeMahieu said.
LeMahieu said that he supported having the local governing boards approve a sales tax increase because he thinks a referendum vote of the people would fail.
See also from 5.12.23 Shared Revenue Changes Advance and from 5.18.23 Wisconsin Assembly Passes Revised Shared Revenue Bill.
Tiger Shark Rams Into Kayaker off Hawaii Coast: