For a quaint college town, Whitewater has a spooky past. Its urban legends, chock-full of witches, spirits and mysterious happenings, may stem from stories surrounding the Morris Pratt Institute…. Even before the Institute, however, stories of witchcraft and a sacrificial altar, which allegedly lies near UW-Whitewater dorm Wells Hall, earned the town the nickname of…
City
City, Holiday, Press Release
Trick or Treat The Triangle, Saturday October 30, 2010 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
by JOHN ADAMS •
City
A Whitewater Success Story: The Whitewater Aquatic Center
by JOHN ADAMS •
View Larger Map If one wanted to find an example of a Whitewater business success, there would be no better place to look than 580 S. Elizabeth Street, the address of the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center. The Aquatic Center is a true story of a business comeback, and new ownership (with considerable hard work)…
City
Whitewater’s Fiscal Trend Analysis
by JOHN ADAMS •
About two months ago, the City of Whitewater prepared an analysis our small city’s fiscal condition, entitled, City of Whitewater Financial Trend Analysis (1988-2009) and City Budget Projections (2011-2016). I have embedded a copy of the document at the bottom of this post. It’s a description of only part of the city’s life, a part…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park
The City Manager’s Dodgy Tale About Violations of a Federal Grant for the Whitewater Innovation Center
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was sadly predictable that only a few days after a story about how the City of Whitewater violated federal law in awarding a contract under a multi-million dollar federal grant, City Manager Kevin Brunner would attempt to distort & minimize the nature of the violation, with a tale that’s simply incredible. Sure enough, he’s…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park
Wisconsin State Journal: Work was stopped on Whitewater technology park due to federal rules violations
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story on Whitewater’s Technology Park and Innovation Center, from the Wisconsin State Journal. See, Work was stopped on Whitewater technology park due to federal rules violations. Reporter Dee Hall writes that Work on the Whitewater University Technology Park was temporarily halted last week when the federal government notified officials with the city and…
City
Municipal Openness and Transparency, and Their Alternatives (Update)
by JOHN ADAMS •
There was a second reading, and subsequent passage, of an ordinance before Whitewater’s Common Council on Tuesday, providing for greater openness and transparency in government. I’ve written in support of reform along these lines before. See, Municipal Openness and Transparency, and Their Alternatives. This was the right step for Whitewater, a non-partisan effort to make…
City, Economy
GazetteXtra.com: “Whitewater company announces 87 layoffs”
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park
Whitewater’s Innovation Center: Economic Development Administration Sends ‘Cease and Desist’ Letter Over Alleged Violation of Competition in Construction Requirements
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater, together with UW-Whitewater and the Whitewater Community Development Authority, is undertaking an eleven-million dollar, publicly-funded technology park project. The centerpiece of that project is an Innovation Center building. (I have written about the project before; for information on the relationship between the three organizations involved in the project, see the Memorandum…
City, Economy, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Poverty
Whitewater’s Innovation Center from the Perspective of the New Deal
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday about Whitewater’s Innovation Center, in a post entitled, Whitewater’s Innovation Center: Grants and Bonds. The more one looks at the project, the emptier it seems. Attempts to justify the multi-million dollar public expenditure — on their own, apart from any other consideration — are exercises in embarrassing hyperbole. Attempts to answer objections…
City, Poverty
The City Manager’s Selective and Deceptive Use of Data
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over a month ago, Whitewater’s city manager, Kevin Brunner, used his Weekly Report to tout data from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance that he contended showed the strength of Whitewater’s fiscal position. (Predictably, the website of a local politician ran the figures that Brunner posted in full, without commentary.) Brunner aimed to show that, using data…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning
At the Whitewater, Wisconsin Business Park
by JOHN ADAMS •
Scenes from a local, overly-planned economy — Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Business Park. This empty building alone is half the size of a planned Innovation Center, and has more vacant space than the Innovation Center now has signed rental space (rental space for two related, publicly-funded, non-tech agencies).
City
Home-building permits tumble 22 percent — Walworth County Today
by JOHN ADAMS •
Anything that lessens construction burdens — up front — will be useful to communities hoping for a return to growth. Building permits for new homes in Wisconsin’s biggest metro areas dropped 22% in August compared to the same time a year ago, the third consecutive month that home construction permits trailed totals from 2009. Via…
City, Crime, Police
Filling Up Prisons Without Fighting Crime: Mark Kleiman on American’s Criminal Justice System
by JOHN ADAMS •
When you look around your community, do you feel that politicians’ and bureaucrats’ policies have reduced crime, or do you feel that they’re merely treading water, with every supposed ‘victory’ followed by subsequent crimes? Even small communities spend big sums on crime-fighting, but many of these efforts make no dent in crime. Carrying on as…