Here’s my local, amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The list for 2011: 1. In 2011, the University will win the following number of national sports championships: A. None B. One C. Two D. More than two 2. Under a new focus on blighted properties, the City of…
City
City, Wisconsin
Daily Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier last month, I mentioned the upcoming launch of a second website, devoted mainly to Wisconsin and national stories. It’s up and running (at least, learning to walk) this morning. DailyWisconsin.com will offer news — and commentary — on events and the stories about them from across the state. In the end, every selection —…
City
Review: Predictions for Whitewater, Wisconsin for 2010
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here is my early January 2010 post with predictions for the year. How did I do? Results below the post…. Here’s my local, amateur version of (the now late) William Safire’s tradition of offering annual predictions, when he was at the New York Times. The list for 2010: 1. In 2010, the University will win…
City, Laws/Regulations, Planning
How Whitewater’s Municipal Administration Made a Mess of Housing in the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Live by a regulatory environment, perish by a regulatory environment. What might have been solved through free forces of supply and demand is now a political and economic mess. There are two stories at Walworth County Today that nicely describe, respectively, the defeat of a builder’s request for a zoning change to build student housing,…
City, Development, Planning
When Foolishness Passes for Wisdom, All Explained Via PowerPoint
by JOHN ADAMS •
A man, living in an ordinary wooden house, has a preference for candlelight. He chooses against electric lighting, and places dozens of candles in each room of his house. Much of his time is spent lighting candles, with the rest spent telling his neighbors about the benefits of life-by-candlelight. So happy is he with this…
City, Development, Planning, Poverty
Blight and Blighted
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Common Council meets twice monthly, and was in session Tuesday evening. I follow the proceedings. Fortunately, politics doesn’t begin or end in a day, and few sessions are decisive. (If they were, our condition would be worse than it is.) Part of Tuesday’s session concerned blight, and blighted properties. The two are not the…
City, Planning
Public meeting planned to discuss busy Whitewater intersection — Walworth County Today
by JOHN ADAMS •
One can be sure that Whitewater could use improvements to an intersection at Highway 59 and Milwaukee Streets. A press release issued today describes a public meeting about the intersection to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 9 in the Whitewater City Council chambers. The release mentions that the “purpose…
City, Government Spending, Poverty, Taxes/Taxation
Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Next Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater voted on its 2011 budget this week, and there were no surprises. The city lacks a majority of incumbents willing to cut spending, on a budget of over nine million. (Quick note: a local paper has reported that Whitewater’s tax levy is nine million; that’s incorrect. The budget is nine million, a portion of…
City
On Whitewater, Wisconsin’s 2011 Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s lengthy budget process draws to a close. I offer proposed changes as a longstanding objection to current policy; I don’t expect that any of these changes will be implemented this year. In time, though, Whitewater will have to make drastic reductions, and the longer they’re put off, the worse they’ll be. There are four…
City, Press Release
Downtown Whitewater to Host Acclaimed Independent Business Consultant, 11/16 and 11/17
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a press release from Downtown Whitewater — DOWNTOWN WHITEWATER TO HOST ACCLAIMED INDEPENDENT BUSINESS CONSULTANT Downtown Whitewater, Inc has the pleasure to announce that it will be hosting highly acclaimed speaker, trainer, author and consultant Margie Johnson, to aid in equipping entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills to lead to higher profitability and performance.…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Press
Whitewater’s Innovation Center: Good for Producing Innovative, ‘International’ Fairy tales
by JOHN ADAMS •
A small town in middle America receives an award from a group, of whom no normal person has ever heard, declaring a town project internationally prestigious. The project relies on millions in public grants, millions in subsidized public bonds, will use a third of its space for a publicly-funded tenant, has no clear private purpose,…
City
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters November 2010 Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ November 2010 Newsletter is now available, with articles and a calendar of upcoming LWV events. The latest copy of the LWV newsletter is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below, with coding through Google. Here’s a sampling of upcoming events for the Whitewater-Area League —…
City
What, then?
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Libertarians, Politics
The Return of the Status Quo, Twice as Loud as Last Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two trends I think well possible for my part of the world, one of which matters, the other not at all. The first, the one that matters, is that Whitewater, Wisconsin is heading toward conditions in which she has a permanent underclass. That’s tragic, for everyone in the city, and a large topic…