We’re trying to attract new businesses and residents to Whitewater. How about our sitting governor, Jim Doyle, who shows an appreciation of double standards that would make him a perfect fit for the stodgy town squires of Whitewater, Wisconsin? Over at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there are the results of a fine investigative report detailing…
City
City, Economy
Wisconsin State Journal: Municipalities Look to Furloughs to Fill Budget Gaps
by JOHN ADAMS •
The State Journal has a story on how cities in Dane County and beyond are considering furloughing workers to make up shortfalls, likely to be far worse come budget planning in the fall. Whitewater’s not mentioned, but is there’s little doubt that our local administration’s strategy of public spending, local government aegis, and marketing will…
City
Email to Germany — Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Suggestions for the Name of a New Element!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Prof. Dr. Sigurd Hofmann GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung Planckstr. 1 64291 Darmstadt S. Hofmann@gsi.de http://www.gsi.de cc: Angela Merkel, Bundeskanzlerin der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, angela.merkel@bundestag.de Per E-Mail und Blog-Post Guten Tag, Prof. Dr. Hofmann, Ich möchte diese Gelegenheit nutzen, Sie zu beglückwünschen, und alle Mitglieder Ihres Teams an der GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, für die Entdeckung einer…
City
The Trip of a Lifetime: Jolly Ol’ England!
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve received emails about a court ruling from England, in which an English judge ruled against the right of anonymity for a blogger. The ruling’s specific and technical, and of no precedent for America. Britain does not have a written constitution, unlike America, France, or Japan, for example. Her system of government is unlike our…
City
Prisoner Monday
by JOHN ADAMS •
Continuing for the next few weeks, it’s Prisoner Monday here at Free Whitewater. Why? Because a longtime reader previously suggested to me that being in Whitewater sometimes felt like living the plot of The Prisoner. It’s a great British series, that tells the story of a secret agent who resigns from his agency, only to…
City, School District
Poll Results: What’s the best, first option for budget cuts for a city or school district?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here are the results from my highly unscientific, not-at-all professional poll on options for budget cuts for a city or school district. What’s the best, first option for a budget shortfall for a city or school district?(poll) Reduction in benefits came as the leading answer — far above employee layoffs, tax increases, salary reductions, or…
City, Police
Trust, but Verify
by JOHN ADAMS •
Every community relies — and wants to rely — on its police force for protection. Therein rests the honor and burden of the right to use force on behalf of the community: that trust is readily given, and a worthy leadership in return commits to a practice of openness and verification. It was Reagan to…
City, School District
Poll: What’s the best, first option for budget cuts for a city or school district?
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s almost always resistance to reductions in the size of government — once having achieved a certain mark, government seldom recedes. In this deep recession, with a loss of state aid to cities and public school districts, reductions in local budgets are more likely. I’ve created a small poll, asking which first option to address…
City, Inbox Reader Mail, School District
Inbox: Reader Mail — Options for School District Budget Savings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted a reader note on an alternative response to budget cuts in our school district. Afterward, I received two notes from another, longtime reader, suggesting a second alternative. I’ve combined the two notes on the second alternative with an ellipsis. Mr. Adams, I hate to sound like a broken record about this, but…
City, Inbox Reader Mail, School District
Inbox: Reader Mail — Budget Cuts, General and Specific
by JOHN ADAMS •
City
Prisoner Monday
by JOHN ADAMS •
Continuing for the next few weeks, it’s Prisoner Monday here at Free Whitewater. Why? Because a longtime reader previously suggested to me that being in Whitewater sometimes felt like living the plot of The Prisoner. It’s a great British series, that tells the story of a secret agent who resigns from his agency, only to…
City
Prisoner Monday
by JOHN ADAMS •
Continuing for the next few weeks, it’s Prisoner Monday here at Free Whitewater. Why? Because a longtime reader previously suggested to me that being in Whitewater sometimes felt like living the plot of The Prisoner. It’s a great British series, that tells the story of a secret agent who resigns from his agency, only to…
City, Police
Whitewater’s Latest Police and Fire Commission Meeting, of May 2009
by JOHN ADAMS •
Has Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan already hired a trainer for Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission members? Earlier this week, on May 20th, 2009, Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission met for a quarterly meeting. They met in a small conference room, rather than a chamber suitable for public attendance, and unlike so many other public…
City
Prisoner Monday
by JOHN ADAMS •
Continuing for the next few weeks, it’s Prisoner Monday here at Free Whitewater. Why? Because a longtime reader previously suggested to me that being in Whitewater sometimes felt like living the plot of The Prisoner. It’s a great British series, that tells the story of a secret agent who resigns from his agency, only to…