Downtown Whitewater, Inc. is in the midst of its own election season, for candidates to its Board of Directors. Here are the details: The 2008 election is now open for four seats on our Downtown Whitewater Board of Directors. Attached please find the 2008 ballot and candidate bios. [Ballot and bios are attached online. One…
City
City
Apple Hits Microsoft’s Marketing Efforts
by JOHN ADAMS •
Microsoft’s undertaken a three-hundred million dollar campaign to rehabilitate its ratty image. Microsoft got the ratty image by selling ratty software. What to do? Fix the software, or convince people its good software when it’s not. Therein lies a truth about corporation sand people: they’d rather spend more to look good than less to…
City, Planning
Planning Commission 10/20/08: The Administration’s Wages of Appeasement
by JOHN ADAMS •
On September 20th, I posted on a Planning Commission meeting from five days’ time earlier. In that post, I mentioned of City Manager Brunner that What’s pandering though, both intellectually and practically, is the suggestion that if the Tratt Street neighborhood becomes higher density, then as matter of balance other neighborhoods should be enforced to…
City, Planning
Planning Commission 10/20/08: ‘Not a One’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ask yourself this question: Who is the most well-known and influential member of our Common Council? Some have been community figures for years, others more recent additions to our politics. Only one, though, has a community following — small, but dedicated, committed, assertive: Dr. Roy Nosek. Now, I have been a critic of Nosek, but…
City, Planning
Planning Commission 10/20/08: ‘Home Occupation’
by JOHN ADAMS •
This is the first of a series of posts on the October 20th Planning Commission meeting. In this post, I’ll consider Item 5 from the meeting agenda, Applicant Tom Germundson’s request for a conditional use permit for a home occupation (so that he could make sheet metal duct work for heating and cooling installations). Germundson’s…
City, Free Markets, Libertarians, Police
The Different Standard
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sometimes a story about one topic reveals more about another. In Pewaukee, there have been chronic concerns about the temperament and conduct of that community’s police chief. In early August, the Pewaukee City Council requested that the city’s Police and Fire Commission remove police chief Gary Bach from office. Among the Common Council’s charges against…
City, Police
Where’s Whitewater’s M56 Scorpion Anti-Tank Weapon?
by JOHN ADAMS •
City
Save the Date: Downtown Whitewater, Inc. Birthday Party
by JOHN ADAMS •
Downtown Whitewater, Inc. will be celebrating later this month. More details will follow, but here’s a preliminary post with date and time — Tuesday October 28, 2008 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Cravath Lake Front Building More information about Downtown Whitewater is available at www.downtownwhitewater.com.
City, Development
A City-University Technology Park in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Sunday, the Janesville Gazette published a story on a proposed joint technology park between the city and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Arguments in favor of the part include new jobs for researchers, but far more so, a way to offer businesses a reason to locate in Whitewater. The principal argument against is likely to be…
City
The Witches of Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Matt Rockwell, at mattrock.net, has a fascinating post on legends about witches in Whitewater. Not all small towns have stories like this, but some towns regale visitors with tales of a famous ghost, or fantastic creature. (Roswell, New Mexico’s famous for a modern version of these tales.) We market ourselves every which way, but sometimes…
City
League of Women Voters – October Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ October 2008 Newsletter is now available, and the latest issue includes a calendar of upcoming LWV events. A copy of the newsletter is available as a pdf link in this post, and as a link on my blogroll. Here are upcoming events: Date: October 11th (Saturday) Event: LWV-sponsored Candidate Forum…
City, School District
Tired of Failure? Mandate Success!
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that public school officials in that city have a policy “that sets 50 percent as the minimum score a student can receive for assignments, tests and other work.” The policy has been around for a while; it’s drawn recent attention only because of efforts to reduce it to writing and make…
City, Free Markets
Chicago Tribune: “Scapegoating Markets”
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Chicago Tribune offers a solid editorial against the scapegoating of markets during the current financial crisis. Although capitalism has shown its superiority to other systems, it has always had plenty of detractors. The meltdown in the financial sector is their latest excuse to assert the dangers of greed, the need for greater government regulation…
City
Our Election Laws
by JOHN ADAMS •
America is an extraordinary place, but there’s much sadness in the fact. We are extraordinary in part because we are a free people, yet that condition is one that should be universal. It’s not — much of the world lives and dies under selfish, oppressive dictatorship. Our freedoms depend on the respect and deference to…