This Tuesday, September 8th at 10 AM or 1 PM, there will be a showing of Parasite @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Drama/Thriller) Rated R (Sex/Violence/Profanity) 2 hours; 12 minutes (2019) In South Korea, a poor family, the Kims, con their way into becoming the servants of a rich family, the…
City
City, University, UW System
UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor on Paid Administrative Leave
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Update, afternoon of 9.3.20 — there is no chance – none whatever – that I will write in any detail about this matter without a careful review of published, substantial claims or documents. (I have never written about a matter like this without a review of published claims or documents, and never will.) Original post…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Coronavirus, Culture, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Politics, Public Health
Whitewater’s Local Government: Always Literally, Not as Often Seriously
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
It was the Trump apologist Salena Zito who, by way of defending Trump, suggested that his words should be taken ‘seriously, not literally.’ (She offered this defense in a deceitful effort to absolve Trump from the plain meaning of what he said, at any moment. Instead of considering his statements, one was supposed to take…
City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Public Health, University
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 9.1.20: Culture & Prohibitions
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the council discussed and gave direction to the city attorney to draft an ordinance regulating large gatherings of people on private property during the pandemic. (Updated with video. A revised agenda is available here.) The council plans to meet again on 9.9.20, where they will consider a…
America, Authoritarianism, Books, City, Liberty, Trump, Trumpism, Tyranny
Snyder’s On Tyranny
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Prof. Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: ‘Lesssons from the Twentieth Century’ (2017) recently came my way. By design, it’s a brief presentation of twenty lessons that Snyder has discerned after a long career as a historian, with significant study and research on twentieth-century European history. It’s a small, inviting pamphlet addressing a big, unwelcome subject. We’ve…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Conflicts of Interest, Coronavirus, Culture, Ethics, Local Government, Politics
Social Capital and Hardship
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
What role does social capital play in a community’s health? Adam Gopnik, in The Paradoxical Role of Social Capital in the Coronavirus Pandemic, ponders whether there’s a relationship between communities with high social capital and a community’s public health. Gopnik uses a traditional definition of social capital as the “parts of society that, without being…
City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 8.4.20: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, among other items — the council slightly modified its mask ordinance, discussed (but took no action on) a racial justice initiative that would create an Equal Opportunities Committee, voted unanimously to extend the lake drawdown project for approximately another year, and voted to continue virtual public…
City, Coronavirus, Education, Open Government, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.3.20: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard a presentation from the district about fall instruction for the first two weeks of school, and the metrics the district is considering when deciding schools’ status after those initial weeks. The meeting was informational only, so the board took no action.…
CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Walworth County, WEDC, Wisconsin
Whitewater & Walworth County’s Working Poor, 2020 ALICE® Report
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The 2020 ALICE® report, on those who are “asset limited, income constrained [yet] employed” is now available. These latest data were collected before the recent recession – one can be sadly confident that hardship reaches farther now. For Wisconsin, 11% of households were below the poverty level, and 34% (including those below the poverty level) were…
City, Coronavirus, Education, Open Government, Public Health, School District
The Whitewater School Board’s Decision on Early Fall Instruction: 4 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Updates, afternoon of 7.28.20: (1) I’ve added a recording of the 7.27.20 meeting. The best record is a recording. (2) A reader emailed to ask where I stand on recent pandemic-related public actions. On masks, I supported the city’s ordinance (to take effect 8.1) as an unfortunate necessity to preserve safe mobility in the marketplace.…
City, Coronavirus, Open Government, Public Health, School District
The Whitewater Unified School District’s Proposed Fall Instructional Plans
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Last night (7.22), the Whitewater Unified School District held a virtual meeting to describe a fall instructional proposal to be presented to the district’s school board on 7.27.20. The meeting was interrupted, and so the district published today (7.23) a video describing the proposal. Embedded above is that video presentation. (There was an earlier, recorded…
Business, City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Libertarians, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health, School District, University
Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Temporary Mask Ordinance: 7 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 10 Comments
Updated evening of 7.22.20 with meeting video. (The discussion on Whitewater’s mask ordinance runs from 31:09 to 3:37:50.) At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the seven-member council voted unanimously for a temporary mask ordinance, taking effect 8.1.20 and running through 12.31.20, requiring masks in parts of buildings open to the public, and…
City, Common Council, Coronavirus, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health
About That Proposed, Temporary Mask Ordinance for Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
So, there’s a proposed, temporary mask ordinance before the Whitewater Common Council tonight. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of talk about the measure (and so a lot of emails sent my way – thanks much for these messages). Readers have asked what I think of the proposal. I’ve offered a simple answer: I’d…
City, Coronavirus, Public Health, Public Meetings, School District
Whitewater Schools’ Community Focus Group, 7.8.20
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
The Whitewater Unified School District held a community focus group on 7.8.20 via Zoom about public schools opening in the fall. A video of the recorded meeting is embedded above. There have also been other, in-person meetings over the last ten days. A few remarks: Translated. The focus group had, sensibly, a Spanish language translator.…