Perhaps Yorkshire terriers dream each night of being ferocious wolves. If that should be so, and if even tiny dogs imagine themselves as mighty predators, then there may be a natural explanation – in animals and people – for the yearning of smarmy local development men for gigantic corporate welfare schemes. Of those men and…
City
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, Press Release, WEDC
A Reminder About Opportunity Zones: Bad Policy Flacked Locally
by JOHN ADAMS •
Those following what passes for economic policy in Whitewater know that this website has been rightly critical of the economic opportunity zones that were part of Trump’s tax bill. See About that Trump Tax Bill, More About that Trump Tax Bill, and The Trump Tax Bill: That’s Not Reform. Jenny Schuetz, commenting on part of Trump’s…
City, Culture, Education, Open Government, School District
A Change of Venue for a Public Forum
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that the Whitewater Schools have changed the location of a public forum for the selection of a new district administrator to the library in the high school. The forum is now scheduled for 2.18.20 @ 6:30 PM (“Residents will have a chance to offer input on the school district’s next leader at 6:30…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, February 11th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
by JOHN ADAMS •
?? This Tuesday, February 11th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Drama) Rated R (language, violence, sexual references). 2 hours, 41 minutes (2019). A faded TV actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt) strive to achieve…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Ethics, Misconduct, Sexual Harassment, University, UW System
At UW-Whitewater, Beverly Kopper’s Tenure Was about More than Beverly Kopper
by JOHN ADAMS •
Former UW-Whitewater chancellor Beverly Kopper was on leave – apparently for part of that time under federal or state medical leave act provisions – before her resignation from UW-Whitewater. I’ll not speculate about the circumstances under which she claimed leave under the law. There’s another matter that requires attention. There’s talk at UW-Whitewater these days…
City, Discrimination, Harassment, School District
Whitewater Schools: Highest Reported Discrimination and Harassment in the Area
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, January 28th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Groundhog Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, January 28th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Groundhog Day @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Fantasy/Romance) Rated PG; 1 hour, 41 minutes (1993). Filmed in Woodstock, IL. (Seniors in the Park was there, last July 31, on their Magical Mystery Tour!) Groundhog Day this year is…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Development, Economics, Economy, Local Government, Trump, WEDC
‘But Not in Conditions of Their Own Choosing’
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s a truism to say that all people make history, but not in conditions of their own choosing: Admittedly and sadly, the local boosterism of the pre-Trump years is now in retrospect worse than one might have initially believed: across America boosters who peddled false descriptions & junk solutions during the economic hardship of the…
CDA, City, Culture, Local Government
More Predictable Than an Atomic Clock
by JOHN ADAMS •
If one read beforehand the agenda for last night’s common council meeting (1.21.20), one would have seen the applicants for various boards (particularly the Whitewater Community Development Authority). Seeing them, and knowing what the last ten years on the CDA have been like, one could have confidently predicted which candidate would be recommended for appointment.…
City, Culture, Ethics, Philosophy, Religion
Perspectives Narrow or Wide
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the hopes for small-town living is that, among the residents of such a place, one will commonly find plain speaking and humility. Perhaps there are places like this, but sadly small towns, by themselves, are not enough to overcome unworthy pride. On the contrary, within such places, sometimes a tiny faction – confusing…
Art, City, Culture, Local Government
Newnan, Georgia & Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads, in the New York Times, about How 17 outsize portraits rattled a small southern town (‘Not everyone was ready for what they saw’). After a white-nationalist rally in Newnan, Georgia, that town put up 17 large-scale banner portraits, images of the ordinary people who make up the town. They hang from the perches of…
Aside
Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay: Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman highlight one of the failures of public subsidies for businesses in places like Whitewater — Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay (article linked in today’s Daily Bread post). Subsidized job-creation in those circumstances is more political point than practical achievement.
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, January 14th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Art of Racing in the Rain
by JOHN ADAMS •
?? This Tuesday, January 14th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Art of Racing in the Rain @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Drama/Romance) Rated PG; 1 hour, 49 minutes. (2019) Dog lovers believe their canine family members understand language, comprehend events, have opinions, and can exude loyalty.…
City, Education, School District
On the Dissolution of the Palmyra-Eagle School District, Reason Carries the Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier today, a School District Boundary Appeal Board (Wis. Stat. §15.375) voted by a margin of 6-1 against the dissolution of the Palmyra-Eagle School District. The possible dissolution of that school district loomed for many months. Dissolving that district would have led to a significant reallocation of students, faculty, resources, and obligations to Whitewater or…