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…
City
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…
CDA, City, Culture, Politics
Local Candidacies in Whitewater, 2020
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are six public seats up for election in Whitewater this spring (three on the Whitewater Common Council and three on the Whitewater Unified School District’s board.) It seems there are six candidates for these six offices (five incumbents and one former officeholder). This is what one would expect of government in Whitewater over these…
America, City, Never Trump, Politics, Trump
One Year
by JOHN ADAMS •
For all the discussion of politics over these last three years, America now comes to a critical year ahead. In these next twelve months, we’ll see primaries, conventions, a general election, and thereafter possible challenges to, and necessary defenses of, the constitutional order. When was there another year so important to America as 2020 looks…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, December 31st, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Yesterday
by JOHN ADAMS •
? This Tuesday, December 31st at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Yesterday @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Fantasy/Musical/Romance) Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 56 minutes. (2019) Following a massive power outage, a struggling musician wakes up in an alternate timeline, discovering he’s the only person on Earth who remembers…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, December 17th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, We’re No Angels
by JOHN ADAMS •
? This Tuesday, December 17h at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of We’re No Angels @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Comedy/Romance (1955) Rated G; 1 hour, 46 minutes. At Christmas, three Devil’s Island escapees (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray) hide out in the home of a kindly, failing…
City, Television
Tuesday, December 10th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, A Holiday Program of Three Classic TV Shows
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, December 10th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of three classic television shows (during a program of two hours in length) @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a Honeymooners version of “The Gift of the Magi,” originally telecast live in black-and-white on December…
CDA, City, Local Government, Newspapers, Open Government
Who Implied That Toppers Might Move Its Headquarters? Whitewater’s City Manager, That’s Who
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a Janesville Gazette story from 12.5, Whitewater’s city manager, Cameron Clapper, is reported as saying that another paper’s coverage incorrectly implied that Toppers Pizza might move its Whitewater headquarters. In fact, the video of a recent Community Development Authority (CDA) meeting from 11.21.19 reveals that it was Clapper, himself, who implied that Toppers might move.…
Business, City, Local Government, Newspapers
Local Government’s Failure to Speak Independently and Effectively
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story at the Janesville Gazette that illustrates the inability of Whitewater, Wisconsin’s local government to communicate effectively on its own. The story, primarily, is about the ongoing search for a stand-alone grocery store to come to Whitewater. See Whitewater city manager remains ‘optimistic’ city will get a grocery store (Beleckis, reporter; Schwartz, editor). Routine,…
America, Authoritarianism, Babbittry, Bigotry, Boosterism, City, Law, Liberty, Local Government, Mendacity, Never Trump, Politics, Resistance, Trump
Forget the Tender Feelings of a Pernicious Faction
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Journal Sentinel, Craig Gilbert writes about the political divide in For voters in this purple part of Wisconsin [Richland Center], the impeachment fight is a symbol of broken politics. The story establishes a false equivalence between those who support impeachment and those who oppose it, as though the conflict between these views…
America, City, Impeachment, Law, Liberty
Statement and Testimony of Gordon Sondland, American Ambassador to the European Union
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an oft-repeated saying that all politics is local. It’s false, at least in our time: in hamlets, villages, towns, and cities our politics is national (and constitutional). In fairness, I’ve always inclined to this view, but it would be better to be wrong than to be proved right under these conditions. It should be…
City, Education, School District
Whitewater Schools’ State Report Cards
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction annually issues report cards measuring schools’ performance across several major categories. Whitewater’s detailed report card results appear below, first for the district, and then for each of her five schools (one high school, one middle school, and three elementary schools). These documents are available here for download – in full…