A reader kindly recommended a visit to the Kraus Haus restaurant at N8660 Clover Valley Road, Whitewater. It was a kind recommendation: the food is excellent and the atmosphere enjoyable. Now it has been some years since I have written a restaurant review, but writing follows living, and I’ve not stopped eating these last years. The Kraus…
City
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, January 22nd, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Alpha
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, January 22th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Alpha @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Alpha (Adventure/Drama/Family) Tuesday, January 22, 12:30 pm Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 36 min. (2018) In an epic adventure set 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, a young man struggles after…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
Foxconn Couldn’t Even Meet Its Low First-Year Goal
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here in Whitewater, the local private business lobby invited last year as a guest speaker a state operative to exaggerate wildly talk about Foxconn. See A Sham News Story on Foxconn. As it turns out, Foxconn hasn’t even been able to meet the low, first-year employment goals set for the publicly-subsidized project. Rick Rommel reports Foxconn falls…
America, City, Federal Government, Fellow Traveler, Fifth Columnist, Local Government, Never Trump, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia, Unfit
Trump-Russia Roundup
by JOHN ADAMS •
While the proper focus against Trumpism involves a zealous lawful effort against Trump and his leading operatives, there is also a problem of Trumpism down to the local level. In both cases, officials advancing Trumpism ignore the overwhelming evidence of his betrayal of our own people to the benefit of a hostile foreign power. As…
Bad Ideas, City, Congress, Culture, Demographics, Development, Diversity, Economics, Economy, Federal Government, Immigration, Trump
‘Our Guy’ Isn’t Our Guy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some months ago, in a radio interview to tout part of the Trump tax bill, the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s executive director Dave Carlson referred to Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner as ‘our guy.’ Sensenbrenner, a pro-Trump septuagenarian multimillionaire from a gerrymandered district, is – literally – Whitewater’s federal representative. Sensenbrenner has never been – and…
City, Local Government, Newspapers, School District
The Not-So-Daily Union
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that local Daily Union will begin delivery by mail, and that this will push forward the publication deadline by twelve hours. While the change of delivery matters to subscribers, the change in publication deadline will matter more. The Daily Union will no longer be able to get a story on an evening meeting or…
Charity, City, Culture, Economy, Good Ideas, Local Government, Poverty
Political and Apolitical Means of Local Accomplishment
by JOHN ADAMS •
One test of an institution’s vitality is how eager people are to become members, and how interested a community is to learn who’s become a member. Strong institutions or organizations attract attention. When the institution is a city or county government, one looks to see who’s eager to run for office, and how many people…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, January 8th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Crazy Rich Asians
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, January 8th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Crazy Rich Asians @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Crazy Rich Asians (Comedy/Romance) Tuesday, January 8, 12:30 pm Rated PG-13. 2 hours (2018) Rachel’s longtime boyfriend is taking her to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. What starts as…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Crime, Democrats, Harassment, Law, Misconduct, Republicans, Trump, University, UW System
Immoral (and Unnecessary) Compromises
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a certain kind of Republican who rationalizes Trump’s many vices because, well, Trump has nominated some conservative judges. (Hugh Hewitt, who’ll rationalize anything to keep a job on the Salem talk radio network comes to mind. See It’s the Supreme Court, stupid.) If there’s an equivalent of this, it’s a certain kind of Democrat…
City, Elections, Local Government, School District, Walworth County
Elections, Contested or Uncontested
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assault Awareness & Prevention, CDA, Charity, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Dogs, Economy, Education, Federal Government, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Politics, School District, State Capitalism, State Government, University, UW System, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Broad Outlines of 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many years, I would begin the year with predictions for the twelve months ahead. Events since 2016 have made predictions harder, but one can still discern some short-term developments for the city. These prospects, of course, form an online of topics to ponder, and about which to write (often requiring that one return to the…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Crime, Culture, University
Elizabeth Bruenig Writes of Amber Wyatt
by JOHN ADAMS •
In September, Elizabeth Bruenig wrote about Amber Wyatt, a classmate she barely knew in 2006 when both attended a high school in Arlington, Texas. Wyatt was raped that year, and when she reported the crime, she found, in Bruenig’s words, that ‘few believed her. Her hometown turned against her. The authorities failed her.’ I first…
City, Film
Film: Monday, December 31st, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Monday, December 31st at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Comedy/Musical/Romance) Monday, December 31, 12:30 pm. Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 54 min. (2018) It’s five years later, and daughter Sophie (Amanda…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC, Wisconsin
Foxconn Roundup: Outside Work and Local Land
by JOHN ADAMS •
Foxconn’s boosters each day inch closer to a corporate welfare version of Scientology: it doesn’t make any sense, but adherents keep to themselves and repeat a shared list of crackpot claims. The latest news to pierce the cultists’ bubble: Molly Beck and Rick Romell report Wisconsin taxpayers could pay Foxconn for work done outside of Wisconsin,…