One reads that Beverly Kopper, UW-Whitewater chancellor, has resigned her position effective 12.31.18. Her resignation was generally expected for at least the last few weeks, and was, more importantly, necessary. This was a public matter involving a spouse appointed to a public position accused of sexual harassment by at least five women while the appointing chancellor kept…
City
City, Film
Film: Wednesday, December 19th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Left Hand of God
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Wednesday, December 19th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Left Hand of God @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: The Left Hand of God (Drama/Inspirational) Wednesday, December 19, 12:30 pm Rated PG. 1 hour, 27 min. (1955) In 1947, at a remote Catholic mission in China, arrives…
Bad Ideas, City, Politics
The Myth of the Adult in the Room
by JOHN ADAMS •
National stories – about national principles – apply to places big and small, including Whitewater, Wisconsin. Monica Hesse’s John Kelly and the myth of the ‘adult in the room’ summarizes about a national figure a myth that’s common locally, too: If you can remember back to Kelly’s appointment, six thousand years ago in 2017, the…
Babbittry, CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty
Reported Family Poverty in Whitewater Increased Over the Last Decade
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over the last ten years, while Wisconsin and America recovered from the Great Recession, in Whitewater poverty among families with children actually increased. The Great Recession – deep and painful for many, lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. Afterward, most parts of America saw recovery, sometimes slow, sometimes rapid, but recovery by either definition. That’s why for…
City, Culture, Demographics, Development, Economy, Local Government, State Capitalism, Wisconsin
The ‘Real’ Residents
by JOHN ADAMS •
Emily Badger reports Are Rural Voters the ‘Real’ Voters? Wisconsin Republicans Seem to Think So: In much of Wisconsin, “Madison and Milwaukee” are code words (to some, dog whistles) for the parts of the state that are nonwhite, elite, different: The cities are where people don’t have to work hard with their hands, because they’re collecting…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, December 11th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Man Who Invented Christmas
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, December 11th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Man Who Invented Christmas @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: The Man Who Invented Christmas (Biography/Comedy/Drama) Tuesday, December 11 @ 12:30 pm Rated PG. 1 hour, 44 min. (2017) Believe it or not, there was a time when Charles…
Animals, Cats, City, Dogs
Friday Cat and Dog Blogging: Beanie Shows the Way Forward
by JOHN ADAMS •
Longtime readers know that this website has warned residents about the dangers of marauding coyotes, and their stealthy efforts to overwhelm civilization and rule this planet. See Coyotes Begin War Against Humanity. Reports about coyote designs on Milwaukee (part of FW’s Daily Bread post for today) show how little time is left to act. Doubtless,…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn Roundup: Indiana Layoffs & Automation Everywhere
by JOHN ADAMS •
A sensible person would never have listened to a Walker Administration operative in Whitewater tout Foxconn without laughing or looking about for a nearby tomato. No sensible person would have made that operative a guest speaker at an annual dinner or written about the event without criticism. (See, about that Greater Whitewater Committee dinner and that…
City, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, That Which Paved the Way
The 2019 Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater will hold a public hearing this evening on its 2019 municipal budget. It’s the budget for the city, at a time when a budget for the municipal government will have little chance of positively affecting the city’s economy, let alone that of even small rural townships ringing Whitewater. The broader economic…
City, Economy
Low Growth as Decline
by JOHN ADAMS •
Forecasters are understandably interested in when America will experience another recession, but in Trump and the slowing economy, Jared Bernstein observes that a declining rate of growth can feel like a recession to those who experience the decline: If I told you the real GDP growth rate was going to fall from 3.5 to 1.5 percent, you might…
Babbittry, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Beauty & Opportunity of Ordinary Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the calendar of the Church, Ordinary Time is that part of the year between the seasons of Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Perhaps it seems less momentous to some, but Ordinary Time is no less important, offering as it does “time for growth and maturation.” Far from being a lesser time, I find it beautiful…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, November 27th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Ocean’s Eight
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, November 27th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Ocean’s Eight @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Ocean’s Eight (Action/Comedy/Crime) Tuesday, November 27 @ 12:30 pm Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 50 minutes (2018) Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) gathers an all-female crew to pull off an impossible heist at…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn Roundup: Desperately Ill Edition
by JOHN ADAMS •
Before and after the recent election, solid assessments on Foxconn came to press, and they confirm how irrational and wasteful is that project. Earlier this year, the local business lobby (the Greater Whitewater Committee) invited the state capitalist stooge official overseeing the project to a dinner in Whitewater. I’ve no idea whether Matt Moroney will show…
City, School District
School Board Meeting of 11.19.18
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater’s Vimeo page now has a copy of the school board meeting of last night. (For more about the cable access programming that took the place of the live meeting Monday night, see After the Referendum.) The meeting had a significant agenda, and the session is likely worth watching more than once.…
