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City

City, School District

Whitewater High School, Monday Morning, 2.27.17

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Update, 12:25 PM: “Two suspicious packages were located and analyzed and were subsequently determined to be non-threatening. The interior of the buildings have also been search for any suspicious items. No additional suspicious items have been located in or around the buildings.  Students and families will be notified via Infinite Campus once the building has been re-opened. Classes…

City, Local Government

Where Reaction Leads

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What happens when the municipal officials of a small college town repeatedly malign – in print and on camera – a private business and college residents for the conduct of unrelated third-parties? This is what happens: The City of Whitewater Clarifies Recent Comments Regarding Spring Splash, Encourages Residents to Celebrate Responsibly  Whitewater, Wis., February 11th, 2017…

City, Local Government, Planning

At Whitewater’s Planning Commission: ‘Have you heard any rumors about..?”

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There’s a brief discussion about a rumor that a new convenience store might come to small-town Whitewater that illustrates not only the problem of rumors, but others’ unwillingness to point out the problem of rumors. It’s the latter problem that is, in fact, the more serious one for Whitewater. First, I’ve transcribed the exchange from…

Art, City, Good Ideas

Studio 84 in Whitewater

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Studio 84, located in downtown Whitewater, is a non-profit art studio that offers “experiences in the visual arts and theater for the community …working with all people including those with Autism, physical disabilities, cognitive limitations and mental illness.” Milwaukee television channel 58 WDJT recently visited and reported on the studio’s work — CBS 58

Charity, City, Culture, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government

More on the Right Social Conditions in a Small Town

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I posted yesterday that Gentrification Requires the Right Social Conditions, contending in part that a small city like Whitewater remains divided (and by consequence limits its own attractiveness to newcomers) because it remains divided by town and gown (and divided within the town, itself, too). Whitewater’s problem is not that different factions do not have a…

Charity, City, Culture, Development, Economy, Local Government

Gentrification Requires the Right Social Conditions

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I’ve written that Whitewater faces a choice between decisive action now (to lessen government’s role) or years of stagnation and relative decline before eventual gentrification (at which point longtime residents will have almost no say in redevelopment). See, How Big Averts Bad. As I doubt Whitewater’s local political class has the will for near-term changes, the best…

City, Presidential race 2016, School District, Trump

Update: James Surowiecki on What the Press Missed About Trump’s Win

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I posted yesterday on James Surowiecki’s contention that Trump’s success with non-college whites was predictable, but that Trump’s better-than-expected success with college-educated whites is what the press missed. See, James Surowiecki on What the Press Missed About Trump’s Win. Surowiecki makes a few follow-up remarks to his tweet-stream of yesterday. First, Surowiecki is not saying that…

City

Whitewater’s Outlook for 2017

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Embed from Getty Images A year like 2016 – nationally – should leave a prudent person cautious about making predictions. I’ll not overlook the lesson from last year’s national scene, and I’ll apply it to 2017’s local outlook. Rather than predictions, I’ll offer a few observations on the likely direction of local affairs. Local politics.…

City

Review: Whitewater Predictions for 2016

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Here’s my amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The was the list for 2016, the FW ninth-annual edition. Let’s see how I did (keeping in mind that it’s easier when one drafts the list): 1. Whitewater’s economy will A. Expand along with the American economy B. Expand more slowly than…