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City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government

The Local Economic Context of It All

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Over a generation, Whitewater’s big-ticket public spending (where big ticket means a million or more per project in a city of about fifteen-thousand) has come with two, often-contradictory justifications: (1) that residents needed to spend so much because Whitewater was the very center of things, or (2) that residents needed to spend so much to assure that…

City, Holiday

Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2016

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Here’s the tenth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater for 2016. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 editions are available for comparison. The list runs in reverse order, from mildly frightening to truly scary. 10. It’s Gremlins. Ordinarily, people assume that the success or failure of government policy rests…

City, Film

Film: Tuesday, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Young Frankenstein

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This Tuesday, October 25th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Young Frankenstein @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. In Young Frankenstein, an “American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers…

City

James Fallows on ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed’ (Part 2)

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I wrote yesterday about James Fallows‘s ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed.’  Today’s post considers whether his list applies to Whitewater, and how Whitewater fares if items on the list – at least in part – apply to our small city. One word of caution applies to Fallows’s list: it was compiled after he visited cities larger than Whitewater.…

City

James Fallows on ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed’ (Part 1)

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Over at The Atlantic, and connected to that publication’s American Futures series, James Fallows writes about ‘Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed.’  Today, I’ll list Fallows’s eleven signs, and tomorrow, I’ll write about whether the list applies to Whitewater, and how Whitewater fares to the extent that the list is applicable. (The list is sure to…

City, Culture, Local Government, Politics

Twenty-Five Years On: School Board & City

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Alternative title: Culture Advances While Beyond Politics Far Lags Behind. Over at the Banner, there’s a new feature entitled, “A mini-look at local history – a new Banner Monday project!”  The 10.10.16 entry is about two public actions from twenty-five years ago. I’m all for history (local or otherwise), but the entry is telling coming from a…

City, Education, Politics, School District

At Whitewater’s Common Council Meeting, 10.4.16

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There are a few moments from last night’s Common Council meeting that I’ll consider briefly today. Budget.  It’s fall, and so for Whitewater’s local government that means a proposed budget rollout, and  Council sessions principally occupied with that subject through November. On efficiency of government services, City Manager Clapper remarked that one can expect municipal…

City, University

Preliminaries on Private Parties in Whitewater

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Last night Common Council discussed, but took no formal legal action on, a possible ordinance to regulate large private parties in Whitewater. I wrote a bit about this yesterday (see, Paradise is just one regulation away…). City employees, along with others, will consider options, but took no other, formal action last night. Some observations: Few Big Events. There…

City, Elections, Law

Absentee Voting in the Whitewater Area

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One often hears that a given election is important, and that each person’s vote matters.  That’s been true so many times in our history, and it seems particularly so this year. Absentee voting – by mail or in person – is a part of our law, and the window for in-person voting will open soon. Immediately below readers…