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Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.23.20: 5 Points

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The particular path of the pandemic – involving in Whitewater countless thousands of daily interactions between people – is understandably difficult to predict. Nine days after deciding unanimously to resume face-to-face instruction beginning 9.28.20, Whitewater’s school board decided to begin face-to-face instruction on 9.28.20 only for elementary school students, with a hybrid model of instruction…

City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, School District, University

September Arrives: Consequences Will Settle Claims

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Posted originally on 9.1.20 —  A reminder that, for a thousand discussions, predictions, warnings, or assurances — “what has been predicted about the pandemic & economy will prove true or false as against daily events and their consequences.” Original post follows —  September arrives. Small-town Whitewater, like all America, wrestles with a pandemic and a…

City, Conflicts of Interest, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 9.15.20: 4 Points

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Updated 9.16.20 with meeting video. Last night, among other items, Whitewater Common Council’s met and considered municipal actions in response to the pandemic, heard presentations from Downtown Whitewater, Inc. and Discover Whitewater, and appointed a resident to fill a council vacancy in AD 5. A few remarks —  1. Pandemic Responses. Whitewater’s council last week declined, on…

Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.14.20: 5 Points

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Updated 9.16.20 with meeting video. At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board voted unanimously to offer a choice of either face-to-face or virtual instruction beginning September 28th and continuing through the semester (absent any alterations in the event of significant COVID-19 infections). Parents received, last night, an email requesting…

Coronavirus, Local Government, School District

Local Politician Tells District Administrator How to Read District’s Own Approved Documents

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In Whitewater, a local charity, the Whitewater Community Foundation, publishes a website in which the city council president poses as something like a reporter. It’s an obvious conflict of interest, from a man who shows no understanding of either proper journalism or conflicts of interest. Where Whitewater departs from the conventional in natural beauty, she…

City, Conflicts of Interest, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 9.9.20: 5 Points

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Evening of 9.10.20: Updated with full session video. As always, the best record is a recording. Original post follows — Last night, at a special meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, that public body voted 5-1 against consideration of a municipal ordinance to regulate mass gatherings during the pandemic. (The agenda packet, with the ordinance…

Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Coronavirus, Culture, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Politics, Public Health

Whitewater’s Local Government: Always Literally, Not as Often Seriously

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It was the Trump apologist Salena Zito who, by way of defending Trump, suggested that his words should be taken ‘seriously, not literally.’ (She offered this defense in a deceitful effort to absolve Trump from the plain meaning of what he said, at any moment. Instead of considering his statements, one was supposed to take…

City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Public Health, University

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 9.1.20: Culture & Prohibitions

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At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the council discussed and gave direction to the city attorney to draft an ordinance regulating large gatherings of people on private property during the pandemic. (Updated with video. A revised agenda is available here.) The council plans to meet again on 9.9.20, where they will consider a…

Coronavirus, Education, Justice, Law, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.24.20: 5 Points

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At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard, among other items, a report on summer school, a report on the district’s use of seclusion and restraint, approved unanimously a new metric the district will use to determine its next instructional plan beginning September 28th, and held a budget hearing.…

America, Coronavirus, Democrats, Libertarians, Liberty, Never Trump, Trump

The Democratic National Convention 2020, First Night: Kristin Urquiza Remembers Her Father

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So, the Democrats held the first night of their audiovisual convention Monday night. There were, watching, millions of us who are not Democrats, but are yet resolved and confirmed against Trump his autocratic nativism. Although some like us have melted away, for the remnant of which we are a part Never Trump means never Trump.  We…

Coronavirus, Education, Public Health, School District

Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.17.20: 5 Points

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At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard (and approved on a 6-0 vote) the online platform for students choosing the virtual instruction and required staffing. (Video, 43:50.)  Some students have chosen a purely virtual format, and much of the board discussion was about an all-virtual provider. The district…