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Elkhorn

The Walworth County Circuit Court Race (Preliminaries)

One may say two things, preliminarily, about the Walworth County Circuit Court race: It’s a race between generally conservative candidates; there are no left-right differences of significance. Incumbent District Attorney Dan Necci, after only briefly serving in that role, is running with almost no local, official support for his candidacy from among those with whom…

The Martians Beset Elkhorn

In many ways, Whitewater’s present fiscal and economic success depends on getting as far past the last administration’s outlook as possible. Our former city manager from 2004-2012 mastered a reverse Midas touch: turning what he grasped not into gold, but lead. We can – and I am confident will – get beyond those ill effects,…

The Emergency Services Mess in Elkhorn

There’s a story at Walworth County Today, entitled, Elkhorn emergency services plagued with problems. The story describes those problems — of staffing, membership, morale, and uncollected revenue. The only thing worse than these mistakes and problems would be hiding them from public scrutiny. When problems like this mount over time, even with a volunteer force,…

Walworth County Board Wisely Rejects Expansion Proposal

One sees that the Walworth County Board voted, 8-3, to recommend against an expansion of the board’s size. (The 8-3 vote included all eleven current board numbers.) See, Walworth County Board Opposes Member Increase. This was the right decision — expanding the board because of politicians’ complaints of overwork at a time when too few…

Walworth County’s Arrogance of a Few

Walworth County is a small rural county in southeast Wisconsin. There are diverse delights in the county, from the many capable, caring, common people who live here, and from the natural beauty visible from at every vantage. Sadly, many of our politicians, bureaucrats, and judges are not among those delights. Even the simplest understanding seems…

Update: The Secret Warrants of Walworth County

On December 28th, the Janesville Gazette published a story entitled, “Walworth County search warrants could disappear.”  I posted on that astonishing possibility, in  a post entitled, “The Secret Warrants of Walworth County.”  Here’s what the Gazette uncovered in its original story: ELKHORN – In some Wisconsin counties, sealed court documents hold back details from search…

Judicial Candidates for Walworth County Circuit Court

A sharp reader wrote, and asked me about the upcoming Walworth County election, as judge Michael Gibbs is retiring from office. There are four candidates in the race: Mark Bromley, David Danz, Scott Letteney, and David Reddy. The Judgepedia has a page that lists candidates for judgeships across the state. See, Wisconsin Judicial Elections 2010.…

The Secret Warrants of Walworth County

Update, 2/9/10:  See a follow-up post, Update: The Secret Warrants of Walworth County. A tenured surgeon walks into an operating room with a pair of chopsticks. Someone notices that the surgeon is carrying two wooden sticks instead of a scalpel. The surgeon replies, “Now that we’re having this discussion, I’ll address it.” What would you…