Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 79. Sunrise is 6:06 AM and sunset 7:49 PM for 13h 43m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 45.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast…
New Whitewater
City, Culture, Daily Bread, Libertarians, Local Government, New Whitewater, Open Government, Politics, School District, University
Daily Bread for 7.8.22: Resentment’s a Distinct Local Explanation for Some Residents
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Babbittry, CDA, Culture, Economy, Fortitude, Local Government, Marketing, New Media, New Whitewater, Newspapers, Politics, Press, Social Media, Writing
What Can Be Done About Rural Newspapers (Even Though It Probably Won’t Be)?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Yesterday I wrote that Another Local Paper Changes Hands. With the failure of legacy publishing, what are rural communities to do? (Obvious point: FREE WHITEWATER is not an online newspaper – never aspired to be, never will be. This is a website of independent commentary: aligned with no faction, beholden to no faction.) A few…
City, Law, Liberty, New Whitewater, Trump
On Transgender Americans
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
One could write about the recent Twitter statement from Trump that “[a]fter consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” but there’s a broader question than military service. To be sure, I believe…
City, Culture, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, Marketing, New Whitewater, School District
How Big Averts Bad
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
If it should be true that small-town Whitewater faces a choice between difficult times now or an extended decline before an out-of-town-led gentrification, that her decline will otherwise be slow but no less signficant as a result, that stakeholder (special interest) politics grips the city, and that this stakeholder politics is really an identity politics…
City, Culture, New Media, New Whitewater
The Lingua Franca of a New Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
If it should be true – and it is – that Whitewater is more diverse than her town fathers care to admit, with the city now a collection of disparate, minority factions, how can one reach a majority with a message? (For Whitewater’s waning notables of this generation, there’s no way to return to their former…
City, Culture, Local Government, New Whitewater
A Small But Diverse City, Seldom Described That Way
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
About four months ago, a councilman in Whitewater (intelligent, educated) expressed concern that a municipal meeting was poorly attended (it was). His solution was to post notice of the next meeting on the Banner. They city posted a notice there, and the next meeting was still poorly attended (with only a few more people than…
Blogging, Business, CDA, City, Free Markets, Gluttony, Local Government, New Media, New Whitewater, Politics
If Market-Based Solutions Are Superior to Cronyism, Why Are There So Many Cronies?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Here’s a question, concerning even small towns like Whitewater, for which the Financial Times publishes an answer: If market-based solutions are superior to cronyism, why are there so many cronies? First, there aren’t that many cronies (or insistent insiders) in Whitewater or elsewhere, but the few there are manipulate or intimidate weak reporters at local papers into representing their numbers as…
City, Culture, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater, Politics
The (Welcome) End of ‘Big’ in a Small Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I don’t think much of the term ‘movers and shakers’ (that a nearby newspaper used to describe supposedly influential people) or ‘big’ people, etc. The terms almost always exaggerate actual influence. I am sure, though, that a combination of diverse social media, the decline of print, the shifting demographics within Whitewater, and the next generation’s…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, New Whitewater
So What Do You Think of Whitewater?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
People, including some from far from our city, often ask me what I think of Whitewater. I think Whitewater is beautiful, and that despite present challenges she has a bright future. Sometimes people say they might like a warmer place in winter, or a bigger place all year. They say this sincerely, and their wishes…
New Media, New Whitewater, Press, University
The Dark, Futile Dream
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
UW-Whitewater is searching for a new chancellor, and so there’s a search committee, and a search consultant to guide that committee’s work. The consultant is Dr. Jessica Kozloff, the former president of a small, undistinguished college in Pennsylvania. (The UW System schools are, each of them, more competitive and developed than the one Dr. Kozloff…
City, Culture, Local Government, New Whitewater, Politics, School District, University
Whitewater’s Near Future Depends on What Year It Is Now
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Culture, New Whitewater, Politics
The Absence of Equilibrium
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Later this week, I’ll check to see how I did on my predictions for 2014, and make some new ones for 2015. The week of January 6th, I’ll elaborate on themes from the predictions for 2015. Here’s an observation, however, that I think describes Whitewater’s politics and culture, generally: there is an absence of equilibrium,…