Oh cruel Nature, harsh force that she is! How is it that she acts to deprive our small city of a gathering by its most extraordinary public commission? I can think of no better example of misused and unused oversight in all Wisconsin. The many serious and dedicated officers of our town have been ill-served…

I have contended that a community benefits from a vigorous press, one that is willing to question incumbent politicians and bureaucrats. It’s one of the ways that the press in Whitewater, Wisconsin fails the community: asking hard questions of officials seems like treason. To someone in Chicago or Atlanta, that’s absurd; newspapers, television, and radio…

Whitewater’s had more than its share of property damage from vandalism. Strong property rights make a for a strong community; free markets in private property are the foundation of a productive society. We have vandalism, too, and just about everyone contends that much of it comes from over-drinking, leaving a bar, after weekend last call.…

Every community relies — and wants to rely — on its police force for protection. Therein rests the honor and burden of the right to use force on behalf of the community: that trust is readily given, and a worthy leadership in return commits to a practice of openness and verification. It was Reagan to…

Has Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan already hired a trainer for Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission members? Earlier this week, on May 20th, 2009, Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission met for a quarterly meeting. They met in a small conference room, rather than a chamber suitable for public attendance, and unlike so many other public…

Update, 2/09/10: Coan’s account of his travels is no longer online.  I challenge the City of Whitewater to put that work back online.  The Travels of Marco Polo are readily available online, so why not Coan’s series?  The original link to the City Manager’s Weekly Report for 3/13/09 is no longer online, as the city…

Good afternoon, my fellow residents. I have two quick requests that someone might be able to fulfill, short of an open records request. First, I am looking for the issue of the Whitewater Police Department’s quarterly newsletter in which Chief Coan writes about the police officer as warrior. The issue is probably several years old,…

Well, we in Whitewater, Wisconsin are not given to introspection. We lead by cheerleading. That’s not my view; I am happy in dissent from, and against, cheerleading. I would be ashamed to be so callow. The federal constitutional lawsuit against former investigator Meyer and the Whitewater Police Department is now settled. The world did not…

Well, if settlement in this case represented anything good for the city, would it not have been writ large on the front page of the Whitewater Register? Settlement was a disgrace for the city, as I once wrote when it seemed possible: Larry Meyer’s career has been bad for the city, and all the king’s…

The constitutional lawsuit against Larry Meyer and the police department he served in our small town was filed in May 2005. It was settled, and the case closed, in September 2008. One might imagine that, during the pendency of the suit, investigator Meyer (now retired from the force), might have had a different profile. Not…

On May 24th, 2005, Whitewater resident Steve Cvicker filed a federal lawsuit against Whitewater Police Department investigator Larry Meyer, individually and as a member of that department, among other parties. The case closed on September 15, 2008, with a signed stipulation for dismissal, following settlement. Four years is not a long time for litigation, although…