Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:32 PM for 15h 16m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 69.6% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1973, legendary horse Secretariat wins the Triple Crown. On Tuesday, a Wisconsin Supreme Court…
Public Records
Big Lie, Daily Bread, Gableman, Law, Public Records, Speaker Vos, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 5.21.22: “I Don’t Have Control Over Mr. Gableman”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with afternoon showers and a high of 60. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:17 PM for 14h 51m 59s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1673, Marquette and Joliet Reach the Menominee: On or…
City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records
Daily Bread for 4.23.22: Two Examples in Which the City of Whitewater Fell Short on Open Government
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:58 AM and sunset 7:46 PM for 13h 48m 01s of daytime. The moon is in its third quarter with 49.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1985, Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is…
Daily Bread, Fashion, Gableman, Public Records
Daily Bread for 4.22.22: Records-Deleting Fashionista Michael Gableman
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:00 AM and sunset 7:45 PM for 13h 45m 21s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 61.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1876, the first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.…
Courts, Daily Bread, Law, Legislature, Open Government, Politics, Public Records, Speaker Vos
Daily Bread for 3.31.22: The One Effective Trick Robin Vos Learned He Learned Before Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread, Law, Open Government, Public Records, Speaker Vos
Daily Bread for 2.9.22: Shreddin’ and Deletin’ Vos
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will see occasional show showers with a high of 39. Sunrise is 6:58 AM and sunset 5:19 PM for 10h 20m 56s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 60.8% of its visible disk illuminated. There will be a joint meeting of the Common Council, Community Development Authority,…
Daily Bread, Gableman, Public Records
Daily Bread for 1.25.22: Vos’s Staff Doesn’t Know (But You Already Knew That)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Blogging, Law, Newspapers, Public Records, University, UW System
Five Months
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a local newspaper’s story about a former chancellor’s leave of absence, one learns that information about her leave came five months after a public records request: Tuesday marked five months since The Gazette filed an open records request with UW-W for information on Kopper’s leave during the fall semester, when she previously had plans…
Education, Law, Open Government, Public Records, School District, Wisconsin
School Board Applicants’ Letters of Interest
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week, I posted on the applicant interviews with the Whitewater Unified School Board for a vacancy (following the resignation of board member Jean Linos). See School Board, 9.16.19: Applicant Interviews and Reporting. Seeing that the agenda for the meeting lacked key information, and a local newspaper’s reporting (Gazette; Beleckis) was deficient, I submitted a…
Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records, School District
School Board, 9.16.19: Applicant Interviews and Reporting
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Monday night, the Whitewater Unified School District’s board met to interview four applicants for a vacancy on the board (following the resignation of board member Jean Linos). The agenda for the meeting, although posted online, listed none of the applicants: not by total number, let alone by name or with their accompanying letters of…
City, Local Government, Open Government, Public Meetings, Public Records, School District
Sunshine Week 2018 (A Methodical Approach)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Writing about a topic is a deliberate, often slow, process. Something happens – perhaps of concern – but one may not address it immediately. A bit of waiting can be a sound response. Along the way, an original perspective may change, and a project grow larger (or smaller). See Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal.…
City, Local Government, Open Government, Public Meetings, Public Records
Sunshine Week 2018 (City, District, and State)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local readers may have heard, as I have heard, that area officials know that there are ways around municipal ordinances and school district policies on open government. There’s no surprise in hearing this: there is no human construct that cannot be circumvented; there are few professing a public interest who do not simultaneously feel the…
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, School District, University
Daylight (Part 3 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS •
One finds oneself with a question, when there are gaps in a public record, when there are easily-avoidable deficiencies of open government: What will one do about it? A good method in this matter is deliberate, dispassionate, and diligent. A few thoughts: 1. Foundation. One looks at state and local provisions for public records and…
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, School District, University
Midnight (Part 2 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Open government is right both in itself and in consequence: a free society confers political power only for limited & enumerated purposes. Those who confer this power have a right of oversight and a sensible obligation to assure that power’s exercise remains limited & enumerated. The right derives both naturally and by positive law. In…