On the Saturday before the April election, JoAnne Kloppenburg visited Whitewater, and I went out to see her. Like most people, I’d never seen her in person, and wanted to hear her talk. (Justice Prosser’s had a more public career, in the legislature and more recently on the court; many people have run into him,…
Wisconsin
City, Politics, Walworth County, Wisconsin
Post-Election Day in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ll take the topics from yesterday’s election preview post in reverse order. Wisconsin. Justice Prosser did far better than I guessed; Asst. A.G. Kloppenburg certainly didn’t win comfortably. I would have thought Kloppenburg by 2-3 percent, outside the range of a recount. There will be a recount, with results now showing Kloppenburg with 739,589 and…
City, Politics, Walworth County, Wisconsin
Election Day Curiosities
by JOHN ADAMS •
Before the polls close, a few questions of note about the spring election for the City of Whitewater, Walworth County, and Wisconsin. City of Whitewater What’s Whitewater’s turnout today? Assuming that JoAnnne Kloppenburg carries Whitewater, by what margin will she do so? (If she can’t carry places like the City of Whitewater, she’s likely in…
Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Politics, Wisconsin
Scenes from a Janesville Protest, 3.29.11
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Wisconsin
Consensus, Compromise, and Opposition
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here, in America’s Dairyland, a place of astonishing beauty, one finds a political preference for consensus, leading to frequent and sensible compromises, but occasionally requiring opposition. That’s true in Whitewater, too. Consensus. Of all America, I know of no place that favors consensus more than Wisconsin does. There’s speculation of how she has come to…
Government Spending, Wisconsin
The 2 Reasons Muni Investors Should Be Terrified By What’s Going On In Wisconsin – Yahoo! Finance
by JOHN ADAMS •
The unexpected, and why it might be worrisome, regardless of the politics of today’s protests (and I think parts of Wisconsin’s controversy are separate from controlling costs) — For muni investors, there are two reasons to worry. The first is that nobody had Wisconsin on its list of big states to worry about going into the new…
Wisconsin
Texans Trying to Pronounce Wisconsin City Names
by JOHN ADAMS •
Science/Nature, Wisconsin
Snowy Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
The National Weather Service offers statistics to put the present snowstorm into perspective. The current record for a day in February for Madison snowfall is 11.9 inches (on 2.6.2008) and for Milwaukee snowfall it’s 16.7 inches (2.10.1960). We’ll see a great deal of snow over the next day, but there have been snowy days before.…
City, Wisconsin
Daily Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier last month, I mentioned the upcoming launch of a second website, devoted mainly to Wisconsin and national stories. It’s up and running (at least, learning to walk) this morning. DailyWisconsin.com will offer news — and commentary — on events and the stories about them from across the state. In the end, every selection —…
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Fans in Southern California
by JOHN ADAMS •
Government Spending, Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s Projected Biennial Budget Deficit
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s much debate — more than there should be — about the size of the projected Wisconsin state budget deficit. In late November, the Doyle Administration announced a projected deficit of only about 1.5 billion dollars. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s PolitiFact Wisconsin observes, the projected deficit is closer to 3 billion dollars: An independent…
Politics, Wisconsin
Capital Times: Scott Fitzgerald, Senate’s new top dog, says GOP rule will shake things up
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the liberal Capital TImes, there’s an interview with the Scott Fitzgerald, who will be the Wisconsin Senate’s new majority leader. (His brother Jeff will be Assembly Speaker.) I’m not sure what to make of it — there’s certainly not a lot of humility on display: SF: Well first, I think we are the right…
Government Spending, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dem lawmaker says Walker should sell or lease mansion – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s a fine idea — our governor does not need a mansion. A Democratic Wisconsin state senator says Republican Gov.-elect Scott Walker should sell or lease the governor’s mansion to send a message to voters that he’s serious about cutting waste. Sen. Bob Wirch of Pleasant Prairie made the same request eight years ago after…
Wisconsin
Lions, tigers and budgets, oh my! – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s not a program we want to drop,” said Dale Bjorling, professor and chairman of the school’s department of surgical sciences. “When we think about our mission here – we’re a school, but we provide a service here to the people of Wisconsin.” During fiscal year 2010, the UW veterinary school, which offers both residency…