Public Policy Polling, a solid pollster, has a poll out today that puts Eric Hovde (28%) in the lead for the GOP Senate race, with Mark Neumann and Tommy Thompson (25%) tied closed behind. There are two weeks to go, and these are close findings, with more campaigning and money yet to be spent. Still,…
Wisconsin
Agriculture, Walworth County, Weather, Wisconsin
USDA declares 23 Wisconsin counties disaster areas
by JOHN ADAMS •
Walworth County among them. Neither ordinary nor easy times: MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Federal officials have declared 23 counties in southern Wisconsin as natural disaster areas, making farms in those areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans. The counties have been baked by recent heat waves in which temperatures sizzled into the 100-degree range and left…
Food, Wisconsin
At this year’s State Fair — the Pork Donut
by JOHN ADAMS •
WEAU reports that there will be dozens of new recipes at State Fair this year, including the….pork donut. Who knows what they’re like, but I did find this video about Dunkin Donuts’ introduction of pork donuts in their one-hundred fifty Chinese stores. Mark your calendars: State Fair runs from August 2nd to August 12th.
City, Elections, Liberty, Wisconsin
The Secular Call
by JOHN ADAMS •
Elections, Law, Wisconsin
Wisconsin General Recall Election Voting Rights
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Wisconsin
The Place of Peace and Honesty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is there a place where hundreds of thousands have protested, packed their Capitol building, nearly a million later signing election petitions, without violence, at limited public costs, and without fraud? What spot of peace and honesty, integrity and democracy, is like that? Could there even be such a place, in all the world? There is.…
Animals, Farming, New Media, Wisconsin
Celebrating Wisconsin’s Treasures @ Wisconsin Happy Farm
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, University, Wisconsin
On This Day in Wisconsin History: University of Wisconsin Opens
by JOHN ADAMS •
Happy Birthday: 1849 – University of Wisconsin opens On this day in 1849 the University of Wisconsin began with 20 students led by Professor John W. Sterling. The first class was organized as a preparatory school in the first department of the University: a department of science, literature, and the arts. The university was initially…
History, Wisconsin
When a woman calmed enraged, potential draftees with crackers, refreshments
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Recall, Wisconsin
History of Recall Elections in Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Politics, Poll, Wisconsin
On Marquette’s January Political Poll
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve posted before about a new poll, from pollster Charles Franklin, now visiting at Marquette (from UW-Madison). Link to poll: Walker and Obama have single digit leads in Marquette Law School Poll and results & data (instrument, methodology, and full topline results). Franklin’s a serious pollster and political scientist, and he’s one of the founders…
History, Wisconsin
A Wisconsin archeological blunder from 1878
by JOHN ADAMS •
When white settlers arrived in Wisconsin, they were intrigued by the ancient mounds that dotted the landscape. This sparked excitement about archaeology generally, and during the late 19th century the discovery of new “antiquities” fueled speculation about the state’s ancient past. It also led to one memorable blunder in 1878 concerning a find at Hartford, in Washington Co.…
Animals, Science/Nature, Wisconsin
Winter bald-eagle-watching events held around state
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well worth watching: Each winter, hundreds of bald eagles congregate along areas of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers where they feed on fish in the open water below dams. Wildlife officials say this is the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states, offering some of the best eagle viewing in the…
Local Government, Wisconsin
Something Worse than Partisan
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an even-handed story at the Janesville Gazette about Wisconsin’s non-partisan local elections. Some of those interviewed are sure that partisanship is a bad thing, and that it gets in the way of serving citizens, etc. I understand this view, and however well-intentioned, it’s one with which I strongly disagree. (The story presents diverse points…