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Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 30, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There are municipal public meetings scheduled for today.

Some days in Wisconsin history are less memorable than others. Yesterday was the birthday of actress Heather Graham, and today brings the birthday (from 1916) of actor Frank Andrew Parker:

On this date Franciszek Andrzej Paikowski (Frank Andrew Parker) was born in Milwaukee. He starred in the the 1952 movie Pat and Mike and the 1951 film The Big Carnival.

An Internet Movie Database entry for Parker is available online.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 29, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

Tonight at 7 p.m. there will be a meeting of the East Campus Neighborhood Association at the community building in Starin Park. The agenda of the association is available online. Agenda items include remarks from City of Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner, Councilmember Roy Nosek, City Attorney Wallace McDonell and Neighborhood Services Director Bruce Parker, Police Chief Jim Coan, Municipal Judge Richard Kelly, and a Question and Answer session.

On this day in Wisconsin history, in 1970, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that actress Heather Graham was born:

On this date film actress Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee. Graham’s filmography includes roles in Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Boogie Nights (1997), and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). [Source: Oddball Wisconsin, by Jerome Pohlen, pg. 190]

The Historical Society may refer to her as a ‘film actress,’ but the source for their information — Oddball Wisconsin — suggests B movie actress more than a Dairyland version of Meryl Streep.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 27, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There are no municipal public meetings scheduled for Whitewater today. There was, yesterday, a CDA Board of Directors meeting at 4:30 p.m.

On this day in American history, in 1888, the National Geographic Society was founded:

On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C., for “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.”

The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge, as well as an opinion that in a time of discovery, invention, change and mass communication, Americans were becoming more curious about the world around them. With this in mind, the men drafted a constitution and elected as the Society’s president a lawyer and philanthropist named Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Neither a scientist nor a geographer, Hubbard represented the Society’s desire to reach out to the layman.

The Society maintains a website with photos and video from world-travels and research.

City

Pop Quiz of the Week

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I had some fun with a pop quiz for early January, and here’s another.

What is the single biggest issue – problem, challenge, concern – facing Whitewater in 2009?

I will open two categories for entries: dead-serious concerns, and silly ones.

Entries will be accepted through Friday, January 30th at 5:59 a.m. As always, this is a pseudonym-friendly blog.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 26, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There are no municipal public meetings scheduled for Whitewater today.

There is, however, a regular school board meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District tonight, at 7 p.m. Even better, however, is the FFA event in Elkhorn, this afternoon and tonight. The former meeting only serves, really, to support the latter event (and so much else).

On this day in history in 1925, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, “Fire Destroys Whitewater Hospital.”

On this date a fire destroyed the Whitewater Hospital. Monetary losses were estimated at $20,000, but no deaths were reported.

Inbox Reader Mail, Uncategorized

Inbox: The Phantom Stranger on Flags and Celebrations

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I received another message recently from the Phantom Stranger. My pleasure to hear from him, surely.

Here’s what he had to say, with my remarks thereafter.

I have noticed that our proud American Flag was not displayed about town on Martin Luther King Day (Federal and State Holiday) nor today, Inauguration Day 2009…


I was out and about on Monday and Tuesday, and did not notice any additional display of the flag in the city.  That’s too bad, really, for both occasions – Dr. King’s birthday commemoration and the Inauguration are both extraordinary events.

They are uniquely American – a man born of this nation, one of our own, so every fine an American, and a peaceful transition of political power through election in our vast, continental republic.
 
I surely admire King, but the city should embrace the national holiday in his honor regardless of whether he’s admired – American chooses, and Whitewater would be honoring that national choice.  Our world should not, and does not, stop at the edge of the city. 
 
I know very well that some here think that Whitewater is unique in all the world, and that outside practices are suspect, unwelcome, etc. So be it – feel what you want about how you can solve all the world’s ills with a local touch in under 20 minutes, outside world’s practices be damned.  You’ll keep this city a third-tier wreck, but then you’ve done as much all these years, anyway. 
 
Even more risible, though, is the narrowly-held but intense local notion that Whitewater is somehow more American than America.  That through Whitewater, one truly understands America.  It’s the other way around – through the free and empowering opportunities and rights of America, one can truly appreciate life in Whitewater.
 
The Phantom Stranger wrote more still, about whether a prominent local property owner should have displayed the flag on these recent, memorable occasions.  Here, I will look to my own property first, and take these remarks to heart —  I might have done more to commemorate the occasion at my house, but did not.  Next year, I will, for the Dr. King Holiday, and four years from now, at the next Inauguration. 
 
I’ll encourage others to do the same, the choice being theirs.
 
You’ll have no problem seeing if I have made this commitment – I live at the House of Dissenting Opinion™,  the one with the full-size portrait of F.A. Hayek in the living room.                   

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 23, 2009 (Edward Cochems Edition)

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Good morning, Whitewater

There’s no school for students in Whitewater today. Enjoy your three-day weekend.

There are no municipal city public meetings, either.

On this day in history in 1957, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, we find a sad day in Wisconsin history: “Edward Cochems Died.” So who was he? I didn’t recall either, but thanks to the website of the Wisconsin Historical Society, the tale may be told:

On this date Edward Bulwar Cochems died. Cochems is credited with developing football’s forward passing attack. He was also considered one of the University of Wisconsin’s finest athletes at the turn of the century. In response to a 1906 mandate from football’s rule committee that allowed forward passing and required a team to gain ten yards in 3 downs, Cochems invented an aggressive forward passing strategy that revolutionized the sport. He coached at North Dakota, Clemson, and St. Louis University. He is buried in Madison’s Resurrection Cemetery.

More on Cochems may be found elsewhere online.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 22, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There’s a League of Women Voters talk tonight, at 7 p.m., in the Common Council chambers on Polling Issues and Analysis from Professor Bill Mickelsen, UW- Whitewater, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science. More information on upcoming League events may be found in the January 2009 LWV newsletter.

In our schools, First semester ends today. Congratulations on half a year completed.

On this day in history in 1964, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, an event that only America’s Dairyland could offer: “World’s Largest Cheese.”

On this date The world’s largest cheese of the time was manufactured in Wisconsin. The block of cheddar was produced from 170,000 quarts of milk by the Wisconsin Cheese Foundation specifically for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. It weighed 34,665 pounds (17.4 tons). The cheese was consumed in 1965 at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association at Eau Claire. A replica is displayed in Neilsville in the specially designed “Cheesemobile”, a semi-tractor trailer in which the original cheese toured.

City, Planning

Planning Commission Meeting for January 19th, 2009

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The first City of Whitewater Planning Commission meeting of the year took place last night, 1/19/09. 
 
I did not catch the beginning of the meeting, offering an agenda of ten items, including roll call, future items, and adjournment.  The meeting was a brief one, with uncontroversial items considered quickly, and Gregory Torres presiding for the evening.  Like most meetings in most places, participants outnumbered observing citizens, about 2-1.
 
A few comments on the evening’s events. 
 
SweetSpot Coffee Shop.  Lacey Reichwald, new owner of the SweetSpot, sought a conditional use permit application to serve beer/liquor by bottle or glass at her establishment.  (The application runs with the proprietor, and so a new proprietor would have to seek conditional use approval granted a previous owner.)
 
As there is no new request for conduct, and no one has reason to doubt the new owner’s abilities, granting a request like this should be a simple matter.  It was, ultimately being approved unanimously.  There was some concern about serving beverages in glass on the location’s porch, but it was a concern only of one Planning Commission member.  Considering the size of the porch, with a limited number of seats, it’s no threat to the community to serve alcoholic beverages in glass. 
 
Now, I understand – after a discussion of the matter – that glass like this was once a community concern.  Well, yes, I am sure it was.  Perhaps for some, it still is.  It wouldn’t be my concern, but just about anyone can make a matter seem dramatic with the right presentation.  If safety’s really a concern, we’d probably preserve health better if we required everyone to wear helmets and steel-toed shoes. 

There’s risk in life, including pleasant experiences like enjoying a beverage in a glass.  If we want pleasant experiences, and patrons and shoppers who’d like the same to visit downtown Whitewater, we’ll just have to risk a beer or wine in a glass. 
 
Re-zoning for Homes along Lindsey Court, and Conditional Use on Tratt Street. Item 7 on the agenda was consideration of re-zoning parcels in the Lindsey Court area from R-1 (single family) to R-3 (multi-family).  The property owners of the affected parcels support the re-zoning.  The owners’ attorney attended the meeting on their behalf, and later on behalf of DLK for a conditional use permit application, Item 8 on the agenda.     
The Council member representative, a contributor to the Whitewater Register, and frequent exponent of politics as nostalgia, moved to approve Item 7.   Impermissible, of course – the Planning Commission can only recommend to Council.  Reminded of the difference, the motion was changed accordingly. 
 
Item 8 involved a conditional use application for conversion to a duplex at 202 N Tratt Street. 
 
Both of these changes are nothing more than the affirmation of a vibrant community that responds to the needs of its residents.  Despite all the controversy about re-zoning in Whitewater, flexible re-zoning, or conditional use change, is one of the best things that this city will ever do.  I do not believe that we have a housing problem in Whitewater, except this one: that we exacerbate our troubled local economy when we stubbornly insist on preserving existing arrangements as though insects in amber. 

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 20, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

School’s back in session for students. All that time spent reading Chaucer playing World of Warcraft over the last few days will finally pay off. Good for you.

At 5 p.m., the Alcohol Licensing Committee meets. The agenda is available online.

There’s a meeting of the Whitewater Common Council tonight. At 6:30 p.m., a few will do what they can to assure you of a better community. You might be prudent to place these cares in your own hands, but why make the effort, if at least one other exists for that purpose?

On the agenda tonight, available online :

Swearing in an interim representative, various licensure questions, and closed session thereafter for discussion of compensation regarding union negotiations with WPPA, AFSCME, and the Teamsters.

In Wisconsin history on this date, from 1961, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that the Milton Marching Band Performed at Inauguration, as “the 78-piece Milton Union High School Band, directed by Richard Dabson, marched in the parade at JFK’s inauguration in Washington, D.C.”

Holiday

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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This Monday beings a new week, is prelude to a new federal administration, but is something yet more than these — a commemoration of a great man’s life. King — of America, for America, and even now from him a legacy that leaves us incomparably better than we would be on our own.

From King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail, 1963:

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to ace the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

America offers many great men and women; yet, no better man born here.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: January 19, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There’s a 6 p.m. meeting of the Planning Commission tonight at the Municipal Building.

The agenda for the meeting is available online, and here are posted hightlights for your free market enjoyment —

2. Hearing of Citizen Comments. No formal Plan Commission action will be taken during this meeting ON CITIZEN COMMENTS although issues raised may become a part of a future agenda. Items on the agenda may not be discussed at this time.

3. Approval of the minutes of the November 17, 2008 and the December 15, 2008 meeting.

4. Reports:
a. Report from CDA Representative.
b. Report from Tree Commission Representative.
c. Report from Park and Recreation Board Representative.
d. Report from City Council Representative.
e. Report from the Downtown Whitewater Inc. Board Representative.
f. Report from staff.
g.Report from chair.

5. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a conditional use permit application for the transfer of a Class B Beer and Liquor License for GAC Enterprises Inc. (Gregory A. Condos), to serve beer and liquor by the bottle or glass at 158 and 162 W. Whitewater Street (Mitchell’s and Pumping Station).

6. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a conditional use permit application for a Class B Beer and Liquor License for LLP, LLC (The SweetSpot Coffee Shop, Lacy Reichwald), to serve beer and liquor by the bottle or glass at 226 W. Whitewater Street.

7. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a change in the District Zoning Map for the following area to rezone from R-1 (One Family Residence) Zoning District to R-3 (Multifamily Residence) Zoning District, under Chapter 19.21 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Whitewater:

The following parcels, located along Lindsey Court are requested to change to R-3: Tax Parcel Numbers /BH 00005, /BH 00006, /BH 00007, /BH 00008, /BH 00010, and /BH 00012 City of Whitewater, Walworth County, Wisconsin.

8. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a conditional use permit application for the conversion of a single family residence into a duplex and install new parking area in the rear yard at 202 N. Tratt Street for DLK 202 North Tratt, LLC.

9. Information:
a. Possible future agenda items.
b. Next Plan Commission meeting.

There’s no school for students today, part of an unexpected, multi-day vacation from public education across almost all Wisconsin.

It’s a holiday today, and I’ll post separately on that, next.