FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 9, 2008

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Good morning, Wisconsin

In public meetings in the city today, the Community Housing Task Force meets at 3:30 p.m. at the municipal building.

In our school district, the Athletic Booster Club will meet at 7 p.m. in the high school.

Since I have been posting the Daily Bread, the National Weather Service (and its vast budget) has fared well against the Farmers’ Almanac. I’m confident that the sample of a few weeks’ time is not enough, but so far so good for the NWS. For today, the NWS predicts decreasing clouds with a high of 46 degrees; the FA predicts “pleasant conditions, with sunny to partly cloudy skies.”

There’s a discussion thread over at Slashdot on “What Font Color is Best for [Your] Eyes?” Much of it is teasing about ridiculous combinations that cause eye strain, but there is a serious contention that yellow on blue is a low-strain combination. The biggest influence mentioned is not color combination, though, but contrast.

Recently, I mentioned a new environmental site called Greenvoting.com. I’ve been checking back, and it’s doing very well, with a solid set of environmental news briefs.

Today is a good day in Wisconsin history — it’s the day in 1898 Curly Lambeau was born. Lambeau founded the Packers in 1919, and coached them for four decades, to the 1949 season.

City

Common Council Meeting for 4/3

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UPDATE, Tuesday evening: I neglected to mention an email that I received pointing out the increasing frequency of dog waste on city sidewalks in the downtown. I have not had the misfortune to step in any canine calling cards. It’s worth saying, though, that a phony war on dumpsters (see below) leaves aside any number of more important needs to health and aesthetics.

Thursday, April 3rd was Whitewater’s most recent Common Council meeting. (Normally held on Tuesdays, the election on April 1st pushed back the Common Council meeting by two days.)

Part of the Common Council meeting concerned a discussion on enforcement of regulations on placement and screening of dumpsters. That’s dumpsters, the green metal bins in which people discard trash. One of the members of the Common Council felt that many — too many — of them were situated improperly, and in violation of local regulations.

As happened once before concerning supposed housing violations, the Council saw his computer slide presentation with photographs of many dumpsters that, our community heard, were positioned improperly.

The presentation itself was odd, awkward, and — most of all — lengthy. I have commented on how counter-productive a presentation like this can be, in a previous post. (See, “Common Council Meeting for August 21st: Part 2.”) If one could listen to the whole presentation without wincing, then once has no sense.

I am sure that a few dumpsters here or there are situated improperly. It’s hardly our city’s biggest matter of concern. I would have no interest in photographing supposed municipal violations of our regulations on dumpsters, on a Sunday afternoon, or any other time.

There is no gain to Whitewater — but much loss — from a government of the tape measure.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 8, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

One-hundred three years ago today, Wisconsin held its first basketball tournament. In 1905, Fond du Lac High School won the Lawrence College Invitational. It was more than a first for Wisconsin — it was the first tournament of its kind in all America.

There are no municipal public meetings scheduled in the city today.

In our school district, there will be a PTO meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln School, and a 6:30 p.m. PATT meeting at Washington School.

The Farmers’ Almanac promises ‘pleasant conditions, with sunny to partly cloudy skies.’ The National Weather Service predicts a 90% chance of rain, with a high of 45 degrees. They can’t both be right.

Coming Attractions for this week: I have upcoming posts this week on baseball, our latest Planning Commission meeting, more about the blogging culture, and thoughts on our school board’s budget process, and a double cartoon feature.

Libertarians

Bob Barr

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Over the weekend, Libertarian (and former Republican) Bob Barr announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee to pursue the Libertarian Party nomination.

One can be a libertarian without being a member of the Libertarian party, or any political party. (One of the strengths of Wisconsin election law is that it does not require party affiliation.)

Longtime readers know that I was not a supporter of Ron Paul’s quest for the Republican presidential nomination. I had too many doubts about too many of Paul’s supposedly ‘libertarian’ positions. Paul was seeking only the Republican presidential nomination; he has declared no interest in a third-party run this year.

What to make of Barr? He’s certainly not the same politician that he was when he was one of the floor managers for the House impeachment effort against President Clinton. He has moved away from many of his former, Republican party positions.

Like many libertarians, I would say that there is another way to look at the apparent changes — toward a deeper respect for individual liberty — in Barr and others. They may have changed, but the party of which they had been members changed, too. Goldwater was an anti-establishment candidate, leading an effort against conventional Republicans to gain the nomination in 1964. Middle-of-the-road Republicans looked askance at Reagan during his 1980 primary race against George H.W. Bush. Those men had to fight to change the direction of their party.

If they could see that party today, dolling pork and passing restrictions and regulations at every turn, I am not sure what they would make of it. It’s closer to the truth to say that contemporary Republicans abandoned liberty than it is to saw the libertarians abandoned the Republican party.

I do not know how Barr will fare — a quick visit to his exploratory website states that he’s so far raised only about 19,000 dollars for his effort — Paul would have raised that much in less an hour. Still, the inside betting is that he’d win the third party nomination. Even more important, though, is what he’d do with the nomination if he did win. We’ll see.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 7, 2007

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Good morning, Whitewater

There are three public meetings in Whitewater today. Two involve planning. At 5:30 p.m. today, there will be a meeting with the city planner, Ryan Garcia, to discuss alternatives for first floor residential use in our downtown area. That meeting will take place in the Municipal Building’s community room. Later, at 7 p.m., there will be a meeting of the Planning and Architectural Review Board. (The agenda for the meeting of the review board is available on the city website.)

The different views on residential use in our downtown are have been among the city’s most controversial planning topics.

There will also be a 6:30 p.m. meeting of our School Board, as a special meeting, at the district offices. (The meeting may be in executive session prior to reconvening at 6:30 p.m. for an open meeting.) The agenda will include a review of budget recommendations and the district administrator’s proposals.

In the district today, there will be a music parents meeting at the high school at 6:30 p.m.

Reader Amy writes with her theory about the use of a weather report on Daily Bread: Am I including a daily weather report (1) just as a weather report, (2) as a commentary on planning — from the National Weather Service, (3) or both? She says both.

That’s it — adding a weather report is both a simple daily bulletin and a libertarian’s take on how hard prediction of complex events — key to planning — really is. That’s why, of course, the Farmers’ Almanac prediction runs alongside the National Weather Service one. In one case, we have the finest models of forecasting in the world; in the second, the assessment of a small book that’s by turns interesting, quaint, or funny, but hardly scientific.

What do those two forecasters say for today? The National Weather Service predicts a mostly cloudy day with a high of 51 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac predicts that it will be wet. We’ll see.

In Wisconsin history, today was the day in 1970 that the Milwaukee Brewers played their first game. They played in County Stadium, hosting the California Angels. They were in the AL west back then, and sadly they lost that game 0-12.

Register Watch™

Register Watch™ for the April 3, 2008 Issue

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Here’s my weekly coverage of the Whitewater Register‘s April 3, 2008 issue.

The front page has several stories, leading with the approval of a Walgreen’s drugstore and a Kwik Trip for Whitewater. That approval came from our Planning Commission (3/24) more than one Register issue ago, so it’s not as current as it might have been. It’s an odd choice for a lead story, if it’s not current to the latest issue. Important, no doubt, but not as timely as one might hope, especially for a local paper that should be responsive to community news.

The election results for the Walworth County Board appear on the far right column of the front page. (On page 12 of the the front section, there’s coverage of Whitewater’s city races.)

Below the fold, there’s the first of a promised multi-part series on the Whitewater Police Department. I’ll review that series after it’s fully published.

It’s harder each week to see the Whitewater Register as a Whitewater paper. On page 4, there’s a poll asking four people their view of the Packers’ next likely quarterback. Here’s a list of their hometowns: Watertown, Jefferson, Jefferson, Prospect (Il.).

There are two inserts in my copy of the paper, one for Lyle’s TV and Appliance, and one for Regency Senior Communities. I am sure they are, both of them, good and solid concerns. Neither is, however, a Whitewater enterprise. The former is in Elkhorn, and the latter lists locations in Brookfield, Muskego, and New Berlin.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 4, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

The week ends with a National Weather Service prediction of a high of 51 degrees, and partly sunny skies for today. That’s about the same as the Farmers’ Almanac prediction. Sometimes the journey counts as much as the destination, though, and it was a less-than-favorable route to this better weather. If that difference matters, then it’s another week that favors the NWS over the Farmers’ Almanac.

In our school district, it’s Grandparents’ Day at Lakeview Elementary. Over at the Middle School, the Sixth Grade World Tour is slated to begin at 7:30 AM.

The Brewers lost yesterday, and are now 2-1, and still atop their division. It’s typically hard for most teams to sweep a series, and the Cubs prevented that result yesterday.

In Wisconsin History, today was the birthdate — in 1904 — of former governor (1951-1957) Walter Kohler Jr. (Full name: Walter Jodok Kohler Jr.) Kohler was a Yale man (’25), and served in the Second World War as a lieutenant-commander before becoming governor in the 1950s.

There are no public meetings in the City of Whitewater listed for today. It’s a private sector day, today.

Uncategorized

Blogs, Comments, and Free Expression

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I’ve received two messages concerning comment sections on blogs. The first one asked that I add a comment section on FREE WHITEWATER, and the second message contended that one could not advocate coherently a free speech position without a comments section beneath each post.

I’ll address both points in turn.

The first asks if I’ll add a comments section. Many blogs, of all types, have comments sections. It’s something I may add to this small website. For now, though, I’ll follow the example of Cato@Liberty, the blog of the Cato Institute, and forego comments.

The second email that I received contends that one cannot blog in defense of free expression without including a comments section. I consider that contention slight and easily refuted.

Here’s why. The right of free expression is a right against interference in speech; it’s not an entitlement to the private property of others. Just as a newspaper can exercise discretion (sensible or otherwise) in publishing stories, a magazine, blog, editorial page, etc., can exercise unfettered discretion over its own content.

That discretion may illicit elicit criticism, but the discretion itself is no violation of free speech.

That a man may own a car does not obligate him to run a taxi service.

Just as a paper may lawfully select which stories to print, it may be criticized or praised on that point without a legal obligation to print on any given topic. (I have criticized the Register more than once, but I do not believe — at all — that they have a legal obligation to print any given topic.)

When the Nation (progressive) published from the left, Buckley did not expect that he was entitled to space in that publication. Instead, he exercised his right to free speech by founding National Review.

Speech was advanced in the process — the Nation covers topics from the left, and Buckley gave the right a magazine of its own.

They are great opinion magazines; this is a small opinion blog. There are a world of similar blogs, in Wisconsin and beyond.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 3, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. there will be a session of our Common Council. (Sessions are normally on Tuesdays, but our elections this week led to a shift in date.) The agenda is available on the City of Whitewater website.

There’s also a new calendar feature on the City website, and it includes a link to agendas for listed meetings, and the option of adding the entries to your own calendar through a Google feature. It’s an attractive and useful addition to the website.

It’s Market Day pickup at the High School, at 4:30 p.m. today.

Although predicted to be warm today (about 51 degrees), the forecast from the National Weather Service offers a chance of rain, followed by either rain or perhaps light snow tonight. The Farmers’ Almanac is sticking with a prediction of mostly fair skies.

The Brewers won again, and sit atop their division, with less than 2% of the regular season now over. (It’s a 162 game regular season.)

In Wisconsin history, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society website, on this day in 1866 African Americans for the first time voted in a Wisconsin election. Their right to vote followed the efforts of Milwaukee resident Ezekiel Gillespie to secure voting rights.

City

Election Results, April 1st 2008

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For many races in Wisconsin, April 1st was our general election. Although the presidential and congressional elections await us in November, many offices are now decided.

For the most part, especially in offices for City Council, Municipal Judge, and our School Board, incumbents prevailed. Two of three City Council seats were unopposed; the third seat was effectively unopposed as one of the candidates was unable to hold the office due to other obligations, but remained on the ballot.

All of the three school board seats up for election were uncontested.

Our serving municipal judge was elected in his own right on Tuesday night.

For the two seats on the downsized Walworth county board, one incumbent won, and one was defeated. Bankruptcy lawyer Frederick Mark Bromley defeated incumbent board member Ann Lohrmann. He won the seat by just over 120 votes.

In the other Walworth County Board race with a district in the city, incumbent Jerry Grant defeated challenger Jim Stewart by just under 50 votes.

One clear sign though, worth noting: serving Justice Louis Butler carried the City of Whitewater against challenger for the seat Michael Gabelman. Justice Butler was defeated in his bid for retention, but he prevailed in Whitewater. Butler carried few of Wisconsin’s seventy-two counties, and Walworth County was not among those supporting him.

Yet he carried Whitewater, by a good margin. This must be of concern to the self-styled conservatives of the city — Whitewater’s majority chose against the right’s avowedly conservative candidate. Following the defeat in the City of Whitewater of the (successful statewide) 2006 referenda on a marriage amendment and the death penalty, it’s clear that there’s a building majority for a different course from our past, and from other places in Wisconsin.

Although I am not always in agreement with the progressives, it’s easy to see that they are increasingly successful in town, on significant issues that affect our state. In time, they may come to shape a new direction in our city. They have not achieved that result, but the momentum is theirs.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 2, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

It’s the second day of the month, and the day after elections here in Wisconsin. I will post an assessment recap of local races this evening. For the most part, incumbents prevailed, but there were some prevailing challengers both locally and statewide.

The National Weather Service predicts today will be mostly sunny, with a high of 51 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac concurs — they offer a forecast for mostly fair skies.

The Brewers did not play yesterday, and are undefeated.

More posts later tonight.