Open the school house doors

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's attack on school choice has not gone unnoticed. Ricky on State of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opines:

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's Kessler would take it back to 19,500, down from the 22,500 negotiated three years ago by choice advocates and the governor. The problem: Choice schools have acted as if the governor's commitment meant something. As of November 2008, choice students numbered 20,244. And a couple of schools, again counting on that raised cap, have expansion plans that have already involved enrolling students. So, it's plain, that some students will have to be kicked out and others denied their choices. This is simply unfair.

To be fair, this is a matter of Assembly Democrats messing with the governor's commitment. But, if this amendment survives floor debate today or if the state Senate doesn't excise it in deliberations next week, the governor should stand by his commitment and veto the measure.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker isn't happy either:

Fred Kessler and anyone in the State Assembly who votes for his motion to cut 3,000 students out of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program should be ashamed of themselves. This is an all out assault on kids and their families. It is pathetic when someone uses these young people purely as political pawns.

Maybe now people will see that white liberals like Rep. Kessler care more about flexing their political power than about the kids in these schools.

Will the legislature and the governor live up to the commitment made to school choice parents in 2006? Or will they tell (mostly minority) families that the path to a quality education is barred to them?

Will Democrats, once again, stand in the school house doors?

Kilkenny alone

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Jacqui Seibel confirmed for me earlier this evening blogger and former Brookfield Alderman Cindy Kilkenny alone was named in the defamation lawsuit by Joseph C. Niebler Sr. Kilkenny confirms on her blog that she has been served finally (in her fuzzy blue bathrobe). Cindy is backing off her promise to post the public documents in her case.

At first I said I’d put the public documents up, but a couple of bloggers have become oddly preoccupied with working as referee from the anti-cheering section, so I’m having second thoughts.

In the comments at her blog, Kilkenny reminds readers that during her campaign for mayor she went public about a rumor she is bipolar. She had trouble with her lawyers when she attempted to sue:

Eventually, I dropped the suit because it gets really ugly. In my case, I had to switch attorneys because my first one suddenly decided he had a conflict of interest. My second attorney started golfing with a few buds that had an interest in the lawsuit. The more he golfed, the less reliable he became in managing my case. I’d picked up a hefty bill by that time and couldn’t see an end for months, so I dropped it all. (Also, time does heal. I’ve been able to laugh about it more lately. That guy is still not on my list of favorite people, but I’m getting closer to admitting he’s just stupid. Sadly, I’m certain that lie will keep me from ever successfully running for office again.)

Nonetheless, she is confident of victory in this lawsuit.

I wrote with some humor about the bipolar rumor and the alleged shoe-throwing incident (before it was trendy) at the time.

Hopes raised then dashed

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline:
"Nelson opts for free agency"

Sorry Waukesha Republicans. Wrong Nelson.

Have a cigar

A deal has been struck in the legislature regarding a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Wisconsin would be covered by a comprehensive statewide workplace smoking ban by July 5, 2010, if a deal brokered Wednesday is passed by the Legislature next week and signed into law.

All workplaces, including taverns, restaurants and hotels, would be smoke-free under the bill before the Legislature. Legislative leaders, smoking ban advocates and the Tavern League of Wisconsin agreed to the changes to the proposal, which is now on a fast track and is slated for a vote May 13 in both houses of the Legislature.

Under the proposal:

• Taverns, restaurants, hotels and other businesses would have more than a year to prepare for a ban. Existing cigar bars and tobacco shops would be exempt.

• Individuals caught smoking would face fines ranging between $100 and $250. Business owners would see $100 fines for willful violations, but wouldn't be penalized if they attempt to stop people from smoking.

• Local governments would not be allowed to pass ordinances that are stricter than the state law except on government-owned properties.

• Taverns would be allowed to create smoking areas within a reasonable distance from their doors.

The time table for passing the ban:

• The Senate's Committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief and Revenue and the Assembly's Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform will take separate votes at 10 a.m. Friday to advance the bill to the full Legislature.

• Both houses of the Legislature are expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.

• If it passes both houses, the bill would land on Gov. Jim Doyle's desk.

• The ban would go into effect 90 days after Doyle signs it, except for taverns, which would have until July 2010 to comply.

I wonder how many taverns are going to spend the next year converting to cigar bars?

The compromise, if passed, would seem to spare Waukesha's Nice Ash Cigar Bar.

The Belling handicap

I really didn't think this little post was going to generate as much controversy as it has (thanks to the Wisconsin State Journal for giving me credit). Mark Belling's pre-race flippant remark about Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird has attracted blog posts and newspaper coverage reporting his promise to vote for Governor Jim Doyle.

It was obviously a joke. He also promised never to bet on horses again. He might as well have thrown in a free trip on a Mark Belling cruise.

State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke, probably in the same spirit, sent an invitation to Belling to join the Democratic Party. Belling responded on Monday's show, saying he would not weasel out of his statement he would vote for Doyle if Doyle kept his promise not to raise taxes. Belling even upped the ante today promising to donate money and volunteer for Doyle if the Governor would keep to his word and not raise taxes.

The whole thing has been hilarious but there are three points I want to raise.
1) Some whiners complained they didn't make money on Belling's Kentucky Derby picks. As a result, Belling says he won't post the picks for horse races anymore.

I cannot believe anyone would be upset over losing money if they followed the advice of a radio talk show host for betting on a horse race. Are they insane? I don't care if the favorite won and Belling didn't pick him. It's a horse race and weird things happen. If you think you have a sure thing because some guy on the radio suggests a wagering strategy, you're just plain stupid and I would bet a Darwin Award is probably in your near future.

That said, this horse had no business being in the race, let alone winning. If they shrunk the number of entrants allowed (as has been suggested by some in the past), this horse would have been the first or second horse rejected.

I have bet using Belling's picks in the past. I won some and I lost some. By looking at (and learning from) his picks, I now don't feel like an idiot trying to bet on a horse race at the window. I hope he changes his mind and continues to make his picks.

2) I doubt those bloggers and journalists so eager to see Belling vote for Jim Doyle were ever eager to see Alex Baldwin flee the country after Al Gore lost to George Bush. Too bad these people who are so hyper about this issue have no problem when their fellow Democrats lie to their faces just to get elected. But if they can live with President Obama and Governor Doyle lying in the pursuit of power, then maybe they can forget about a little joke by Mark Belling.

3) I have more than a minor nit to pick with Tim Cuprisin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Cuprisin wrote, "He said the governor had vowed in 2003 not to raise taxes".

I joked the other day when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel left me off the list of people that use Twitter worth following that I would cancel my subscription in retlaiation except that I would have to subscribe first. Apparently I am not the only person who Twitters that does subscribe to the newspaper, because if Cuprisin read his own newspaper he would know Governor Doyle said in 2003 he would not raise taxes, and would not have to resort to "He said..." Whether or not Belling said what Doyle promised, Doyle did it. It would be nice if someone other than conservatives called Doyle on it, even as the Democrats are sending taxes in this state through the roof.

So dumb they had to go to journalism school

There should be a prize for journalistic stupidity. It would be awarded to the journalist who writes something so stupid Republicans and Democrats would immediately agree it deserves a prize.

Last week the first nominee would have to be this Associated Press article on the recent state supreme court race:

MADISON — A new report says Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Shirley Abrahamson and Randy Koschnick spent $1.26 million through March.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign found Abrahamson spent $1.2 million through March 23. Koschnick spent $62,932. Abrahamson, the court's incumbent chief justice, defeated the Jefferson County judge in the April 7 election.

That’s right. She spent $1.2 million, he spent less than some teachers make in a year, and the story this reporter writes? Abrahamson and Koschnick spent $1.26 million.

But if we’re going to inaugurate the prize, the prize will need a name. How about the Steven Walters Prize? This blog post certainly earns him the honor:

Madison -Chief Supreme Court Justice Abrahamson, 75, who in the 1990s was once considered for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, has no plans to seek the seat being given up by retiring Justice David Souter.

Having just won her fourth 10-year term in the April 7 election, Abrahamson "is looking forward to the next 10 years on the Wisconsin Supreme Court," a court spokesman said. (Ht: Illusory Tenant)

Please tell me he didn’t call Abrahamson’s office to ask.

Notes and updates

1) State Senator Mary Lazich explained why constituent e-mail (i.e. public records) may have ended up discarded as spam. Since I like Yahoo e-mail, like many people, and it avoids the necessity of changing my e-mail address every time I change internet providers, I'm not sure what the solution is everytime an idea for inquiry hits me beyond the normal business hours. I feel sorry for those constituents that rely upon e-mail services like Yahoo who ask questions of some personal importance.

Still, would it have hurt to link to the reason for my inquiry?

2) The state senator still has not taken a position on the recall of Governor Doyle.

3) Meanwhile, her colleague to the north, State Senator Ted Kanavas, has launched a new blog. Kanavas is taking every day of April to find fault with the governor's proposed budget. It will by no means be an exhaustive list unless we find some way to extend April well into December. I would be in favor of the extension if it meant a corresponding delay in consideration (and likely passage) of Doyle's budget.

Among the faults, Doyle's unfettered appetitite for government even takes in the tailgate parties on Brewers opening day.

4) Darryl Enriquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discovered my report of a career change for Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson was premature. Enriquez reports Nelson "...was still in negotiations with Little Caesars pizza about becoming the firm's mascot." Pizza Pizza.

Original thoughts from Eugene Kane

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane is on Twitter, too. (You can follow me here.) I had to laugh at this one:

My blog post today is about Dick Cheney saying America is less safe under Obama.http://tinyurl.com/ceaxt9 I call him Darth Vader.

"I call him Darth Vader." I bet you have never seen the former Vice President called "Darth Vader" before on any blog, right?

Right on the issues in the superintendent race

Tuesday's primary election in the race for state superintendent of public instruction will likely decide which candidate gets to take on the teachers unions' annointed candidate Tony Evers. In this week's column for the Waukesha Freeman (still just 50 cents), I examined the relative merits of the two candidates vying for the conservative vote, Rose Fernandez and Dr. Van Mobley. I conclude:

Last October I wrote, “Conservatives should look to promoting and endorsing a reformagenda, fiscally responsible candidate capable of running a strong statewide campaign. A solid campaign by someone willing to take on the education establishment would have a real chance of winning in the spring, and education reform activists would finally have a real advocate at the state level.”

What I wrote then remains true today. Given that, I can’t understand why Mobley is running the campaign he is running. For that matter, if he didn’t have the campaign financing, I would have to wonder why he is running at all?

Meanwhile, WTMJ-AM's Charlie Sykes looked at the race and had this to say about Fernandez:

Rose Fernandez is exactly the kind of person we need. She doesn't represent the teachers' union; she's willing to take on the teachers' union. She's not part of the establishment; she's willing to challenge the establishment. She is not an educational bureaucrat. She thinks that the system should work for students, what a radical concept. Rose Fernandez is the only one in this race who thinks the schools ought to be about the kids.

Predictably, Ricky on State endorsed Tony Evers.

Tony Evers may be the establishment candidate for state superintendent, and Wisconsin may have been better served by a different kind of establishment than the Department of Public Instruction has provided in recent years.

But we believe that Evers, the No. 2 in the department, should not be held responsible and that he would bring a necessary new focus to the state's biggest educational challenge: Milwaukee Public Schools.

If Fernandez wins on Tuesday, she should use it in her campaign commercials.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finds a blogger they can like

Milwaukee Public Schools school board candidate Michael Mathias was endorsed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mathias is running in the 4th district currently represented (in a way) by Charlene Hardin. Hardin is attempting to get herself back on the ballot in the general election by running as a write-in after she failed to turn in enough nomination signatures.

I knew I should have returned that call when the Journal Sentinel was looking for a character reference.

Teachers union candidate no longer in Milwaukee School Board race

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting union-endorsed Gloria Gaston is taking herself out of the running for school board in the 4th district. However, she will still appear on the ballot along with Michael Mathias and Annie Woodward in next Tuesday's primary. Running as a write-in is the incumbent, the controversial Charlene Hardin. The Journal Sentinel also reports two other candidates are running as write-ins.

In an e-mail to supporters, Michael Mathias reports Hardin is active in her campaign:

Although Mrs. Hardin’s name will not be on the ballot, I can assure you that she is making her presence in this race felt. She and I were both at a private forum for candidates Saturday morning, and she has been participating in the endorsement process.

Mathias is also looking for volunteers this Saturday, asking, "Is there a better to celebrate your love for MPS than helping the campaign on Valentine’s Day?"

Fernandez proposes rescue plan for Milwaukee education

Rose Fernandez, candidate for state superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction*, has put together a plan to rescue education in Milwaukee.

“In Milwaukee, it’s an urgent situation that demands immediate, extraordinary attention, especially as the economy worsens,” said Fernandez, a former pediatric trauma nurse and senior administrator at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “We need to stop the bleeding, assess the situation and begin to treat the problem now—we can’t afford to wait.”

Fernandez said as DPI Superintendent she would open a Milwaukee office and would spend time every month in that office to assist with the MPS Turnaround Plan. The Turnaround Team would be appointed to a three year term to stop MPS’ decline and suggest alternative strategies for the district, which may include breaking it up into smaller locally-controlled school systems. The Turnaround Team would be a seven member panel appointed by the Mayor of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County Executive and the Superintendent of Public Instruction—all are elected officials and will be publicly accountable for the appointments they make.

“There are some great students, teachers and principals in MPS but every child and family within Milwaukee’s public schools deserve better, taxpayers deserve better, and when I am Superintendent I will do everything in my power to ensure MPS is on a solid path to improvement,” said Fernandez. “The surest way to ensure real change at MPS is for key stakeholders to immediately appoint a high level board whose primary responsibility will be to do whatever is necessary to turnaround Wisconsin’s largest school district. The Turnaround Team will be empowered to make decisions that are in the best interest of MPS students, families and taxpayers. It is time to put politics and special interests aside before we lose another generation of MPS students.”

We'll see if the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is really serious about wanting to cover the issues in this race, especially an issue like the future of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

This is the kind of reform-minded serious campaign Wisconsin needs to have to force change in Wisconsin education. When 60% of 10th graders in MPS can't even read while we're spending over $14,000 per student, it's time that someone at the state level thought about the failed state investment in Milwaukee education.

Hardin off the ballot in Milwaukee school board race

It's likely talk radio and bloggers won't have Charlene Hardin to kick around anymore. Barring some sort of challenge or a long-shot write-in campaign, Hardin is out of the race for re-election. She fell nine signatures short on her nomination papers.

I have not spoken with Mike Mathias yet, but he's gotta be thinking, "Well, there goes the talk radio vote." (Just kidding.)

Hardin's failure means the race will be between liberal blogger (and friend of this blog) Mike Mathias, substitute teacher Gloria Gaston, and retired county employee Annie Woodward.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hardin's ballot problems stem from gathering some of her signatures outside her district. Which begs the question, why would anyone outside her district want her to be elected?

Bias is all in the eye of Ricky on State

State Senator Mary Lazich's aide Kevin Fischer is tracking the liberal bias of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel op-ed page, which is a little like looking for acorns in an oak tree grove. Fischer's effort is in response to a comment by managing editor George Stanley.

Sonya Jongsma Knauss of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel disputes Fischer's method of keeping score, and reminds the readers Stanley doesn't control the op-ed page; it's controlled by O. Ricardo "Ricky on State" Pimintel.

Just for the record, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also claims,

We believe in the American free enterprise system and minimal governmental interference with business and finance.
As economist Milton Friedman put it: "The free market is the onlymechanism that has ever been discovered for achieving participatory democracy."

We are conservative on fiscal issues.
We believe that the power to tax must be vigilantly checked. The government that governs best is frugal and levies taxes reluctantly.

I know. It's pretty damn funny.

Zoning? We have something called zoning?

Darryl Enriquez for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting a proposed shelter has been delayed because of something called "zoning."

Bernie Juno, executive director of the Hebron House of Hospitality, just said that plans to open a shelter for single men at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 111 Main St., are now on hold until it can get a zoning variance from the city.

Apparently, there's no zoning that allows shelters, so Hebron House must present its plans to the Board of Zoning Appeals on Jan. 14, she said.

I wonder what is this "variance" of which Darryl speaks. Does the city council know about it?

Next somebody will tell me we actually have a definition in this "zoning" for parkland. Wouldn't that be neat?

Since this is a "wing-nut" blog

Where should we go for wings? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked that question, and the consensus seems to be:

Hooters only for the scenery.

BW3's has great sauce.

Some people like Elsa's (really? for the food?).

A large crowd favorite is the Points East Pub.

Some place called Palomino's has something called Toffalo Wings for vegetarians. (Give me a break.)

Only one place in Waukesha was mentioned (Club 400).

And some idiots recommended KFC, Pizza Shuttle, Pizza Hut, Domino's and Wal-Mart.

I like to think my readers are smarter than that. Typical Wisconsinites, we expect cheap, good, and large quantities on a plate. So where do we go?

Journal Sentinel editors sober up on Jeff Wood

Sometimes it just takes a little prodding. David Haynes for the J/S editorial board noted my criticism of the newspaper's weak response to State Rep. Jeff Wood's arrest and the subsequent editorial became the first in the state to call for Wood's resignation.

Wood and any other legislators with direct experience with drunken driving can best prove they have learned their lessons by passing a law that makes the third offense a felony.

Judgment is seriously flawed any time a person gets behind the wheel drunk. It is acutely flawed if after two previous offenses, a driver does it again. The consequences should reflect that truth.

We haven't asked resignation of others in the past, but the toll of drunken driving in Wisconsin is too hard to ignore. It's time to take a stand. Wood should go.

Pabst Farms meeting canceled

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting tomorrow night's public hearing on the Pabst Farms project has been canceled due to the expected weather. The meeting is being postponed to sometime in January.

That's okay because who really believes anything is going to be built there anytime soon except a freeway offramp to nowhere? If they're afraid of snow, they should postpone the meeting to spring. The project will wait. And wait...

Jeff Wood gets mild reproach from state's newspapers

Despite the outrage on the state's editorial pages about the small penalties handed out to drunk drivers, when given a chance to editorialize on a public figure's dangerous combination of drinking/driving/marijuana, the state's editorial boards can only manage a mild "tut, tut." If any of these editors sat in judgement on the sentence to be handed to State Rep Jeff Wood, it would be time to open the bar because the drinks would be on him.

While swerving all over the roads, Wood hit a caution sign. The Wisconsin State Journal points out, "that sign could have been a person." That's right, Wood could have killed someone. What does the WSJ propose should happen to Wood? Should he resign? Should his peers in the legislature think of an appropriate punishment? Should Wood's constituents call for his resignation? What about jail time?

With a new legislative session beginning next month, it's time to get serious. Assuming he keeps his seat, Wood should be the first to sponsor legislation in January cracking down on Wisconsin's drunken-driving scourge.

Whoah. Let's not go crazy here. Propose legislation? Wow. I know it was both possession of marijuana and operating while intoxicated, but proposing legislation might mean he'd have to talk to his staff.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the advocate for tougher drunk driving laws in the state right now, surely would have something a bit more draconian in mind. Ricardo Pimintel wrote in the "Across the Board" editorial blog a letter to Wood,

And we wonder if you would have made this grievous error in judgment if authorities had access to sobriety checkpoints. They may have served as a deterrent.

Ordinarily, this latest arrest -- you are among at least six legislators now who have faced drunken driving charges -- might constitute a conflict of interest, so to speak. We think you can model proper behavior in a couple of ways. 1. Don't ever do this again. and 2. Show that the lesson learned here is that you realize that you posed a risk to yourself and others and that legislation is needed to deter such behavior in others.

To be fair, Pimintel did call for a third conviction to be a felony, but did not suggest what should happen to Wood. But he gets to write on the blackboard 100 times, "I will propose new legislation supporting checkpoints." Oh, and it wasn't really Wood's fault because he was improperly deterred.

Pimintel should just give Wood a hug and tell him, "There's really no bad boys. It's just your environment."

The Chetek Alert actually asks if Wood should be forced out of office.

In the end, Jeff Wood should not be forced out of the Assembly. However, he may want to think long and hard about resigning in order to send the right message to his constituents. They can then choose to elect him to the position again in the next election if they feel he is still the best candidate for the job.

Now there's commitment to treating drunk drivers seriously. Wood should "think long and hard" about resigning. How long? A weekend? Should he be sent to his room without any supper while he thinks about it? They don't even ask Wood to write any legislation.

Latest update on Wood's situation:

WXRO is reporting that despite the distance in time between drunk driving arrests, Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey will charge Wood with a third offense OWI, and the marijuana found in his car is sufficient for Wood to be charged with marijuana possession. Third offense OWI can result in a one-year jail term and a fine of up to two-thousand-dollars.

I am the destroyer of newspapers

Leslie Graves, author of the blog State Sunshine and Open Records, ventured onto the pages of the deadtree Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to comment on the decline of newspapers.

I switched to exclusively online news consumption, because it meets two compelling social needs: a desire for community and a desire to know and understand others.

The first reason I press "start" to follow the news is because most news hurts. Consuming it with others cushions the blow. A few years back, the book "Bowling Alone" said Americans were retreating into solitary pursuits. The explosion of news consumption online with social interaction features suggests I'm not alone in valuing perspective and fellow-feeling from others to help wash down the events of the day. We're not likely to turn into a nation of solitary news imbibers, now that we have the ability to so easily share.

The second reason is my love of "small news." In my hometown, this is the constant flow of information about what's happening with work, school, what they were saying at the coffee shop about the mayor, the grandkids, what they were saying at the Laundromat about why the road project was delayed, the homecoming parade and so on.

As this small news is purveyed, you learn that some purveyors are funny, some are reliable and some are both, although sadly not that many. The online world of small news is just like this, except turbocharged on steroids for whatever in the world intrigues you.

I think the latter is especially important in the long term. When I started blogging, I discovered there was plenty of material to write about locally (which is pretty funny considering my interest has always been foreign policy). I don't see what I do as replacing the newspaper as much as adding to the local coverage.

Still, if most bloggers are anything like me, we blog when we feel like it and then we go on vacation, try to give up the habit or our computer crashes. If the "Army of Davids," as Instapundit Glenn Reynolds describes the blogosphere, were all like me, Goliath often would fail to be slain.

I want professional journalism to prosper. I want its honorable goals and traditions to grow richer and become more widespread. I think our world will be better if this happens and much worse if this tradition declines.

But for now, I'm not willing to give up the Wigderson Library & Pub or folkbum to slow the decline.

Well, maybe folkbum.