Card Check Comes to UW

Nice. 

Research assistants at UW System campuses would form unions by signing authorization cards rather than using secret ballots under a provision in the new state budget.

This was a change wanted by the Teaching Assistants’ Association, a UW-Madison graduate workers union, said Peter Rickman, president of the group.

“The notion of free and fair elections with secret ballots is a myth,” Rickman said.

Um, perhaps Rickman should go to Iran or Eastern Europe and tell them that secret ballots are a bad idea.

You Stay Classy, New York Democrats

Monkey Pees on President of Zambia

Arizona To Allow Concealed Carry in Bars

Excellent!

The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a business that serves alcohol.

The 19-8 vote completes legislative action on the bill and sends it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a supporter of gun rights.

Before the anti-gun nuts chime in… remember that we are not talking about people being allowed to drink while carrying a weapon.  We are talking about allowing a sober person to carry a weapon in an establishment that sells alcohol.  For example, one could go to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse with a weapon and have a nice steak with some iced tea. 

I would also point out that many states already have this and the dire predictions of blood streaming under the stools at the bars has not come to pass.

Not So Much a Town Hall

Holy crap!  Helen Thomas schools Gibbs!

Helen Thomas is as leftist as you get and even she can’t stomach Gibbs’ BS. 

Hat tip Charlie Sykes.

Lining Up for Taxpayer-Funded Benefits

Just remember… we were told that this would not cost anything more. 

If Dane County Clerk Bob Ohlsen’s hunch is correct, the first Monday in August is going to be a hectic day at his office.

That’s the day same-sex couples across the state, including an estimated 1,400 to 2,400 couples living in Dane County, will be able to take advantage of a historic piece of legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle that for the first time recognizes domestic partnerships across the state. Along with the recognition come dozens of legal protections that previously were only granted to married couples, including the right to take family leave to care for a sick or dying partner, the ability to access a partner’s medical records and the right to inherit a partner’s property. In addition, Doyle approved granting health care benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees.

“My sense is we are going to be swamped,” Ohlsen says. “Even for those who already get benefits for their partner through their employer, there is a huge advantage to applying to the registry.”

Applying for the registry is the same as applying for a marriage license. Couples must provide proof of residence, certified copies of their birth certificates and their Social Security numbers. For those who have been previously married, a certified death certificate or divorce judgment is required. The fee is also the same as a marriage license, $115 per couple in Dane County.

To qualify for the new legal protections, two individuals must be at least 18 years old, members of the same sex, share a common residence, not be nearer of kin than second cousins and not be married or in another domestic partnership.

Jed and I would have fit those criteria once upon a time.

Jason Oglesbee = Hero

Just another example of ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. 

A construction worker dangled from a heavy-duty chain supported by a crane to rescue a woman from the swirling waters of the Des Moines River on Tuesday afternoon.

The dramatic rescue was met with cheers from spectators who had gathered on the banks of the river and nearby bridges after the boat the woman was in went over the Center Street dam.

Minutes before the woman was rescued, a Des Moines fire rescue team pulled the body of the woman’s boating companion, a man of about 60, from the river downstream. The man had drowned.

Veto Fail

Oops.

So, voters, you thought you banned the “Frankenstein” veto last year?

Not so fast.

In what his office acknowledged was a mistake, Gov. Jim Doyle used the monstrous veto method on a minor policy item in the 2009-11 budget, violating the state constitution and creating a new law the Legislature didn’t intend.

Discovery of the veto flub Tuesday sent lawmakers and Doyle’s office scrambling to determine whether the veto language stands and what options are available to undo it.

“This is the first time we’ve ever encountered this,” said Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, co-chairman of the Legislature’s budget committee. “It’s a completely new issue. There’s no precedent.”

At issue is the scope, timing and committee makeup of a study commissioned by the Legislature on state facilities for the mentally retarded. Doyle’s veto changed the study language by striking words from three sentences to create a new sentence.

I would think that since the veto is illegal, it would just be considered invalid and revert to the original language.  Since Doyle has already signed the budget, I don’t see that he has any opportunity for a “do over.”  If it’s important enough for him, he could ask the legislature to pass a standalone bill that essentially recreates the intent of his veto.

Briggs to Close Jefferson Plant

This is going to hurt. 

Briggs & Stratton Corp. on Wednesday announced a plan to close its Jefferson and Watertown factories in fiscal 2010, leading to the loss of at least 430 jobs.

The plants, which are run by Wauwatosa-based Briggs & Stratton’s power products division, currently manufacture all portable generator, home standby generator and pressure washer products marketed and sold by the company.

About 390 hourly production employees and 40 salaried employees will be permanently laid off as a result of the closing of the factories, Briggs & Stratton spokeswoman Laura Timm said.

An additional 90 to 100 salaried employees will be given an opportunity to transfer to other Briggs & Stratton facilities, Timm said.

[...]

Portable generator production will be shifted to Briggs & Stratton’s plant in Auburn, Ala., where engines for the generators currently are manufactured, she said.

The move also will put generator production closer to Atlantic coastal areas affected by hurricanes, Timm said. Sales of portable generators tend to rise during hurricane season.

Production of pressure washers will be moved to a Briggs plant in McDonough, Ga., Timm said.

The manufacturing of home standby generators, which are affixed permanently to a house to provide backup power, will be moved from Watertown to Briggs & Stratton’s factory in Wauwatosa, she said.

The headquarters for Briggs & Stratton’s power products group, which currently is located in Jefferson, also will be moved to Wauwatosa, Timm said.

The company will add a substantial number of jobs in Georgia and Alabama as a result of the shift in production. A minimal number of jobs will be added in Wauwatosa, Timm said.

It sure would be nice for Wisconsin to be on the winning side of these consolidations once in a while.

West Bend Library Board Returns to Fold

This is good.

The West Bend Library Board has completed its legal consultation with a second attorney, which consisted of a single phone call that did not cost the board anything, according to Barbara Deters, board chairman.

   The board has resumed following the advice of City Attorney Mary Schanning, Deters said Tuesday.

I suspect that the conversation consisted of the other attorney saying, “um… yeah… Mary Schanning is right.”  I’m glad that it didn’t end up costing anything other than Deters’ time.

Also, this little corner of the intertubes is mentioned. 

Schanning’s e-mail also pointed out that it was inappropriate for a city official to publicly release an internal email she wrote June 15, which appeared verbatim later that same day on the Boots and Sabers blog run by Owen Robinson, a Daily News columnist.

   That e-mail was sent to Library Board trustees, Tyree, Mayor Kristine Deiss and the Common Council aldermen. Making that e-mail public violated attorney-client privilege, Schanning said.

   The June 17 e-mail, which discussed the Library Board’s June 18 special meeting agenda, was sent by Schanning at 2:32 p.m. It appeared on the Boots and Sabers blog at 9 p.m. that same day, then was picked up by at least one other local blog, and by a Milwaukee radio personality June 18.

   One city official said Schanning’s June 19 e-mail “took to task whoever released” the June 17 e-mail.

   Schanning said her second e-mail only acknowledged the release of the June 17 e-mail.

They could of at least put in the url… Also, a correction, B&S is run by Jed.  I just work here for an exorbitant salary.

Guess That Geographical Location—1 July 2009

This one could be nasty without a hint, so…  Redcoats.

Photo via Google Maps.

Congrats to O.

See the extended entry for details.

Read the rest