The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination stunned two of America’s strongest allies with the suggestion that the U.S. military would be withdrawn from their shores, with nuclear weapons replacing them.
There are currently 54,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan and 28,500 in South Korea.
“Japan is better if it protects itself against this maniac of North Korea,” Trump told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Tuesday. “We are better off frankly if South Korea is going to start protecting itself … they have to protect themselves or they have to pay us.”
MADISON, Wis. – Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says he supports a national law prohibiting private-sector unions from requiring workers to join or pay dues, similar to one in Wisconsin.
Cruz said in an interview Thursday on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee that such “right to work” laws are a fundamental right. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a “right to work” law into place last year. Walker has endorsed Cruz and plans to campaign with him across Wisconsin before Tuesday’s primary.
Keeping in mind that I don’t think that forced unionization is constitutional anyway. It’s a violation of our civil right to freely associate – or not associate. But given the Supreme Court’s refusal to affirm that civil right, a law would be the easiest path to restoring our rights.
Wisconsin’s concealed carry program passed a major milestone earlier this month – issuing permit number 300,000 since the program began in 2011.
The state Department of Justice announced that the permit was issued on March 24, following a period of heavy activity that kicked off the year. The agency said applications have been coming in this year at “record high levels” and that “interest in firearm ownership shows no signs of subsiding.”
I’m having a hard time comprehending why the judge would give this thug anything less than the maximum penalty.
Kenosha— Former West Allis police officer Steven Zelich was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for killing an Oregon woman during a sexual encounter and hiding her body first in his apartment and then in a suitcase that he tossed on the side of a Walworth County highway.
“It’s a crime that is almost beyond comprehension, that this great indignity would be visited upon this person,” Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder said.
Zelich, 54, faced a maximum prison sentence of 50 years after he pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide and hiding a corpse in the 2012 death of Jenny Gamez, 19, of Cottage Grove, Ore.
Serious people who actually think about issues know their own mind on an issue as important as abortion. Trump’s meandering thoughts on it show that he has either never seriously thought about one of the most important social issues of our time, or he is simply pandering to whoever is in front of him at the moment. I strongly suspect that it’s both.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has faced questions about the authenticity of his position on abortion. He said he was “pro-choice in every respect” in a 1999 interview, though he said he hated the “concept of abortion.”
His comments on Wednesday appeared to be the latest in Trump’s persistent efforts to court the support of socially conservative voters. But his efforts backfired as three leading anti-abortion groups swiftly criticized Trump’s comments.
March for Life released the toughest statement of the three groups, calling Trump’s remarks “completely out of touch with the pro-life movement.”
Forty percent of likely GOP primary voters said they backed Cruz, while 30 percent favored Donald Trump and 21 percent supported John Kasich. Trump led the previous poll at 30 percent, while March Rubio, who has since dropped out of the race, was at 20 percent and 19 percent backed Cruz.
On the Dem side, Sanders was backed by 49 percent of likely primary voters, while 45 percent supported Clinton. Last month, it was 44-43 Sanders, who has gradually gained in the poll since trailing by a dozen points in September.
The survey came out of the field Monday, just as the flurry of presidential visits kicked up in Wisconsin and one day before Gov. Scott Walker endorsed Cruz.
In the state Supreme Court race, 41 percent of likely voters supported Bradley, while 36 percent supported Kloppenburg. Last month it was 37-36 for Bradley.
And in the Senate contest, 47 percent of registered voters backed Feingold, while 42 percent supported Johnson. In last month’s survey of registered voters, Feingold led 49-37.
The survey measured the so-called “Big Five” personality traits (emotional stability, extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) using well-established questionnaires developed by other psychologists. Of the 860 cities profiled, just 70 were more emotionally unstable than New York
Sure enough, certain patterns emerged in their responses, recently published inPsychological Science journal. True to the neurotic stereotype, New Yorkers tended to be slightly less emotionally stable than people in San Francisco, say; indeed, of the 860 cities measured, just 70 cities had lower scores than New York, with North Hollywood in Los Angeles, Canton in Ohio and Mount Prospect in Illinois appearing in the bottom 10. In stark contrast, the citizens of Jackson in Madison County, Tennessee, appear to be remarkably well-adjusted, scoring highly on conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability.
The most extrovert city, meanwhile, was Whitewater in Wisconsin, known for its university and the “witches’ triangle” of graveyards that have inspired some chilling ghost stories. Clearly, the threat of the supernatural hasn’t stopped the locals from enjoying themselves.
Washington (CNN)Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker formally endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday, saying he is “a strong new leader” and “constitutional conservative.”
“After all these years of the Obama-Clinton failures, it’s time we elect a strong new leader and I’ve chosen to endorse Ted Cruz,” Walker told conservative radio host Charlie Sykes on Newsradio 620 WTMJ Tuesday.
The Jupiter Police Department told CNN that Lewandowski was arrested Tuesday morning after turning himself in on the misdemeanor charge of simple battery.
They said Lewandowski has been released and his initial court appearance is scheduled for May 4. The department also released new video that shows the alleged incident from an overhead angle.
Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks and one of Lewandowski’s lawyers, Scott Richardson, both released a statement Tuesday saying Lewandowski is “absolutely innocent of this charge,” and will plead not guilty.
Donald Trump came off as pretty clueless about Wisconsin and its conservative landscape in a series of talk radio interviews. He hung up on Vicki McKenna. You can hear him bluster with Charlie Sykes here:
Here’s the thing… Wisconsin has been one of the centers of the Conservative movement in the nation for the past 5-8 years. If you are a conservative, you are at least somewhat familiar with Wisconsin and the key players. Trump doesn’t have a clue. It should serve to remind his supporters that whatever Trump is, he is not a Conservative. And a lot of us conservatives are not going to make a choice between two wealthy liberal New York tyrants. We’ll choose another way.
My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here it is:
One of the issues that has come to the fore in the election for the West Bend School Board is that of teacher morale. As with any large organization, some employees are not happy with how things are going and have poor morale. The School Board and district administration are tasked with understanding if poor morale is widespread or negatively impacting students to the point that changes in policy or leadership are necessary. Some folks in the community contend that teacher morale is a massive problem and cite high teacher turnover as a symptom of it. This begs the question, is teacher turnover a problem in the West Bend School District?
The short answer is: “no.”
Teacher turnover has been on the rise in the past few years in the West Bend School District. In the last school year, voluntary teacher turnover was about 6.7 percent. That is up from a little more than 4 percent in the 2011-12 school year and down from a spike of almost 9 percent in the 201011 school year.
One cannot tell whether 6.7 percent is good or bad without some context. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare raw turnover numbers because different statisticians calculate turnover differently. Does the figure include only employees who quit, or also those who were fired? What about retirees? Eliminated positions? You get the idea. Still, even with the rough numbers, West Bend’s turnover rate is comparable to other surrounding districts and well below the national average.
According to the March 19 Daily News, the West Bend School District has the second lowest turnover rate when compared to that of the Mequon-Thiensville, Fond du Lac and Port Washington-Saukville districts. Nationally, the turnover rate for teachers is anywhere between 15-18 percent, depending on which study you choose to cite. As a raw comparison, West Bend’s turnover appears to be below the average of most school districts in the country and in the immediate area.
It is true that the turnover rate has been rising every year since the 2011-12 school year. There was a spike of almost 9 percent in the 2010-11 school year, but that was an anomaly due to a change in district policy regarding health insurance for retirees that prompted a group of teachers to retire before the change negatively impacted them. But West Bend is not alone — the turnover rate for surrounding districts and those all over the state have been rising. This is an intentional consequence of the landmark reform, Act 10.
Under Act 10, local governments, including school districts, were partially liberated from the strictures of union contracts that dictated regimented wage scales and work rules. Under Act 10, school districts began implementing reforms that would have previously been very difficult. For example, the Mequon-Thiensville School District implemented a merit pay system for employees. In West Bend, the school district tied some performance metrics to employee compensation and enacted reforms like the popular walk-in health clinic.
But not everyone is comfortable with change and it always creates some friction in any organization. Anyone who has ever been a part of a dynamic organization has seen people become uncomfortable, or become uncomfortable themselves, and the corresponding dip in morale for those people.
On the other side of the equation, Act 10 has infused a modicum of freedom into the labor market for teachers. Prior to Act 10, the strict compensation scales were weighted heavily to tenure within a district, so if an experienced teacher wanted to move to another district, they would often have to start over at the bottom of the tenure pile. Act 10 allowed many districts to pay teachers based on merit irrespective of their tenure. This allows teachers to more easily move between districts without being penalized and for districts to recruit the teachers they want.
The West Bend School District, for example, has a very competitive compensation package for teachers. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, West Bend’s employees are paid an average total compensation of nearly $84,000, which is in the top 7 percent of all districts in Wisconsin, and have an average experience of 13.5 years. In a more competitive labor market, school districts must act to attract talented teachers with things like a good working environment, support structures, good leadership and, yes, better compensation. Good teachers are benefiting from Act 10.
In any organization of the size of the West Bend School District, there will always be employees who are not happy and are vocal about it. But there is nothing in the voluntary turnover rate that indicates there is a widespread morale issue in the West Bend School District. The vast majority of the teachers are doing exactly what they love to do and what we love them for doing — providing an outstanding education for our kids.
A wealthy businessman with tea party ties confirmed Sunday that he is mounting a primary challenge to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, saying that after donating to the Wisconsin Republican’s past campaigns he feels “betrayed” by the speaker on trade deals and immigration.
The businessman, who is not yet revealing his identity, promised that his run will “shake up the establishment in a profound way,” according to a political consultant close to the prospective candidate.
It seems that Trump is motivating rich guys to run.
CNN)PEZ Candy abruptly canceled its third annual Easter egg hunt Saturday after parents stormed the field in Connecticut, according to a company news release.
Children as young as 4 were pushed aside by parents eager to grab as many of the 9,000 eggs hidden in three fields.
It was originally advertised to be three separate events, to be broken up by age groups, beginning at 10:30 a.m ET, before a visit from the Easter Bunny, according to the PEZ Company.
Instead of waiting for their designated time, people chose to enter the first field before anyone from PEZ starting the event, the release said.
by Owen | 0700, 26 Mar 1616 | Off-Duty | 0 Comments
Pizza Ranch a possibility in West Bend
There’s apparently some truth to the “word” about Pizza Ranch “sniffing around” West Bend.
Pizza Ranch was founded by Adrie Groeneweg in 1981 in Hull, Iowa. There are currently 180+ locations across 13 states including Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.
In Wisconsin the closest Pizza Ranch to West Bend is in Fond du Lac. There’s also a Pizza Ranch in Oshkosh, Portage, Waupun, Sun Prairie, Sheboygan, Kohler and Appleton.
Pizza Ranch identifies itself as “prides itself on legendary service and quality food. Our unique “Buffet Your Way” means you can request any pizza you want and we’ll not only make it for you, we’ll personally deliver the first slice to you! Now that’s legendary service!”
Taking a look around West Bend and the possible locations for a Pizza Ranch – here’s a brief rundown of availability – which do you think is best?
Meijer is building on S. Main Street just south of Paradise Drive. There will obviously be room for satellite stores. The former Pizza Hut location, 1610 W. Washington Street. The former Walgreens site at the corner of Decorah and S. Main Street.
The former Ponderosa, 2020 W. Washington St., would also be an option. Building owner Steve Kilian confirmed he received a call from Pizza Ranch about a year and a half ago. He said they were looking for a franchisee and after that he never heard from them. Stay tuned!
New business buys Barton building
Kettle Moraine Counseling will be moving into the former Affiliated Clinical building in Barton. “Owner Devona Marshall purchased the building for $300,000 and will be moving in April 15.
“We have been looking and looking for new office space for about a year,” said Marshall. “We wanted to stay downtown but we like Barton and feel it will be a really good spot for us.”
The building, 400 N River Drive, dates to 1986. Years ago it was home to Monarch Studio and most recently it was Affiliated Clinical Services. “It fits us perfectly without hardly any renovations,” Marshall said. “We’ll be adding some lighting, doing a little painting and some new carpet and we’ll be open next month.”
Kettle Moraine Counseling, which features 13 therapists, has been in business six years as of March 1. Kettle Moraine Counseling provides mental health services for children, adults and families; it also has a Spanish speaking counselor on staff.
Kettle Moraine Counseling accepts Badger Care. Marshall said her clients come in from Washington County, Dodge, Ozaukee and some Fond du Lac County.
Sale of green space south of MOWA tabled
The West Bend Finance Committee met in closed session for nearly 40 minutes this week as it discussed the sale of city property, TIF No. 5 and 9. That 1.2-acre parcel to the south of the Museum of Wisconsin Art has been vacant for 10 years. In mid-2015 the city found itself with two offers on the same grassy space within a two-week time span.
One offer was from the Thomas J. Rolfs Foundation, Inc. and the other Bob Bach, Project Manager at P2 Development Company LLC in Saukville. He proposed a $5 million housing development. That housing proposal rankled some folks in the community, especially those that questioned the city’s long-term vision.
Over the past few months there have been some intense discussions regarding finances and how to lay the groundwork for a positive and fun downtown in the future.
Back in August quite a few aldermen threw in their thoughts, arguing mostly to the point of dollars and cents. “Downtown TIF’s are tough to succeed,” District 2 alderman Steve Hutchins said. “They’re hard to develop the increment to make it successful and right now we’re trying to figure out this balancing act.”
Following Monday’s closed session the Finance Committee returned and tabled a decision on the sale until the April 18 meeting. A spokesperson for MOWA said the city wanted all of the paperwork on the table before making a decision.
Sprucing up the façade at former Walgreens
There as a small face lift given this week to the exterior of the former Walgreens at 806 S. Main Street in West Bend. The building has been vacant for more than five years. It closed Sept. 4, 2010 after Walgreens built a new location and moved south down the street, closer to the intersection of Paradise and Main.
Continental Properties owns the building at the corner of Decorah and Main.
Walgreens originally moved in in 1995. In 2010 the Walgreens district manager Rick Sterna said, the company still had “a five-year lease on that and it will go into our surplus property.”
Sterna said it was their goal not to “let a pharmacy go in there.”
While Walgreens is working to keep out the competition it is worth noting the new Meijer store will have a drive thru pharmacy. The new Meijer will be located a stone’s throw from the newer Walgreens on S. Main Street. Meijer will break ground this spring on the site that used to be home to Bend Industries.
The vacant property on Decorah and Main is currently being marketed by Mid-America Real Estate. It’s listed for lease/sale.
Fate of gazebo tabled
The fate of the gazebo, which formerly made its home at Old Settlers’ Park in West Bend, has been tabled. The gazebo currently sits in the back parking lot of the former Schwai’s in Cedar Creek. Both property and the old park shelter are owned by Kevin and Amy Zimmer.
The couple went before the board of zoning appeals in the Town of Polk this week. Zimmer said action on placement of the gazebo was tabled until “a more accurate survey of the property is presented to the variance board.”
“Hopefully we can get the placement approved at the next town variance meeting,” Kevin Zimmer said. The couple is hoping to place the gazebo on the Schwai’s restaurant property on Cedar Creek Road.
Blast of winter doesn’t affect crossing guard in shorts
The robins are flitting around the late winter white saying “What are this?” The hearty purple crocus are pushing their faces through the heavy blanket of ice and Chucky Fellenz wife shakes her head as her little boy leaves the house in a fluorescent lime green jacket, hat and shorts.
“I put my pants away three weeks ago,” said Fellenz with confidence. “I just had a lady roll down her window and yell at me. I hollered back ‘I’m not cold.’”
Fellenz has been working the corner of Decorah and Main as a crossing guard in West Bend for more than a dozen years and he’s not gonna let Mother Nature tell him what for.
On Wednesday afternoon school kids ducked their heads as they braced against the pelting rain. Traffic moved slowly as windshield wipers pushed away the heavy, damp snow and Fellenz knew enough to stay 2-feet back from the curb.
“These cars come along and they hit that puddle and the water carries up over in a good slosh,” he said. White chicken legs exposed to the elements, Fellenz gives a sharp blow to his whistle, lifts his stop sign and safely crosses students to the opposite side of Main Street.
He dances back up to the sidewalk, his white tennis shoes soaked. He’s a poster boy for every mother’s winter-wardrobe nightmare.
“My wife bought me a pair of heated gloves,” he said. “I got them on low. My ears may get a little cold, but the rest of me is just fine.”
Updates & tidbits
-There are a couple of write-in candidates for this year’s Washington County Board race. Denis Kelling is a registered write-in for District 6 and Andy David is a registered write-in for District 3. Whoever receives the highest number of votes will be the winner.
-Wednesday, March 30 at 10 a.m. the West Bend City Clerk will conduct a public test of the electronic voting system. This is being done prior to the April 5 election.
– In-person absentee voting for the spring election runs through April 1. Clerks across Washington County report “a steady turnout.” Election Day is April 5 and polls open at 7 a.m.
-Holy Angels School is preparing for its 6th annual indoor rummage sale Saturday, April 2 and 3. Donations will be accepted this weekend including gently used, unwanted items: bikes, tools, home décor, clothing, dishes, books, toys, sporting goods, etc. in the Walnut Room of school.
-On Thursday, March 31 a meteorologist from the National Weather Service will conduct Severe Weather Spotter Training at the Germantown Village Hall, N112W17001 Mequon Rd. in Germantown. The session will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last approximately two hours.
–Thrivent Financial will host a Shred Fest on April 30 from 9 a.m. – noon at 810 E. Paradise Drive. Shredding will be done at no cost but participants are encouraged to bring items, necessities that will be shipped to Support the Troops Wisconsin.
-Adam Williquette of Anderson Commercial and Paula Becker from RE/MAX United presented a check for $1,322 to the West Bend Moose Lodge. Williquette and Becker agreed to donate an amount equal to 20 percent of their commissions to the lodge, from the sale of real estate sold or bought by a Moose member or a referral from a member. The first sale, a ranch in Menomonee Falls, was sold by Becker on Feb. 26. Moose members, Wayne and Michelle Lesperance, were the previous owners of the home. “We look forward to being able to give back to an important institution in our community in the hopes the Lodge can use the money for needed repairs and upgrades,” Becker said.
– In Hartford the public works department is starting to reach out to private owners of Ash trees affected with the Emerald Ash Borer as neighbors are urged to work with one another on private tree-removal services to get quantity discounts.
-Mountain Outfitters, 109 S. Main St., in West Bend will host a warehouse sale April 1 – 3 with over 100 used bikes, close out bikes, parts, accessories, clothing and shoes.
Memories of Easter finery
Easter Sunday is a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That day also represents the advent of spring fashion with sweaters instead of heavy coats, anklets instead of knee socks and lighter colors with jubilant patterns.
Since the 1870s women and girls have followed tradition using that Sunday to show off their Easter dresses and neighbors in West Bend have done the same.
Kathy Keehn of West Bend submitted today’s photo; it’s from 1953 when she lived in Maywood, Illinois.
“I am in my Easter hat, coat, white gloves and pail,” said Keehn. “I remember how I couldn’t wear my new white shoes because the weather wasn’t nice.”
Joan Hoff, 79, of Cedar Ridge grew up in Milwaukee and later the Campbellsport area. Years ago she too kept an eye on the forecast as Easter approached.
“I especially remember two weeks before Easter I hoped it would be warm enough so we didn’t have to wear a coat over our new dress,” said Hoff. “It was a big deal if it was going to be raining.”
Hoff remembered her dress was “something fluffy with a full skirt.”
“And we always wore hats to church; kind of a bonnet and as an adult it was a pillbox.
Hoff attended St. Aloysius in West Allis and when she had daughters of her own she got them “spiffed up, especially for Easter Mass.”
“I sewed tons,” said Hoff noting her daughters were far enough apart in age that she never dressed them alike.
“I used whites or pastels; you would never have a red plaid or navy blue.”
Hoff remembered sleeves on the dresses often with a button on the back and a little zipper on the side to pull it over their head.
And her girls always “had white shoes, even though it wasn’t Memorial Day”
“My younger daughter had a purse passed down from her cousin and it was shaped like a little parasol with a curved handle. That was her purse going to church and she loved it,” said Hoff.
Mary ‘Sis’ Eberhart, 64, grew up in Milwaukee and we got her Easter dress at Schuster’s Department Store on 12th and Vliet.
“It’s where we always went shopping,” said Eberhart. “I was 12 at the time and had an Easter hat with little flowers and my dad always bought me good shoes.”
Mary Radovich, 86, from Cedar Ridge remembered the financial woes of the Great Depression and how “when you got something new for Easter you always managed to get a dress.”
“You bought it a Goldman’s where the price was the cheapest,” said Radovich recalling the $1.98 spent on the dress.
At the time Radovich attended church at St. John’s on 9th and Mineral. “The dress was pink with satiny material; I can just see myself,” she sighed.
“You normally bought the dress two sizes bigger than what you really needed because it had to last that long for Sunday church. “I didn’t have a hat or purse – I was just lucky to get a dress,” she said.
While growing up, Radovich and her family struggled financially and were resigned to living on the county dole. “At that time we had only one choice of style shoe and it was made in Waupun – always at the prison,” said Radovich of the black Oxford county-issued shoes.
“Once a friend of mine gave me a pair of sandals; she had worn them out and there was a hole in the sole but she gave them to me and I put cardboard in and then nobody knew I had county shoes,” she laughed recalling how sly she felt in her cobbled shoes.
Barb Justman from BJ & Company recalled wearing a pastel yellow dress with lots of ruffles. “I also had a flowery hat, white gloves, and of course those dandy white leotards,” said Justman whose mom would lay everything out the night before Easter so they would be ready to go for 6 a.m. church service. “My dress would hang from the living room chandelier so as not to wrinkle,” said Justman. “And I even got to wear the dress ALL day!”
Lori Lynn Radloff remembered the Easter hats with the elastic under the chin. “My brother would pull and snap it. I think everyone goes thru that,” said Lynn Radloff.
Cathy Majkowski of West Bend grew up with four sisters and each had a homemade Easter dress. “I always worried about getting chocolate from the big candy bunny on my dress,” she said.
Another year Majkowski insisted on a new pair of shoes to go with her dress. “I did not want hand me downs for Easter; my mom said ‘no’ and I threw a hissy fit in the store, only to find the shoes in my Easter basket in the morning,” she said.
Jill Clare, 80, from Cedar Ridge grew up in West Bend and had five girls. “We were members of Holy Angels and I made all their dresses,” said Clare confirming five handmade dresses each year. “I only used pastels and one year I made them all in a purple gingham check, lavender and white and by the time that passed down I didn’t want to see lavender anymore – nor did the girls,” said Clare.
The style of Clare’s handmade dresses featured little puffed sleeves, Peter Pan collars, with a button by the opening in the back, a full skirt and always a small bow. For accessories, Clare relied on the five and dime Ben Franklin discount stores.“They all had little caps with a bow under their chin, white gloves, and patent leather shoes with anklets and tiny drawstring purses,” she said. “I always made my husband wear a suit because Easter Sunday was a dress up day,” said Clare.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Soon after Hillary Clinton’s arrival at the State Department in 2009, officials in the information technology office were baffled when told that a young technician would join them as a political appointee, newly disclosed emails show.
The technician, Bryan Pagliano, was running the off-grid email server that Clinton had him set up in her New York home for her work as secretary of state. But even as years passed, Pagliano’s supervisors never learned of his most sensitive task, according to the department and one of his former colleagues.
Pagliano’s immediate supervisors did not know the private server even existed until it was revealed in news reports last year, the colleague said, requesting anonymity because of a department ban on unauthorized interviews.
Clinton’s decision to side-step the official state.gov email system has since shrouded her campaign for the U.S. presidency this year in controversy and legal uncertainty. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting one of several inquiries into the arrangement, which saw classified information passing through her unsecured clintonemail.com account.
There was another forum for the West Bend School Board candidates last night hosted by Common Sense Citizens of Washington County. Randy Marquardt (inc.), Ken Schmidt, and Jenn Donath attended. Tiffany Larson was absent. With the crummy weather and being the day after the other forum, I didn’t expect a huge turnout – and there wasn’t one. About 18 people attended with some of the usual suspects.
Overall, my impressions did not change. Each of the candidates acquitted themselves well in sharing their views and opinions. They each seem like very decent people with the best interests of the students in mind. I did get a shout out from Donath for the column I wrote about Sunshine Week, so thanks for that.
I already took advantage of in person early voting where the folks at the West Bend City Hall were friendly and helpful as always, but election day in April 5th. Be sure to vote!
