Disappointing, but not surprising. We knew that Trump and Carson were acquainted in their personal lives. Carson’s endorsement of Trump confirms that he does not have the judgment to be president and the voters wisely withheld their support from him.
Palm Beach, Florida (CNN)Ben Carson threw his support behind Donald Trump Friday morning, saying the two men had “buried the hatchet” and praising the Republican Party’s front-runner as a “the voice of the people to be heard.”
Another example of guns saving lives.
“According to the homeowner,” police said, “he was bound in the bathroom by the suspect. The homeowner said he was able to free himself, fought with the suspect and sustained a stab wound to the back side of his shoulder.”
The man, his wife and his child were held in the bathroom, police said. The situation turned when the wife was allowed to leave the bathroom at some point, police said.
“The wife returned with a handgun and fired one shot believing to strike McCloud. After the husband’s bonds were cut by the wife, the husband took control of the weapon and fired additional shots striking McCloud,” police said. “The family then ran outside and flagged a motorist and asked them to call 911.”
When investigators arrived at the scene just after 7 a.m., they found McCloud in the tub with multiple gunshot wounds.
And yet… we’re still freeing billions of dollars for them to use to build their terror network and nuclear arsenal.
Washington (CNN)The Obama administration is preparing to publicly attribute a 2013 cyber attack against a New York dam to Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.
The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against people thought to be behind the attack, according to the officials. An announcement could come in the next week.
The intrusion at the Bowman Avenue Dam, around 30 miles north of New York City in suburban Rye, New York, isn’t considered sophisticated — the hackers managed only to get access to some back office systems, not the operational systems of the dam, U.S. officials say. U.S. investigators quickly determined the attack was carried out by hackers working for the Iranian government.
Good.
BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. special forces captured the head of the Islamic State group’s unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq, two senior Iraqi intelligence officials told The Associated Press, the first known major success of Washington’s more aggressive policy of pursuing IS militants on the ground.
The Obama administration launched the new strategy in December, deploying a commando force to Iraq that it said would be dedicated to capturing and killing IS leaders in clandestine operations, as well as generating intelligence leading to more raids.
Of course, I seem to recall being promised no boots on the ground. I guess special forces don’t count.
This is why choosing good judges is so important – particularly judges who sit on a Supreme Court.
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pennsylvania gun control advocates on Wednesday asked the state’s top court to knock down a 2014 law allowing gun-rights lobbying groups to sue cities that adopt gun restrictions and recoup legal costs if they prevail.
Firearms advocates, including the National Rifle Association, contend the law is necessary to prevent gun owners from becoming ensnared by a patchwork of municipal ordinances that violate their right to bear arms.
Gun control advocates challenged the law on a technicality – that it passed as part of what they called an unrelated piece of legislation.
Nobody credible wants this appointment.
Washington (CNN)Adalberto Jordan, a federal judge in Miami seen as a top contender for the Supreme Court vacancy, has withdrawn his name from contention, a lawmaker told CNN on Wednesday.
The voters of Menomonee Falls will vote on a pair of school referenda in April. They are:
REFERENDUM QUESTION:
OPERATIONAL FUNDING ON A RECURRING BASISOperational funding would exceed the revenue limit by $1,250,000 in the 2016-2017 school year and by an additional $1,250,000 a year in each of the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, for a total of $3,750,000 for the 2018-2019 school year and remain at $3,750,000 each year…
REFERENDUM QUESTION:
FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS ● $32,700,000
The district wants $32.7 million NOW to spend on a laundry list of items and a tax increase FOREVER to spend on whatever they can think of. Both of these referenda are ridiculous, but the one to permanently increase taxes above the state limit is downright offensive. But as West Bend begins the search for a new superintendent, it’s worth taking note of what’s going on in Menomonee Falls.
The superintendent of the Menomonee Falls district is Pat Greco, who used to be Pat Herdrich when she was the superintendent of the West Bend School District. During her tenure in West Bend, she pushed for multiple referenda – including what was the state’s largest ever at $119 million. It was always the same complaints about buildings falling down and education suffering. The constant turmoil created a lot of community strife and raucous meetings. But the teachers loved Herdrich.
Fast forward into Ted Neitzke tenure. We no longer hear about buildings falling down because the district has largely shored up maintenance and is even putting aside money to replace Jackson Elementary in the future without having to ask for more money. The district has implemented innovations like the very popular walk-in clinic for staff, a charter school, more vocational education and online offerings, and the district is much more closely aligned with the local business community and community in general. But there is a cabal of grumpy teachers (mainly at the high schools) who hate Neitzke and are cheering his resignation.
As the School Board looks for a new superintendent, they have to ask themselves… do they want another Neitzke or another Herdrich? While I don’t always see eye to eye with Neitzke on policy, I’ll take a Neitzke over a Herdrich every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Congratulations to Herb Tennies for his 50+ years of public service to West Bend.
Washington County Supervisors, staff and state and local dignitaries were at the public administration building to honor Chairman Herbert Tennies as he retires this year. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker issued a proclamation declaring March 8 Herbert J. Tennies Day as county officials named the facility after him.
And to think, Tennies’ life in public service happened by coincidence. One evening after a drill, a group of West Bend volunteer firefighters decided to visit a local pub to unwind. They sat down, ordered a round of drinks and talked about their lives, children and families.
Eventually the conversation turned to public affairs, events in the community and government business. There was a vacancy for justice of the peace and the group talked about how one of their own enjoyed learning about government issues and nominated him for the position.
That was the start of Tennies’ career as an elected official.
Wow. This is stunningly bad.
The Milwaukee Art Museum would become the owner of its buildings on the Lake Michigan shore, as well as Milwaukee County’s O’Donnell Park and its multilevel parking garage, in a deal valued at more than $28.8 million, officials said Tuesday.
The museum would take responsibility for up to $6 million worth of repairs on an O’Donnell Park priority list if the County Board approves the noncash transaction, museum director Dan Keegan said. The board will be asked to sign off on the deal at a March 17 meeting.
Here’re the operative details.
In the proposed transaction, the museum would end an 84-year lease with the county and take ownership of its buildings, including the lower level of the building that is home to the War Memorial Center. As the new owner, the museum would assume liability for their long-term maintenance and repairs, which is now the responsibility of the county and its taxpayers, according to Keegan.
That liability for the museum buildings is estimated to cost about $88 million over the next several decades, but its current value in today’s dollars is about $28.8 million, Keegan said.
This requires some context. A couple of years ago, Northwestern Mutual offered the county $14.4 million in cash. In that offer, NML would take over the property, revitalize it, and create green space. But the liberals on the board abhorred the thought of selling county property to a private interest, so they rejected the offer.
Now the county is GIVING the property to another private interest and that interest will take over maintenance, which NML would have done too. And the county is trying to spin this as a deal for taxpayers. So instead of the county getting $14.4 million in cash and absolving the taxpayers of future obligations, the taxpayers are getting nothing.
Are the county leaders this stupid or do they just think that we are?
Good.
UW-Madison professor Sara Goldrick-Rab will leave the university this summer, the outspoken faculty member announced Monday night in a blog post blasting changes to tenure protections and criticizing UW officials for not doing enough to keep the campus accessible to low-income students.
Goldrick-Rab, a professor of education policy studies and prominent researcher on issues of college affordability, will join Temple University in Philadelphia in July.
This is the professor who bullied incoming freshmen on social media and only taught four semester classes over the last four years. She’s a cancerous employee with little regard for the people paying her salary. The decision by Temple to hire her makes me question their sanity.
My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to review eight cases ranging from guns on public buses to open records to how low-income properties are assessed to how far a police officer’s “hot pursuit” can extend into a citizen’s home. With less than a month before Wisconsin voters head to the polls to choose a Supreme Court justice, the variety and reach of the court’s chosen case load reminds us how important voters’ choice is.
For example, in State v. Weber, an officer turned on his lights to pull over Weber for a busted taillight. Weber proceeded to ignore the officer, pull into his attached garage and head into his house. The officer entered the garage without a warrant and detained Weber. Weber subsequently pled no contest to felony drunk driving (it was not his first time driving drunk).
The question the court will decide is whether the officer should have obtained a warrant before entering Weber’s garage. Even though he was drunk driving, the officer did not know that at the time and was only pursuing him for the minor offense of a broken taillight. Should law enforcement be permitted to enter private property without a warrant for such a minor offense?
In Democratic Party of Wisconsin v. Wisconsin Department of Justice, the court will decide on the appropriate balance between the public interest in keeping a record hidden versus the public’s right to know under Wisconsin’s open records laws. In this case, the Democratic Party sought videos in which Attorney General Brad Schimel, who was a candidate at the time, conducted training regarding victims of sensitive crimes and how to prosecute internet sexual predator cases.
The Democratic Party wanted the videos because they thought there might be some embarrassing things in the video that could be twisted against Schimel during the campaign. The DOJ refused to release the videos, saying the public interest in protecting the identities of the victims and the techniques used by investigators and prosecutors of internet sexual predator cases outweighed the public’s interest in seeing the videos. The Democratic Party disagreed and appealed. The court must decide where the appropriate balance lies between these competing public interests.
In Wisconsin Carry Inc. v. City of Madison, the court will decide if the city of Madison violated the state’s concealed carry law when implementing a ban on guns on public buses. Wisconsin’s concealed carry statute prohibits local units of governments from enacting an ordinance or resolution regulating the ownership, transportation, taxation or carrying of firearms.
The city of Madison has banned people from carrying firearms on city buses, but claims the statute does not apply because it is a “bus rule” and not an ordinance or resolution and that the rule was enacted by the city of Madison’s Transit and Parking Commission — not the city itself. Wisconsin Carry sued the city, arguing — rightly — the statute is designed to prevent local governments from enacting gun laws more restrictive than the state as a whole.
The Supreme Court must decide how the statute must be applied. Of course, in this case, the Legislature could have easily clarified the statute before now, but they must certainly do so next year if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the city of Madison.
As the highest court in the state, the Supreme Court decides cases that govern how the laws apply to us, how far our government can reach into our lives, how transparent our government must be and countless other important matters. As such, the selection of each justice on that court is of critical importance. On April 5, Wisconsin’s voters will choose between two drastically difference candidates.
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg is running for the Supreme Court for the second time after being rejected by the voters five years ago. She is proudly a liberal’s liberal with a decidedly activist perspective regarding the role of a Supreme Court justice.
Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley was appointed to the court in 2015 and is on the other end of the judicial philosophy spectrum. She has demonstrated a healthy understanding that judges must act according to how the law is and not how they would like it to be.
Unlike the United States Supreme Court, the voters decide who sits on the state Supreme Court. Vote wisely.
This will be interesting to watch.
A committee in the GOP-controlled Senate plans to vote Tuesday on a bill that would make “attempting to usurp the power” of the Legislature or the executive branch grounds for impeachment.
Impeachment has “been a little-used tool” to challenge judges who strike down new legislation, said Republican Sen. Dennis Pyle, a sponsor of the measure. “Maybe it needs to be oiled up a little bit or sharpened a little bit.”
[…]
The state Supreme Court has issued rulings to force increased spending on public schools, citing a constitutional requirement that schools be adequately funded, and threatened last month to shut the schools this fall if lawmakers don’t comply. The court also has overturned death sentences in capital murder cases and is reviewing a case that could toss out abortion restrictions.
“I believe the court has a tremendous problem with overreach,” said Republican Sen. Mitch Holmes, one of the impeachment bill’s sponsors.
I’ve long thought that impeachment is an underutilized check in our system of government. The judiciary is a coequal branch of government and impeachment is often the only check on it from the other branches. Sure, the legislature could also defund the judiciary, but that’s a very blunt instrument. But for some reason we have come to see impeachment as some sort of super extraordinary measure that should only be taken in the event of a global emergency instead of a normal, if severe, check on a bad judge.
I don’t usually blog about this kind of pop nonsense, but this was hilarious.
And yes… I do follow Bette Midler on Twitter.
Of course, he was never in.
But Bloomberg, 74, said he had concluded that any candidate would be unlikely to win a clear majority in a three-person race. That would throw the election into the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which would be able to hand the White House to Trump, a real-estate billionaire, or Cruz, a conservative U.S. senator from Texas.
“That is not a risk I can take in good conscience,” he wrote on Bloomberg View, an opinion website that is part of his media empire.
Bloomberg never received much interest from American voters. About 12 percent of likely voters said they would support him in a three-way race for president with Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll conducted from Wednesday to Monday.
That, at least, is the theory. In practice, checking old results is much less good for a scientist’s career than publishing exciting new ones. Without such checks, dodgy results sneak into the literature. In recent years medicine, psychology and genetics have all been put under the microscope and found wanting. One analysis of 100 psychology papers, published last year, for instance, was able to replicate only 36% of their findings. And a study conducted in 2012 by Amgen, an American pharmaceutical company, could replicate only 11% of the 53 papers it reviewed.
But as economics adopts the experimental procedures of the natural sciences, it might also suffer from their drawbacks. Ina paper just published in Science, Colin Camerer of the California Institute of Technology and a group of colleagues from universities around the world decided to check. They repeated 18 laboratory experiments in economics whose results had been published in the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics between 2011 and 2014.
For 11 of the 18 papers (ie, 61% of them) Dr Camerer and his colleagues found a broadly similar effect to whatever the original authors had reported. That is below the 92% replication rate they would have expected had all the original studies been as statistically robust as the authors claimed—but by the standards of medicine, psychology and genetics it is still impressive.
Early evidence from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Seattle’s monthly employment, the number of unemployed workers, and the city’s unemployment rate through December 2015 suggest that since last April when the first minimum wage hike took effect: a) the city’s employment has fallen by more than 11,000, b) the number of unemployed workers has risen by nearly 5,000, and c) the city’s jobless rate has increased by more than 1 percentage point (all based on BLS’s “not seasonally adjusted basis”). Those figures are based on employment data for the city of Seattle only (not the Seattle MSA or MD), and are available from the BLS website here (data are “not seasonally adjusted”).
[…]
Update: The chart below shows that while the city of Seattle experienced a sharp drop in employment of more 11,000 jobs between April and December last year (light blue line, BLS data available here), employment in Seattle’s neighboring suburbs outside the city limits (Seattle MSA employment minus Seattle city employment) increased over that period by nearly 57,000 jobs and reached a new record high in November 2015 before falling slightly in December.
Bottom Line II: Additional evidence showing that while jobs in the city of Seattle were tanking starting last April, employment in the suburbs surrounding Seattle was increasing steadily to a new record high in November. That departure in employment trends: job declines inside the city limits of Seattle compared to increasing employment outside the city limits suggests the possibility that the difference in labor costs could have been a contributing factor.
Despite the frequent calls for expanded background checks after mass public shootings, there is no evidence that background checks on private transfers of guns would have prevented any of the attacks that have taken place since at least 2000. Nor is there any statistical evidence that indicates that these mass public shootings are rarer in states with background checks on private transfers. What we do find is that fatalities and injuries from mass public shootings increased in states after they imposed background checks on private transfers. States with background checks on private transfers tended to have relatively low rates of murders and injuries from mass public shootings before the passage of background checks on private transfers and that these rates became relatively high afterwards.
There are real costs of expanding background checks to private transfers. In particular, the fees on private transfers. Law-abiding poor blacks who live in high crime urban areas and who benefit the most from protecting themselves will be the ones most likely priced out of owning guns for protection.
Without some benefits in terms of either reduced crime or mass public shootings, it is hard to see how these rules pass any type of cost-benefit test.
Sad day for us, but now she can be with her Ronnie.
(CNN)Former first lady Nancy Reagan, who joined her husband on a storybook journey from Hollywood to the White House, died Sunday, according to John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation.
She was 94.
Mills describes how hackers tried to get into her account, but says, “I am not sure we want to telegraph how much folks do or don’t do off state mail b/c it may encourage others who are out there.”
In another chain, Clinton asks assistant Nora Toiv for her email address, prompting Toiv to respond: “You’ve always emailed on my State email.” Clinton replied: “Even weirder — I just checked and I do have your State but not your gmail — so how did that happen. Must be the Chinese!”
CPR training saves YMCA member
Two weeks ago Steve Riechers, 68, suffered a massive heart attack at the Kettle Moraine YMCA. This week he returned to meet the staff who saved his life.
The 68-year-old from West Bend is the epitome of health. He worked out twice a day and on Feb. 16 was brought down by a heart attack in the locker room at the Y. “I don’t remember anything from that day,” said Riechers.
Jenny Zaskowski, director of donor development at the YMCA, greeted Riechers and said she did remember the day, quite clearly. “I was leaving for the evening and I heard a faint voice of someone saying there’s someone downstairs who is unresponsive,” Zaskowski said. “I dropped my coat and purse and ran. We realized we needed a team to help.”
Two trainers were flagged. Chris Delcamp administered chest compressions while Jen Robertson performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The pair performed partner CPR until emergency crews arrived. Riechers was admitted to Froedtert Hospital where he eventually underwent a series of heart bypasses.
“You’re just heroes,” said Cheryl Touchett the life partner of Riechers. “This is just a testament on how brave these people are who acted so immediately. How important it is for people to learn CPR.”
During the gathering Wednesday, Riechers shook hands and received hugs from his rescuers.
“Nice to meet you under different circumstances,” said Delcamp, 46, personal trainer. “To actually see him as a person; before I hadn’t even heard his voice and now it feels like what we did was even more important.”
Robertson said knowing CPR makes you more aware and you’re not afraid to step in and help
“Once you’ve got it in your head you just jump in and you know you’ve gotta keep going with it,” she said. “It’s easy to learn and it’s easy to put into practice.”
Anna Hofmann is building supervisor at the Y. “I’ve worked here for two years and the Y makes CPR a requirement,” she said. “I’m happy I know it so I can be of assistance in situations like these.”
The Y offers CPR training classes. “The reality is if we were all just trained, we can put our skills into action,” said Zaskowski. “It was a team effort and we’re very grateful the Y lets us have CPR training; it makes a difference.”
Riechers said he was thankful for the quick action. “I have a second lease on life,” he said. “I’ll do much the same as before; I’m still working but I’ll appreciate my grandchildren more.”
Remodel underway at Paradise Theatre
A major remodel is underway at the Paradise Theatre, 2014 Parkway Drive in West Bend, as the new operations manager, Boppa LLC, took over Monday.
Spokesman Troy Hanson said Boppa LLC, has purchased the equipment of Paradise Theatre LLC effective February 29, 2016. “The group is taking over the operations of the theatre and changing the name to West Bend Cinema,” Hanson said. “The theatre will be closed immediately as renovations and an extensive cleaning get underway.”
The Paradise Theatre closed Feb. 29 as a major renovation got underway; upgrades are being made to the bathrooms, carpet, paint, lighting, and popcorn machine.
“In the coming months new seating will be installed and outdoor updates, including new signage, will be made by June,” said Hanson. “Samples of the new seats will be on display in the theatre lobby.”
The Paradise Theatre opened in December 1994. Over the years improvements included changing from a 35-millimeter film system to high-end Christie Digital Projectors with an injector INS library system and Dolby-digital stereo; two screens were also dedicated to 3D technology.
Discussions regarding a change in ownership of the theatre began late in 2015; the new owners are now working to win back an audience that has since drifted south to theaters in Milwaukee and Ozaukee Counties. “The new owners also pledge to insure customer satisfaction by conducting weekly onsite inspections,” said Hanson. “You could call it a ‘friendliness and cleanliness campaign.'”
As a commitment to the community, the owners group will also honor Paradise Theatre gift cards sold in the past six months.
New owners will also feature specials four nights a week including ‘Date Night Thursdays’ where there will be a newly-expanded beverage menu including beer and wine.
Prices will also be reduced across the board for movies and concessions. A grand re-opening at the new West Bend Cinema will be March 18. The Paradise Theatre was previously owned by Paradise Theatre LLC.
Pizza Hut update – “employees wouldn’t know our plans”
Shortly after posting the Pizza Hut update last week I received a message that someone claimed Pizza Hut would stay at its location on W. Washington Street. The person indicated a family member worked at the restaurant and that’s how they knew.
Denise Harris is director of marketing at Wisconsin Hospitality Group. “Nothing is confirmed. The employees would not know our plans at this point,” said Harris. Pizza Hut in West Bend closed in February 2016. Harris said they are looking for a new location in town.
Barb Justman has another fire scare
There was a fire call around 9 a.m. Monday at 448 S. Main Street in West Bend. It was a two-story rental on the corner of Main and Maple.
Property owner Barb Justman fielded the call at home. “Bob across the street at Hoffert’s service station plays pranks on me,” she said. “He said, BJ you gotta come down here there’s a fire and I was like yeah right.”
In August 2009 Justman stood across Main Street in the parking lot at Hoffert’s service station and watched as her three-story building next door to the duplex went up in flames.
There were huge plumes of smoke that could be seen for miles as fire fighters on ladders worked to knock down the flames.
Now, almost seven years later, the building next door to Justman’s salon was on fire. “We bought it in 1985,” said Justman a treasure of this community who lives by the Rotarian creed, ‘service before self.’
“I normally take my time getting dressed on Mondays but after Bob called he said, ‘Fer real – it’s next door’ and I put on my shoes and hit the door,” Justman said.
The fire at 448 S. Main Street started in an exhaust fan. “There was a bird’s nest in there,” said upstairs tenant Kraig Larsen.
Justman was unclear if a bird brought a cigarette to the nest or if it had pecked at the wires and that’s what sparked the fire. By the time she arrived there were about four cop cars and the road was blocked. “The tenants were all shook up and they were crying and we had to turn off the power,” said Justman. “I was more caring for them than I thought about myself.”
West Bend fire fighters were on scene about three hours. Most of the visible damage is to the west side of the building. “It took a chunk out of the fascia and it looks like the porch has to be replaced,” she said. “The upstairs tenant was so nice – he only has a one-bedroom apartment but he told the four people downstairs that if they needed a place he could make room.”
Quinn Skidmore secures $2,000 scholarship
West Bend West High School senior Quinn Skidmore will come home with a $2,000 scholarship she won during the national competition of the VFW Voice of Democracy essay contest.
“I got 17th place for my speech,” said Skidmore from the banquet in Washington D.C. “Out of 40,000 students I am definitely pleased!”
Skidmore competed at the national level against 54 finalists. She had taken first place at the local, district, and state competitions. This year’s essay topic was “My Vision for America.” With the upcoming presidential election, Skidmore wrote from the perspective of a newly elected United States President.
John Kleinmaus, Commander of VFW Post 1393 in West Bend, oversees the local Voice of Democracy contest. He and his wife Donna traveled to D.C. to be in attendance with Skidmore.
“It was an exciting evening and I know Quinn was very happy to be involved with the program,” said Kleinmaus. “What a special night; $153,000 in scholarships given to students from every state in the union. It was great to be there and see Quinn represent our city and our state. We are so proud of Quinn.”
Safety first on Highway 45 and H in Kewaskum
A safety upgrade at the intersection of Highway 45 and County Highway H east; the intersection is just south of Kewaskum. This week crews worked to install suspended traffic signals over the roadway. Kewaskum Village administrator Matt Heiser said a “private power company was doing some work on their own utility.” The signals are now more visible to oncoming traffic. That intersection, which includes a turn onto Badger Road, has been the site of a number of severe accidents over the years.
Jeff Klotz buys Piggly Wiggly in Fond du Lac
Hat tip to Bob Bonenfant who broke the story this week Klotz’s Piggly Wiggly is expanding. Store owner Jeff Klotz is purchasing a third store in Fond du Lac, 131 University Drive. Klotz will officially take over Sunday, April 10. “We’ll retain most of the current staff in Fond du Lac and add more employees to get the store up to an adequate staffing level,” he said. “Some West Bend employees will also transfer to the new location.” Klotz said he took advantage of the opportunity to add another store because he wanted to give some existing employees an opportunity to advance. Klotz owns Piggly Wiggly in West Bend and Campbellsport.
Property updates
The former Graymont building, 206 N. Sixth Avenue in West Bend, has finally hit the real estate market. The property is formerly home to Western Lime Corporation. It changed to Graymont in April 2012 after the company moved from a small office above the Husar building.
Last April, Graymont moved across the street to 215 N. Main Street, formerly the Ziegler building. The property at 206 N. Sixth Ave. was built in 1961, updated in 1994, is 7,500 square feet and is listed by agent Jodi Brandt from RSM Property Management & Realty at $495,000.
Student from Addison Elementary tours D.C.
Aidan Abbott of West Bend and his family met with legislators on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. this week as lawmakers recognized Rare Disease Week. Becky Abbott said her 10-year-old son Aidan has a rare disease called Ectodermal Dysplasia. “We were able to visit the National Institutes of health in Bethesda Maryland to see the portrait of Aidan in the Beyond the Diagnosis Exhibit,” said Abbott. “Aidan shared his story with the legislators as well as Speaker Paul Ryan at Capitol Hill. It was a great experience and he has been incredibly brave.” Last October Aidan was featured in an article in the Boston Globe as it covered the Beyond the Diagnosis exhibit by Rare Disease United Foundation.
The Candy Tree in Kewaskum on the move
The Candy Tree in Kewaskum is moving. The store is relocating from 230 Main Street to 1302 Fond Du Lac Avenue, in the old Bartelt Insurance Agency. The move is expected sometime later this month as renovations at the new site are underway. Chris Jung started The Candy Tree in 2002. Monica Klippel and her sister Doris Schladweiler took over in 2013.
Updates & tidbits
– The Jackson Police and Fire Commission swore in Duane Hafemeister this week as the newly appointed Interim Chief. Hafemeister has been a member of the department for over two decades. “I am confident Duane will competently fill that role and he will receive the support of all of the members of the JFD during the transition to a new full-time chief,” Village Administrator John Walther said. There will be a ceremonial swearing-in for Hafemeister Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Hall.
-Preparations will begin Friday for the 2016 Mile of Art as businesses in downtown West Bend help showcase art work by students in the West Bend School District. The drawings and paintings and crafts will be on display in storefront windows from March 11 – 24.
–There will be some familiar faces on TMJ-4’s Morning Blend on Friday, March 11 as Ann Marie Craig, owner of Century Farmhouse Soaps, is the featured guest. Show airs at 9 a.m.
-Truck Outfitters, 1325 S. Main St. in West Bend, will have a grand opening of its new showroom March 7 – 19. Owner Douglas Geracie moved one store north in February to take advantage of a bigger showroom. Truck Outfitters is open M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sat. 8 – Noon.
-Green Bay Packer legend Paul Hornung is coming to West Bend on March 12. He will be part of a collector card show and autograph session at the West Bend Moose Lodge. The show will run from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and the ‘Golden Boy,’ will be on site for autographs around 10:30 a.m.
– The Washington County Slayers are recruiting for the 2016 season. There will be a team signing day and meeting Saturday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Bowl in Richfield.
-The grand opening is today of Mind the Gap, 121 S. Main Street in West Bend. The British import store is hosting a Marmite challenge. Marmite is a salty, yeasty spread normally eaten in small quantities. Let’s say it’s an acquired taste. The challenge starts at 10 a.m.
– Registration for West Bend Youth Football League is Tuesday, March 15 at 1248 Lang St. starting at 5:30 p.m. The WBYFO is a tackle football league for 5th – 8th graders in the West Bend School District. More information at WBYFO.com
– The Holy Angels students of the Month for February include 6th grader Isaac Fichtner, 7th grader Elizabeth Meurer, and 8th grader Katelyn Matenaer.
– Chix 4 a Cause LTD is throwing down a unique challenge. “I want the entire community involved in showing support for cancer patients by temporarily dying or streaking their hair purple or adding a purple hair extension,” said Chix founder and CEO Jillian Clark. Photos can be posted on a special Facebook page and/or make a financial contribution to benefit Chix 4 a Cause’s Gifts of Love program at www.chix4acause.org.”
-Sunday, March 6 is the 1-year anniversary of the fire at Meadowbrook Orchard that claimed more than 90 animals and leveled his barn on Mile View Road. Owner Rick Takacs is taking time this week to say thanks to everyone who helped during and after the fire.
-The 34th annual West Bend Kiwanis Pancake sausage brunch is 8 a.m. – noon on Saturday, March 19 at the Washington County Fair Park Pavilion. Bring the kids and meet the Easter Bunny. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3.50 for kids.
Remembering Joe Barbercheck – Pizza Joe
There were memories of good food and good times at the memorial service Thursday for Joe Barbercheck, owner of Pizza Joe’s in Barton. “When we moved to Wisconsin we were actually Papa Joes,” said Mark Barbercheck, son of Joe. “They sent us a letter.”
Mark said if you look closely at the old sign that hung outside the business on Barton Avenue you can see it’s made up of three boards. “I said let’s just make it Pizza Joe’s and we replaced the boards and changed it from Papa to Pizza.”
Teaming up with his father, Mark said he got his start in the pizza business when he was in 6th grade and they were living in Indiana. “At that time we were Gambie’s Pizza and we were located in Rensselaer,” he said.
Things weren’t happening for the Barbercheck family in Indiana. They were set to move to Colorado but had to pick up their sister Dawn at camp near Mauthe Lake. “We came through here and liked the area and ended up moving here instead,” said Mark.
Pizza Joe’s first opened in Kewaskum, 250 Main St., where Michaleno’s Pizzeria currently is located. “That was 1976,” said Mark. “We moved here the week before the ice storm and everybody got so sick.”
The pizza shop eventually moved to Barton Avenue. “A bigger market,” said Mark.
Pizza Joe’s specialized in carry-out pizzas and subs. “When we opened the sit down our lasagna was pretty big,” he said.
Darlene LeRoy of West Bend said Joe Barbercheck was a very close personal friend for almost 30 years.
“Both our daughter’s first jobs were at his restaurant and that is how we became friends,” she said. “He was a very fair and kind boss, always had a way to get everyone to do the best with a firm, yet loving discipline. He cared about everyone who worked for him and he respected him for that.
A kind and generous friend, LeRoy said Joe was happiest serving food and he took great pride in everything he made. “His menu went far beyond pizza,” she said. “He made a wonderful Italian egg roll, a small pizza folded in half and deep fried, garlic bread, plus a huge chicken sandwich and great California burger.
“His pizza was perfect and broasted chicken, the best in town, also the best homemade German potato salad. He also made apple strudel on occasion which was a great treat.”
During his career Barbercheck opened six restaurants. Every one of those restaurants closed after he sold out to new owners. There was a fire at Pizza Joe’s in Barton in 1980. Barbercheck sold the restaurant after he was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. He bought it back about three years later. The last Pizza Joe’s changed to Just Joe’s and was at 1726 Barton Ave., where Maricio’s is now.
Joe ran the pizza business upstairs and Fast Eddy’s tavern was in the lower level.
Joseph P. (Pizza Joe) Barbercheck passed away unexpectedly at his home on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. He was 77.
History photo of Pizza Joe’s
A circa 1977 photo, courtesy Terry Becker, of Pizza Joe’s when it was on Barton Avenue.
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