Boots & Sabers

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Month: November 2016

Ryan Spikes Bid to Bring Back Earmarks

by | 1130, 17 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

While I can appreciate the arguments in favor of bringing back something similar to earmarks to limit the power of the executive branch, could they be any more tone deaf?

Washington (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan successfully lobbied his Republican colleagues Wednesday to postpone a vote on a proposal to bring back earmarks, billions of dollars for pet projects tucked into spending bills.

“We just had a ‘drain the swamp’ election,” Ryan told members, according to a GOP source in the room. “Let’s not just turn around and bring back earmarks two weeks later.”
House GOP members applauded and agreed to put off the issue until the first quarter of 2017, when they have more time to have detailed plan to oversee spending bill talks.
Multiple House Republicans told CNN the proposal to reverse the ban was on track to pass in a closed door meeting before Ryan argued to slow down the process.
Supporters of the change argued that ban on earmarks went too far because they can’t direct funding to much-needed projects in their districts. They say the shift gave too much power to the White House and unelected bureaucrats in federal agencies who now decide where to spend the money.

Fitchburg Residents Receive Hate Mail

by | 1126, 17 Nov 1616 | | 1 Comment

I’m just going to call “hoax” on this one right now.

Two Fitchburg families were the targets of racist hate mail this week. Becky Ketarkus posted a photograph of a handwritten letter on Facebook Tuesday. Ketarkus’ neighbor, who she identifies as “an adult adoptee from India,” found the letter in her mailbox. The letter included several racial slurs and pointed to Donald Trump’s victory as the catalyst for racial unrest.

“Trump won. Go home. Race wars are on!,” the anonymous writer boasted.

[…]

The Fitchburg Police Department reported it received several calls from the media and community members about the letter and they plan to investigate. The recipient has not filed a police report.

GOP Considers Trump’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan

by | 0716, 17 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

Apparently we are going to start every new administration from now on by dumping a trillion dollars that we don’t have into donors’ pockets.

Republicans in Congress appear ready to embrace President-elect Donald Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure proposal — at least for now.

But even the most optimistic lawmakers caution that conservative support for his plan will hinge on the details, such as how the package is paid for and whether it’s coupled with other GOP priorities.

Business Challenges of the Cartels

by | 2159, 16 Nov 1616 | , | 0 Comments

It’s an interesting perspective.

Human resources are still a problem for the cartels, unsurprisingly given that more than 10,000 employees are violently retired each year. Junior vacancies are easily filled from the pool of 10m ninis, youths who ni estudian ni trabajan (neither study nor work). But Mexico’s poor schools—the worst in the OECD—mean that drug exporters face the same problems as other multinationals in attracting highly skilled workers. ManpowerGroup, a recruitment consultancy, found that 42% of legitimate Mexican firms reported difficulties filling vacancies. Most said they had to recruit expatriates to senior jobs. This is also true in the drug business: the Zetas have turned to former members of Guatemala’s Kaibiles special forces to satisfy a growing demand for experienced killers. Visa requirements, at least, are minimal.

Found His Hot Pot

by | 2141, 16 Nov 1616 | | 1 Comment

I guess he found what he was looking for.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An Oregon man who died after falling into a scalding Yellowstone National Park hot spring in June was looking for a place to “hot pot,” the forbidden practice of soaking in one of the park’s thermal features, officials said.

Sable Scott told investigators that she and her 23-year-old brother, Colin, left a boardwalk near Pork Chop Geyser and walked several hundred feet up a hill in search of “a place that they could potentially get into and soak,” Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told KULR-TV (bit.ly/2fulh4g) in an interview.

19 Voters Without ID Turned Away

by | 2134, 16 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

It’s working.

MADISON – At least 19 Wisconsin ballots cast in last week’s elections have been rejected due to voters lacking valid photo IDs, state records reviewed by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin show.

While a tiny fraction of the more than 2.9 million ballots tallied by state election officials, the number of rejected ballots provide an early look at how Wisconsin’s voter ID law played out in its biggest test to date.

The number of rejected ballots may also continue to rise as election officials sift through hundreds of provisional ballots cast by voters who lacked a valid photo ID on Nov. 8 and had until Friday to produce one. Of the 590 provisional ballots cast because voters lacked a valid ID, 89 have been counted so far, 19 have been rejected and the rest remain under review.

Eight of the rejected ballots were submitted in Madison, five were submitted in Milwaukee and the rest came from across the state. It is unknown which candidates the 19 rejected ballots would’ve helped but the number it too small to make a difference in the outcome of any major contest.

And hopefully it served to deter malcontents who might have wanted to cast a fraudulent vote.

A Divided Nation

by | 1543, 16 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

I keep seeing story after story about how fractured and divided the nation with Trump’s electoral victory being used as evidence of that fact.

The headline is that Donald Trump won, fairly and legitimately. The takeaway is that this election has highlighted divisions between the races, the classes, those who live in the countryside and those who live in the cities, and those who inhabit ocean-facing and land-locked states that have been growing ever more stark for decades. These disunions appear to have become a permanent feature of the American polity. The underlying story is a familiar one: of polarisation – or polarisation plus plus plus, to bastardise a Trumpism.

Considering that if Clinton had won it would have likely been by a similarly slim margin, does anyone think for a minute that we would be getting these same stories? Why is it that we are only divided when liberals lose?

Republican Sweep in Wisconsin

by | 0615, 15 Nov 1616 | | 3 Comments

My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:

For the first time in our lifetimes, Wisconsin can be officially declared a Republican state. Not only did Donald Trump win at the top of the ballot, but it was a strong Republican sweep all the way down the ballot. In many cases, the Republican candidate not only won, but won with margins much higher than expected. Republicans in Wisconsin now have to justify the support they received from the voters.

Going into last week’s election, many people speculated that Trump would be a drag on other Republicans because many conservatives in the Republican stronghold of Southeast Wisconsin were tepid, or outright opposed, Trump. The results show while Trump built his win in Wisconsin on a coalition of nontraditional Republican voters and a strong turnout in rural areas, most other state Republicans won by an even stronger margin of more traditional Republican voters.

For example, in Outagamie County Trump won with 54.2 percent of the vote — outperforming Mitt Romney in 2012. But Senator Ron Johnson won Outagamie County with 56.9 percent of the vote and in the highly contested 8th Congressional District race, Republican Mike Gallagher won with 60 percent of the vote. The same story plays out all over the state with more traditional and conservative Republicans outperforming Trump. This Republican wave has also given the Republicans their strongest majorities in many years in the state legislature. Despite projections that the Democrats might win a majority of the state Senate and erode the Republican majority in the state Assembly, the opposite occurred. In both the Senate and the Assembly, Republicans increased their majorities by one seat in each chamber. This election is a resounding endorsement of the Republican agenda that has been working for Wisconsin for the last five years.

As Republicans in the state Legislature begin to settle into their larger majorities and consider the opportunities it presents, the trial balloons are beginning to float out of Madison. One of those balloons needs to be popped immediately. Some Republicans in the legislature are already talking about increasing state spending on K-12 education. Not only would increasing spending be a reversal of the conservative policies that have led to Republicans’ electoral success, it would undermine Walker’s signature law just as the election proved again that it is working.

Besides the various politicians on the ballot in Wisconsin last week, there were 67 referendums put forth by school districts. Of those 67 referendums, the voters approved 55 of them for almost $804 million in increased spending. This is evidence of Act 10 working as designed.

One of the tradeoffs of Act 10 was that the state would restrain or reduce state spending on K-12 education in exchange for giving school districts more power to manage their budgets and the ability to ask the local voters for more money through the referendum process if they needed more money to spend. By pushing the power and responsibility of sensible fiscal management to the local districts, the state gave each district’s citizens the ability to tailor the size, structure, and expense of their school district to their liking.

It is working. Some school districts have used Act 10 to their benefit more than others, but no school district can be said to have fully utilized the tools available to them. Still, there are creative and effective reforms taking place in districts all over Wisconsin. Even after that, some school districts thought that they needed more money, so they asked the voters for additional funds through the referendum process. In most cases last week, the voters agreed and gave their school districts more money to spend. While I may disagree with some of those decisions, it was not my decision to make. If people in Germantown and Kewaskum want to tax themselves more so that their school boards can spend more, that is their business. I am perfectly content making sure that my local school district stays more fiscally responsible.

Why would state legislators want to undermine the bargain of Act 10 by increasing state spending on K-12? To the citizens in districts that just decided to increase their own taxes and spending with a referendum, state lawmakers would be layering even more burden on them to pay for more spending in districts that did not ask for it. For those of us citizens who live in districts that are trying to control our district’s spending, lawmakers would be telling us that our fiscal restraint is not appreciated by forcing us to pay for more spending for which we did not ask.

In order to continue to allow Act 10 to work, legislators must restrain state spending on K-12 and let local voters raise their own taxes if they so choose. If they decide to increase state K-12 spending on top of the $804 million just approved by the taxpayers, Wisconsin will never bring its tax burden in line with the rest of the country.

State Republicans have earned increasing majorities thanks to their steadfast advancement of conservative policies. Now is not the time to go wobbly.

Clinton’s Questionable Advertising Strategy

by | 1307, 14 Nov 1616 | , | 8 Comments

Even the Clinton Camp bought into the flawed polls.

In the closing weeks of the presidential race, Hillary Clinton’s campaign — and the outside groups that supported it — aired more television advertisements in Omaha than in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin combined. The Omaha ads were in pursuit of a single electoral vote in a Nebraska congressional district, which Clinton did not ultimately win, and also bled into households in Iowa, which also she did not win. Michigan and Wisconsin add up to 26 electoral votes; she appears not to have won them, either.

Strategic decisions can make all the difference in a close race. Clinton lost the White House (despite winning the popular vote) to Republican Donald Trump on the strength of about 100,000 votes in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. That is the definition of a close race.

But a review of Democrats’ advertising decisions at the end of the race suggests Clinton and her allies weren’t playing to win a close one. They were playing for a blowout. And it cost them.

Reince Priebus Named Chief of Staff

by | 1557, 13 Nov 1616 | | 1 Comment

Another Wisconsin boy doing well.

New York — Donald Trump said Sunday he tapped Reince Priebus — the Republican Party chairman who helped engineer his stunning presidential victory last week — as his White House chief of staff.

This is a really good pick for Trump. Reince is a smart and effective administrator. It is also good for the country because Reince already has good relationships with many of the key leaders in the legislature, like Paul Ryan. This will help facilitate a productive relationship between the executive and legislative branches.

West Bend City Clerk Resigns

by | 1540, 13 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

She’ll be missed.

Nov. 13, 2016 – West Bend, WI – West Bend City Clerk and assistant City Administrator Amy Reuteman is leaving.

This is a story you’ll read first at WashingtonCountyInsider.com

An email was sent Friday announcing Reutemen was leaving to take a job in Adams County.

Reuteman has worked with the city of West Bend for 16 years; she’s been the city clerk the past eight years and last November 2015 she was tabbed as the new assistant city administrator in West Bend.

School Carry Forum

by | 1158, 13 Nov 1616 | , , | 0 Comments

Yesterday the USCCA hosted a forum at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School regarding the prospect of allowing people to carry firearms in private schools. It was an exceedingly interesting discussion that covered a lot of angles.

The impetus for the forum is that Representative Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) will be reintroducing a bill next session to allow private schools to permit firearms in their schools. The panel was moderated by Katrina Cravy, former TV reporter. On the panel were KML Superintendent David Bartelt, teacher Michael Maas, Grafton Police Sargent Sean Fuerstenberg, Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, USCCA firearms trainer Kevin Michalowski, Delta Defense Director of Marketing Matt Fehlhaber, parent Laura Ganshow, and parent Scott Scriver.

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The subject of the forum was specific to allowing firearms into private schools, but the subject of public schools was also addressed. According to Kremer, a companion bill for public schools will likely be offered at the same time as the one for private schools. The reason for separating them is primarily political. There is fairly broad support for allowing private schools to do this, but the public schools have a well-funded and organized opposition in the form of the unions that will oppose Republican bills just because they are written by Republicans. The Republicans in the legislature want to make progress on this issue. Hopefully they will be able to pass both bills, but even if they only pass the one for private schools, it is progress. The issues facing private and public schools are largely the same, however, so the discussion was apropos to both.

The forum was mostly driven by audience questions with people coming up to the microphones to make statements and ask questions. The discussion can be broken down into three major sections. Bear in mind that any of these issues would only be applicable if an individual school decides to permit firearms on campus.

First, there is the issue of allowing CCW on campuses. Federal law does not prohibit this, but state law does. As the law is now, a licensed concealed carry holder commits a crime to even carry their weapon in their cars onto campus – much less into the buildings. Interestingly, this subject area was probably discussed the least. There was broad agreement that the law needs to be corrected to allow licensed CCW parents to carry on campuses. One former and one current police officer even commented that is is more dangerous to have people unholster their weapons to store them rather than just letting them carry as usual. Most accidental discharges happen during the administrative handling of a weapon – not when holstered or in active use. Also discussed was the fact that several other states already allow schools to decide whether or not to allow firearms on campus and those states haven’t had any negative consequences.

The second section was a lively discussion around allowing trained teachers and staff members to be armed. Michael Maas, one of the teachers on the panel, said that when they do a lock down drill, he arms himself with a baseball bat because that is all he is allowed to do. He lamented the fact that he is charged with protecting his students as if they were his own kids and he did not think he could adequately do that with a bat.

The discussion ranged from what kind of training could and would be given to teachers who chose to arm themselves and what the mechanics of an armed classroom would look like. For example, there are very good biometric gun safes that could be bolted into a desk drawer so that a teacher would not have to wear a firearm the entire time. One parent stood up and said that he hated the fact that his kids were not as safe as they could be because Wisconsin mandates that schools remain soft targets. Someone mentioned that police response was great, but never good enough. The statistics of school shooting show that most of the killings happened within the first 10 minutes. Sheriff Schmidt shared that even when the police can be on site within a few minutes, they still have a large building with multiple entrances, hundreds of people, and an unknown threat to contend with. He said that the reality is that the most effective protection must come from within the school.

The third main topic discussion revolved around how schools respond to threats in general and how that response has, and should, evolve. Right now, the prevailing threat response is the lock down. Everything is locked and kids are instructed to stay still and hide. A few schools are starting to use a technique that instructs kids to scatter and run from the school. The good part of that is that it disperses the target opportunities for the killer, but the bad part is that it is difficult to manage everyone and ensure they are safe.

Some people advocated using the Department of Homeland Security’s “Run, Hide, Fight” protocol in schools. Instead of just hiding, staff and kids would be taught to still hunker down in their rooms, but to spread out and arm themselves with whatever is available like books, chairs, whatever, to throw at the killer if they enter the room. Also discussed was ALICE, another active shooter response methodology. There was broad agreement that the simple lock down was not sufficient. Some folks cited the fact that in some cases, all the lock down did was provide a convenient place for the killer to find a lot of people to kill at once.

Also interesting was how school responses have changed over the years and some of the challenges that schools face. For example, in the past, the students and staff were instructed on where to go in an active shooter event just like a fire drill and were issued cryptic, coded messages over the P.A. to tell them what to do. This makes sense if the killer is from outside of the school, but no sense at all if the killer is one of the students who would know the response. That methodology serves to tell student killer exactly where to go find everyone in one place after the attack starts and the killer knows the “code” used over the P.A. The updated methodology is to instruct staff on what to do, but not tell students unless it happens. Also, instructions on the P.A. are to be clear and precise like, “the shooter is in the cafeteria.”

They also discussed how the physical layout of a school greatly impacts the effectiveness of a response. For example, one audience member said that his kids used to go to an open concept school that did not have doors. He told his kids to leave the building and run into the nearby woods if something happened. A teacher said that his school had solid doors and had installed special locks that that shove a steel bar into the floor and can only be unlocked from the outside with a special tool. In some schools, the only way for people to leave the building would be to go through the halls, which might be a bad idea with an active shooter. Some schools have gates than can be easily deployed to block off entire hallways. Essentially, the consensus was that a school’s specific response should be tailored to the specific school, but that a more active response than a simple lock down was required. As one person said, a kids hasn’t died in a school fire in 50 years, but we still have monthly fire drills and teach stop, drop, and roll. We should spend at least as much time and effort teaching kids how to respond to an active shooter threat.

Overall, it was a very good forum that provided a ton of information. I look forward to more sensible laws regarding firearms in schools.

The Wall… er… Fence

by | 1042, 13 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

Heh

Mexico border wall could be partly fence, President-elect Donald Trump tells US network CBS

As a matter of public policy, this is completely sensible. Most people thought that the notion of an actual wall spanning the border was a bit silly. We can secure the border with a combination of fences, walls, and technology. But Trump was repeatedly asked specifically about this distinction during the campaign and he adamantly insisted that he meant a physical wall. And here we are less than a week from the election and he has backed off of that stance. The promises from his campaign are falling faster than the leaves this Fall.

UW Sued For Discrimination Against Religion

by | 2050, 12 Nov 1616 | , | 6 Comments

According to UW-Eau Claire, Christ’s own community service would not have counted for graduation.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — A faith-based advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students whose community service doesn’t count toward graduation because it involved teaching religious doctrine at a church.

The university requires 30 hours of “service learning activity” before graduation.

“If the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wants to require its students to perform community service, then it must treat all forms of community service as equally valuable and equally worthwhile.

“This kind of animosity toward religion, this kind of discrimination towards religion, in unconstitutional,” said the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the students.

Assistant Chancellor Mike Rindo told WQOW-TV that the university’s guidebook says time spent promoting religious doctrine or worship won’t be counted.

If the goal of the policy is to encourage students to be active in their communities and serve their fellow man, then why would that exclude service through a church? Churches have been serving communities far longer than UW.

Clinton Blames Comey for Loss

by | 2032, 12 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

Of course she does.

Hillary Clinton has blamed her defeat in the US presidential election on interventions by the FBI director.

James Comey’s announcement of a new inquiry into her use of email while secretary of state shortly before election day had stopped her campaign’s momentum, Mrs Clinton said.

The Democratic candidate was speaking to top party donors in a phone call, which was leaked to the media.

Never mind her poor campaign, raging ethical issues, illegal activities, and record of failure – not to mention that she was campaigning on the wildly unpopular and failing Obamacare, tepid economy, and overbearing federal government. Nah… those things didn’t have anything to do with it.

Around the Bend by Judy Steffes

by | 0751, 12 Nov 1616 | | 0 Comments

Kellie Boone takes over as Executive Director of Washington County Fair Park

There’s a familiar face taking over at the Washington County Fair Park/AIS as Kellie Boone has been tabbed as the new executive director.

According to the press release from Search Committee Member Pete Rettler, “The board of directors of the Washington County Agriculture and Industrial Society (AIS) has selected Kellie Boone as its next Executive Director. Boone will be in charge of the 133-acre Washington County Fair Park and Conference center, the site of the annual Washington County Fair and the location of the new Silver Lining Amphitheater donated by West Bend Mutual Insurance.”

Boone has served the past five years as Executive Director of the Downtown West Bend Association.

She will be taking over for Sandy Lang at the Fair Park; Lang resigned in August.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Boone. “I’m looking forward to continuing the success of the Washington County Fair Park and Conference Center.”

Boone said her immediate goal was to secure the success of the 2017 Washington County Fair.

There were 27 people who interviewed for the position. Pete Rettler was on the selection committee. “We had a lot of great applicants and it was a tough decision but Kellie had great relevant experience and she has a history of successful events,” said Rettler.

Boone is the President of the West Bend Noon Rotary and Rettler said that civic involvement was also impressive. “It definitely helped that she is part of the community,” he said.  “Now she’ll have to get as well known in Hartford and Slinger and the other Washington County communities.”

While a new opportunity is on the horizon, Boone said the downtown has been extremely wonderful to work with.

“I’ve developed such great relationships and friendships and my board has been so supportive,” she said. “It’s really difficult to leave but this is a tremendous opportunity. People grow and it’s time for me to move forward. This is just a tremendous opportunity for me and my family.”

Boone said her greatest accomplishment was taking a great lineup of events downtown and growing those to the next level.

“Everything we have down here has grown from the Farmers’ Market to Music on Main to Wheels on Main and I love hearing from the new businesses about how this has been such a nice shift downtown and a lot of that goes back to the events we’ve created,” she said. Boone will start at the Fair Park on December 1.

 Committee to discuss “separation agreement” with Wash. Co. Attorney

The Washington County Executive Committee has a pretty meaty agenda on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The committee will adjourn into closed session to “Discuss the personnel situation and possible separation agreement of the County Attorney.”

On Oct. 20 WashingtonCountyInsider.com was first to report about the job status of County Attorney Kim Nass.

She had not been in the office and no reason was given for her absence. As of Friday, Nov. 11 Nass was still not in her office. The Washington County Sheriff has confirmed Nass is not under any criminal investigation.

County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum refused to comment on the personnel situation as did County Administrator Joshua Schoemann.

Now it appears the Executive Committee will take up the issue and come out of closed session on Tuesday with a determination on the status of Nass and her position as County Attorney.

The other hot topic is revisiting the Resolution of a “Vote of No Confidence” for County Treasurer Jane Merten. On Oct. 18 WashingtonCountyInsider.com was first to report on a “No Confidence Vote” for Merten.

The resolution stemmed from a scam email Merten responded to in June where she sent a pair of wire transfers to a fraudulent account. The initial amount was over $82,000. In September the Sheriff confirmed that half of the money never went through and $32,163.76 was returned to Washington County on Sept. 15, 2016.

On Oct. 25 the County Board failed to act on the “No Confidence Vote” citing some “incomplete language in the resolution.”

A discussion of the resolution on the “Vote of No Confidence” will be taken up on Tuesday, Nov. 15. District 21 Supervisor Donald Kriefall is the one pushing the resolution.

“We’re caretakers of the taxpayer’s money and we need to have some sort of consequence for this error and a vote of no confidence is the least we can do,” said Kriefall. “She made a mistake and this is our way of putting a letter in her file.”

Merten was just reelected to her position as County Treasurer during the Nov. 8 election.  She received 62,455 votes or 98.90%.  Merten ran uncontested.

Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include appointments, discussion of using the Old Courthouse for County Board meetings, and another closed session discussion regarding the Washington County Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 7 a.m.

Cash Store clerk thanks West Bend PD

There have been some pretty amazing law enforcement actions in West Bend recently that show what an amazing Police Department we have in the community. Another outstanding example just happened this week.

Around noon on Tuesday, Nov. 8 West Bend police were called to the Cash Store, 1021 South Main Street. The clerk behind the counter hit the emergency call button.

“I heard it on the news in the morning that there was someone wanted out of Green Lake County,” said the clerk. “I thought that sounds really familiar and I got to work, Googled her information, said ‘Yeah that’s her’ and then she came through the door.”

The clerk at the Cash Store agreed to an interview if her name was not used as she had concerns about her safety.

“She was a customer of ours,” said the clerk. “She had been in the day before.”

The clerk said the woman just didn’t seem right. That woman, Cynthia Stark-Griffin, 57, was wanted by authorities after she was suspected of trying to kill her father in Green Lake County early Sunday morning.

Authorities said Stark-Griffin allegedly set fires inside her father’s home in the Town of Marquette. Nobody was injured however law enforcement in Green Lake County filed a felony warrant for Stark-Griffin for attempted homicide and arson charges.

“I just didn’t want anybody to get hurt,” said the clerk. “The police were amazing.”

The clerk said the woman had two little dogs and the Washington County Humane Society arrived within 30 minutes to help.

“I was way more scared thinking about when she was in the store the day before, and I didn’t know,” said the clerk.

News reports indicated the woman may have had weapons in her possession. The clerk said Stark-Griffin came into the Cash Store with a big tote. “That really scared me,” she said.

The clerk said the West Bend police were just amazing. “They came in with big shields on and they were all over. They were in the bushes and they put spike strips down behind her vehicle,” she said. “I had to get away from the front of the counter and before you knew it they had her on the ground,” said the clerk.

While the incident was going on the West Bend School District sent a note home to parents saying students in the Pathways program in the Mutual Mall next door were safe. The school district also thanked West Bend police.

“I just can’t say enough how good the police were,” said the clerk. “Even after it was all over the captains came in and asked about appropriate force that was used; they are just so professional.”

Several weeks ago West Bend police dealt were in a standoff with a man on Edgewood Lane. Neighbors heard shots had been fired by the suspect. Police reported the man pointed a gun at the officer and pulled the trigger but the gun misfired. That man was eventually taken into custody and nobody was injured.

Considering what’s going on nationally, West Bend police have to be given a lot of credit for keeping this great community safe.

A note of thanks to volunteer poll workers

A couple notes of thanks to the poll workers in Washington County for all their hard work.

To poll workers in the Town of Barton, I would like to thank the Election Workers from the Town of Barton for their dedication to working long hours at the polls on Tuesday, November 8. It was a busy day and many unusual things occurred throughout the day and my wonderful election workers handled it with grace and commitment to doing all tasks with transparency and commitment to a job well done. My heartfelt thanks to my wonderful “Pollworkers” – I certainly would be lost without you. Aggie Pruner Town of Barton Clerk

To poll workers in the City of West Bend,

Thank you to all of the election inspectors for the City of West Bend.  There were approximately 120 very dedicated and hardworking individuals that truly stepped up and worked long hours to ensure the integrity of the presidential election for West Bend.  Working the polls can be very difficult so I want to make sure you are aware I truly appreciate all of you.  There were individuals that worked from 6 a.m. Tuesday morning until 1 a.m. Wednesday morning and still had a smile on their face.  The City of West Bend owes you a huge Thank You!!!!

Amy Reuteman Assistant City Administrator/HR Director/City Clerk City of West Bend

Updates & tidbits

–The funeral is Thursday, Nov. 17, for Jacqueline J. Schlicht (nee Cary, formerly Turnquist). Jackie married Richard “Dick” Turnquist and together they owned and operated Dick’s Pizza in downtown West Bend for many years.

-According to the West Bend Cinema, 2014 Parkway Drive, the new theater seats are on the way and will hopefully be installed before the holiday.

– Enchantment in the Park powered by Westbury Bank opens Friday, Nov. 25 at Regner Park. Don’t forget to sign up for the 2nd annual Husar’s Diamond Dash.

-Holy Angels Students of the Month for October 2016 include 6th grader Jonah Nagel, 7th grader Riley Becker, and 8th grader Kate Davies.

– Saint Frances Cabrini Parish will be hosting an evening of Advent Taizé Prayer on Tuesday, Nov 29 from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.  Taizé is an ecumenical prayer based on the pillars of scriptures, song, intercessions and silence.

– Randy Dreher of Kewaskum took home a nice trophy buck he got it during bow season. The 8 pointer had a 21-inch inside spread. Dreher was hunting the Kettle Moraine, east of Kewaskum. The buck weighed in at 225 pounds and he shot it at 4:30 p.m.

– One of the best locally-owned franchises in West Bend is getting a bit of a facelift as Keith Novotny’s Cousins Subs will be debuting a new storefront sign.

– Help is available to families in Washington County that need assistance with winter heating bills. Contact Kay Lucas with the Washington County Human Services Department which oversees the Energy Assistance Program. The number is 262-335-4677.

– This is the last week in business for Pat’s Jiffy Stop, 111 E. Decorah Road. Shop owner Pat Labuda is retiring and closing. “I gave December 1 as notice but I think Nov. 18 is going to be my last day,” said LaBuda. The building will soon become an extension of the karate business next door.

Cash and Schultz; A love story in West Bend

There’s a familiar couple that walk arm in arm around West Bend; their pace is steady, their love is evident. Nancy Schultz and Jerry Cash.

Cash and Schultz – it sounds like a country-western band.

“We met one another at The Threshold 34 years ago and we’ve never had an argument,” said Jerry.

At 80 years old Jerry is sharp and spry, and he tells it like it is. He holds on to Nancy’s arm while they walk so she doesn’t stumble and fall. Nancy, 66, said she holds onto Jerry because she loves him.

Jerry graduated from Barton Grade School 66 years ago. “Then I went to work on the farm with my parents,” he said. “I’m an old-time West Bender.”

Several years ago Jerry volunteered his time at The Threshold. “I sat down next to Nancy to talk to her and she said ‘I’m not even going to look at you,'” he said, recalling his first meeting with the love of his life, “And now look at us.”

The couple belongs to Good Shepherd Church in West Bend. Nancy embroiders, makes colorful tablecloths with butterflies and she collects church bulletins. “If you have any church bulletins or tell your parents to save their bulletins for us,” she said. “I save them and when it’s raining or icky outside I take a hand full and read them.”

Nancy and Jerry talk about the simple things in life. Nancy said they have a washer and dryer at their house, they have a brand new vacuum, and she likes watching birds.

Nancy reaches out and tenderly strokes the back of Jerry’s head. She readily expresses her genuine love for him.

“I sing him beautiful songs,” said Nancy.  “The Polish Lullaby, May you Never be Alone Like Me and What a friend we have in Jesus.”

Jerry said he loves Nancy because of what she can do. “She can cook, she can bake, she’s always got a wonderful smile, she talks very polite to everybody and she likes children,” he said.

Ten years ago, Jerry wrapped up a 15-year career working at the Old Fashioned Bakery. “Rich Schommer was my boss,” he said, “I went in late at night. I made donuts, bread, everything.. you name it.”

The pair are walking on a sunny Sunday to McDonald’s for supper; it’s about 11:30 a.m.  “I really like their salads,” said Nancy.

McDonald’s is an easy jaunt for the couple who walk from their home on East Decorah Road across from the high school. “We’ll walk to Walmart and back,” said Jerry, “That’s about 10 miles and sometimes we even walk out to Burger King.”

During lunch Nancy talks about her sisters, how her father has died and how her mother can’t wait to join him.

And then the conversation shifts to polka.

“We love polka,” said Nancy. The pair listen to the music Sunday morning on the radio. “I listen every day, every day,” she said, “We have cassette tapes and we listen and we embroider and then when 10 o’clock comes we close up shop for the night because then it’s time to go to bed.”

As I wrap up my visit, the couple make a simple request.

“If you see any polka music or nature tapes, just put it in the bag next to our door and mark it Schultz and Cash,” said Nancy. “We just love polka music and this has been such a good day because I can’t believe you took our picture.”

Trump Backs Off of Full Repeal of Obamacare

by | 1542, 11 Nov 1616 | | 5 Comments

Sigh… here we go.

He told the Wall Street Journal he favours keeping two main parts of the bill because “I like those very much”.

One is a ban on insurers denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The other provision that the president-elect told the newspaper he favours allows young adults to be insured on their parents’ policies.

Mr Trump told the Journal it was his hour-and-a-half meeting with Mr Obama that had made him reconsider his calls for an all-out repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Apparently, Trump’s convictions are so firm that a chat with Obama will make him fold like a cheap tent. It hasn’t even been a week and he’s already backed off of two campaign promises.

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