Boom.
“Strong leaders don’t automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them. We have the Second Amendment and due process of law for a reason,” Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska, said in a statement. “We’re not ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the President talked to today doesn’t like them.”
Oh no! From the Washington County Insider.
Feb. 27, 2018 – Washington Co., WI – Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt will not run for another term.
Schmidt is 54 years old and has been with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department for 28 years.
Schmidt started part time in 1989 and went to full time in 1991. Schmidt issued the statement below on Tuesday afternoon.
Schmidt said he has no plans just yet on what he will do after retirement. His current term ends Jan. 4, 2019.
Schmidt has been a very good Sheriff. His steady leadership will be missed.
We have created a real and digital proxy universe in which it is nearly impossible to meet everyone’s expectations.
And social media — where, according to Pew Research, girls tend to dominate, using visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat in far greater numbers than boys — isn’t helping the matter. The pressure to get at least one like per minute on Instagram and keep up scores of daily Snapchat “streaks” is unending.“I can’t go to sleep at night until I answer all my notifications,” one high school student told me last week. Adolescent girls get the least sleep of any group of youth.[…]
But social media and the internet are only part of the issue. I have been asking adolescent girls to describe what it means to them to be successful. They tell me they are under pressure to be superhuman: ambitious, smart and hardworking, athletic, pretty and sexy, socially active, nice and popular — both online and off.Psychologists call this “role overload” — too many roles for a single person to play — and “role conflict”– when the roles you play are at odds with one another. The effort required to get a bikini body will cut away at the hours you need to spend in the lab to get into medical school.The sheer impossibility of measuring up has left a generation of girls with the enduring belief that, no matter how many achievements they rack up, they are not enough as they are. The path their mothers and grandmothers cleared so their girls could enjoy every opportunity is marked by self criticism, overthinking and fear of failure.
Amen, Speaker Ryan.
House GOP leaders downplayed the need for Congress to pass expansive new gun control measures on Tuesday, instead turning their ire on the FBI and local law enforcement for failing to prevent the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.
Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters at a press conference that “we shouldn’t be banning guns for law-abiding citizens” but “focusing on making sure that citizens who shouldn’t get guns in the first place, don’t get those guns.” Ryan — who said arming teachers was a “good idea” but a local issue that Congress should not infringe upon — touted a House-passed bill to reinforce background checks under current law.
More of this will help decrease the number of car jackings in Milwaukee.
A 21-year-old would-be carjacker was shot and killed by his intended victim early Monday, Milwaukee officials said.
The man, whose name has not been released, was armed with a gun and trying to carjack a 24-year-old man who was heading into work shortly before 6 a.m. Monday, Milwaukee Police Capt. Andra Williams said.
The 24-year-old had a valid concealed carry license and fatally shot the man, said Ald. Cavalier Johnson, who called a news conference late Monday about the shooting.
The incident occurred outside a business in the 8800 block of W. Fond du Lac Ave. and was the first reported fatal shooting in Johnson’s northwest side district this year.
The shooter, who lives outside the city, stayed at the scene, gave a voluntary statement and is cooperating with the investigation, Williams said.
Police believe a second car may have been involved with the attempted carjacking and are searching for a green Chrysler Pacifica, Williams said.
I always feel bad for the shooter in incidents like these. This guy was just heading to work early on a Monday and now his life is forever altered because he was forced to take a life in self defense (allegedly). As someone who carries a weapon for self-defense all the time, I pray that I am never forced to do what this young man had to do.
My column for the Washington County Daily News is online. Here you go:
Once again we find ourselves searching for solutions in the wake of a mass killing at a school. It is the natural human reaction to want to do something about it and we all want the killing to end. The powerful impulse to “do something” is often the genesis of bad laws, or worse, tyranny, but that must not deter us from doing whatever is legal, ethical, and constitutional to decrease the likelihood of another massacre.
Mass killings are still the statistical outlier in America. The odds of being killed in such a mass shooting is dwarfed by the likelihood of being killed by a criminal or angry family member. According to FBI data, our nation has averaged about 23 deaths per year from mass shootings since 1982. While each mass shooting is shocking and tragic, you are more than twice as likely to be killed by bees or wasps as in a mass shooting. Still, while rare, mass killings appear to be on the rise and we must take reasonable measures to prevent them when possible, and mitigate the damage when they occur.
The root causes of the rise of mass killings are complex. Our culture is steeped in violent movies and video games; devoid of moral absolutism; hostile to God and blessings of salvation; detached from the real world of human interaction; where kids grow up isolated and angry in a sea of digital and artificial surrogates for love, friendship, and emotional connections. It is a toxic brew that — especially when mixed with mental illness and lax law enforcement — fertilizes evil. But fixing the culture is hard. In the meantime, we must look to preserve the footings of individual liberty while providing for our security.
What can be done about reducing mass killings in our schools and elsewhere? Provide better mental health services? Install better security in our schools? Hire armed security officers to patrol our schools? See it and say it? Ensure that background checks for the purchase of weapons are thorough? Deal severely with people who are violent and unstable? Yes. All of the above.
Another measure we need to take is to allow schools to decide if and how they would allow teachers, parents, and staff to arm themselves.
There are some realities that we face as a nation when it comes to firearms. First, firearms are prevalent in our society and they are not going away. That is as it should be. We decided at the founding of this nation that an armed citizenry was necessary for the preservation of liberty and it is an ethic that is ingrained into the American heart. If anything, in the face of tragedy, Americans have shown that they prefer to lift restrictions on owning and carrying firearms for law-abiding folks instead of enacting further restrictions. Even if we repeal the 2nd Amendment tomorrow, 300 million guns aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Second, while we can and must take action to address the root causes of violence, we will never completely dig out those roots. They are at the very core of humanity. We are marked by a shadow of evil that cannot be completely eliminated absent the eradication of our species. As such, we must do as we have always done: hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Allowing school employees to arm themselves provides for that last desperate line of defense in the face of unthinkable violence. When faced by a lunatic with a gun, there are very few ways to escape the situation alive. Meeting force with force is sometimes the only, and best, option.
Implementing such a policy is complex. High schools are different from elementary schools. Rural schools are different from urban schools. Big schools are different from smaller schools. That is why the decisions about how a policy allowing teachers and staff to arm themselves must be left to local school districts and private school leaders.
But this is not untraveled ground. In Texas, for example, 172 school districts already allow staff and/or school board members to carry firearms on school grounds. And according to the Giffords Law Center, nine states already allow concealed carry holders to carry on school grounds in some or all situations. Those are not the schools where mass shootings are on the rise.
Not every, or even most, school employees would want to accept the responsibility of providing an armed defense, but some would. They deserve to have that choice. They deserve to have a safer workplace. Even the best police forces are minutes away when seconds count.
At the very least, the fact that some school employees might be armed serves as a deterrent to wouldbe killers. There is a reason why mass murderers tend to target gunfree zones. They may be evil, but they aren’t stupid. The threat of an immediate armed response denies them the time to inflict maximum carnage.
We will never be able to completely eliminate the threat of violence in our schools. That is precisely why we must provide our school teachers and staff with all of the tools available to protect themselves and our children. As we have learned after almost every school shooting in the past thirty years, the violence only stops when it is met with equal force. The quicker that happens, the fewer people get shot. It is just that simple.
A group led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday filed a lawsuit against Gov. Scott Walker for his decision to leave two vacant legislative seats open for nearly a year.
Seats in the state’s 1st Senate District and 42nd Assembly District were vacated in late December when Walker appointed Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, and Rep. Keith Ripp, R-Lodi, to administrative positions.
Walker has argued it makes sense to leave the seats open until the regularly scheduled Nov. 6 elections, but Democrats have argued it’s not fair to leave residents of those districts without representation.
The district offices remain staffed at the Capitol.
“Governor Scott Walker’s refusal to hold special elections is an affront to representative democracy,” Holder said in a statement. “Forcing citizens to go more than a year without representation … is a plain violation of their rights and we’re hopeful the court will act quickly to order the governor to hold elections.”
Here’s what the Wisconsin Constitution says about this:
Filling vacancies. Section 14. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature.
I’ll be on Wisconsin Public Radio at 0700 to discuss whether or not Wisconsin should allow teachers to arm themselves. Tune in!
This has almost no chance of passing this year since the legislative session is pretty much over, but I support this bill.
In response to the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida, State Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, has introduced a bill that would allow licensed concealed carry holders to bring weapons into private schools, if the school enacts a policy allowing it.
The deadline to co-sponsor the Private School Carry Act was noon Friday.
In a co-sponsorship memo, Kremer said, “We hope this program will gain popularity for expansion into all public schools statewide.”
The thinking behind the bill is that a shooter who is aware of a school with armed people in it will bypass it for another school.
One of the candidates running to replace Kremer also supports it:
Stockbridge – Former Campaign Manager and Legislative Intern for Rep. Kremer, Ty Bodden, comes out in support of Kremer’s Private School Carry Act. This bill gives private schools the option to arm their teachers with guns to protect their students. The bill is meant to be a pilot program, starting in private schools and could eventually lead to being enacted in our public schools as well. “This bill and any future bill gives power to the schools and the school boards. They know what is best for their students and can decide what is best for their classroom safety. If schools do not want their teachers having guns, they do not have to have them, but it at least gives them the option,” states Bodden. The idea of arming teacher is not a new concept. In Ohio, decisions about whether to allow guns in schools are up to school boards in the more than 600 districts across the state. Many districts voluntarily acknowledge the presence of guns on campus, but only the staff knows who has access to them. Other districts have not said anything at all about their policies. The decision is up to each individual school. Attorney General, Brad Schimel, has also come out in support of legislation like this.
Bodden also supports the recently passed Assembly Bill that creates a grant program to help schools pay for armed guards. “These are the pieces of legislation that can lead to real safety change when it comes to protecting our students and schools,” Bodden said. The bill also makes purchasing a gun for someone prohibited from possessing one a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison instead of the four years the state has now. “More of a discussion needs to be had in regards to protecting Wisconsin students and I look forward to having those discussions.”
A mother-daughter duo are confronted by an armed robber in their family’s liquor store in Oklahoma, but they quickly pull out their own guns and shoot him several times, and its all caught on CCTV.
The incredible heart stopping footage shows Tina Ring, 53, and her daughter Ashley Lee, 30, appearing to cooperate after giving the robbery money while being held up with a shotgun at their Forest Acres Liquor Store Thursday night.
However the fast acting women grabbed two small pistols hidden under the register and lock him in the store with a button, turning the tables on the would-be robber, who police identified as Tyrone Lee, 36.
First Tina shoots Lee once at point blank range, as he runs off she pumps off two more shots in his direction. Her daughter Ashley looks to be dialing 911 while her mother covers them waiting for the brazen robber to return.
I wish these two ladies were guarding the school in Florida.
Also, click through the link and watch the video. See how active the robber is and how he attacks one of the ladies even after he’s been shot. THAT is why one shoots to stop the threat and not try to wound, warn, scare, or disarm an attacker.
Ries’ Sausage Plus has closed
Neighbors coming home from work Thursday afternoon reacted with a bit of shock to find the doors closed at Ries’ Sausage Plus Spirits Meat & Deli, 1435 W. Washington Street in West Bend.
“Did you know about this,” said Barb Justman. She stopped just before 4 p.m. to pick up a small deli tray of sausages. “Oh come on…..”
Justman was obviously disappointed.
A white sign on the door read ‘We are closed until further notice. Thank you.’
Another neighbor named Paul pulled up in his pickup truck, got out and started walking toward the store.
“They’re closed,” said Nick Thill from Honey Grove Ice Cream. He was walking his dog across 15th Avenue. “I had honey and some ice cream in there,” Thill said. “He paid up front so I’m not worried.”
Glancing through the store windows Thill’s wife said the shelves “looked empty” as well as the deli.
Businesses in the strip mall said other customers came in Wednesday night asking why the store was dark. One person said there was a semi out back earlier in the day.
In February 2016 Steve and Karen Ries sold the store to Sammy Toor of Illinois.
Toor made some changes, including replacing Kewaskum Frozen Foods line of meats and sausage with the Boar’s Head brand. Customers complained and the traditional Kewaskum Frozen Foods was brought back, albeit short term.
In late 2017 an unsubstantiated rumor filtered around social media announcing the store’s demise.
Toor said it was not true and spent months advertising and trying to market for Christmas sales.
There’s been no response to messages left at the store today.
Officials at City Hall in West Bend said they had no update and a direct phone number for the owner was not available.
Some neighbors are concerned because they’re made reservations for fundraising brat frys this summer at the little Red Shed Brat Haus on Highway 33. Ries’ Sausage Plus handled the rental of that facility and often supplied the meat for the various organizations.
Funeral services for Bob Pick Jr.
Funeral services for Bob Pick Jr., 76, will be held Monday, Feb. 26 at St. James Episcopal Church, 148 S. Eighth Avenue in West Bend.
Mother Mindy Valentine Davis will preside over the service. Myrhum-Patten Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. The memorial service will be at 3 p.m. with a reception afterwards.
Bob Pick Jr. died the evening of Friday, Feb. 16 at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
Doug Gonring was with Pick in his final hours. “I really didn’t know his condition and I walked into his room and asked him what he was doing lying around because we had spring training right around the corner,” said Gonring.
Doctors spoke with Doug and his wife Karen. The Gonrings spent several hours at Pick’s bedside. They even held a cell phone to his ear as Pick’s sister Suzanne offered a prayer to her older brother and reassured him it was OK to be with the Lord.
“I said if you hear God’s voice and you want to go to heaven you can go,” said Suzanne. “I release you because they told me you’re very sick. I told him you can see mom and dad and Jenny and Tim and I prayed for him. I said right now Bobby be at peace with other people so you can be in heaven.”
Gonring said the prayer drove everyone in the room to tears.
After the Gonrings returned home Friday evening they received a call around 6:40 p.m. that Pick had died.
Gonring penned a piece for Pick’s obituary – Bob was the best teammate on a baseball field I ever had 30 years of never missing a game, take that back he missed one because of some dental work. Bob showed young men what was imperfect in baseball and what is so perfect about baseball. He showed them respect, accountability, and dedication but most of all for 30 years he showed each team or family how important it is to have friends. Bob, by his own account, never was good enough to play but boy did he show us how to be a great scorekeeper and do it with his unique humor. Will be missed by my family.
Other tributes and memorials are below.
Robert C. Pick III – Thank you for being a great father and for all you did for the city of West Bend.
B.J. Royes – Indeed, Bob was a West Bend legend. Never anything negative to say about the athletes, the coaches, or the officials – just a loyal supporter of local athletics. He loved to be seen and to be a part of the scene. I’ll miss Bob shuffling into the Fieldhouse or into Regner Park – a hot dog in one hand, and his brown leather bag hung over his shoulder. RIP old friend.
Jerry Mehring – My memories of Bob Pick go back to our High School days. He was behind me in High School. Every day when he met someone new at school he would offer them a stick of gum from his “Gold Gumtainer.” It was a gold colored container that held a pack of gum with a flip lid. He was so proud of it. After High School Bob and his sister Jenny went into the Navy. When they would be home on leave you would see them both walking up and down Main Street on Friday nights. When we had the Dairy Queen, on South Main Bob would come in every week during football and basketball season to make sure our manager had the home game schedules so that they would schedule enough help to handle the crowd after the games. Whenever you would meet Bob around town he always had a memory or story or joke. He was definitely a fixture in West Bend and I will be missed by many including me.
Liquor license for Boro Buzdum at former Long Branch Saloon
There was a thorough grilling for Boro Buzdum during Monday night’s West Bend Licensing Committee meeting as Police Chief Ken Meuler held a 1-inch folder of information and violations connected with establishments related to Buzdum.
The Licensing Committee was reviewing a Reserve Class B Combination License for Buzdum’s Pub & Grill in Barton, formerly Long Branch Saloon.
Chief Ken Meuler documented a troubled past for Buzdum.
Dist. 7 alderman Adam Williquette said he spoke with Lt. Duane Farrand regarding the liquor license to be contingent on reviewing building permits for the property.
Dist. 5 alderman Rich Kasten had some concerns about the violations at Buzdum’s establishment in Germantown. “I just question if this decision is the right one,” said Kasten.
Dist. 6 alderman Steve Hoogester and Dist. 1 alderman John Butschlick both said they had reservations as well.
City attorney Ian Prust said West Bend Police have been extremely proactive in the enforcement of over-serving violations and following up on OWI offenses. “I don’t disagree with your interpretation of the situation but it’s not quite there to deny it from a legal standpoint,” said Prust.
The council voted 5-2 to approve the license with Dist. 5 alderman Kasten and Dist. 8 alderman Roger Kist dissenting.
Buzdum currently owns Buzdums Pub & Grill on Maple Road in Germantown. Buzdum previously owned Sophia’s Pub and Eatery in the Dove Plaza in Slinger. That opened in June 2015 and has since closed.
In 2012 Buzdum purchased the former Players Pub & Grill and opened Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen’s Club on Highway 33 east in the Town of Trenton. That establishment opened in 2013 and closed a couple years ago.
In 2016 the West Bend Common Council did pass a cabaret ordinance which prohibits adult entertainment within the city limits.
Early word is Buzdum is gutting the building on Barton Avenue. He’s expected to open the small corner bar this summer and he will occupy the apartment above.
Try hockey for free at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center
The Washington County Youth Hockey Association invites boys and girls to the Kettle Moraine Ice Center on Saturday, March 3 for a Try Hockey For Free clinic as part of Hockey Weekend Across America.
From 2-3:30 p.m. local youth, ages 4 to 9, are encouraged to experience ice hockey for the first time and learn the basic skills in a fun, safe environment.
“We look forward to welcoming families to the rink to try our great sport of ice hockey” said WCYHA President Todd Filter. “Our goal is for these families to enjoy watching their kids learn new skills with big smiles on their faces.”
USA Hockey’s Try Hockey program, with the support of the National Hockey League and NHL member clubs, among others, is designed to provide youth hockey associations with a national platform to introduce new kids to the sport. Pure Hockey and Liberty Mutual Insurance are official sponsors of Try Hockey For Free Days. USA Hockey has close to 400 locations offering this unique opportunity to kids nationwide.
To register for this Try Hockey For Free event, please visit TryHockeyForFree.com. For more information, please contact: Brandon Bayer, CIT General Manager Kettle Moraine Ice Center (262)335-0876
Allenton Fire Department hands out awards By Ron Naab
The Allenton Fire Department recognized Bruce Ellis with the George Moser Member of the Year award. Ellis was involved in the late 1980’s to early 1990’s with the Bark Lake and later Richfield Fire Departments.
He joined Allenton four years ago after the rescue squad responded to an incident in which his grandson was injured in a lawnmower accident.
Ellis is dedicated to helping others and is a shining light as he volunteers for many events the AFD sponsors, including Special Valentine’s Day Cards from the kids at Allenton Elementary.
Updates & tidbits
–The annual Bowl-A-Thon for the Washington County Dive Team is coming up Saturday, March 3. The event is held in memory of Michael Mann who fell through the ice on Big Cedar Lake and died in 2003.
– The Washington County Fair Park will be celebrating this St. Patrick’s Day with an indoor concert featuring Irish and Scottish folk tunes and classic pub songs from bands Tallymoore and Ceol Carde. Headlining the event will be U2 Zoo.
-The 7th annual Diamond Dinner & Benefit for the West Bend Baseball Association is March 3 at The Columbian. There will be a tribute to athletes who made their mark in local baseball circle including Mark Scholz, Adam Rohlinger, Bob Meyer, Bob Kissinger and TJ Fischer.
Nice funeral Mass for Jerry Butz
There was a nice turnout Tuesday at St. Frances Cabrini as friends and family gathered for the funeral Mass for Jerry Butz. The service started with a tribute by Sister Nancy Butz who provided a eulogy.
“Jerry’s outlook on life was ‘Don’t worry, be happy,’” read Sister Butz.
The tribute to Jerry Butz focused on his strong standards. “Jerry led by example. He was respectful and treated everyone with compassion.”
“Their house always had an open-door policy. Jerry would make you feel at home immediately.”
Jerry and his wife Karen were married nearly 60 years. Sister Butz said, “Jerry said that Karen was ‘one of a kind. I tell you that, she is perfect for me.’”
“He will be remembered for his smile, signature laugh, a man of deep compassion and a gentle giving spirit.”
Rev. Justin Lopina presided over the service and while he had a long list of memories he said one comment from the children of Jerry and Karen Butz stood out, “We’re all a little dad.”
The Knights of Columbus and veterans from the local VFW Post were in attendance to present military honors. Those in attendance included many community leaders and fellow business owners who expressed their condolences.
“When I heard that he passed the first thought in my mind was that he was a man who always had a smile on his face,” said West Bend Mayor Kraig Sadownikow.
“Always had a good laugh and a few years ago we proclaimed it Jerry Butz Day in West Bend and we had a little parade around the block and we ended up at his house for his 80th birthday.”
Gerald “Jerry” A. Butz, 84, passed away peacefully on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 at The Kathy Hospice in West Bend, surrounded by family.
Jerry will be remembered as an active member of the West Bend community and always enjoyed giving his time to charities. Jerry was an avid golfer, enjoyed gardening, traveled the world and especially loved spending time with his extended family and friends. Jerry will always be remembered for his smile and signature laugh.
Remember the old mom-and-pop grocery stores
As word filters around West Bend about the news surrounding Ries’ Sausage Plus there was a day when a small corner grocery was the buzz of activity in town.
Long before Piggly Wiggly, Pick ‘n Save, Sentry, Red Owl, Kohl’s Food Store and A&P – West Bend was home to a number of mom-and-pop groceries and food marts set up in the downtown and on quiet street corners.
In the 1930s there was the Perry-Page Grocery store on Seventh Avenue and Chestnut. It was run by Ida Page and Rev. Perry. That corner building, 403 S. 7th Ave., was home to Roffler Styling.
National Tea was the National Food Store located on Main St. just south of the West Bend Theatre; Edward Schmidt was the manager. National Tea later moved to N. Main St., just south of the brewery and Gene Stark was manager.
In the 1930s and 1940s Held Food Mart had three stores in West Bend. Harvey Held ran the store at 241 N. Main St.; it was in the Gonring Building where Grasshopper Restaurant is currently located. Another Held’s was at 121 S. Main St.; the current home of Ted Newman Signs. Held and Kirsch was also a local store.
Richard Krueger owned a little neighborhood grocery called the West Side Cash Store; it was on the southwest corner of Tenth and Cedar Street.
Flitter’s Queen’s Quality Grocery, 1270 Chestnut St., was on the northeast corner of Silverbrook and Chestnut where Tyberg Dental Clinic is located.
Kash N Karry was at 1411 W. Washington St. just to the west of Myrhum Patten Funeral Home, where West Bend Furniture and Design currently stands.
Otten’s Store was at 1805 Barton Ave. in what’s currently Small Town Bait & Tackle. The Otten family ran the store and the last member of the family business was Gene Otten.
Schuster’s Grocery, 1779 Barton Ave., was run by Tom Schuster; the store was across from the Gadow Roller Mills. Xpressions bead and yarn store is in the old grocery.
George Carbon’s IGA was across from the Washington House. The grocery was the old Central Hotel run by BC Ziegler’s father.
Winter Grocery was on the southwest corner of Oak and Main St. was a store started by Flora Huber who later added a little lunch room. Later the business was run by Bill Hess.
Henry E. Peters had a store in the 500 block of Hickory across from Winkler’s Office City. William Peters had a huge mercantile store in the same
Wegener’s Red Bell Market was a store on Hickory St. east of Sixth Avenue. It was run by Reuben Wegener. “Reuben would fill telephone orders for my mother,” said Kevin O’Meara.
Heipp General Store was at Fifth Avenue and Walnut. A photo shows Fred Heipp at the reigns with his dog Putzy. The horse was named Nancy and she served as the delivery horse for Heipp General Store since she was 6-years-old.
At age 38, Nancy collapsed on the street and was unable to get up without help. Heipp retired Nancy and replaced her with a younger horse called Babe.
“Fritz Heipp delivered ice to our home for our refrigerators, before the electric models,” said Peg Ziegler.
The Heipp General Store was later home to Mehring’s Fishery, John’s Photography, and is currently Hometown Talents & Treasures.
Researchers at the Washington County Historical Society helped cobble together this partial list of grocery stores in West Bend.
Note on grocery stores
I read with interest your recent story regarding small Mom & Pop grocery stores that were in business prior to the typical big grocery stores coming into town. I would offer the thought that you missed a really good one that was right in the middle of downtown West Bend – the Bye Low grocery – a full service grocery that had a full service meat department, bakery and general grocery store. Having spent a lot of time there as a child (my Dad owned the store – this would have been in the 1950’s) it was a great little store with lots of the old time businesses in the downtown area in full operation when West Bend was still a small town – some of these businesses were well known outside of town (BC Ziegler, The West Bend Company, Amity and others). Just an additional thought and maybe a follow up to your story?! Thanks Steve
GOOD:
The Assembly signed off on a bill that would require the state to obtain a conviction before police could keep and then sell property taken from those accused of a crime.
The bill, which the chamber approved on a voice vote vote, also would require a court to find the property seized is proportional to the crime committed. It now heads to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after clearing the Senate on Tuesday.
and…
A bill that would make experimental drugs available to eligible patients passed the Assembly on a voice vote.
The so-called “right to try” bill has been passed in more than 35 states. President Trump in his State of the Union speech last month also called on Congress to pass a federal version of the bill.
Those are headed to Governor Walker’s desk.
BAD:
The state Assembly has passed a bill to bolster northeast Wisconsin’s reeling paper industry by giving paper-maker Kimberly-Clark a lucrative tax-incentive deal modeled on one given last year to electronics maker Foxconn.
The Assembly passed the bill Thursday night, 56-37, largely on party lines. It now heads to the state Senate.
Gov. Scott Walker announced the plan earlier this month, aimed at halting the planned closure of two Kimberly-Clark factories in Neenah and Fox Crossing. The Dallas-based corporation last month announced the closures, expected to cause the loss of 600 jobs in the region, as part of a global restructuring.
We shouldn’t use tax dollars to fight economic trends and prop up industries on the losing end of those trends. We should allow the creative destruction of the free market to work.
And…
Wisconsin parents would get $100 for each child they have under a bill passed Thursday by the state Assembly.
The legislation also creates a sales tax holiday during the first weekend of August for purchases under $100. Both the tax credit and the tax holiday would be one-time events.
So all Wisconsin taxpayers contributed to the projected budget surplus, but they are going to give it back to a select few – even if they didn’t pay any state taxes. This is election year political handouts at the taxpayers’ expense. Governor Walker and the Republicans who voted for this should be ashamed of themselves.
Let’s hope the Senate kills these last two bills.
Despite declining enrollment, the West Bend School District is running full speed with a referendum. This email from the Director of Facilities to the CFAC members went out this morning:
From: Dave Ross <daveross@wbsd-schools.org>
Date: February 23, 2018 at 9:53:33 AM CST
To: XXXXX
Subject:Update to CFAC membersLast Tuesday night, the Board of Education met for a work session to discuss the work that you have been doing and to make some decisions about what needs to be done going forward in order to keep things moving forward. Video of the meeting can be viewed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buHIkNf-4Ow&feature=youtu.be
The meeting had three parts to it: the first was an update to the board by Bray on the work they have done to date, the second portion was dedicated to looking at the districts debt picture which was presented by Robert W. Baird and the third part was an overview of the methodology for the community survey which was presented by School Perceptions.
Here is a very brief synopsis of each part:
Matt Wolfert from Bray Architects reviewed the drawings with the board including the renovation option for Jackson. The board asked a lot of questions but seemed quite pleased with the progress that has been made to date.
Brian Brewer from R.W. Baird reviewed the debt picture of the district. The district does have some existing debt but has structured that debt wisely. In addition, the district has been putting money into the Jackson Trust. The long and short of things is that the district could do as much as an approximately $40 million referendum and not raise property taxes because of the structure of the existing debt and the Jackson Trust.
Finally, Bill Foster of School Perceptions presented on how his company would go about performing a community survey. He also advised the board to listen to the results of what the survey told them. Failing to do so often leads to an erosion of trust in the board from the community.
This was a really short overview so I would encourage you, (especially if you’ve got a spare 2 or 3 hours) to watch the video.
The last thing I wanted to do is share a little more information. During our committee meetings many of you asked for articles and/or research on the effects that a facility has on education. I thought that this article:
provided a fairly good overview but more importantly gives many references/sources for further investigation.
As always, if you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.
Have a great weekend.
Dave Ross
Director of Facilities and Operations
Based on the email, it looks like they are going to try to pull the “let’s spend $40 million (plus millions more in interest), but we won’t increase taxes.” Of course, that commits more of the operating budget to debt service, thus reducing funds for teachers, supplies, etc. It also completely misses the opportunity to decrease taxes as those older debts are paid off.
Such a move of spinning off debt for decades in order to keep the yearly expenses lower also increases the likelihood of tax increases in the future. It tightens the part of the budget that can be used for actual operations, and remember that enrollment in the district is expected to decline. As enrollment declines, so will funding. But the debt service must be paid. The end result is that there will be less and less money for the actual operating funds that can be used for paying staff and supporting the daily operations of the district.
Putting another $40 million on the district credit card in an era of declining enrollment is reckless fiscal management of the district. It will be interesting to hear from the school board members and school board candidates as this discussion evolves.
There’s no other word for it.
(CNN)When Nikolas Cruz started shooting last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, an armed deputy stationed at the Florida school rushed to the building.
But instead of going inside, the officer waited outside for four minutes as the gunman killed students and faculty inside, authorities said.School resource officer Scot Peterson never went in, despite taking a position on the west side of Building 12, where most of the carnage happened, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday.
Monte Schmiege, the only incumbent running for the West Bend School Board, took issue with a recent column by John Torinus in the Washington County Daily News. Schmiege responded with this today:
Yes, I do have an agenda: I focus on student success
The Daily News recently ran an editorial by John Torinus on the recent primary, including selection of candidates for the school board election April 3. My claim to fame, according to Torinus, is having an agenda “beyond management oversight of the district,” in contrast to the board members he favors. I think all board members have an intense interest in what is best for the students, myself included, and all candidates come to the board with agendas.
Torinus does not clarify what management oversight means or what kind of agendas or judgments form the basis for such oversight. He says I am a “declared conservative.” I’ll take that. He says I am a “stickler for strict adherence to regulations, policies and procedures.” I’ll take that. Isn’t that what management oversight should be, as opposed to personal agendas that ignore regulations, policies and procedures?
Torinus calls me out for a policy proposal that suggested people addressing the board do so from their personal perspectives. It did not prevent group representation. Jason Penterman, of the WBEA, objected to the proposal with reasons, and Torinus joined in. Subsequently, Torinus wouldn’t take as satisfactory my statement that the Policy Committee would review the proposal.
Torinus typically has good, reasoned arguments in his writings. I can agree with him much of the time. In the matter of the West Bend School Board election, he and I seem to have some differences of opinion.
My agenda is stability, sustainability and student success. The district has gone through a great deal of turmoil. We need to establish stability. Capital and compensation plans must be financially sustainable. Most of all, we need to focus on student success, which is a function of many decisions, big and small. Add one more goal, safety.
At his White House event, Mr Trump promised to look “very strongly” at calls for educators to be armed with guns – a position long held by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms,” he said, “they could very well end the attack very quickly.”
“Where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them,” he said, while acknowledging the plan was controversial, “they would go for special training and they would be there, and you would no longer have a gun-free zone.
I certainly don’t require a teacher or staff member to have to carry a weapon, but if a teacher is willing and able to do so, why shouldn’t we let them have the opportunity to meet force with force to protect their students and themselves?
RIP Billy Graham.
The world’s best-known evangelist, the Rev. Billy Graham, has died. He was 99.
From the gangly 16-year-old baseball-loving teen who found Christ at a tent revival, Graham went on to become an international media darling, a preacher to a dozen presidents and the voice of solace in times of national heartbreak. He was America’s pastor.
Graham retired to his mountain home at Montreat, N.C., in 2005 after nearly six decades on the road calling people to Christ at 417 all-out preaching and musical events from Miami to Moscow. His final New York City crusade in 2005 was sponsored by 1,400 regional churches from 82 denominations.
He was arguably the most influential Christian of the 20th Century outside of the Pope.
These are interesting results:
First, who are the 505 idiots who voted for Carl Lundin? He’s the guy who dropped out. We’ll call that the “ignorant voter” quotient.
Second, the two candidates who identify themselves as Conservatives, Mary Weigand and Monte Schmiege, won convincing pluralities. Schmiege is an incumbent and one of two conservatives on the current board. Weigand is a well-known local conservative. This is, perhaps, not surprising in a conservative community like West Bend, but the results of the past few local elections seemed to indicate a softening of that demographic feature. This election seems to indicate that perhaps the previous elections were anomalies.
Third, turnout for this primary election was 35% higher than the general election last year for school board (22.53% vs. 16.68%). This is a pattern that we have seen in West Bend for a while. There is a vocal, committed, organized liberal minority. They vote more reliably than the conservative majority. This means that turnout is everything. When turnout is below 20%, liberals can win victories in local elections like they did last April. When turnout is higher, there just aren’t enough liberals to overcome the conservative vote. The liberals can turn out every single liberal in the county and they can’t win if there is even a moderate conservative turnout. It’s just math.
Let’s hope that turnout is decent for the April election. Given that the Supreme Court race is likely to be very heated, I think Schmiege and Weigand have the inside track to the school board. That bodes well for the district.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Michael Screnock and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet advanced out of Tuesday’s primary for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
[…]
Screnock piled up huge advantages in Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties and also won handily in Kenosha and Jefferson counties. With most of the ballots counted, he had 46% of the vote.
In Milwaukee County, Dallet won over Screnock while Burns trailed badly. Dallet also overwhelmed Burns in his home of Dane County. Statewide, Dallet had 36% to Burns’ 18%.
Good job, Wisconsin. And this election hints that the forecasted Blue Wave may be overstated.
This is kind of funny… except for the workers.
Unions representing about 35,000 Disney World workers say Disney is refusing to pay their members $1,000 tax cut bonuses.
Disney (DIS) announced the $1,000 bonuses last month for 125,000 U.S. employees. The company said at that time that the bonuses would go to full and part-time employees, including those represented by unions “currently working under existing union contracts.”[…]
Disney said its offer to the union was a raise of 50 cents an hour or 3% of pay, whichever is greater.
As to whether the employees should get the same bonuses as other employees Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said, “Wages and bonuses are part of our negotiation process. We will continue to meet with the union to move toward a ratified agreement.”
The unions want to negotiate everything to do with the compensation plans – except when they don’t. They want the $1,000 bonuses paid outside of the contract negotiations even though bonuses would normally be something included in the negotiations. They know that it makes them look bad when all of the non-unionized employees are getting nice bonuses while they are mired in negotiations. Funny how that works.
