MADISON—Wisconsin’s tax burden in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 fell to its lowest level in nearly 50 years, according to a new report by the nonpartisan, independent Wisconsin Policy Forum.
In the latest edition of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, “State and Local Tax Burden Falls,” WPF researchers found Wisconsin’s tax burden dropped to 10.5% this year from 10.6% last year. The tax burden, defined as state and local taxes as a share of income, has declined every year since 2011, when it was 11.7%. The 2018 share marks the lowest year on record in WPF data going back to 1970.
As in recent years, the decline was driven primarily by personal income rising faster than state and local tax collections. State and local tax revenues rose 2.3% in fiscal year 2018, while federal tax collections in Wisconsin grew 0.7%. The tax burden fell “mainly because total personal income grew more quickly at 3.6%,” the report notes.
Thank you Governor Walker and the Republicans in the legislature.
Last week, this column advised that the next state budget strengthen the state’s financial foundation by moving state government employees from a defined benefit (pension) plan to a defined contribution (401(k) or IRA) plan. This week, let us delve deeper into why this would be good for state employees and Wisconsin’s taxpayers.
One of the great ticking budgetary time bombs in our nation is the looming unfunded pension obligation. State and local politicians have promised government retirees much more money than they have actually budgeted. In total, the unfunded pension debt for all state and local governments is almost $1.4 trillion, based on research by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
This means that taxpayers around the nation are on the hook for $1.4 trillion to be paid to retirees that has not been set aside. That bill will come due and taxpayers will be forced to pay the debt by raising taxes, reducing government services, reneging on their promise to retirees, or, most likely, all of the above. Out-of-control pension debt has already bankrupted several cities, including Detroit, and is pushing several states, like Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut, to the brink of insolvency. Pension plans are a relic of the past. They are from a time when it was difficult for regular people to access the investment markets and people living to 80 was unusual. Pension plans have bankrupted some of America’s largest companies and are now impacting governments. That is why only 19 percent of private-sector workers still have a pension while 87 percent of government workers have one.
Thanks to the sound budgetary management of Wisconsin’s politicians of both parties, Wisconsin is not facing an immediate crisis. As of 2016, Wisconsin’s pension obligation is about $93 billion and the Wisconsin Retirement System is about 99 percent funded, leaving a relatively small deficit of $853 million.
It is precisely because Wisconsin is in a fiscal position of strength that we should make changes for the future now. Remember that every pension bomb is the result of people with good intentions making bad decisions. Wisconsin is not immune from the blowback of human nature. Waiting until we are in a crisis before making changes will only lead to poor decisions and bad consequences.
The benefits to taxpayers of moving Wisconsin’s government employees to a 401(k)-style retirement plan are huge. First and foremost, it eliminates the potential of the pension bomb blowing up Wisconsin’s budget. Since the pension fund is almost fully funded, it will take some sound management to make sure it is properly drawn down to pay out the pensions of everyone currently under it. Meanwhile, taxpayers will not have any unfunded obligations to new employees or employees who choose to switch to the new plan.
Second, eliminating the pension will help encourage a healthy turnover of employees. Since a retiree’s pension is calculated based on their final average earnings and years of service, too many government employees hang on long after their passion for the work has waned. At the other end of the scale, Wisconsin’s pension plan allows employees to retire as early as age 50 with full benefits. This leaves taxpayers paying for a retiree for another 30 to 40 years while also paying a replacement employee. A 401(k) plan, in which the employee owns their retirement fund and can take it with them whenever they want, is a benefit to taxpayers and the employee.
For Wisconsin’s government employees, moving to a 401(k) or IRA plan has even more benefits. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that employees would own their retirement funds and not be subject to the problems of future politicians. The possibility of having benefits reduced or eliminated due to lack of money is not a hypothetical scenario. It has happened to thousands upon thousands of workers in our nation as private and public pension plans have slipped into insolvency. By taking ownership of their own retirement funds, employees are only subject to the amount of risk they choose to take on.
Furthermore, government employees would no longer feel a need to be a slave to their pension. They are free to move on to a different job in the private sector whenever they choose without negative consequences. Employees will also be able to choose the investment portfolio that most closely matches their tolerance for risk. If they want to be super safe, that’s great. If they want to risk for potentially more return that’s great, too. Government should always lean in favor of empowering individuals to make their own choices.
Also, unlike pensions, 401(k) and IRA plans have the ability to create generational wealth. Pension benefits cannot be passed on to the next generation. When the employee and their spouse die, the pension dies with them. The unused balance of 401(k) and IRA plans can be passed on when the owner dies. This helps facilitate generational wealth creation for Wisconsin families.
By moving Wisconsin’s government employees to a 401(k) plan now, the state can honor its obligations to employees and retirees under the current pension plan, provide a fantastic benefit for new employees, and protect future generations of taxpayers from a debt bomb exploding in their wallets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration Tuesday banned bump stocks, the firearm attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns and were used during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The regulation gives gun owners until late March to turn in or destroy the devices. After that, it will be illegal to possess them under the same federal laws that prohibit machine guns.
I also believe that implementing the law in this fashion would be a violation of the 5th Amendment: “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
School Board President Mary Burke said she wants to work collaboratively with MPD on the contract.
“We take very seriously the fact that as a school district, we are ultimately responsible for the adults who interact with our students, and in the unlikely event that an issue arises, we want to be able to work collaboratively with MPD to address it,” Burke said in an email. “We believe that is a reasonable and responsible request, and we’re looking forward to further discussion.”
Here’s what they are fighting over:
Though the Madison School Board approved an amended contract Monday that would keep police officers in the city’s four main high schools, Police Chief Mike Koval said Tuesday that he’ll never agreed to the new language.
“We had never agreed (nor will I ever agree) to language regarding the ability to remove an officer for ’cause,'” Koval said in a blog post. “The School District floated this language out last week and it was made unequivocally clear that I would not agree to this language.”
The School Board voted unanimously to adopt the amended language, which would give the district the authority to remove a police officer — described in the contract as a school resource officer or SRO — from school if they found cause. The amended contract itself was approved by a 4-2 vote.
“I will reiterate that the processes for disciplining or assigning officers are governed by state law and labor contract, and these rights cannot be bargained away in an agreement with a third party,” Koval wrote. “We have always worked cooperatively with MMSD to select our resource officers and to address any areas of improvement. However, the law does not permit us to pre-determine discipline through the contract language that was suggested.”
Pension plans are a relic of the past. They are from a time when it was difficult for regular people to access the investment markets and people living to 80 was unusual. Pension plans have bankrupted some of America’s largest companies and are now impacting governments. That is why only 19 percent of private-sector workers still have a pension while 87 percent of government workers have one.
Thanks to the sound budgetary management of Wisconsin’s politicians of both parties, Wisconsin is not facing an immediate crisis. As of 2016, Wisconsin’s pension obligation is about $93 billion and the Wisconsin Retirement System is about 99 percent funded, leaving a relatively small deficit of $853 million.
It is precisely because Wisconsin is in a fiscal position of strength that we should make changes for the future now. Remember that every pension bomb is the result of people with good intentions making bad decisions. Wisconsin is not immune from the blowback of human nature. Waiting until we are in a crisis before making changes will only lead to poor decisions and bad consequences.
Well, it’s about time. We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of her involvement in giving her husband access and opportunity to abuse the university’s employees.
WHITEWATER (WKOW) — UW-Whitewater Chancellor Beverly Kopper today announced she has submitted her resignation and will step down at the end of the year.
The UW Board of Regents recently denied a raise to Kopper, whose husband was banned from the Whitewater campus this summer and stripped of an honorary, unpaid position after an investigation concluded he had sexually harassed female employees.
The UW System opened another investigation into Kopper’s husband in September after at least one more woman came forward.
by Owen | 0932, 16 Dec 1818 | Off-Duty | 0 Comments
New owner for Timmer’s Resort on Big Cedar Lake
There’s a new owner for Timmer’s Resort on Big Cedar Lake.
It was August 23, 2018 when the story ran on WashingtonCountyInsider.com that George Prescott and his wife Judi confirmed Timmer’s Resort was up for sale.
“I decided after 10 -12 years I have a nice sense of accomplishment that I brought the resort back to life and I’ll turn it over to somebody else now to let them take it on,” George Prescott said.
The new owner is F Street Hospitality in Milwaukee. “We are looking forward to celebrating the history and tradition that makes Timmer’s Resort so special,” said owner Scott Lurie. “And to ensure guests receive the same experience they’ve grown accustomed to after all of these years.”
Lurie said the name of the resort will remain the same. “It will be business as usual; we are changing very little,” he said. “We’re buying a great brand and that’s why we’re excited for this opportunity.”
Timmer’s Resort has a number of outstanding gift cards and Lurie said all of those will be honored and accepted. “At some point we will eventually start issuing new gift cards that can be redeemed at our other Hospitality Restaurants but anything existing will be honored.”
Lurie has been visiting Timmer’s Resort for the past two years and was familiar with the area. “That’s what attracted me to this purchase,” he said. “I had an opportunity to go out on the lake and I fell in love with it.”
The current general manager, Fran LeGrand Wagner, is retiring today, Dec. 14, and her position will be filled by Ashley Feucht Gregoriou of West Bend. She most recently worked at Shully’s in Thiensville and at the Centennial Bar & Grille in Mequon.
George Prescott has been working on the sale of Timmer’s for several months. “The business is in good hands,” said Prescott. ”
The closing on the sale happened Friday morning, Dec. 14 and Prescott said he was feeling a little “spent.”
“This was a difficult decision but very bittersweet,” he said.
“I liked Scott because he was the most proactive on where he thought he could take Timmer’s Resort and restaurant. I think they’re going to do some good things for Timmer’s, the community and Big Cedar Lake.”
Asked what he’s going to do now with all his free time Prescott said one thing. “Grandkids. Grandkids,” he said. “I haven’t succeeded much in the past with retiring but I think this time it’s going to stick.”
The Prescotts, who live on Big Cedar Lake, paid $1.75 million for Timmer’s Resort and restaurant in October 2007. That was a little more than half the original $3.49 million asking price.
Today’s sale price has not been released.
Kewaskum Frozen Foods has been sold
Kewaskum Frozen Foods, 118 Forest Ave, in Kewaskum has been sold.
Brian Schumacher is the new owner. “I’m really excited about the opportunity in Kewaskum with this business. We’re at a very busy time of year and our focus right now is on taking care of our customers and provide the best product and service for everyone.”
Schumacher, 42, lives in Wauwatosa. He said he goes skiing and hunting in this area.
New to the world of meat markets and retail, Schumacher has switched gears after spending 20 years in corporate America. “I have a passion for food, an appreciation for meat and an appreciation for the small town,” he said. Schumacher purchased the store from the Ries brothers, Steve, Allen and Paul. Prior to that the business was owned by Bob Biesbier.
Silver Lining Amphitheater featured in new Montgomery Gentry video
Washington County Fair Park and the Silver Lining Amphitheater are celebrating the exposure received in the new Montgomery Gentry video.
Montgomery Gentry headlined at the 2017 Washington County Fair.
The band released a video October 2018 for its Drink Along Song. During many segments in the video the crowd and the Silver Lining Amphitheater are highly visible.
Fair Park executive director Kellie Boone said she saw the video Friday morning. “This was all a surprise,” she said.
Boone said the stage looked “awesome” and the people from the community were very recognizable. “I saw our electrician Lance and one of our bouncers and our EMT people,” she said. “Can’t beat free exposure and we’re in a majority of the video. Our venue really is helping attract national attention.”
Memorial Service set for Rev. Howard “Howie” Knox
A Memorial Service will be held Monday, Dec. 31 for Howard “Howie” Knox who died Dec. 5, 2018. Knox was a World War II veteran and highly visible in the community. The service will start at 11 a.m. at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4860 Arthur Road, in Slinger.
The River City Blaskapelle will be playing during the luncheon. Knox was an active part of that band and could be seen around town and at events with his trusty bugle. “I loved sitting next to Howie and driving him to gigs, we all miss him a lot,” said fellow River City band member Karen Wachholz.
Blaskapelle members Pat Otten and Mark Kandel wrote, “Howard Knox has been a performing member of the River City Blaskapelle since our formation in 1986. He played the Trumpet and the Peck horn. Howie contributed countless hours of his talents over the years, but even more important than his dedication was his friendship. He touched the lives of everyone in our group and we know that we speak for every member when we say that his friendship enriched our lives and our organization. The Blaskapelle will go on without Howie but it will never be quite the same.”
Private burial services were held. Knox is buried in a cemetery in Whitewater next to his wife Pearl.
Silver Lining Amphitheater featured in new Montgomery Gentry video
Washington County Fair Park and the Silver Lining Amphitheater are celebrating the exposure received in the new Montgomery Gentry video. Montgomery Gentry headlined at the 2017 Washington County Fair.
The band released a video October 2018 for its Drink Along Song. During many segments in the video the crowd and the Silver Lining Amphitheater are highly visible. Click HERE to watch the video and see who you might recognize.
Fair Park executive director Kellie Boone said she saw the video Friday morning. “This was all a surprise,” she said. “I think the video was taken just before Troy Gentry died.”
Boone said the stage looked “awesome” and the people from the community were very recognizable. “I saw our electrician Lance and one of our bouncers and our EMT people,” she said. “Can’t beat free exposure and we’re in a majority of the video. Our venue is really helping to attract national attention.” The video can also be seen on County Music Television (CMT).
$47 million referendum could equal $80 million total for West Bend School District
The West Bend School Board discussed moving forward with an April 2019 referendum involving Jackson Elementary School and updates to the West Bend High Schools. Although the board did not put a final figure on the bonding amount the discussion centered on $47 million.
During the meeting board member Ken Schmidt thought the amount the district should ask for in the referendum should be “the lowest possible.”
“I still contend we are over building,” said Schmidt. “There are things that are wants and things that are needs and that’s my concern. We may be over building and the enrollment projections are not there and as I indicated with the high school, I was in favor of safety and the tech ed improvements but some of the other I’m not sure.”
The school board has discussed the districts declining enrollment a number of times.
As far as referendum debt, the WBSD currently has between $38 million and $40 million in referendum debt.
Taking a look at the current referendums the West Bend School District is currently paying off.
-In April 2009, voters in West Bend approved a $29.3 million plan to renovate, as well as build an addition to Badger Middle School.
-In November 2012 the West Bend School District passed a $22.8 million referendum to close Barton Elementary School, expand Silverbrook School and add classrooms and a gym at Green Tree Elementary School. The actual total cost of the referendum with taxes and interest was $31.975 million with a 15-year payback on borrowing.
-After the Nov. 2012 referendum passed the $31.9 million total was added on top of the $29.3 million payment for the 2009 Badger referendum. The target date to completely pay off the debt on both referendums is 2028.
During previous meetings discussion of a $50 million referendum would have actually totaled $85 million with interest, according to Baird. No interest was provided on the $47 million proposal but one could assume it will come in near the $80 million range.
That means taxpayers in the West Bend School District would have current referendum debt totaling between $118 million – $120 million if the April 2019 referendum is approved.
So far no interest figure for bonding has been determined. Board member Chris Zwygart, speaking as a person, said, “It has not been determined at this time whether the district is going to referendum at all.”
One item he did make clear was with regard to a house, occupied by a family that is adjacent to the newly purchased property on Jackson Drive.
“That parcel is not essential to the school property,” he said. The house is at 16640 Jackson Drive. The board needs to determine a ballot question by early January 2019 in order for it to be place on the April ballot.
Bus accident involving West Bend West bowling team
The Washington County Sheriff’s Department has issued a statement regarding Monday night’s school bus accident in Kewaskum.
According to a report on Fox6now.com “Washington County officials said an investigation determined the bus driver disregarded the stop sign at Highway 45, and in turn, caused the crash. Speed also appears to have been a factor, officials said.”
The statement below was issued by Sgt. Vanderheiden on Monday, Dec. 10.
On Dec. 10, 2018 at 6:07 p.m. the Washington County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a 2 vehicle crash involving a school bus that occurred on Highway 45 at County Highway V, in the Township of Kewaskum. Sheriff’s Deputies, Kewaskum Police and Kewaskum Fire/Rescue were also summoned to the scene.
Upon the arrival of the first squad, it was determined that there were 10 occupants on the bus; a 63 year old operator from West Bend, 8 juvenile passengers and 1 adult chaperone. The operator of the second vehicle had 2 occupants; a 36 year old Campbellsport man and a juvenile passenger. In total, 4 patients, all with minor injuries, were transported to St Joseph’s Hospital via Kewaskum Rescue.
The crash investigation showed the school bus was operating eastbound on County Highway V and disregarded the stop sign at Highway 45. A second vehicle was operating northbound on Highway 45, slowing to turn westbound on County Highway V when it was struck by the school bus entering the intersection. Speed appears to be a contributing factor to the crash and there were no signs of impairment for either driver.
Sweet Creations Village Bakery in West Bend is closing
Sweet Creations Village Bakery in West Bend, 825 S. Main Street, is closing. A note was posted on the window of the business today, Saturday, Dec. 8, thanking customers for “years of loyalty and patronage.” Owner Derek Van Alstyne says the store in Slinger, 310 E. Washington Street, will remain open and gift cards may be redeemed at that location. The last day for Sweet Creations in West Bend is December 23, 2018. Sweet Creations Bakery in West Bend opened in June 2013.
The future of Shopko pharmacy in West Bend
It looks like the Pick ‘n Save stores in West Bend will soon be acquiring the prescriptions from Shopko pharmacy. A portion of an article from Progressive Grocer is below.
The deal brings pharmacy files at 42 Shopko stores – including 25 Wisconsin locations – to the Cincinnati-based grocery giant, which will transfer the subscriptions to Kroger-owned grocery stores near the affected Shopko pharmacy customers, the news outlet (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) noted. Stores that will receive the prescriptions include Pick ‘n Save, Metro Market and Copps locations, all of which are part of Kroger’s Roundy’s subsidiary.
Wisconsin Kroger locations to receive the new customers include ones in Appleton, Fond du Lac, Grafton, Green Bay, Kenosha, Kimberly, Manitowoc, Marshfield, Menasha, Neenah, Oshkosh, Plover, Racine, Rothschild, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, Sussex, Watertown, Wausau, West Bend and Wisconsin Rapids.
Kroger acquired Roundy’s supermarkets in December 2015; that deal included the two Pick ‘n Save stores in West Bend.
Shopko is located in the Paradise Pavilion in West Bend, 1710 S. Main Street. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed and a prescription-transfer date has not yet been released.
Parents and students fight for Pathways Charter School in West Bend
A full house at the Monday night West Bend School Board meeting as parents and students expressed support for Pathways Charter School. The School Board will be discussing whether to renew or dissolve Pathways Charter School at its meeting January 14, 2019. A decision is expected Jan. 28, 2019.
One of the items the board agreed on was not to renew its contract with the city of West Bend for the current location of Pathways Charter School in the Mutual Mall, 1043 S. Main Street. Three options for a new location were discussed including going back to middle school, moving to the high school or finding another location in town. The current location was not an option. No new location decision was made Monday evening. Fifteen people including parents and students spoke before the board about the positive aspects of the school.
There is a letter below read by parent Chelsea Doman Davis of Jackson.
Good evening, Board members, educators, and fellow parents.
My name is Chelsea Doman Davis. I live at … in Jackson. I have four school-aged children. My oldest son is Henry, an eighth grader at Pathways for the second year. I stand before you this evening with a strong hope of persuading you to grant a long-term contract for Pathways Charter School.
Seven years ago, Henry was struggling in school, though not with learning. He typically works above grade-level standards; however the very structure of school was difficult for him; the usual methods of teaching in the usual classroom did not facilitate learning for him in an easy way. We struggled at two different schools in two different states before we decided home school was the best solution. And for four years, it was amazing.
Then last year we moved to Wisconsin so my husband could join a dental practice in Slinger and we decided to give traditional school another try due to the high standards of education in this state. We considered living everywhere within a 45-minute radius of Slinger. We heard and continue to hear how amazing the Slinger School District is.
But after Henry’s previous struggles in the classroom and our years of homeschooling, we needed options outside of current tradition. We needed to find a different classroom experience that would help Henry learn in his way and with an environment conducive to developing skills requite for successful adults. When I found Pathways in my research, I knew we had to live in the WBSD, despite all evidence pointing to Slinger.
I am happy to report that at Pathways, Henry is not just surviving but is thriving. He has grown immensely. For example, when my son started attending Pathways, he sat in the corner of the lunchroom every day with his coat on and his hood up. But now, and for the first time ever, he has friends at school. Friends who accept him as he is. They encourage each other to do their best and they help each other. Those are true friends. Can you put a price tag on that?
I know test scores were recently published and they weren’t as high as they could be. But do test scores really reflect the potential of an individual? Education is not only about numbers. It’s about the entirety of a person. Let’s remember that like Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, these are the kids who think outside the box, who need to know the whys and wherefores and will dig deep to find them. They need more convincing than the average teenager that filling out bubbles is worth their effort. I am certain had they realized the charter was up for renewal and the future of their school was literally in their hands, they would have given their best efforts.
When considering all of the numbers please don’t lose sight of the population a school closure would hurt and the ripple effect it would cause. In the words of one of my son’s classmates, “Too many kids need this school.” Thank you.
Holy Angels Students of the Month for November By Mike Sternig
Holy Angels Students of the Month for November 2018 include Kylee Altendorf, Maria Olson, and Jack Sadownikow.
6th Grade: Kylee Altendorf entered junior high with all the personality traits needed for success. She has confidence, patience and wonderful study habits. She likes to challenge herself, and always tries her best. In school, she particularly likes reading and writing. In addition to academic success, Kylee is an excellent volleyball player. She contributes to our school by being helpful and kind to others, and by serving at Mass.
7th Grade: Maria Olson – It’s hard to imagine a more well-rounded student than Maria. She excels in all classes, participating in class activities, turning in high quality work, and pushing herself to learn everything the school offers. She is highly self-motivated in school activities and in extra-curricular. She reads, plays the violin, and crochets, as well as participates in volleyball and basketball. She also finds time to hang out with friends. She contributes at school as a patrol with the kindergartners and serves at Mass.
8th Grade: Jack Sadownikow – Jack has always been a friendly individual, liked by both adults and students. His laid-back attitude makes him an easy person to be around. He particularly likes being active, in sports, on the farm and just being outside. It’s no surprise that he hopes to be a park ranger when he gets older. This year, his teachers have noticed, and appreciate, that he is putting forth strong effort in his academic classes, showing independent motivation to turn in quality work and experiencing success. He is a responsible student who helps out at school as a patrol.
Elaine Shanebrook wins award
The Board of Directors of The Catholic Community Foundation was proud to recently present their Community Partner Award to Attorney Elaine Shanebrook in appreciation of her dedicated service of bringing awareness of The Catholic Community Foundation to clients seeking to include philanthropy in their estate plans to provide charitable giving in perpetuity to causes dear to their hearts that fulfill the mission of the Catholic Church.
Elaine was the founding partner of Shanebrook & Falkowski Law Office, LLP, West Bend and before retiring this last June, she practiced law in the areas of estate planning, real estate, trusts, probate and elder law for over 41 years. She has achieved many accomplishments during her career – Elaine was the first woman from Wisconsin to be elected to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
She has been active with the State Bar of Wisconsin, having served as past chair and director of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and director of the Taxation Section. She has been listed in “Best Lawyers in America” and “Wisconsin Super Lawyers.” Over the years, Elaine has volunteered her time by serving on many not-for-profit corporations’ board of directors.
Crafting retreat house taking shape in Hartford By Samantha Sali
A crafting retreat house may soon be coming to 209 West Lincoln Avenue in Hartford.
According to the Planning Commission Agenda, the crafting retreat house “…would be a place that groups of up to 12 could rent for the weekend or overnight in order to work on craft projects in a group setting. In addition, the retreat house would host classes and open sewing nights during the week.”
Similar crafting retreat houses are located in Beaver Dam, Waukesha, Waldo, Janesville, Lake Geneva, Cambridge, and Black River Falls. These examples provided by the applicant, Jean Harley, are also located in residential zones.
This week the Planning Commission approved the request for rezoning the property. The item was reviewed by the City Council during Tuesday’s meeting. The property is owned by Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Café Floriana taking shape at Cast Iron in West Bend
Just three short weeks after the making the initial announcement about a new cafe/bakery opening in West Bend the new Cafe Floriana is starting to take shape. Katherine Schenk and her sister Sara Young will be opening the new shop in the lower level of the Cast Iron building, 611 Veterans Avenue.
“Our parents live in the building and we would come visit them and there was no place to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich or muffin,” said Schenk. “We recognized there was a need here in the building and there was space available.”
During a recent tour Schenk outlined what’s ahead. “You’ll have to excuse the mess,” she said. “We have walls up, the concrete floor is in, plumbing is in and HVAC is underway.”
Using a little imagination Schenk detailed some of the interior layout including the service bar, bakery counter, espresso bar, food prep for muffins and breads.
“We’ll be able to seat 35 to 40 and our menu will have a lot of items to-go,” she said. “We’re also bringing in special wood beams across the ceiling and that will help dampen some of the echoing.”
Schenk said “construction is on schedule and hopefully we’ll open in early to mid-February.”
Updates & Tidbits
– Don Muth and the University Ambassadors will host a breakfast for students on campus on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. as part of week-long events before final exams start.
-Rick Takacs at Meadowbrook Farm in West Bend has fresh balsam and Fraser fir Christmas trees for the upcoming holiday. Takacs gets his trees from the same vendor in Oconto County who once supplied the tree to the White House in Washington D.C. Tackas said he really liked the trees from the Vander Velden’s farm because they’re “tall and have super color.” Meadowbrook Farm is located at 1270 Meadowbrook Road.
-This winter season marks the 45th anniversary of the Nabob Prairie Riders Snowmobile Club. Original founding members include families like the Dornackers, Kedingers, Rileys, Retzlaffs, Stoeffels, Holtz’s, and Ritgers who formed the club to more closely focus on the trail system within the Nabob area. Please join the Nabob Prairie riders on Jan. 5, 2019 at the House of Heileman’s on Big Cedar Lake for the annual Winterfest/Fisheree. Fishing is from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., entertainment in the tent includes music, food and drink all available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
– Legendary Whitetails in Slinger collected winter coats for the Fox 6 Coats for Kids coat drive and exceeded its goal with 80+ coats, snow pants, hats and mittens. Hat tip Renee J. Jenkyns.
-Horicon Bank, 1535 Paradise Drive, in West Bend has a new electronic street sign. The sign is twice as big as the previous model and has an array of colors for larger graphics and messaging.
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The BBC does a nice job of breaking down the latest news about Brexit without overwhelming you with the overheated rhetoric. This is my favorite part.
What was all that nonsense with the mace?
This chaotic and revolutionary-seeming period in British politics was symbolised best, perhaps, by an MP from the opposition Labour Party dramatically grabbing and making off with the ceremonial mace in the House of Commons after Mrs May called off the much-expected vote on her Brexit deal.
The mace represents the Queen in Parliament and debate cannot continue if it is removed.
I find infinite fascination in the Brits’ struggles to extricate themselves from being ruled by an overbearing overseas ruler. As Americans, we have some experience with that.
I truly dislike a policy in which the taxpayers have to refund a private transaction that went bad. It’s a horrible policy and it was just a handout from the Obama administration to buy votes with our money. But I am heartened to see Executive Branch officials who follow the law – even when they don’t like it. Too often we saw the Obama Administration just ignore court rulings with which they disagreed and plow ahead with their ill-advised policies.
The Education Department said Thursday it will cancel $150 million in federal student loan debt, despite Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to overhaul the Obama-era policy.
DeVos proposed restricting “borrower defense” claims filed by former students whose schools closed or made false promises, but has to carry out regulations after court rulings sided with students.
Three months ago, a federal judge ruled that DeVos’ attempts to kill the 2016 regulations were illegal, Politico reported. The judge also rejected for-profit colleges’ bid to stop the policy in October.
The department said Thursday it will forgive loans for about 15,000 borrowers whose schools closed, preventing them from finishing their programs. About half of those borrowers attended Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit educational chain that closed its campuses in 2015. They will account for $80 million of the automatically discharged loans, while borrowers whose schools closed between Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 4, 2018, will account for the other $70 million.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The panel investigating the Florida high school massacre recommended Wednesday that teachers who volunteer and undergo extensive background checks and training be allowed to carry concealed guns on campus to stop future shootings.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission voted 13-1 to recommend the Legislature allow the arming of teachers, saying it’s not enough to have one or two police officers or armed guards on campus. Florida law adopted after the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead allows districts to arm non-teaching staff members such as principals, librarians and custodians — and 13 of the 67 districts do, mostly in rural parts of the state.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the commission’s chairman, pushed the measure at the Tallahassee meeting. He said most deaths in school shootings happen within the first few minutes, before officers on and off campus can respond. He said suspect Nikolas Cruz stopped to reload his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle five times, all of which would have been opportunities for an armed teacher to shoot him.
“We have to give people a fighting chance, we have to give them an opportunity to protect themselves,” Gualtieri said. He said there aren’t enough officers or money to hire one for every school, but even then, officers need backup. “One good guy with a gun on campus is not enough.”
A federal judge in Texas said on Friday that the Affordable Care Act’s individual coverage mandate is unconstitutional and that the rest of the law must also fall.
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In his opinion, District Judge Reed O’Connor said the “Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce Clause—meaning the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional.”
He also held that the individual mandate is “essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA.”
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed a set of proposals passed quickly by the state’s Republican-led Legislature in a lame-duck session last week. The bills would strip away some powers from his Democratic successor and restrict early voting, but Walker argued Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers’ executive authority will remain “one of the most powerful in the nation.”
Walker signed the bills in their entirety, with no changes or vetoes.
“Despite all the hype and hysteria out there, these bills do nothing to fundamentally diminish executive authority,” Walker said in a statement. “The bottom line is the new governor will continue to be one of the most powerful chief executives in the country.”
The state’s economic development agency has reached a $28 million tax credit deal with Kimberly-Clark to retain its Fox Crossing facility and 388 jobs, Gov. Scott Walker announced Thursday just weeks before he leaves office.
Gov.-elect Tony Evers criticized the incentive package and referenced it as a reason Walker should veto recently approved lame-duck legislation, which makes several changes to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., including stripping the agency’s ability to make such deals without legislative approval.
Walker pushed for an incentive package for the consumer products manufacturer even after Republican lawmakers chose to shelve a bill during the lame-duck session that could have provided as much as $100 million in tax incentives over a 15-year period. The bill had received bipartisan criticism for setting a bad precedent.
Walker lamented the delays in that bill and championed the deal, which won’t require legislative approval, as a victory for workers and their families across the state.
The legislature made two (at least) attempts to pass an incentive package for KC and it failed because there wasn’t enough Republican – and no Democrat – support for it. It would be one thing if Walker did this out of the blue, but he called for legislation on it. The legislation failed due to lack of support. And now Walker is doing it anyway. Not cool.
Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Monday attacked what she called a double standard that has greeted her election to Congress “with suspicion” of “being a fraud.”
Referring to a Vox article detailing the failed legacy of retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis), Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter:
“Double standards are Paul Ryan being elected at 28 and immediately being given the benefit of his ill-considered policies considered genius; and me winning a primary at 28 to immediately be treated with suspicion & scrutinized, down to my clothing, of being a fraud.”
Mark Belling makes some great points on why Walker shouldn’t be shy about signing the bills headed to his desk. Fortunately, it looks like Walker is on the same page.
The only actual opposition to a duly elected Legislature legislating and a still-the-governor governing comes from Democrats and the media who go batty every time a Republican actually does something. This crowd prefers its Republicans to be acquiescent. They like Republicans who don’t make waves. What they don’t like are Republicans who have power and they especially hate Republicans who actually use power. The actual great mass of Republican voters — which is right around half the population of Wisconsin — desperately wants Republicans who will fight.
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Republican voters get this. They know the media is in the bag for the Democrats and will try to stop Republicans from ever exercising power. Look at the number they tried on Brett Kavanaugh. Or the nonstop obsession with everything Trump says or does. Or the biased, negative coverage of Walker’s Foxconn deal. What actual Republicans, as opposed to sellouts like Sykes and wimps like McCallum, want is for their side to fight back against this crowd.
There is one barometer that is 100 percent accurate when it comes to Republican politicians. If the media is going batty over what they are doing and the lefties are protesting, heckling and baying at the moon, the Republicans are doing something right.
To be clear, this isn’t the final decision to go to referendum. This is just to set the amount that they would ask for IF they go to referendum. But I think we all know that they are going to referendum…
Kirkegaard recommended three amounts for the referendum: $50 million — the full amount discussed in the past, which doesn’t take into consideration the remaining amount in the funds, $48 million — with a specification that the sum total will not exceed $50 million, or $47 million.
The ballot question has to be in its final form by Jan. 22, so the board needed to agree on an amount. One member said enrollment projections are not there to support requesting $50 million so the board should ask for as little money as possible. Another member asked if it was possible to simplify the design in order to lower the cost and if any remaining funds would be restricted.
Fund 46 is restricted because the money cannot be spent until at least five years after it was deposited. If the entire fund is spent, that time restarts and the board will be more restricted in the future, so they did not want to spend the remaining amount. However, they countered this with the desire to spend as little as possible and ensure the community knew they were not being frivolous with tax dollars.
They settled on $47 million to send the message that they are only asking for what they need. This number will be included in the articles that bond counsel will prepare for the next meeting.
Yes… asking for $47 million instead of $50 million really shows fiscal responsibility /sarcasm. Interest on debt like that will run the total obligation to taxpayers up to about $80 million based on current rates. Follow the link to see the video if you want to see the discussion.
Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Lt. Gov.-elect Mandela Barnes have announced they will hold four public listening sessions before Christmas to get the public’s input on the upcoming state budget. The four sessions will be today in Green Bay, Wednesday in Wausau, Dec. 18 in La Crosse and Dec. 19 in Milwaukee.
Since all four sessions begin during working hours and, like most tax-paying Wisconsinites, I work for a living, I will not be able to attend and give the incoming administration my thoughts in person. This column will have to suffice.
As the Legislature and governor begin the process of crafting the next state budget, they must do so with the understanding that Wisconsin is not immune from the economic winds blowing across the nation. While the underlying economic metrics remain strong, several leading indicators, including the wild movements in the stock market, foretell a looming recession within the next year or two.
Since Wisconsin uses a biennial budget, it is likely the next recession will come during the budget our elected officials are about to write. They must write that budget understanding recessions always lead to a decrease in state tax revenue while making higher demands on state services like welfare and Badger-Care. To that end, the overriding objective of the next state budget should be to reduce spending, reduce taxes and continue to pump money into the state’s rainy day fund, because rainy days are in the forecast.
From a revenue standpoint, the state of Wisconsin is in great shape. Thanks to the series of tax cuts that Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican legislators have delivered over the past few years, tax revenue is flowing into state coffers at historic levels. There is no shortage of money for politicians to spend.
While the Republicans have done a tremendous job in the previous few budgets, they have failed to reduce spending. Despite claims to the contrary, every single state budget for the last generation or more has spent more than the previous budget. Granted, the Republicans did not increase spending as much as the Democrats wanted to, but they increased spending nonetheless.
The vast majority of state spending is spent on a handful of budget priorities. One cannot seriously reduce spending without looking to the big budget items. The first area Evers and the Legislature should look is at education spending.
In the previous state budget, the state massively increased state spending on K-12 education. The data continues to show that once fundamental needs are met, spending more money on schools does not improve educational outcomes for the kids. Smarter spending does. The state should reduce overall spending on K-12 education while helping local districts develop more focused curricula through the Department of Public Instruction. The goal should be to use data-driven initiatives to improve actual outcomes. The goal should not be to see who can spend the most money.
Furthermore, the most recent state testing data shows that Wisconsin choice schools are outperforming government schools, and they do so for a lesser cost. The next state budget should further expand school choice to push money and kids to schools that provide better outcomes for those kids.
The other large state education expense is the UW System. Here again, the state should reduce state spending to force the needed reforms that UW officials refuse to take. Enrollment is in steep decline across the UW System except for their flagship university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Yet the campuses are still overbuilt and there are too many of them for too few students. The state budget should reduce UW spending, continue the tuition freeze, and encourage the UW regents to consolidate and streamline the system’s structure.
The next state budget should also move the Wisconsin Retirement System from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan. Even though the WRS system is one of the few solvent state pension funds, a few years of bad decisions could change that and force the state into a miserable state like Illinois. Wisconsin should get ahead of the curve and give government employees a retirement plan more in line with what the vast majority of taxpayers have. Not only would this have the benefit of erecting a backstop against budgetary ruin, but it would encourage a healthy turnover of government employees who are not wedded to their pension.
The next state budget should also cut transportation spending and enact reforms to get more “road for our buck.” Some of the reforms in the bills passed by the Legislature last week take positive steps in this direction. Other Midwestern states manage to spend far less than Wisconsin per mile of road and have higher quality ratings. Now that the megaprojects in southeast Wisconsin are nearing completion, Wisconsin needs to rein in spending.
I could go on for another dozen columns. The state budget has no shortage of unnecessary or wasteful spending. If Evers and the Legislature do not reduce spending before the tax revenues fall during the next recession, the citizens of Wisconsin will be left footing the bill for their neglect when they can least afford it.
A former Evanstonpolice detective has been accused in a sweeping federal indictment of joining the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration so he could protect a vicious Puerto Rico-based drug organization responsible for numerous killings and other violence.
Fernando Gomez, 41, was arrested Tuesday morning at the DEA’s Chicago field office, authorities said.
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Gomez was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed in New York with racketeering conspiracy for his alleged decadelong affiliation with the Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos, a conglomeration of drug traffickers based in Puerto Rico responsible for importing vast shipments of cocaine into New York and elsewhere.
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Gomez began working for the gang when he was a detective for Evanston police, according to the charges. He obtained firearms from drug dealers and provided them to gang leader Jose Martinez-Diaz, also known as “Tony Zinc,” in Puerto Rico, according to the indictment.
“Gomez then joined the DEA so that he could help members of the narcotics conspiracy, including Martinez-Diaz, evade prosecution by law enforcement,” the indictment alleged.
It was the most important TV appearance of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency: the 40-year-old former banker had to prove to an angry nation that he was not an arrogant “president of the rich” and that he understood ordinary French people’s struggle to make ends meet.
Yet Macron’s choice to deliver his prerecorded speech on social inequality from one of the most opulent and golden rooms in the luxurious, 365-room Élysée Palace was not lost on gilets jaunes protesters who have been occupying protest barricades on rural roundabouts.
Indeed, the Élysée Palace, the French presidential residence and workplace that is twice the size of the US White House and costs €104m a year to run, has been the object of fury during the protests. The demonstrations, which began as a citizens’ revolt against a proposed fuel tax on 17 November have quickly morphed into wider anti-government demonstrations against inequality.
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Macron chose to announce his measures aimed at calming the gilets jaunes protests by speaking from the traditional presidential office known as the salon doré, with its gold decorations.
He sat behind the large antique desk that has been used by all presidents since Charles de Gaulle and is the most valuable piece of furniture in the gilded palace. At the edge of the frame was a golden cockerel, the symbol of France, between golden lamps, and three carefully placed antique books. Behind him, just to the right of a pair of ornate gold leaf doors, were the French and European flags.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is moving forward with a significant rollback of an Obama-era clean water regulation that has become a rallying cry for farmers and property-rights activists opposed to federal overreach.
The new proposal, unveiled Tuesday morning by acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and other administration officials, wouldease Washington’s oversight of small bodies of water, undoing a regulation President Donald Trump has called “a massive power grab.”
