Milwaukee County Board: 'See Us Fail'

It's a victory for inside-baseball and small-mindedness:

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors chooses to censure a member for disclosing the truth about a horrible sexual-assault situation at a county-run mental health facility.

That's the priority?

TMJ4 says this is the first such action in the Board's history!

Talk about missing the point, or the boat.

If you are old enough to remember the Walt Kelly's cartoon strip "Pogo," then you will remember its signature line: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

A majority of supervisors, behaving cartoonishly, ought to slap that crystal clear self-definition on their taxpayer-paid stationery and websites.

I suspect that there are some ancillary and personal and probably out-dated scores being settled in this over-the-top, disproportionate, self-parodying 'solution.'

This is not the Board's finest hour.

Rather, it's one it its worst, and the next time another unit of government disrespects the Board for one action or position or another, the Board should take a look back at its ridiculous action today and realize it has no one to blame for its diminished reputation but itself.

GOP Getting Its Issues On Referenda Ballots

This pro-road builders' advisory referendum is about GOP turnout in November, too.

Road-Builders Don't Like Long-Lasting Pavement

Oh, what a surprise!

Roads with life spans double or better what we in theory normally get would cost the industry those lucrative (Marquette Interchange,/Zoo Interchange/All Chicago Metroland/Fill In The Blank Highway) replacement contracts.

To think nothing of the orange barrel industry.

A year ago I posted some information about long-lasting pavement routinely used in Europe, but avoided at all costs here because elected officials and road-builders are in agreement that public funds shall be spent as often as possible repaving, rebuilding and expanding the crumbling-on-schedule infrastructure we paid for.

Great Lakes Worry: Intact Carp Found Above Electronic Barrier

If the Great Lakes states and US Army Corps of Engineers don't get a handle on the Asian carp migrating up the Mississippi River and its tributaries, the Gulf of Mexico contamination story is going to have a dreadful counterpart.

BP In Alaska? On An Artificial Island? Someone Check Those Plans Again!

Their reputation for cut corners precedes them.

Joe Barton, Call This Boat Captain's Family

See how that apology to BP of yours went down.

WUWM Discussion of Waukesha Water Issues

Text here, with link to audio.

Affordable Housing Could Cost New Berlin Officials Their Jobs; City Its Reputation

I wrote last week that I thought New Berlin's Mayor and others would get hit with recall efforts over their initial support for 80 units of so-called "affordable housing" in an area of the city once ticketed for upscale construction, but which had sat undeveloped for a long period of time.

Now we learn that the recall effort is underway against Mayor Jack Chiovatero and one alderman.

This will only exacerbate the political, economic and demographic divide between the City of Milwaukee and some of its more-well-to-neighbors in Waukesha and other surrounding counties.

Milwaukee is land-locked by state law; suburban and exurban communities have seen faster middle-and-upper-class growth, along with job expansion that is further cut off from Milwaukee and its residents by inter-county transit lines that are shrinking.

You still can take Coach Lines buses from Milwaukee to Waukesha, but as we know, light rail was wiped off the table by Waukesha County government a dozen years ago by the same sort of anti-urban sentiment that accompanies some of recall forces at the grassroots in New Berlin.

We hear all sorts of calls for regionalism around here; New Berlin said the right things about cooperation when it was negotiation with Milwaukee in 2008 for Lake Michigan water.

But doors are slammed when push comes to shove, as it has in New Berlin, over a few dozen housing units that would be within reach of working-class residents of the entire region who might decide to relocate to New Berlin for the same reasons people of all classes could choose to live in New Berlin or a similar environment.

Or for New Berlin residents who find most housing there out of their reach.

Let's hope that the recall, a severe solution that used to be reserved for serious ethical or legal sins by incumbents, is not the political price extracted for supporting a relatively small number of new units of affordable housing in New Berlin.

The whole region is watching.

BP Spill Accelerates: Will Joe Barton Apologize For The Clean-Up?

If the company needs sympathy and supporters, now's the time.

Barton's Staff Says It Sent Out Barton Tweet Defending Barton

Oh, those staffers! What they'll do with the boss's Twitter account.

On The Day Joe Barton Is Saved, More GOP Lunacy On The Gulf

For the record, Texas Congressman Joe Barton (R-Big Oil) gets to keep his leadership seat on the Senate Energy Committee, but another Republican manages to outdo him.

This time, setting up the BP trust fund to pay victims - - sure to increase as the gusher runs wild - - has a Nazi precedent.

DNR Approves Some Rules Keeping Phosphorus Out Of State Waters

The environmental group Clean Wisconsin explains:

Clean Wisconsin

Your environmental voice since 1970.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2010

Contact: Amber Meyer Smith, Program Director, 608.251.7020 ext. 16, 608.347.6026 (cell)

Natural Resources Board Passes Rules to Reduce Phosphorus in Wisconsin’s Waters

New Policies will Help Reduce Water Pollution from Farms, Factories and Sewage Treatment Plants

Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board took an important step toward reducing unsightly algae blooms and cleaning Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers and streams today by voting to strengthen rules that reduce phosphorus pollution from farms, factories and sewage treatment plants.

“Our lakes, rivers and streams not only provide exceptional recreation opportunities for Wisconsin residents, but also support thriving fishing and tourism industries crucial to our state’s economy,” said Amber Meyer Smith, program director at Clean Wisconsin.

“Unfortunately, phosphorus pollution threatens the quality of Wisconsin’s waterways, and we applaud the Natural Resources Board for taking an important step toward cleaning and protecting our invaluable waters.”

Phosphorus is a nutrient that promotes weed and algae growth and enters Wisconsin’s waters when it runs off farm fields or is discharged from factories and sewage treatment plants.

A single pound of phosphorus can cause 500 pounds of unsightly, foul-smelling algae growth.

Nearly one-half of Wisconsin’s waterways are so polluted due to runoff that the federal government lists them as impaired, and reports of human illness and dog deaths resulting from blue-green algae blooms have been rising in recent years.

“Wisconsin’s waterways are currently in trouble,” said Smith. “Frequent unsightly, smelly algae blooms impair ecosystems, decrease our enjoyment of Wisconsin waters, decrease tourism revenue in the state, and sometimes even threaten our health.”

The two rule revisions adopted by the NR Board today will strengthen existing policies aiming to reduce phosphorus pollution from its two major sources.

The first, known as the phosphorus rule, limits the amount of phosphorus wastewater treatment plants and factories are allowed to discharge.

The second strengthens NR151, an administrative rule governing the amount of phosphorus carried into waterways when fertilizer and manure run off farm fields.

The strengthened policies must now be approved by the state Legislature to become effective.

“By reducing phosphorus pollution from its two major sources, the policies adopted by the NR Board today take an important step toward cleaning and restoring Wisconsin’s waters,” said Smith. “These policies can help us all look forward to cleaner lakes, rivers and streams in Wisconsin, and we urge the Legislature to fully approve these important measures.”

###

Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy organization, protects Wisconsin’s clean water and air and advocates for clean energy by being an effective voice in the state legislature and by holding elected officials and polluters accountable. Founded in 1970 as Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Clean Wisconsin exposes corporate polluters, makes sure existing environmental laws are enforced, and educates citizens and businesses.

On behalf of its 10,000 members and its coalition partners, Clean Wisconsin protects the special places that make Wisconsin such a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Phone: 608-251-7020, Fax: 608-251-1655, Email: information@cleanwisconsin.org, Website:

www.cleanwisconsin.org.

Milwaukee Population On Rise

Federal estimates put Milwaukee's population in 2008 at 604,133 - - a nice increase.

I would expect the 2010 Census, with adjustments, to put the final figure at least 25,000 higher.

Let's hope we break 630,000.

Wisconsin Railphobes Monkey-Wrenching Train Connections, Development

Republican legislators, preferring congested highways, want to derail commuter train connections between Milwaukee and Chicago, and thus the related development that would spring up along the route and near stations.

Washington Post Offers More Worst-Case Gulf Fodder

Now people are talking about the Gulf debacle and "altered geology."

Earlier gloom-and-doom, here.

Sure this is speculation, but based on the horrible realities, don't you think?

Ban On Gulf Drilling Drew Judge With Industry Investments

How's about the ruling gets rescinded and the case assigned to a judge without investments in the oil and natural gas industries?

Even if US District court Judge Martin Feldman's decision was correct, another judge should have been tasked to the case.

Another Setback To Transparency Looms In Waukesha Water Application

The other day - - in this posting - - I noted that Waukesha had a history of being less than fully transparent over the years as it has sought access to Lake Michigan water.

"The resistance to transparency," I wrote, "has dogged Waukesha's quest for a Great Lakes diversion since the city got caught in 2006 having twice asked Gov. Jim Doyle through a confidential memo for permission to divert Lake Michigan water - - and the Water Utility, which is in charge of writing the current application, has yet to fully erase that tendency."

The context for my observation is Waukesha's stated unwillingness to lay out the changes that it had made to its application for Lake Michigan water after it had gone to Waukesha's Common Council - - an application then turned back by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as insufficient and incomplete.

I had later posted a link to a fine summary piece in the Shepherd Express about where thing stand in light of the DNR's action,, and I want to highlight the end of that piece - - what journalists call "the kicker," as it equals, or exceeds, the punch that a reader expects in the lede sentence.

Wrote Lisa Kaiser:

"In its recent application, Waukesha wrote that it would cost an estimated $164 million to build the infrastructure to treat its wastewater and return it via Underwood Creek. But it didn’t satisfy the DNR’s standard for providing a thorough financial analysis about the cost of purchasing water from each municipality as well as the cost of returning it to the Lake Michigan basin.

"[Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Daniel] Duchniak said that the application did not include detailed financial information because city attorneys said that would put the city at a disadvantage in its negotiations with the three municipalities that could provide Lake Michigan water.

“We’re working with the DNR on providing them with that information, but for it to potentially remain confidential,” Duchniak said."

Now how in the world could that information sought by the DNR in a re-drafted application be kept confidential?

Didn't Waukesha learn anything from the black eye it earned in 2006 from its last love affair with confidentiality?

And isn't this more proof that the application, when re-drafted, should go to the Common Council for a hearing and a re-vote?

Kudos To Stevens Point

World's best-tasting tap water.

Stan McChrystal Did The Impossible

He knocked Tony Hayward - - remember him...the BP doofus - - off the front page.

Janesville, WI Woolen Mill Has Oil Cleanup Eureka! Idea; Video

Check out how wool soaks up oil spilled into water.

This Janesville firm has posted an impressive video on YouTube. Take a look...