Walker Tosses Out O'Donnell Park 'Solution' - - Then Off To Campaigning

Priorities, priorities: County Exec Walker tossed off an idea about washing the County's hands of the O'Donnell Park facility he allowed to deteriorate - - and then hit the campaign trail, according to his Twitter page:

1. Rally in Waukesha. Now off 2 event @ Cabella's. #wigov #believeinwi about 1 hour ago via HootSuite
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2. Just back from great stop in Waunakee @ Endres Manufacturing. Now off 2 Waukesha. #wigov #believeinwi about 2 hours ago via HootSuite
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3. Outstanding stop @ Rol-Tec in Brown Co 2 talk about http://250000jobs.org plan! #wigov #brownbag #believeinwi about 6 hours ago via HootSuite
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4. Flew over Lambeau Field. Go Pack Go! http://ow.ly/i/3Uay about 7 hours ago via HootSuite
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5. Holding a roundtable w/ small business leaders @ Tool Service 2 talk about our http://250000jobs.org job plan. #wigov #believeinwi about 9 hours ago via HootSuite

Walker Fills Top Development Post In County After Two-Year Vacancy

Think Walker really cares about this position - - that he filled with a state high-speed rail planner?

Excellent piece by Steve Jagler @BizTimes.com.

More indifference from Walker about County business.

And this just in: Walker has another bright idea, dismissed as spur-of-the-moment, unvetted "poppycock" by Board chair Lee Holloway: Dump O'Donnell Park to the highest bidder.

Problem solved! And on to the campaign

At least until next week.

Waukesha's Great Lakes Diversion Application Still On Hold

Adopted five months ago by the City of Waukesha, and forwarded three months ago to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Waukesha diversion application apparently still has not had its initial deficiencies cured to the point that the DNR will begin the application's formal review.

Waukesha would not be in this pickle if it had heeded suggestions from Wisconsin environmental groups that go back more than a year about issues and omissions the application needed to resolve.

So it goes...

Climate Change Deniers Take Note: Water Resources Dwindling

In Canada.

In multiple countries - - Russia, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan - - served by Himalayan glaciers.

These cautionary stories serve as warnings about climate change, warming aur temperatures and efforts by the City of Waukesha, WI to divert Great Lakes water.

North Dakota Has Oil Reserves To Tap - - But Does It Have The Water?

It takes four barrels of water forced under high pressure to yield one barrel of oil from fractured rock far beneath North Dakota.

The state is having an oil boom, but does it have enough water to fuel it, farmers and others wonder?

North Dakota is home to a growing number of wind turbines, an energy source far cleaner and sustainable; better choice.

"Righty Pundits On 'Suicide' Watch"

Talk about strong Tea:

That the post-election headline put on The Washington Post online column by media analyst Howard Kurtz.

38 Republican US Senators Prefer Small Business Failures To Loan, Tax Assistance

The Republican Party's Senate "No" bloc reaches a new low.

Library/Housing Project Set For Friday Groundbreaking In Villard Ave. Neighborhood

Libraries closing...crumbling, inefficient infrastructure...housing declining...

Not in this northwest side neighborhood.

One of the most interesting mixed-use projects and programs that organizations, agencies, businesses and activists have ever created will have its groundbreaking Friday morning when the new Villard Square Library - - along with a business center, study and recreational facilities, and a 47-unit housing component for seniors caring for their grandchildren - - begins taking shape.

In a green, energy-efficient structure.

Talk about serving multiple needs - - Milwaukee: here is your 21st-century multi-purpose community model, beginning tomorrow morning

Details below - - and I will repost at the bottom the text of a comprehensive release about the project from the Library Board.

Villard Square Groundbreaking

Friday, Sept. 17 11:30 a.m.

Corner of North 35th Street & West Villard Avenue

You are invited to join:

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Executive Director Antonio Riley

Milwaukee Public Library Board of Trustees President Ald. Ashanti Hamilton

Library Director Paula Kiely

Northwest Side Community Development Corp. Executive Director Howard Snyder

City of Milwaukee officials, and Gorman & Company

RSVP to Crystal Sura at csura@milwaukee.gov. or 414.286.3021

From the Milwaukee Library Board:

Villard Square Project Groundbreaking Scheduled for Friday, September 17, 2010
Project construction begins at N. 35th St. and W. Villard Ave.

MILWAUKEE – Groundbreaking for the new Villard Square development will take place on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of N. 34th St and W. Villard Ave. The ceremony will include Mayor Tom Barrett, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) Executive Director Antonio Riley, Milwaukee Public Library Board of Trustees President Ald. Ashanti Hamilton (who also represents this area on the Milwaukee Common Council), Milwaukee Public Library Director Paula Kiely, Northwest Side Community Development Corp. (NWSCDC) Executive Director Howard Snyder, and representatives from Gorman & Company, a development and construction company.

Villard Square is a mixed-use development that will include a new Milwaukee Public Library branch on the first floor, with 47 apartment homes on three stories above for families where grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren. This development as planned will seek to address two strong needs in the community.

The new library will replace an aging, energy-inefficient building located at 3310 W. Villard Ave. The Villard Square library will cover 12,871 square feet, and will include 50 desktop and laptop computers for users, community meeting and study rooms, children’s and teen areas, and self-checkout stations. An on-site parking lot for 32 cars is part of the library plan.

Engberg Anderson is the interior architect for the new library. The library address will be 5186 N. 35th St.

The apartments will be marketed to grandparents who are raising their school-age grandchildren. Residential units will include central air conditioning, in-unit washers and dryers, and study spaces. Other amenities include a movie theater, a rooftop patio and playground, exercise studio, business center, a counseling lounge, and underground parking.

The address for the apartments will be 3427 W. Villard Ave.

The development partners are Gorman & Company and the Northwest Side Community Development Corp. (NWSCDC), a 501(c)(3) community development corporation. When the current Villard Avenue Library was slated to close in 2003, the NWSCDC had the idea to build a new library on land that it owned to guarantee that the neighborhood would continue to have such an important community educational resource and anchor.

The library remained open, and the NWSCDC fostered support for the mixed-use project, partnering with City elected officials, the Milwaukee Public Library, the City’s Department of City Development, and Gorman & Company to bring the project to fruition.
The Villard Square project is consistent with the area’s master plan adopted by the City, and will be an important new development for a strong and revitalized Villard Avenue.

This project represents an investment of over $11 million in the Villard Avenue neighborhood. Financing is provided by Boston Capital as a tax credit investor, Harris Bank and IFF as lenders, Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) and ARRA Section 1602 funds from WHEDA, and CDBG grants from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and the City of Milwaukee.

The City of Milwaukee is committing $1,291,500 to purchase the library space, partnering with the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM) to creatively utilize New Market Tax Credits in order to reduce the City’s capital outlay for the project.

Villard Square is one of several Milwaukee-area housing developments funded through Low Income Housing Tax Credits that were stalled last year due to the economy. Thanks to the TCAP, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, WHEDA was able to award a $1.29 million loan to cover the gap left by low tax credit prices. In 2009, WHEDA allocated over $7.6 million in tax credits to the development.


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O'Donnell Park Slammed Again; Has The Buck Stopped Yet?

I said couple off days ago that indifference was hardly a campaign platform from which Scott Walker should offer himself to the state's voters.

Events indicate he continues to get away with it.

The Journal Sentinel tells us that the investigator looking into the fatal collapse at O'Donnell Park says the parking structure was in very bad shape, and he'd inspected hundreds of buildings.

In really bad shape. As in, "one of the worst."

County Executive Walker - -The Captain of Indifference - - morphs into The Master of Deflection as he addresses some of the issues in the story, but apparently not exactly how this happened...on his watch.

Note graphs two and three in that Thursday Journal Sentinel story: Walker addresses what should be done, maybe, but not how things were allowed to get that bad.

And he uses the County Board for cover - - instead of bashing the Board, which is his norm:

"Also Wednesday, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said while he favored repairing the damage to the O'Donnell garage, he was open to considering demolishing it if that's what the County Board decides to do.

"I'd be willing to talk to the board" about demolition, Walker said. "I don't have a hard-core feeling" that repair is the only option."

Isn't the County Executive's job to execute? In other words, to lead, to fix. to manage - - which means to be the responsible party.

It's rooted in what we used to call an "action" verb, for crying out loud. It's about doing things, not commenting on them after the fact.

Scott Walker's been the executor, the executive, the one [ostensibly] in charge - - where the buck is said to stop - - since 2002.

But has he really been managing the County's infrastructure all the years? Was he supervising what needed to be fixed, what was decaying?

Again, I'm not seeing it.

Did he even know the structure was in bad shape?

If not, why not?

And if he did, why didn't he manage the problem like the boss, the chief executive of the County?

That there are structural problems at the parking structure not related to the fatal concrete slab collapse with a $2 million price tag - - suggesting either deferred maintenance or shoddy inspections or a casual institutional approach to building integrity - - was somewhat buried in a Saturday Journal Sentinel story that focused instead on the bridge connection to the Art Museum's Calatrava addition.

That's an important issue, but secondary, I think to how we got here in the first place.

Here's what's at the core of the issue: Walker was more interested in the political opportunities at the Courthouse than in managing County programs, in an urban setting, in the public interest.

So we have deteriorated infrastructure, a House of Horrors at the Mental health Complex and all sorts of social services stripped of essentials - - while the County Exec is motorcycling around the state in his now fifth year of running for Governor.

For God's sake: Walker is just getting around to filling the top economic development post in County government after a two-year vacancy.

And this is the basis of a promotion to Governor?

Coal Drives Nation's Water Use

Half the water we draw and use daily in the US is related to the coal we burn.

Excellent graphic, here.

Senate's Only Medical Doctor Holding Up Food Safety Bill

Tom Coburn, (R-OK), is blocking a bill to strengthen food inspections. Too expensive, he says.

Enjoy your eggs, sir.

Now Is The Best Time To Send Russ Feingold A Check

His campaign is trying for 15,000 donations of $100 each to match Ron Johnson''s fortune.

I sent my donation - - your turn, progressives, here.

Johnson Foundation - - Wingspread - - Launches Call For National Water Policy Overhaul

Report, here.

Tea Party Winners: Motivaters or Deflaters?

Environmentalists need to ramp it up in November. The Tea Party candidates should be all the motivation needed.

Idle Gulf Wells Now Ordered Plugged

Who knew that you could simply leave an idle well unplugged?

Post-Election Tidbits

* Scott Walker's intro with John Mellencamp's "Small Town" blaring on the speakers is an effort to re-brand and run away from the Milwaukee County Executive's Milwaukee political ID. And Mellencamp, no reactionary he, needs to assert his rights to the song. (I hadn't seen this map before I wrote this posting, but you can see that Neumann ran strongly in small-town Wisconsin).

* Rebecca ("I've got a minivan") Kleefisch? For Lt. Governor (R)? Really? Lt. Governors are known to walk into the job every so often. I can't wait for the debates with Tom Nelson (D).

* Was there any less useful and more wasteful election last night than the recall of Ald. Peggy Bull t in Waukesha? Her term expires in April.

* Is there any more repeatedly cynical campaign that Sheriff Clarke's masquerade as a Democrat? He was appointed by a Republican (Scott McCallum, one of those Lt. Governors who slid into the top job when Tommy Thompson joined the Bush cabinet), practically lives in Charlie Sykes' studio and address a Tea Party rally.

* I also commend to you Dom Noth's comprehensive review of the elections. Really good stuff.

Chris Larson Wins; Huge Grassroots, Environmentalist Victory

Insurgent Democrat Chris Larson turns out incumbent State Sen. Jeff Plale, who wrecked the climate and energy bill that he was supposed to be helping steer through the legislature, and then took tons of energy sector money and last-minute donations from the coal industry.

Great win for Chris and the people.

I had thought Chris would win by a couple of hundred votes. Nice to be wrong, yet still right.

More importantly, Larson's victory tells us a few things:

* Environmentalists can help win elections with basic, door-to-door grassroots politicking.

* Money helps - - TV commercials aimed at Plale by Citizens for a Progressive Wisconsin and focused on "Pay for Plale" were effective - - but also can hurt a recipient candidate, too.

The effort by former Republican Assembly Majority Leader Scott Jensen to re-enter state politics, monkey around in a Democratic primary and funnel in special interest money from outside clearly backfired.

* A motivated candidate can get into a primary on relatively short notice and be successful. Larson threw his campaign together in about three months. Having a tone-deaf incumbent in a year when incumbents already are living dangerously does help.

* Climate change, alternative energy and green jobs are indeed core principals for Democratic voters, and not just on Milwaukee East side. Plale disrespected too many of his constituents and Larson ran through that opening.

So on to the general election - - and, of course, talk radio will try and whip of support for the Republican in the race - - with an invigorated environmental movement that can help replace a tool of corporate special interests with a genuine, homegrown Milwaukee progressive.

Does UWM Land Deal On County Grounds Help Scott Walker Fill A Budget Hole?

Does the rush in Wauwatosa City Hall to approve a $12 million taxpayer-financed infrastructure loan for the proposed UWM engineering and innovation complex on the County Grounds - - a key step to set the whole project in motion - - then trigger the transfer of $13.5 million in land sale proceeds to the County from UWM so that Scott Walker can add the money to his last, 'no-tax-increase' budget?

We're about 10 weeks from the approval of the 2011 County Budget.

Just asking.

UWM Tosa Project Closer To Reality: Checks Being Cut

The skids are being greased. It's still an irrational site - - some of the last remaining open and publicly-owned space in Milwaukee County, miles from the rest of UWM, other colleges and much of the private sector.

Talk Radio Totally In The Tank For Walker

All day, station-to-station in the Milwaukee area. Scott Walker is getting a free boost from the righty talkers.

Mark Neumann probably wonders what happened to the level playing field.

Kennan Forum This Year: Great Topic - - Water - - But Wisconsin/Great Lakes Speakers Shut Out

I am a big fan of the annual George F. Kennan Forum, and this year's gathering on September 29th - - registration details here - - with water as the subject couldn't be more timely.

But here we are on the shoreline of the world's largest supply of fresh surface water - - the Great Lakes - - , with experts galore across an eight-state region - - and none of the speakers has Great Lakes water conservation or management as a specialization.

This isn't a complaint from a 'homer.' Just an observation that there is a wealth of expertise about the Great Lakes from Milwaukee to Chicago to Buffalo and certainly into Canada - - the area covered by the unique water management arrangement known as the Great Lakes Compact - - and that perspective would have added substantially to an important discussion.

Bouman Rides The MegaBus, And Local Transit, And Has A Ball - - On The Cheap

You gotta read this paean to transit all the way to the end.

Hat tip, Brother Bouman.

Wisconsin Motorcycle Driver Deaths In 2010 To Date Exceed Entire 2009 Total

The 85th motorcycle fatality on Wisconsin roads was recorded in the week ending on 9/12, state figures show, exceeding the toll of 84 for all of 2009.

State figures show that the 2008 toll was 88: are we going to surpass the record of 110 recorded in 2007?

I am wondering when WisDOT will address this tragic trend.

When Mined, Utah Oil Sands Pit To Be Like A Day At The Beach

File this away under "Claims To Be Checked."

Remember Tommy The Train Guy?

The guy who really wanted to be George W. Bush's Transportation secretary, since Tommy masqueraded as Mr. Amtrak?

Just in time for the GOP primary tomorrow, he's returned to his real first love - - highways.

Correction: he returned to his real first love - - himself.

Chris Larson For State Senate

I'm really pulling for the guy. Imagine a young progressive in place of Jeff Plale!

Water, Highway Decisions/Spending Will Fuel Waukesha Sprawl

Waukesha County, where small-government, fiscally-conservative politics is said to be the norm, is a;so about to absorb multiple government actions and spending that will direct where population expansion - - thus construction, development, traffic and demands for taxpayer-paid services - - will take place.

The drivers of this process will be a) expanded water service from a possible Lake Michigan diversion (estimated cost, $164 million), and b) highway expansion in the form of the West Waukesha Bypass (about $50 million expected).

One arm of government, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission has determined that another arm of government, the Waukesha Water Utility, can expand its service territory to the south and west and add a land mass of 17.4 square miles, or about 80%, to the current service territory to which it could pipe Lake Michigan water.

Take a look at the expanded water service territory map - - developable land, as mapped by SEWRPC, is in orange, and the squiggly blue line is the existing water service boundary (yes, I know, there are too many blues in the map...)



The Journal Sentinel has a nice version of the map that more clearly shows the expanded and current service territories, here.

Some residents in the bordering, more rural Town of Waukesha are not happy with the Bypass - - project area map here - - or the prospect of diverted Lake Michigan water being offered in the town, but the state, county and city - - bigger governments, along with the unelected SEWRPC - - are calling the shots that will push development out from the City of Waukesha into open space and the smaller communities.

Bypass highway options would run north/south between I-94 and State Highway 59. A final route decision is pending and there will be a public meeting Wednesday night in Waukesha to begin to pare down the options; basically the Bypass will go somewhere north/south - - again the Bypass map is here - - through a portion of the expanded water service territory.

So highway expansion will serve the added water service territory, and vice-versa.

Permission to expand the Waukesha Water service territory, as defined by SEWRPC, has been added to that city's application for a Lake Michigan diversion.

The application, approved by the Waukesha Common Council in April, has been in the hands of the the state government - - the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, since June - - but a formal review of the application has not begun.

The other seven Great Lakes states would have to approve the application should the DNR eventually green-light it, leaving Waukesha free to pursue a Lake Michigan water sales agreement after negotiations with the three big cities to the East: Milwaukee - - the preferred provider - - Racine, or Oak Creek.

You might want to remember the many units of government involved in the growth and definition of the City and County of Waukesha the next time you hear someone saying that development and population patterns in Southeastern Wisconsin are dictated by personal choice.

Nope: Even in Waukesha County, big government, backed by big bucks, is calling the tune.

An additional note: CH2M Hill is now the water supply/diversion application consultant for the Waukesha Water Utility and also the bypass consultant for Waukesha County, the road project's eventual manager.

Rents Are On The Rise

Renters are taking it on the chin.

Canadians Address Cars, Cities And Culture

Interesting stuff.

Housing Resale Fee: Keep It Out Of Wisconsin

Assuming it's not too late.

Gingrich Undermines Argument That Conservatives Aren't Racist

How'd you like to be this academic whose op-ed defending conservatives against allegations of racism runs just as Newt Gingrich - - very much a conservative and a Republican career politician - - appeals to the fringiest of the conservative Birther base by claiming that President Barack Obama is directed by a Kenyan mentality.

Gingrich Says Obama Ruled By Absent, Dead Father's Ghost

Newt Gingrich joins the Birthers, with a sick twist: Barack Obama is under the control of the Kenyan father who abandoned him.

Another example of our say-anything political culture - much of which is aimed at marginalizing our first African-American president.

No coincidence.

State Journal Calls For More OWI Reform

Real reforms, including closing the major loophole left open by a timid legislature earlier this year: issuing a criminal misdemeanor charge against all first-time offenders, says the State Journal editorial board.

Wisconsin Motorcycle Driver Deaths In 2010 Now 30% Greater Than in 2009

As I have been noting on my blog this summer, there is a nasty trend developing for motorcycle drivers on state roads this year: 79 deaths so far in 2010, compared to 61 through the same period in 2009, according to Wisconsin Department of Transportation data.

This fatality on Friday - - making the year total so far at least 80 - - would not yet be in the WisDOT figures for 2010.

$2 Million Worth of Additional Problems Unearthed At O'Donnell Park Garage

There are jaw-dropping details in the Journal Sentinel's Sunday story updating the O'Donnell Parking garage accident that document deficiencies in the troubled ramp beyond the decorative concrete exterior slabs that were improperly installed -- one of which fell and killed a boy on June 24th.

From the story:

"The $2 million included in estimates for repairs not connected to the decorative slabs included money for resealing the ramp driving surfaces, patching numerous cracks, repairing damaged expansion joints and fixing leaking and detached drainage pipes inside the structure...

"It's clear the building isn't worthy of a clean bill of health," said County Auditor Jerome Heer. "Lots of work needs to be done." A report by Heer's department on the condition of O'Donnell Park and other county buildings is expected in about a month.

Was this due to years of incompetent inspections?

Deferred maintenance?

A culture of indifference?

Something else?

And if the buck stops with Milwaukee County Executive-since-2002- Scott Walker, as he belatedly said, can he explain why was the ramp was allowed to deteriorate to the point that two millions of dollars are need for repairs not related to the concrete slabs that were improperly installed?

Florida Pastor Jones' Long, Goofy and Deadly Road

Before his world-wide infamy as an attention-seeker and would-be Koran burner, we learn that he got booted out of Germany for turning a church there cultish, and in high school in Missouri was a classmate of Rush Limbaugh's.

His daughter opines that he's gone mad.

Riots in Afghanistan against his ego-tripping, hate-inspired and now-canceled bonfire in Gainesville, FL have left at least one protester dead.

What's next?

Sunday update: Fresh rioting leaves two more dead.

Another Enbridge Oil Pipeline Leak

This one shut down a major pipeline near Chicago.

Same company that had the Michigan leak a few weeks ago, and which has spilled oil in Wisconsin, too.

Walker Ad Bashing Neumann A Sign Of Things To Come

If Scott Walker is willing to twist the truth and embrace personal attacks against gubernatorial opponent Mark Neumann in a primary campaign ad, you can bet Walker's focus after Tuesday - - should he win - - will be even nastier against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic standard-bearer

That's where blind ambition and millions of dollars can take you if you are a rightist drawn to the dark side: the Lee Atwater/Karl Rove/Koch Brothers playbook and a campaign with no soul.

No Doubt GOP Enjoying Messing With Democratic Primary Race

Even if right-wing money and talk radio can't save State Sen. Jeff Plale (D) from a defeat on Tuesday by a party insurgent, Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Chris Larson, the outside-the-party conservatives promoting Plale have to be enjoying the internal Democratic Party fight they are enabling.

The district in question includes conservative south suburban voters and the more liberal East side; the election is going to be very close, and the margin of victory could be 200 votes, or less.

With motivated voters casting ballots, I'd give the edge to Larson even though it means turning out an entrenched incumbent because of the backlash against Plale over his abandonment of legislation to create jobs through cleaner energy.

Issues don't get any closer than that to the soul of dedicated Democrats.

Larson had been repeatedly criticized on right-wing talk radio for a shop-lifting episode when he'd been a teenager, and for a disorderly conduct ticket in 2004 over a parking ticket that had led to the towing of his car.

The Journal Sentinel endorsed Plale in Saturday's edition, though on Friday, WisPolitics.com reported that Plale paid a fine in 2001 for disorderly conduct during an argument with his wife after which he admitting pushing her out of the door to their South Milwaukee home.

The couple later divorced, records show.

Mayor Daley Drops Another Bombshell - - Reversing (Again) The Chicago River

After bombshell #1 - - that he was not going to seek re-election next year - - Richie Daley has dropped another major pronouncement: that the re-reversal of the Chicago River be seriously studied to return Chicago's waste water (after modern treatment) to Lake Michigan, as reported by the Journal Sentinel's Dan Egan.

This would happen far down the road, as there are enormous financial, engineering and political issues to solve, but cleaning up the Chicago River, ending the city's discharge of waste not disinfected of bacteria (yes, Chicago does that to its downstream neighbors) and returning the largest diversion of water back to the lake would have tremendous benefits for the Great Lakes and far beyond.

Experts Discuss Energy On South Dakota Public Television

Really informative discussion, featuring Matt McGovern of RePower America, about energy issues on South Dakota Public TV.

The issues are relevant to other states, too, as the climate crisis and need for new energy sources, conservation and jobs is universal.

John Norquist To Deliver Annual Paul Offner Lecture

Details on the 2010 annual lecture in honor of the late Wisconsin legislator Paul Offner:

John Norquist, president of Congress for the New Urbanism, speaks on "Urbanism and the Value of Cities" on September 23 at 5 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge of the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

Some history about the lecture series, here.

How Did Plale's Disorderly Conduct Ticket Get Overlooked For Nine Years?

Amazing that there had been no earlier publicity about a sitting state legislator's citation for municipal disorderly conduct in 2001. (correcting earlier post of 2003)

Plale admitted to an investigating South Milwaukee police officer that he had pushed his wife out of the door to their house, but denied kicking her, as she alleged, during an argument that occurred prior to their divorce.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson, challenging Plale in a Democratic primary next Tuesday, had been vilified in conservative media for a shop-lifting charge as a teen, and a dispute over a parking ticket, but Plale's infraction - - details about all these incidents are here - - certainly raises a lot more questions.

Ament, Walker - - What's The Difference?

Former Milwaukee County Executive F. Thomas Ament, a Democrat, left office in 2002 following a pension scandal and a recall election.

He left the County's finances and reputation is shambles.

Enter Scott Walker, a Republican legislator from Wauwatosa and a so-called reformer, but with no real interest in the workings of local government.

To Walker, the office of County Executive was a stepping stone to the Governor's office, which Walker sought in 2006, then quit in favor of Cong. Mark Green - - but Walker's campaign for the next election cycle never stopped and today is is believed to have a lead against fellow conservative Republican Mark Neumann.

Were Walker to win, he'd leave behind his own mess, starting with a pension system that he was slow to repair and is still drains Milwaukee County of resources.

There also has been a fatal collapse at O'Donnell Park (and, apparently, years of problems that inspections somehow missed during both Walker and Ament's regimes), a gruesome sexual assault and supervisory scandal at the County Mental Health complex occurring on Walker's watch, and a host of budget, social service delivery and more structural problems at other county facilities, including the airport, the courthouse and transit center.

Ament was an old-fashioned courthouse politician.

Walker is an old-fashioned opportunist.

Neither really cared cares about the primacy of the public interest.

Ament was retired (and I have criticized him before, or here, or here... so please, no comments about this being something new).

Walker should not be promoted.

Indifference, regardless of party or personality, should not be rewarded.

Corporate Executive Strong For High-Speed Rail

We need more of this.

Will Milwaukee County Be Asked To Guarantee The Proposed UWM/County Grounds TIF?

Back when Wauwatosa provided a TIF to build infrastructure to facilitate the GE health care research facility in the city, Milwaukee County agreed to guarantee the TIF loan in case the project failed.

Unlikely, and not needed, as things turned out: GE is a going concern, to put it mildly.

Now comes UWM seeking $12 million in TIF (tax incremental financing) loans to UWM and a private developer who would build an engineering school and related and private-sector "innovation center" on the County Grounds.

Again, the $12 million would pay for infrastructure, and the full court press for the subsidy is on.

I can't imagine Tosa seeking a County guarantee in this case, but other communities in the county should be mindful of the possibility, because Milwaukee County right now doesn't have two spare nickels to rub together.

And if the project didn't produce through additional taxes the funds needed to pay off Tosa's loan - - officials say it will take 27 years, the maximum time frame allowed by state law - - and if there was a County guarantee, then taxpayers in all the other County municipalities would pick up proportionate shares based on their percentage of the tax base in the County.

That would put City of Milwaukee taxpayers on the hook for about half any unpaid debt; Tosa, less than 10%.

Anyway: it's worth asking, especially since another can't-miss development with public subsidies by a big-name sponsor - - Harley-Davidson - - has just gone up in smoke.

Why We Have A Great Lakes Compact: Bulk Water Exports From Alaska Possible

There are reports that bulk water shipments could be made from Alaska to India by tanker ship.

Earlier talk about similar shipments from the Great Lakes to Asian destinations led to the Great Lakes Compact of 2008.

That multi-state agreement, ratified by the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament, banned diversions except in containers of less than 5.7 gallons or smaller, or by pipeline any farther than a county that happens to touch the Great Lakes basin boundaries - - hence the City of Waukesha's need to apply to all eight US Great Lakes states for diversion permission., and ubiquitous bottled water sales in the region under brand names such as "Ice Mountain," from a Michigan wetlands.

Great National Transportation Website

Transportation for America website is a daily visit.

Walker, Neumann Take Aim At Madison

Running against Madison with its major university, and state payrolls, has been standard GOP playbook fare, but this year the Republican candidates for Governor especially have Madison in their sights.

Both Scott Walker and Mark Neumann oppose the expansion of high-speed Amtrak rail that would restore train service to Madison and better link the city to bigger economies in Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

And both candidates support restrictions on stem cell research recently laid down by a Federal Judge that would cost that signature UW Madison scientific effort millions in grants and spin-off growth.

Republicans usually target the capital city, a Democratic stronghold, and the UW-Madison, to stir up the out-state base, but this time the candidates are aiming directly at Madison's jobs' base.

So there's your 2010 GOP gubernatorial campaign slogan:

'"Send me to Madison so I can wreck the economy."

Ohio's 'Other Great Lake' Is In Bad Shape

Read this account of the decline of a lake in Ohio not dissimilar to Lake Erie.

Walker Says He Would Veto Pork Spending

Really?

I guess that's the end of the state's bloated major highway plans .

Will Reasoned Editorial Sway Tosa On Rail Stop?

The Journal Sentinel urges Wauwatosa Mayor Jill Didier to rethink her opposition to a station in her city for the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-Twin Cities high-speed connection.

I'm not optimistic.

What about Tosa residents and other officials?

It's A Bonus; Marquette Interchange Fix Needed After Only Two Years To Last 75

Just when you think that things couldn't get any nuttier when it comes to highway building in this state, you have this...

A leading contractor, HNTB, and WisDOT managing some how, some way, in unison, and in plain view to design, stage, build, inspect (we assumed) and open in 2008 the rebuilt, redesigned and award-winning $810 million Marquette Interchange - - a piece of which now has to be replaced right now because it is unsafe.

Seems the design and some pretty big parts are all wrong on one ramp that was closed last week, and which will eventually be under repair for four-to-five months, inconveniencing an estimated 15,000 drivers daily.

And the kicker?

We're told by HNTB, reports the Journal Sentinel's Tom Held, that the new/replaced/safe ramp will last 75 years.

Someone write that down and have their great-grand kids dust it off.

The Marquette Interchange opened in 1968, so it lasted 40 years, sort of.

The crumbling Hoan Bridge? It opened in 1977.

75 years?

Spare me.

Water Estimates Posted: Oak Creek, Racine More Costly Than Milwaukee Water For Waukesha

The DNR has posted what I and others had sought: Waukesha's estimated costs to divert Lake Michigan water through Oak Creek or Racine, as opposed to Milwaukee.

The numbers were provided to the DNR by Waukesha attorneys, and are described as estimates (so do not be surprised if later figures rise or fall significantly...):

Racine - - $312 million.

Oak Creek - - $261 million.

So at $164 million, Milwaukee seems to have a negotiating advantage.

This is not a surprise, as Oak Creek and Racine are farther from Waukesha than is Milwaukee, and the smaller cities would probably need infrastructure improvements that Milwaukee would not need to install.

As I had speculated earlier today, there seemed to be no need for a town hall meeting in Waukesha about the application - - unless something like the release of this information took place.

Also: cost is certainly important to Waukesha water users, but it is not necessarily pivotal under the Great Lakes Compact to the DNR's review, or those that would take place in seven other Great Lakes states (and two Canadian provinces on an advisory basis) if the DNR moves the application forward.

More later.

Another Meeting Proposed On Waukesha Water Issue

Since Waukesha's Great Lakes diversion application is still on hold - - details here - - I'm not sure what another public meeting will offer, or resolve, but the Council President, Paul Ybarra, is proposing just that for October 18.

It is possible by then that Waukesha will have released the cost estimates for obtaining Racine and/or Oak Creek water, or that the DNR has begun to move the review process forward.

[Update: The cost estimates have been released:

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/dwg/greatlakes/Waukesha/Water_supply_alt_9_1_10.pdf]

Since the defeat of Mayor Larry Nelson in April by anti-diversion insurgent Jeff Scrima, Ybarra has become the leading elected policy-maker in Waukesha supporting the diversion.

Below is the text and links taken from the DNR webpage dedicated to the application that explains the review and environmental impact statement "scoping" delays.

City of Waukesha DRAFT Water Diversion Application

• Proposal
• Background
• EIS Process
• Public Participation
• Contacts
• Maps
• Other Resources

EIS Process

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Process

The DNR has determined that it will conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) process for the proposed Waukesha diversion. The Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act or WEPA, and administrative code NR 150, require the DNR to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed project and reasonable alternatives.

The City of Waukesha submitted an application to the DNR on May 20, 2010 (available on the Proposal tab) that the DNR has subsequently determined is incomplete. On June 8, 2010, DNR Secretary Matt Frank sent a letter to Waukesha Mayor Jeff Scrima detailing a number of deficiencies in the City's application as submitted. In his letter, Secretary Frank informed Mayor Scrima that the identified deficiencies must be resolved before the DNR would accept and review the application. Accordingly, the DNR has also suspended its work on the scoping process for the EIS associated with the City’s potential diversion proposal. This page will be updated if and when the City of Waukesha cures the deficiencies in its application and the DNR accepts a revised application and begins its review.

The first step of the EIS process involves "scoping" of the evaluation and analysis. The DNR has prepared a Waukesha Project EIS List of Topics to be addressed in the EIS and sought public comments to determine the scope and the significant issues to be analyzed in depth by the EIS.

If and when the City of Waukesha moves forward with its application the DNR will seek further public comments on the scope of the EIS.

The scoping process is the first step in the EIS process. After an EIS is completed and published, there is a 45–day public comment period and a public hearing.

EIS Scoping Comments Received

Comments received [PDF 24MB]

Labor Coverage: Erik Gunn Takes A Look

I pass along Erik Gunn's fine look at how labor is covered by local media.

Erik's quote from Steve Hannah at the old Journal where we all worked about not wanting just a strike reporter made me chuckle.

Hannah hired me as Economics reporter in 1983, but on my first day at the paper, the editors had an argument right in front of me about whether I would be Economics reporter, or Labor reporter, and whether I would work for the Business desk or the Metro desk.

In the end, Metro prevailed - - and I was Labor reporter, and I did cover a lot of strikes because that's what was happening, at Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, Miller Brewing and Pabst. Forgive me if I've confused or forgotten some.

After I went onto other beats and assignments, the Labor reporter was moved to the Business desk, where Erik worked.

I had thought that having the beat covered by Metro, and away from Business, was the best arrangement; Erik was an outstanding Labor reporter - - it didn't matter where he was based, as you can see from his fine reporting for Mil Mag.

Blogging Blue Reminds Us About Plale's GOP Backers

As Zach at Blogging Blue reminds us, Chris Larson is trying to unseat State Sen. Jeff Plale in a Democratic Primary - - one where Charlie Sykes and Scott Jensen are siding with Plale.

This is a Democratic primary?

Looks to me as if Larson is the only (D) on the ballot there.

Track Atmospheric Increase In Carbon Dioxide

Steady increases, attributed to human activity, says the (gasp, yes, Federal Government).

Talgo Train Video

This video from Spanish train maker Talgo - - from whom Wisconsin is buying two train sets and adding an assembly facility at the former Tower Automotive factory in in Milwaukee - - should give you an idea of what the ride will be like in just a few short years on upgraded tracks from Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison and farther west - - if the Republicans don't kill the line.

Waukesha Great Lakes Diversion Application Remains In Limbo

No formal review of the application from the City of Waukesha for a Great Lakes diversion has yet begun, according to the website established by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to track the application's status.

The application was endorsed by the Waukesha Common Council in April, then edited by Waukesha Water Utility and City Attorney officials before being submitted in June to the DNR, which tabled it pending receipt of additional information it sought from Waukesha.

The DNR is still assessing that added material - - the application, the DNR's review process and other relevant documentation are also on the DNR site.

The website today did post some financial data that the DNR had requested from Waukesha when the agency froze the review process, so this may lead to the review proceeding. We'll see.

Waukesha is applying for water under the 2008 Great Lakes Compact; Wisconsin and all seven other Great Lakes states would have to approve the application, with consultation and input also obtained - - but not a vote - - from two Canadian provinces that also border the Great Lakes before the application plan could be implemented.

The application has been analyzed and criticized by a coalition of environmental organizations: that analysis is here. Other references, here.

So it's not a quick or simple undertaking - - and Waukesha has agreed in writing to meet a June, 2018 legal deadline for the provision of water to its customers that complies with Federal quality standards.

Some Waukesha water from deep wells must be filtered and blended with water from separate, shallow wells to remove naturally-occurring radium - - a process Waukesha wants to end by switching to a Lake Michigan supply.

Waukesha believes Lake Michigan water supplied by the City of Milwaukee is its best option and estimates that such a plan would cost $164 million.

Among the many answered questions:

Would water supplied by Oak Creek or Racine be less or more expensive than a City of Milwaukee supply?

Will Waukesha's plan to send its treated wastewater back to Lake Michigan via Underwood Creek and the Menomonee River - - and not through a pipeline directly to the lake or to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District - - pass an environmental review in Wisconsin, and perhaps in other states concerned about the overall health of the Great Lakes basin?

Does Waukesha have additional and viable alternatives to a Lake Michigan diversion that will meet the Federal water quality standards?

Can Waukesha clear the multitude of legal, political and environmental hurdles the application faces - - in Waukesha, in Southeastern Wisconsin, at the DNR and across the Great Lakes both in the US and Canada - - by the June, 2018 deadline?

Some of these questions may produce answers if the DNR opens its formal application review, and if and when Waukesha or the DNR releases the Oak Creek and Racine cost information.

[Update Tuesday afternoon: The DNR posted the estimates]

Milwaukee is working on a separate compilation of cost estimates covering potential Milwaukee, Racine and Oak Creek supplies - - all part of what will influence contract and negotiations should they get underway if the DNR review proceeds.

And finally, will Milwaukee and Waukesha, should the application be approved by all eight states - - and if with Milwaukee is the preferred supplier- - be able to reach a deal for water that a) meshes Milwaukee's interest in a broad agreement tying water to a comprehensive social and economic issues package, with b) objections to that kind of a broader plan already stated by a number of leading Waukesha officials?

Complicated? You bet.

Was the Lake Michigan option the right choice by Waukesha?

The application is the first of its kind, all parties are in uncharted waters, and at this point there are more questions than answers.

Journal Sentinel Exposes Tainted Wells Near Oak Creek Power Plant

The source of the drinking water contamination isn't known yet, but doesn't the molybdenum in WE Energies' coal ash leave a signature that could rule the utility in or out as the culprit?

Republican Election Strategy: Keep Jobless Out Of Work

It took about 30 seconds for Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to say "no" Monday afternoon to President Barack Obama's roads, rail and runways reconstruction plan announced at the Milwaukee Lakefront to a Labor Day crowd.

McConnell snickered that people were still waiting for the "shovel-ready" jobs promised last year when the stimulus bill began underwriting public works.

He could come to Wisconsin and look at the I-94 N/S project: $97 million from the stimulus went into a project including Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties, where there is substantial unemployment - - and which would have been worse without the many projects in the private sector, and all levels of government that have received stimulus dollars.

And Kentucky has to be like the rest of the country - - I've been cross-country twice this year - - and it seems like every road and stretch of Interstate is dug up, with a stimulus funding billboard telling motorists where the money came from.

I wonder how many teachers are teaching McConnell's constituents' children with federal support this fall?

Or cops on the beat?

Potholes filled?

Rural homes getting broadband?

The Republicans, having driven the economy into the ditch with two unfunded wars and a treasury depleted by tax cuts for the wealthy are now almost openly rejoicing at high unemployment.

As Pres. Obama has said, do we want to give these people the keys to the economy again?

To be driven into the ditch another time?

Republicans think the economy that they deeply wounded will translate into votes this November, and it well might, but while they are in the Congress blocking jobs bills and tax incentives for small businesses, the rest of us should call them out for a cynical and craven strategy to crawl back into power.

Where, if they succeed in November they will do what they did from 2000-2008: bloat the Defense budget and cut taxes for their rich constituencies - - basically screwing the unemployed and disaffected people who might, out of anger, have voted Republican.

Obama's Infrastructure Bank A Good Idea; On The Right (Correct) Track

Getting the pork out of highway-building is probably impossible, given its centerpiece in the economy - - a point reiterated in the President's address in Milwaukee today - - but a rationalized process that includes rail and other transportation projects funded by an infrastructure bank is a good organizational change.

I loved the administration's commitment in his Labor Day speech to a national passenger rail system; jobs and growth for Milwaukee will be and already are the local outcomes - - white-collar as well as construction and equipment assembly- - and that point needs to be emphasized throughout the campaign.

If Walker or Neumann campaign against rail, that needs to be framed for what it is - - opposition to good jobs and meaningful growth in Milwaukee and Wisconsin - - including rail-induced development, worker paychecks, business services, and tax-base - - that would be lost to neighboring states if the high-speed train, an Amtrak upgrade, is blocked between Chicago and Madison.

Chicago is going to be hub for a regional train network that will offer connections for medium-length travel, on wi-fi equipped cars, that will be a boon to business and vacation travelers.

Not everyone has car, or wants to drive, for example, from Milwaukee to St. Paul, or St. Louis to Madison, with intermediate stops, airline cancellations or various issues or stresses with highway driving over several hundred miles or more.

Obama's plan will keep road-building at a very high pace, so the highway lobby and its allies in both parties, in all legislators, have nothing to fear from the train alternative getting some funding.

In Walker-Neumann MudballFest, Xoff Gets The Last Word

Read down the comments until you get to - Sep 05, 2010 5:24 PM - - when Xoff brings the historical context.

Boom! Too funny.

A Labor Day Report Card: SEWRPC Minority Hiring Still Skimpy

Let's take a Labor Day look at how the best jobs at the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission are distributed statistically, by race.

You still can't take a bus to SEWRPC's Pewaukee offices, and it's a long ride from Milwaukee and Racine, where most of the region's minority residents live, but since the agency deals with housing, transit and other hot-button issues in minority and low-income communities, it's fair to see what kind of record the agency has when it comes to race.

These are the current employment-by-race figures taken from the SEWRPC 2009-2010 affirmative action plan currently posted on the agency website (You can read the entire report,which has additional information, here.)

Total number of employees: 80.

So of 69 employees, 56 are men, 24 are women. 69 are white, 11 are non-white.

Here is how SEWRPC rates its performance, using more than one measuring stick, as you will see:

"On general, the Commission is meeting a fundamental goal of achieving a level of nonwhite employment in the managerial, professional and technical categories, exceeding such levels found in the available labor force of the Region. Moreover, the Commission’s level of nonwhite employment in the technical category exceeds such levels found in the available labor force of Milwaukee County. The Commission is not reaching the level of nonwhite participation in the clerical category evidenced in the Region. Accordingly, the Commission will continue to enhance its activities toward achieving a diverse workforce, including a focus on clerical and professional categories of its labor force as positions become available."

Compared to earlier data, the number of minority employees is marginally improved (with such a small sample, it's silly to talk in percentages) but the actual number of minority employees, especially in the higher-paying professional and managerial ranks - - 4 of 45 total - - is nothing to write home about.

Little wonder that SEWRPC is still facing formal civil rights complaints on hiring and other matters.

Final note: The report says SEWRPC annually updates the document:

"This affirmative action plan will be updated in July each year. This will consist of an update of the workforce analysis, together with comments relative to progress in reaching the Commission’s diversity employment goals, changes in those goals as may be appropriate, and any desirable modifications to activities."

But I don't see it on the website at the line at the bottom of the page about the agency's Affirmative Action plan.

So how would you rate SEWRPC on these matters?

I'd give the agency a "D."

Obama, Barrett, Should Tout Menomonee Valley/Jobs' Success

Mayor Tom Barrett and President Barack Obama need look no farther Monday than Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley, or the former Tower automotive plant-turned-train assembler, for a good Labor Day stories.

Years of hard work to reclaim the once-polluted and oft-ignored Valley have led to high-profile plant openings or commitments: Palermo's Pizza, for one - - and the two exciting and clean/alternative energy innovators - - Helios USA, (solar panels) and Ingeteam (wind turbines).

Talgo, the Spanish train maker, is also opening in Milwaukee at the Tower plant on the west side, assembling train sets for the high-speed rail initiative that is a centerpiece of Obama's infrastructure focus.

Local, state and federal investments have helped bring about these new plants, their production jobs and the spin-off white collar employment - - all in an older part of the city with sizable numbers of low-income and minority residents living close to these workforce opportunities.

Call it a green revolution with a blue collar: The new Milwaukee honoring the tried and true.

Barrett and Obama can also say that Republicans in Wisconsin are hostile to some of the public programming that helped bring these high-paying jobs, and their tax-base support, and the overall added value to Milwaukee - - the economic driver for Southeast Wisconsin and the entire state.

It's a strong and positive political and economic message.

It can be delivered with pride and conviction.

The environmental cleanup, alternative energy, economic growth and jobs connections evident in the Valley, and not far away at Tower, are a model for the rest of the country, and they illustrate a real path out of the recession to a cleaner, greener and recovered economy.

There's your new paradigm.

There's the change we hoped for.

Language Reminder For Comment Writers

I won't be posting comments containing ethnic or stereotypical slurs,.

What Not To Have In Your Campaign Archive

"Ariz. governor says she was wrong about beheadings"

From Saturday''s Washington Post.

I mean, it's not like there's a middle ground, beheadingwise.

Definitely not one for the grandkids' scrapbook.

Koch Brothers, Big Businesses, Using Money To Deflate California Clean Air Act

The Koch brothers - - those anti-big government, pro-big-government contract conglomerate - - join the California dirty air parade.

In Wisconsin, the parallels are at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which is the center of the fight to weaken air quality in Wisconsin.

Remember these folks the next time you hear that the Dairy State is again the Dirty Air state.

MMSD Continues Green Innovation

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, already cleaning streams with riverbank purchases and reconstructed wetlands, moves another step towards burning methane captured and piped from a landfill to treatment facilities.

Cue the irrelevant, snarky comments at 3...2...1...

The Appointed Governor Of Arizona Continues To Self-Destruct

Jan Brewer, having beheaded her candidacy in a debate, decides the solution is...no more debates.

Oh, Arizona, poster-state for the GOP: keep it up!

Koch Industries Hates Big Government - - Loves Its $84.5 Million In Contracts

As, yes, Koch Industries - - privately owned by the infamous Koch brothers - - leading financiers of the far-right that wants to restore small government while taking back the country...well, except for the $84.5 million in federal contracting Koch Industries is hauling in, federal data show.

Hat tip, Patrick McIlheran, whose blog started a chain of URL's that landed me on the federal spending site.

Walker Still Nervous About Neumann

Scott Walker has been behaving like the GOP's presumptive primary winner - - even like an incumbent-elect planning an administration - - but that he needed to lash out at Mark Neumann today suggests Walker still has an eye on Neumann.

Given the national successes that some conservatives have had running as independents/Tea Partiers against Republican regulars this year, Neumann is probably kicking himself for going after the nomination as a Republican.

That's it for today's unsolicited consulting advice from me to the Neumann camp.

Rethink That Marquette Interchange Award

It won this award for a so-called big project coming in under budget.

Closing one of the ramps for an unsafe design sort of undermines that award.

And contractor HNTB is still bragging on its website about another honor for the Marquette.

Outsized Madison Development On Hold As Too Suburban

New Urbanists, environmentalists and others helped shelve this project slated for a major West side intersection.

I've been at that location hundreds of times over the years, and I can tell you that the development's scale and impact would overwhelm the area.

And I understand there were concerns that a project of this size above a Madison well could lead to groundwater contamination problems.

So good for the activists and the city's Urban Design Commission slowing this down, for now.

WisDOT Delivers The Marquette Interchange On Time, Under Budget, And Below Par

Well, that didn't take long, did it?

The fancy-shamncy Marquette Interchange, touted by the state as being finished on time and under budget, has cracks and a fundamental design flaw on one ramp so severe that it's closed for emergency repairs.

What was the project built to - - a 30-year design standard? Fifty years? I really do forget, but the hype was endless.

The Wisconsin DOT in SE Wisconsin has had a lot of these problems:

A big section of the Hoan Bridge slipped and buckled a few years ago; smaller pieces are still falling - - into nets.

And there were those emergency repairs to three bridges in the Zoo Interchange earlier this year - - so should we think that when WisDOT gets around to spending $2.3 billion on that project, and the $1.9 billion in the I-94 North-South leg from Milwaukee to the Illinois state line that the government-road-builder complex will deliver us anything close to the new and rebuilt lands, bridges and ramps with shelf lives as promised?

All these so-called freeway (not so-free) improvements were sold to the public as safety upgrades, with the added lanes - - 127 miles total - - as mere throw-ins.

We knew going in that all that concrete would need repairs down the road, but after such a short period - - two years to be found unsafe?

As with the collapse at Milwaukee County's O'Donnell Park, this is hardly a confidence builder in government officials and inspectors who supervise well-paid contractors for jobs apparently not well done.

Scott Walker Finally Tells Us How He Spends His Time

"Im tired of sitting in a deer stand all day."

Maybe being on the job full-time at the Courthouse dealing with County business would have been a better choice.

GOP's Johnson: Another Rich Man Of The People

$4.4 million into his own campaign, and counting.

Interesting that he is running against the co-sponsor of McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.

And it's something of a trend in this the year of the aggrieved everywoman/man of tea party persuasion.

Arizona's Political Environment Gets Wackier

Here's incumbent Governor Jan Brewer's opening debate, televised statement.

Yipes.

River Success In Milwaukee

A lot of people and groups were involved in the Milwaukee River upgrade. Details from River Alliance of Wisconsin.

League Of Conservation Voters 2010 Endorsements Posted

The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters website shows which candidates it has endorsed so far this year. Here is the link.

Obesity Epidemic's Recent Sprawl

Hat tip, John Michlig, at the sustainability blog, Sprawled Out.

River Alliance Of Wisconsin Online Auction Underway

Cool stuff for a good cause. Details, here.

What's Worse Than A Secret Fundraiser?

Having to admit it didn't happen (We're looking at you, Republican Party of Wisconsin).

As Property Values Fall, Waukesha Communities Could See Fewer Services, Higher Taxes

How much blood is there in the Lake Country turnip, where the recession is knocking down property values - - which, in turn, is where most municipalities get the tax dollars that fuel public services.

We'll know by the end of the year.

Retrofitting Can Be A Major Job Creator

Green is the way to reduced energy demand and higher employment, says this report.

Walker Can't Budget, But The Tweeting Continues

More furloughs - - this is September 1, mind you - - ordered to keep the County budget in 'balance.'

The evidence is piling up that Walker is barely in charge of County affairs these days.

After all, there is a campaign for Governor to conduct.

His typical pattern is to say, via Twitter, that he is in the Courthouse early for meetings - - then its off to the races elsewhere looking for votes.

This is what is up on his Twitter page today. We'll see what happens later as the budget crisis unfolds:

"In courthouse early 4 budget meetings.about 7 hours ago via HootSuite"

If Jim Godsil Tells You To "Go Fish," Do It

It's lookin' good from his perch.

Tosa Wants UWM Research Center...But No Rail Connection To High-Tech Madison, Twin Cities

Wauwatosa is at war with itself.

The loser will be...Wauwatosa, where the city is wobbly on development and innovation.

On the one hand, its city leaders are probably going to lend millions of taxpayer dollars to get the new, sprawlified UWM Engineering School and private sector Innovation Center built on County Grounds property within the city boundaries.

But now its Mayor belatedly says "no" to a high-speed rail connection to leading high-tech business cities with bigger graduate campuses, like Madison, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Fear of talk radio and obeisance to Republican candidates and their anti-rail 'philosophy' is trumping common sense and economic growth in Wauwatosa.

OK, fine. Like Oconomowoc, Tosa can take itself off the high-speed rail line and forego business development at and near the high-speed rail station.

And also consign residents to longer freeway commutes as I-94, from Jefferson County to Miller Park, with the Zoo Interchange in between, gets scheduled for decades of construction.

Fewer stops from Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison and beyond are better for the rest of us who want an inter-city transportation option - - with comfy seats and wi-fi, to boot - - but don't want to live in economic backwaters.

Which is just where these rail drop-out cities are headed.