Today’s news that Afghan forces trying to hold a provincial capital have been surrounded by the Taliban brings to mind an astounding fact: President Obama has been in power eight years, and he has failed in that time to win the two wars he was handed. To the contrary, Iraq, which was basically peaceful, became a war again and expanded into Syria, Libya and elsewhere as the opposition morphed into ISIS under Obama’s watch.
Afghanistan, which was supposed to be the good war in Obama’s opinion, remains besieged, we remain involved, and the war will simply be handed to Trump or Clinton.
The Taliban attack on the provincial capital “has exposed how thinly stretched Afghan security forces have become as they try to contain Islamist insurgents in other areas of the country,” according to Reuters.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal agents lacked proper guidance and experience while conducting undercover sting operations in Milwaukee and several other cities that were aimed at disrupting illegal gun sales, according to a U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday.
The Justice Department’s inspector general’s office report examined shortcomings with U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ storefront sting operations in Milwaukee; Pensacola, Florida; St. Louis; Wichita, Kansas; and Boston. The operations were designed to curb illegal gun trafficking by luring people with illegal weapons into the store, where agents could identify them, buy their guns to get the weapons off the street and trace the guns’ histories. According to the report, the ATF established 53 storefront operations throughout the country between 2004 and 2013.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an expose in 2013 detailing some of the problems with the storefront operation conducted in that city. It found that agents overpaid for guns with taxpayer money, that guns were stolen from an ATF vehicle and that the storefront was burglarized. What’s more, agents left behind an operational plan at the store when they shut it down. The document included undercover agents’ names, vehicle descriptions, cellphone numbers and secret signals.
Most defendants were charged with low-level offenses and the operation failed to capture any major criminals.
Apache (APA) revealed the huge find this week after more than two years of stealthily buying up land, extensive geological research and rigorous testing.
The Houston company estimates the discovery, dubbed “Alpine High,” could be worth at least $8 billion.
Of the 8 million unionized, private sector employees in the United States, 94 percent have never voted for their own labor union representation.
An hourly autoworker at the Ford Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Terry Bowman, told The Daily Signal that during his 20 years of employment at Ford he has never voted for the union that represents him.
“I have no power to represent myself in any way, shape, or form,” Bowman, aUAW-Ford (United Automobile Workers) employee, told The Daily Signal. “Everything that I have and do is based on that collective bargaining agreement that I have basically been forced to accept if I want to work at Ford Motor Company.”
Bowman, 50, said union representation is forced upon the workers as a condition of employment. His union representation negotiated a collective bargaining agreement on his and other employees’ behalf with employer management.
Thank goodness workers have a choice in Wisconsin now.
The same mayor who is insistent that taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a street car as a novelty attraction for his wealthy downtown patrons is telling the citizens that their water might be contaminated with lead. Mayor Barrett’s priorities are so inverted that he has failed to fulfill one of his most basic responsibilities as a mayor – maintaining a safe and reliable primary infrastructure.
Owners and residents of tens of thousands of City of Milwaukee homes built before 1951 should install faucet filters capable of removing lead from drinking water, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Wednesday.
“I strongly urge anyone who lives in a home built before 1950-’51 to get a filter,” Barrett said at a public forum on drinking water held at Marquette University Law School.
About 70,000 city residences, including duplexes, or nearly 45%, of the total, receive water from street mains through a lead pipe known as a lateral.
Although Milwaukee treats Lake Michigan water to control corrosion of lead from those pipes and prevent contamination of drinking water, this step is not a 100% guarantee of clean water, a drinking water treatment scientist said Wednesday.
“As long as the lead pipe is there, no one should consider the water safe” to drink, said Marc Edwards, a professor of environmental and civil engineering at Virginia Tech. Edwards has led independent investigations of lead contamination of drinking water in Flint, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
For cryin’ out loud. These are supposed to be our best and brightest and we can’t expect them to figure this out? I’m almost certain that every Wisconsin college kid under 21 can figure out how to get beer.
There are many barriers that keep college students away from the polls. They include registration and voting requirements that vary from state to state, difficulty with obtaining the proper ID or proving residency, lack of familiarity with local issues and local candidates and uncertainty about how or where to vote — at home or at school.
Some laws passed over the previous four years, including in Wisconsin, have created even more barriers.
[…]
To help students navigate the system, the newly formed Wisconsin Student Power Alliance plans to hire between 18 and 20 organizers on campuses across the state this fall whose first project will be a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote drive, co-director Lamonté Moore said.
Yup. There’s nothing in the world that would have prevented them from releasing the documents on Monday of last week, or Tuesday of this week, or any other day. They made a choice in the interests of what they believed would best help Hillary Clinton.
Washington (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan accused the FBI Tuesday of playing politics with the release of details about their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email, citing the bureau’s decision to publicly reveal information at the onset of Labor Day weekend.
“It’s like the most buried time you could ever put out a story. I’m surprised. I can’t believe that they would do what is such a patently political move. It makes them look like political operators versus law enforcement officers,” Ryan said in a radio interview with WRJN’s Glenn Klein.
“The fact that they chose the Friday before Labor Day to put all this out there — it mystifies me as to why they thought that was a smart thing to do.”
During appearances Wednesday in Green Bay and Milwaukee, Gov. Scott Walker will announce a sales tax holiday on school supplies that he will propose in his 2017-’19 budget bill in February. The proposal will need legislative approval, but Assembly Republicans were already set to push for a similar proposal in a separate event earlier scheduled for Wednesday.
[…]
That proposal would have decreased state tax revenues by $13.2 million a year and local government tax revenues by $952,000 a year. That would amount to a cut of just one-quarter of 1% of the $5.06 billion in sales tax revenues last year.
I remember when these became the rage across the South. As a consumer, it’s kind of nice to save a few bucks and many stores use the occasion to have promotions and such, but it’s gimmicky. I would prefer real tax reform, but I’ll take it.
The unique outcropping, also known as the Duckbill, has long been a popular destination for tourists visiting Cape Kiwanda park on Oregon’s Pacific coast.
Officials had at first believed that the coastal sandstone pedestal had naturally eroded.
But they are currently re-evaluating that assessment after being shown the video by David Kalas, a visiting beachgoer.
Mr Kalas said that up to eight people participated in toppling it a week ago, but that five had walked away when the remaining group stayed to push it over.
“We confronted them and they said it was a safety hazard,” said Mr Kalas, who had gone there to film a summer holiday video with friends.
“They said one of their friends had broken a leg on it. It’s like their weird revenge thing”, he added.
[…]
Police and parks officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss possible criminal charges.
If these folks did tip over the rocks, it’s an incredibly douchey thing to do, but criminal charges? They tipped over rocks…
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has the power to force the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative to publicly disclose the names of foreign governments and the millions they donate each year to the charities but he’s not doing it, a Scripps News investigation has found.
Schneiderman’s failure to require compliance with New York law and written instructions from his own office keeps the public in the dark about whether the foreign governments that gave money to the Clinton charities also had special access to Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, experts in private foundation law say. New York state has long required more transparency from non-profits operating within its borders than many other regulators.
A Scripps Washington Bureau review of tax returns and regulatory filings found that year after year the Clinton charities have ignored New York law and related instructions. However, the office of Attorney General Schneiderman, a Democrat whom Hillary Clinton named to her campaign’s “leadership council” in New York, did not respond to Scripps’ questions about the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), which has never publicly disclosed in New York filings the identity of its foreign government contributors or the amounts they give each year. Scripps also discovered CHAI did not report hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign government donations to the state.
As I discussed in my column a few weeks ago, universities are increasingly monolithic in the thoughts they allow to be expressed on their campuses. Speaker Robin Vos illustrates one example of the lack of diversity in the UW system over on Right Wisconsin.
Our review found roughly $2.7 million was spent on guest speakers in 2015. UW-Milwaukee spent more on speakers than any other school. Not surprisingly, a large number were easily identifiable as being liberal. The same was true with smaller schools. The largest amount paid for a single speaker was at UW-Platteville. Kathy Ober, a former professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and co-founder of the Social Justice Training Institutespoke three times for a total of $45,000. Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, was one of the highest paid speakers for an individual speech at UW-La Crosse last December. The UW System schools have invited actors, writers, musicians and even a local farmer to speak to students, each with a varying price tag to taxpayers.
What is noticeably absent in the top paid speakers to the UW System were individuals with conservative, political or social, perspectives. Within the top 50 taxpayer-funded guest speakers, we identified less than a handful of conservatives. Sure, there could be a plethora of conservatives who refused to accept any honoraria, but I doubt it.
The data suggests that when UW System officials look to invest in an invited guest, more times than not, they’re looking for a liberal-minded individual to disperse information to the young, developing minds who pay them thousands of dollars for their education.
My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:
On the cusp of a long weekend in which the news was dominated by a hurricane landing in Florida and the opening of the college football season, the FBI finally released the notes from its interview of Hillary Clinton regarding her criminal handling of classified material during her time as Secretary of State. Of course, President Barack Obama’s FBI declined to call the Democratic nominee’s actions criminal, but the material they released tells us that either Clinton is a pathological liar who intentionally endangered our national security for personal reasons, or that she is a doddering simpleton. Her history suggests the former, but either conclusion disqualifies her from being president.
The 58 pages released by the FBI are notes from its interview with Clinton. The FBI, in apparent deference to the presidential contender, declined to transcribe the interview or record it as is routine for less powerful suspects, but even the heavily-redacted notes contain dozens of stunning revelations.
One of the most revealing admissions was Clinton directed her henchmen to delete records and wipe the servers after her use of a private email system became public and after there was already an active investigation looking for her records. The New York Times first broke the story of Clinton’s private email server on March 3, 2015. Between March 25 and March 31, Clinton ordered her server wiped clean using an advanced program called BleachBit.
That mass deletion of public and classified records occurred long after several government agencies were conducting official investigations regarding the Benghazi butchery for which Clinton holds some responsibility. Also, at the same time as Clinton was having her emails purged, she was publically telling the public that she wanted her emails released. Simply put, Clinton was actively shredding government documents at the same time she was lying to public about wanting them disclosed.
In another revelation, Clinton claimed to not understand what the letter “C” meant in emails. In government communications, the “C” designation marks the information as “Confidential.” It is a simple practice that is easily understood by thousands of government officials who handle classified material every day. Clinton feigned ignorance and indicated that she “could only speculate it was referencing paragraphs marked in alphabetical order.” One wonders if the FBI agent laughed out loud at this explanation, but the notes do not say if she was asked to point out the paragraphs labeled “A,” “B,” or “D.”
One must remember that Clinton was not just some intern at the State Department. She was the Secretary of State and was one of few Original Classification Authorities, giving her the power to determine what is classified and at what level. Her responsibility was not to just handle classified material appropriately, but to actually determine what was or wasn’t classified.
Also, remember that Clinton was a U.S. Senator for eight years and served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She routinely read and worked with classified documents including some of our most profound national defense secrets. Clinton is a Yale educated lawyer who has spent a lifetime parsing government documents. The notion that she did not understand what the “C” designation meant is preposterous. It is clear that she lied about her ignorance to avoid admitting that she deliberately mishandled and deleted national secrets in violation of the law.
The jaw-dropping admissions continue, including the fact Clinton’s lawyers sifted her emails without any official oversight, she “lost” at least 13 mobile devices with classified information on them, Clinton claimed to be ignorant of the government’s document retention and disclosure rules and partially blamed her concussion, she did not consider discussions of drone strikes to be confidential, and much, much more.
The guest list for a private State Department dinner on higher- education policy was taking shape when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a suggestion.
In addition to recommending invitations for leaders from a community college and a church-funded institution, Clinton wanted a representative from a for-profit college company called Laureate International Universities, which, she explained in an email to her chief of staff that was released last year, was “the fastest growing college network in the world.”
There was another reason Clinton favored setting a seat aside for Laureate at the August 2009 event: The company was started by a businessman, Doug Becker, “who Bill likes a lot,” the secretary wrote, referring to her husband, the former president.
Nine months later, Laureate signed Bill Clinton to a lucrative deal as a consultant and “honorary chancellor,” paying him $17.6 million over five years until the contract ended in 2015 as Hillary Clinton launched her campaign for president.
Longtime Milwaukee federal judge Rudolph Randa, whose tough sentences and rulings on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy and the John Doe investigation of Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign thrust him into the spotlight in recent years, has died.
Randa, 76, died early Monday after a battle with cancer that drove him from the bench in February. The veteran judge had surgery in December, and two months later took senior status, a form of semi-retirement for federal judges. At the time, Chief Judge William Griesbach said Randa was expected to recover from the surgery and return to the bench.
The BBC has a pretty good rundown on how Britain if faring over two months since the Brexit vote. Basically, despite opponents’ predictions of economic and societal collapse, things are going pretty OK. As expected, the value of the Pound dropped after the vote, but stabilized. Consumer spending is fine. Trade is fine. The British seem to be holding to their character of soldiering on.
When we feel the most divided, it’s important to remember what unites us. When Colin Kaepernick sits for the national anthem, he sees a country that once embraced slavery. He sees a country that denied the full rights of citizenship to blacks, American Indians, and women. He sees a country that is still working toward racial equality.
When I stand for the anthem I stand for a country that cast off slavery. I stand for a country that celebrates the diversity of our citizenry. I stand for a country, that yes, is still working toward racial equality – precisely because we are a country that deems equality worth working toward. I stand for the men and women that have fought and died to protect this great American idea.
American values are not the problem – they are the solution.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher issued a temporary restraining order on Sunday blocking Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. from closing Sherman Park early, and he ordered the removal of bright orange snow fencing that has lined the park for all but a few hours since rioting broke out in the surrounding neighborhood over a two-day period last month.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele had sought the injunction on Sunday after he reinstated the county park’s normal operating hours and had the fencing removed — only to have Clarke reinstall the fencing and threaten to arrest anyone, including Abele, who refused to leave the park after 6 p.m.
In issuing the temporary restraining order, Hansher said there have been no incidents in the park for weeks, that the riots and vandalism that erupted after a police shooting took place outside of the park, and that maintaining the shorter hours served no public interest.
Hansher ordered sheriff’s deputies not to impede public access to the park “in the absence of any genuine, bona fide reason related to maintaining law and order and preserving the peace.”
It’s actually an interesting question. While the County Board and County Executive certainly have the authority to set the hours for county parks, does the Sheriff have the authority to override those hours in the name of public safety? It appears that the answer is “yes” because he did so for the past few weeks and nobody complained. But now the County Executive disagrees with the Sheriff’s assessment of the necessity of such a measure, does the County Executive have the authority to overrule the Sheriff? Abele and one county judge seems to think so. Obviously, the Sheriff disagrees. So separate from whether one agrees with Abele or Clarke, the legal clarification of the lines of authority will have an impact for some time.
However, a Twitter operative of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – a secretive spy unit within the defence department that advises on intentions and capabilities of foreign nations and entities – appears to have made things worse, the Wall St Journal reported.
The “Classy as always China” tweet linked through to a New York Times article on the protocol incident, it said.
The DIA felt compelled to issue a speedy apology, saying the posting did “not represent the views of the DIA. We apologize.”
Here’s what it was about:
When President Barack Obama arrived in Hangzhou there was no red carpet and he had to leave by a different plane exit.
There was also a row on the tarmac when a Chinese official shouted “This is our country!” as reporters and US officials tried to bypass a cordon.
[…]
More tensions between the two sides broke out at the West Lake State House, where Mr Obama met President Xi Jinping.
White House aides, protocol officers and Secret Service agents became embroiled in a row with Chinese officials as to how many Americans should be allowed into the building before Mr Obama’s arrival. At one point there were fears the confrontation could become physical, the New York Times reported.
The Chinese have done stuff like this since the emperors elaborately staged diplomatic visits right on to Mao’s legendary use of time and space to manipulate visits from foreign dignitaries. They do it to influence and control the visits themselves as well as for use in internal propaganda. And here they have done it again at the expense of our President. Don’t think for a minute that this wasn’t an intentional slight on the part of the Chinese government.
Unfortunately, Obama has brought this upon himself. His willingness to endure any slight from a foreign government – particularly one hostile to America – in the name of “diplomacy” invites such treatment. But that doesn’t make it any less infuriating. As an American, it angers me to see my president treated this way. I wish he had just sat in his office on Air Force One until the Chinese treated him as a President of the United States should be treated.
There was a lot of lively chatter, good wishes and a few tears Thursday evening as friends, neighbors and strangers gathered at Resurrection Catholic Church in Allenton for a memorial Mass for Sister Margaret Held.
Rev. Rick Stoffel from St. Peter Church in Slinger presided over the service.
There was a simple display to Sr. Margaret at the front of the church as a spray of small red roses and green fronds were placed in a rich blue vase on a table at the foot of the altar and a brilliant collection of colorful hyacinth was next to a large picture of a smiling Sister Margaret Held.
Hours prior to the start of the service a line wrapped around the church, many people offered condolences and comments of how they were inspired by Sr. Margaret. “We did not know the family until we heard the news,” said Alan Grimm from Slinger. “I’m a great admirer of what these ladies were doing but saddened with these events.”
There were messages of forgiveness and acceptance throughout the Mass. The opening hymn, Canticle of Sun, included the words, “Praise for our death that makes our life real, the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel; the gift of yourself, your presence revealed to bring us home.”
The message from the second reading, Romans 14:7-9, echoed the theme of the Mass. “No one lives for one’s self and no one dies for one’s self.”
During the homily, surrounded by the whirring hum of large fans, Rev. Stoffel told the gathering, “It is not important how Margaret Held died it’s how she lived.”
“Sister Margaret knew her life was in the hands of God even when there would be changes of direction,” he said. “Fear would be foolish and faith would be wise.”
Dressed in a white robe with a pattern of gold inlay, Rev. Stoffel worked his way down the aisle and spoke of how Sister Margaret “found her niche where she was needed the most.”
“Only by mercy it is not so much how she died it’s important how she lived and to tell one another so we’re more than just about ourselves,” Stoffel said. Sr. Margaret Held, SSSF joined her Lord on Aug. 25, 2016 in Durant, MS at the age of 68, along with her beloved friend, Sr. Paula Merrill. She was born and raised in Slinger.
Bibinger’s to have soft opening on Wednesday, Sept. 7
The menu for the new Bibinger’s has been released. The restaurant is located in Cedar Creek in the former Schwai’s. Travis Dowden and Ben Anderson are the owners. They’ve tabbed themselves the ‘Two Brothers’ although I know on good account…. they’re not even related. Ha!
Menu items include the Bibinger Burger which features Niman Ranch certified Angus organic beef, a half-pound burger served on a pretzilla roll, topped with aged cheddar, Swiss, and American cheeses, Schwai’s bacon, caramelized onions, chef’s secret sauce, lettuce and tomato. Served with a side of seasoned fries or house-made chips.
On the lighter side there are salads including a Grilled Romaine and Steak, Grilled Mediterranean Chicken and Mexican Quinoa which has growing power greens, braised Mexican chicken, red quinoa, tomatoes, scallions, tomatillo salsa, crisp corn tortillas, queso fresco, pinto beans, buttermilk ranch dressing.
For simple fare there is the Bib Mac which is Cavatappi pasta tossed with a creamy, three cheese sauce served with grilled chicken, topped with Parmesan cheese and broiled.
Kady Gibowski, a West Bend High School graduate, is the head chef. She was in Sally Heuer’s culinary class and worked at No No’s in Newburg, the Wisconsin Room at The American Club in Kohler, the LaFayette Club on Lake Minnetonka and the Ozaukee Country Club. Most recently Gibowski was the executive chef at Cafe at the Plaza in Milwaukee.
Bibinger’s will have a soft, soft opening next Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Report did not mention dog was a 3-pound Chihuahua
A difficult situation for a pair of families on Whitewood Drive in the Town of Farmington as one neighbor shot a 3-pound Chihauhaua belonging to the family next door.
According to a release from the Washington County Sheriff the incident happened just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday after a 54-year-old Town of Farmington man, reported two dogs attacked his penned-up chickens in his back yard.
According to the statement from the Sheriff the man retrieved a single-shot pellet air rifle while the two sons attempted to chase the dogs away. The father gave the pellet gun to his juvenile son and when one of the dogs started growling by the man’s 6-year-old daughter the father told the boy to shoot and he killed the dog.
The family who owned the Chihuahua named Gus is speaking out.
“Our dog had a shot through the chest and was dead,” said Erin Stonecipher, 23, the daughter of the owner of the dog.
“This was only a 2 to 3-pound dog. It was a baby, a puppy, a Chihuahua,” said Stonecipher. “The neighbors own a 65-pound pit bull as a family pet.”
During a one-on-one phone conversation Wednesday evening Stonecipher detailed how the dogs got out from the electric fence in her family’s yard.
“My mom, Lori, tried to call the dogs back into the house,” said Erin Stonecipher. “She drove around the subdivision and then saw the neighbors outside, stopped and asked them if they had seen our puppy and Bobby Minor said “Oh, Lori I’m sorry.”
“My mom got out of her car and saw our puppy dead in the driveway and became absolutely hysterical,” said Stonecipher.
“The owner of the home said, “Lori, we thought your dog was going to come after our chickens. I’m sorry I had to get the pellet gun,”” said Stonecipher.
The Stonecipher family has lived on Whitewood Drive for about 12 years. The neighbors know each other well.
“Their kids have been on our property and playing with our dogs,” said Stonecipher. “Our dogs have never ever been a threat.”
Stonecipher said her family is still trying to wrap its head around the situation and the loss of their pet.
“This was such a timid dog,” she said of Gus. “If you raised your voice or advanced toward him he’d cower; he was afraid of his own shadow.”
Stonecipher said “police did not interview my family.”
“As soon as we found the police report was published and it was one sided my parents decided we need to speak out. We were never questioned, nor were we equally represented,” said Stonecipher. “And it never said in the police report that this was a 3-pound puppy.”
According to the Sheriff the father told investigators he was fearful the dog is going to attack his daughter so he instructs his son to shoot at it. The son takes aim and shoots the dog and ends up killing the animal. The homeowner told investigators he thought the pellet gun would only injure the dog and cause it to retreat.
Investigating deputies reviewed Wisconsin State Statute 174.01 which reads that a person may intentionally kill a dog only if the person is threatened with serious bodily harm by the dog and other restraining actions were tried and failed, or immediate action is necessary.
Investigators also consulted with the Washington County District Attorney’s Office and concluded there was no violation. The deceased dog was turned over to the owners who do not believe their dog would have acted in the described manner.
AmericInn in West Bend has been sold
The AmericInn Motel, 2424 W. Washington Street in West Bend has been sold. WB Inc LLC closed on the sale Tuesday, August 30, 2016 to Hari and Hari Inc. for $1,345,000. Bob Gannon (WB Inc LLC) purchased the hotel from Dave and Mary Wolf in 2009 for $1,140,000.
The Wolfs purchased the property, which was a vacant lot, from Julia Schloemer in 1988 for $195,000 and then they purchased a second lot for $53,000. In May 1988 the Wolfs build a 28 unit motel and then in December 1989 they added on 29 more units.
Laurel’s Camera & Gift has moved
Laurel’s Camera and Gift is on the move. The locally-owned camera shop along with jeweler M.F. Diamonds will move from 239 N. Main Street down a block to 152 N. Main Street, formerly home to My Personal Trainor fitness studio, and prior to that Settler’s Park Market.
“We’re just going down the street a bit,” said Pat Fehring from Laurel’s Camera. “We were just looking for a little bigger space so we’ll have a backdrop and we can do studio photography as well.” The Fehrings will be sharing the space with their son’s jewelry shop, M.F. Diamonds.
Seven family members, same 5K teacher at Holy Angels
One family from Holy Angels School had a special reason to mark the opening of the new school year. The entire Bill and Tammy Waech family accompanied the youngest member as he entered the new K5 classroom.
The truly remarkable aspect of the gathering was all seven Waech children will have experienced the joy of having Mrs. Kris Matthews as their K5 teacher!
Mrs. Matthews started with Holy Angels in 1991. She is one of many teachers who have dedicated a lifetime of service to the learning faith community at Holy Angels School.
William Waech (pronounced Wake) was the first student in his family to attend Holy Angels in 1996. He graduated in 2005.
“What we have here at Holy Angels is a strong commitment on the part of our families and this is the extreme evidence of that,” said Principal Mike Sternig. “Like most of our faculty, Kris, has made a lifetime commitment and we see that throughout our grades in our building.”
The first day of school for grades K5 – 8 is Tuesday, Aug. 30. Students in K4 start Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Buddy Bench dedicated to the Dove girls
A special Buddy Bench dedication at Jackson Elementary School this week as teachers followed up on a project the Dove sisters, Lily and Bailey, envisioned when they were in the third grade.
Teacher Jane Esselman had all the girls, including Maddie, when they were in third grade. “At the time Lily was the one diagnosed with childhood cancer and they were just caring girls who went to Mrs. Angela Borst and they wanted to focus on something good,” said Esselman about the Buddy Bench.
Borst said in March 2014 the sisters came to the school office and expressed interest in creating the bench. “Life got a little bit away from us but we were sprucing up the playground this year and thought the Buddy Bench would be a perfect addition,” she said.
During the gathering Tuesday afternoon Esselman and Borst presented the girls with a clipping from the Scholastic News; the educational magazine where the girls originally saw the idea for the bench. The framed gift tied with an orange ribbon also included photos of the Buddy Bench.
The Dove sisters, Lily and Bailey, are now in sixth grade at Silverbrook Intermediate School.
No Pokemon Go at WB Labyrinth Garden
A couple signs have been posted in the Labyrinth Garden at Regner Park in West Bend asking people who are playing Pokemon to please respect the area.
“We’ve had a lot of damaged done to the garden because people stomp on things and they’re not even watching where they’re going,” said Mary Steiner, one of the original creators of the garden.
Steiner and her husband Bill work in the garden and they’ve noticed the uptick in damage ever since Pokemon Go started trending.
“We put up signs at the entrance but now someone had the gall to steal one,” she said. “Barb (Robertson) saw a young kid run off with a sign on his bike and she hollered at him. You know people are just not respectful.
“It’s a matter of respecting places where there is beauty and we’re just getting beat down,” said Steiner.
There were four signs placed around the garden but now Bill Steiner, who mows around the garden, said there’s only two. Organizers with the Labyrinth Garden said they have contacted the West Bend Parks Department for assistance.
Battle of the Books 2016 Winners!
Team Hartford, The Hippogriffs, successfully defended its title in the Battle of the Books program organized each summer by public libraries in South-Eastern, Wisconsin. This year Hartford competed with the West Bend Community Library, the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson, and the Watertown Public Library. Winning members of The Hippogriffs included Anya Wiedoff, Jadon Thornton, Mary Becker, Madison Henning, Taylor O’Keefe, Sophie Farrell, and Emily Wittig. Hartford’s Team won a close competition, narrowly defeating the Fort Atkinson Team with 139 points. Hartford has won three years in a row, starting its winning streak in 2014. The winning library keeps the traveling plaque until the next summer’s competition and has it engraved with the winning team and library’s name.
Updates & tidbits
–The Governor of Wisconsin has ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff as a mark of respect for Staff Sergeant Matthew V. Thompson who lost his life while serving his country.
– West Bend West Junior Spartans basketball tryouts are Sept. 12, 13 and 14 in the West Bend High School gym.
– Saturday, Sept. 10 at Jackson Park, pets and their human companions are invited to join the Paws for Pets walk to raise money for the Washington County Humane Society. All animal lovers are invited…with or without a pet! The 1.5-mile or 2.5-mile walk.
– Officials in Hartford released the name of the woman who suffered a medical emergency at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center on August 19. City Administrator Steve Volkert said Michelle Centell, 47, was the woman who was taken to the hospital after being found in 3-feet of water. Centell’s funeral was August 26 in New Berlin.
-Wisconsin’s largest gluten-free food expo is coming to Washington County Fair Park on Saturday, Sept. 24. The event is sponsored by Wellness Found Organic Foods. Tickets are $7.
-The 21st annual Boltonville Fire Department Street Dance is Saturday, Sept. 10 featuring Rebel Grace.
-There are informational meetings next month for the Kewaskum School District referendum project. The Nov. 8 referendum is for $28.4 million. With interest total cost is close to $40 million.
– Badger Masonry & Fireplace Supply, 545 N. Main Street will hold grand opening Sept. 16 – 17. The store is located in the former Tennies Buick building. The office phone number is 262-343-8580.
– Halloween Express is expected to open this weekend as it makes its home at the former Walgreens on Decorah and S. Main Street in West Bend. Halloween Express secured its lease until Nov. 2 through Adam Williquette at Anderson Commercial Group.
– Early Farm Days in Kewaskum is Sunday, Sept. 11 at River Hill Park.
– DIVA night is on tap Thursday, Sept. 15 in downtown West Bend and Barton.
Enchantment in the Park is gearing up
Hard-working Rotarians and volunteers are already gearing up for this year’s Enchantment in the Park. The work schedule has trailers delivered to Regner Park at the end of Sept. /beginning of October. Sunday, Oct. 9 – arches, mega tree poles and presents put up Saturday, Sunday, Nov. 13 – all finished. Friday, November 25 – SHOWTIME!
Judy Steffes, Editor
Washington County Insider
washingtoncountyinsider.com
First-run stories, balanced coverage in West Bend/Washington County, Wisconsin
Just read it. Even you lefties… just read it. The only rational conclusions are that Hillary Clinton is either a lying crook or that she’s a blithering idiot. Is that who you really want as president?
