“Fire, I smell fire,” the first indication from the capsule that something was wrong. It is unclear whether the voice is Chaffee or White. “Fire in the cockpit.”
Within seconds the fire had broken from its point of origin, stretching in a wall of flames along the left side of the module. The flames rose vertically and spread across the cabin ceiling, scattering beads of molten nylon from straps and fastenings onto the crew.
The next communication is indistinct, the only words that can be made out with any certainty are “bad fire.” The transmission ends with a cry of pain.
Fifteen seconds after the first report of fire, TV cameras on the pad show flames filling the command module.
“Then you hear the pad people try to rescue the crew,” says Ehrenfried. “Then it starts to sink in, this is really bad and we didn’t know how bad until we heard on the communications loop: ‘We’ve lost them’.”
Month: January 2017
Evers Blasts School Reform
Heh.
Wisconsin school Superintendent Tony Evers is blasting a plan from a challenger that would make it possible for low-performing public schools to be converted into private charter or voucher schools.
The idea comes from John Humphries, a former Dodgeville school administrator who is challenging Evers. His proposal would allow the lowest-performing schools with a high percentage of low-income students to be reorganized, possibly as a private voucher school.
Evers says Humphries has no vision and wants to dismantle public schools. Evers says Humphries is peddling ideas that haven’t worked and won’t be accepted.
Yes, I agree with Evers. Instead of trying something different with failing schools to help them succeed, let’s just keep doing the same thing /sarcasm.
It’s an old saw, but it’s true. If you keep doing the same things the same way, you will get the same results. Apparently, that is the core of Evers’ “vision.”
Union Membership Down in Wisconsin
It’s good to see people freely making choices about the organizations they join.
In 2016, the percentage of public and private workers who were members of unions was 8.1 percent, or 219,000 union members. That’s down by 136,000 members, or 38.3 percent, since 2010 levels, the year before passage of Act 10, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A Transportation Funding Anecdote
From the email:
“Fix Our House First”: A Transportation Funding Anecdote
Transportation funding has become a weighty budget discussion, especially over the past several years. Elected officials have a duty to uphold the state and federal constitution while being good stewards of every dime deposited into the state’s coffers. As such, elected leaders are obligated to root out inefficiencies and function as the singular voice for those we represent. Last session, I had the honor of supporting a number of reform minded bills that would have eliminated or mandated a pause on excessive transportation spending. I supported giving local governments more control over the number of unnecessary roundabouts being built, preventing state taxpayer subsidization of Milwaukee’s streetcar operations, eliminated the costly and burdensome bike path mandate in road construction. I also supported pausing the installation of closed circuit cameras, overhead digital message boards and manually operated railroad crossing arms at interstate on-ramps. Unfortunately, most of these recommendations didn’t even have the opportunity to receive a vote in the “people’s house”. This isn’t the half of it. During my research over the past few months, I have learned that the taxpayer owned Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been having a detrimental effect on our taxpayer funded transportation system. Let me provide an anecdote: A round culvert system under a county highway has been flowing water efficiently for decades. The culvert is deteriorating and must be replaced. The typical replacement in this type of situation is a rectangular concrete box that allows more water flow than in the past. This box culvert is lowered into the waterway, paved over the top, and is extremely cost effective. This solution, though, is no longer good enough for Wisconsin rabbits, squirrels and waterways. There are new terms, bankful width and ecopath, that have come into vogue. These terms are exactly what you would expect. DNR officials are measuring the bank of the waterway on either side of the original culvert and not only requiring a box culvert that extends from bank to bank of the actual waterway, but also including a path for our disenfranchised wildlife to walk through. This absurdity has gone so far as to require county employees to shovel gravel onto the bottom of the concrete box to give the appearance of a more natural river bottom. Benefit to the taxpayers? Zero! Burden to taxpayers? Additional excavation and custom box culvert designs to the tune of thousands to tens of thousands of extra dollars per project. Yes, we have issues with transportation funding in this state, but this example is barely a ripple in the stream. The real solution does not begin with more revenue from your hard earned tax dollars, but with real leadership from your elected representatives and senators.
Respectfully,
Rep. Jesse Kremer
The May Trump Axis
We are returning to a foreign policy more reminiscent of Kennedy or Reagan. I welcome it.
In her speech, Mrs May said: “It is in our interests – those of Britain and America together – to stand strong together to defend our values, our interests and the very ideas in which we believe.
“This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.
“But nor can we afford to stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene. We must be strong, smart and hard-headed. And we must demonstrate the resolve necessary to stand up for our interests.
“And whether it is the security of Israel in the Middle East or Estonia in the Baltic states, we must always stand up for our friends and allies in democratic countries that find themselves in tough neighbourhoods too,” she said, to applause from her audience.
Make Mexico Pay for It?
Yeah, this wouldn’t be Mexico paying for the wall. This would be American consumers paying for the wall.
With the conflict escalating, Mr. Trump appeared to embrace a proposal by House Republicans that would impose a 20 percent tax on all imported goods. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters that the proceeds would be used to pay for the border wall, estimated to cost as much as $20 billion.
But a furious uproar prompted Mr. Spicer to temper his earlier remarks, saying the plan was simply “one idea” that might work to finance the wall. Mr. Spicer said it was not the job of the White House to “roll something out” on tax policy, while Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said the administration was considering “a buffet of options.”
If Mr. Trump does eventually announce his support for the tax plan, it could have a broad impact on the American economy, and its consumers and workers, by sharply increasing the prices of imported goods or reducing profits for the companies that produce them. Other nations could retaliate, prompting a trade war that could hit consumers around the globe.
I would also point out that our federal government spends about $3.7 TRILLION dollars a year. $20 billion to build a border wall would be 0.5% of a single year of spending – and that $20 billion would necessarily be spread out over multiple years. If building the wall is a priority, which it is, are Congressional Republicans and President Trump really telling us that they can’t find the money without raising taxes?
Positioning Wisconsin’s Tax Climate for the 21st Century Economy
The MacIver Institute has a great blueprint for smoothly lowering Wisconsin’s income tax to a flat 3%.
This report sets out to explain why Wisconsin should continue to ratchet down its relatively high individual income tax system and many different rates to one flat rate. Evidence from a variety of sources – economic, social, and fiscal health metrics, as well as academic studies – demonstrates the benefit of a lower and flatter income tax structure. After examining Wisconsin’s position within the Midwest and considering recent reforms around the country, this report will recommend that Wisconsin transform its progressive income tax to a flat 3 percent tax rate for all taxpayers over an eight year period. In subsequent papers, we will continue to build our case through a comparison with Indiana, a state similar in size and demographics to Wisconsin, and will recommend specific steps that Wisconsin can take to make a flat tax a reality.
A systematic glide path to a 3 percent income tax rate would give Wisconsin the most competitive income tax among Midwestern states while greatly improving the state’s attractiveness on a national level. Such a move would have a significant impact on the incomes of all Wisconsinites and most importantly, would allow working class people to keep more of their income. A 3 percent flat tax would be a tax cut for everyone in Wisconsin. Under the current “progressive” tax code, our lowest tax rate of 4 percent for those who make just $11,120 per year is the 4th highest tax rate among the 33 states with a progressive income tax system.
Spacing out the rate reductions over a number of years protects the state budget from sudden and steep revenue drops, giving sufficient time to make gradual adjustments so the transition to the new tax system is smooth.
I’d prefer a glide path to 0%, but maybe we can work on that if Wisconsin can get this done.
Learning to Adult
Welcome to the Adulting School, which holds a series of in-person workshops dedicated to “teaching skills for personal and financial success.” It’s hoping to fill-in the life-skills gap for recent university graduates, says co-director Rachel Weinstein. Online courses will begin next month. The school, based in Portland, Maine in the US, opened in July 2016. Its motto: “Come here instead of calling your parents.”
Weinstein, a psychotherapist turned workshop facilitator, partnered with Katie Brunelle, a former teacher, and Rachel Flehinger, an improvisational comedian, to launch the programme. The trio aim to gather the kind of knowledge that many young people don’t realise they need to know until they are on their own (and, even some uncertain thirtysomethings attend the workshops), Weinstein says.
Topics run the gamut. Simple life hacks such managing to save on a starting salary to figuring out how to better track your time are lessons that need to be learned by those who are new to so-called “adulting”. But the courses also cover more complex topics such as dealing with a family member’s death and navigating tricky relationships. About 200 people have attended Adulting School programmes so far. Happy hour workshops are currently free, while some events cost $30 per student.
Crook Released by Obama Executed
Looks like someone had a score to settle.
(Reuters) – A Michigan man whose drug-related prison sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama was shot dead this week at a federal halfway house, according to local media reports.
Demarlon Thomas, 31, was shot and killed on Monday night by a man with an assault-style rifle in Saginaw, Michigan, around 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Detroit, according to local CBS affiliate WNEM.
A spokesman for the Michigan State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Two masked men with assault-style rifles entered the facility where around two dozen people were staying, Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser told local news website MLive.com.
“One person watched over a group of them while another subject located the victim and executed him,” Kaiser said, according to the website. “They were looking for this person.”
Trump Narrows SCOTUS List to Three
I hate, hate, hate, that before the AP tells us anything about these three candidates they feel the need to tell us that they are white men – as if that is supposed to be a negative thing. I’m much more concerned about the content of their character than the color of their skin or the genitalia under their skivvies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has narrowed his choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy to three judges and said he expects to make his decision in the coming days.
A person familiar with the selection process said the three judges, all white men who sit on federal appeals courts, were on the list of 21 potential high court picks Trump announced during the presidential campaign.
The leading contenders — who all have met with Trump — are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, the person said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions.
The Trump Era Begins
My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:
“So help me God.” When Donald Trump repeated those words to Chief Justice John Roberts with his hand resting on two Bibles, he became the duly elected 45th president of the United States. One hopes that he appreciates just how much of God’s help he will need, because the rest of us certainly do.
The Trump Era has begun and it bodes to be unique in American history. President Trump’s inaugural address reminded the nation of why he was elected and bluntly declared the priorities that will guide his administration.
Standing in front of three former presidents and dozens of generational creatures of Washington, Trump declared that we were witnessing more than the hallowed American peaceful transfer of power. We were witnessing the, “transferring (of) power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People.” Much of the rest of Trump’s address affirmed the populism and patriotism that catapulted him to the highest office our nation has to offer.
President Trump stated, “From this moment on, it’s going to be America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.”
Such a statement should not seem so revolutionary, but perhaps it is a sign of how far we have drifted into the waters of globalism and postnationalism that it is. The previous administration eschewed the notion that our nation’s policies should be based on advancing the interests of our own nation and people, so the contrast in priorities is stark.
Trump has begun his administration by aggressively following through on his campaign commitments. After the normal administrative business necessary for any new administration, the first order Trump signed was to instruct the various federal agencies to use every bit of statutory and discretionary power they have to delay or waive any part of Obamacare. This order will help mitigate the destruction that Obamacare has been perpetrating on our nation while the Congress works on legislation to tear it down completely.
By the time this column is read, there will likely be dozens of other sweeping orders issuing from Trump’s pen as he thrusts his vision for America into an unwilling bureaucracy. Trump has shown a willingness to slaughter sacred cows, so expect a lot of blood and red meat for his supporters.
One of the most positive aspects of the dawn of the Trump Era is that liberals have rediscovered a reverence for American principles like limited government, separation of powers, federalism and judicial restraint.
When President Obama was governing with a “phone and a pen,” the liberals cheered. When the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage for all 50 states, they paraded in the streets. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid quashed the filibuster rule to get Obama’s judges through the Senate, they chortled approval.
Now that Trump is the president and the Republicans control both houses of Congress, our liberal friends have become paragons of constitutionalism. Lefty celebrities are making videos of themselves taking oaths to support and defend the Constitution while the decrepit leaders of the Democratic Party rediscover the rigors of parliamentary procedure. I, for one, welcome our liberal friends to embrace conservative principles. If we had not allowed our federal government to become so involved in our lives and for the president to assume so much power, then the political passions of the resident of the White House would not matter so much. He or she would simply be an administrator of the few limited tasks relegated to the office by the Constitution to be replaced periodically by the citizenry.
While our liberal friends dust off their copies of the Constitution, I pray that President Trump and the Republicans who control Congress do the same.
Instead looking for ways to get around the Constitution in order to force their will on the public, they should embrace the wisdom infused into our Constitution. If a law cannot pass the Congress and be enacted into law with due process, then it likely is not good law. Except for times of war, governing is supposed to be plodding and tedious to allow time for bad ideas to die. Follow the Constitution and the results will be good and lasting.
The Trump Era is here. Strap in.
Trump Freezes Federal Hiring
(CNN)President Donald Trump signed an executive action on Monday that implemented a hiring freeze for some federal workers in an effort to cut government payrolls.
The move, which had long been promised by the Trump administration, does not include military employees, a fact Trump made clear during the signing.“This memorandum counters the dramatic expansion of the federal workforce in recent years,” Sean Spicer, Trump’s press secretary, said Monday. “In particular, it prevents filling vacant positions and creating new positions except when necessary to meet national or public security responsibilities.”He added: “It does not apply to military personnel, and it ensures that the American taxpayers get effective and efficient government.”
Trump Rejects TPP
Again… true to his word.
WASHINGTON — President Trump upended America’s traditional, bipartisan trade policy on Monday as he formally abandoned the ambitious, 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership brokered by his predecessor and declared an end to the era of multinational trade agreements that defined global economics for decades.
With the stroke of a pen on his first full weekday in office, Mr. Trump signaled that he plans to follow through on promises to take a more aggressive stance against foreign competitors as part of his “America First” approach. In doing so, he demonstrated that he would not follow old rules, effectively discarding longstanding Republican orthodoxy that expanding global trade was good for the world and America — and that the United States should help write the rules of international commerce.
Although the Trans-Pacific Partnership had not been approved by Congress, Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw not only doomed former President Barack Obama’s signature trade achievement, but also carried broad geopolitical implications in a fast-growing region. The deal, which was to link a dozen nations from Canada and Chile to Australia and Japan in a complex web of trade rules, was sold as a way to permanently tie the United States to East Asia and create an economic bulwark against a rising China.
Walker’s Welfare Reform Proposals
There is a LOT to like in these proposals.
Wisconsin Works for Everyone, which will be included in Governor Walker’s budget proposal this coming February, seeks to extend work requirements to able-bodied adults with school-age children who are receiving FoodShare, as well as to able-bodied adults receiving housing assistance. Just like Governor Thompson’s reforms, these initial changes would take place on a pilot basis.
[…]
Governor Walker’s full proposal will increase investment in job and skills training for the unemployed and underemployed, reduce barriers to work and increased earnings, and expand programs that incentivize employment. Where flexibility is needed, it will also aggressively seek federal waivers under a new incoming administration to encourage work and enhance self-sufficiency, including to pilot work requirements for working-age, able-bodied adults receiving housing vouchers.
As part of the proposal, job training programs will be significantly expanded for the unemployed or underemployed receiving FoodShare, the incarcerated and ex-offenders, and low-income noncustodial parents involved in the child support system.
Additionally, barriers to work will be addressed through reforms that reduce occupational licensing and eliminate the benefits cliff in child care subsidies, which can leave families financially worse off if they take a raise or work more hours. Barriers to work would also be eliminated for those enrolled in the Medicaid Purchase Plan (MAPP), by removing the premium cliff as people transition into earning more income.
Wisconsin Works for Everyone will also expand programs that incentivize and reward employment by establishing an earned-income tax credit groups who often struggle to connect with work, including young adults aging out of foster care, as well as those who exit the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) child disability program at age 18.
There are many details to work out, but the thrust of the proposals are clear. Walker wants to revamp our welfare programs to incent work, enable folks to get into the workforce, and smooth out the transition from welfare to work so that people don’t get hammered for improving their lives. I know the phrase is loaded, but this breathes “compassionate conservatism.”
It’s good to see Walker turning his considerable energy and talent back to Wisconsin after the distraction of the presidential campaign. There is so much more he can do for this state.
Wisconsin State Senator Introduces Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
MADISON, Wis. – Law enforcement would no longer be able to seize and keep an innocent person’s property under a bill aimed at reforming Wisconsin’s civil asset forfeiture law.
State. Sen. Dave Craig last week released the bill for co-sponsorship.
The Town of Vernon Republican said it’s astonishing that it’s “common practice” in Wisconsin and so many other states to allow law enforcement and district attorneys to launch civil lawsuits against property suspected to have been used in a criminal enterprise even though the person linked to the property is never charged with a crime.
United Airlines Grounds Domestic Flights
Wow. It’s going to be a rough travel day for a lot of folks tomorrow.
An IT meltdown has caused United Airlines to issue a ground stop for all domestic flights.
Russians?
UPDATE: Looks like they’ve fixed it.
Forced Participation
This picture from one of the marches made me chuckle. Clearly, this guy’s wife, or husband, made him participate.
Schumer Obstructs
Remember when obstructionism was considered bad?
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday he will absolutely block President Trump‘s pick for the vacant Supreme Court seat if the nominee is not “mainstream” enough.
“If the nominee is not bipartisan and mainstream, we absolutely will keep the seat open,” Schumer told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The New York Democrat, who was booed during a speech at Trump’s inauguration, had previously criticized his Republican colleagues for blocking former President Obama‘s nominee, Merrick Garland, last year.
Trump has said he plans to announce his pick to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia in the next two weeks. He released a short list of potential nominees last summer, one of whom he met with shortly before entering office.
This is one of the areas where Trump does have a mandate. He was very clear about his potential Supreme Court picks during the campaign and it was heavily reported. He even published a list. As long as his nominee comes off of that list, he or she should be confirmed.
Of course, none of that matters to Schumer.
Around the Bend by Judy Steffes
West Bend man recovering in ICU after being pulled from snowbank
A West Bend man, 61, is being treated at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee after being found lying in a snowbank Tuesday morning on N. Main Street.
According to West Bend Police Lt. Duane Farrand, the man was reportedly found before 6 a.m. in the 1300 block of N. Main Street.
Neighbors in Barton said a member of Asplundh Tree Service found the man in the snowbank just outside Bagg End Tavern. The man was cold and wet.
Patrons at Joker’s 5 Bar & Grill said they knew the man as Jeff and said “he walked everywhere.”
Lt. Farrand said they were called to the scene for someone who had “slipped on the ice.” Farrand did not know if the man suffered hypothermia.
Vrana Body Shop shares the same driveway as Bagg End Tavern. Staff said they were aware police were on scene Tuesday morning. They said the driveway was a “sheet of ice” and even the trucks from Asplundh had a tough time with traction.
The man’s relatives said he was walking around 8 p.m. Monday when he slipped and fell on the ice. Every time he tried to get up he fell again and slid further down the driveway away from the road. The final time the man tried to get his footing he fell and hit his head. The man did not regain consciousness until he was found the next morning.
The man is still at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
New events director for Downtown West Bend Association
Anna Jensen, 25, is relatively new to the community of West Bend. A transplant from Edgerton, Wisconsin, Jensen moved to town for a job in radio sales. Now a short year and a half later she’s the new events director for the Downtown West Bend Association.
Jensen studied meteorology in college. She took courses like physics and chemistry and interned at a couple of TV stations in the weather department.
“I’m really more into the people and less into the computers,” she said, while visiting Tuesday morning in the Main Street office of the DWBA. “That’s what kind of brought me into sales. I can start a conversation with a stranger and have no problem talking to anybody.”
Aside from her strong social skills, Jensen has managed to successfully network in West Bend and surrounding communities. She’s a member of the green coats with the West Bend Chamber of Commerce and she’s with the Hartford Chamber.
Last year Jensen worked closely with the DWBA marketing several events including the Downtown West Bend Concourse/ToAD, Maxwell Street Day and Music on Main.
“I’d really like to grow the current events and maybe build another event in the following year,” she said.
Carol Baranyk will be working alongside Jensen. “She’s a perfect fit for this position,” said Baranyk. “She’s not afraid to strike up a conversation with someone, she’s enthusiastic, and hopefully with meteorology in her background she’ll be able to predict the weather and keep the rain away for Music on Main.”
West Bend-area family to be featured on Family Feud
A family from the West Bend area will be appearing next month on The Family Feud as their episode airs Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. on WVTV Channel 18.
Liz Borden said her family was on the Feud over the summer. “We said we are from Hubertus, since that’s where we grew up,” said Borden. “We are spread out now but I’m in the Newburg area and my sister is in Jackson.”
The family in the picture with Steve Harvey starting from the left is brother Chris from Milwaukee, sister Kim from Jackson, myself Liz, mom Janet and dad Gary who split time between Nekoosa and Green Valley, AZ.
The family auditioned in Milwaukee in November 2015. “We found out they only took 25 families from Wisconsin and then when you went to Atlanta and you had to try out again,” she said. “So there was a chance you might have gone to Atlanta but not actually make it on.”
The show paid the families travel expenses and the word at the network was, “They told us they only take the best of the best.”
Borden raved about show host Steve Harvey. “He is amazing and the funniest guy you will ever meet,” she said. “He will crack jokes all day long on and off camera.
“He is a very down-to-earth guy; very heartfelt and faithful but he sure can make you laugh.”
Borden said she can’t say if they won. She said they are excited to see how they will edit the episode “because we were laughing the whole time.” Borden said she is planning a viewing party.
Semi crosses 2 lanes of traffic and clips old Held’s Meat Market
A semi traveling northbound on I41 crossed the median and crashed on the other side of the I system near Sherman Way. Washington County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said the accident happened just after 10 a.m. on Thursday. He said the semi driver choked on his soda, lost control of his rig, went through the median, across the southbound lanes of I41, through the ditch and the fencing. The semi clipped the corner of the former Held’s Meat Market building. The driver suffered minor injuries but was not transported. No other vehicles were involved in the accident. The rig was from Aim Trucking.
Noon Rotary exhibit helps detect drug use
The Noon Rotary Club of West Bend is partnering with Elevate, the Heroin Task Force of Washington County and Moraine Park Technical College to bring forward a program that focuses on educating parents on the critical issue of prescription drug abuse, underage drinking/tobacco consumption and other forms of illegal drug use.
Located at Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend, Hidden in Plain Sight is an interactive display of a teenager’s bedroom with many items hidden or in plain view that helps to identify areas where teens may hide drugs, alcohol and other paraphernalia.
It also points out household items that can be used to either cover up drug and alcohol abuse or can be used to facilitate drug and alcohol use. The purpose of the program is to educate family and caregivers about the signs that can be an indicator of drug abuse.
Guided tours of the exhibit bedroom will run Saturday’s from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and on Thursday’s from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. through February 23. It is free to attend and open to everyone 18 and older. The exhibit is located next to the MPTC Library at the West Bend Campus.
New LED sign at Regner Park
Hat tip to the West Bend Noon Rotary as it completed a project donation to the community and Regner Park. A new LED sign is in place on N. Main Street just north of Silverbrook Drive. The programmable sign will highlight events at Regner Park including concerts and events at the Silver Lining Stage.
Fillmore Fire Department Awards night Courtesy Bob Bonenfant
The Fillmore Fire Department held its annual awards banquet at the Fillmore Fire Hall.
Chief Jeff Steinert then gave his report of the departments 2016 activity which included 19 fire calls, one structure fire, two vehicle accidents and 35 EMS calls.
A number of members were honored for years of service: Jake Guttman, DJ Neumann and Eric Spaeth received 10 year service certificates, Duane Taylor was recognized for 20 years and Jeff Steinert honored for 25 years of service. Larry Polanske was the recipient of the First Responder of the Year plaque.
Dale Spaeth was honored as Firefighter of the Year and Judy Spaeth was recognized as Social Member of the Year, an award given to an individual who lends a hand in any way to help the department.
Updates & tidbits
– The West Bend Kiwanis Early Risers 9th Annual Chili/Soup Cook-off is Saturday, Feb. 4 from 11-2 p.m. at Silverbrook Intermediate School. There are over 25 entries in 4 categories: restaurants, business, First Responders and non-profits. There is a new category this year for First Responders which will be a competition between the West Bend Fire Department and the West Bend Police Department.
-Mary Hafeman, from Missing Links, has been named to U.S. Kids Golf’s annual list of Top 50 Kids Teachers. The Award recognizes the world’s most outstanding youth golf instructors, and Hafeman is part of a select group that earned Top 50 accolades among nearly 350 applicants.
– The Elbe family from Golden “E” Dairy in the Town of Farmington will host the 2017 Washington County Breakfast on the Farm. The dairy is located at the corners of Orchard Valley and Shalom. Advance tickets will be available in April.
–Sunday, Feb. 12 the 12th annual Motorcycle Ice Races will be raising money for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Washington County. Races will take place on Wallace Lake with event headquarters at Eddie’s Lake House, 7138 Highway 144 N, West Bend.
-Local Girl Scouts will soon be hitting the streets and offices with their colorful grid of cookie sales including thin mints, shortbread, Thanks-A-Lot and Lemonades. Scouts will be taking orders through the end of February.
– The Washington County Dairy Promotion Committee is looking for volunteers to serve on its board (3-year term). Three positions will be voted on at the Feb. 2 annual meeting. Contact President Bill Hinckley if interested at williamh921@charter.net or 262-365-9734.
– Someone with the West Bend Theatre project will address the common council during its Jan. 23 meeting. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow made clear the council has no say in the project as the building is owned by a private party.
-Paul Eve as Johnny Cash Alive is coming to the West Bend Moose Lodge on Feb. 25. Tickets to dinner and a show are $30. Call and make your reservations at 262-338-8122.
– The gloves will be coming off Feb. 25 at the Washington County Fair Park as Tin Love, Justin Dredd and Damon Knight climb into the ring for Mayhem for Mason. Money will be raised for Mason Holbrook and family.
– Donald and Barron Ryan, a talented father and son piano duo, will take the stage at UW-Washington County on Friday, January 27 to present their brand of classic and contemporary music.
Remembering the old tower fire escape
Today’s 1919 photo, courtesy Steve Kissinger, is posted as a tribute to Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 29 – Feb. 4.
According to the archives in the Research Center at the WCHS, ‘The public grade school was located at the head of Elm Street where it intersects with Eighth Avenue. The view looks northwest and was taken from Eighth Avenue. Notable with this view is the addition of the tower fire escape. The building was later sold to Holy Angels Catholic Church, which used it as an elementary school. The building no longer exists.’
Dick Klumb of West Bend wrote a book in 2001 about the ‘History of Holy Angels.’ “The Public School was constructed in approximately 1888,” said Klumb.
“In 1939 after McLane School was built Holy Angels purchased this school from the West Bend School District and it became Holy Angels grade school. An addition to the south side of the school was added in 1950 and in 1963 the original Public School was torn down and the current building was completed.”
Roger Strack of Kewaskum was in second grade when he moved to McLane School. He said he didn’t recognize the Public School as much as he did the big merry go round on the north side of the playground and the fire escape. “I remember we’d open the steel door and climb up the slide,” Strack said.
Washington County Judge Andrew Gonring said his father, Mike, went to school when it was Holy Angels. “He used to say, a lot of famous fannies slid down that fire escape,” said Gonring. “At the annual Valentine’s Day party at school you could slide down it for two cents.”
Corey (Kohl) Wuebben said he “spent some of the happiest years of my life in that building.” Wuebben said the “old part of the building where the fire escape is pictured was demolished” and is now the site of the food stand and band tent during the annual parish festival.
Mary Ann Goeden Hupfer of West Bend went to school at the original Holy Angels in the mid 1940s when Sister Agatha was principal and Rev. Stehling would “teach religious ed and hand out jellybeans.”
“I remember the really long cloak room in the sixth grade,” Hupfer said. “It had hooks and we’d all hang our coats and caps in there because we had no lockers.” Hupfer also remembered marching with music. “When we’d go outside for recess there was an old Victrola in the lobby and we’d march in procession and you wouldn’t talk until you were down the street,” she said.
Hupfer also remembered an incident in first grade when she was in Sister Robert’s class. “My friend Marcella broke her crayon in half and we got caught giggling in the back of class. I had to stay after school until 4 o’clock with my finger on my mouth,” laughed Hupfer.
Kay Baker Michels was a 1963 graduate of Holy Angels School. “Both my husband, Terry Michels, and I attended this school and I taught at Holy Angels for 26 years as a second grade teacher and librarian.” Michels said the connection with the photo was that it tied into celebrating Catholic Schools Week. “I also remember the old fire escape,” said Michels. “Everyone wanted to be in Sister Hildebrand’s class as you got to take a ride in it each time there was a fire drill.”
James Fellenz went to Holy Angels back in the 1950s. “I’ll never forget the fire escape,” Fellenz said. “The janitor took our shoes and we had to walk home bare footed. It was in March; talk about having cold feet.”
Doug Jaeger also recalled how “some of us kids used to climb up that outdoor emergency escape chute and slide back down.”
Maureen Dick of West Bend was a student at Holy Angels until in 1963. “I was in the eighth grade and that was the first year for the new addition on the north side of the building,” she said. “If I remember correctly the old building wasn’t taken down until the new one was completed.”
Dick recalled that was also the beginning of the Holy Angels picnic. “At the first picnic we were allowed go inside and pay to swing a sledge hammer at a wall,” she said referencing the demolition.
Some of the teachers connected to Holy Angels included Sister Mary Marks; she ran the candy store in the basement at lunch time. Sister Mary Agatha, Sister Mary Lisetta, Sister Mary Ventura, Sister Mary Hildebrand, Sister Cyril, Ms. Brown, Sister Lillian, Mrs. Rice, Sister Marinella, Sister Mary Floria, and Sister Mary Amabilis.
On a side note: One of the notable talking points was the fire escape. Jim Dricken wrote, “When they took the building down in the mid 1960s, my dad Len Dricken, saved the fire escape to be used as a fun item for kids. The fire escape, named ‘The Tower,’ is still in use at Lake Lenwood Beach and Campground.
China Strengthens Alliances in SE Asia
As America has intentionally stepped back from exerting her influence in the past several years, other large powers have filled the void.
But there are also two strategic benefits. First, Cambodia uses China as a counterweight to Vietnam. Among ordinary Cambodians, anti-Vietnamese sentiment runs deep. Many bitterly recall the Vietnamese occupation and some demand the return of “Kampuchea Krom”—the delta of the Mekong river, which today is part of Vietnam, but is home to many ethnic Cambodians and was for centuries part of the Khmer Empire. Since Vietnam harboured Mr Hun Sen, the opposition depicts him as a Vietnamese puppet. Closeness to China helps to defuse such claims.
Cambodia also uses China as a hedge against the West. Chinese money comes with no strings attached, unlike most Western donations, which are often linked to the government’s conduct. When Mr Hun Sen mounted a putsch against his coalition partners in the 1990s, Western donors suspended aid. China boosted it. Westerners may threaten to cut funding again if, as is likely, the government rigs elections next year (this week Mr Hun Sen again sued Sam Rainsy, the exiled leader of the main opposition party, for defamation, one of many steps seemingly intended to neuter his opponents). Chinese money will make it much easier for Mr Hun Sen to shrug off Western protests.
As for China, it gets a proxy within the ten-country Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Cambodia has repeatedly blocked ASEAN from making statements that criticise China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, even though they conflict with those of several other ASEAN members. Last year, less than a week after Cambodia endorsed China’s stance that competing maritime claims should be solved bilaterally, China gave Cambodia an aid package worth around $600m. (Mr Hun Sen insists the two were not related.)
It will be interesting to see if Trump’s new foreign policy is more like China’s than not.