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edited by: Chris Liebenthal, Wisconsin Editor

News and Opinion

  • Love the teacher, target the union

    After I wrote yesterday about why it’s a bad idea to turn over the Milwaukee Public Schools to unchecked mayoral authority, I heard from readers who said -- because I mentioned the teachers union in passing -- that I don’t like teachers. It’s a hard job, several wrote. Teachers do noble [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 9:00pm EST

  • For-profit schools come under scrutiny

    City officials are doing what they can to help a for-profit school set up shop near the Park East area. But the attitude elsewhere toward such campuses isn't so welcoming. A Maryland lawmaker is calling for a congressional investigation of for-profit colleges in response to a recent investigative report on the recruiting' [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 6:38pm EST

  • At least 28 exonerated in 2009

    A day after a Florida man who spent 35 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit walked out of prison, the Innocence Project released its annual report on more than two dozen cases in which the wrongly-convicted were set free. According to the Project, 27 people in 12 states' [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 6:00pm EST

  • Tax-what? Payer? Go graze in the pasture for now

    The Milwaukee School Board has named a group of “stakeholders” who will weigh in on who next to be superintendent. It’s an interesting group. There’s the mayor, the union, the black lawmakers, the professor, another professor (this time representing minority teachers), the illegal-immigration promoter and a few others. Hilariously, ex-mayor Marvin [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 4:30pm EST

  • Could they maybe include condoms in fast-food kids meals?

    No discussion, no dissent: Your public schools in Milwaukee will be handing out free condoms on the theory that 13-year-olds can’t possibly be expected or even asked not to have sex, so one might as well give ‘em latex and hope they put them on right. Hey, at least it’ll prevent [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 3:30pm EST

  • The Christmas story and the census

    A new poster that shows Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem to be counted to promote the upcoming U.S. Census is sparking some controversy, The Washington Post reports. "This is how Jesus was born," reads the poster that also features a bright star. "Joseph and Mary participated in the census." "It's time. [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 2:49pm EST

  • Report slams Rock Co. juvenile justice

    Consultants hired to investigate possible misconduct within Rock County's juvenile justice division found lots to criticize about its operation -- lack of leadership, poor communication, outmoded practices and lagging morale. The Janesville Gazette has the story. [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 10:00am EST

  • Gokey single on sale soon

    Milwaukee's own Danny Gokey says on his Twitter account that his new single will go on sale on iTunes on Monday. [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 9:46am EST

  • Update: Felonies charged in puppy dumping

    A puppy-abandonment case that led to widespread outrage and public concern in Marinette-Menominee has led to felony charges against a Michigan man. The Marinette EagleHerald has the story. [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Today's Only in America story

    Is this a great country, or what? The Salahis, known throughout the world as the White House gate crashers, may be getting their own reality show. Sure, they're under federal investigation. But that will make the show even better, right? Tiger Woods, meanwhile, is eating cereal and watching cartoons. And hitting' [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Firstwatch: Graduates, polar bears and Packers

    Welcome to the global warming-free version of Firstwatch. What with all the hubbub in Copenhagen over United Nations climate negotiations, Firstwatch figured this would be a safe haven from debate and protests over smog, melting glaciers and polar bears searching for ice floes to call home. [...]
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    Posted: December 18, 2009, 5:45am EST

  • How self-interestedly generous

    Rock star James Hetfield generously donates some 330 acres to be preserved undeveloped forever, it seems. That’s nice. One detail: “The donation is adjacent to another 438.5 acres that Hetfield donated previously as an open space easement. Both donations essentially vacate development rights on the land, preserving it for open space and [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 9:00pm EST

  • More signs that the rock-solid science of global warming might have been a crock

    James Delingpole of the Telegraph notes that now Russian researchers are saying their country’s temperature data were manipulated once they wound up in the hands of British climate alarmists. What was that you were saying about the science being settled? [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 4:30pm EST

  • Man arrested twice in 2 days for picking up kids while drunk

    From the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen: A 45-year-old Beaver Dam man was cited twice this week while attempting to pick his children up from a daycare while intoxicated. According to Beaver Dam Police, the man was arrested on Monday and Tuesday around 3 p.m. on both days after workers at Pooh Corners, [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 4:30pm EST

  • GMR's holiday video

    In a clever move, GMR Marketing of New Berlin has produced a holiday video. It's called "Playing It Safe." [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 3:13pm EST

  • Obama to lend political magic to Barrett

    News comes that President Barack Obama says he’ll help Tom Barrett run for governor. What marvelous news for Mr. Barrett, that some of that Obama magic will be sprinkled upon him. Also, George Will on how you’re only a charming novelty once. [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 3:00pm EST

  • Local students win state mini-grants

    Students at 21 Milwaukee Public Schools' sites and 11 suburban schools have been awarded mini grants of $1,000 or less to enact programs aimed at preventing risky behavior among their peers, the state Department of Public Instruction announced Thursday. Local districts with schools receiving the grants included Greendale, Menomonee Falls, Oak' [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 2:57pm EST

  • "Dancing With Butterflies"

    Latina writer Reyna Grande will be in Milwaukee to read from her latest novel, "Dancing With Butterflies," Friday (Dec. 18) at 7 p.m. at the Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave. Her first book, "Across A Hundred Mountains", received an American Book Award in 2007 and the El Premio Aztlan [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 2:01pm EST

  • Kenosha Police sing a Christmas song

    The Kenosha Police Department has put together a 12 Days of Christmas video. They also include a rendition of White Christmas at the end, displaying photos of department employees. We hope the police paid for the rights ot the music in the video. Then again, who is going to bust them [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 2:00pm EST

  • More highly appreciated public-sector employees

    Some good chuckles the other day about SEWRPC, the regional planners here, having an annual dinner for $1,000 on what was your money. But $1,000? Madison can top that. Your state agency in charge of financing affordable housing, WHEDA, threw a party for its staff the other day at Monona Terrace [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 1:45pm EST

  • Fresh -- and local -- produce for MPS

    Karen Herzog wrote on the Dig In! blog about a grant announced Wednesday to help expand the "Farm Fresh to MPS" program, in which local farm Growing Power supplies fresh produce to city schools. The $150,000 grant from Chase also will be used to expand a regional urban farm training program. Growing [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 1:27pm EST

  • The Milwaukee County union's toilet overflow

    I was going to write something about the backfired ploy of the ousted Milwaukee County janitorial union to blame clogged toilets on outsourcing, but Nick Gillespie at Reason says it so beautifully: “Forget getting in the gutter to screw over a political opponent. Politico reports on a story from Milwaukee in [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 12:45pm EST

  • Troopers lose free meals appeal

    Wisconsin's state troopers and inspectors can't bill the Department of Transportation for sit-down meals they buy during shifts more than 15 minutes away from headquarters, an appeals court has ruled. An arbitrator had made that decision, which was reversed by a circuit court judge. But the state Court of Appeals found' [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 12:15pm EST

  • Marquette University's flash mob

    It's the end of the semester for college students. You know what that means. Flash mob time. Marquette University had a flash rave at Raynor Library on Wednesday night. [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 12:02pm EST

  • Bucks' Bogut likes how Kobe takes CHARGE in buzzer-beater

    It must have been a bit frustrating for Milwaukee Bucks Andrew Bogut and Charlie Bell to lose to NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers last night in an overtime buzzer-beater. The two apparently decided to vent their frustrations, jokingly, last night by joking with Bucks fans on Twitter. Here's our Tom Enlund's take [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 10:38am EST

  • Brown Co. drug task leader faces internal investigation

    A Brown County Sheriff's lieutenant who led that area's drug task force has been replaced after what his boss called inconsistencies at a federal hearing, the Green Bay Press-Gazette is reporting. Lt. Pat Van Lanen has been put on paid suspension pending an internal investigation. “I have to wait until after the [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 8:00am EST

  • Printing institute to leave WCTC

    The board for the financially struggling Institute for Graphics and Imaging voted this week to end its agreement with the Waukesha County Technical College immediately. The institute will move out of its new building on the Pewaukee campus by the end of the year. [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 8:00am EST

  • Kobe breaks our hearts

    Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was in town Wednesday night. And he broke the hearts and backs of Milwaukee Bucks' fans. Here's why.' [...]
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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Their end game is government control

    So the Medicare buy-in isn't in the Senate's health care bill. The "public option" isn't, either. So, the government-eats-us-all side is defeated? Guess again. Sure, Howard Dean says the hope has died, but Kevin Drum, who longs for government gigantism, writes in Mother Jones that the bill still sets the country [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 9:00pm EST

  • 'Santa' stumbles out of vehicle, seeks reindeer

    From the Associated Press: Santa Claus is in trouble with the law in one western Wisconsin city. Police in Sparta said they cited a man dressed as Santa after witnesses told officers he stumbled out of a vehicle, approached several children playing in a yard, hugged them and demanded to know [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 5:45pm EST

  • Breaking up is very painful

    Let’s just say I’ve had my share of breakups. But as I got older, I dealt with them a bit better. I'm hoping I won’t have any in the future. A new study suggests that for some people, getting dumped by a boyfriend, being snubbed by a co-worker or having your' [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 5:36pm EST

  • 86 Wisconsin teachers earn national certification

    The number of Wisconsin teachers earning national certification in 2009 rose by 15% over the year before, with the addition of 86 teachers, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards announced Wednesday. That brings the total number of Wisconsin teachers certified by the organization to 676, 19th in the nation. Nationwide, nearly [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 4:13pm EST

  • Mayoral control opponents, supporters lobby in Madison today

    Representatives from several Milwaukee-area groups gathered in Madison today to oppose legislation that would allow the city's mayor to choose the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, said Bob Peterson of the Coalition to Stop the MPS Takeover. Meanwhile, another group of organizations and individuals called Education Reform Now Advocacy headed to [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 3:19pm EST

  • Recovery, as long as Harry Reid doesn't screw it up

    Grim news on how bad the past year has been on business, according to a survey of the job creators of southeastern Wisconsin. Two-thirds of businesses in the Milwaukee area didn't meet expectations, as the polite phrase has it, and it was 82% among manufacturers. Four in ten saw a' [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 3:00pm EST

  • It's not about climate; it's about redefining humanity

    Hey, that's not your humble right-wing columnist muttering that headline. Rather, it's your world-famous left-wing columnist, George Monbiot, in the Guardian the other day. He says that what's being imposed on us at Copenhagen -- an imposition he wants -- is not about addressing climate change. Nothing so small: "The meeting at [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 1:45pm EST

  • The end of white folks?

    Some people think white folks get kicked around a lot because they have been the majority population in this country for a long time. But that's due to change. By 2050, white people will no longer be the racial majority in the United States. Newly released Census figures show there will [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 1:17pm EST

  • Are these sensible fixes to youth crime?

    This summer I asked if a 13-year-old girl should be charged as an adult after she was accused of stabbing and killing a man married to her grandmother. Labrina Brown had troubles that began before the stabbing incident. She was raped, abused and bounced around to different homes. She was failed [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:53pm EST

  • If you don't nip it early, the kid could become a centurion

    Then there's the school in Massachusetts that sent a second-grader home and demanded he see a shrink because of the violent drawing he made in class. The drawing was a stick figure of Christ on the cross. Reports the local paper: [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:45pm EST

  • The plow driver did it!

    So Milwaukee got little snow last week, but Madison got whomped. Cars were sliding and roads were clogged for several days. Apparently, some believe this was a staged attack on our capital city. Dane County's highway commissioner has had to refute a rumor that some plow truck drivers deliberately raised their [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:24pm EST

  • Suspect arrested in puppy-dumping

    When six newborn Lab-mix puppies were found abandoned in a gas station Dumpster last month, it was big news around Marinette and twin city Menominee, Mich. A $1,000 reward and scads of posters seeking information paid off with a tip that led to an arrest over the weekend. The Marinette Eagle-Herald has [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:15pm EST

  • About those schools in which the state superintendent could intervene

    Late yesterday, an aide from state Sen. John Lehman's (D-Racine) office gave us a list of five public schools in Milwaukee that could be affected by a new bill introduced yesterday in the Senate Committee on Education. The problem: two of the five schools on the list the aide gave the [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:03pm EST

  • Michigan proposes Wisconsin-like public defender

    Despite flaws in its system, Wisconsin remains well ahead of neighboring Michigan when it comes to trying to provide legal counsel to indigents charged with crimes. Under the pressure of a pending lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, Michigan lawmakers have recently introduced a bill that would create a Wisconsin-style [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 9:15am EST

  • And only because of the Department of Agriculture did cornstalks grow tall this year

    Via Steve Prestegard, pundit-economists economists Wesbury and Stein look at who’s trying to claim credit for the economy recovering. That would be politicians who, if anything, floundered in ways that most likely slowed the recovery. Mr. I-give-myself-a-B included. (You know, the real graders seem to disagree.) Anyhow, various politicians are now all [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 7:30am EST

  • How to make kiddie films that adults like

    The BBC has a nice read on a story with a simple premise: how do you make a children's movie that adults will like, too? One of the tricks is to throw a few jokes in that are clearly intended for adults. "Toy Story" did that. And "Shrek" was a pioneer. While [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Firstwatch: Extra session on drunken driving, Facebook sex and the Lakers

    Braving the chill, or creating one, the Wisconsin Legislature will take up tougher drunken driving laws in a special session. Both houses have passed slightly different bills that make a fourth-offense DUI a felony in some circumstances and raise a first-offense to a misdemeanor if a child younger than 16 [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 5:45am EST

  • Joint Finance to hold hearing on stimulus job reporting

    Joint Finance Committee co-chairs Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) and Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) said today they will hold an informational hearing on oversight of federal stimulus money and the jobs it has created or saved at their committee meeting Thursday. The announcement comes more than a month after state Rep. Rich [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 6:15pm EST

  • Now do you want to talk about race?

    I assume I suckered you in with the picture above. The poster isfor a new play on Broadway from writer David Mamet and it’s about a wealthy white man accused of raping a black woman. The play is meant to test the audience assumptions about racial allegiance and gender roles and [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 5:44pm EST

  • Should judges, lawyers be Facebook friends?

    While Milwaukee Circuit Judge John DiMotto feels confident he can blog about a jurist's life without veering into ethical danger zones, at least one state has warned its judiciary to be very careful about how they use the more ubiquitous Facebook. Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Comittee found last month that judges [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 4:30pm EST

  • The rock-solid certain prediction of doom turns out to have been made-up nonsense

    And it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving propagandist: Our ex-vice president, Al Gore. What happened, you ask? From The Times: “Mr Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years. “In his speech, Mr Gore told [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 3:30pm EST

  • Waukesha site expanding Early Head Start spots

    National Centers for Learning Excellence in Waukesha is increasing the number of spots in its Early Head Start program by 50% thanks to a new federal grant. The grant, which amounts to nearly $300,000, means that the early childhood program can serve an additional 24 low-income infants, toddlers and pregnant women, [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 3:21pm EST

  • Cheers and jeers for immigration reform measure

    U. S. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Il., today introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 in the House of Representatives and all sides of the debate were quick to react. The Immigration Policy Center said in a press release that the bill "jump starts reform [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 2:45pm EST

  • It's enough to make you sick

    You can now add intestines to the list of problems that bisphenol A causes, a new study says. BPA, used to make polycarbonate plastic and resins, is also suspected of causing cancer, diabetes, heart disease, sexual dysfunction and hyperactivity. [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 2:23pm EST

  • ABBA: Legitimate member of the Rock Hall of Fame?

    The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame picked team members today and there's good news for Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges. ABBA also gets in. So the argument for ABBA: There's not a pop hall of fame and the group is the second-best selling group of all time. [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 11:52am EST

  • Bright light from Obamas and Smiths

    I have been black all my life, and I just want to say it does my 53-year-old body good to see Will and Jada Smith and their beautiful and accomplished children (Willow spoke Mandarin at the Nobel Peace Prize festivities!) and Barack and Michelle Obama, and their beautiful and accomplished [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 10:57am EST

  • When salamis and cheese attack

    This certainly qualifies as a "news of the weird" kind of story. But we couldn't resist as we enter the season of giving. In Aachen, Germany, a brawl broke out in a supermarket in which salamis were used as clubs and a block of Parmesan was used as a dagger. You' [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Firstwatch: Start the economy and stop the carp

    It seems the government is motivated today. First of all, your government wants you to get a swine flu shot. The government is saying that after several weeks of rationing flu shots for those at most risk of getting swine flu or spreading it, there are now plenty of swine flu shots [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 5:45am EST

  • Closing the digital divide

    Last week, my 72-year-old mother asked me if I could help her to start a Twitter account. She said a Twitter would allow her to tweet show ideas to Oprah Winfrey. I think that’s pretty cool, considering that fewer than half of all blacks and Hispanics use the Internet regularly, [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 4:56pm EST

  • Food is thought for UWM's Eayrs

    James Eayrs, the very large and very entertaining forward for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team, likes his double meat burritos from Chipotle. In the blog he writes for the Horizon League, Eayrs brings the food and basketball metaphors in a recent post. James, take it away: "The perfect burrito [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 2:21pm EST

  • Man with donated liver hits 0.39 BAC

    From the La Crosse Tribune: A liver transplant recipient was given a public intoxication warning (last week) after he registered a 0.39 percent blood-alcohol level, according to La Crosse police reports. [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 2:07pm EST

  • Default rates jump for Corinthian

    Corinthian Colleges is rolling toward setting up a new non-profit college in Milwaukee's Park East area, despite criticism from some quarters. But all is not well for the publicly traded company. The Wall Street Journal reports today that students who took out government loans to attend for-profit colleges had a 21% default [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:41pm EST

  • Is the $175 fine enough?

    Arguably teaching may be one of the most stressful jobs in the world. And I know from personal experience that teachers carry around a lot of stress. Last week, one teacher let her stress get the best of her when she got so mad at one of her students, that she [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:17pm EST

  • Benefit for Hispanic journalists' group

    Marquette University English professor and author,C. J. Hribal, will read from his works and discuss his writing this evening at 6:30 p.m. at The Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave. The literary evening is a benefit for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, an organization that works to increase the percentage [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:05pm EST

  • And when you don't give up meat, they won't merely ask

    Officially, now, Britain wants Britons to start giving up meat. Mother Earth wants them to. So some “independent advisory body on sustainability” has some big report demanding, as the Guardian put it, that “British consumers must cut down on meat and dairy produce.” Must. [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 12:45pm EST

  • From laid-off GM worker to bowling champ

    No offense to professional bowlers, really. And no offense to this guy, who was laid off from a General Motors assembly plant last year and now has a world ranking in bowling and won a PBA event over the weekend. But if you can walk off an assembly plant, put on bowling [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 12:43pm EST

  • Could you send any leftover mints, perhaps?

    Jim Rowen can’t abide regional planning organization SEWRPC – it hasn’t, after all, banned suburbia yet – but he’s onto something with posts about how the regional planners put on an annual dinner for themselves at the Wisconsin Club. It cost about $1,000. That’s for 17 people. Bon appétit! Rowen since has [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 11:00am EST

  • Look for new directions in job hunt

    Congress has several times extended jobless benefits for those out of work. Is this the government’s idea of a jobs program? Don’t be fooled by a false sense of security. Now is the time to look for a new direction in your job hunt. Take advantage of training offered by [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:24am EST

  • Need realistic plans to save economy

    So President Barack Obama has this new plan to stimulate the economy by creating all these new jobs and new businesses that will in turn create new jobs. Those companies that have already been given stimulus money are sitting on the money and not expanding or adding new workers because [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:13am EST

  • It's about parents, attitude and lack of discipline

    On my morning walk past Bay View High School last week, I saw a student entering the school late with underwear totally exposed, pants waistline sagging somewhere near mid-thigh. There were students loitering throughout the neighborhood at 8:50 a.m. Is there a connection between this and the absolutely miserable national [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:11am EST

  • Trial is testimony to our strengths

    Object to a federal court trial for the 9/11 mastermind because you don’t want to give jihadists a platform to spew their views? I’m confident that democracy and secular freedom can win out in any such debate, even one that one side is trying to turn into a spectacle. Not [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:07am EST

  • Yeah, how has that comprehensive latex approach been working out?

    Great piece in Sunday’s Journal Sentinel by three plain old citizens in West Bend taking on the Planned Parenthood duckspeak about teen pregnancy. Mary Weigand, Bruce Dunford and Diane Osberg are all on the West Bend schools’ citizen panel that oversees sex ed – the kind of panel that would be [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 9:30am EST

  • Mel Gibson's doing films again

    Actor-director Mel Gibson has surfaced with reports that he will do a Vikings-type film with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio will play quarterback Brett Favre. Oh, wait, it's the other kind of Viking. DiCaprio, apparently, has has a long fixation with the Vikings, just like Packers' fans. But these are the ones' [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Firstwatch: A hurt officer, sleet and playoff football

    First, the serious news. A Wautatosa police officer was shot late Sunday, so check back today as details about that incident are revealed. So there's the serious news and then there's the weather. If you like winter weather, you're in luck. We have all of it available today.' [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 5:45am EST

  • Latino youth in the U. S.

    Two-thirds of Hispanic youth between the ages of 16 and 25 are not immigrants, but were born in the United States, according to a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center. Hispanics are the largest and youngest minority group in the country, the report said. One in five school children is [...]
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    Posted: December 12, 2009, 8:00am EST

  • Happy holidays: finale

    As I’ve been saying, it’s not as if “happy holidays” is an offensive greeting. Rather, it’s so inoffensive -- so deliberately unspecific -- as to inadvertently minimize what people actually are celebrating on their holidays. Yes, I know: It’s meant not to offend. One says happy holidays, all of them, whatever, [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 7:45pm EST

  • Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

    Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church at 613 S. 4th St. begins celebrations for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe tonight (Friday) at 8 p.m. Various groups will sing, pray and dance in honor of the patron saint of Mexico beginning at 8 p.m. until about 11 a.m. At midnight [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 5:44pm EST

  • Drunken driver who urinated on cop sentenced to year in jail

    From the Sheboygan Press: A 36-year-old Waldo man who urinated on a police officer during a fifth drunken driving arrest has been sentenced to a year in jail. Daniel L. Shilts Jr., of 720 W. Second St., was sentenced Nov. 30 by Judge Gary Langhoff to the jail term and three years [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 4:36pm EST

  • No, it's not about you buying a Prius

    Rather, if we’re going to cut how much carbon dioxide you emit, it won’t be a matter of you signing up for windmill-generated electricity. Buying a Prius isn’t going to take us back to the per-capita emissions levels of 1860. Rather, it’s going to take a little less of that per-capita. [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 3:45pm EST

  • Cap-and-defraud

    Speaking of unholy marriages between business and government, how has that cap-and-trade system worked for Europe? Try $7.4 billion in fraud, says the European Union, just over the past 18 months. [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 3:30pm EST

  • Pro-business vs. pro-market

    There’s a difference between being pro-business and in favor of free markets, writes Rep. Paul Ryan in Forbes. Our federal government is drifting into the former, to the detriment of any of us who aren’t attached to one of the big businesses thriving under the new crony capitalism. This, writes Ryan, [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 2:45pm EST

  • Two Milwaukee high schools on U.S. News' best list

    Milwaukee Public Schools had two schools and the Racine Unified School District had one school that made U.S. News and World Report's latest Best High Schools list. Milwaukee School of Languages and Rufus King High School were awarded silver medals in the news magazine's annual ranking. Along with Racine's Walden III [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 11:49am EST

  • Don't belittle peace prize achievement

    President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize does not reduce the value, stature or significance of the award. In fact, it strengthens the award. It recognizes that our president and our country are on the right track for improving the world we all live in. The award not only [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 10:16am EST

  • Talk to your kids about sex

    Talking about sex may be the most difficult task for some parents. Forty percent of adolescents said they had sex before talking to their parents about safe sex, birth control or STDs. Troubling? Yes. But if you still need a push, consider this: 70% of boys said they did not [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 10:12am EST

  • Those funny Facebook snafus

    Who among us hasn't posted something on Facebook that we, well, regretted saying? The Huffington Post has put together a collection of the funniest screw-ups. The assumption is that these posts really happened. But they're funny even if they aren't real.' [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 10:03am EST

  • Next big thing: 'Avatar'

    "Avatar," the 3-D epic sci-fi flick by James Cameron, is getting strong and favorable reaction in London. The film, coming to a theater near you, comes from the same guy who did "Titanic." So Cameron knows blockbusters. A more nuanced assessment of the chances that "Avatar" will be a huge hit or [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 7:00am EST

  • Firstwatch: Skating, protesting and celebrating

    So even the trees don't like this extreme cold weather. But there is an upside. When it's freezing, the ponds outside freeze a little earlier. The skating rink at Red Arrow Park opens this afternoon, earlier than scheduled, so find your blades and have a little fun.' [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 5:45am EST

  • Put a robe on that blog

    Lawyers are probably the bloggingest professionals out there, as evidenced by the plethora of blogs by, for and about them. Judges are lawyers so why wouldn't they ride the same wave? Well, many judges take their ethical obligations not to talk cases or issues that might become cases before them to' [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 12:15am EST

  • State laws and immigrants

    Legislatures in 48 states enacted 222 laws and adopted 131 resolutions relating to immigrants during 2009, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures' immigrant policy project. The report notes that Wisconsin became the 11th state to offer in-state tuition to certain illegal immigrant students this year, Illinois passed' [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 5:53pm EST

  • Lawyer in Elmbrook church suit cites loss in sheriff's appeal

    A lawyer who sued the Elmbrook School District to stop it from holding graduation ceremonies in a Waukesha County mega church says that a recent federal court ruling supports his case. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert, attorney Alex Luchenitser with Americans United for Separation of Church and [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 4:29pm EST

  • A little more of the same thing will make all the difference

    Or so said a Milwaukeean to Congress. Patricia DeLessio told congressmen than the nation needs yet a third stimulus to put people back to work. DeLessio, by the way, is a lawyer, so you can be sure she's an expert on economics. She got invited by Rep. Gwen Moore, who said [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 3:00pm EST

  • Man arrested for OWI, claims he was scouting deer

    From the Sheboygan Press: A 25-year-old rural Sheboygan Falls man has been charged with drunken driving after telling police he was driving in a ditch because he was looking for deer, according to a criminal complaint. Daniel J. Schmidt, of W3121 Highway J, was charged Wednesday with second-offense drunken driving after being [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 2:30pm EST

  • Neenah plans driver sobriety checkpoints

    If you knew you had been drinking, would you stop your car at a voluntary sobriety checkpoint? Neenah's police chief wants to find out. He's proposed setting up the state's first sobriety checkpoints by the New Year's holiday. But as the Appleton Post-Crescent reports, the idea has generated lots of debate, from [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 2:00pm EST

  • As long as the health care plan includes an Oklahoma

    My column in Thursday's Journal Sentinel is about health care "reform." My point: "The president and his Congress have odd ideas about bending the cost curve. So far, the cost measures all aim to restrain how much all of us together spend on health care. . . . [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 1:30pm EST

  • Be careful out there

    In Wisconsin, you’d think it’d be obvious. But it’s amazing how some people have no clue how to drive in snowy conditions. There are the perennial tailgaters, the SUV drivers whizzing past who think they are invincible (till they end up in that ditch), the distracted cell-phone gabbers and those [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:44pm EST

  • On handing out condoms

    So Milwaukee Public Schools is now going to give out male condoms to students. I guess it's a day whose time has come. Two things I found interesting about the article. First, the use of the word "male" struck me as odd. Are you telling me that women will not [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:40pm EST

  • Synchronicity isn't just a Police song

    On Climategate, Megan McArdle finds it unlikely that lots of climate scientists were in a conspiracy to commit fraud (well, yes, I agree. Conspiracy to save face might be another matter, but . . . ) Still, you don't need a conspiracy to be worried, writes McArdle. What if they're all [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:30pm EST

  • How do you label the reset button in Norwegian?

    Our Leader, so much better at getting along with the world than his predecessor, appears to have miffed Scandinavians. And, you know, it takes quite a bit to get them to the point of mentioning it. What has The One done? According to the Daily Beast, it's that Obama won't have' [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 11:15am EST

  • Tiger let down Clintonville school?

    The Clintonville Middle School band is planning to go to Disney World next spring to perform. Naturally, they needed to raise money for the trip. And so last weekend, a concert and auction were planned to raise more money. One of the big items that went up for auction was an autographed [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 10:34am EST

  • Mom guilty in son's cold-shower death

    A woman whose 8-year-old son died of hypothermia after she made him take an extremely cold shower as punishment has been convicted of causing his death. A Kenosha County jury on Wednesday night convicted the 27-year-old mother of first-degree reckless homicide and two counts of child abuse in the Feburary 2008 [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 9:30am EST

  • Obama gives love to Wisconsin

    President Obama, in Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, made mention of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Here are his remarks, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times: "Norway is a close friend and an ally, and the relationship between the American and the Norwegian people has always been extraordinarily strong. It's been noted [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 8:50am EST

  • Kenosha cops do the 12 days

    Not to be too harsh a critic, but this Christmas gift from the Kenosha Police Department is almost a crime -- muscially. Some of Kenosha's more fun-loving and holiday-spirited officers put together this, ah, entertaining video, and made it available to the citizenry via the department's Web site. Judge for yourself whether [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 8:00am EST
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