Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

The city recently announced that the Freakfest Halloween celebration on State Street has been canceled for a third year in a row. The last two cancellations were due to COVID, but this one could spell the end of the event.  As the mayor who started Freakfest you might think I’d have some personal investment inContinue reading “Madison’s Freakfest Served Its Purpose”

I read the New York Times every morning the same way I used to dutifully say five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys after going to confession. Penance cleanses the soul. Reading the Times isn’t quite wearing a hair shirt, but most days it feels close. What the Times lacks is any understanding of anybodyContinue reading “Midwest: NYT Insults the Old Fashioned”

With a little more than a month to go before the mid-terms, many analysts have decided that the Republican wave election expected just a few weeks ago has now been called off. CNN commentator Chris Cillizza posted this late yesterday: Republican groups are increasingly hyper-focusing their resources on the several dozen races that hold theContinue reading “Is the Red Wave Back On?”

There is a story in this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal that highlights three things that are wrong with the Madison School District. The story was about new Sennett Middle School principal Jeffrey Copeland, who lasted there only a few weeks. Copeland was placed on administrative leave on September 13th and he left the district altogetherContinue reading “Where is Jeffrey Copeland?”

In what was an inevitable move, Pres. Joe Biden’s plan to unilaterally cancel up to $20,000 in student debt, costing taxpayers around a half-trillion dollars overall, is being challenged in federal court. The conservative Pacific Legal Foundation is bringing a suit in the federal district court for southern Indiana, arguing that Biden’s use of theContinue reading “Student Debt Cancellation Challenged”

There’s no better example of intractable sides stubbornly ignoring an obvious solution than the Line 5 debate in northern Wisconsin. Here’s the background. Line 5 is a petroleum pipeline owned by Enbridge, a Canadien company. The line runs from Superior across northern Wisconsin into the UP, through the Straits of Mackinac and down to theContinue reading “Keep Line 5 Where It Is”

I’m a Democrat. So, I look at positive news for my party and I ask myself, how are we going to mess that up? Or sometimes I ask, what are we missing here and why will we be disappointed this time? So don’t be surprised if I’m skeptical about all the excitement I’m hearing andContinue reading “Three Reasons For Dem Caution”

First off, my closing words on Friday were advice on how to enjoy your weekend: don’t watch the Badgers play football on Saturday. Was I right or was I right? Now, throat cleared, I want to write about something more cheerful and profound: the annual tightening of the stands. This is the literal opposite ofContinue reading “Midwest: The Tightening of the Stands”

A grab bag of issues this Friday. Still lots of unanswered questions. Back in February a small army of law enforcement personnel from a half dozen agencies, including the DNR, descended on one man. They were on the far east side of Madison to arrest Quadren Wilson on a drug charge. They ended up shootingContinue reading “Where’s Carlton Jenkins?”

In Madison no bad idea ever really dies. Earlier this year Dane County Executive Joe Parisi proposed a one time $1,000 payment to every county employee to soften the blow of inflation. That proposal went down in flames before a very liberal County Board. I like Parisi. I think he’s a good guy and goodContinue reading “$1k For City Workers is a Terrible Idea”