Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today’s headline is a sad double entendre. Madison’s hopes for passenger rail service will, it appears, have to remain just a thought. Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu have said they will oppose any state cost share if the feds decide to build a rail line connecting Madison to Milwaukee. Since aContinue reading “Train of Thought”

It’s a grab bag today. Honors classes saved. Somewhat to my surprise, the Madison School Board voted last night to keep stand-alone honors classes. Board President Ali Muldrow joined three other members — Chris Gomez Schmidt, Laura Simkin and Nicki Vander Meulen — in voting to maintain the classes. Muldrow also showed leadership earlier thisContinue reading “Catching Up on Some Stuff”

I love end of the year lists. Top ten this, top ten that. People who died. All that stuff. Here’s my list of local folks who I think had the biggest impact on our community and state this year.  Tony Evers. God knows, I’ve had my differences with the governor. I even called for himContinue reading “People of the Year”

The latest hot issue in the Madison School District is stand-alone honors classes. This morning’s Wisconsin State Journal offered an excellent primer on the controversy, which is well worth reading. The last few paragraphs of that story did challenge my support for stand-alone honors. My main concern about eliminating the courses, offered to freshmen andContinue reading “How to be Honorable”

Madison’s Plan Commission has approved 550 units of low-income housing in a redeveloping former industrial area. That’s good. What’s not so good is that those 550 units are all low-income (no income diversity is allowed) and it’s concentrated in one tightly packed development. There are also some brown fields issues involved because the site hadContinue reading “The Wrong Way To Do Affordable Housing”

We could skip a step. Gov. Tony Evers could just submit a blank piece of paper in February as his proposed budget. Then Speaker Robin Vos could fill in all the numbers and send it back to Evers for his approval. That would be a more honest and direct process than the sham that isContinue reading “Invest in Little Kids, Not Rich Adults”

Madison is in line to get another grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life. They should turn it down. They won’t, but here’s why they should. The Center for Tech and Civic Life has been around since 2012, but it really stepped up its work in 2020 in response to challenges presented byContinue reading “Don’t Take the Money”

The first thing you have to understand is that nothing changes. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s move from Democrat to Independent has no practical effect. As Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out, “Kyrsten is independent. That’s how she’s always been.” And the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said that President Biden expected to “continue toContinue reading “Sinema’s Smart Move”

Maybe everything just isn’t going to hell after all. This week held some good news. For one thing, Donald Trump got taken down yet a couple more notches. His hand-picked candidate, Herschel Walker, lost by 100,000 votes. And his company got nailed for tax fraud. Republican leaders have wanted this guy gone for a longContinue reading “Some Nice Bipartisan Moments”

I’m starting to wonder what I really believe in. Are there no eternal truths? Is everything relative? The thing that has brought me to this moment of crisis is soccer. I have spent a lifetime mocking it when I gave it any thought at all, which I almost never did — just like most Americans.Continue reading “What Is Real?”