My Most Popular Blogs (01/01/12)
As I post every Sunday, here are the five most read blog entries of mine from the previous week. NOTE: some entries may have been posted prior to the past week.
1) THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2011: #6
2) Photos of the Week (12/25/11)
3) THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2011: #5
4) THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2011: #4
5) THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2011: #7
Photos of the Week (01/01/12)
1) Lady Gaga and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg prepare to push the button to drop the ball at New Year's Eve 2012 in Times Square on Dec. 31, 2011 in
2) Confetti flies over
3) A member of the clean up crew clears confetti from Broadway after the New Year's Eve celebration as seen from the balcony of the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York's Times Square, Jan. 1, 2012. Photo: Mary Altaffer / AP
4) Fireworks explode over the Houses of Parliament, including St Stephen's Tower which holds the bell known as Big Ben as London celebrates the arrival of New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2012. Photo: Alastair Grant / AP
5) Revelers celebrate the New Year on the Champs Elysees avenue in
6) Fireworks explode over the ancient Acropolis Hill with the Parthenon temple during the New Year's celebrations in
7) The Sydney Opera House and
8) A couple kisses as fireworks explode in the sky over
9) A man lights an Old Man effigy, which symbolizes burning the past and getting ready to start a happy New Year without bad memories, early Sunday in Mumbai, India. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool / AP
10) U.S. President Barack Obama lays a wreath at the memorial to USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 29, 2011. Photo: Jason Reed – Reuters
11) North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un cries as his father, North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il, lies in state during the run-up to his funeral in Pyongyang in this Dec. 27, 2011, still image taken from video. Photo: Reuters
12) Armenian clergymen scuffle with police and Greek Orthodox clergymen during the annual cleaning of the Church of Nativity, the traditionally accepted birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Dec.28. Several hundred clergy of different Christian sects, as well as some faithful, pitch in to clean the entire church, one of the oldest in the world, but with special care taken not to overstep one's boundaries and delicate cleaning responsibilities. The entire church is swept, dusted, cleaned with kerosene and covered in sawdust to soak up the flammable liquid as the church is cleaned of all the dirt accumulated in the past year and made ready for the next year's onslaught of pilgrims, clergy and tourists. Photo: Oliver Weiken / EPA
13) Vehicles are seen after floodwaters receded at the Honda factory in Ayutthaya province on Nov. 26. Thailand's worst floods in 50 years have killed 610 people and devastated industry, but the situation is slowly improving, with water receding in many affected areas. Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters
14) This photo provided by the National Park Service shows an unidentified man standing by an SUV-sized boulder sitting on Yellowstone National Park's West Entrance road approximately nine miles inside the park's west gate Dec. 29, 2011. The boulder apparently broke loose from a mountainside several hundred feet above the road early Thursday. Park crews have pushed the rock from the road and are assessing the slope for the potential of further slides. Photo: National Park Service via AP
15) Rubbish is piled up in between parked cars in downtown Mexico City, Dec. 26. After city authorities shut down the Bordo Poniente landfill, one of the largest dumps in the world, garbage has started to accumulate and trucks have been slower to pick it up, according to local media. Here, rubbish is piled up next to the monument of Mexico's late President Benito Juarez in Mexico City, Dec. 26. Juarez was one of Mexico's most important statesmen. Photos: Reuters
16) Maria Ponce, 78, stands in the doorway of her home that is constructed from recycled plastic bottles, near El Transito, El Salvador, Thursday Dec. 29, 2011. Ponce, who did not have money to build a traditional house, says in 2005 a dream revealed to her to fashion a home from plastic bottles, which took 3 months. Ponce and her 102-year-old companion survive on about 10 dollars a week which they make from their corn crop and donations from tourists making the journey to see "La Casita Encantada," or "The Enchanted Cottage." Photo: Luis Romero / AP
17) People work at the construction site of a Catholic church made of snow in the Bavarian village of Mitterfirmiansreut, near the German-Czech border on . The snow church is to be unveiled during a ceremony on Wednesday and is likely to become a tourist attraction till the beginning of spring. Photo: Petr Josek / Reuters
18) The Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras Mountains, 184 miles northwest of Bucharest, is entirely made of ice. The hotel offers accommodation in 10 double rooms with king size beds, where the temperature hovers around freezing. A waiter serves dinner inside the hotel. Rooms go for $45.73 per person. Photos by Radu Sigheti / Reuters
19) President Barack Obama gets a mouth full of fingers from Cooper Wall Wagner, 8 months, as he poses for a photo with Coopers and his parents Captain Greg and Meredith Wagner, as he visits members of the military during Christmas dinner at Anderson Hall on Marine Corps Base Hawaii , Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
20) Siberian tigers approach a keeper's car as they wait to be fed at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, China on Dec. 27. More than 800 Siberian tigers are currently living in the park, which is also a breeding center for this endangered species, local media reported. Photo: Sheng Li / Reuters
21) Tian Tian licks her 'panda cake' in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, on Christmas Day, Sunday Dec. 25, 2011. The United Kingdom's only pair of giant pandas were treated to an extra helping of panda cake on Christmas morning to celebrate their first Christmas in Scotland. Yang Guang and Tian Tian - or Sunshine and Sweetie - have been getting used to their new home in Edinburgh Zoo since arriving from China on Sunday Dec. 4 2011. (AP Photo / Andrew Milligan/PA)
22) A white whale, also known as beluga, puffs a ring at Kamogawa Sea World in Kamogawa, east of Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
23) New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates after his team defeated the Atlanta Flacons in New Orleans, La., Dec. 26. Drew Brees passed for 307 yards while breaking the single-season passing record at 5,087 yards. Dan Marino finished with 5,084 yards for the Miami Dolphins in 1984. Photo: Sean Gardner / Reuters
24) New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan exchanges words with New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs after the game last weekend that was won by the Giants. Photo: New York Post
25) In this image released by AP Images for Comic Relief, as Helen Skelton prepares to embark on the toughest adventure of her life - Helen’s Polar Challenge for Sport Relief - she first had to overcome the challenge of spending a bleak Christmas Day in Antarctica, with hours of demanding training in sub zero temperatures and dehydrated rations for dinner. Helen is hoping to begin her 500 mile trek to the South Pole on January 1 at 83 degrees south. The fearless Blue Peter presenter will power herself to the pole by ski, by kite and - in a world first - by bike. (Mike Carling/AP Images for Comic Relief)
26) A fan named Annie Wagner was not happy when she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, so she went to the Green Bay-Chicago game last Sunday night with a sign that, at the very least, got back at her cheating ex-boyfriend. Photo: The Hollywood Gossip via NBC.
27) Sarah Crane was left stunned when she hung out her laundry to dry and discovered the face of Jesus staring back at her from a crumpled sock. She was so impressed by the clarity of the face she even built a shrine to the sock. Photo: Paul Cunningham / Zuma Press
28) Einar Sveinsson, dressed as Santa Claus, visits young patient Elizabeth Marroquin who suffers from appendicitis in the emergency room at the Benjamin Bloom Hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador, early Sunday Dec. 25, 2011. Sveinsson, who lives in El Salvador and is originally from Iceland, said he originally began volunteering in emergency rooms years ago as Santa Claus to visit children who had been burned by Christmas time firecrackers. (AP Photo/Luis Romero)
29) Santa, wearing shorts, greets children at the pool of the Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, December 24, 2011. He arrived by outrigger canoe in front of the hotel at sunset on Christmas Eve and is welcomed by keiki from Hula Hui O Kapunahala under the direction of kumu hula Carolee Nishi. Photos: Honolulu Star- Advertiser
30) Shoppers rush into a department store as it opens for Boxing Day sales in central London, Monday, Dec. 26. Despite disruptions caused by London's subway drivers striking over a pay dispute, large crowds of shoppers started flooding department stores in London as soon as doors opened early Monday. Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis / AP
31) Landmark Signs workers install 288 sparkling new Waterford Crystal triangles featuring this year's "Let There Be Friendship" design on the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, Dec. 27, 2011 in New York. The crystals, designed and crafted by Waterford artisans, feature a pattern that represents friends holding hands around the world. Photo: Mary Altaffer / AP
32) Athletes dressed as Santa Claus jump into the Mediterranean sea as they take part in the Copa Nadal in the Spanish port of Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Dec. 25. The Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) is a traditional swimming competition that takes place in Barcelona every December 25th, where participants swim 200 meters in the open sea in the port of Barcelona. Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP
33) A swimmer reacts as he climbs a ladder to leave the Vltava river after a swim within the traditional Christmas winter swimming competition in Prague, Czech Republic, on Dec. 26. Enthusiast swimmers every year brave the cold waters of the Vltava river for a swim. Photo: Filip Singer / EPA
34) Members of the 'Berlin Seals' club swim in the Oranke Lake with a water temperature of three degrees Celsius, wearing Christmas costumes in Berlin, Germany, on December 25. The winter swimmers traditionally meet on Christmas Day to take a swim together. OK, one more. Photos: Maurizio Gambarini / EPA
35) People carry a man on a stretcher as they take part in a traditional sea bath during New Year's celebrations on Jan. 1, 2011 at Malo-Les-Bains beach in Dunkirk, France. Photo: Philippe Huguen / AFP - Getty Images
36) A woman holds an offering of fruits as shamans perform a ritual for good luck for the coming new year in Lima, Peru on December 29, 2010. In Peru, yellow is considered good luck, and people will often wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve for luck in the new year. Shamans from around the country attend fairs to perform rituals that include showering subjects with yellow flowers or passing a guinea pig over subjects' bodies. Photo: Mariana Bazo / Reuters
Culinary no-no #258
THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF
FOOD BLOGS, BUT ONLY ONE CULINARY NO-
NO!
It’s New Year’s Day. Here are, in no particular order, my culinary resolutions for 2012:
In restaurant booths, could we please not put our feet up on the seats.
When you’ve finished dining and paid the bill, could you please get up and get the hell out so someone else who’s been waiting can have a seat.
People sitting at barstools, when there’s one empty spot and two people standing, how about getting up and moving one spot down so the others can sit as well.
When wait staff does something good or nice, can we at least make eye contact and say “Thank you?”
Tip properly, at least 15-20%, more for exemplary service. That includes bar service.
Don’t make a visit to a restaurant a track meet for your server. If someone else at your table orders a drink, put in your drink order at the same time.
If you have a restaurant reservation and you’re going to be late, call and inform the restaurant.
Call if you’re not going to show for a restaurant reservation.
Fast food patrons, know what you’re going to order before you get to the front of the line.
Fast food drive thru workers, would it kill you to put a few napkins in the bag.
Fast food workers, don’t ask me if I want to try a triple-whipped fruit smoothie. If I want a triple-whipped fruit smoothie, I’ll order it.
Fast food joints, stop trying to go healthy!
At a nice restaurant, I should never have to beg for a glass of water.
Don’t walk into a popular restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation and develop an attitude when informed you’ll have to wait.
I’m not sure what happens in the women’s restrooms, but guys, c’mon, you’ve got to wash your hands.
Guys, dress up when dining out. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look in your t-shirt and jeans when your date is all gussied up?
Guys, TAKE YOUR FRICKIN’ HATS OFF IN RESTAURANTS!
CULINARY NO-NO BONUSES
They're the most obnoxious chefs...of the year!
I'm not so sure about some of these.
10 Best and Worst Food Issues in America
WARNING: Do Not Wash Your Windows!
That old saying about “once you wash your windows, you’ll see that the curtains are dirty” is too true for my tastes today.
IT'S ROSE BOWL TIME...GO GET 'EM BUCKY!
Thousands of Wisconsin Badger fans cheer the team at a rally at
Are you planning to watch the Rose Bowl Parade?
Keep an eye for this float.
Did I Ever Tell You About The Time I Danced With...
Until Kyla came along, Kevin & I always attended the Badger Band concert at
OK guys, you're watching the Rose Bowl and admit it...
You're lovin' those Oregon cheerleaders.
PHOTOS OF THE YEAR - 2011
The "Tribute in Light" shines above lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and One World Trade Center in New York. 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
People react to the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square in New York early May 2. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama announced, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)
Katlyn Wilkins works on securing an American flag in a tree as she deals with the destruction caused by a massive tornado that passed through the town killing at least 139 people on May 29 in Joplin, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Capt. Don Spindler carries a young girl out of a burning apartment building in Evansville, Ind. on Sept. 7. Kristyn Frazier and her two young daughters suffered smoke inhalation before being rescued. Kristyn was declared brain dead the next morning, while her daughters were in critical but stable condition at St. Mary’s Medical Center. The girls made a full recovery. Photo: Jason Clark / AP
A motorcycle policeman burns as his colleague tries to help him after protesters threw a petrol bomb in Athens on February 23, 2011. Scores of youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at riot police after clashes broke out during a general strike. (Dimitri Messinis/AP)
A leopard attacks a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on July 19. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several people, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. The forest guard being attacked survived. AP photo
Toya Chiba, a reporter for local newspaper Iwate Tokai Shimbun, is swept away while taking pictures at the mouth of the
Campus police officer John Pike pepper-sprays students during an “Occupy” demonstration on the
Oregon wins the Rose Bowl...I'm not surprised
Hours before the Rose Bowl, ESPN analysts pinpointed how the Big Ten performances in bowl games this year showed how weak the Big Ten defenses were.
How true. And for the umpteenth year in a row, we see how over-rated Big Ten teams are.
And BTW, Bret Bielema ruins any chance for the Badgers to win by blowing his timeouts. How unfair to the Wisconsin players and
YUCK
My wife, a regular reader of Photos of the Week, let out an audible YUCK when she saw this last Sunday:
1) Lady Gaga and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg prepare to push the button to drop the ball at New Year's Eve 2012 in Times Square on Dec. 31, 2011 in
We can do YUCKIER.
School District Awards Employee Bonuses Despite Weak Housing and Economy
From CRG St. Croix County:
"In an environment where school districts have had to lay off teachers, the Baldwin- Woodville School District in Baldwin Wisconsin awarded $500.00 bonuses to all full and part time employees. The Board of Education approved the bonus unanimously in a closed door board meeting. Despite a budget surplus taxpayers will not get a Christmas bonus."
CRG Network
PO Box 371086
Milwaukee, WI 53237
crgnetwork.com
crgstcroix@gmail.com
PRESS RELEASE
January 3, 2012
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel takes a big risk
Beginning Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel begins charging a fee to non-paper subscribers for its online service:
“With its digital offering, called ‘JS Everywhere’ the Journal Sentinel will offer access to JSOnline.com, the Journal Sentinel e-edition, its mobile site for smartphones, plus coming iPad and other digital applications for a subscriber's fee. Readers who subscribe to the print edition of the newspaper will receive free access to all digital products. Web content previously available on the pay site Packer Insider will be included as part of JS Everywhere subscriptions.”
A.V. Club Milwaukee offers this sarcastic smackdown:
“Non-subscribers will be able to view only 20 articles a month, after which they’ll be publicly scolded for contributing to the downfall of print media and for keeping food off of Eugene Kane’s table. In a bit of marketing stealth that would make Facebook blush, the JS announced its delightfully named ‘Journal Sentinel Everywhere’ service under the cover of media darkness, a.k.a. during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.”
This begs the very serious question:
Will people pay to get their newspaper online?
There's An App For That
Our first family vacation to Walt Disney World in November 2011 was a complete success for many reasons. Mostly it was a success because Kevin and I were both PRESENT in the trip, enjoying every smile, giggle, and request to “go on another adventure” from our precious daughter Kyla.
Barrett saves Milwaukee millions
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Voting for Franklin School Board is very easy
FranklinNOW reports:
“In Franklin, the race to watch is the Franklin School Board, where incumbents Janet Evans and Judith Bialk face four contenders: David Works, John Thompson, Aimee Schlueter and Donald Petre. The seats carry three-year terms. A primary is needed to whittle the number of candidates down to four.”
Franklin, if we're going to have a referendum, no shenanigans
Here’s a portion of a blog I wrote two years ago this month that bears repeating given that Franklin school officials are hell-bent on putting a referendum to voters on school facilities:
The Sheboygan Press reported last week that fliers in support of a referendum produced by Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO’s) in the Stevens Point Area Public School District “were distributed to teachers at school, who then placed them in folders students use to take messages home.”
The same newspaper’s editorial board wrote this:
"We do not object to the PTO's drafting and sending a pro-referendum letter. But the method of delivery -- stuffed into homework folders and shuttled home by students -- led the group into an ethical gray area.. It also is unclear whether teachers put these notes into the folders. If they did, was it part of the workday or was it on their own time? District employees are free to campaign on their own time but not when they are being paid by taxpayers. The incident also begs the question of what is and isn't acceptable material to be sent in homework folders that go directly into the hands of parents.”
Yep. There are all kinds of red flags on this one.
School officials should never use school time to lobby and campaign for or against an increase in your school taxes. Period.
Franklin went through the same problem during debate surrounding the massive $78-million referendum in April of 2007.
In an issue of Wisconsin School News put out by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards around the time of the election, Tom Joynt of the Administrative Leadership Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee wrote about successful referendum strategies. The basis of his article is a 20-question survey that was mailed to the superintendents in all 70 school districts that had a successful referendum in 2005 or 2006. Forty-four completed surveys were returned, a response rate of 63 percent.
The survey was split into two sections: “Deciding to Hold a Referendum,” and “Strategies Used after a Decision Was Made to Hold a Referendum.”
In the “Deciding” section, the lowest-rated item was asking for student input on needs that were finally included in the final referendum. More weight was given to community input and opinions from staff.
After the decision was made to hold a referendum, there was a strong consensus to provide special information to parents and the media. I’m sure the
The Wisconsin School News survey also generated strong support for providing district residents with estimates of the tax impact of a referendum. Here, I believe the
Another survey idea that received a high endorsement if you wanted to have a successful referendum was to send a brochure to all community residents explaining all accurate details. Maybe
The survey respondents also highly recommended holding public forums. Now this, the
The personal comments on the survey are very, very interesting.
The superintendent in Oakfield, Joe Heinzelman warned, “Make sure you follow through on what you say will happen if a referendum fails.” The author of the article Tom Joynt writes, “Empty hyperbole and overstated claims before a referendum will haunt public officials for many years.” In
According to Joynt’s article, Sue Alexander, superintendent of Markesan “felt unity of the school board in supporting a referendum is significant.” Interesting. In Franklin, right before the election campaign, two incumbent school board members chose not to run. Three school board seats were filled on April 3 with all three candidates running unopposed, two of them opposed to the referenda.
Jamie Benson, superintendent in
Superintendent David Wessel of Spencer offered this advice: “make sure you ask for enough,” but he also added, “don’t go overboard.”
And finally, Joynt writes, and this is where
And so we have in
Not very ingenious,
Forget stuffing the kids’ backpacks with your tax and spend propaganda. That’s old hat. Try what
The Friday before Election Day, April 2007, during school time, hundreds of
Doors to the Assembly reportedly were locked so no one could leave and no one could enter to see and hear what was going on.
I wrote the following at the time:
“The impropriety of this action by
Later on April 2, 2007, just prior to the final vote, I blogged an e-mail I received from a Franklin parent:
“Now that the school district has given the senior class a civics lesson and is encouraging them to exercise their right and privilege to vote(many for the first time):
1. Will they be excused from school to vote?
2. Will the students get a lesson in how to register to vote; how to determine what district they live in; and where their polling place is located?
3. Will they provide transportation to the polls?
4. Will they earn a grade for voting---how are the students going to be assessed following this civics lesson? Will they have to wear the I Voted sticker as proof of voting?
5. Will they tack on an additional 2 hours to the make up school days since the students missed first/second hour to attend this civic lesson?
I have more questions to add but the most important one is:
When will the investigation into the legality of this action begin? Who will be held accountable?”
Back to January 2012: Just a reminder to Franklin school officials that a lot of us haven’t forgotten what happened in 2007.
