Chicago

Walker's Cancellation Of Madison-Milwaukee Amtrak Looms Larger Now

September 16, 2011 by The Political E...

Because Frontier Airlines announced the end of the only scheduled airline service between the state's two largest cities - - and Amtrak has a Mitchell airport stop, which is importat for the rest of the story.

All of which means Wisconsinites in Madison - - and Frontier put Green Bay in the same no-fly category, too - - will book themselves on continuing flights out of Chicago, which does not help Mitchel's numbers and vendors.

And to the railophobe readers - - save your venom for another day. Yes, I know you can take the Badger Bus to the Milwaukee airport from Madison.

Just ask yourselves why your allegedly pro-choices, pro-development Governor is offering Wisconsinites fewer transportation options, cutting paying customers to Mitchell and contributing to the bypassing of Milwaukee?

Walker's Actions Have Already Cost Wisconsin Jobs

September 14, 2011 by The Political E...

Wisconsin continues to struggle with stagnant unemployment and a stressed economy.

Though in office less than nine months, Scott Walker has to accept personal and direct responsibility for a portion of this picture - - even as he begins to back away from his major campaign pledge to create 250,000 jobs.

Why are some private sector job losses all his to bear?

*  He rejected $800 million in approved federal funding to build an Amtrak rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, to connect that line to Empire Builder service to the northwest as part of the proposed Midwest High Speed Rail system, and to upgrade service between Milwaukee and Chicago.

That ideologically-driven decision cost the state and especially southern Wisconsin substantial construction and purchasing jobs, and will do so for years.

*  He also blocked the expansion of wind turbine farms, costing manufacturing, installation and maintenance work and driving some of that work, estimated at $600 million, to neighboring Illinois.

On Not Doing 9/11, Or, Right Now, I’ve Got A Desk To Clear

September 11, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

I’m going to be really honest with you: after all the fights at the mall to get just the right present for everybody and the giant hassle of going to the Post Office so I can get the perfect stamps for my cards – and then worrying that I left someone off the list – I am just not in the mood to do a 9/11 story.

And it’s been getting worse every year. I mean, just like the “It’s Christmas Every Day Store”, I know there’s one of the “9/11 Every Day” stores open, in the all-too-human form of Rudy Giuliani, and I’ve learned to live with that, but it seems like they got started with the 9/11 earlier than ever this year – and by the time the TV memorials and analysis and retrospectives are all over, to paraphrase Lewis Black…I’m going to hate freedom.

In an effort to stave off this fate, we’ll be headed in a different direction today: I have three stories to pass along; each is important enough that you really should know about them, and yet they’re each very much bite-sized and easily digestible.

It’s all good stuff…so let’s get right to it.

EPA Chooses Milwaukee Region For New, Watershed Permit Procedure

August 31, 2011 by The Political E...

This great news about our region's resource management from the water quality collaborative, Sweet Water Trust:

When: Wednesday, August 31st at 11:00 a.m.

What: Susan Hedman, Administrator for EPA Region 5 in Chicago, will make a formal announcement of a $100,000 grant to Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of MMSD, along with Sweet Water and other partners, to fund a pilot project to develop the framework for the development of a watershed-based permit for the Menomonee River watershed.

Where: Menomonee River at Hart Park (Riverside Picnic Area), 7300 Chestnut Street, in Wauwatosa - - (in the nearby Hart Park music pavilion in case of rain)

Background: The grant will be managed by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and will support work to be done by Sweet Water – the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. and its regional partners to create a watershed-based storm water permitting model for Menomonee River watershed communities.

A watershed-based permit can offer significant potential advantages over more conventional municipality-by-municipality permitting approaches, including cost-savings, one-stop shopping/permit streamlining and the potential for improved water quality.

Whitefish Bay's Water Woes Tell Important Fiscal And Political Story

August 25, 2011 by The Political E...

Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin is a small, traditional and comfy Milwaukee-area suburb and village just to the north and east of the big city, but its storm and sewer infrastructure has been overwhelmed by heavy rains that have validated Midwestern climate-change predictions about the arrival of more frequent, heavier and costly rain events.

The science says it all.

New research summarized here projects significant consequences for Wisconsin as soon as the next few decades, increasing in severity into the middle and end of this century...

Toward the end of the century, if current pollution trends continue, projected effects in the state include:

Far more scorching summers

• Every summer in Wisconsin would be hotter than 1988—the hottest summer during the historical baseline.
• Milwaukee would experience more than 55 days per summer with highs over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) and more than 22 days with highs over 100°F.
• Milwaukee would face at least one heat wave per summer like the one that killed hundreds in Chicago in 1995...