Home on the Range

The fam went out to test their skills this weekend.

Quality family time was had by all.

(Left to right: 12 ga. Shotgun, .44, 30-06, AR10 (308 shells), 325, 30-30, 12 ga. Shotgun, .22, and another Shotgun. up top is a scoped .22. The two handguns are: left- .22 revolver, and right- .357 Magnum)

Citizen/Business Owner lays smack down about RDA at West Bend City Council Meeting

The City Council met tonight and the RDA was on the agenda.  It's late, so here's the skinny....

John Capelle (Community Development Director) and Company gave a long (over 45 minutes) slide presentation on how the RDA works (because we all needed an education that, you know).

Ald. Ed DuQuaine stated point-blank that the RDA needs to have City Council approval on nearly every aspect of it's actions.  He was adamant there was too much power/authority given to the RDA.

DuQuaine also fired off a list of questions for the Mayor, the City Attorney and John Capelle.

This led to audience participation, which I'll post via video below.  Citizens seemed to feel that they were kept out of the loop on the RDA "doings" and that overall communication was a fail.  A truly stellar moment took place when Mike Husar (citizen/small business owner) stepped up to the mic. The woman's voice you hear is City Attorney Mary Schanning.  Here it is in two parts:



and



Here's a citizen giving his input...



And Mayor Deiss' reaction of  "stick to the agenda"...........

Citizen wants to know what gives with Fitness Center - asks CARLSON

Interesting.  Nice that St. Joe's wants to be the sugar daddy, but are they willing to pick up the tab for ongoing maintenance?  staff?  equipment replacement?  I'm thinkin' not.  This is definitely a taxpayer treat.




"Joe Carlson, School Board president, I have a question for you. A couple of years ago before I agreed to work on the referendum we spoke about the fitness center. You assured me that in no way would the district financially support it. You told me there was the grant for equipment and that the St. Joe’s Foundation was contributing $250,000 and that the athletic department was soliciting donations to make up the balance of what was needed to build this center. 

    What happened? How could a district that had to raise the tax levy to the maximum allowed in order to reduce programming cuts, a district that is anticipating another $2 million reduction in state aid next year, a district that discusses an operational referendum in order to operate, a district that is considering combining the twin high schools in order to save money, how could that district give $100,000 to the fitness center?"

Illegal Immigration - The heat was on in West Bend w/Sensenbrenner

Fence?  Perhaps a moat....   Read entire article HERE.



"According to Sensenbrenner, 40 percent of illegal immigrants entered the United States legally with a visitor’s visa, but then don’t leave. 

    “We have no idea who is overstaying (his or her) visa,” he said. 

    One of Sensenbrenner’s solutions is to implement an “exit tracking system,” a program widely used in other countries to document who and when people are entering and leaving. A similar program could provide more accurate information to the Department of Homeland Security and identify those individuals who have overstayed their visas, he said. 

    Sensenbrenner also said he has advocated for raising fines from $100 to $5,000 imposed upon employers that sponsor illegal workers. He is also against offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. 

    Sensenbrenner is also a staunch supporter of the fence being erected along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been compared to the Berlin Wall by opponents."

Tornado Warning***** West Bend***Jackson***Washington County

Til 7:45...  ***Now cancelled

Pics...

AND VIDEO

Free Hugs - What if?

Sweet.

SENSENBRENNER Town Hall Meeting in WEST BEND TONIGHT - WEST BEND 7 P.M.

You’re invited to join Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner for a Town Hall Meeting this Sunday, July 11, at 7:00 p.m. at the West Bend City Hall to discuss the issues on your mind.    

Location: West Bend City Hall, 1115 S. Main Street, West Bend, WI. 

The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers on the 2^nd floor. Guests should use the rear entrance. An elevator is available to the 2^nd floor.

Another Verse of the Star Spangled Banner - Semper Fi

Well done.

Yes, there is a Cuba, Moron; I mean Moron, Cuba

Believe it.

MORON, CUBA

The history of the Rooster of Moron is almost 500 years old and comes from the Spanish town of Moron de la Frontera where a corrupted judge was undressed and battered by the villagers due to his innumerable violations. Some days later, the image of a beaten and plucked rooster appeared in the town, as a sign of those trying to act the tough guys. Some Spaniards from that region migrated to Cuba and the story came along with them....

...

Moron is located 15 miles away from Ciego de Avila, heading north to the highway to Cayo Coco.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow in West Bend

Just caught this.....in our driveway tonight.  As the storms passed we could see a double rainbow.  If you look closely, you can still see the second rainbow fading.

West Bend Saturday AM Farmer's Market - Where the Goods Are

Went to the Farmer's Market this morning....  I just love the vast array of produce and flowers creating a splash of color on our downtown area canvas.  Snap peas, green beans, patty pan squash, herbs, and beautiful bouquets are all in season.  Just in are sweet corn, tomatoes and potatoes.  You can pick up a delicious spring roll for $1.50, pad thai for $3.00, coffee (various vendors), bubble tea (a sweet fruit smoothie with large beads of tapioca floating in it), brats, hot dogs, burgers, scones.....  It's an affordable morning out with a spouse, a friend, the family.  I went with my daughters, both of whom love the fresh garden lettuces (which we came back with, of course) and the snap peas (my personal favorite snack).

Fresh bouquets of bright summer flowers....

Mounds of fresh green beans to entice the palate.

                Streets lined with vendors at the Farmer's Market.

                 Some traditional Oom-pa-pa for the German spirit!

Belling Defends West Bend Citizens

This hits the proverbial nail......

More civility? Oh, please

Angry citizens have a right to speak

    “A Plea For More Civil Dialogue.”

    That was the ominous headline last week in the Washington County Daily News but it really could have been in any southeast Wisconsin newspaper. Two-bit local political hacks whining away that the public – THE PUBLIC! – wasn’t being nice enough to them. “Woe is us,” they wailed. “The lack of civility is unhealthy,” moaned City Administrator Joe Melvin. The chief whiner, Joe Carlson, the president of West Bend’s apparently too-picked-on school board, complained that too many citizens were too angry. It all gives West Bend a bad name etc. Such baby talk isn’t limited to West Bend. You hear it in New Berlin from the mayor, Jack Chiovatero. Wauwatosa’s mayor, Jill Didier, even bored a recent lunch companion with her complaint that I was trying to ruin her life. In Menomonee Falls, the cabal led by former Village President Joe Greco is perpetually angry that mere taxpayers have the audacity to speak out.

    I have some advice for Carlson and his ilk. Resign. This is America, not Joe Stalin’s Russia or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran. Speaking out, often loudly, isn’t an indecent abuse of decorum but the prerogative of an active citizenry. The louder the better, by the way. What the crybabies are upset about is they prefer to govern conservative communities in a moderate-to-liberal squishy way. When the public revolts, the leaders cry foul. A telling quote from West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss: “The hardest thing has been fighting communication ... perception over reality.”

    In West Bend, it was Mayor Deiss who tried to reappoint Library Board members who infuriated the public by insisting on keeping gay smut in the children’s department. It’s the same community where aldermen are determined to stick a low-income housing slum the residents don’t want. This isn’t a problem of perception. The reality is the community’s leaders are doing things the public doesn’t like. In New Berlin, outraged citizens want Chiovatero’s scalp for trying to put a slum in the heart of the community. In Menomonee Falls, taxpayers went ballistic when library employees tried to censor kids’ art work at the parochial school art fair. Back in West Bend, Carlson’s school board keeps proposing school tax referendums the public doesn’t want.

    In each case, the citizenry is speaking out. Good. Carlson a few months ago berated a fellow school board member for daring to air differences in public. Horrors! Hey, Carlson, differences of opinion in government are supposed to be in the open. West Bend belongs to the residents of West Bend not Carlson and not Deiss. They are the employees but think of themselves as the bosses (or dictators). The taxpayer/owners have a right to see public business dealt with in the open.

    Yeah, sure, they’ll respond. But can’t we be, you know, more “civil?” While some people always go too far, the problem in most communities is too much civility, not too little. Most folks let the power structure tax and spend, preside over mediocre school systems, lard public payrolls with unneeded workers, dole out unconscionable benefits and act like their the leaders of Liberalville. The few communities where people object are the ones whose residents are care the most.

    America was founded loudly and angrily. Every positive development in this country – civil rights, the end to slavery, tax relief – has been a result of the populace raising hell. It’s what makes America great. The reason suburbanites are yelling now is that they fundamentally oppose the leftist drift of their hometowns. Their vocalism is a very good thing, whether the thin-skinned small town politicos like it or not.

  

New Signage Posted in Wash. County Sends Message to Liberals

This new sign just popped up at the intersection of Hwy. 33 and Hwy. 144, west out of West Bend going towards Allenton.  The message is clear.

AMBER ALERT ISSUED for three children ----- UPDATE: FOUND

An AMBER ALERT has been issued by Milwaukee County for THREE CHILDREN.
CANCELLED


READ HERE

Bring 'em home....


UPDATE:  Found, safe.

...the bombs bursting in air...

"Going Home" - Mary Fahl...... *Thank you for my freedom.