A great day for a (very brief) swim (for a good cause)

First one into the lake is ... gonna be cold!

The 20th annual Splash and Dash -- sometimes known as the Polar Bear Plunge -- went off without a hitch today at North Beach.

Hundreds braved the cold air -- about 17 degrees (10 degrees colder than last year when the splash was cancelled due to dangerous ice on and off-shore) -- and the icy waters of Lake Michigan, at least for a few seconds. The event started at noon with hundreds lined up near a 15-ft-wide cut in the ice along the shore, counted down the last few seconds and then rushed about 30 feet into the water, turned around and rushed out again.

By 10 minutes after the hour, the event was over, except for laggards on the beach trying to strip off their wet bathing suits with a modicum of decorum under blankets, and find dry shoes for the walk to the car and a quick ride home -- um, or to a nearby watering hole for a bracing, and well-deserved New Year's Day libation.

Rescue personnel on the beach said there were no injuries, save for a few skin scrapes. The event raises about $20,000 annually for the Racine County Food Bank and HALO (Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization).

Note to self for next year: I ran into Racine District 1 Alderman Jeff Coe at the beach -- warmly dressed. He said this was the first time he'd been to the event, and I was unable to talk him into even dipping a toe into the water. BUT he said he'd do it next year, if he's able to raise about $5,000 in pledges. "I'll ask each councilman for $100," he said, promising to start fund-raising this summer. John Heckenlively, who was standing nearby, came up with the perfect fund-raising slogan: "Throw Jeff in the lake." Something to look forward to next year!

'Hey, Mom, look I'm on the internet!'

I yelled, 'Hey, Cinderella, turn around' -- and they did!

Doesn't look as though that hat kept her very warm...

Firefighters, who started Splash and Dash, continue to keep it safe

This pink bikini only kept the guys warm...

Penguin snappy dresser in this year's tie-dye souvenir t-shirt

Big Bird reminds everyone what the event is all about

Mike Moore of the JT has a nice story HERE.

Racine County Property Transfers: Dec. 21-23

Interactive map of Racine County Property Transfers, Dec. 21-23

Sadly, another landmark turns into an 'opportunity'

Gerald Karwowski of Oak Clearing Farm sent us the photo above, reminding us of the time when two unique Racine landmarks stood side by side on the 500 block of Main Street. The picture, taken where the Johnson Building stands today, dates from about 1922 (at least, that's the year Bachelor Daddy and The Paleface were released).

Porter Furniture -- we were interested to note that the store's name at the time didn't sport the final "s" it currently has -- later moved to Sixth Street. And now, sadly, like the Rialto, it's going to disappear forever. After 152 years as a Racine landmark and destination shop for (we're guessing now) wealthy Chicagoans with good taste.

Historian Karwowski wasn't surprised to hear that Porters will be closing. "The economy and the rebuilding of Sixth Street at the worst possible time has taken its toll. The handwriting has been on the walls for years now. Business can't survive without customers. If the residents of Racine would follow the Golden Rule of Trade many businesses would still be doing well.

"That rule is simple: Spend your money locally! Invest in your community! Every dollar spent outside Racine is gone!"

It's hard to argue with Karwowski, although clearly there's more to it in an environment where so much commerce takes place locally, but in chain stores whose profits -- Wal-Mart, anyone? -- go out-of-state.

Karwowski suggests that city leaders will put as bright a face on this as possible. "No problem... look at the advantages: More parking for the Court House! Do you realize how valuable that property is for redevelopment!"

Forty years ago it was a million dollar property (well, in 2008 its assessed value was $560,000), but soon the city will be able to get it for pennies on the dollar. Sadly, we've got far more "redevelopment opportunities" available than actual redevelopment.

City Council: Kaplan, Lumpkin ready for another round

No surprise here, but Ken Lumpkin is officially running against Jim Kaplan for a seat on the City Council.

It'll be a rematch of the 2008 race that Kaplan won by about 50 votes. There's no love lost between these candidates, who ran two campaigns against each other two years ago. Kaplan won them both, taking Lumpkin's County Board seat by a single vote.

The only other contested race, so far, is Donald Dwyer taking on Dennis Wiser for the City Council's now vacant 10th District seat. Incumbent Kelli Stein is declining to run for re-election. Dwyer and Wiser both applied for the open seat in August when the City Council picked Stein.

With a week to go before the filing deadline for City Council, Aldermen Sandy Weidner, Aron Wisneski, Ron Hart and newcomer Eric Marcus are running uncontested.

Palmen Buick, GMC and Cadillac in Racine closing

Update 2: We've talked to a couple people, including Palmen President Andy Palmen, about the Racine dealership closing. It's actually a complicated story with local dealerships changing hands and moving.

Here's what we know: Palmen Automotive Group bought LeMay Buick, GMC, Cadillac dealership in Kenosha and will close its GM dealership in Racine. The Kenosha News reported this and Palmen confirmed it Wednesday morning. GM wanted to consolidate the Racine-Kenosha market, Palmen said, explaining the sale.

About 30 jobs are on the line in Racine, Palmen said. Some of those jobs will move to the new Palmen GM dealership in Kenosha, but it's too early to say how many, he said. "We definitely will keep some of our employees," Palmen said.

Palmen added: "We're thrilled to be GM's choice for the regional representation and continue to represent these markets for their new products for Buick, GMC and Cadillac."

The Palmen Dodge Chrysler Jeep location in Racine is not affected, according to the J-S story.

According to sources, LeMay is the big loser in the deal. They're out of business and a bank is on the hook for $5 million in bad debt on the dealership, sources said.

We're also told that Porcaro Ford plans to buy the old Palmen dealership in Racine, which would leave the old Towne Ford building (now Porcaro Ford) vacant, according to sources. Andy Palmen declined to comment on the sale. We're waiting for a call back from Porcaro.

Update: We reported Palmen was closing back in September. We had the story down cold, but Andy Palmen, head of Palmen Motors, demanded a retraction. It made sense at the time. Palmen was still trying to sell cars and wasn't ready to announce the dealership was closing.

"We are a GM dealership today and we'll be a GM dealership tomorrow," he said at the time. "We're in conversations with GM. We don't know what it will look like in a year."

But Palmen employees were told in September GM wasn't allowing the dealership to buy any new cars, and everybody was expecting the dealership to close or convert to a used car lot.

After criticizing our original story, Palmen promised to call when he had more to say. We got a call from him Tuesday night, but haven't connected yet. Palmen said on the message there's a "bigger story" to tell about the dealership closing. We look forward to telling it.

Original post: This morning, General Motors dropped the first shoe, announcing a going-out-of-business "fire" sale on two car brands it is discontinuing, Pontiac and Saturn.

This afternoon, the state Department of Workforce Development dropped the second, announcing that Racine's Palmen Pontiac Buick GMC dealership at 6001 Washington Ave. will close on Feb. 23, putting 33 employees out of work according to the JT.

The sales incentive from GM amounts to $7,000 offered to dealers for each Saturn or Pontiac car they move to rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets operated by the dealers. Dealers can then sell the vehicles at a more attractive price, though they must be described to customers as used because the dealers technically will be the vehicles' first owner.Dealers have until Jan. 4 to accept the deal.

GM has also dropped Hummer and Saab.

Earlier this month, US News and World Report wrote about 10 Fire Sale Cars to Steer Away From, based on their expected resale value in five years. A Pontiac and Saturn model are on the list -- but USNWR didn't know how large a discount GM would be offering. Read the story HERE and make up your own mind. Of course, if you're like us, keep a car forever and run it into the ground, then resale value is irrelevant.

Racine stories of the decade

As 2009 winds down the media is spicing its annual "Year in Review" lists by a multiple of 10. "Decade in Review" lists are now in vogue, and who are we to miss a passing fad? We reviewed 2009 here. Now we'll take a look at the last 10 years, which have seen some pretty cool stories.

Consider this story a work in progress. We'll add and subtract as needed, so feel free to jump in with construction/destructive criticism. Also, because dates run together in our brains, these stories are in no particular order of chronology or importance.

Alright then .... here we go:

Sewer deal
We'll expand on this later, but the sewer deal between Racine and the surrounding communities east of I-94 was clearly a big deal. One of the clearest signs of its importance are, well, signs. Mount Pleasant and Caledonia each have their own signs along I-94; those signs used to only read Racine. The villages will be the engine for growth in eastern Racine County for the next decade.

North Beach revival
North Beach started the decade as a forgotten/ignored resource in the city. It ended the decade as one of Racine's jewels. Dr. Julie Kinzelman and her staff cleaned up the water for swimming in Lake Michigan, the community built a playground and supported the North Beach Oasis and the convention and visitors bureau brought in triathlons and volleyball tournaments. The result: North Beach may be the best beach on Lake Michigan.

Laurel Clark
Racine's astronaut was killed in a dramatic shuttle explosion on Feb. 1, 2003. The nation, even the world, turned its attention to Racine following the tragedy.

Becker arrest
Former Mayor Gary Becker's arrest and guilty pleas belongs on this list. Becker was the most influential mayor of the decade - and also the biggest failure.

Battleground Racine
The county remained about as evenly split between Democrats and Republicans as possible throughout the decade. We voted for Presidents Bush and Obama, for Sens. Stepp and Lehman, for Rep. Paul Ryan and Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold. We're not red or blue. We're purple.

Economy
Unfortunately, the local economy is purple from the lumps it took over the last 10 years. The city's unemployment rate was among the top two in the state throughout the decade, the CNH tractor plant is now an empty field and several local manufacturers closed their doors. It wasn't all bad. SC Johnson remains a nationally celebrated employer, Ruud Lighting has some exciting things going on and Modine got its share of praise, among others.

Downtown
But it wasn't all bad news. Downtown Racine made a remarkable turnaround over the last 10 years thanks to the new Johnson Bank Building, the reconstruction of Main and Sixth streets and an influx of restaurants, shops, businesses and events Downtown. We take some heat for focusing coverage on Downtown, but it really is one of the business success stories over the last decade.

Rep. Paul Ryan
Our congressman went from one of the youngest members in the House to one of the most powerful. He's being talked about as a presidential candidate some day, and it's hard to go a week without seeing him on national TV. It was a good decade for Ryan.

Snowdance
The Over Our Head Players created a 10-minute play writing competition that's drawn hundreds of submissions from authors around the world. It's an entirely original theatrical event that's only gotten better of with time. A great addition to Racine's rich theatre scene.

Park, St. Cat's win championships
On the local sports front, Park High's football team won a state championship in 2005 thanks to John Clay, whose gone on to star at the University of Wisconsin. (Interesting side note: Park is the only D1 school in Wisconsin to win a championship in football, basketball and baseball.) Racine basketball continued to be among the best in the state. St. Cat's was one of the state's top basketball dynasty after winning four titles in five years.