New C.O.P. House opens on Villa Street July 1

The Racine Police Department will celebrate the opening of its newest Community Oriented Policing House on July 1 at 5 p.m. There will be a short ceremony followed by refreshments and tours.

This latest C.O.P. House involved the efforts of The Community Outpost, Neighborhood Housing Services, The Racine Police Department, and several contractors.

The new house is located at 1146 Villa St, at the northwest corner of 12th and Villa Streets. On March 13 the walls were delivered to the site and the house began its transformation from two empty lots to the two-story, four bedroom, three-bathroom house there today.

As with all of the C.O.P. houses, this one will have a conference room and several bedrooms, converted to offices. A Racine Police Officer assigned to the house will be headquartered there, working with neighborhood residents to address local needs and providing a positive image for the Department.

Typically, Department of Correction Probation & Parole officers maintain an office and meet their clients in the C.O.P House, and the Gang Diversion Task Force will occupy some space. Additionally, the oversized garage is set up as a conference room.

The hope is that the C.O.P. House will lead to a reduction in crime in that area, and enough confidence in the neighborhood that more investment by homeowners and landlords will follow; thereby improving the quality of life for the individual residents as well as the neighborhood as a whole. This program has been a success since its inception in late 1993. This C.O.P. House will replace the house currently located at 1009 Davis Place.

Across the street: St. Catherine's H.S.

Wilbur Jones selling Viper's Lounge?

Wilbur Jones may be selling Viper's Lounge at 501 High St. The City Clerk told the city's public safety and licensing committee on June 23 that Jones told her he was selling the bar.

Jones had been requested to appear before the committee to discuss "recent incidents" at the bar. Jones did not appear at the meeting. According to the meeting's minutes: "The City Clerk informed the committee she had been in contact with Mr. Jones and he was intending to sell the estblishment and he had only paid for the publication fee."

Jones also owns Wilbur's BBQ on Sixth Street.

Committee votes to cut fees for Kiwanis baseball

The city's Personnel and Finance Committee voted this week to cut the fees the city charges Kiwanis baseball to use Horlick Field. The league would be charged $36 per game, or $55 if the lights are needed. Both are down from the standard fee of $176 to use the field.

Ald. Sandy Weidner and Ald. Ron Hart appeared before the committee on behalf of Kiwanis. They said there should be no charge for youth to play baseball in Racine. They argued the $176 fee would drive people away from Horlick Field, and even Racine.

The reduced fee now goes to the full City Council for final approval.

Property Transfers: Total 24 sells for $1.2 million

The Total 24 gas station at 930 Washington Ave. was sold twice this past month. It's not clear from the documents what transpired. What is clear is that the gas station and convenience store sold for $1 million and again for $1.2 million on June 17.

Bulk Petroleum Corp transfered the property to Mohammad Maqbool, and Maqbool then transfered the business to NYS Alliance Inc., which then moved the property to Syed Makhails Inc. To further complicate matters, Syed Makhails Inc. then granted a mortgage note to American Enterprise Bank, and Bulk Petroleum Corp filed a "Satisfaction" with Daya Sing and Gurdial Inc.

Based on the records, it appears the gas station was sold twice and ended up with Syed Makhails Inc. What's not clear is what this means for the occassionally troubled establishment. I covered a murder at Total 24 a few years back, and the gas station was forced to cut its hours in recent years. If anyone has insight on this transaction, please get in touch.

And here's one more interesting detail: The property was assessed at $710,000 in 2007.

Here's all of the property transfers from last week.

What a difference a day makes at Festival Hall

Jim Walczak with structure of Festival Hall's new clearspan

Update, 6/25: One day of uncertainty gave way to quick work this morning, as the framework of Festival Hall's new clearspan tent structure went up. Later today, the canvas covering will be put in place. Below, yesterday's original post.

Blame the poet Robert Burns, who warned us 200 years ago, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley."

Or maybe it was just Murphy's Law -- "If anything can go wrong, it will." -- in action this morning at Festival Hall, where Civic Centre executive director Jim Walczak hoped to erect his new fabric-covered building this morning, to replace the old tent. (Our earlier story is HERE.)

Everything was in place: the new metal building frame, 66' wide by 115' long was laid out on the old ice rink. Men and equipment to erect it were ready; sparkling white canvas to cover it was alongside. And then Murphy and Burns took over.

The first holes drilled into the concrete to fasten the building's support posts produced cracks. It was clear to all that a new plan was needed.

After conferring, Walczak, Jerry Lopez, Festival Hall operations manager, and Kenny Francis, Mahaffey Tent's installation supervisor, decided to shift the location of the tent a few feet west. That simple move will shift the tent supports -- and those holes drilled into the concrete -- from an unstable concrete footing around the former ice rink and into the much more stable, six-inch thick concrete that makes up the ice rink itself. On the west side, the holes would also be moved away from the footings. Test borings worked without any cracking.

Problem solved? Not sure at this point. Al Kosterman, City Building Inspector, and Paul Beard, Department of Public Works overseer of the Civic Center, are examining the specifications of the Rawl expansion fittings -- think of the plastic expansion sleeve you drill into drywall to hold shelves and then scale it up a few hundred percent and make it out of stainless steel -- to make sure they will hold the permanent building supports safely.

One way or another, Walczak will get something installed over the ice rink today or tomorrow. He's got a wedding scheduled there on Saturday.

What now? Beard, Walczak, Francis, Kosterman and Lopez, l-r

By late afternoon, all was well. The city approved moving the tent and using the supplied bolts and expansion sleeves in the ice rink cement. Support posts were being installed, and the clear-span building itself was expected to be erected Wednesday.

Correction: We initially identified Paul Beard as Bill Miller, also of the Department of DPW.

United Way offices hit hard by flood

United Way of Racine County, located on the first floor of the Lincoln Building at 2000 Domanik Drive along the Root River, appears to be the only business in the county seriously affected by the flooding in Racine last week. The offices sustained extensive damage when the river reached record levels and flooded the Lincoln Park, Island Park and Spring Street areas of Racine. (See picture HERE.)

Carpeting, tile and dry wall in the offices all must be replaced, and many pieces of office furniture will be discarded. “We expect it will be four to six weeks before we can return to our space.” said Dave Maurer, United Way executive director.

Lincoln Lutheran gave United Way temporary space on the fourth floor. “This allows us to be nearly fully operational with these office and meeting areas. Staff have continued with meetings and events as scheduled for the most part and kept up with email communications,” Maurer said. With the phone system back in place, staff can now be reached by leaving voicemail messages.

United Way has been in contact with the American Red Cross and other emergency services and is planning to offer ongoing basic needs assistance to Racine County residents who have suffered flood damage when those other resources have expired. “While we have some operational disruption, we anticipate the longer term needs of some families will require our support and we will be there to help as we were with Katrina victims who landed in Racine a few years ago,” said Maurer. “Some flood victims are our neighbors down the street.”

n addition to gratitude for the support provided by Lincoln Lutheran and their staff, United Way extended thanks to Great Northern, Merchants Moving and Storage and Home Depot for the quick responses.

Here's a United Way directory for anyone needing to reach the staff:

Executive Director, David Maurer, 635-7499 x-119, davemaurer@unitedwayracine.org

Community Impact Director, Susan Gould, 635-7499 x-111, sgould@unitedwayracine.org

Finance and Administration Director, Barbara Jopke, 635-7499 x-113, bjopke@unitedwayracine.org

Resource Development Director, Tracy Nielsen, 635-7499 x-118, tnielsen@unitedwayracine.org

Communications Director, Lisa Koenen, 635-7499 x-117, lkoenen@unitedwayracine.org

Community Impact Manager, Tiffani Pinkerton, 635-7499 x 120, tpinkerton@unitedwayracine.org

AFL-CIO Liaison/Community Services Director, Ron Thomas, 635-7499 x-112, ronthomas@unitedwayracine.org

Community Impact Associate, Michelle Brown, 635-7499 x-121, mbrown@unitedwayracine.org

Community Impact Associate, Marie Hargrove, 635-7499 x-115, mhargrove@unitedwayracine.org

Community Impact Associate, MaryBeth Kallio, 635-7499 x-114, mkallio@unitedwayracine.org

Western Racine County Liaison, Doug Farrell, 492-3108, dgf517@idcnet.com

Unified's test scores show ... what exactly?

Sigh. Call me lazy, but I'm not even going to try and decipher the "Adequate Yearly Progress" results Unified put out this morning. Our friends at the JT take a shot at it, but I'm not so brave. Truth is: These numbers mean nothing. When one of the main criteria is how many people took a test (the schools actually have incentives to get kids to come to school on test days so they can meet this mark), it's hard to take the results seriously.

I'm all for measuring results in school, especially if those results can pinpoint teachers, students and administrators who are doing a good (or bad) job. There are educators in Unified who know how to reach kids and actually teach them something. But how do we identify these people? The numbers now are so vague and confusing that teachers and schools come across as equals - and no improvement is made.

Let's use the numbers to identify our professional educators who are making a difference, and celebrate these people as community leaders. It'd be a lot better than jargony mess that passes for accountability under the current system.

Don't believe me? Here's Unified's full release on the Adequate Yearly Progress numbers:

Date: June 24, 2008
To: Dr. Jackson Parker, Interim Superintendent
Board of Education
News Media
From: Dr. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Stephen Miller, Director of Standards, Assessment, and Accountability
Subject: AYP – Media Information

Earlier this month, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) provided Preliminary Annual Reviews of School Performance which included RUSD schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward state-established benchmarks for the 2007-2008 school year. A summary of these results is provided in the following narrative.

Annual Review of School Performance
The Annual Review of School Performance is based on requirements in four areas.

1) Test Participation – A minimum of 95% of enrolled students must participate in the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam Criterion-Referenced Test (WKCE-CRT) and/or the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (WAA-SwD).

2) Other Academic Indicator - Attendance rates of at least 85% for elementary and middle schools or graduation rates of at least 80% for high schools or growth from the prior year must be achieved.

3) Reading Proficiency Index – A proficiency index score of at least 74% (increased from the requirement of 67.5% last year) must be attained.

4) Math Proficiency Index – A proficiency index of at least 58% (increased from the requirement of 47.5% last year) must be attained.

Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools as a whole (all tested grades) are held accountable for student performance in nine subgroups: All Students, each of five major racial/ethnic categories (American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and White), English Language Learners (ELL), Students with Disabilities, and Economically Disadvantaged students. For AYP purposes, the minimum number of students in a subgroup needed to make valid accountability decisions for schools or districts is defined as 40. Most large, diverse schools and districts such as those in Racine will have adequate student numbers across all subgroups, thereby increasing the challenge of meeting AYP for all schools and for the district.

A school will miss AYP for an objective if one or more student subgroups meet
minimum cell size and fail to meet the AYP criterion for that objective. Failing to meet Department of Standards, Assessment, and Accountability AYP in the same objective for two or more consecutive years will result in designation as a School Identified for Improvement (SIFI). If a SIFI school meets the criterion in the following year, the school is designated as Improved. If the school meets the objective for a second year, it is designated Satisfactory.

Districts are evaluated for AYP at each of the three grade spans in which they have tested grades: Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8) and High School (10). In order to be designated a District Identified for Improvement (DIFI) a district must miss the same objective at all relevant grade spans for two consecutive years.

Sanctions
Schools and districts that receive Title I funds are subject to sanctions for failing to meet AYP for two or more consecutive years. Sanctions may include school improvement plans (this is already a requirement for all RUSD schools as stipulated by the Quality Management System), corrective action, and restructuring. No school in RUSD is included in this sanctioned group at the present time nor is the district as a whole.

2007-2008 AYP Performance of RUSD Schools
RUSD schools that did not make AYP in 2007-2008 include the following.

. Wadewitz Elementary School missed AYP in reading and math while Goodland and Knapp Elementary Schools missed in only math. All three schools missed AYP only this year and are designated Satisfactory. All three schools are Title I schools but have only missed AYP for one year. Therefore, no Title I sanctions apply.

. Jerstad-Agerholm Middle School missed AYP in math and Mitchell Middle School missed AYP in reading. Both schools missed AYP only this year and are designated Satisfactory. These schools have Title I seventh grades but no sanctions will yet apply.

. McKinley Middle School, as well as Horlick, Park and Case High Schools, are
designated SIFI because they missed AYP in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. In 2007-2008, McKinley missed AYP in math; Horlick missed in math but met AYP in reading and graduation rate; and, Park missed in reading, math and test participation, but met AYP in graduation rate. These schools are designated SIFI Level 2. Case met AYP in all areas and is designated SIFI Level 1 Improved.

. Gilmore Middle School missed AYP in 2006-2007 but met it in 2007-2008 and is therefore designated Satisfactory.

. Racine Unified School District missed AYP at each grade span. Because this is the first year of not meeting AYP at the district level, RUSD is currently designated
Satisfactory.

Notable Points
Steve Miller, Director of Standards, Assessment, and Accountability, said, “The staff of Case High School are to be commended for meeting AYP in all areas. There are approximately twenty-eight ways in which a school can miss AYP and only one way they can make it – through a focused, collaborative effort of all staff with student success as the goal. Gilmore Middle School staff are also to be commended for meeting AYP this year after missing it last year.”

Strategies
Area Superintendents, working with central office support staff, will reallocate staff and fiscal resources in support of academic improvement. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Chief Academic Officer, shared that, “This effort could include local collegiate resources such as student tutors and opportunities for involvement by early field experience students.”

Secondary Transformation efforts will lead during the coming school year to the
development of building-level transformation teams at Park and Horlick High Schools.

Progress has already been made toward better meeting the learning needs of students with disabilities through the ongoing work of the Special Education Task Force, as recommended by the Independent Commission on Education and as stipulated by a Quality Management System Improvement Action.

Last year’s efforts in support of improving constructed response item performance, short essays required as part of the WKCE-CRT, will continue; and, the district has implemented short-cycle assessments in reading and math which model WKCE test appearance and content in anticipation of the next state test administration in November.

A structured data retreat approach to facilitate uniform use of data for school
improvement across all schools, following a model developed by CESA 7, will be
required of all building leaders in the coming school year. Training for school leaders in this process will begin in July and continue with school teams in August.

OOPAH!

View from the top of the big yellow slide

Greek Fest is much more than great food, good music and carnival rides -- but you couldn't prove it by us.

We stopped out at the festival of the Kimissis Greek Orthodox Church this weekend for our annual "fix" of authentic Baklava and Saganaki (flaming cheese, to you). And lamb, chicken, shishkebob, falafel ... and let's not forget the honey puffs.

Cannot forget the honey puffs. Made right before your eyes. Six for $3 or just $5 for a Baker's Dozen. The problem with the larger order is that I'd eat them all, so I try to exert a little willpower up front, before biting down on my first honey puff. Yum!

Hundreds of volunteers cook for weeks to prepare for the annual fundraising event. And this year their efforts were well-rewarded, with mostly wonderful weather.

Here are some shots from Sunday, before the short afternoon rain. Any sticky fingerprints are not my fault; blame 'em on the honey puffs.

Tilt-a-Whirl is always a crowd-pleaser

They don't call it 'flaming cheese' for nothing...

Enough chicken for ya?

Making those delicious honey puffs

YUM!

I want to dance like the big kids

It's none of my business, but ...

As far as I know, there's nothing illegal going on here. The little boy sandwiched between Mom and Dad (spotted in Racine Sunday) is wearing a helmet, as required by Wisconsin law for all motorcycle operators and passengers under age 18.

Still, Mom in her flipflops, shorts, sleveless top and no helmet; and Dad also in shorts and t-shirt, no gloves, no helmet are, at the very least, setting a poor example and endangering themselves.

And, of course, are those Honda Shadows even designed for three people? We thought whole families only rode that way in the Third World.

You motorcyclists out there ... what do you think?

Update, 6/27: Can't imagine why I didn't think to ask a cop about this long ago! Here's the response I got from Sgt. Bernie Kupper of the Racine Police Dept.:

This is an easy one. Under two parts of the same statute, this would be wrong.

346.595(3) “No passenger may ride a Type 1 motorcycle who, when properly seated, cannot rest the feet on assigned foot rests or pegs.”

346.595(3m) “No more than 2 persons may ride on a motorcycle having 2 wheels in tandem during operation unless a sidecar has been attached to the motorcycle as provided in s.340.01(32)(a)1 and the additional passengers are provided with adequate seating in the sidecar.”

In the City of Racine, the fine would be $109 and no points for each of the two violations, but probably would write one or the other. The statute provides for a fine of up to $186 depending on whether the citation is written by city, village, county, or state.

Unexpected faces on the Lighthouse Run course...

Update: Here's an inspiring story from Lighthouse Run. Carrie, from Racine, has lost nearly 100 pounds in the past year. Here's how she did it.

Scrolling through the Lighthouse Run results (HERE), one finds lots of familiar (or almost familiar) names -- folks we wouldn't necessarily expect to find on a racecourse.

We saw a few city officials before the race, and looked up their times after it. Below are Ben Hughes, Racine City administrator, the only city official we spotted who ran the 10-mile course. (Please let us know who we missed!) He's standing with Q.A. Shakour II, District 8 alderman since 2004, who ran the four-mile.

Benjamin Hughes, 36, 10-mile time: 1:19:43.8;

Q.A. Shakour II, 54, 4-mile time: 36:20.8

Police Chief Kurt Wahlen also ran the four-mile run.

Kurt Wahlen, 52, 4-mile time: 39:24.0

Then we ran into Sen. John Lehman near the finish line, who quickly disabused us of the notion that he had run. He was there to support his wife, Cathy, who ran the 10-mile race -- her first -- in honor of a relative coping with a brain tumor.

Catherine Lehman, 53, 10-mile time: 1:42:44.8

A couple of other names jumped out: Dave Maurer, 57, executive director of the Racine County United Way, completed the 4-mile run in 37:19.5; and Alan Ruud, 61, founder of Ruud Lighting, completed it in 35:48.8.

Congratulations all around!

Our awe, however, is reserved for some folks we've never met. For example, Nancy Spencer, age 69, of Berlin, WI, ran the 10-mile course in 1:46:52.4. And seven men over the age of 70 also completed the 10-mile run. The oldest was Paul Gionfriddo, 85, of Muskego, WI, who ran the 10 miles in 2:01:04.5. Not far behind was Jim Morrison, 79, of Racine, who ran it in 2:15:43. A Kenosha septuagenarian, Joe Paleczny, 79, completed it in 1:42:08.1.
And, no, those ages are not typos: 85 and 79. Wow!

Our other pictures from the Lighthouse Run are HERE.

BOOM went the cannons...and the kids all smiled

The Air Force Band serenaded, and Civil War re-enactors in authentic wool uniforms were present, as Racine's two Civil War cannons officially returned to their rightful place -- since 1889 -- at the center of Monument Square.

Although the fireworks display was cancelled at the last minute by the two vendors, plenty of noise was provided across Main Street on Sam Johnson Parkway by re-enactors from Battery A, 3rd Ordinance, and Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery, both of which were present at Gettysburg and at Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Both brought field cannons smaller than our two 30-lb. Parrott cannons -- one was a bronze field cannon actually used in the Civil War, the other a replica -- but when fired with 6 ounces of powder (a normal charge would have been 16 ounces) they made one hell of a bang.

In any case, as you can see from the top picture, the kids present last night at the rededication ceremony understood perfectly well that the city's cannons, reinstalled last Thursday, are back by the monument for them.

Below, Battery B readies its 10-lb. "Napoleon" cannon for firing, and then, bottom photo, fills the air with a loud BOOM and smoke as it fires. It was a reasonable substitute for the missing fireworks and a fitting welcome for our cannons, back after a three-year hiatus.

Pictures from the 2008 Lighthouse Run

Complete results are posted HERE.

The winner of the 10-mile run is David Williams, who also won in 1998. The JT's story is HERE. (Dave is the runner on the far left of our picture below.)

The Best Start First: Fastest runners led off the 10-mile race

Holding their ears for the cannon 'start' that never came

Everybody needs a cheerleader

The rest of the 10-mile field...

...followed by the larger 4-mile scrum

Crossing the Main Street Bridge

Passing the Wind Point Lighthouse, today's raison d’être

One of the younger runners, just 3 1/2 years old

Home stretch, coming to the Main Street Bridge

And, finally! the Finish Line

Bananas and Miller Lite: "But it's 9:30 a.m.," I said.
"It's Beer:30," she replied.

Something to tell the kids about...

...and the grandkids!

(Ditto, that grandkids thing)

Are they talking about the same FISA bill? Sadly, yes

And speaking of marginally-competent telephone companies -- as Dustin was in the previous post -- let us take note of Congress' action today, retroactively granting the phone companies a free Get Out of Jail card for cooperating with dozens of warrantless surveillance projects conducted by the government after 9/11.

OK, it was for a good cause, but still... Or, as the bumper sticker asks, "Feel Safer Now?"

Passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments of 2008 (FISA) basically enables the government to intercept the international communications of Americans without a court order. A case can, of course, be made in wartime that this is a good thing. Or maybe not, since it's been prohibited until now (but done anyway; go figger).

The House passed FISA today by 293-129. Senate approval is expected next week.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has been a strong and vocal opponent of FISA. Here's what he said about the measure yesterday:

"The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation. The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home.

"Allowing courts to review the question of immunity is meaningless when the same legislation essentially requires the court to grant immunity. And under this bill, the government can still sweep up and keep the international communications of innocent Americans in the U.S. with no connection to suspected terrorists, with very few safeguards to protect against abuse of this power. Instead of cutting bad deals on both FISA and funding for the war in Iraq, Democrats should be standing up to the flawed and dangerous policies of this administration."

Today, however, Feingold is in the minority. Here's what Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI, 1st District, had to say after voting in the majority today:

“While we should have closed the gaps in our intelligence laws a long time ago, today’s bipartisan compromise will serve as a significant blow to radical terrorist networks seeking to do us harm. This bill protects telecom companies that stepped forward in the days following 9/11 to assist the government in keeping us safe. Those acts deserve admiration – not lawsuits.

“Congress has repeatedly failed in its attempts to modernize the tools to combat terrorism. Since the expiration of the Protect America Act over four months ago, America has been fighting terrorism with pre-9/11 intelligence capabilities. Today, Congress has taken a significant step forward in giving our intelligence community the tools they need to keep America safe, while upholding the treasured freedoms and civil liberties that we hold dear.”

Ryan noted that under the original 1978 law, the U.S. Constitution and the FISA Court, the monitoring of suspected foreign terrorists still must gain approval ... after the fact. As his press release notes, "Rather than waiting for court approval before taking action – a delay that would put American lives at risk in the post-9/11 world – intelligence officials can seek court approval within a week of emergency eavesdropping on foreigners. To be clear, this bill strengthens current protections for U.S. citizens against unlawful monitoring by U.S. intelligence agencies."

Not to put too fine a point on it: the eavesdropping is not just on "foreigners;" telephone calls have people at both ends of the line, and in the U.S., most likely, at one end of the call is an "American."

As Feingold said: "Under this bill, the government can still sweep up and keep the international communications of innocent Americans in the U.S. with no connection to suspected terrorists, with very few safeguards to protect against abuse of this power."

The bill sunsets in 2012, unless renewed by Congress.

Further details on the bill can be found HERE, as written by Sen. Kit Bond, R-MO, ranking Republican member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and printed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

Sprint struggling to activate new Samsung Instinct

Update: It's working now ... took a couple of hours. So far, it's a great phone. I love the unlimited video and Internet access. Sprint nailed the price points for this type of phone - everyone else will be following suit.

Original post:

So I bought Sprint's new Samsung Instinct today - the first day the iPhone competitor was available. It's a cool phone ... except tech support just told me they're having trouble activating it. I've been trying to make a call for a couple of hours, but keep getting Sprint's customer service. All they could tell me was they're working on the problem and it will be resolved as soon as possible. I figured no problem (it is the first day, after all), until the tech support guy said they may have to work something out on a future date. Uh oh ...

This is my only phone, and I do a lot of work over the phone. Usually these activations take an hour, tops (Verizon shifted me over in about a minute). So if this goes on for day, it's going to be a real problem for a lot of people.

It is a cool phone, though. I've been cruising around on Sprint's network, watching Comedy Central and checking out websites. Early reviews are saying it's not as good as the iPhone, but at $129 (after a $100 rebate) it's a step up from my old phone. Plus, Sprint has a great "everything" plan for $99 a month, which includes unlimited Internet, GPS, text and talk.

They're selling fast in Racine. The Sprint store on S. Green Bay Road is sold out, and they're hoping to get more tomorrow. While I was there, three other people bought the Instinct and a fourth asked for one (but they were gone).

How you can help flood victims

Update 2: Here are the local dropoff points for donations:

Racine Area
Holy Communion Church
church on the hill on 6th Street
Mon - Fri 7:30 am - 4 pm
Sun 6:30 am - noon
Sat by appt only - call Pastor Jeff 497-7576

Milwaukee Area
Cardinal Stritch University
Main Campus - 6801 N. Yates Road
http://stritch.edu/about/location.aspx
Mon - Fri (hours unconfirmed)

Kenosha Area
Cardinal Stritch University
Hwys 50 & H - 9080 76th St
Mon - Fri 10 am - 6 pm

Update: Good news for local relief efforts for flooding victims. The United Way has agreed to back the efforts of Christina Mueller and Mystical Listrom. They're collecting contributions and donating to relief efforts. Here's the full explanation from Listrom:

Hello everybody! I have outstanding news that I can't wait to share!!

United Way of Racine County is backing us 100% & we have their 100% guarantee ALL MONEY will be given to directly to the flood victims!!

They are setting up the trust fund account for money contributions. Details are not set yet, Christina and I will be meeting with United Way this weekend to finalize the details.

Not only that, but the United Way of Racine County is donating to our fund!!

They did not realize these people were not being helped by any other organization and were getting the run around. Christina and I were the only ones pushing this drive with the help and support of everyone who reads this mail and has participated as well.

I do plan on sending more information later in the evening or tomorrow when I have a minute to breathe from all the excitement.

Contributions can be made to: United Way of Racine County

write on the memo line: ARAYA HOPE FUND

That makes the name of our efforts official. "ARAYA HOPE FUND"

(Sounds like "A ray of hope".)

Original post:

We received an email yesterday from two Racine women who are working together to help Racine's flood victims. They're getting the word out on what people need, and how people can make donations. Here's their emails, which explain the situation best:

UPDATED: Need help for Racine flood victims

Well, after our walk today, the hot ticket items needed are:

• **Washer/Dryer**
• **Dehumidifier**
• **Lawn mower**
• Laundry Soap
• Sanitizing Cleaners and supplies
• Holiday Decorations & Christmas tree
• Clothes from babies-adult
• Children's toys
• Yard furniture
• Food
• Money
• Dog/Cat food and supplies

The family featured in The Journal Times were in the middle of their kitchen remodel project and lost most kitchen items because they were stored in their garage. Those items needed are: dishes, toaster, blender, pots/pans, FOOD (their refrigerator is in the garage). They also lost their shed, it actually was floating in their yard only held in by their cyclone fence, which is also destroyed.

The majority of the people all listed these same items over and over again.

The insurance companies are giving them the run around. A few people have $5,000 deductibles, so even if the insurance covers the water heater and furnace, they can't afford to replace them. The insurance companies are telling them they need a Structural Engineer or Certified Housing Inspector with flood knowledge to prove structural damage and prove the damage was directly caused by the flood. The money for the inspection is not covered by the insurance company. If anyone is licensed and willing to volunteer their time to help with these inspection, it would be a BIG appreciation to the homeowners!

Carpet shampooing would be a blessing as the contaminated water was trekked through the house during removal of basement items.

Manpower would be another blessing. A lot of items have been removed, but people are still in need of some muscle or a handyman. Governor Doyle assigned jailers to help remove damaged/destroyed items; however, most people refused their help for fear of future unseen problems. Certainly there are elderly who could still use assistance as well.

Regarding the trust fund being set-up, Christina and Mystical visited Educator's Credit Union today and found out the details needed in order to start it. We are getting the ball rolling with that. We intend to purchase gift cards for Wal-mart for immediate needs like food, water, etc. with this money. If you are interested in side-stepping the trust fund and would like to donate the gift cards, that is acceptable too. Contact us directly to do this so they can be distributed immediately to residents (hardest hit first, of course), rather than being lost in the shuffle of things.

We also noticed a few laundry mats posting "Free washing today" or "Free drying today". If you happen to catch these, please email us so I can get the word out to people.

Holy Communion Church (the church on the hill on 6th St) is the donation drop-off/pick-up site. Please clearly label the items "FLOOD" because they have more than one charitable event in-process.

Both Kenosha and Milwaukee Campuses of Cardinal Stritch University will have donation bins available.

If anyone in our flood area happens to get this e-mail, please notify us so we can be sure to keep you updated on key issues (like the laundry postings) we come across to help spread the word in your direct area.

If any businesses are willing to donate items (even scratch & dent), perform a benefit, or anything else they can think of that may be of use to our flood victims, please contact us.

I would like to keep everyone updated from time to time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please let us know. If anyone would like to be added to the list, please advise.

Again, if anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you,
Christina Mueller
Mystical Listrom


Mystical Listrom wrote: Christina Mueller and Mystical Listrom are together in the process of organizing help for Racine's flood victims. So far, their insurance policies only cover furnace, air conditioners, and water heater replacements. The Red Cross is only donating sanitizing supplies. FEMA has yet to come through. The Salvation Army and United Way are not helping.

The water is contaminated with sewage. The children are running around while the parents struggle to clean up the mess. School is out and there are 43 children on the one street that Christina helped out in alone. Their toys were either trashed or washed away.

These people lost washing machines, dryers, clothes, toys among other items. With the electricity and water supply turned off, they also lost shower availability, food spoiled, cook pizza on grills for dinner, divide their time running from the laundry mat to wash clothes and cleaning sewage damaged items from their homes.

We are in the process of looking into the legalities of setting up a trust fund to help pay for baby food, diapers, rental of equipment (power washers), contractor help, etc. We're also looking into having a benefit, food drive, and other events.

Wednesday evening Christina and Mystical will be going door-to-door to make lists of who needs what.

Details aren't set in stone at this point, but we could definitely use all the help we can get. If anyone is willing to help, whether it be manpower, donations of time/food/money/clothes/toys/other items, or if anyone has ideas or contacts, please respond to this email.

Every little bit helps. Any remaining items will be sent to other area flood victims.

Thanks,
Christina Mueller
Mystical Listrom

County still not meeting on Superior Linens

Here's a story from a few months back ...

The county's Health & Human Development Committee will meet for the first time since we wrote an article on March 19 noting the committee canceled a meeting where they were scheduled to discuss Ridgewood's supply contract with Superior Linens.

This was news because some pretty serious questions were being raised about Superior Linens and the claims they made to win a contract from the county. County officials said the mistaken claim - Superior said they were accredited, but they're not - did not factor into the company winning the contract. Superior simply offered the lowest and best bid.

It's not the first time questions have been raised about Superior. Dane County canceled its contract with the company after employees came forward with some disturbing allegations.

It's also the story where the county's corporation counsel launched a bizarre and personal attack on Supervisor Diane Lange at a County Board meeting while the rest of the County Board sat by and let it happen. Lange was the supervisor to ask questions about the contract.

So, is the county going to address the issue? As of now, the answer seems no.

Property Transfers, June 20

Here's last week's property transfers ...

Property Transfers

Civil War cannons are back on Monument Square

Gently lowered into place, hopefully for the last time

The Civil War cannons are back on Monument Square, where they were originally placed back in 1889.

Despite all the Sturm und Drang accompanying the debate over their removal three years ago when Monument Square was refurbished, they returned to their place alongside Racine's 61-ft. tall Civil War monument this afternoon, with nary a skirmish.

The official celebration schedule is HERE.

Alderman Jeff Coe was present, seemingly making amends for his advocacy of the proposal the cannons be sent to Kenosha to take up residence in that city's new Civil War Museum.

"The only thing we did stupidly was put them into storage," he said today. "We should have given them to Kenosha. I just thought, what better way to honor them than to give them to a museum, where they could take care of them?"

But as they returned to their place today, he said, "I'm OK with their return. I'm just glad the city got it resolved."

Coe recalled playing on the cannons as a child, and admitted to bringing his daughter to the square when she was young to also play on them. Today, he brought Heather, now 17, to Monument Square to help remove the paving bricks to make room for the heavy granite bases on which the cannons will sit. "Maybe in 100 years they'll debate this again," Coe said philosophically.

Both cannons were placed aiming north. Nobody could recall why, except that's the direction they faced originally. Coe showed a picture to prove it.

Today's reinstallation operation was led by Monte Osterman of Osterman Granite and Tile, assisted by David Carbajal. The crane from Meyers Racine Monument Works was operated by Jim Anspaugh. First they gently lowered the 3,300-lb. Mesabi granite bases into place, and then the two cannons themselves, one weighing 3,650 lbs and the other 3,530 pounds -- according to the engravings on their barrels. One is RPP No. 228; the other RPP No. 53; RPP stands for Robert Parker Parrott, the designer, who apparently also oversaw their construction personally. See HERE for more on their historical background.

Under each of the bases, Osterman put his traditional good luck pieces. He had wanted to place a 2008 Wisconsin quarter under each -- to tell some future generation when the cannons were reinstalled -- but had to settle for 2004 Wisconsin and 2008 New Mexico quarters; Johnson Bank across the street simply didn't have the right coinage on hand. No doubt, this will confuse the heck out of whoever moves the bases in 2108!

Jeff Coe shows picture with cannons aiming north

Lehman, Becker, Vos on Regional Transit committee

State Sen. John Lehman has been appointed to a legislative committee charged with making recommendations on changes in state law to allow local governments to create, fund and operate Regional Transportation Authorities (RTAs). The twenty-two member Special Committee on Regional Transportation Authority will, in addition to Lehman, include Mayor Gary Becker and Rep. Robin Vos. (Two out of three ain't bad, if you get my drift.)

“Racine County is at the forefront of the debate on how we fund mass transit develop transportation alternatives. I’m looking forward to working with representatives from our area and from across the state to figure out how we can develop and fund a 21st century transportation infrastructure that offers people effective alternatives and respects their interests as taxpayers,” Lehman said.

“Our KRM commuter rail project has great potential to bring needed jobs and economic development to Racine County and give people alternative transportation as they deal with high gas prices and an upcoming freeway reconstruction. I’m committed to protecting the progress we have made and to moving forward on funding issues.”

Tractors on parade: All the way across Wisconsin

One by one, the tractors' front tires kissed Lake Michigan

Some time Thursday morning, 68 antique tractors from around the country will cruise through Racine, most likely coming up Sheridan Road from Kenosha. Well, "cruise" may be the wrong word; these tractors travel at about 13 miles an hour.

In some ways, their visit here is an anticlimax. Their mission was to drive all the way across Wisconsin, having started out in Dubuque, Iowa, on June 15. They completed that journey last night, in Kenosha. A little after 7 p.m. Wednesday, the tractors -- the oldest dates from 1936 -- formed a colorful line from their hotel and drove to a boat ramp on Lake Michigan.

One by one they drove down the ramp into the lake, touching the front tires of each tractor into the water.

This has been the 2008 Tractor Cruise USA tour across Wisconsin, a roughly 400-mile round trip. These tractor collectors have made this kind of trip before: in 2006, they went across Iowa east to west; and in 2007 they went across Iowa, north to south. This year they branched out in our direction. All the tractors, many dating from the 1950s, made the trip on their own power, although some owners trucked them from their homes to the starting point in Dubuque. I spoke to one owner who came all the way from Oregon to make the trip.

Thursday's agenda calls for the tractors to leave Kenosha at 7:30 a.m. and drive to the Case/New Holland tractor plant in Racine for a two-hour tour followed by lunch, and then a leisurely drive to Lake Geneva. They're due back in Dubuque Saturday afternoon.

While their 7:30 a.m. start each morning may seem reasonable, keep in mind most of these tractor collectors are really farmers at heart: breakfast is served each morning starting at 5:30 a.m.

Photo Op by the lake in Kenosha

Note the driver's cheesehead!

What the well-dressed Tractor Cruiser wears

HERE is the Kenosha News' story of their arrival.