This Just In...

When it was announced that Franklin was getting a Target, here was my reaction.

Today, we get this news.

This has to be some sort of joke. All that time that has passed and this is what the Fountains of Franklin comes up with?

If this were Colonel Sanders, we’d be talking a very small wing here. There’d better be some breasts and thighs in that Fountains of Franklin bucket.

Three years ago, Jeanna Giese of Fond du Lac, then 15 years old, picked up a bat that had flown into her church. She wanted to take it outside.

Jeanna was bit and contracted rabies. She didn’t enter the hospital until a month later.

Doctors made a tough call. They put Jeanna into a coma and gave her many antiviral drugs and other medications. The aim was to keep nerve cells from dying. Jeanna went home on New Year’s Day, 2005 after two months in intensive care.

This week, Jeanna Giese, a survivor or rabies without vaccination, attended her first day of college. The medical marvel goes to Marian College in Fond du Lac.

Though it may not be Time or People magazine, Jeanna is written about today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Journal says Jeanna was the sixth such case of rabies encephalitis reported in humans, and she was treated “with a novel therapeutic regimen that included ketamine, ribavirin, and amantadine. Five months after exposure, she still had dysarthria, weakness in the left hand and foot, bilateral extensor plantar response, generalized choreoathetosis, intermittent dystonia, and a lurching gait.”

Jeanna showed enough progress by 2006 to return to classes full time in high school without having difficulties with either learning or memory. But she could not resume activity in sports. The Journal writes, “She had no difficulties with her instrumental activities of daily living, including driving. In high school, she took college-level courses in English, physics, and calculus. She scored above average on a national college achievement test, graduated from high school in 2007, and planned to attend a local college in the fall. She had no problems with peer relations or mood disorders.”

Here is a video showing the progress Jeanna has made.

Notice the blue bracelet on Jeanna's right wrist. You can read about it and more in the Fond du Lac Reporter newspaper.

Jeanna Giese is an amazing young woman.

Franklin is filing suit to evict a sex offender and enforce the city’s tough ordinance that restricts where sex offenders can live.

Fred Keller wrote about this earlier today.

Franklin must go this route to defend the city and the law it worked so diligently to approve, one that legal experts say can pass Constitutional muster.

There is at least one person who just can’t fathom why such a law would exist in the first place.

Meet Laurel Walker, Journal/Sentinel columnist and defender of sex offenders.

She recently penned a column with this headline:

“Dealing with sex offenders fairly isn't easy”

Sorry, Laurel. It’s easy alright. Real easy. You do what Franklin did.

But Walker thinks it’s unfair to tell sex offenders where they can and can’t live.

In her column, she gave some examples of restrictions on offenders and pedophiles. She referred to Jack McClellan whom I’ve blogged about, calling him one of the most evil men in America.

Walker writes that he admitted to photographing “young girls at play and had posted them on his how-to Web site for other pedophiles that (until it was dismantled) explained how to step up to the law-breaking line without crossing it.

Line or not, a court ordered the guy, unemployed and living in a car, to stay at least 10 yards away from every child in California. It sounds as close to prison as you can get without bars.”

Can’t you just hear the gasp from Walker as she types that last line at her keyboard in total shock and disbelief.

It sounds as close to prison as you can get without bars.

No, I don’t think so.

Then comes Walker to the pervert's defense.

“Yes, the guy's disgusting. But any day a court acts as if someone's a criminal without benefit of charges, let alone conviction, is troubling. With good reason, the court order faces a likely constitutional challenge.”

She also writes, “Now, one by one in Waukesha and Milwaukee counties, communities are trying to make that even more impossible with laws limiting where sex offenders can reside. At this rate, we're going to need a lot more locked and long-term institutions - homes for pariahs.”

Oh, the injustice!

How unfair!

A community actually wants to protect its innocent law abiding citizens from known criminals who are likely to re-offend.

The attitude of Laurel Walker makes me sick.

She cares more about the perverts and predators than she does about their victims.

All because she believes that ordinances like the one in Franklin are unfair and possibly illegal.

Tell that to the parents of the next young child assaulted by one of these creeps.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group this week he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.

The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, that he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.

Spoken like a true, filthy rich liberal.

You people, you folks need to give up some of your luxuries…

What about Edwards?

• The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about $16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide.

• Edwards, who proposed an educational policy that urged "every financial barrier" be removed for American kids who want to go to college, charged a whopping $55,000 to speak at to a crowd of 1,787 at the taxpayer-funded University of California at Davis.

• The man gets $400 haircuts

• He has a $100 million bank account.

• He lives in a huge mansion.

This is the candidate who has made poverty his central campaign issue.

One more note.

The editorial page editor of the largest newspaper in Edwards’ home state of South Carolina calls Edwards a ”phony.”

Let’s pretend for just a bit.

Suppose Fred Thompson has just begun his second term in the White House.

Gasoline is $5 per gallon.

It now costs 57 cents to mail a letter.

You are no longer allowed to smoke anywhere.

Claiming it’s a too much of a distraction, Democrats in the Legislature move to ban blinking your eyes while driving.

Illegal immigrants have their own national cable TV network.

Voters in Franklin are asked to approve a $250-million school referendum.

Brett Favre, a la George Blanda, is quarterbacking for the Oakland Raiders at the age of 43.

Alex Rodriguez is threatening to surpass Barry Bonds as the all-time home run leader.

And after 58 meetings, the Franklin Planning Commission ultimately decides on a final design for the proposed Target at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village.

At that point, what is preventing me and some of my neighbors and other Franklin residents from saying the following:

I don’t like the drawing.

I don’t like that design.

I don’t think it’s good enough.

I want this reviewed again.

I am going to start a petition drive.

I want what’s best for the community.

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I……..ay yay yay!

Again, I ask, what would prevent that from happening?

Here’s the point.

There comes a time, if you’ll pardon the cliché, you have to fish or cut bait.

There needs to be some finality.

If the Planning Commission meets tomorrow morning to consider this design issue, I hope they take a vote. Let’s get on with this! How much more information do we need?

Or are we going to wait until Haley’s Comet to put the shovels in the ground?

It is fantastic to see the buzz of activity now going on at the corner of 51st and Rawson. I would like to see the same at the Shoppes of Wyndham Village…...........IN MY LIFETIME!

Could we please get our economic development vehicle out of neutral and put it in drive?

College football begins tonight, and this could be a very big season for Wisconsin. National Championship? Wisconsin isn’t the odds-on favorite, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. A better bet is a trip to Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

Here’s what the experts are saying about the Badgers:


FOX SPORTS

No matter what, if you're a Big Ten team and go 12-1 with a win over the SEC West champion in a New Year's Day bowl, you had a wildly successful season. However, the jury is still out on just how good last year's Badger team was, after blowing through a lousy schedule, not playing Ohio State, and doing next to nothing on offense in the win over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl. Now the team has to finally get everyone's respect.

With 31 wins in three years and a 22-4 record in the last two, you'd think Wisconsin would be considered a superpower. Not quite.

This isn't a flashy team, there aren't a slew of household names on defense, and there's still a hint of overall skepticism after playing bad non-conference slate after bad non-conference slate. The only way the national perception can change is with a few wins over the big names, and a Big Ten title.

Bret Bielema proved to be a great successor to Barry Alvarez, and has a loaded team that should be one of the favorites for the conference title and a sleeper for the BCS Championship Game. Even the big personnel losses (OT Joe Thomas, QB John Stocco, LB Mark Zalewski and both starting safeties) shouldn't be too painful with good replacements ready to step in. RB P.J. Hill should be a lock for 1,500 yards behind a great offensive line, the defensive front seven should be dominant, and the kicking game might be the best in the nation.

This has been one of the nation's most talented teams over the last several years (few programs have had more players drafted over the last 10 years), and the schedule, while tougher than 2006, is certainly manageable for an elite team. There's no reason the program can't take things to yet another level and get to its first Rose Bowl since the 1999 season. Of course, that's only if Wisconsin truly is the real deal.

What to watch for on offense: The quarterback situation. The receiving corps has the talent to make the passing game shine, but there might be more running than Badger fans have seen since Brooks Bollinger was running the occasional option. Senior Tyler Donovan and Kansas State transfer Allan Evridge will battle to replace Stocco. Each can run extremely well, and each is a competent passer. The winner of the job will be the X factor in the Big Ten race.

What to watch for on defense: UW has one of the nation's best cornerback tandems. Allen Langford is solid, while speedy, big-hitting Jack Ikegwuonu is something special. The front four is loaded with a combination of size, quickness, experience and talent, and it should be better at generating pressure than it has over the last few years. That'll only make the secondary even better.

The team will be far better if ... the offensive line plays up to its reputation. It wasn't bad last season, and having a superior talent like Thomas gave it a go-to guy to work behind, but the line gave up way too many sacks and struggled against the three really good defensive fronts (Michigan, Penn State and Arkansas) it faced. A big line this good has to be able to impose its will on anyone.

The Schedule: It's far tougher than last season, but it's not a killer until late. There's a real live non-conference game to worry about, as the Badgers start the year with Washington State before breathers against UNLV and The Citadel. Four of the first five games are at home before a big landmine at Illinois the week before the trip to Penn State. Closing out at Ohio State, home vs. Michigan and at Minnesota will likely make-or-break Wisconsin's Rose Bowl dreams.

Best Offensive Player: Sophomore RB P.J. Hill. It's never fair or logical to compare a young player to the NCAA's all-time leading rusher, but in ramming his way to 1,569 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2006, Hill did a believable impression of a young Ron Dayne. At somewhere north of 240 pounds, he's big and powerful, but also surprisingly nimble and quick for a big back.

Best Defensive Player: Junior CB Jack Ikegwuonu. While still somewhat young and raw, Ikegwuonu has all the ingredients of an elite defensive back and could wind up a first-day NFL draft choice two years from now. A true lockdown corner who's only going to get better with more experience, he's a 6-1, 200-pound greyhound who's not afraid to fill the lanes and support in run defense.

Key player to a successful season: Senior QB Tyler Donovan. Everything is in place for a run at the Big Ten title, as long as there's steady quarterback play. Whether it's Donovan or Allan Evridge, the QB doesn't have to be an All-Big Ten star, but he does have to limit mistakes, connect on third-down passes, and occasionally use the tremendous receiving corps on big plays to open things up for Hill and the ground game.

The season will be a success if ... UW is in Pasadena in early January. There's too much experience to shoot for anything less. The schedule might be just tough enough to ruin any dreams of going unbeaten, but if the team is the real deal many believe it'll be, it needs to be in the hunt for the Rose Bowl going into November when the games against Ohio State and Michigan arrive.

Key game: Oct. 13 at Penn State. The Badgers have come close to owning the Nittany Lions, winning five of the last seven matchups. For each team, this game will be key to Big Ten championship hopes, and for Wisconsin, it might be the one obstacle to a 9-0 start and inclusion in national title talk.

2006 Fun Stats:
• First half scoring: Wisconsin 216; Opponents 86
• Kickoff return average: Wisconsin 15 yards; Opponents 20.7 yards
• Time of possession: Wisconsin 33:26; Opponents 26:34


CBS SPORTS

When P.J.'s on, Badgers put competition to sleep

Sometimes it seems like being the Wisconsin quarterback hardly matters. Forget rolling off the tongue, they are names you have to spell check: Stocco, Sorgi, Bollinger. Rather, it is a program whose philosophy can be found in the paper towel aisle: Viva Brawny!

Whiskey would rather maul you, than finesse you, even if it is one of its own.

Ask Josh Nettles. Mention the backup defensive back's name in the Badgers' locker room and you're likely to get a mix of pity and laughter. It was during spring practice 2006 that Nettles became part of recent Wisconsin lore.

Tracking down tailback P.J. Hill near the sideline, Nettles chose the wrong angle.

"It was one of the most amazing things I ever saw," linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. "P.J. lifted him up and took him three yards and threw him out of bounds. The guys' legs were up in the air. P.J. did it right in front of the defense.

"We'd never seen anything like that. It was like Earl Campbell."

Or Ron Dayne (Heisman). Or Joe Thomas (Outland). Or Erasmus James (Nagurski). Those are just three of the major award winners in the program since 1999. These guys and this team are used to heavy lifting. Second-year coach Bret Bielema would trade the individual stuff, though, for the program's first Big Ten title since 1999.

"It's American football," Bielema said of the ethic that was planted and nurtured by Barry Alvarez who left the sidelines after 17 seasons last year to become athletic director.

Bielema, the former Badgers defensive coordinator, is no different than his boss. He is just as likely to brag on his fullbacks as he is Hill, who became the fifth freshman in history to run for 1,000 yards in his first seven games. If Hill is going to progress as a sophomore, it will be largely up to a pair of 250-pound junior fullbacks: Bill Rentmeester and Chris Pressley.

"On certain teams in our league, you're not going to find one fullback ...," Bielema said. "To me short yardage is, 'Ok, mano y mano.' It's called an 'iso' because it's an isolation on a linebacker. That's the part that I like."

Which is why he likes the comeback being made by Pressley. The bruiser redshirted last season because of a leg injury. Then as part of his business school studies, went to China this summer for a month. He came back 20 pounds lighter, which is fine with Hill.

"Press is looking real nice right now, he's probably even stronger," Hill said. "I can't wait to run behind him."
With a healthy fullback, Hill might surpass his freshman season when he clubbed Nettles on his way to 1,569 yards and 15 touchdowns, putting together the seventh-best freshman season in I-A history. Bielema will rely even more on running, considering quarterback John Stocco (it's been spell checked) is gone. One of Stocco's possible replacements, Kansas State transfer Allan Evridge, is the dual-threat type. Wisconsin's ethic was shaped by Barry Alvarez who handed it off to Bielema in 2006 after 17 seasons. The seamless transition led to a 12-1 season that left the Badgers short of a BCS bowl because of a technicality (only two teams per conference can go).

Now Wisconsin is the trendy pick in the Big Ten this season if you ignore Michigan and its monster offense backed up by a rebuilt defense. The schedule is manageable aside from trips to Penn State and Ohio State. Cheeseheads everywhere are looking forward to the Michigan game Nov. 10 at Camp Randall.

And maybe a new-look Hill whose body is a bit tired of giving and receiving all those hits.

"This year I'm going to be smarter about the contact I make," he said. "If I can beat a defender with my speed, I'm going to beat a defender with my speed.

"This is just so I can play longer. During the whole week I'll be sore. It's taking me too long to recover."
Viva finesse? At Wisconsin, it doesn't sound right.



ATHLONSPORTS.COM

At the risk of sounding a bit cocky, Bret Bielema’s players want the country to know the Wisconsin football program has arrived on the national scene.

“I think everybody in the nation should realize Wisconsin is the real deal,” says junior linebacker Jonathan Casillas. “It’s hard to argue with us now. … It’s hard not to put us in the top 10.”

Wisconsin finished last season No. 5 in the coaches’ poll and No. 7 in the AP poll after outlasting Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl. The 17–14 victory gave Wisconsin a 12–1 mark, its second victory over a formidable SEC foe in a bowl game and a 22–4 mark over the last two seasons.

Armed with seven starters back from a defense that finished No. 2 nationally in points allowed (12.1 per game), nine starters back from an offense that scored 30 points or more in seven games and a punter and kicker who have NFL-caliber talent, the Badgers believe they can contend for their first Big Ten title since 1999 — and possibly more.

“We want to be better than the defense was last year,” says sophomore Aubrey Pleasant, set to start at strong safety. “Everything in this program we look forward to doing better. Last year we were 12–1. Now we want to be 13–0.”

Quarterbacks

For the first time since the 2003 season, UW’s offense will be directed full-time by someone other than John Stocco. The three-year starter wasn’t mobile, but he was poised, efficient, tough and responsible for a 29–7 record, more than 7,200 passing yards and 47 touchdown passes. The contenders are Tyler Donovan, a fifth-year senior who started two games in place of Stocco last season, and Allan Evridge, who transferred last summer from Kansas State, where he started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2005. Donovan has a decided edge in experience in Wisconsin’s offense, and that was obvious in the spring as Evridge was feeling his way around. Evridge, a mobile lefthander, has the physical and intellectual tools to win the job, though. His arm-strength appears above average, he can fit the ball into tight quarters on the move and, like Donovan, he is a threat to run.

Running Backs

Quality isn’t an issue, though quantity is. P.J. Hill was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after leading the conference in rushing — with 1,569 yards and 15 rushing TDs — but appeared to wear down late in the season thanks to nagging neck and shoulder injuries. He missed all of spring ball while recuperating from shoulder surgery, a huge blow to his development. That allowed Lance Smith, who rushed for 345 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman last season, to gain valuable experience as the lone remaining scholarship tailback. Smith looked steadier in the spring than last season, when his work habits varied from week to week. Nevertheless, the offensive staff has been open about its desire to see if incoming freshmen John Clay and Zach Brown can win spots in the running back rotation. And since Bielema favors productivity over seniority, the race will be on in camp. Projected starting fullback Chris Pressley missed last season because of a broken leg suffered in camp; backup Bill Rentmeester was slowed by nagging injuries. Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst countered by using multiple tight-end sets and the offense didn’t suffer. With Pressley and Rentmeester expected to be healthy, the offense will be even more versatile.

Receivers

A year ago at this time, there were legitimate questions whether the Badgers would be able to stretch the field vertically. Then-juniors Paul Hubbard and Luke Swan responded with solid and at times spectacular play to record 38 and 35 catches, respectively, for 1,222 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hubbard’s height (6'4") and leaping ability (he is a decorated triple- and long-jumper) allows him to make big plays down the field. Swan’s precise route running endears him to all the quarterbacks. His ability adjust to errant throws while the ball is in flight is uncanny. The big story was the play of tight end Travis Beckum, who moved from defensive end in the spring of 2006. Beckum led all tight ends nationally in catches (61) and ranked second in receiving yards (903). Along with tight end Andy Crooks, a converted linebacker who contributed 19 catches and four scores, the Badgers fielded an outstanding duo. What Wisconsin needs this season is for some of its younger receivers to develop and make more plays and take the pressure off Hubbard and Swan.

Offensive Linemen

Four starters, including only one senior, return from last season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that someone has to take over at left tackle for the departed Joe Thomas, a three-year starter and first-team All-American. The job likely will go to either sophomore Jake Bscherer or redshirt freshman Gabe Carimi. Both are talented, but the drop-off from Thomas will be staggering. The returning four starters — junior left guard Andy Kemp, senior center Marcus Coleman, junior right guard Kraig Urbik and junior right tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel — must improve to compensate for the loss of the departed Outland Trophy winner and team leader.

Defensive Linemen

At worst, this unit should be solid with the return of six players who boast significant experience. That includes three starters from 2006. Senior Nick Hayden and juniors Jason Chapman and Mike Newkirk should rotate at the two tackle spots, as they did last season. However, the staff wants to develop a fourth tackle to spread the workload. Junior end Matt Shaughnessy is smart and athletic and could be a first-team all-league performer this season. He was a second-team pick last season despite not being fully recovered from the torn ACL he suffered in 2005. The wildcards are senior ends Kurt Ware and Jamal Cooper. Ware is a 282-pounder who can run but must stop making mental errors. Cooper missed all of spring ball to focus on academics. He never looked 100 percent last season after suffering a torn ACL in 2005 but when healthy can be a terror coming off the edge.

Linebackers

Gone are the days when Wisconsin trots out a trio of burly run-stuffers at linebacker. Juniors DeAndre Levy and Jonathan Casillas, who started all 13 games last season, move swiftly and hit with authority. The new face this season is in the middle, where sophomore Elijah Hodge takes over for Mark Zalewski, who led the team in tackles in 2006. Hodge is the younger brother of former Iowa and current Green Bay Packers linebacker Abdul Hodge. Hodge doesn’t run as well as Zalewski, but his instincts are off the charts. He was born to play middle linebacker and appears to be a terrific leader. Depth should not be a major concern. Co-defensive coordinator Dave Doeren believes he will have capable backups at all three spots.

Defensive Backs

The area of concern last season was cornerback, with then-sophomores Jack Ikegwuonu and Allen Langford entering their first seasons as full-time starters. Both players blossomed, and Ikegwuonu garnered first-team all-conference honors from the league’s coaches. Now Ikegwuonu and Langford are the savvy veterans, and the staff is breaking in first-year starters at both safety spots, Pleasant and Shane Carter. No one questions the athletic ability of Carter and Pleasant, both of whom redshirted last season because of shoulder problems. But will their lack of experience be a short-term issue that lessens with time or a continuing worry? To expect the duo to avoid growing pains would be foolish.

Specialists

The return games must improve. Wisconsin finished last in the league in kickoff returns (15.0-yard average) and ninth in punt returns (6.6-yard average). In contrast, the Badgers should field the best combination of punter and kicker in the league. Taylor Mehlhaff made 15-of-20 field goal attempts, including 10-of-11 from 39 yards and in. Punter Ken DeBauche had a mediocre season by his standards, yet his 41.8-yard average was still fourth-best in the conference.


Wisconsin kicks off their 2007 season on ABC television this Saturday when the Badgers host Washington State at 2:36 p.m. CDT.

The qualifying round for men’s basketball for the Olympics, the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, has been a virtual cakewalk for the United States’ team of NBA superstars.

The results thus far:

Preliminary Round Wednesday, August 22
USA 112, Venezuela 69

Thursday, August 23
USA 123, Virgin Islands 59

Saturday, August 25
USA 113, Canada 63

Sunday, August 26
USA 113, Brazil 76

Tuesday, August 28
USA 117, Puerto Rico 78

Wednesday, August 29
USA 118, Uruguay 79

Call me the ugly American, but I am ecstatic, truly in love with these games and their lopsided results.

I am not happy with mere victories. I want slaughter.

I want to take other countries to the woodshed.

I want Kobe and LeBron to win by 100 points if they can.

Back in the mid-90’s, when I worked at WTMJ, the station was trying to find a midday talk show host replacement for Kathleen Dunn who had been let go.

WTMJ gave Michael Reagan an on-air audition. I recall doing the newscasts during some of his shows, one of them focusing on the so-called U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” of NBA Goliath basketball players.

I don’t precisely recall Reagan’s rationale, but he argued on-air that it would be great if the United States team that been burying the competition would lose one of their games. I believe he thought it might shake up the likes of Magic, Bird and Michael Jordan so they wouldn’t get complacent and lose a critical game en route to a Medal.

Even though I got to know him in a short period of time and become friends, I wanted to slap the face of the son of one of our country’s greatest Presidents.

Michael Reagan never got the WTMJ job (instead he got a nationally syndicated gig…..boy, WTMJ sure showed him), WTMJ hired Jay Marvin (ouch!), and the Dream Team never lost (not even close) and won the Gold Medal.

Fast forward to today.

The world hates us, but oh-so dearly wants to be like us. Some from other countries think nothing of breaking the law to live here.

As a basketball fan and a red-blooded, flag-waving, apple pie-eating, full-fledged American, I say have no mercy on the hardwood for Mexico, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, whoever!!

Bury their American-hating butts. Kill them. Show no mercy. Give them a Spaulding facial (Dunk the ball right in their faces for you non-sport fans).

I cheer at every three-pointer. I exult with every jam. I take great joy at the opposing country’s embarrassment.

Winning the Gold isn’t enough for me.

Rub their faces in it America!

God bless the USA, the greatest nation in the world, the country that invented and mastered basketball, and the rest of the world should never forget it!

Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers could not hold a 3-run lead and lost to the Chicago Cubs.

It was the 14th time this season the Brewers lost when they were ahead by 3 runs, the most in Major League Baseball.

Earlier this month, I wrote a 5-part series on what I consider to be the 5 most important issues the city of Franklin faces. Number two on the list was economic development.

As part of that series, on August 18th, I wrote about opponents to the proposed Target and other developments in Franklin:

The naysayers fail to recognize the harm that’s being done. There’s a certain elitist snobby attitude on the part of environmentalists that they know more than you do. They’re a major reason the permitting process in Wisconsin is exponentially longer than procedures used in other states. It might be considered noble to stand up, pose for holy pictures and claim you want the best, but it can also lead to nothing being accomplished, and businesses looking elsewhere, taking their prized jobs with them.

Rest assured, other potential developers who have their eyes on Franklin are keeping tuned in to what’s happening surrounding the Target situation. It’s highly plausible that they don’t appreciate what is transpiring, and may have already made the decision to pitch their business-making tents in another zip code.

Today, FranklinNOW writer John Neville reported on last week’s Planning Commission meeting that once again reviewed designs for the proposed Target. Neville wrote:

At the lengthy Plan Commission meeting last week, Target Real Estate Manager Thomas Carrico said plans for the Franklin store already have been significantly revised. He said Target was nearing its project budget limit and a request to install a tower entrance to match the Sendik's architectural design may send the discount retailer looking for a location elsewhere.

"If we can't do it here, then we'll do it somewhere else," Carrico said."We have to promote growth as a corporation. We build stores - that's what we do."

Translation: Target is in business to do business and make a profit, a major fact and totally understandable concept lost on a lot of people.

Other important points Neville reports:

1) City Attorney Jesse Wesolowski said a DNR lawyer recently assured him the agency's staff members have made recent visits to the Shoppes site and found it complied with state law.

2) Wesolowski also said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an environmental consultant hired by the city have examined the site and found it in compliance.

So what in the world is the problem?

I repeat something I wrote in my August 18th entry on economic development:

I consider energy focused on the outside appearance of Target to be using tunnel vision. Is it an important consideration? Again, I say, of course. But I prefer to concentrate on the bigger picture, the larger issue beyond the Target façade, and that is the future of economic development in this city. The opposition to Target only serves to delay a worthwhile project, preventing jobs from being made available sooner rather than later, and depriving Franklin residents of the shopping opportunities they have been demanding for some time.

Franklin resident Casper Green may have said it best.

"If Target came in with a plan for a gold-plated store, some people would still be against it.”

Amen.

Former WISN morning co-host and my friend, Dan Deibert is all over a Journal/Sentinel article criticizing Wal-Mart because it has avoided millions of dollars in state taxes by paying rent on 87 Wisconsin properties in a way that the state Department of Revenue calls an “abuse and distortion of income.”

Deibert says, and he’s absolutely right, that it’s downright nuts to rip Wal-Mart.

In his blog, he writes:

It doesn’t make sense for the Department of Revenue to attack one of it’s biggest collectors of state sales tax and a company that paid 26.2 million dollars in taxes last year.

The part that should worry everyone is not the libnut hatred of Walmart. It should be how the Doyle administration sets its sights on companies that do business in Wisconsin. Walmart is doing NOTHING wrong. There is nothing illegal going on here. What they are doing, in a very simplified manner, is they are setting up a company to own the real estate that their buildings sit on so in essence, they are paying rent to themselves, and taking a tax credit for doing so. They are not the only company to do it and it’s worth repeating this again… IT’S NOT ILLEGAL.

The venom with which the administration is attacking Walmart is particularly fervid. According to the Journal Sentinel article, “Revenue Department lawyer Mark Zimmer argues that the world’s largest retailer is not paying its fair share of taxes that support public schools, local police and fire departments and the highways it uses to transport what it sells in Wisconsin.”

Walmart sells items at lower prices than many other stores. Who does that help? Do you think it’s Bob living in Ozaukee County that needs to save $.75 on a can of deodorant? Or do you think it’s more likely a low-mid income mother with 3 kids that needs to buy less expensive clothes? The people that liberals like to say they support are being helped more by Walmart than the government will ever be able to do for them.

Walmart has an obligation to it’s shareholders and employees to keep costs low. One way of doing that is by doing whatever is legal to keep your costs down. To say Walmart doesn’t care about public schools, local police and fire departments, or roads, because they are doing something that is allowed by law is damned-near slanderous.

Liberals who hate job-creating corporations and who no doubt flunked Economics 101 probably won’t understand Deibert’s blog……….too many hard cold facts, not enough emotion.

Franklin wants to build sewers in the southwest part of the city in hopes of luring more commercial developers.

From the Daily Reporter:

Franklin is looking into extending sewer service further southwest.

Doing so would open the door for even more potential development in what is already one of the state’s fastest-growing cities in terms of population. However, Alderman Pete Kosovich said the goal would be to bring more commercial development rather than more homes.

“There will be some residential, but I think we’d like to do more commercial – maybe light industrial or a business park – nothing that generates a lot of pollution or noise,” said Kosovich.

I support the idea, cautioning city leaders to be mindful of the cost. It appears from the story they are acting appropriately.

Here’s the Daily Reporter article.

And this is a problem, how?

Poverty is an issue that’s been bandied about quite a bit on the Presidential campaign trail.

Today’s New York Times reports:

Five years into a national economic recovery, the share of Americans living in poverty finally dropped.

The nation's poverty rate was 12.3 percent in 2006, down from 12.6 percent a year before, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Median household income increased slightly, to $48,200.

The poverty level is the official measure used to decide eligibility for federal health, housing, nutrition and child care benefits. It differs by family size and makeup. For a family of four with two children, for example, the poverty level is $20,444.

The poverty rate -- the percentage of people living below poverty -- helps shape the debate on the health of the nation's economy.

The figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday showed Milwaukee in 2006 had the eighth-highest poverty rate among large U.S. cities at 26.2 percent. That compares with 21.3 percent in 2000.

It means 143,000 people in the city - or more than one in four - lived below the poverty line last year.

Again, it begs the question: Just how poor are the poor?

You're the next contestant to play, "The Franklin Way to Fight is Right."

Add Elm Grove to the growing list of municipalities that are saying, "Enough is enough, we're sick of this, Franklin was right."

From jsonline.com:


Elm Grove enacts sex offender limits

Elm Grove - Village trustees voted 6-1 tonight to ban convicted sex offenders from living in more than half of Elm Grove's four square miles, echoing residency restrictions in some other area communities.

Curtailing where sex offenders can live or loiter has become popular locally and nationally, even as law enforcement and sex offender treatment experts warn that the well-intended laws are ineffective and problematic.

The constitutionality of the laws is still in question. Franklin last week became the first area community to try to enforce such rules, suing to evict an offender who moved into a restricted area of the city in June. The man's attorney said he was unaware of the rules when he bought the house.

Franklin is one of six Milwaukee County communities that have enacted sex offender restrictions, and at least four others are considering them.

In Waukesha County, Elm Grove joins Menomonee Falls in passing the bans. Waukesha and the Town of Brookfield officials are researching the issue.

Elm Grove's ordinance bans sex offenders from living within 1,500 feet of schools, day care centers, parks or park pathways. A 2,000-foot ban that other municipalities have passed would have banished offenders from living in nearly the entire village.

Trustee Rick Fronberry cast the sole dissenting vote, raising concerns about enforcement and the risk of costly litigation should the village ordinance be challenged.

They're done.

Ned Yost finds yet another way to lose a ballgame.

The $42-million dollar pitcher, Jeff Suppan is pitching marvelously.

What does the "genious," Yost do? He takes Suppan out, the bullpen squanders a lead, and the Brewers lose for the 5th time in a row.

But Yost is such a nice guy......

What did Leo Durocher say about nice guys?

The Brewers are now in 3rd place in their division.

14 games over .500, shot to hell.

Have you heard about the Atlanta councilman who wants to fine those who show boxers, thongs or bra straps in public?

Those who say you can’t legislate fashion are opposed.

The ACLU is opposed.

And police officers are opposed. Read why…

America has a teacher crisis.

Baby boomer teachers are retiring. Many new, young teachers are quitting for career changes.

How to fill the vacancies?

Some school districts see the best solution is cold, hard cash.

From the NY Times:

Here in Guilford County, N.C., turnover had become so severe in some high-poverty schools that principals were hiring new teachers for nearly every class, every term. To staff its neediest schools before classes start on Aug. 28, recruiters have been advertising nationwide, organizing teacher fairs and offering one of the nation’s largest recruitment bonuses, $10,000 to instructors who sign up to teach Algebra I.

Officials in New York, which has the nation’s largest school system, said they had recruited about 5,000 new teachers by mid-August, attracting those certified in math, science and special education with a housing incentive that can include $5,000 for a down payment.

New York also offers subsidies through its teaching fellows program, which recruits midcareer professionals from fields like health care, law and finance. The money helps defer the cost of study for a master’s degree. The city expects to hire at least 1,300 additional teachers before school begins on Sept. 4, said Vicki Bernstein, director of teacher recruitment.

Los Angeles has offered teachers signing with low-performing schools a $5,000 bonus. The district, the second-largest in the country, had hired only about 500 of the 2,500 teachers it needed by Aug. 15 but hoped to begin classes fully staffed, said Deborah Ignagni, chief of teacher recruitment.

In June, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit group that seeks to increase the retention of quality teachers, estimated from a survey of several districts that teacher turnover was costing the nation’s districts some $7 billion annually for recruiting, hiring and training.

The commission has calculated that these days nearly a third of all new teachers leave the profession after just three years, and that after five years almost half are gone — a higher turnover rate than in the past.
According to the most recent Department of Education statistics available, about 269,000 of the nation’s 3.2 million public school teachers, or 8.4 percent, quit the field in the 2003-4 school year. Thirty percent of them retired, and 56 percent said they left to pursue another career or because they were dissatisfied.

Here is the entire NY Times article.

So it’s come to this.

Large bonuses are now required to recruit teachers.

Foolish me.

I thought it was all “for the children.”

Yesterday while filling in for Mark Belling on WISN, I asked callers, on a scale of 0-10, how upset were they that Wisconsin is the only state without a budget.

Save one liberal Democrat whom I exposed as a tax lover, everyone said zero to -10.

No one is sweating this, except Jim Doyle, local governments with their hands out, and idiotic editorial boards with nothing political to write about in news-barren August.

This is not, repeat, this is not a crisis.

Here’s why.

Marjorie, you know I love you.

But c’mon!

You were at the Franklin School Board meeting last night.

I blogged.

Fred blogged.

Bryan blogged.

Even Greg who wasn’t there and had no idea what he was talking about blogged.

How about it Marjorie?

Franklin wants to hear your take!

What d'ya say?

Meet us at the corner!

During last night’s stacked, totally orchestrated Franklin School Board meeting, Fred Keller made some insightful comments, comparing Franklin to New Berlin.

Fred correctly pointed out that New Berlin, that has many similarities to Franklin, managed to approve a 0.9% school tax levy increase. Those in the room that didn’t have ear plugs planted in their heads seemed perturbed, almost offended that someone would compare Franklin to………GULP.................New Berlin!

Nope. Can’t do it said Franklin School Board member Sue (Tax to the Max) Huhn.

Not the same said Franklin School District Business Manager Jim Milzer.

Actually, it’s a perfect comparison to make, if you have an open mind, and if you read Fred Keller’s analytical blog on the subject last month.

One of the other Franklin residents later in the meeting stood up and proudly boasted that Franklin is one of the top 100 places in America to live and New Berlin is not.

So why in the world would we want to be like them?

He sat down to loud applause.

Yes, Franklin is one of the top 100 places in America to live.

Money Magazine ranks us at #90.

But……

Uhhhh…..

Sorry…….

New Berlin made the list, too.

They’re #41.