A little something for the Christians AND the Pagans

May Day is a Holiday for everyone these days.

Traditionally May Day is a Spring Festival time. From the Oxford Dictionary of English Folk Lore:

May Day, Bringing in the May. Many of the earliest references to May Day are ambiguous, but those which give any detail nearly always refer to the practice of going out into the countryside to gather flowers and greenery—‘going a-maying’ or ‘bringing in the may’. This greenery was used to decorate houses and public buildings to welcome the season, and for the early period this was the archetypal activity of the day.

But May Day has also been tagged as International Workers Day since around 1904, and in response to the fear of the spread of Socialism/Communism May Day was declared "Loyalty Day" in the USA in 1958.

In Oshkosh on May 1 there is something for both Christians and Pagans to do.

At Noon (Thur May 1) Christians are gathering at the flag pole at City Hall in honor of the National Day of Prayer to "...pray for our Country and our Leaders."

Later in the day (6 p.m.) there will be a May Pole Dance & Potluck at Menominee Park at the concrete globe immediately NW of the zoo sponsored by the Oshkosh Rhythm Institute. Music, dancing, and food (bring a dish to share). Everyone is welcome to this, it sounds like a fun community event and fun for the whole family.

Whatever your pleasure, there is something to do to celebrate May Day in Oshkosh!

Main Street Post Production

Public Enemies has finished filming and moved on. Main Street Oshkosh is returning to "normal".

The last few weeks have encouraged a lot of discussion around Oshkosh about the downtown area, Main Street, and whether the filming was "good" for Oshkosh or just an annoying diversion.

I think the movie production was GOOD for Oshkosh, and particularly good for Downtown Oshkosh. How ironic was it that they made the Exclusive Company a "Walgreens" when there used to be one across the street where Opera Square Park / Peace Park is now?

While some are measuring success in terms of money, I believe some of the true measures of success are:

1. The film makers recognized potential in Downtown Oshkosh (something many residents don't do);
2. Downtown Oshkosh got A LOT OF PRESS for several weeks!
3. People from out of town and out of state came to Oshkosh;
4. People were talking about downtown Oshkosh. That's good, right?

While some may have preferred that the movie folks would have left up the "pretend" Main Street, most has been taken down and downtown has been returned to its new "old" glory.

So - do you have a little more pride in Oshkosh now? Same as always? Ashamed? What?

New City Attorney

Acting City Attorney Lynn Lorenson has been named the new City Attorney for Oshkosh.

Lynn has been the Acting City Attorney since the sudden (and welcome) departure of Warren Kraft in November.

So far I have had no problems with Lynn Lorenson, and compared to Warren Kraft she has been a breath of fresh air for the city.

2008 EARTH WEEK AT UW OSHKOSH

UPCOMING EARTH WEEK EVENTS AT UW OSHKOSH
All events open to the entire community


WEDNESDAY APRIL 16

CHILL OUT: CAMPUS SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL WARMING
Wednesday April 16, 5:45-7:00 pm, Reeve 220Join us for a nationwide simulcast about what campuses can do about global warming. Produced by the Campus Ecology Program of the National Wildlife Federation.>> Free pizza & pop!!


MONDAY APRIL 21

SUSTAINABILITY IN BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA
Monday April 21, 6:00-7:30: Reeve 221Dr. Maureen Muldoon, Dr. Pete Brown, and students from the Field Studies in Belize course will talk about the ecology and culture of Belize. Panelists will explore how Belize is dealing with challenging conservation issues. Gorgeous slides will be shown of the different ecosystems of Belize. >> Free pizza & pop!!


TUESDAY APRIL 22:

EARTH DAY!SPEED NETWORKING FOR SUSTAINABLE INTERNSHIPS & JOBS
Tuesday April 22, 11:30 a.m-1:00 p.m., Reeve 227AMeet with representatives and make connections for possible internships and jobs: Johnson Controls, Wisconsin Public Service, Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence, Simply Solar, Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, and Habitat for Humanity.

UNVEILING THE UW OSHKOSH CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
Tuesday April 22, 1:00-2:00 p.m., Reeve 227C UW Oshkosh has committed to a new, comprehensive Campus Sustainability Plan. Chancellor Wells will make the announcement, and Steve Arndt (Director of Facilities) and David Barnhill (Director of Environmental Studies) will discuss how UW Oshkosh is working to be a leader in campus sustainability.

DERRICK JENSEN ON CIVILIZATION AND RESISTANCE
Tuesday April 22, 7:00-8:30 pm: Reeve 307 (Theater)Derrick Jensen is a nationally known author of many books about environmental issues and activism. He has completed a magesterial two volume book Endgame, which examines the disasters caused by civilization and what can be done about it.


WEDNESDAY APRIL 23

TOXIC BODIES: ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS AND THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
Wednesday April 23, 6:00-7:30 pm: Reeve 227BCDr. Nancy Langston, environmental historian at UW Madison's Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. This talk explores the ways scientists, industry, consumers, and regulators negotiated growing controversies over synthetic estrogens, and examines the ways that endocrine disruptors in the post-war era changed the internal ecosystems of human, livestock, and wildlife bodies, interconnecting our bodies with our environments in increasingly complex ways.


THURSDAY APRIL 24

CELEBRATION OF SCHOLARSHIP: POSTERS ON SUSTAINABILITY Thursday April 24, 11:00-1:00 pm: Reeve Students in ES 490: Environmental Studies Senior Seminar will display posters on a variety of sustainability issues. Part of the larger annual Celebration of Scholarship.

EARTH DINNER Speaker: John Peck, Executive Director, Family Farm Defenders Thursday April 24, 6:30-9:00 pm: Reeve 227BC6:30-7:00 pm: Reception
7:00-8:00 pm: Organic dinner
7:30-9:00 pm: John Peck on the importance of food and farming
Organic food donated by Organic Valley. Tickets are free, but the suggested donation at the dinner is $5 for students $15 for others. Tickets will be available soon at Titan Central.


FRIDAY APRIL 25

THE CLEAN WATER ACT, STORM WATER, & UWO OSHKOSH
Friday April 25, 1:00-2:00: Reeve 214
Steve Arndt, Director of Facilities, will discuss the Clean Water Act, how it impacts, UW Oshkosh, and how we can help preserve our water.

CAMPUS CLEAN-UP
Friday April 25, 2:00-4:00: Reeve 214
Steve Arndt will lead students on a clean-up of the Fox River by campus.


For more questions, contact barnhill@uwosh.edu

Donna Lohry Calls for Citizen Involvement

In a letter to the Oshkosh Northwestern, former County Board member Donna Lohry urges citizens of Winnebago County to get involved with the County Board through attending committee meetings:

April 15 begins the new two-year term for Winnebago County Supervisors, with many important issues to be deliberated and decided.

Now is a good time for citizens to become active and further educated by attending committee meetings to hear first hand the pros and cons of issues.

This term will decide the movement of vital county offices due to space issues. Debate and discussion plays an important part in moving plans forward.

Please join me in attending as a citizen representation. It is our government at work!

I agree with Donna. We need more citizens attending open meetings of the County Board, the Common Council, and the School Board. We always champion Wisconsin's Open Meetings Laws and curse government bodies for skirting them, but most board and committee meetings are unwatched and unseen.

An informed public is better for everyone.

Find out when and where:
City Boards and Commissions
County Board Committee Calendar

.

Polk Library Book Sale Tuesday

Polk Library will be holding its fourth annual BOOK SALE on Tuesday April 15 (7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.) and Wednesday April 16 (7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.)

Several thousand books will be available to purchase, most priced at 50 cents each, or 3 for a dollar.

We have large amounts of books on

Plays
History
Sciences
Criminology
Area Studies
Social Sciences
Political Science
Public Administration
French language literature
Urban Planning and Land Use
and many, many more!

Also plenty of Contemporary Fiction, "Classic" Fiction, and "Classic" young adult fiction.

Some of our library staff have cleaned through their home collections so you can count on a number of interesting treasures to be available!

Although we will be re-stocking the tables throughout the first day the best books tend to go fast, so come early if you can!

Common Council Comments

I watched most of the Oshkosh Common Council meeting last night, but I missed the end since I was watching it on tape delay and I started falling asleep around 11 p.m. (I would propose that the Common Council changes their meeting times until after American Idol's season, which is sub-par this year admittedly.) A few observations:

Snow Removal

The Council approved a "disallowance of claim" for a woman complaining that someone complained about snow on her sidewalk and the city billed her $50 to remove it. This vote means the woman has to pay the $50.

I think we can all sympathize with her. It snowed and snowed and SNOWED this year. I have never wanted a snow blower until this year. It felt like it snowed on Monday, shovel on Tuesday, snowed again on Wednesday, shovel on Thursday. I lived in fear at times that my sidewalk would get sent to the city when there were some stretches that I couldn't keep up with the shoveling. And when the March Ice hit - wow. I would have gladly paid someone $50 to hammer away the ice on my corner lot on Main Street. It was two inches thick for weeks, solid ice. I actually took a hammer and a wedge out there, my daughter had a rubber mallet, and it took 5 days to finally get the last chunks of ice off the sidewalk on the north side.

Is the current system of "anonymous snitching" fair? Is it too arbitrary? I'm glad the city is going to be evaluating this and making recommended changes.

Miles has a conversation about this on his site today.

Councilor Pay

The pay increase for our Common Council was approved. One interesting exchange that occured during this discussion was started by Tony Palmeri when he questioned the "Government on the Cheap" perception and pointed out that due to our city manager form of government Oshkosh actually pays more for city government officials when you factor in the $130,000 estimated salary for a City Manager versus the $60,000 to $70,000 salary that elected Mayor's typically are paid. This elicited a response from acting City Manager John Fitzpatrick, who pointed out that many Mayor's also hire a "City Administrator" and that between the two Mayor + City Administrator >= City Manager.

On his blog today Tony pointed out that if we want to add these additional costs to the comparison of the two systems of government we ought to also include:

*Payouts for a retiring city manager.
*Legal fees associated with the manager position.
*Executive search firm fees.
*Fees associated with interviewing manager candidates.
*Buyout provisions in the manager's contract.

Menasha just changed their executive level leadership for the first time in 20 years and the only cost was the cost of an election. No buy out, no legal fees, no search firms, no major hike in salary to attract good candidates. Only the cost of an election.

Spring is around the corner in Oshkosh, is a referendum in the works?

Workshop

I only caught a few bits and pieces of the workshop about taxes after the meeting, but it looked pretty juicy. Unless my ears deceived me it sounded like the presenter was suggesting that corporations are using lawyers and accountants to avoid paying property taxes in Wisconsin. I hope he's got a good lawyer himself - I don't think Winnebago corporations appreciate that kind of spotlight being shined on them.

The Council meeting hasn't been posted yet, but you can eventually watch it online at Oshkosh Community Media (scroll down to select Common Council).

What was YOUR favorite part of the Council meeting???

With a Capital “H”

From an email I received today from a right-wing extremist group, the American Family Association, I learned that McDonald's is "aggressively promoting the homosexual agenda" as it gave a donation to the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Apparently, McDonald's is proud of it, too, which really irks the AFA. I personally didn't know there was a NGLCC, so I suppose I'll have to make a motion to add "better publicity" to the homosexual agenda at some time.

I almost stopped for an Egg McMuffin this morning in light of the news, but I didn't have enough time. With all the family/marriage destroying, child brainwashing, and natural disaster creating left to do today, I really didn't have time to wait for a minimum-wage earner to take off that factory-farmed slab of Canadian bacon.

Okay, not really. My homosexual agenda today really includes cleaning up the yard, fixing a toilet, and cleaning the garage, which should explain why I'm procrastinating by writing this post. Oh, and because McDonald employees continue to ask whether we would like a "girl toy" or a "boy toy" when we order a Happy Meal for my partner's child, I'm trying to respect her wish not to frequent the evil McKingdom which subliminally influences life choices for everyone. I'm guessing that either toy could be a cheap piece of poison made by a 7 year old slave somewhere, but that would just be piling on.

Honestly, I'm never sure whether the list I carry in my jeans pocket (sewn on in some overseas sweatshop) is a shopping list or a boycott list.

At the last State Gathering for the Wisconsin State Green Party, there was a short, but passionate debate issue surrounding veganism. Some members think that consuming meat and other animal products is in direct conflict with our non-violence and ecological wisdom pillars. Others think veganism is a slap in the face to the small organic farmer who is struggling to use sustainable agricultural and aqua-farming methods. I'm simplifying for space reasons, but there were points taken by each side. While I'm proud that we're finally examining some of our own practices, I was alarmed (yet oddly comforted) to find that some engage in similar or worse habits than I!

I support my congregation's efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and wish it would quit having ham dinners, but often take an SUV to church. I ask my partner when our first CSA share will arrive while eating a lunch which includes a banana. I had "cage-free eggs" for breakfast, not knowing if the layers were free-range or just packed together like, well, chickens ("cage-free" doesn't necessarily mean their feet touch the ground). I try not to eat "meat", but I use dairy products and wear leather shoes. I'll put every scrap of paper in the house into the recycle bin, but then forget to take the canvas bags to the grocery store. I love organic, fair trade, shade-grown, locally roasted coffee and small locally-owned booksellers, but every once in awhile I find myself in a Barnes and Noble with a Starbucks cappuccino in my hand. I was so thirsty at Saturday night's Gallery Walk, I chugged water from two plastic bottles while talking to Rep. Hintz about puppy mills (he'd say it was because I was doing so much talking).

The closest category that defines my consumer habits isn't "union-friendly", "locally-owned", "organic", "vegan or vegetarian", or "green"; it's "H-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e" with a capital "H".

The local Lake Winnebago Green Party has discussed printing a guide with suggestions for local consumers. I'll be honest about this, too; we're having trouble drawing the lines about what makes a store, restaurant, or business "good" and/or "green" for the Oshkosh area. I'm curious as to how other Main Street Oshkosh readers make their choices. Where are your personal lines drawn? Where will you bend? Does it make a difference to you when corporations are major donors to progressive causes? Does philanthropy trump environmental concerns? Vegan, vegetarian, or hypocrite?

Alice Cooper at Waterfest

Coming later this summer to the Leach Ampitheatre - ALICE COOPER!



August 28, 2008

Local Election Results

Oshkosh voted - are you happy with the results?

School Board

Due to the lack of challengers for Common Council, the School Board race took center stage. John Lemberger seems to have surprised quite a few by winning one of the two seats on the School Board along with incumbent Tom McDermott. The race was close - only 550 votes separated fourth place finisher Michelle Monte (3,554) from first place finisher McDermott (4,101). Monte went from finishing in first place in the Primary to fourth place yesterday. Did she benefit from the Presidential preference primary somehow, or was there a change in the electorate's mood between Feb 19 and April 1?

But more importantly, what do these results mean for the School Board and the direction the district will be taking regarding facilities planning, school closings, and boundary changes? Teresa Thiel has already started this conversation on her site. What are your thoughts?

County Board

Of the four contested races in Oshkosh, the incumbents managed to hold their seats in each race except for Donna Lohry, who was redistricted to face off against fellow incumbent Claude Thompson. The results by the numbers:

District 14 (North-central Oshkosh):
Claude Thompson (I) - 369
Donna Lohry (I) - 200

District 15 (Northwest Oshkosh):
Kathy Lennon (I) - 152
Travis Swanson - 114

District 18 (East-Central Oshkosh):
Bill Wyngren (I) - 475
John Daggett - 48

District 21 (South side Oshkosh):
Bob Warnke (I) - 164
Christine Kutnick-Richards - 91

The most interesting race, Thompson v. Lohry, resulted in the Democratic Party and CUT the Board endorsed Thompson defeating first term Supervisor Lohry, who was really counting on support from the portion of the new district in the Town of Oshkosh. I haven't seen the breakdown by district yet, but Thompson's east-side district typically has higher turnout than Lohry's north-central district, and it appears that it was more than enough to give him the victory.

No surprise with the Wyngren - Daggett race, and props to UW Oshkosh student Travis Swanson for putting a good show against incumbent Kathy Lennon. Bob Warnke was targeted by the CUT the Board group, and his win reflects his support among his constituents.

How will this impact the direction of the Winnebago County Board?

Are you happy with the results?