Retiring Guy's Digest

Thursday, October 29, 2026

GET ME REWRITE Trump stiffs Dallas for security and other costs related to his "All About Me" midterm convention

Photo credit: CNN

Headline: AlterNet, 10/27/2026

Sarah K. Burris reports but doesn't mention that they should have seen it coming:

The Dallas city government is facing a budget shortfall, and a bill from the Republican Party for $804,229.46 for the midterm convention remains unpaid.

According to the itemized bill, Dallas lent money to police, Fire-Rescue, emergency management and crisis response, transportation and public works for the GOP, but it remains unpaid. The largest expense came from the Dallas Police Department, which spent more than $661,000 on the convention. The police costs cover overtime, barricades and vehicle use.

Dear Michael Citren of ACECO fame: Did you receive a down payment for your demolition work? Trump has long history of stiffing his contractors. Best, Retiring Guy. (10/23/2025)

Sheriffs, haven't you heard? First Felon Donald Trump always stiffs his contractors. (2/16/2025)

GET ME REWRITE: Trump furiously pulls on the strings of his Attorney General puppet Todd Blanche

AI-generated image requested from Manus 1.6 Lite

Headline: New York Times, 10/27/2026

Glenn Thrush, Alan Feuer, and Devlin Barrett report:

Attorney General Todd Blanche has delivered the same message time and again, at turns soothing and combative: The Justice Department is doing nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing remotely improper, in the lead-up to the midterm elections.

“We don't do political paybacks,” Mr. Blanche declared last week, after he announced the indictment of a prominent Virginia Democrat on drug-trafficking charges.

“You got to stop it with that!” the usually measured Mr. Blanche said on Sunday, scolding Dana Bash of CNN for suggesting his effort to potentially block certification of Alaska’s Senate election to protect the Republican incumbent was undemocratic.

Yet it has become increasingly difficult to reconcile reassurances with reality, critics say. [emphasis added]

Fake Attorney General Todd Blanche will do and say whatever Trump tells him to! (9/29)

Todd Blanche is gay?! (8/11/2026)

On his 24,225th day in elected office, 92-year-old hard of hearing Iowa GOP U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley warbles the praises of Todd Blanche. (8/9/2026)

Meet Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's master groveler. (7/15/2026)

Use print headline

New construction: Apartments approved at site of long underutilized office building at 301 South Westfield in Madison Wisconsin

Photo by Retiring Guy

Headline: Wisconsin State Journal,

Nicole Pollock reports on a project set to begin next year:

Plans from RFA Financial, a Canadian financial services and real estate investment firm, call for a trio of five-story apartment buildings and a five-story mixed-use building at 301 S. Westfield Road, where the developer will demolish a 40-year-old office building that has been used by UW Health.
The project includes 99 studio apartments, 290 one-bedroom apartments and 189 two-bedroom apartments, along with 531 enclosed parking stalls, 215 surface parking stalls, 1,960 square feet of commercial space, three large courtyard areas and an outdoor pool, plans show.
The developer aims to start construction in fall 2027 and complete the project in spring 2029.
A number of neighbors said they opposed RFA’s proposal because of concerns about potential flooding, traffic and impacts to property values. Many said they didn’t want to live near so many apartments and felt the buildings would be too tall, create too much density, look too industrial, diminish nearby residents’ privacy and disturb those same residents during construction.

Site maps and rendering: Madison Plan Commission

Employees at 301 South Westfield Road work remotely during pandemic. (7/1/2020)