Retiring Guy's Digest

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

"Back to the Future": Hill Valley subdivision in Madison Wisconsin (August 2026 construction site visit)

Screengrabs and videos by Retiring Guy

Headline: Wisconsin State Journal, 11/25/2025

Chris Rickert reports:

The Hill Valley subdivision on Madison’s Far West Side is just getting underway, with developer Veridian Homes ready to build its first home and six lots already sold.
Now if only someone with a 1981 DeLorean would buy one.
If “Hill Valley” rings a bell for people of a certain age, that’s the point. That’s the name of the city Marty McFly and his family called home in “Back to the Future,” and the film is the theme Veridian has chosen to go with as it builds out the 200-acre residential development with 750 home sites.
Of the approximately 40 streets that are to crisscross the project, about 15 of them are obvious references to the 1985 classic.

Madison Plan Commission (above and below)

Related posts:

2026

Hill Valley subdivision. (3/11)

January site visit. (1/29)

2025

July 2025 site visit.

September 2025 site visit

January 2026 site visit

February 2026 sitge visit

March 2026 site visit

Keeping tabs on authors in LINKcat: Richard Lingeman

Source: South Central Library System LINKcat online catalog

New York Times, 8/13/2026

Joseph Berger reports:

As a journalist, Mr. Lingeman had an eclectic career. In the late 1950s, he and Victor S. Navasky founded the satirical magazine Monocle. He went on to serve as an editor at The New York Times Book Review and, in 1978, was named executive editor of The Nation, the left-leaning political magazine then led by Mr. Navasky.

After 18 years as executive editor, Mr. Lingeman stepped down to become a senior editor at the magazine, a position that gave him more time to write books.

His most notable early work, “Small Town America: A Narrative History 1620-the Present” (1980), examined the development and decline of American towns, from the earliest Puritan settlements to the Midwestern trading centers and the cow towns and mining camps of the West.

The 52 member libraries of LINKcat

Related posts:

2026 (20)

Rodolfo Acuña. (4/19)

John L. Allen Jr. (2/1)

Antonio Lobo Antunes. (3/10)

James Bradley. (6/26)

Robert Coles. (6/11)

John Crowley. (8/17)

Erich von Daniken. (1/13)

Brian Doherty. (4/2)

Paul Ehrlich. (3/16)

Charles Faddis. (8/15)

Carlo Ginzberg. (6/23)

Barbara Gordon. (4/17)

Andrew Hacker. (4/25)

Edward Hoagland. (2/28)

Ursula Hegi. (8/15)

Roland Huntford. (2/13)

Tracy Kidder. (3/26)

Suzannah Lessage. (2/11)

Shirley Lord. (6/28)

David Malouf. (5/2)

Judith Michael (5/19)

Roy Medvedev. (2/17)

Michael Parenti. (2/10)

Herschel Parker. (7/13)

Rex Reed. (5/17)

James Sallis. (2/8)

Susan Sheehan. (2/25)

David Sklansky. (4/20)

Jill Smokler. (6/29)

Robert H. Spector. (4/18)

Koji Suzuki (5/18)

Calvin Tomkins. (3'22)

Barbara G. Walker. (1/25)

Mildred Pitts Walker. (8/6)

Gordon S. Wood. (6/12)

Christopher S. Wren. (2/24)

2025 (29)

Melody Beattie. (3/24)

Sue Bender. (12/23)

John Carlos Blake. (2/4)

Barbara Taylor Bradford. (1/6)

Lou Cannon. (12/23)

John Casey. (3/5)

Edward Countryman. (5/8)

Marilyn Diamond. (9/15)

Nathalie Dupree. (1/19)

John Feinstein. (3/21)

Edna Ferber. (1/15)

Frederick Forsyth. (6/23)

Lynn Freed. (6/11)

Jane Gardam. (5/2)

Susan Griffin. (10/17)

Christopher Jencks. (2/15)

Paulette Jiles. (7/21)

Sam Keen. (4/8)

William Leuchtenburg. (2/2)

Phyllis Lee Levin. (12/31)

David Lodge. (1/6)

Martin E. Marty. (3/5)

Dennis McDougal. (3/20)

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (6/8)

Tom Robbins. (2/11)

Martin Cruz Smith. (7/20)

John Russell Taylor. (11/9)

Joseph Wambaugh. (3/1)

Daniel Woodrell. (12/11)

2024 (39)

Best books on politics. (9/2)

Dorothy Allison. (11/13)

Paul Auster. (5/9)

Lynne Reid Banks. (4/10)

Donald L. Barlett. (10/15)

John Barth. (4/3)

David Boaz. (6/13)

Caleb Carr. (5/26)

Shirley Conran. (5/25)

Robert Coover. (10/12)

Frederick Crews. (6/28)

Charles R. Cross. (8/25)

Nelson DeMille. (10/3)

Daniel C. Dennett. (4/22)

Anne Edwards. (2/4)

Richard E llis. (6/1)

Edward Jay Epstein. (1/18)

Helen E. Fisher. (9/6)

H. Bruce Franklin. (6/9)

Sandra M. Gilbert. (11/24)

Ellen Gilchrist. (2/15)

Lesley Hazleton (5/11)

Cristina Henriquez . (3/6)

Gary Indiana. (10/30)

Barbara Howard . (8/8)

Sue Johnson. (6/7)

Barry Kemp. (6/1)

Elias Khoury. (10/4)

Ella Leffland. (10/9)

Hal Lindsey. (12/6)

Alice Munro. (5/19)

Stanley Pottinger. (12/18)

Terry Robards. (6/8)

Thomas Rockwell. (10/14)

Tom Shales. (1/21)

Ross Terrill. (8/14)

Vernor Wing . (4/1)

Dan Wakefield , (3/17)

Alexander Waugh. (8/7)

Westheimer, Dr. Ruth . (7/14)

2023 (23)

Martin Amis . (5/31)

Richard Anobile. (3/18)

Russell Banks. (1/11)

A. S. Byatt. (11/18)

Ted Bell. (2/8)

Carol Higgins Clark. (7/13)

Natalie Zemon Davis . (10/27)

Tim Dorsey. (12/10)

Herbert Gold. (11/24)

David Harris. (2/8)

Paul Johnson. (1/15)

Milan Kundera . (7/17)

Harold S. Kushner. (4/30)

Cormac McCarthy. (6/19)

Kevin Phillips. (10/19)

Betty Rollin. (11/26)

Norman Rush. (4/7)

Mimi Sheraton. (4/9)

Charles Simic. (1/16)

Donald Spoto . (2/18)

D. M. Thomas. (3/31)

John Underwood. (5/8)

Fay Weldon. (2/2)

Bill Zehme. (4/1)

2022 (23)

Roger Angell. (5/24)

Melissa Bank . (8/7)

Raymond Briggs. (8/20)

Thomas Cahill. (11/16)

Philip K. Dick. (11/20)

Bruce Duffy, (3/13)

Todd Gitlin . (2/8)

Rebecca Godfrey. (11/11)

Ron Goulart. (2/7)

Doris Grumbach . (11/10)

Robert Hicks. (3/8)

Thomas Hoving. (12/19)

Maureen Howard. (3/19)

Dominique Lapierre . (12/11)

Hilary Mantel. (9/26)

Nancy Mitford. (4/4)

P. J. O'Rourke. (2/24)

John J. Osborn Jr. (11/4)

Julie Powell. (11/5)

Thomas Pynchon. (12/17)

Dennis Smith. (1/27)

Susie Steiner . (7/27)

Larry Woiwode . (5/19)

2021 (54)

Joan Walsh Anglund. (4/3)

F. Lee Bailey. (6/11)

Katherine Barber. (5/26)

Mary Catherine Bateson. (1/26)

Rosalind Cartwright. (3/21)

Kim Chernin . (1/10)

Beverly Cleary. (4/8)

Angelo Codevilla. (10/10)

Christina Crosby. (1/31)

Geoff Crowther. (5/17)

Eric Jerome Dickey. (1/9)

Morrie Dickstein . (3/31)

Scott Donaldson. (1/11)

Stephen Dunn. (6/29)

Lawrence Ferlinghetti. (2/24)

James R. Flynn. (1/30)

Larry Flynt. (2/12)

Lucinda Franks. (5/11)

Joseph Galloway. (8/25)

Norman Golb. (2/22)

Lawrence Graham. (3/9)

Charles Grodin. (5/20)

Maria Guarnascheilli , book editor. (2/18)

James Gunn. (2/21)

Tony Hendra . (3/7)

Robert L. Herbert (2/12)

Norman Juster. (3/16)

Donald Kagan. (8/20)

His King . (4/9)

Lyn Macdonald. (5/15)

Janet Malcolm. (6/18)

Peter Manso , (4/10)

Jason Matthews. (5/4)

Margaret Maron. (3/13)

Larry McMurtry. (4/2)

Ved Mehta. (1/12)

Robert Middlekauff. (9/3)

Marie Mongan. (3/22)

John Naisbitt. (4/21)

Sharon Kay Penman. (2/8)

Steven B. Oates. (9/1)

Robert Quackenbush. (7/7)

Deborah Rhode. (1/28)

James Ridgeway. (2/16)

Naomi Rosenblum (3/6)

Donald Rumsfeld. (7/6)

Charles Saunders. (2/4)

David Swensen . (5/13)

Bryan Sykes. (1/14)

Athan Theoharis. (6/14/)

Ed Ward. (5/16)

Michael Thomas. (8/19)

Steven Weinberg. (8/5)

Adam Zagajewski. (3/27)

2020 (25)

Patricia Bosworth. (4/6)

Ben Bova. (12/17)

Mary Higgins Clark. (2/4)

Clive Cussler. (2/29)

Betty Dodson (11/11)

David Graeber. (9/6)

Shirley Ann Grau . (8/11)

Pete Hamill. (8/6)

Shere Hite. (9/13)

A, E, Hotchner. (2/18)

Roger Kahn. (2/15)

Randall Kenan. (9/29)

John Le Carre . (12/23/2020)

Johanna Lindsey. (1/15)

Barry Lopez. (12/29)

Alison Lurie. (12/7)

Sylvia Jukes Morris. (1/20)

Charlers Portis. (2/19)

Julia Reed. (9/8)

John Rothchild. (1/22)

Gail Sheehy. (9/3)

George Steiner. (2/6)

Jill Paton Walsh. (11/29)

Charles Webb. (6/30)

Elizabeth Wurtzel. (1/11)

2019 (20)

Warren Adler . (4/23)

Kate Braverman. (10/28)

Stephen Dixon. (11/12)

Ernest J. Gaines. (11/8)

And Jenkins . (3/10)

Judith Krantz. (6/27)

Paule Marshall. (8/27)

Robert K. Massie. (12/4)

Martin Mayer. (8/3)

Wright Morris. (7/25)

Toni Morrison. (8/12)

Anthony Price. (6/17)

James I. Robertson. (11/20)

Anne Rivers Siddons. (9/19)

John Simon. (12/1)

Sol Stein. (9/30)

Brad Watson. (8/2)

Lonnie Wheeler. (7/15)

Herman Wouk . (5/20)

Nearly forgotten "sociological megahits" of 1970. (6/18)

2018 (3)

Neal Thompson. (6/17)

Barbara Kafka. (6/8)

Weeding or historical sanitization at LINKcat libraries? (6/2)

2017 (3)

Aline Countess of Romanones. (12/17)

Kit Reed. (10/1)

Carol J. Adams shares feminist classics from her personal library. (9/8)

2016 (1)

E. M. Nathanson. (4/10)

2015 (1)

Gunter Grass (1927-2015). (4/15)

2014 (2)

Thomas Berger (1924-2014). (7/23)

Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014) (4/8)

2013
Barbara Branden. (12/26)

Monday, August 17, 2026

Wisconsin 2026 elections: In a rematch, Republican Ed Hibsch challenges 3+-term Democrat Tip McGuire in the 64th Assembly District

Before redistricting, the GOP gerrymandered 64th sprawled from west of the I (Interstate 64) into southeast Racine County.

The newly redrawn district includes what is in essence the northeast quadrant of Kenosha County. (Total population of Kenosha County: 168,000 -- almost large enough to fill 3 Assembly districts on its own.)

Maps and election results: Ballotpedia

This will be the fourth election in a row that Republican Ed Hibsch has challenged the Democratic incumbent Tip McGuire. Don't expect a different outcome this year. McGuire was first elected to the Assembly in a April 2019 special election.

Related reading:

Wisconsin Applied Population Lab, 6/18/2018

Malia Jones explains:

Two core concepts of gerrymandering were central to the arguments presented to the high court: cracking and packing. A third process, known as stacking, also crops up in gerrymandered political maps, but was not the focus of Gill v. Whitford.

Cracking and packing both refer to specific ways of drawing legislative boundaries with the outcomes of elections in mind. These two processes operate in tension with one another, but both can be implemented by a party in power seeking to maximize its electoral chances through gerrymandering.

Packing refers to the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.

Cracking involves drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive. [emphasis added]

Other Wisconsin 2026 election posts:

1st Assembly District. (6/11/2026)

2nd Assembly District. (6/14/2026)

3rd Assembly District. (6/15/2026)

4th Assembly District. (6/17/2026)

5th Assembly District. (6/18/2026)

6th Assembly District. (6/20/2026)

7th Assembly District. (6/21/2026)

8th Assembly District. (6/21/2026)

9th Assembly District. (6/22/2026)

10th Assembly District. (6/23/2026)

11th Assembly District. (6/23/2026)