The Irish Times on the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum

Contents of Bush library seem an attempt to rewrite history. (Irish Times, 5/11/2013)

Well, geez, I might as well pile on.

Perhaps a more fitting tribute?

Photo credit:  Retiring Guy

It would probably hold all of the books Dubya has ever read, with room left over for a 6-pack and drug paraphernalia.

Scott Walker: "70 percent of employers said regulations impose a significant cost on their businesses"

A quote from his 5/10/2013 E-Update.

I wonder how some folks in West, Texas, feel about these pesky workplace regulations.



15 dead. 200 injured.   Not a significant cost?

Or just the cost of being "open for business"?

Scott Walker: Disingenuous, or Can't Tell Time (or Count)

Walker quote from his E-Update from the Desk of Governor Scott Walker, 5/10/2013)

Wisconsin Budget Project.

A Most Objectionable 3-Page Letter

Haass library dispute heats up. (Sussex Sun, 5/7/2013)

Excerpt: "There were three paragraphs in the letter that made everyone mad," observed Trustee Tim Dietrich, the Village Board's representative on the Library Board. 

The letter is only three paragraphs long. Its content was approved by the Town Board after a closed session April 22.

Related articles: 
Dear Greg; Love, Lisbon Town Board.  (4/27/2013)
Perhaps Pauline Haass is spinning in her grave.  (3/18/2013)
What a long strange trip it's been.  (2/13/2012)
Dueling news releases.  (10/7/2012)
Town of Lisbon wants deep discount in payment for library services.  (9/30/2012)
As the world of joint library agreements turns.  (8/22/2012)
The beat goes on.  (7/2/2012)
Joint library negotiations continue.  (5/13/2012)
Jane Stadler on Paying Taxes: "...it is something that you do because you're part of the community.  (11/26/2011)
Lisbon town chair not likely to get his way on Pauline Haass Library funding. (11/22/2011)
Lisbon Town chair advocates paying for library services on the cheap.  (11/22/2011)
The challenges of shared governance and funding.  (9/28/2011)
Consensus building for new joint library agreement.  (7/22/2011)
Sussex, Lisbon:  Local politics and library negotiations.  (5/28/2011)
Negotiation to continue after information-gathering process.  (10/8/2010)
And the beat goes on.  (10/4/2010)
Differences of opinion of library funding continue.  (9/18/2010)
Leaders of Village of Sussex, Town of Lisbon clash over funding for library. (8/26/2010)
Will annexation resolution interfere with negotiations over joint library agreement?  (8/4/2010)
Proposal to change library funding formula gets cool reception.  (6/7/2010)
Town of Lisbon Chairman proposes new funding formula for library.  (5/31/2010)

Got Some Work to Do on the Narration

Beloit Public Library Board Names Nathan Deprey as New Director

Photo credit:  Retiring Guy

Beloit Public Library names new director.  (Beloit Daily News, 5/8/2013)

Excerpt:   [Nathan] Deprey most recently served as director of the Osceola Public Library in Osceola, Wis. While there, he was able to increase circulation and program attendance, develop early literacy programs and help guide the Friends of the Library group through a 501(c)3 certification. He also developed and managed library outreach efforts, organized a home energy expo and developed a library expansion plan with the library board. 

Deprey is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, earning a bachelor’s degree in English-creative writing. He earned a masters of library and information sciences degree from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Beloit Public Library

New City Library Board Hires Interim Director

Photo credit:  Library Thing

New City Library hires interim director. (The Journal News, 5/8/2013)

Excerpt:   The nine-member board voted unanimously to appoint Maurice J. “Mitch” Freedman at a special meeting Tuesday. Freedman was director of the Westchester Library System for 23 years and president of the American Library Association in 2002.

Related post:
Meet the micromanaging majority of the New City (New York) Library Board.  (5/5/2013)

No, Ripon is not a neighbor of Stevens Point

And La Crosse is not across the Mississippi River from Winona, Minnesota.

Map credit:  Wisconsin Joint Committee on Finance

Someone, apparently, wanted to present a better geographical balance among the committee's 16 members.

Impossible!

More Republican Hypocrisy on the Small Government/Local Control Front

News release

Thank you, Pat, for your 

logic.

Paying for it on the flip side.

Fat Secret

Pueblo Chieftain

One 12-ounce can

From the Huffington Post

Perhaps It's Time for Northlake to Prioritize Its List

Bring the Hulk to the Northlake Public Library

Related post:
Bringing Hulk to the Northlake Public Library District.  (5/3/2013)

Kaukauna Public Library on the Move

Kaukauna Public Library

13 Assembly Republicans Endorse More Funding for K-12 Education (and None of Them Lives Close to Robin Vos)

You could almost call it the I-39 dividing line.

Assembly Speaker Vos lives in Racine County, in the southeastern corner of the state.

Where the members of the Joint Committee on Finance live.

LINK

Is That So, Governor?

GOP lawmakers offer plan to kill Milwaukee's streetcar project. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/8/2013)

Another example, by the way, of Republican hypocrisy when it comes to small government and local control.

The Daily Kos

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: Incompetence Rewarded

Walker stands by WEDC. (Wisconsin Radio Network, 5/9/2013)

In other words, Nygren is counting on voters suffering from their usual memory loss.

Related posts:
And while we're at it, let's take a look at WEDC 's core values. (5/9/2013)
WEDC Public Information Officer Resigns After 1 Month on the Job.  (5/9/2013)
Plenty of time for messaging but none for fixing what ails WEDC.  (5/9/2013)
Previous WEDC audits?  What previous audits?  (5/8/2013)
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

And While We're At It, Let's Take a Look at WEDC's Core Values

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (About Us)

Related posts:
WEDC Public Information Officer Resigns After 1 Month on the Job.  (5/9/2013)
Plenty of time for messaging but none for fixing what ails WEDC.  (5/9/2013)
Previous WEDC audits?  What previous audits?  (5/8/2013)
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

WEDC Public Information Officer Resigns After 1 Month on the Job

Latest turmoil at WEDC prompts Democrats to demand changes. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 5/7/2013)

Meet John Gillespie, who will soon be updating his LinkedIn profile, I assume.

This Public Affairs Institute?

Last month, John was hired as WEDC's public information officer.  On Monday, May 6, he submitted his resignation.

In yet another sign of WEDC's increasingly dysfunctional operation, the hiring committee -- raise your hands, please, so we can recognize you -- must have decided to dispense with the basic vetting process.

A reporter from Madison's WKOW-TV did the work for them.

John owes the State of Wisconsin $36,046.56 in back taxes.

It's a public record, WEDC folks.

It gets worse.

In a separate case from Outagamie County, the state Department of Workforce Development filed a warrant seeking nearly $8,000 in unemployment insurance compensation benefits he received.

Shoreline, Washington.

Creve Couer, Missouri.



Related posts:
Previous WEDC audits?  What previous audits?  (5/8/2013)
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

Plenty of Time for Messaging, but None for Fixing What Ails WEDC

Walker stands by WEDC. (Wisconsin Radio Network, 5/9/2013)

Related posts:
Previous WEDC audits?  What previous audits?  (5/8/2013)
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

Single-sentence paragraphs alert: This is one of many things wrong with Wikipedia

Through 2004? C'mon, you can do better than that.

Source:  Wikipedia

More recent number are available. 

Table 2. Deaths, death rates, and age-adjusted death rates for 113 selected causes, Injury by firearms, Drug-induced Injury at work, and Enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile: United States, final 2010 and preliminary 2011—Con.  (Center for Disease Control)

Assault (homicide) by discharge of firearms

• 2010 - 11,078
• 2011 - 11,101 

Wikipedia:  In some instances, just like the black-and-white leftovers of Encyclopedia Americana.

Back in my reference workshop days, I always considered it (EA) an optional purchase.

What got me to thinking about this topic.

Vocabulary alert?

Sorta like "surge", it seems.

Publishing reference works, in any format, is not a part-time job.

Experts only, please.

If it's New York City budget time, there must be another cut in library funding.in Mayor Bloomberg's budget

Albor Ruiz: New York City’s public libraries need their patrons to stand up against mayoral budget cuts. (New York Daily News, 5/8/2013)

Mayor Bloomberg's FY2014 budget proposal cuts library funding by $106,000,000 -- a 35% reduction from the current year's budget.

Save New York Libraries

Petition at SignOn.org

April 18, 2013 Press Release: City Comptroller John C. Liu Criticizes Underfunding and Sell-off of NYC Public Libraries to Private Real Estate Developers.

South Carolina Voter Preferences Confirmed by the Make-up of State Legislature

Sanford and the Electoral Effect of Sex Scandals. (The FiveThirtyEight, 5/8/2013)

South Carolina Legislature

Top 10 Political Sex Scandals.  (TIME, 6/11/2011)  Although Mark Sanford gets top billing, Dems hold a 6-4 edge overall.

Previous WEDC Audits? What Previous Audits?

According to a letter sent to Sen. Cowles and Rep. Kerkman, co-chairs of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee,  the WEDC audits (financial and program evaluation) weren't required until this year.

The audit released last week is of the program evaluation variety.

The Legislative Audit Bureau provides a "Subject List of Numbered Audit Reports Issued from 1993 through 2013".

Here is the only listing for WEDC.  (Word search retrieved 2 hits for "WEDC".)

Related posts:
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

WEDC Defenders: Are You Seeing a Trend Yet?

A seminar in messaging.  (Bold text in the following slides has been added by RG.)

Photo credit:  Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia

 Photo credit:  Wisconsin State Legislature

Vos quote is from "Budget committee could vote on WEDC" (Wisconsin Radio Network, 5/7/2013)

Excerpt:  And he said the situation at WEDC was “totally different” than that at the University of Wisconsin System, where the presence of a budget surplus angered Vos and other GOP lawmakers.

The smokescreen must be losing its effectiveness. 

Related posts:
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

Library of Congress Featured on 5/7/2013 PBS News Hour

Here are a couple of clips.

Watch Patrick Loughney on the need to preserve recorded history on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Watch Gene DeAnna's Timeline of Recorded Sound on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

This is What Passes for Political Insight in South Carolina

South Carolina Election Results 2013: Mark Sanford Wins First District Race. (Huffington Post, 5/7/2013)

So that's what they call adultery in South Carolina nowadays.  "Following your heart".

Sorta like "hiking the Appalachian Trail".

This Laugh's On You, South Carolina

The avid hiker of the Appalachian Trail adulterer wins a seat in Congress.

San Diego's Old Central Library to Close June 9th in Preparation for Opening of New Central Library

San Diego Public Library

A few shots I took during a January 2013 visit to San Diego.

Related post:
I'll be able to check out the construction progress next week. (1/9/2013)

Once Bitten, Twice Bitten in Wisconsin's 18th Senate District

Gudex photo credit:  Wisconsin State Legislature

Gudex fields criticism of school voucher program support. (Fond du Lac Reporter, 5/6/2013)

Excerpt:   Local residents gave Rick Gudex an earful during the state senator’s town hall meeting Monday morning at the Fond du Lac Public Library.

For more information on Randy Hopper, see State senator ousted in recall arrested in Fond du Lac County (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 11/22/2012)

Let's make that thrice bitten.

Jury finds Hopper not guilty of OWI chargeUnion conspiracy used as defense in trial of former state senator.  (Fond du Lac Reporter, 3/24/2012)

Excerpt:   :A jury of six women returned the verdict Friday afternoon.

Walker Cabinet Members to Schmooze with Generous Campaign Contributor

Governor Scott Walker Takes Cabinet on the Road,   Modine Manufacturing Company in Racine Hosts First in Series of Listening Sessions.  (Office of the Governor news release, 5/6/2013)

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Follow the Money

Thomas A. Burke has contributed $13,500 to Scott Walker since November 19, 2011.

Echoes in the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Spin

Scott Walker calls for special meeting of WEDC board following scathing audit. (Wisconsin State Journal, 5/6/2013)

First of all, in paragraph 2, we have an instructive use of the technique of "bridging", and I'm not sure whether to credit Mary Spicuzza or Scott Walker for this evasion of the topic introduced in the opening paragraph,

As defined in "The SUV Idea" (Library Journal, 11/15/2003), bridging allows you to take a question that is off the point you are trying to make and turn it back to your agenda -- in Walker's case, from the WEDC embarrassment to the UW reserves smokescreen.

I suspect we'll hear further echoes after WEDC's "emergency" meeting.

Vocabulary lesson:  Merriam-Webster defines "proactive" as acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes.

To me, Tom, this means WEDC would have

• developed policies to administer its grant and loan programs effectively
• established all required statutory policies
• performed the analysis necessary to determine if an applicant’s proposed project was eligible for a grant or loan.
• submitted contractually required progress reports
• complied with the state statutes

And everything else that the audit found lacking in WEDC's operations.

Related posts:
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)
Work to do, words yet to live by.  (12/27/2012)

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, All 41 Locations, Awarded National Medal

Library locations

National Medal for Museum and Library Service

 

So why does Cincinnati's newspaper think the award is just for the main library?

Might it have something to do with the fact that it's part of "A Gannett Company"?

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

"Firearms for Young Viewed as Routine" in Burkesville, Kentucky

Girl’s Death by Gunshot Is Rejected as Symbol. (The New York Times, 5/5/2013)

Burkesville, a once-busy river port, is the county seat of Cumberland County, Kentucky.  Ir has a population of 1,521, a 13% decline from 2000.

There are fewer people living in Cumberland County today than there were nearly 200 years ago in 1820.

Source (column graphs above and below):  City-Data.com

Source:  CNN