Retiring Guy's Digest: 2019-07-28

Saturday, August 3, 2019

GOP members of Congress announce their retirements from the House early and often

Say goodbye to 58-year-old Susan Brooks, who represents Indiana's 5th congressional district.

Indiana Republican Susan Brooks will not seek re-election to Congress. (Indianapolis Star, 6/15/2019)

Although she doesn’t know yet what that next chapter will be, she knows she's ready to slow down and spend more time with her family. And that means no more bids for Congress or any other elected office — including the position of governor that she sought in 2016.

The good news is that a Democratic challenger managed to get more than 40% of the vote in 2018.

Source: Ballotpedia

govtrack

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (My Congressional District)

Sources: CNN (US/IN), Daily Kos (IN 5th CD)

The Obama elections:

2008: McCain, 52.6%; Obama 46.6%
2012: Romney, 57.5%; Obama 40.7%

Other retirement posts:
Alabama 1st CD. Bradley Byrne. (8/1/2019)
Alabama 2nd CD. Martha Roby. (8/1/2019)
Georgia 7th CD. Rob Woodall. (8/2/2019)

GET ME REWRITE: Most books by Martin Mayer purchased by LINKcat public libraries have been weeded

All that's left

LINKcat

Martin Mayer, Prolific and Protean Author and Critic, Dies at 91. (The New York Times, 8/1/2019)

Many of his books examined familiar professions and institutions, with titles like “Madison Avenue, U.S.A.” (1958), “Wall Street: Men and Money” (1960), “The Schools” (1961), “The Lawyers” (1967), “About Television” (1972), “The Bankers” (1974), “The Builders: Houses, People, Neighborhoods, Governments, Money” (1978) and “The Diplomats” (1983).

The titles made them sound perhaps like quickie surveys, but they proved to be serious books, often years in the making, that treated complex subjects with respect if not total justice. Reviewers and professionals often cited oversimplifications and said readers might be misled. The very title of “The Lawyers,” for example, suggested to one reviewer a wallow into the murkier gimmicks of the legal profession.

Related posts:
2019
Keeping tabs on Wright Morris in LINKcat. (7/25/2019)
No room for Judith Krantz's tales of sex and shopping on the shelves of the Middleton Public Library. (6/27/2019)
Nearly forgotten "sociological megahits" of 1970. (6/18/2019)
Anthony Price, author of Cold War spy thrillers that few people read anymore, dies at 90. (6/17/2019)
Herman Wouk, author of many fat books, dies at 103. (5/20/2019)
Warren Adler: Forgotten author who now takes up minuscule library shelf space dies at 91. (4/23/2019)
Dan Jenkins, author of nearly forgotten classic sports novel, dies at 90. (3/10/2019)

2018
Nearly forgotten "sociological megahits" of 1970 Neal Thompson on parenting books. (6/17/2018)
LINKcat libraries provide little shelf space for titles by 'rule-breaking cookbook author' Barbara Kafka. (6/8/2018)
Weeding or historical sanitization at LINKcat libraries? (6/2/2018)

2017
The "spy' books by Aline Countess of Romanones haven't traveled well. (12/17/2017)
Minimal shelf space devoted to Kit Reed's books in LINKcat public libraries. (10/1/2017)
Carol J. Adams shares feminist classics from her personal library. (9/8/2017)

2016
The distant dirty dozen literary career of E. M. Nathanson. (4/10/2016)

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

2014
Thomas Berger (1924-2014). (7/23/2014)
Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014) (4/8/2014)

2013
Barbara Branden's shelf sitter. (12/26/2013)

Population loss in North Dakota: McHenry County

It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source: Wikipedia (McHenry County, Towner)

Towner is the county seat of McHenry County.

Population loss by degrees: 80-90%, 70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:

19.6% - McHenry County
28.9% - North Dakota
30.9% - U.S.

Percentage of population 65 and older:

20.4% - McHenry County
15.3% - North Dakota
15.6% - U.S.

The last time MeHenry County voted Democratic in a presidential election was 1964. Trump won 72.7% of the vote in 2016.

Other North Dakota posts:
Divide County/Crosby. (7/23/2019)
Golden Valley County/Beach. (7/24/2019)
Billings County/Medora. (7/24/2019)
Slope County/Amidon. (7/25/2019)
Adams County/Hettinger. (7/25/2019)
Hettinger County/Mott. (7/26/2019)
Dunn County/Manning. (7/26/2019)
Burke County/Bowbells. (7/28/2019)
Ranville County/Mohall. (7/29/2019)
OIiver County/Center. (7/30/2019)
Grant County/Carson. (8/1/2019)
Emmons County/Linton. (8/1/2019)

Other population loss series:

Arkansas
Detroit metro

Pennsylvania
South Dakota

Population loss in North Dakota: Sheridan County

It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source: Wikipedia (Sheridan County, McClusky)

McClusky is the county seat of Sheridan County, just north of Burleigh County (population 95,275), where the state capital of Bismarck is located.

Population loss by degrees: 80-90%, 70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:

14.1% - Sheridan County
28.9% - North Dakota
30.9% - U.S.

Percentage of population 65 and older:

32.4% - Sheridan County
15.3% - North Dakota
15.6% - U.S.

The last time Sheridan County voted Democratic in a presidential election was 1936. Trump won 82.6% of the vote in 2016.

Related reading:
With Rural Towns Vanishing, States Choose Which to Save. (The New York Times, 1/3/1990)

Since the 1950's half the people and most of the businesses have left the barren buttes and prairies of Sheridan County in central North Dakota. The county has no doctor, no hospital, no traffic light, no Greyhound bus service and more ghost towns than live ones.

McClusky, the county's biggest town, might not be here if it were not the county seat, residents say. It has barely 600 people and a withering Main Street dotted with storefronts that have been closed for years. Nobody can remember when a new building last went up.

Other population loss series:

Arkansas
Detroit metro

Pennsylvania
South Dakota

Friday, August 2, 2019

GOP members of Congress announce their retirements from the House early and often

Say goodbye to 49-year-old Rob Woodall, who represents Georgia's 7th congressional district.

U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will not seek re-election. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/7/2019)

Congressman Rob Woodall will not seek re-election next year, all but ensuring his rapidly-diversifying suburban Atlanta district will become one of the country’s fiercest political battlegrounds in 2020.

The Lawrenceville Republican said Thursday he plans to step aside at the end of the current Congress because of recent political and personal developments. In addition to surviving the narrowest race of his political career last year, Woodall also lost his father.

He won by 430 votes.

Source: Ballotpedia

govtrack

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (My Congressional District)

Sources: CNN (US/AL), Daily Kos (AL 1st CD)

The Obama elections:

2008: McCain, 60.1%; Obama 39.1%
2012: Romney, 60.2%; Obama 38.3%

Other retirement posts:
Alabama 1st CD. Bradley Byrne. (8/1/2019
Alabama 2nd CD. Martha Roby. (8/1/2019)

Around Town Middleton UPDATE: Staff and visitors may now park in the MCPASD Services Center lot

Photo by Retiring Guy

All of the departments are located at the Services Center.

Source: Middleton Cross Plains Area School District

Original 7/11/2019 post, "Why are there so many cars parked on South Avenue by the MCPASD Services Center in the middle of summer?", starts here.

Photos by Retiring Guy

Reconstruction of parking lot

Around Town Middleton posts
June 2019
"ROAD WORK AHEAD" trumps "DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE" on Park Street. (6/27/2019)
Free lunch Friday. (6/24/2019)
CBD, just like everywhere else in Wisconsin. (6/24/2019)

February 2019
According to chapter 8.07 of the city ordinances.... (2/4/2019)

January 2019
More than a snow fort, but not a standing-room igloo. (1/2/2019)

December 2018
This section of sidewalk was replaced in 1980. (12/18/2018)
The post office's new and improved self-service kiosk. (12/18/2018)

November 2018
Spell checker. (11/19/2018)

August 2018
Must be on a tight schedule. (8/6/2018)

July 2018
What type of seeds? (7/6/2018)

June 2018
If it's not one thing, it's another. (6/23/2018)
Bloom Bake Shop to reopen as Bloom Bindery, a bakery/bookstore. (6/15/2018)

May 2018
The Tiedeman Pond frog chorus. (5/15/2018)

March 2018
Tiedeman Pond winter fish kill. (3/30/2018)
Hear that lonesome whistle blow. (3/22/2018)
Explosion on Elmwood Avenue. (3/20/2018)
Googling 'Henry Hubbard'. (3/18/2018)
A not-so-faded Flo strikes a new pose. (3/12/2018)

February 2018

3 orange cones on sidewalk. (2/26/2018)

January 2018
This corner house is now a rental. (1/16/2018)
This 1955, 1296-square-foot ranch on Cooper Avenue was listed at $219,500. (1/13/2018)
It's always the season of the witch at this Anderson Street address in Middleton. (1/11/2018)

December 2017
A sure sign that this request went unheeded, if not unseen. (12/24/2017)
Turnstile Christmas Eve services at St. Luke's. (12/13/2017)
You've heard of a bear hibernating, but how about a bakery? (12/13/2017)

Marilyn Smith Miller (1934-2019) Warren High School class of 1952

Source: Warren Times Observer

1952 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory (no entries)

James and Marilyn Miller are listed in the county section as living at 301 College Street in Youngsville
Smith Melvin T (Marian) carpenter Larson Building Company h1003 Conewango Avenue

1983 Warren City Directory

James and Marilyn now live at 139 Marsh Avenue in Youngsville
Smith Melvin T (Marian) retired h614 Conewango Avenue

The popularity of Marilyn as a baby name is graphed here. Let's take a look at granddaughter Gabrielle.

Source: Social Security Administration

Gabrielle debuted in 1957 and took some time finding a steady upward path. She flourished during the l990s and 2000s, spending 21 years (1990-2010) in the top 100, peaking at #46 in 1999. She's now on her way to becoming yesterday's news.

Other class of '52 grads:
2019
Ralph Wade. (7/8/2019)
Dudley Donaldson. (2/8/2019)
June Odmark Wiggins. (1/5/2019)

2018
Richard Hansen. (1/2/2018)

2017
Donald "Dean" Webster. (8/2/2017)
Earl Henry Campbell. (7/17/2017)
Theodore Shaw. (6/7/2017)
Richard Suppa. (5/27/2017)
Neil Siefert. (4/18/2017)

Mary Anne Handest McHenry. (3/23/2017)
Reynold Flatt. (2/27/2017)

2016
Donald Merkle.  (9/23/2016)
Minnie Bonavita Miller.  (6/10/2016)
Myra Wilson Babcock. (5/19/2016)
Norma Pierce Nielsen. (4/6/2016)
Santo 'Sam' Pascuzzi. (2/14/2016)

2015
Glenn Culbertson.  (10/23/2015)

2014
Elizabeth Eggleston Hoffman. (10/17/2014)

This is the lede, for crying out loud!

Reported in Trump claims he'll 'end the AIDS epidemic,' 'cure childhood cancer' at Cincinnati rally. (USA Today, 8/1/2019)

Pew Research, 4/24/2019

Dear Anne,

Something for you.

Best,

Retiring Guy

Dear Becky Blank and Ray Cross, Time to move on. Best, Retiring Guy

Reported in Murphy's Law: 13 Takeaways on Foxconn’s Birthday. (Urban Milwaukee, 8/1/2019)

Tony Evers had a strong July and August in the polls.

Original 12/6/2018 post, "Foxconn leaves Trojan horse at door of UW, Rebecca Blank and Ray Cross wheel it in as victory trophy", starts here.

Murphy's Law: Foxconn Covets Intellectual Property Rights. (Urban Milwaukee, 12/4/2018)

Related post:
Foxconn/UW-Madison agreement locks out engineering faculty, graduate students. (11/6/2018)

Foxconn promises: Then and now

Murphy's Law: 13 takeaways on Foxconn's birthday. (Urban Milwaukee, 8/1/2019)

Those satellite innovation centers won’t be created. As I predicted in July 2018, those innovation centers Foxconn had planned to create in Milwaukee, Eau Claire and Green Bay were unlikely to happen and would be forgotten about once Walker’s reelection campaign was over. As the technology publication The Verge has reported, some real estate purchases promised by Foxconn in those cities never happened and the buildings it did buy have no Foxconn employees or activities in them.

You can read about Scott Walker campaign doantions at

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Time for the Middleton Dollar Tree to replace its carpeting

Photo and video by Retiring Guy

Sally Nelson Metzger (1936-2019) Warren High School class of 1954

Source: Warren Times Observer

1954 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory

Metzger Robert D (Sally N) employee Sylvania h102 Central Avenue
Nelson Georige (Geraldine; George W. Nelson Agency) h213 Biddle Street

1983 Warren City Directory

Metzger Robert D & Sally N; president North Penn Pipe and Supply h102 Central Avenue
Metzger Sally N Mrs office clerk North Penn Pipe and Supply h102 Ccntral Avenue
Nelson Geraldine M Mrs retired h213 Biddle Street

The popularity of Sally as a baby name is graphed here. Let's take a look at grandson Kyle.

Source: Social Security Administration

Kyle struggled to gain traction throughout the 1st half of the 20th century. His best years occured from 1974 to 2009, when he spent 36 years in the top 100, peaking at #18 in 1990.

Other members of the class of 1954:

2019
Phoebe Marie Jewell Ahlgren. (4/28/2019)
David Neal Redmond. (3/4/2019)

2018
Roberta Cable Anderson. (11/3/2018)
Patrick Michael Sheehan. (9/19/2018)
Charles Salerno. (3/19/2018)
Joan White Wood. (2/12/2018)
Janet Lauffenberger Day. (2/11/2018)

2017
Georgeanne Pappas Kornreich. (11/27/2017)
Anita Miller Smith. (10/25/2017)
Michelene Figliuzzi Colgrove. (6/1/2017)
James Hornstrom. (3/9/2017)
Richard Latimer. (1/31/2017)
G uard Pierce. (1/24/2017)

2016
T homas Gray. (10/16/2016)
Franklin Ristau. (4/21/2016)

Richard Helmbrecht. (3/27/2016)
Luella Wert Wile. (3/15/2016)
Edward Erickson. (3/4/2016)

2015
Keith Otterbein. (7/20/2015)
Marlene Ceriola English. (6/28/2015)

2014

Robert Johnson. (8/10/2014)

Lois Egger Anderson McDanel. (6/23/2014)

Phillip Stewart. (2/20/2014)

GOP members of Congress announce their retirements from the House early and often

Say goodbye to battle-scarred Martha Roby, who represents Alabama's 2nd congressional district. She doesn't want to go through her 2018 re-election experience again.

GOP Rep. Martha Roby won't seek reelection. (Politico, 7/26/2019)

The Alabama Republican — who narrowly escaped a bitter primary fight last year — had become a controversial figure in her home state after she disavowed her support for Donald Trump before he was elected president.

Source: Ballotpedia

Former Montomgery mayor Bobby Bright ran as a Democrat and won the seat in 2008, which is probably why the Montgomery area was sliced and diced in the last round of redistricting. Roby defeated him in 2010.

The art of the Alabama gerrymander

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (My Congressional District)

Sources: CNN (US/AL), Daily Kos (AL 2nd CD)

The Obama elections:

2008: McCain, 64.5%; Obama 35.0%
2012: Romney, 62.9%; Obama 36.4%

Other Roby posts:
Alabama GOP Rep. Martha Roby on religious freedom and contraception. (3/24/2016)
Planned Parenthood videos altered? Makes no never mind. (11/29/2015)
No friend to the environment. (11/14/2015)

GOP members of Congress announce their retirements from the House early and often

Opinion: The Republican Exodus from Congress, by Michalle Cottle. (The New York Times, 7/31/2019)

Say goodbye to 64-year-old Bradley Byrne, who represents Alabama's 1st congressional district. He announced a run for the U.S. Senate on February 20, 2019.

Source: Ballotpedia

Jo Bonner resigned from the seat in 2013 to take a position with the University of Alabama. As you can see, it's a safely red district.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (My Congressional District)

Sources: CNN (US/AL), Daily Kos (AL 1st CD)

The Obama elections:

2008: McCain, 60.9%; Obama 38.5%
2012: Romney, 61.8%; Obama 37.4%

Related posts:
Alabama GOP Rep. Bradley Byrne on religious freedom and contraception. (3/24/2016)
These Alabama House Republicans pledge not to work with President Obama. (1/13/2016)
Planned Parenthood videos altered? Makes no never mind. (11/29/2015)
On evolution. (8/26/2015)
Meet the Members of the Republican Study Committee. (6/30/2015)
No friend to the environment. (11/14/2015)

One of the highlights of two days of walking in the downtown area of Indianapolis

On my Tuesday walk, the impressive Gothic structure below came into view a few blocks after I walked north on Meridian from Indianapolis' Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Curiously, I waited a day to investigate whether a tour of the interior was possible.

Photos by Retiring Guy

As my tour guide explained, most people assume the building is a church. Since its construction from 1927 to 1929, it has been the Indianpolis home of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

The Cathedral was built at a cost of $2,500,000. Today such a building would cost in the neighborhood of $37,000,000.

The original entry (below) was designed according to the specifications, as described in the Bible, of of the Sanctum Sanctorum of King Solomon's temple.

The reception hall.

Membership at Indianapolis' Scottish Rite Cathedral has dwindled to 6,000 from a peak of 40,000 -- and my tour guide offers a number of historical photos to back up this claim. In order to raise the necessary funds to maintain the facility, the Cathedral has been in the wedding reception, banquet, and prom business since 1995, and is now considered one of the city's premier special event venues.

The lounge, once upon a time. It is now a space used for banquets.

During its heyday, the Cathedral a brisk lunch business, as many of its members worked downtown.

The library.

The ballroom, a popular location for wedding receptions.

The 1,100-seat theater.