Monday, February 2, 2026

Donald Trump: Not a details person (Kennedy Center edition)

 
 Headline and excerpt:  New York Times
Reported by Adam Nagourney and Julia Jacobs

Related post:

Other Kennedy Center posts:
2026

2025
 .  (1/26
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Cruising Redtail Ridge neighborhood development in Middleton Wisconsin (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
Photo, video and screenshots by Retiring Guy






Aerial view from Google Maps.  (Orange highlight added)



Redtail Ridge

Misty Valley neighborhood in the foreground.  Redtail Ridge in upper right.  Open areas at right is the Ziegler Farm, currently under development.

Photo credit:  The Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy


Related posts:
2026

July-December 2025

January-June 2025

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Ziegler Farm neighborhood development in Middleton WI (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
Photos and videos by Retiring Guy










Plat of neighborhood development

Middleton Plan Commission
Other north Middleton developments:

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Old Sauk Trail Apartments on west side of Madison Wisconsin (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
From this...

Photos by Retiring Guy

...to this.....

...to this.

Rendering:  Madison Plan Commission



Wisconsin State Journal, 6/18/2025

Nicole Pollock reports: 
The three-story development proposed for 6610–6706 Old Sauk Road, on the remaining four acres of the Pierstorff farm, drew opposition from some neighbors who said it would look out of place in the neighborhood, worsen traffic and congestion and increase the risk of flooding. 
After more than a dozen people spoke against the project at a City Council meeting last June, the council signed off on it in a 15-4 vote. Four neighbors filed a lawsuit in July challenging the rezoning of the former farm, arguing that the development would make their properties more likely to flood and that the rezoning conflicted with Madison’s comprehensive plan.

Capital Times, 6/24/2025
A Madison developer plans to forge ahead with construction on Old Sauk Road, despite neighbor objections and a pair of lawsuits. This comes after the City Council recently affirmed rezoning the land for the project in response to a lawsuit challenging the change.
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GET ME REWRITE: Local government officials in Beaver Dam Wisconsin ignore core value: Communication Matters

 
Screengrab:  City of Beaver Dam
Headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 2/2/2026

Tony Kertscher reports for Wisconsin Watch:
How did a $1 billion, 520-acre data center proposed by one of the world’s richest companies go unnoticed in tiny Beaver Dam? 
A key reason: In a city that lists “communication matters” atop its core values, officials took steps to keep the project hidden for more than a year. 
Now Meta, the trillion-dollar company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is building a complex as big as 12 football fields in a city with a population of 16,000, enough to fill only a fifth of Lambeau Field.

Related posts:
2025

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Redtail Ridge Apartments in Middleton, Wisconsin (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
Photos by Retiring Guy




Aerial view from Google Maps.  (Orange highlight added)



Redtail Ridge

Misty Valley neighborhood in the foreground.  Redtail Ridge in upper right.  Open areas at right is the Ziegler Farm, currently under development.

Photo credit:  The Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy


Related posts:
July-December 2025

January-June 2025

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Middleton Shores redevelopment, Century Avenue in Middleton WI (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
Photo by Retiring Guy

Renderings of new construction
 

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Low-density, multi-family housing at 2259 Allen Boulevard in Middleton Wisconsin (February 2026 construction site visit)

 
Photos by Retiring Guy



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Washingtonian has best headline on Trump's announcement to close Kennedy Center

 
Illustration:  ChatGPT
Headline:  Washingtonian, 2/2/2026

Andrew Beaujon engages in some hilarious mockery:
Smear madness: Declaring the Kennedy Center “tired, broken, and dilapidated,” President Trump announced last night that he would close the arts complex for a two-year renovation as of July 4. As usual, details are scant, but despite the President’s purported motivations, the fact is that performers and audiences have fled from the Kennedy Center—not least because he slapped his name on the front of the building—under the stewardship he forced upon it. (Washington Post) What will this mean for employees? For the NSO? Who will pay for this renovation and what will it entail? Will Congress finally step in? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (NYT) The center is among the many local landmarks Trump plans to put his characteristic stamp on. One hopes Dulles won’t have to close as well. (AP) Related: Here’s a list of Trump’s business failures, including Trump Mortgage, Trump Steaks, and the Trump Shuttle. (LAT)

Related posts:
2026

2025
 .  (1/26
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2026 elections: Will Democrats flip Indiana House district 72?

 
The district was within the 15-percentage-point margin of Democratic Party over-performance in 2025 special elections.  Look at what just happened in Texas.  

Election results and district map:  Ballotpedia
Headline:  AlterNet, 2/2/2026

Tom Davies reports for the Indiana Capital Chronicle:
Republican Rep. Ed Clere has decided to leave the Indiana General Assembly after 18 years — and says the political changes brought by President Donald Trump have pushed him out of the party.  [emphasis added]
Clere cited the conflict over the failed congressional redistricting demanded by Trump among his reasons for not seeking reelection to his House seat this year. He further plans to run as an independent candidate for New Albany mayor in 2027.

District 72 is located across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.



Related posts:
Colorado 5th CD.  (6/9/2025)
Connecticut 1st CD.  (9/16/2025)
California 7th CD.  (9/17/2025)
Florida 6th CD.  (4/9/2025)
Florida 7th CD.  (8/7/2025)
Iowa 1st CD.  (4/10/2025)
Iowa 2nd CD.  (4/10/2025)
Iowa 3rd CD.  (4/10/2025)
Michigan 7th CD.  (6/19/2025)
Michigan 10th CD.  (9/30/2025)
Pennsylvania 8th CD.  (7/7/2025)
Wisconsin 1st CD.  (4/9/2025)
Wisconsin 3rd CD.  (4/9/2025)
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Bird flu reported at Pennsylvania egg laying facility with 1,500,000 hens

 
Headline:  WATT Poultry, 1/30/2026

Roy Graber reports:
The year’s first confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry flock in Pennsylvania involved a commercial laying hen flock of 1,509,700 birds. 
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported that the situation was confirmed on January 28 in Lancaster County. 
The state earlier this year reported two instances of HPAI in backyard flocks and two live bird markets, but according to World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) rules, HPAI infections in such premises should not have an impact on global poultry trade. 
Prior to this, the last time Pennsylvania had a commercial poultry operation struck by HPAI was on December 29, 2025, when a flock of 32,800 commercial meat ducks was affected. According to APHIS data, Pennsylvania lost 10 commercial poultry flocks, collectively involving 2,327,600 birds in 2025.

Related posts:
January 21-31, 2026

January 11-20, 2026
New York tells resident don't touch those dead birds.  (1/17)

January 1-10, 2026
Bird flu strain of avian influenza:  "The picture has grown darker and stranger than most would have imagined".  (1/8)
Bird flu reported on Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts. (1/8)Dozens of vultures die of bird flu in North Carolina.  (1/8)

December 16-31, 2025

December 1-15, 2025

November 15-30, 2025

November 1-15, 2025

October 2025

September 2025

April-August 2025

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