I used to work for a UW-system university and we always took the open meetings laws super seriously. It was to the point where you had to read a script when a meeting goes into closed session to cover your ass.
Somebody new bought Midtown Center and a new tenant is moving into the space that the city normally leases for the voting site. It sounds like they lease it for a month when an election approaches and then let it go again but a normal business is willing to grab it for longer. My voting site in Glendale keeps moving (a university, a high school, a bar, a library, etc). A disused retail space is probably pretty conveint but I'm sure there is a church basement somewhere if they can't work something out with Midtown Center.
I'm hoping that finishing the lakefront line allows them to start building momentum for a third line. (Maybe from the intermodal station to the convention center or MATC?)
The Milwaukee Clipper (the boat that the Lake Express replaced) primarily went between Milwaukee and Muskegon but they did seasonal routes all over Lake Michigan. Folks complain about the cost of running high-speed passenger rail from Milwaukee to Green Bay but what if there was another ferry route going from Chicago to Milwaukee and onward to Green Bay? I would use it.
This was supposed to be dealt with back in May. Even if the continuing resolution gets through the Senate, I'm guessing that we are going to be back here a month from now but with no house speaker (after Lauren Boebert and company force him out of the speakership for being "too liberal").
"If voters want change, they should go to the polls" doesn't work anymore. I don't know if it is the Democrats' spinelessness or the fact that the GOP is doing everything that they can to gerrymander and rig elections, or when that fails, just try to overthrow the damn government. We really need a plan B, though.
Over the past 2 years, Republican-controlled states have been quitting the Electronic Registration Information Center like it's going out of style. Conspiracy theorists insist that it is some sort of liberal front for controlling elections. In reality, it is just a way of making sure that someone isn't registered to vote in two states at the same time. I'm just glad that Evers is there to veto the bill.
Theaters like The Oriental, The Downer, The Times, and The Avalon are damn treasures. Unlike Marcus and AMC theaters (with their dozen screens and acres of parking), the indie theaters were built at a neighborhood scale. I really like being able to walk or bike to a theater on a Sunday afternoon. In recent memory, we've lost The Downer, The Fox Bay, and the Rosebud. The Rivoli Theatre up in Cedarburg has stayed open by leaning on a committed group of volunteers and community fundraising. Last year, the folks who own The Fox Bay tried to get $773,000 from the Downtown Incentive Grant program to help pay for the renovation and reopening of it. This summer the Fox Bay Theater opened its doors for a short high school film festival. I'm hoping that non-profit community groups (like Milwaukee Film) and community involvement can save as many of these places as possible.
Every time I walk past that structure, I wonder why the performing arts center hasn't rebuilt it, yet. I guess if it is owned by the city, that would explain it.