End Game

The letter came out of the blue, hand-addressed and quaintly snail-mailed. “An invitation,” it began.It was from a childhood friend of my father’s named Howie. He and his wife, Joyce, were hosting a dinner party for two longtime friends and their wives. “By any chance, are you and your wife free that evening?”They must be ancient by now, I thought. Howie, Norm and Lee grew up with my father, running through the alleys around 16th and State. They were Depression kids and some were war vets, instilled with survival skills that steeled them for the toughest times of the century.…

There’s nothing like a Rotary Club luncheon to take the measure of a candidate. That’s what brought me to Wauwatosa and Edgerton to watch, respectively, Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Scott Walker and Mark Neumann. Both seemed cut from the same conservative cloth of fervent, pro-business tax-slashers. At times, their easy certitude begins to take on the feel of a patent-medicine pitch. Suffering from catarrh? Lumbago? The vapors? Dropsy? Do you have the nervous fidgets? Never fear, friends! Take two strong tax cuts and you’ll be fit as a fiddle! But in the midst of a scary recession, a jobs-focused, economic message…

It doesn’t take much to kindle a conspiracy theory these days. Roll out an idea to replace the dowdy Hoan Bridge and you’d think it was a secret plan to relocate the Guantanamo prison to Bay View. The report on the bridge was released six months ago by the state Department of Transportation, completed by the firm HNTB, the original designers of the Hoan. It suggests we could save as much as $3 billion in taxes and enhance lakefront development by replacing the Hoan with a lower-rise roadway resembling the Sixth Street bridge. I read the report, drove back and…

Photos by Corey Gaffer, Text by Rincey Abraham Toby Minett, age 36 “I’ve been fishing for 20 years. My uncle taught me. I just throw the line in, let it chill and see what happens.” Amanda Bonney, age 21 “What do I like best about it? The quality time with my dad.” Lenny Koniecki, age 80 “I learned how when I was 12. I once caught a 32-pound salmon on the pier.” (l to r) Craig Flenory, Ant Banks & Craig Hampton, all age 43 “Best time is early in the morning, 4 or 5 o’clock. April to October. We…

Here’s a story that tells you something about politics in Wisconsin: In January, Madison utility executive Gary Wolter was named the head of Gov. Jim Doyle’s stimulus office to work on securing federal funding. Within 24 hours, he was dubbed Wisconsin’s “pork czar” in repeated blog postings. As Charlie Sykes pointed out, what could be weirder than fierce partisan antagonists like Democrat and liberal Ed Garvey and conservative blogger Deb Jordahl both sniffing their noses at Wolter’s appointment? Then again, even the whiff of “pork” gets proper Wisconsinites red-faced and indignant. Take Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. His initial response…

  It was small beer, but the instant the $45 million settlement with Mercer Inc. was finalized, Milwaukee County officials proclaimed it as proof they were blameless in passing the outrageous pension deal of 2000. Experts have estimated it may ultimately cost taxpayers as much as $900 million, so recouping one-twentieth of this will hardly make a dent in the bill. Yet some board members were giddy with thoughts of redemption. “It vindicates us,” said County Board Chairman Lee Holloway. “The untold story,” declared Supervisor John Weishan Jr., “is that of the elected officials [ including his sister, former Board…

Surely a more desolate, down-to-the-heel, slipshod-looking place could scarcely be found than Milwaukee in October 1838. – From a speech by banker and activist E. D. Holton, Nov. 22, 1858 An odd location for a town … a greater part of what is already laid out … being under water. – Author unattributed, in The Yeoman newspaper, 1837 The pioneers who came … were convinced … here was the site of a great city. Possibly Chicago might some day become a dangerous rival, but that was extremely doubtful. – Laurence M. Larson, “Sectional Elements in the Early History of Milwaukee,”…

Wisconsin Republicans are like that cranky uncle at family gatherings. The old blowhard with the loud, stale opinions. The scold who picks a fight at the dinner table. That’s your average GOP politician, circa 2009. For almost 20 years, Republicans had dominated state politics. They set the agenda. They drove the discussion. They attracted the best young political minds. That is, until the party slid into self-caricature and jihadism after Gov. Tommy Thompson resigned and left for Washington in 2001. Last November, Wisconsin Republicans hit rock bottom, as Democrats captured the Assembly. This completed the rare state trifecta of single-party…