Wake Up! Waukesha

A Saturday, January 27’th article in another news publication reveals one unfortunate set of circumstances which, in turn, resulted in another foreseeable set of reactions.
 
Last year, an Arrowhead basketball player was suspended for 90% of the season for disciplinary reasons. Ironically this student, Charlie Chapman, found his suspension lifted exactly in time for the sectional playoffs. Extremely talented on the court, he literally helped carry an already strong Arrowhead team deep in the State Tournament. Imagine – a suspension for your star player which penalizes him so severely that it results in him only being able to play in the biggest showcase of the year! 
 
Last week, the Arrowhead basketball team, minus Charlie (he is not on the team this year), played Waukesha North. Several students were wearing self-created “Where’s Charlie” T-shirts with prison bars over the name. They obviously were still smarting from the knowledge that Charlie’s suspension had ended “just in time” for him to dominate last years’ playoff game resulting in a North loss.
 
The shirts? Obviously in bad taste. The high school years help kids hopefully understand differences between good and bad judgment. Two tee-shirt wearing North students were ejected (suspended?) from the game and that’s where the story should end.
 
It doesn’t…
 
The following in the same news story:
 “I absolutely refuse to talk about something like this. It’s ridiculous to talk about,” said Geoff Steinbach, Arrowhead’s athletic director (AD). “If you got a problem with that, you can just call the (expletive) superintendent.” This - the same AD who handed down the 90% suspension. The Arrowhead Superintendent was unavailable for comment (probably not real happy with being referred to by one of his employees as the “expletive” superintendent)…
 
With Geoff’s politically astute statement in mind, the following, from the article: .,.” Chapman was sentenced in September to serve a term of probation after taking a girl’s car in November 2005 without her permission and crashing it. He was found later that day with a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent. He also was ordered jailed for 30 days after being found drunk in a park while his case was pending. 

He was suspended for 90 percent of the 2005-06 basketball season but returned to lead the Warhawks to a berth in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 finals. He was then suspended from the team for one year – essentially ending the junior’s high school athletics career – last spring after testing positive for marijuana as part of a court-ordered drug test…”
 

????   90% Suspension??? You are (expletive - it worked for Mr. Steinbach) kidding me?? What do you have to do to get a 100% or a 96.5% or a 92% suspension with the preceding as a benchmark for a 90%??? This is so transparent that all politically-correctness leaves

It is time to change what is unquestionably broken!

Property taxes are high. Too high – according to most.

Blame for property taxes is assigned to:

Education - Teachers and their salaries/benefits, school district officials; program funding within the schools which turns out “well-rounded” students; building maintenance; safety; extracurriculars; books & supplies; staples…everything is “wasteful” and not responsive to the local tax pressures.!

Local Government - Officials/employees and their salaries/benefits; the costs for safety, recreation, and public services; water & sewer; maintenance; garbage collection fees; pet licensing costs…basically everything you couldn’t blame on Education.

County Government - Same as “Local” plus adding in ”The size of the County Board”.

ATTENTION – EVERYONE! It is broke at the State Level!

Bi-partisan politicking is killing Wisconsin! Illegal power-brokering at the highest elected levels (remember Chvala & Jensen?) is killing Wisconsin... Maintaining electability before all else is killing Wisconsin. Avoidance of tackling really tough issues is killing Wisconsin.

I wrote the following to Governor Doyle and State Senator Kanavas last week:

Dear Governor Doyle,

Today – not tomorrow, is barely soon enough to save what has taken years to develop: the quality of the Waukesha School District. With 13,000 students, the Waukesha District has an excellent past history of providing excellence in education. The diversity of this District is further reason to admire past results.

The District Administration is currently undergoing the process of “discovering” over $3.4 million dollars in budget cuts for the next budget. This is on top of repetitive cuts in the prior years.

This is not “new”. You assisted in holding the line “for” education funding against withering attacks in the Capitol. Well, this is no longer just a “talking point” between parties. This is clearly a bi-partisan problem demanding a bi-partisan solution.

We have attempted past dialogue with Sen. Kanavas. It was wholly unsatisfactory. His responses blamed “Democratic Doctrine”. That is as totally evasive as Scott Jensen’s past responses were. Quit blaming each other and get to the negotiating table.

Both parties got us to where we are now. It is up to both parties to respond immediately and with impact.

Save our schools in Waukesha. Find a common dialogue with the opposition before these proposed cuts become reality. Assuredly, I am not alone in demanding - insisting on accountability from my elected officials. If our kids lose, the whole State loses.

Jay J. Walt

Cc State Senator Kanavas

Neither acknowledged nor answered my letter!

Politicians used to be “statesmen”. Today, they have become publicity-driven, power-hungry figureheads of their parties and only truly concerned with electability. Go ahead – write them! Good luck…

It’s really, really broke at the State level…We deserve better…

Alright! Will the real dummy please stand-up (or sit-down…)?!

On Friday, January 19’th, Waukesha will be treated to a rare, local appearance from Chip Martin and his sidekick – Dale Brown.

And why should we care????

*Because Martin & Brown are among the best and funniest ventriloquism teams in the Country!
...or
*Because it’s winter and there is not a lot else to do!
*Because your toenails are already clipped thereby freeing-up your Friday evening!
*Because it’s incredibly value-priced at 9 BUCKS?!
*Because we in Waukesha love a great deal!
*Because you relish the idea of a dummy making a fool out of another dummy!
*Because rumors have it that Dale Brown is concerned with Chip Martin's "sexuality" (He should know - his hand is perilously close to Chip's derriere for hours on end...)
*Because every seat is a great seat in the Waukesha Civic Theatre, and you will be close enough to the performers to possibly get splinters!
*Because you are “stuck in a rut,” and this is a tow-truck of laughter!
*Because I am the guest emcee!
*Because we’re all “hams at heart”, and this performance will be recorded and then shown all over the Country!
*Because it’s cheaper then a movie and there is no $9.00 popcorn to waste money on!
*Because the biggest local complaint is “There’s nothing to do in Waukesha…, and this is the perfect antidote for that!

Hustle down to the Theatre box office and get your tickets now – seating is limited for this one-time event. Rumors are rampant that Chip’s (not Dale’s) “groupies” have bought a block of tickets, so hurry…

In the meantime, peruse the following press clipping announcement for the show…


Local "Mannequin American" to Appear
at Waukesha Winter Jamboree

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin (January 15, 2007) — He has been described as “a hammer with a voice, looking for someone to pound on.”
He pulverizes his victims in the process of educating them during corporate seminars or while lecturing to them during convention keynote speeches. Or sometimes, he entertains them to the point of tears at comedy venues.
He is Chip Martin, and he lives in Waukesha ... in a suitcase.
Martin is a puppet … or as he prefers to be called, a "Mannequin American."
Martin has appeared at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and on Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America, The Today Show and many other television shows, theaters and clubs throughout the country. On Friday, January 19th, he will make a single show, "hit and run" appearance at the Waukesha Civic Theatre as part of Waukesha's Winter Jamboree festivities.
"My agent obviously messed up," Martin told me during an exclusive interview.
In truth, the special Waukesha show has been a long time in planning and will culminate with the performance being recorded for a DVD that will be produced and available for sale sometime in April.
Martin is the number one sidekick of comedian and master ventriloquist Dale Brown, who also serves as president of Brown & Martin, Inc., a Waukesha-based marketing, public relations and IT firm that serves companies across the country.
Brown describes his success as an entertainer as a “hobby that got out of hand.” Martin describes it as "dumb luck." Whichever it is, the duo finds themselves riding a wave of popularity as ventriloquism is enjoying a revival of sorts. This is in part, due to a full week of ventriloquists on David Letterman's show, a successful Broadway show about ventriloquist featuring Jay Johnson of Soap fame, and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's Comedy Central DVD recently reaching triple platinum status making it the largest selling comedy DVD in recent history.
"We've been working steadily for over 20 years," Martin said. "So I don't know what all the sudden fuss is about. All I know is that I just doubled my price … which means I now get two six-packs."
Martin will be appearing with a cluster of other characters who have become mainstays in Brown's stage shows. Waukesha's audience will meet Bertha the Bag Lady, Shaggy Dog, Louie the Jockey and others.
Well known comedian Ron Dentinger will open the show which starts at 7:30.
Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at the WCT box office or by calling 262-547-0708.