For those of you that are unaware (you would have to be living under a rock!) just South of us in Gurnee there is an amusement park, Six Flags, that in the past has needed workers from as far away as Racine.  To accommodate those Racine workers Six Flags provided a bus that would pick them up here in the county and drive them down and back for their shifts.

Well due to the economy being what it is, as well as a number of other financial reasons, Six Flags said that they did not need the workers from Racine that bad and decided to not have a bus doing that trip.

So what does that mean to those people that decide that they want to work at Six Flags?  Well just like the rest of the world that means you are going to have to find a way to either; get to your job (some 30+ miles away), find a place closer to your job (kind of difficult if you’re a minor), or find a job closer to home.

But wait!!!

You the tax payer can help!!!  The city is going to discuss spending $28,000 (as a block grant) to pay for part of the cost of transporting people from Racine to Gurnee.  See JT story here.

Now I know some of you are looking at this post and thinking what a cold hearted bastard I am especially because…”the people riding the bus will have to pay $15 a week for the transportation!”  That is not good enough!!

I’m tired of our society saying half is good enough and the “community” (read “Taxpayer”) will take care of the rest!  That is the same nonsense that is causing all of these people to gush over KRM!!!

If the cost of transporting people from Racine to Gurnee is $46,000 as the article says and the business is not willing to pick up the cost, then the employees that wish to use the transport should pay the full cost…about $48 per week!!!

If we are going to head down that road of half is good enough…well then I guess I’ll start sending in may gas receipts to the “community” and wait for you to pay for my travel as well.

It looks like the Racine Mayor job is attracting some attention by Democrats...Both Assemblymen Turner and Mason have made indications that they are interested in the position.

Funny though...Still have not heard a word from the Racine or State Democrat Party denouncing the former Mayor. I think we will be able to make hay out of that!

Glad to see Helding has thrown his hat in...this will be a fun few weeks!!!

It looks like Mayor Becker was just timing his departure so that it would get buried in the news.

During the President’s inauguration speech Becker’s letter of resignation is delivered to City Hall.

JT: Breaking News – Becker Resigns

Good bye.

This goes into the “What the hell was he thinking?” file…According to multiple sources Racine Mayor Gary Becker was arrested yesterday for solicitation of a minor. This alleged incident took place outside of a Milwaukee mall and the Mayor is currently being held in Kenosha County Jail on a $165,000 cash bond.

According to the Racine Post the mayor’s office had no comment as of 8:04 this morning.

So this begs a lot of questions that I’m sure will not be answered to anyone’s satisfaction.

I feel bad for the Becker family at this time and hope that this will not harm them in any way.

Well it looks like it is official Wendy Christensen (Caledonia’s Village Clerk) has filed the necessary paperwork to run for Racine County Clerk!

For all of the sorted details head on over to Caledonia Unplugged and get the full scoop!!

I have criticized the building of KRM since METRA finished their study and said that the population density was not enough to sustain the line.

I have openly argued that the numbers that are shared by the Transit Now group are “pie in the sky” numbers with no basis in reality.

I have made it crystal clear that the economic development in areas such as Durand and 31, Mayfair, and Bayshore were done with out a single train ever coming into these areas.

But I have never heard the argument against KRM put as elegantly as Mr. Poplawski did in Sunday’s Journal Times Letters to the Editor:

Leave my money alone

The railroad?

Let me see if I understand the KRM proposal correctly.

Some elected officials are in favor of taxing us for a railroad to serve three groups of people:

1. Those who don’t want to live here.
2. Those who don’t want to work here.
3. Those who aren’t here yet.

I do know that I’m already paying a “petax” so millionaires can play baseball in Milwaukee. I know I won’t be voting for anyone in favor of increasing taxes.

It’s time those in office read our lips: “No new taxes.” I pay my own way to and from work.

Jim Poplawski
Racine

Racine County is doing a survey on Smart Growth...while the main survey numbers will be computed based on mailed surveys to random individuals on the voter roles there is an on-line survey. The numbers for the online survey will be reported with the results...but only as a foot note.

Please take the time to fill out the survey:

SMART GROWTH PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY

For those that don’t know my wife, she is in HR and she often hears from recruiters about how their contacts are leery of Racine because of how bad the school district is…well one of my wife’s contacts sent her the following…and I notice that it didn’t make the paper in Racine…funny!?!

The 9th Annual Comparative Analysis of RUSD

The analysis compares RUSD to 9 other similar school district from across the state…RUSD is not compared to Milwaukee in this analysis however in many areas Milwaukee’s numbers are shown as well.

Here are some interesting facts…

• RUSD ranked #1 in Suspensions at 13.1% or 2,788 (Kenosha was #2 at 12.1% or 2,621)
  
• RUSD ranked #1 in Expulsions at 1% or 202 (#2 was Janesville at 0.4% or 45; Milwaukee was at 0.3% or 309)
  
• RUSD ranked #10 in Graduation Rates at 74.7% (Kenosha ranked #3 at 91.3%)
  
• RUSD ranked #10 in the WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam) Proficiency Exam for 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th grade reading and math.
  
• RUSD ranked #10 in % of students taking the ACT and in scores; 39.4% and 21.2 respectively.
  

There is a lot more but I thought I’d just give the highlights!

Is it any wonder that Caledonia wants to secede from RUSD? These numbers are terrible!!!

But before I start hearing about how little teachers are paid yadda yadda yadda…here are those numbers:

• RUSD ranked #7 in Teacher Salaries and Total Compensation at $46,534 and $66,495 respectively.
  
• RUSD teachers ranked #3 in Years Experience in the District at 12.3 years and #6 in Total Years of Experience at 14.0 years.