Friday, July 18 / 4pm -10 PM
4-6 PM: BBQ & Baseball and Kickball, King Park (1 block from Nowhere Central)
6-10 PM: Bands play, including: Acne Attack!, Prohibition, Crappy Dracula, Dinosaur Pills, The Mistreaters. Nowhere Central, 1315 McKinley Ave. Milwaukee, WI

Saturday, July 19 / 11 AM-11 PM
11 AM - 5 PM: Zine fair, dialogues and workshops (see below), UWM Library 4th Floor Conference Center
6-11 PM: Bands play, including: Dallas/Marie, Irock Z, The Candliers, Gerald Prokop, Truthdealer, Kid Millions, Mutiny Amongst Friends, Porches, Bromance, The Vault 927 E. Center St. Milwaukee, WI 53212

Sunday, July 20 / 1-10 PM
1-5 PM: Films, dialogues and workshops (see below), UWM Library 4th Floor Conference Center
6-10 PM: Bands play, including: Number 9 Hard, Kickin’ It Poolside, The Jack Moves, The Brief Candles, The Fishtank, 2866 Fratney St. Milwauke, WI 53212

For a list of full workshops, including copier tricks, teen education, feminist and queer discussions, film screenings, and gallery previews, and a list of confirmed tablers so far, check the Midwest Zine Collective Website

also Note under VII, Police Department: Request to Amend MPD Rule 4, Rescission of Rule 9, and Creation of SOP 340.

All very vague.

Additionally, no minutes to the previous meeting are available. According to folks at the FPC, “Minutes are usually developed for each meeting.  However, in the recent past they have been delayed due to press of business and short staff.  We will develop them as time permits, and hopefully one day we will be able to keep them current.  In the meantime, any questions regarding what happened at the last meeting may be telephoned or e-mailed in for response.”

um, what? Minutes are usually developed?

Now that’s public process!

July 7, 2008

PUBLIC NOTICE – FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA
DATE:    July 10, 2008
TIME:    4:45 p.m. (open committee meeting)
5:30 p.m.  (open session)
PLACE:    Room 301-A, City Hall, 200 East Wells Street  (open committee meeting)
Room 301-A, City Hall, 200 East Wells Street  (open session)

AGENDA ITEMS – Open Committee Meeting

The Committee on Rules and Complaints of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will meet in open session to consider the following proposed amendments to Fire and Police Commission Rules:
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When corporate representatives get elected to government or appointed to non-profit boards, we get disaster in public policy. George Bush and Dick Cheney have been great examples of that.

Recently, the State of Florida gave Nestle Corporation the right to steal the people’s water–as much as it can–from the drought-distressed Madison Blue Springs State Park. For this right, they will pay absolutely nothing for the next 10 years.

Hard to believe? You can read more here.

And before we think it’s far from home and we don’t need to pay attention, did you know that for the last 10 years the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, a state-chartered government agency, has contracted wastewater treatment out to private companies?

I wonder who sits on their board?

KT Rusch (Mali Blues, Universal Love Band) and fellow musician Saskia Pretorius are sponsoring a Rally for Compassion to raise awareness of the human rights violations in Tibet and China. They ask supporters to wear red to symbolize compassion, and to bring signs to promote compassion, and photos of the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King and Gandhi.

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What is so remarkable about the human spirit is that the monks who witness these atrocities and compile these photos are not just praying for their homeland martyrs, they are praying for the Chinese in prayers such as “May the Buddha Consciousness of compassion increase in the Chinese” at their peaceful demonstrations in India.

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Please join us at RALLY FOR COMPASSION!
Bring coffee, smiles, open heart, meet new friends.

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A note from KT, the organizer:
I received photos from Buddhist monk, Tenzin P. in India that show evidence of Chinese brutality in Tibet. I have posted a short piece on the Tibetan Uprising here: http://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/KtRusch/TibetanUprising2008

We did it! Thanks to your hard work, our grassroots campaign has energized the district and earned an improbable victory. Thank you to the hundreds of people who gave time, money, and good will to this inspiring effort, and thank you to the thousands of people who trusted our campaign with a vote on Tuesday.

Thank you also to Patrick Flaherty and the thousands of people who trusted his campaign with a vote. We all should reach out to Patrick and his supporters. To make this district and city better, we will need the energy, insight, and good will of everyone who lives here.

Patrick has an accomplished track record of fighting for social justice and fiscal fairness in this city. We all must continue the fight for those causes. Together we will build a better future for Milwaukee!

Nik Kovac

Nik Kovac . . . . . . . . . . 4,292 50%
Patrick Flaherty . . . . . . . 4,221 49%

The people’s power called this one in. And every vote counted.

Thank you, everyone. Each one individually, and all of us together.

Sura

Medicine Collection Day
Saturday, April 19
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
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- Nik Kovac is a leader, challenging Mike D’Amato when he was expected to run for re-election. Conversely, Patrick Flaherty told me he last year that he would only run if D’Amato stepped down.
- Nik is progressive. He’s thoughtful on big issues and I’m excited about his ability to bring a new way of thinking to politics in Milwaukee. We’re not going to solve our problems with the same kind of thinking that got us into trouble. Nik will bring us new solutions.
- Nik doesn’t waste money on massive mailings, and he promises the same wise use of our tax dollars.
- Nik has run a clean, positive campaign.
- Nik’s campaign is fueled by the people, not big money or political insiders
- Nik Kovac is smart, honest and trustworthy.
- Nik is educated and involved on local issues. He’s the only candidate that I’ve seen at neighborhood meetings, city planning meetings, development hearings, student groups, environmental meetings. He’s involved in Urban Agriculture, Food Policy, Milwaukee River Preservation, Historic Preservation, Riverwest Neighborhood Association, etc.
- Nik is Local. He was born and raised on the East Side, and he lives in Riverwest. Unlike his opponent, he’s involved in his neighborhood association, his block club, his church and volunteers teaching chess to high school students.
- Nik cares about all of Milwaukee. He attends Community Brainstormers meetings at St. Matthew’s Church on 9th and Chambers because he cares about all the problems in the city, including segregation, economic development and public education.
- Nik has committed to local campaign finance reform, which we desperately need to ensure that aldermanic races can’t be bought by the highest bidder. Votes should come because a candidate is participating in a broad range of community concerns, not just because they can afford to pour tens of thousands of dollars into a mail-blitz campaign.
- Nik is endorsed by the people: environmentalists, artists, teachers, business owners, bicyclists, LGBT community members, and those who believe that local power should remain in the hands of the people.

Please join me in supporting Nik Kovac for Milwaukee’s East Side, Riverwest and Brady St. Alderman, and vote on Tuesday, April 1. Find out where you vote here

That’s what Vel Phillips says about Nik, who calls her one of his civic heroes. She said, “A few weeks ago, Nik asked me if he could refer to me as one of his heroes in his campaign literature. I was honored by the request. I have seen the brochure in which Nik uses my name and picture. I approve.”

I am writing this because Dominique Paul Noth, the editor of the Labor Press, got a few things wrong about Nik in a recent article. No surprise, since the Labor Council is endorsing Patrick.

But let’s get a few things straight.

Noth implies that Nik didn’t get Vel’s permission to use her name. This is untrue. As you can see from the quotes above and her hand-signed letter on Nik’s website it’s clear that Vel Phillips gave her permission, and that she is one of Nik’s supporters.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_c5K7Jdw9E

From the Earth Hour website

On Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!