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BH: According to Junger, ASM must now weigh its options and decide whether to raise segregated fees, cut services or fight the decision legislatively. “We could just go with it. We could try and get segregated fees exempted from the funding, although the total amount doesn’t change and we would just get hit elsewhere,” Junger said. “There [...]

The kicker. The fundraiser is to raise legal defense funds and hospital bills for the jackass who was driving the motorcycle (without a motorcycle license) and is now sitting in jail facing charges for DUI and vehicular homicide, not to mention operating a vehicle without a license. You can read the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's article here.

You want to hear the good news? Free beer at the fundraiser.

Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

Mad props to Midwest Microbrews for pointing this out.

Funds generated by Housing, segregated fees to be appropriated for financial aid; ASM says their funds were already spent

by folkbumI'll be appearing in a way too brief segment Sunday morning during "UpFront with Mike Gousha." Milwaukeeans can see it on channel 12 at 9 AM; others should check listings here. The program will also be archived and available online by early next week, too.I'm up against (natch) Owen Robinson. I got in a few good shots, but I didn't have quite enough time to get to everything I wanted

It was hardly "Piss Christ" or a Robert Mapplethorpe erotic nude picture. But a picture by an 11-year-old Hmong girl of her stepbrother prompted two complaints (one from a Madison police officer) and a lot of hand-wringing about what is appropriate for an art show in a Madison public building.

Adrienne Nettles via a kind reader's email: In a vote preceded by outbursts from board members, the Montgomery County Board of Education on Wednesday selected Barbara Thompson as Montgomery's new superintendent.

The board voted 4-3 along racial lines to offer the job to Thompson, who currently serves as superintendent of New Glarus Public Schools in Wisconsin.

Black board members Mary Briers, Eleanor Dawkins, Robert Porterfield and Beverly Ross voted for Thompson. Voting against her were white members Charlotte Meadows, Heather Sellers and Melissa Snowden, who all wanted to continue the search process.

Thompson was the lone finalist for the job after Samantha Ingram, superintendent of Fairfield County Schools in South Carolina, withdrew on Monday.

Ross, chairwoman of the school board, said she called Thompson shortly after the vote and Thompson accepted the job.

"I am excited that she's excited about coming here," Ross said. "She was already talking about how to get our test scores up."

Thompson, in a phone interview from her house in Wisconsin, said she and the board in the next few days should begin working out the details of her contract, which include salary negotiations.Thompson was formerly principal at Lapham Elementary in the Madison School District. The Montgromery School District, with 31,000 students, is nearly 1/3 larger than the Madison Schools.

Looks like they forgot to pay city hall to keep the lights on. It looks like it's been suspended for failure to pay a license fee. Should be a pretty simple fix.

The memo was released today by city hall.

Anyone know the score and want to comment?

Thanks to @in_tent_city and Kristin Czubkowski of The Capital Times for the heads up.

Sorry for the slow posting this week. It's the lazy days of summer when everyone is entirely too busy doing nothing at all to get anything done. Next week will probably be equally sporadic, but we'll have some good stuff. Promise.

In the meantime, a press release from New Glarus about the re-certification of the underrated Organic Revolution. In fact both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer put the Organic Revolution squarely in the middle of the pack: B and 50, respectively. When we reviewed it, we noted its dual personality as both an American and Belgian-ish pale ale.

ps. If it's any consolation, we agree with Deb that the USDA seal is kinda corporate looking. Necessary evils and all that jazz.

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New Glarus Brewing Company's 'Organic Revolution' Supports the Organic Movement
New Glarus, WI
June 16, 2009:

All of the beers at New Glarus Brewing Company are brewed to be pure and natural, but 'Organic Revolution' goes a step further. Those looking for a refreshing way to support the Organic Farming Movement will delight in this complex and assertively hoppy golden ale. But now 'Organic Revolution' will have a little something extra.

'Organic Revolution Ale', one of New Glarus Brewing Company's eight year-round offerings, is as pure as beer can get. Made with organic Pilsner and Caramel malt, organic German Hallertau Hops, and absolutely nothing else. 'Organic Revolution' is even 100% naturally carbonated in the bottle, which is an uncommon practice. The barley is grown organically, then is malted organically in Wisconsin at Briess Malting of Chilton. Another unusual aspect of this beer is the use of 100% organic hops as this is, surprisingly, not required by the USDA. New Glarus Brewing Company believes the inclusion of all natural organic ingredients is the best way to support the Organic Farming Movement. "This is important to us", Dan says, "This is the best way to protect our food chain, and a great way to support small, local farmers".

On May 14, 2009 Robert Caldwell, the Midwest inspector for Oregon Tilth, re-certified 'Organic Revolution Ale' after a complete brewery inspection. Oregon Tilth works for the USDA to certify both producers and brewers. 'Organic Revolution Ale' has been certified wholly organic since 2008, and the 'Oregon Tilth' name appears on newer bottles. Perhaps some wonder why the USDA stamp has not appeared on the label. "We have the option to write it out or use the seal" Deborah Carey says, "We thought wrongly that the USDA seal was rather corporate looking and not keeping with our message. This omission has confused some people, so we will start utilizing both the USDA and Oregon Tilth stamps on our future labels".

So you can look forward to the same great flavor celebration in 'Organic Revolution' that you have come to know and love, with the small addition of a USDA stamp on the label from now on. Dan and Deb Carey have always believed that the only way for the Organic Movement to succeed is for all of us to support it. So raise your glass and toast to Wisconsin's common sense Revolution!

Dear Vincent O'Hern,
I read in last week's Isthmus that it was to be the last issue to carry The Straight Dope. Reading those words seemed so unreal to me. "Could they really be dropping it?" I asked myself.

Well, with the arrival of this week's issue, I see now that it is true. You really have gone AWOL from Uncle Cecil's army and have dropped out of that fight against ignorance. For shame!

I first began reading The Straight Dope in the 6th or 7th grade when I lived in Chicago. When I moved to rural Wisconsin, I missed it deeply and was overjoyed to find that your paper carried the column when I moved here to Madison in 1990.

When Isthmus went from broadsheet to tabloid, I stuck by it and have continued to do so as the paper has shrunk over the years to its comparatively anorexic incarnation. I've enjoyed reading The Straight Dope on my bus rides home on Thursdays for some time and now you have deprived me of this.

Have you read the current issue? Isthmus used to be something for me to look forward to. First there was a lethal dose of investigative reporting and then I could read a film review by Kent Williams which would make me want to buy the entire Criterion Collection. This was followed by one of Tom Laskin's music reviews that generally made me want to strangle him. My perusal would be topped off with some chuckle-inducing personal ads and Uncle Cecil's humorous nuggets of knowledge.

But recently Isthmus became almost bereft of writing with any flair. It's as if you sent everyone to a business writing class to make sure that no one would have a unique writing style and that everything was written at an 8th grade level. And now you've taken away the last bit of humor your publication had (PS Mueller is decidedly not funny.) and replaced it with Linda Falkenstein's food cart tweets. Gee, thanks for the "upgrade".

Isthmus remains informative but it's no longer fun. Please bring back The Straight Dope.

Signed,
An Angry Reader

The Economist: The right and wrong ways to get more poor youngsters into the world's great universities LOTS of rich people and crummy state schools, especially in the big cities where well-off folk tend to live: these common features of America and Britain help explain the prominence in both countries of an elite tier of private schools. Mostly old, some with fat endowments, places like Eton, Harrow and Phillips Exeter have done extraordinarily well. Fees at independent schools have doubled in real terms over the past 25 years and waiting lists have lengthened. Even in the recession, they are proving surprisingly resilient (see article). A few parents are pulling out, but most are soldiering on and plenty more are clamouring to get their children in. Row, row together All sorts of class-based conspiracy theories exist to explain the success of such institutions, but the main reason why they thrive in a more meritocratic world is something much more pragmatic: their ability to get people into elite universities. For Britain and America also have the world's best universities. Look at any of the global rankings and not only do the Ivy League and Oxbridge monopolise the top of the tree, British and (especially) American colleges dominate most of the leading 100 places. This summer graduates will struggle to find jobs, so a degree from a world-famous name like Berkeley or the London School of Economics will be even more valuable than usual. The main asset of the private schools is their reputation for getting children into those good universities.

The Economist: In both America and Britain recession has so far done little to dent the demand for private education.

"COMPARED with last year, applications are up 14%," says Mark Stanek, the principal of Ethical Culture Fieldston, a private school in New York. All through the application season he and his board of governors had been on tenterhooks, waiting to see if financial turmoil would cut the number of parents prepared to pay $32,000-34,000 a year to educate a child. Requests for financial help from families already at Fieldston had been rising fast, and the school had scraped together $3m--on top of the $8m it spends on financial aid in a normal year--in the hope of tiding as many over as possible. Nothing is certain until pupils turn up in the autumn. Some parents could get cold feet and sacrifice their deposits. Yet so far the school is more popular than ever.

Across America the picture is patchier, but there is little sign of a recession-induced meltdown in private schooling. Catholic parochial schools and some in rural areas are finding the going harder--but this is merely the acceleration of existing trends. Private schools in big cities with rich residents, and those with famous names and a history of sending graduates to the Ivy League, seem to be doing rather well. "Some parents weighing up their options may be worried about what recession will do to public-school budgets," says Myra McGovern of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), which represents around 1,400 of the country's 30,000-odd private schools. "And some may think that if other people are struggling, that will mean their children are more likely to get in."