I would like to send a blossom to all those involved in the renaissance of downtown Monroe. >Monroe Main Street, UW-Extension, corporate leaders, the Farmer's Market and many other deserve credit for breathing life into a downtown that was showing signs of blight and neglect. Investment in the Square is on the rise. It's exciting to anticipate the long overdue streetscaping, the making of a true people-oriented city Square. Monroe Theatre Guild and the Arts Center's presence downtown ensures that the arts will be a part of the mix. The city promoting the sale and rehabilitation of historic buildings, or the construction of new ones, is a true sign of the city coming back to what it once was, and even more. The Wisconsin Culinary Center, hopefully, will become a reality. However, two pieces still are missing from the mix - a downtown hotel, and downtown housing. People tend to shop in the neighborhoods where they live. Let's hope that soon developers will rehab old buildings into condos, townhouses or apartments, or else build new ones altogether. The new Darlington downtown rowhouses are a good example, but we need housing downtown for working people, as well as seniors. When this happens, there will be no stopping downtown Monroe. It will have arrived, like never before. Live, work, shop and play in the heart of the city. It will be well worth the move to Monroe from any place and every place. - Ready to move, just build me a home>
A huge barb to the lady who left their child >(about 2) in the car while she was in the bar Friday the 29th. Her car was there when I got there. About and hour and a half later, I heard the baby crying, otherwise I would have never known. Poor baby! I have a child that age and my heart just broke. There is no reason a child should be out that late at night (2 a.m.). Then another huge barb to the cops >who did nothing about it. Just thinking about the whole situation just makes me sick. I have no tolerance for people who do things like this and for people who let them get away with it. - A Very Upset Mom>
A blossom for the businesses in downtown Monroe. >I was able to plan my entire wedding without leaving the Square. Both rings, my gown, mom's dress, tuxes, pictures, hair, nails and makeup, invitations, unity candle, flower girl dress, flowers, rehearsal dinner, reception, bachelorette and bachelor parties and favors, registry, honeymoon trip, catering and gifts. Believe it or not it was cheaper than going anywhere else, and way convenient. Some business owners even referred me to other Square businesses if they didn't have what I was looking for. (Like Madison shops would do that.) I really believe in shopping local as many of us do, and I'm glad I was able to do as much as I did and the fact it was all in one spot in the downtown was bonus! Thank you, Square businesses, for making my big day so easy to plan. - Blushing bride>
A huge bouquet of blossoms to the Pecatonica High School Future Problem Solvers team >under the direction of Irene Middlemas for being selected as the 2009 International Community Problem Solving Grand Champion. Your project on safe driving was exceptional, and a great service to your community and fellow students. You should all be very proud! It gives us great hope to know we have kids of your caliber coming up to face the problems of the world. - Proud Pec citizens>
A barb against those homeowners> that have the gall to harass and even threaten me because I walk on the grass around a section of their sidewalk that is in bad shape and unsafe to walk on, or walk on the grass along the edge of a street where there is no sidewalk. Some streets are not in very good shape, either. I'm visually impaired with a number of eye and vision problems, including depth perception. I'm concerned with injury while power walking, so I avoid walking on bad, unsafe sidewalks and streets. When walking on the grass, I'm within the right of way. I do not walk where someone is trying to grow new grass. If homeowners do not like me walking on the grass, they either can replace their bad, unsafe sidewalk, put a sidewalk in or bite their tongue. Also, another barb against the mayor and the city council >for not requiring that bad, unsafe sidewalks be replaced. - Dave Searles, Brodhead>
A blossom to the City of Monroe, the downtown business owners and Fehr-Graham >for your work on getting the downtown landscaping the ability to get started. I'm sure that we're all eager to see that the project is done correctly and on time. We need to take advantage of the beauty of the Square and market this even more as a tourist destination. This will help the city as well as the county as these tourists have to pass through your towns and businesses to and from their destinations. Tourists are here for a reason - to shop, have fun and spend money.
A blossom to SLANT and the Monroe Police Department >on last week's drug bust. Great job and keep up the good work, but once again, it's been brought up by others why have you not brought out the drug-sniffing dogs to the high school parking lot this year?
A barb to pretty much the entire oil industry, >which includes the producers, refiners and distributors. I know that my writing this won't do jack, but c'mon, gas is up 74 cents from a month ago and over a dollar from about six months ago. The best the media can do is relate that at least we're not paying what we did last year. We got hosed last year, so how is comparing now to then a good thing? We need to call our representatives in Madison and in Washington, D.C., and tell them this is unacceptable. Demand for oil is down, yet prices jump up? - Rob McCarthy>
A barb to the Monroe City Council.> Actually, it's more of a question. You mentioned this week during your meeting on the unwarranted proposed transportation utility that two departments already have budget issues. Was City Hall going to tell anyone this? Is this why the city administrator's position has been put on hold? Is this why one department in particular is looking for a cash grab? Maybe if the city hadn't dropped the ball and Menards was already here, the extra taxes that they would have generated could have made this all a moot point. We need better-paying jobs = better local economy = lower taxes. How about that! - Tabitha Wilkens>
A big barb to the Black Hawk school board >for giving a 3.8 percent pay raise to some of our administrative staff. And also to the people that took the raise when the farmers took a pay cut for most of their products. The retired folks do not get this, either. - A concerned taxpayer>
A barb to whomever allowed >the Munz family such a "sweetheart deal." Who in their right mind would have allowed to exempt them from being assessed to install and maintain a sidewalk at their City of Monroe residence? Excuse me, probably the same entity that did not listen to the residents of Monroe, who overwhelmingly voted "no" to the nonbinding referendum to allow the new Walmart Supercenter to be constructed in the first place. I would suggest that the salaries of the city council members and the mayor be used to pay for the installation and maintenance of the needed sidewalk (or maybe they can take turns removing snow for the next 20 years)! - Anonymous>
