By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor We are back to work and back to the email. Ah, here is one from state Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) telling me that 2011 was "one for the history books." I thought all years ended in the history books, although I must confess that...
DNR secretary's plans to sell public land are ill-conceived
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor Stand by, bargain hunters. Soon you may have an opportunity to pick up a few extra acres at rock-bottom prices. At least that what Cathy Stepp, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, suggested Nov. 29 at the...
'That Dam History' offers balanced account of tumultuous La Farge flood-control project
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor I spent a good chunk of the weekend wallowing around in dam-old history, or, more exactly, old-dam history. For those of you born too late or who moved here from other locales, the La Farge dam project kept the area, and at times...
New concealed-carry law prompts a rush of questions
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor Ah, yes, deer season is over, and the rifles are snug in their cases and stored in closets, but here in Wisconsin, we never want to be too far from a firearm. Only a few days after the effective date of the new concealed-carry law,...
Schools should try to remedy not only flabby bodies, but also flabby minds
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor Back in the bad old post-World War II age, when I was growing up, no one worried about chunky kids. They might have worried if they could catch the little devils and put them on a scale. But, like Bugs Bunny's Road Runner, most of...
For tips on education reform, look to Finland
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor If you had been a visitor at Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton Schools last week, you would have witnessed hundreds of students slumped over their desks, engrossed in taking standardized tests. Meanwhile, in Madison, the Assembly passed a...
Legislative special sessions are exercises in folly
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor There's nothing like a Wisconsin Legislature special session that can make average people slap their foreheads and groan in despair. As my first example, I will cite the repeal of the Smart Growth law. Most readers may not be aware...
Local community development group focusing on 'forgotten corner of Monroe County'
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor I was feeling upbeat Thursday after our small, ad hoc community-development group met for the second time to discuss a solution to the crumbling business climate that surrounds us. Fourteen attended this time, including some new...
Abolish weasel words, please
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor On one of my recent strolls with my trio — one dog and two cats — it occurred to that I find their company so enjoyable because they do not talk. I say this as a person who loves language, but at times I wish it had never been...
Help stem a small town's slow death
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor The wind was howling down Ontario's Main Street on a gloomy fall Tuesday, on the sort of day that leaves us little to expect but the annual battle with snow and ice. A clanking noise caught my attention. It was the Peeling Ceiling...
