by Dino Corvino on June 26th, 2009
1. The King of Pop and Farrah Fawcett passed away. Do the passing of folks like these, for lack of a better word — celebrities, affect you? Sadden you? In 2009 are there anymore heroes anymore? Or do we as a culture destroy this with some predatory need?
2. The heat was simply impressive, and the fact that it did not break into a massive storm boggled my mind. How did the heat affect you? As we look to the future, what societal changes can we make to ensure that these extremes in temperature are something that we can protect ourselves and our family against while ensuring we have a working model for the future?
3. Have you ever corrected someone’s behavior in public?
4. We all get slighted, and we all court approval. Do you think you are less likely to speak up in correcting a slight for fear it will lessen your chance of approval later on?
5. Do you think that Wausau has a “cool kids table” like my high school cafeteria did?
6. Do you think you’re smart? Smarter than?
7. Do you like fishing? I just went fishing and caught my first fish, and I threw them back. It was pretty cool. But there were a lot of skeeters on the lake at dusk.
by Brad Schjoth on June 23rd, 2009
You would be hard-pressed to find a soul within the Wausau community who would prefer to see the area more clutter-filled, more polluted and more irresponsible when it comes to pressing environmental issues. Those folks simply do not exist, and if they did, their hand would certainly not be in the air. But while the whole of the community, and the globe for that matter, can easily concede that we ought to strive to take better care of our planet, making that happen is exponentially more difficult than it would seem it should be.
Attempting to turn that mindset into a forward-progressing reality within the Wausau area is the Commission for a Greener Tomorrow. Established during the summer of 2007, the organization assumes leadership in the effort for sustainability through conservation, ecological awareness and higher-level thinking toward our relationship with the environment. Immediately upon dropping those typical catchall phrases, it could be easy to dismiss the group as an insignificant body that merely wants what we all desire—a sparkling, clean planet. However, those “green” initiatives become much more realized when the impact hits home within the Greater Wausau community itself, and when the influence of the committee is clearly noticeable.
Most recently, the commission has been working cooperatively with the Wausau public transportation system in a push to create a bus line that would travel through the Rib Mountain commercial area as it already does in both Wausau and Weston. Creating the Business Improvement District that would provide the funding for the line doesn’t come cheap, however, as an estimate of $85,000 would need to be added to taxes in order to effectively run it—and that’s a low-end figure due to constantly increasing costs. While the numerous benefits to the service can be easily understood, the commission is collecting the opinion of Rib Mountain business owners and residents to gauge support. Fifty surveys were distributed, and as of June 22nd, three had already been completed and submitted to the group.
Over the June 19-21 weekend, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association once again put on their well-received, annual energy fair at the ReNew the Earth Institute in Custer. The Commission for a Greener Tomorrow bussed 15 people to the fair free of charge, which was an increase from eight folks who took the trip last year. Reception and reaction was heavily positive from the attendees, and the organization hopes to garner volunteers and sponsor another bus to travel to next year’s fair as well.
Numerous other projects are in development and exist only in their early stages, as the commission not only tries to gain recognition within the Wausau community, but to also collect support and backing. From reusable grocery produce bags in conjunction with the local farmer’s market, to a large woodworking clinic and art project directed at Wausau elementary students, the group’s aspirations vary, but they consistently support the goal of a sustainable Central Wisconsin. More specifically, the committee is proposing legislation that would declare Wausau an “eco-municipality”—a concept that is already in practice throughout several parts of the state. According to 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, as of November 2007, “12 local communities [have] formally adopted ‘eco-municipality’ resolutions.” The concept is an official pledge to put forth policies that increase the sustainability of the general community through cooperation with the citizens themselves.
The organization has struggled to find considerable support up to this point. With their humble number of recurring members and volunteers working directly with them toward their cause, their intentions are still positive and certainly in the best interest of the Wausau area. Continued work at piecing together resolutions and spreading knowledge about the importance of sustainability are the ultimate goals of the folks at Greener Tomorrow. Hopefully as public recognition and understanding of the group increases, so will the likelihood of success in their ambitions and, in turn, a better Wausau.
by Katie Smogoleski on June 22nd, 2009
[Editor's Note: We love summer reading lists. Katie, an amazingly powerful reader, took on the first one, so we now go to you to send us your reading list for this summer. Work, play, or whatever. We want to know what you are reading, or planning to read.]
Every summer, I look forward to Farmers Markets, concerts on the square, Sunday afternoons at the splash pad and lazy nights spent reading in the hammock. I love my kids dearly, but 8 pm is that magical time when they’re both in bed for the night, and I have a half an hour or an hour to myself, and most of this time is spent reading. On tap for this summer, I hope to enjoy the list below. Please share your insights, suggestions and your own book lists for the summer.
1. Ghost Writer by John Harwood
I checked this out from the library and started reading it last night. So far, the story centers around Gerard Freeman, growing up with a strange and secretive mother, and I expect things to become enthralling and eerie. Entertainment Weekly claims that with his “intricate and engrossing first novel, John Harwood raises the ghost of the Victorian ghost story, goosing the action with a modern spin.”
2. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
My mother loaned me this paperback, and I try to read anything my mom suggests. Reading is a pasttime I share with my mom and sister, and it’s nice to be able to discuss books we’ve all read. Plus, I haven’t seen the movie based on the book yet, so nothing major has been spoiled for me. I think this is mostly about marriage and its struggles and rewards, which sounds interesting enough to me.
3. The U.S. Army Survival Manual by the U.S. Government
Because I bought this a while ago, and it’s still in my to-read pile, and I should learn something useful from my book list.
4. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
I have heard nothing but good reviews for this book. It’s a loose retelling of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the wicked witch’s perspective. “Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should, despite being far removed in spirit from the Baum books, captivate devotees of fantasy,” according to Publishers Weekly.
5. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Daniel, the book’s main character is the son of a widowed bookstore owner and is 10 when he discovers a book called The Shadow of the Wind. Rumors speak of a gruesomely disfigured man burning every copy of this book that he finds. A friend suggested this to me, and I’m a sucker for a book about books.
6. King of Lies by John Hart
I recently read Down River by this author and was entertained enough to seek out more of his work. Publishers Weekly calls this a “stunning debut, an exceptionally deep and complex mystery thriller, comparing favorably to the best of Scott Turow.”
7. Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan
I have read a handful of books by O’Nan and wonder why he isn’t more popular. His books are intriguing and clever, and his characters are raw and real and relatable. This one is about a dysfunctional family who has lost their husband/father, and they all go to their summer cottage for a week to officially say goodbye to him.
8. Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
My official “beach read” for the summer, this is the first of a series about a knitting store which draws loyal locals and a few oddballs. I crochet and am hoping to teach myself to knit this summer, so perhaps this will provide inspiration when my scarf turns into a legwarmer.
9. Immortality by Milan Kundera
This will probably my most difficult read this summer, but I enjoyed Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness of Being and think I’m ready to read more from him. I own Immortality and the Book of Laughter and Forgetting, so I will be happy if I read either.
10. Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
This was a Mother’s Day gift, and I read any book from my husband and children. I think this fulfills my obligatory chick lit requirement for the summer, though Stephen King has it on his summer reading list, claiming “Men out there who think Ms. Picoult is a chick thing need to get with the program. Her books are an everyone thing.”
11. Perfection by Julie Metz
A memoir about the author’s seemingly perfect marriage, until her husband dies unexpectedly, leaving Julie a widow and a single mother. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers her late husband’s infidelity.
12. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge is possibly the best book I’ve read this year, plus it won the Pulitzer. I need to read more from Elizabeth Strout.
by Brad Schjoth on June 18th, 2009
The column I intend to present here is one that is observationally critical and one that displays an opinion about the community that is Wausau, Wisconsin, but to do both in a way that is not overly pessimistic toward what I feel can be a great city. As a 19-year-old headed into my second year of college, whose interests include film, live music, broadcast journalism and an engaging nightlife, Wausau doesn’t necessarily lend too readily to that sort of lifestyle. Does it bug me? Very much so. But while I struggle to fill my summer schedule with a plentiful palette of entertainment, and feel the angst that so easily comes with being young and living in a city that shuts itself down at 10pm, what also becomes very apparent is what Wausau citizens often take for granted. The school system that unfailingly finds itself among the nation’s best year after year, and a junior college that is a stepping stone to the well-respected universities around Wisconsin. A downtown area, which at times may wrestle with financial hardship, that still has a nostalgic facade of decades past, and holds within it the beautiful 400 Block and Grand Theatre. And face it, when the snow falls, there aren’t too many superior places to be.
What I can bring to a column is a scatterbrained, mishmash of feelings—ones that are almost bittersweet. While I sometimes look at the comforts and opportunities being a citizen of the Wausau area has provided me with over the course of growing up, I many times feel as if I’m trapped within this isolated bubble, surrounded by farm fields and geographically dropped in the middle of a state whose only roads leading out into the real world are all dead ends.
by Dino Corvino on June 17th, 2009
I have spent a lot of time decrying the 400 Block plans, and the lack of transparency involved in the process, and the rising costs, but the reality of it is I love the 400 Block, and I love downtown. I spend a lot of my time there. I have also spent a good portion of my adult life living and working in and around the idea of community creation. While it would be easy for me to spout off about Web 2.5 tools and social media, I thought I would talk about the 400 Block.
This week I had a chance to have my first lunch on the block. It was an amazing sort of thing. I bought some food from a locally owned downtown grocer (wink wink), and I went and sat with a friend in the park. There were about 50 people there, all doing the same thing. We were lucky enough to get a bench early, and some strangers sat down with us. And the four of us ended up talking about everything, and they even mentioned this website, which was cool.
There were a ton of 20 somethings, and teens doing whatever it is that teens and 20 somethings do. Primarily I think they were socializing, and by degree, looking for help finding their way through this world. At least that is what I was doing at that age. They were all cool kids, and they seemed to like what was going on there, and the vibe was nice.
Wausau Area Events puts on these little lunches that have amazing farmers, and other stuff. It is truly one of the best, more pure things that Leah and Kari and that group does. I am eternally grateful. I look forward to more time with my spork and some veggies on the square.
But, the event that is sort of the embodiment of the 400 Block, and in a lot of ways downtown, is the concerts.
For me, the music is just sort of warmed over, and not all that interesting, but I think the music is secondary. Every week thousands (maybe) sit on the square, and they get along and have drinks and food and enjoy each other’s company. Young people, old people all sitting together and doing the things that people do – talking about the events of the day, watching kids play, drinking some wine – and it all comes together like community. A community within a community. An inclusive event, put on by the groups that put on things like this in town, for free.
And we are lucky to have it. Communities can be online, focused around a sports team or idea, or around mutual interests. I have always found broad spectrum community is the best thing. Sitting with people, and doing regular people things: that is cool.
And that is what the 400 Block is to me.
by John H. Fischer on June 15th, 2009
One of the stories that has the potential to have an impact on Wausau’s downtown is the whole Fillmor situation. According to the Wausau Daily Herald, it hasn’t been open since April, and not only are the owners facing foreclosure, they are behind in property taxes and haven’t made any payments to the money loaned to them from Wausau’s Community Development Authority (CDA).
As always, before getting into what might be a touchy topic, I think it valid for people to understand my personal background. I don’t know the owners, I never was in the Fillmor because frankly, I am not really a people person so venues designed to draw large numbers of people are normally not high on my list. I really don’t know too much of the history of it except for what I read in Daily Herald or the City Pages. So, with this utter lack of background, why am I writing about the Fillmor? Maybe it is because of this lack of background. I can see the situation from a different perspective. I can look at the Fillmor from the perspective of someone who dabbles a bit in real estate and has been known to wade in the pool of distressed properties from time to time. Also, because dealing with distressed properties can be quite complicated, I will apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I think it better to be a little long winded in order to try to explain in simple terms some pretty complicated stuff.
Here is the situation as I understand it from what I have read in our local publications. Purchasing the old Rogers Theater and then converting it into the Fillmor was not cheap. The owners have a $600,000 mortgage through a non-local lender. In addition, they borrowed money from the CDA to the tune of $175,000, also secured by the property. I read that some of the contractors who did the work have not been paid in full for that work, and have filed construction liens against the property. In addition, the property tax bills are not current. This definitely meets the term of “distressed property” from a real estate perspective. This is when things start to get interesting for me (as a real estate investor).
According to the Daily Herald article, the owner has basically dumped every penny they had into this, and they have simply run out of pennies. They are hoping to find an investor to help them out. I agree that fresh money never hurts, but as an investor myself, now is not the time to jump in.
All of these amounts owed are basically liens against the property. The large $600,000 loan is a first mortgage and the CDA funds are a 2nd mortgage. The construction liens are all liens against the property as are the unpaid taxes. In checking with the City of Wausau Assessment Department’s website, the preliminary assessed value of this property with the improvements finished is $411,500. If you add up the total owed against the property in mortgages, liens and back taxes, the amount is approximately twice as much as the property value. To get in as an investor now, investing in a property that is worth $400K with $800K of liens against it is not a smart move from a real estate perspective. (I understand there is more to the Fillmor than the real estate, there is the business aspect of it as well – however, since I am a real estate guy, looking at the real estate only is just my perspective on things.)
Having this property go through foreclosure is pretty much required before investors are going to take a serious look at this property; some of these liens have to go away. Liens are on a property in a certain order. Taxes are always in first position. Mortgages are in the order that they were obtained (unless one of the mortgages agreed to let a later mortgage get into an earlier position). Other liens such as civil judgments and construction liens would be in line behind the mortgages, again in the order from the oldest to the newest.
Any lien-holder can foreclose on the property if their lien is in arrears. However, a foreclosure normally results in a Sheriff Sale. The proceeds of the Sheriff Sale get paid out as follows: First the party that foreclosed gets paid off. Second, any lien holders in line after the first party get paid off in proper order until the money runs out. (If they run out of money before they get to your lien, you get nothing.) If there is any money left, that goes back to the original owner. Notice I didn’t mention any money going toward any of the lien holders in front of the party that foreclosed. That is because those liens are still valid. If the CDA would foreclose on their second mortgage, it would eliminate all of those construction liens, but that $600K first mortgage would now become the CDA’s responsibility.
The current foreclosure action is being under taken by the first mortgage holder. Considering that the mortgage is for $600K but the property is only assessed at $400K, they will probably not get enough at the auction to pay off their first, which means no one in line behind them (including the CDA) will get anything. What will probably happen is the bank will bid $600K at the auction, no one else will bid. The bank takes it back, all the liens (except property taxes) get eliminated, and now they have to try to sell the thing.
Banks don’t like owning real estate. It is not what they are designed to do. REO’s (Real Estate Owned, the term used for bank-held properties that they took back) are a draw on their balance sheet and their resources. All banks know this. The problem is that larger banks really can’t look at individual properties. They have a procedure, they follow it… period. (This is why I noted that the mortgage is an out-of-town lender, this matters when trying to work something out with that bank.)
I know many people are ready to send a lynch mob after the CDA for loaning nearly $200,000 in return for a second mortgage on a property worth only $400,000 that ALREADY had a $600,000 mortgage on it. Although I will agree that the CDA, when underwriting, depends too much on that second mortgage interest and not enough on the financial strength of the applicant, I have a hard time finding fault with their actions in this case.
I look at this way. What if the $175,000 wasn’t a loan? What if it was a grant? You had someone who was willing to take a long-time vacant property and turn it into something that had the potential to be a regional draw, something that would bring people to Wausau from the region, and more specifically, bring people to Wausau’s downtown. There are discussions about investing anywhere from $500,000 to over $1 million into the 400 Block for this exact reason, to draw people to downtown. So, with that concept in mind, a $175,000 GRANT to the Fillmor seems like money well spent.
However, it wasn’t a grant, it was a loan. A loan secured by a second mortgage. A mortgage that is just adding to the weight of the total project right now.
If I was going to invest in the Fillmor, this is how I would do it (again, from a purely real estate perspective). I would be working my butt off with that first mortgage holder. I would do everything I could to show them the money they were about to lose by converting this to an REO property. Once you figure in the cost of sale and the unpaid taxes and the cost of selling it again, not to mention the maintenance costs until that happened, they would be lucky to walk away with $250,000 to $300,000. If this was a local bank, this would be easier to do as they understand the property, they understand the market, and it is in their best interest to have $250,000 in cash than a property that they MIGHT be able to net $250,000 on at some point in the future, maybe.
I would try my best to convince that out-of-state lender to sell me their first mortgage for $250,000 to $300,000, and along with it, their position in the foreclosure. They are happy because they have the cash NOW. I then take their place and continue the foreclosure action, only at auction, I don’t open the bidding at the $600,000 the mortgage is worth, I open the bidding at $400,000. For that, maybe the CDA will jump in and buy it to protect their second, or maybe one of the other lien holders. Or maybe the owner will now find an investor partner in the business who is willing to pay $400,000 for a property assessed at $411,500. If that happens, I am happy, I walk away with $100,000 profit. If no one else jumps in at auction, I am still happy. I have the property, I paid $300,000 for it, and once the taxes are paid, it is owned free and clear.
I think that the Fillmor will survive. I believe that it will become a regional draw to downtown Wausau as a live music venue. However, I also believe that this cannot happen under the weight of the debt this venue now carries. A foreclosure does not have to be the end of a dream. Instead, it can be a fresh beginning.
by Dino Corvino on June 12th, 2009
1. If you had to pick one finger to lose, painlessly, which one would you be willing to sacrifice? I think I would get rid of the one next to my right pinky, it never does anything.
2. Where in Wausau will you not go? Or shop?
3. Where is your favorite place to get pie in town?
4. Do you have a library card?
5. In purchasing hand tools like wrenches or screwdrivers or others, what makes a good tool? What are some prominent features that you look for in a DIY item?
by Cheryl Mathis on June 8th, 2009
I watch a lot of old black and white movies. The other day, I noticed that people who lived in apartment buildings tended to treat the hallways and lobbies as extensions of their own homes. Those common areas were shared between all neighbors. When guests came, those spaces were utilized.
Isn’t it the same now with so many other areas of our community? We don’t have a playset, but we use the one down the street at the local park, where other families who don’t have playsets go to play. I go for walks on the sidewalks in the neighborhood to exercise, and I pass others who are doing the same thing. Every Sunday we go to mass and gather with dozens of other families for an hour of quiet reflection.
I think it’s all too easy to forget how much we share common spaces with other people. By forgetting, we distance ourselves from everyone else. Life isn’t something to go through avoiding people, keeping to ourselves, striving for privacy above all. Life is messy and wonderful, cram packed full of interesting people with everyday dramas and desires. By being conscious of our interactions with other people in our lives, we break down the walls between income levels and status. We become humans who are living human lives in a community.
When I work in my garden, I can see other neighbors working in their gardens. We are separate, but we are taking advantage of the same sunlight, the same rain that keeps soaking our soil. In an abstract way, we are working together under the sun. I think it’s time for us all to remember just how much we are connected to everyone else.
by Dino Corvino on June 5th, 2009
Clearly our Managing Editor Cheryl Mathis was inspired this week, and had three posts of high-level awesomeness. So, in honor of her themes, I put these humble questions before you.
1. Do you volunteer? Why or why not? Is there something you would like to work on that we simply do not have locally? For example, I would like to meet and help work on dark fiber utilization, but, no one knows what I am talking about, so I might just simply be delusional.
2. Have you been in your neighborhood long? Do you consider yourself part of your neighborhood? Who is the longest running member of your neighborhood? Do you see your neighborhood as a community?
3. At what point do you take yourself or your loved ones to the emergency room? At my buddy Eric’s bachelor party I ended up taking a total stranger to the emergency room for a head wound suffered at Malarkeys, and while I wondered how I got roped into taking some dude to the ER, I also wondered what would get me to the ER. Following my eye surgery, I went often.
4. How awesome is Cheryl?
5. What is your favorite street here in Wausau?
6. Does the City of Wausau and surrounding municipalities work together well? I mean we are all essentially in this boat together, tied together. With the other municipalities not having downtowns, should we all not look at Wausau’s downtown as our own?
7. Have you heard of the plight of the oppressed honey bee, exploited for the free range wax that goes into lip balm?
by Cheryl Mathis on June 4th, 2009
Oh the nervous excitement. Oh the glorious tension of wondering what will come next.
No, I didn’t sign up for an online matchmaker site. I signed up at United Way’s Volunteer Connection site, and I sent out some emails to local organizations offering my limited time and skills to help with something … ANYTHING … in my community.
http://www.unitedwaymc.org/
I live in a large neighborhood full of homes, full of families and elderly people, full of needs and small ways where someone like me could help them. I could bring over a meal, wash their kitchen floor, change their sheets. I want to get connected.
As a family we’ve been exploring the wonderful world of gardening this year, and we would love to get involved on a community level. I want to get connected to that as well.
I think it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to make a community. Each of us has our own skill set, even if it’s just knowing how to use the internet (yes, I’m talking to you). We each have ways we can contribute to our fellow man, to our neighbors, to our community as a whole or to an individual community member. Opening up our lives and our schedules to someone else or something else is a vital part of life, I think. We should always be open to change, to something better, to something deeper. I hope I am.
