by Tom Neal on October 27th, 2008
This week Citizen Wausau explores the considered updates to Wausau’s City Square on the 400 Block. For your reference, have a look at these plans. They are not final, but they give a good idea of what is to come.
The city has announced plans for implementing “improvements” to the downtown 400 Block. They say they work will start in fall of 2009 and finish up in spring 2010. Right now, cost is estimated at about $500K (with the city ponying up $274K and planning to fundraise for the rest). The WDH came out in an editorial saying this was a bad time (i.e. recession) for such things. But, to me, it doesn’t seem like a huge expense, even in these troubled times. (more…)
by Cheryl Mathis on May 9th, 2008
Greetings Citizens of Wausau!
I think we’re far too stagnant of a community. For such a city full of so many warm and vibrant personalities, it’s a shame that we wait until summer concerts to get outside and feel vital and connected to each other. It’s also a shame that so many of us are overweight and out of shape and seem unwilling to make basic changes in our lives to rid ourselves of the old, harmful patterns.
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by Dino Corvino on January 1st, 2008
As I sit here on this New Year’s morning, lost in the love of my keyboard, I am faced with questions, and answers, and predictions, and more questions. So I thought I would jump in the pool first, and be the first idiot to take on our virtual Polar Bear Plunge of 2008. A veritable cacophony of randomness brought on by long hours of no work, loss of mental stimulation, and overall sitting still for way too long. (more…)
by DeeDee Meyer on November 8th, 2007
Today is the 311th day of 2007, with just 54 days remaining in the year – and only 48 shopping days until Christmas. Christmas? When did THAT start showing up on my radar?
My neighbors across the street spent last weekend stringing lights, and my mailbox is filled with holiday catalogs. There’s no denying it – the holiday season has just about arrived. (more…)
by Marcus Nelson on November 5th, 2007
NBC Universal’s new “Green is Universal” campaign kicked off yesterday (Nov. 4th) with a week of green-themed programming aimed at entertaining, informing and empowering Americans to lead greener lives. While I completely endorse their use of programming, I wonder exactly how much is corporate responsibility and how much is a marketing ploy to be seen as “environmentally aware”.
Regardless, it’s about time we as a nation step forward and do whatever we can to preserve our resources and make people aware of the options available to reduce our ecological “footprint.”
About a year ago my wife and I moved into a new home – we made it a point to replace all of the lights in our house with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). A rather expensive ordeal by comparison, but we spaced out the purchases over a couple of months.
We started with our most heavily used lights, the kitchen, living room and kids’ bedroom lights. Those were relatively easy choices to make. It got a bit harder once we moved into the bathrooms and dining area.
My wife likes a bright light to put on her “face,” which is understandable, but CFLs are not an accurate lighting source for applying makeup. I’d hate for her to walk out of the restroom thinking she looked fabulous – only to find out her eyeliner looks like black crayon in natural light! For shame.
The dining area was also a toss up as we like the ability to dim the lights, and CFLs won’t let you do that very well (unless one of you know something I don’t). So that’s for future upgrading as well.
Other than that, we’re about 85% transitioned to CFLs. Not bad. Also, our electricity bill went down about $20-30 a month.
We’re trying to do the same thing at Citizen Desk. During the day we’ve turned off most of the lights (fluorescent anyway, but… ), this makes for a nice working environment as we have so much natural light coming in our windows. There are four strategically placed hanging lamps that provide direct desk light if need be, also with CFLs. Finally, there’s a UV protected screen that we can pull down to block out the late afternoon sun and keep the office cooler (less reliance on the A/C).
Outside of that – we’re recycling every chance we get. I wish there were some more options, like green energy (wind or solar power), or even a sustainable housing community, but all in time.
What’s most important is that we all do our part, right? What are you guys doing to preserve our resources?
by Dino Corvino on October 17th, 2007
So, living in Wausau…or near Wausau…one is confronted with some questions. Not bad questions, but at the end of the day, you are left wondering some things. Or rather I am. Just a guy, wondering some things. I am posing these as more of discussion starters. Not really any sort of aggressive real intense focus, so lets not read too much into them. (more…)
