by Dino Corvino on March 17th, 2010
So, like John Fischer, I am not going to claim to know everything. But, I think that this Van De Yacht matter, and the subsequent reading I have done, has led me to a place rich with questions, and these questions seemingly aren’t being approached by anyone else in town.
First off, I am 100-percent not commenting on the matter of guilt, innocence, a City Hall Conspiracy, or any of the rest. My joy at pounding on Mayor Jim Tipple for lack of leadership or vision is well-documented, and that is not what I am doing here. Instead I want to focus a little bit on the process, and the shocking way the City Council is tilting at windmills.
I am including the Ethics Board Finding of Fact in the original complaint. This is the ruling of the quasi-judicial Board of Ethics which was empowered to decide, and was agreed upon by the parties involved. Christine Van De Yacht agreed to the process, gave testimony, and had legal counsel. So, the process was afforded to her.
First off let us establish some things.
- There is a City of Wausau Board of Ethics Finding of Fact. It recommended that the City Council censure then-Alderwoman Van De Yacht (see page 6).
- The City Council did not, for their own reasons, censure Christine Van De Yacht.
- Christine Van De Yacht brought a civil case in federal court against the City. This case was summarily dismissed before going to court.
- City Council President Bill Forrest moved that a decision on whether the council would refer this to the Ethics Board will be taken up at the next council meeting.
Van De Yacht says that she wants new evidence, evidence which she claims was withheld by staff the first time around, to be heard by the Ethics Board. Clearly this is an allegation of misconduct, or unethical behavior.
The discussion to this point has been that city staff conspired to put Van De Yacht in harm’s way, and as such, she was harmed. This is a new allegation.
Van De Yacht has yet to follow the appropriate process and swear out a complaint. Instead, she has come to the council and effectively asked for a special dispensation to introduce material to a closed case.
Let me repeat that. This case is closed. The Board of Ethics ruled. Wrote a finding of fact. This is done. There is no policy for the City Council to take new evidence and present it to the Ethics Board.
In fact, this might be legally questionable. Does the Council looking at the item, and passing it along, equal a form agreement with the evidence? Is the Council empowered legally to do this — to be a judicial or investigative body? Is this exposing the city, and its constituents to more risk and fiscal liability?
Van De Yacht was not censured. Van De Yacht brought a federal court case that was summarily dismissed by the judge before going to court.
Since this potential evidence is directly related to her civil claim in federal court, why is it not being introduced there? If it would in fact prove illegal or damaging actions by the city, why is it not sent there? This would be the common sense route, since it would be outside of the political sway of this allegedly corrupt administration. Ms. Van De Yacht has legal counsel, so why are they not advising her to return to the civil courtroom and seek satisfaction there?
Prior to this last city council meeting, the suggestion was that the Council send this to the Government Accountability Board (GAB) for review. Considered a fair and impartial outside observer, that was apparently agreed upon by the parties. The State sent a memo back stating that the State does not have jurisdiction, and would not make a ruling.
I think that the City Council drafted a resolution to send this item back to the GAB, after it knew that the GAB would not take the case. In light of the belated realization that GAB is not an option, Forrest tried to change the overly-specific resolution, which is when Anne Jacobsen told them they could not substantially change the resolution and vote on it, because sending it to the Ethics Board was not on the agenda.
Alderman Rosenberg urged the Council to not send this back to the Ethics Board. This would be placing the city, its staff, and the constituents to financial liability.
Council Member Deb Hadley said that the council started this, and it should return it back to the Board of Ethics.
Well, that is all fine and good. But, it already went to the Ethics Board, and the Board presided over the matter and made a ruling. The Council received a suggestion of action.
At what point is this going to be called a nuisance matter by the Council? This matter went to the Ethics Board, and Van De Yacht was given every chance to respond to charges at that time. Depositions were taken. Statements and evidence were brought forth. Ms. Van De Yacht was given every opportunity to respond to the claims at that time.
She then went to a federal court, which dismissed the matter.
Now, four years later, armed with “new evidence”, Ms. Van De Yacht returns to the Council demanding the abolition of the Ethics Board, the payment of her legal expense, and a public apology.
So, if the city council sends a matter that has already appeared in front of the Ethics Board (and a decision rendered), as well as a federal judge (where the City was declared off the hook), there will be a fiscal impact! This is not free. Why are they doing this? Why are they exposing the city to new potential liability and actual cost? This matter has gone through the proper channels, been decided upon, and the channel that the public would have to go through to swear in an ethics complaint has not been followed.
I can speculate that Ms. Van De Yacht feels slighted both personally and professionally, but this matter was never acted on by the City Council. She was not censured. In fact, if you read the finding of fact, there is the matter of the Skip Ellenbecker Dairy Building. Well, she ended up owning the building.
At what point is this a nuisance? Are there not laws to protect municipalities against nuisance lawsuits? The City has a legal process, and it should be followed by both the council and the people in the city.
Finding of Fact.
by Brad Schjoth on January 22nd, 2010
When you think of the unfortunately-named, newly-opened Patriot Center in the Cedar Creek Mall, it is inherent that you imagine flourishing gun shows and obnoxious motorcycle rallies. And, well, you probably wouldn’t be far off. But between all that madness, mixed martial arts will take over the building Saturday night in the form of Konquer the Kage 30: The Takeover. See what I did there?
Based out of Marshfield, KTK puts together some of the state’s most entertaining bouts, and at the very least the ring girls always look good. And if you generally sport a straight-billed hat, you’ll be in good company.
Sam Thao, the brother of Lah Thao, who founded Rising Son MMA right here in Wausau, will headline the show against an Illinois boy Wade Choate. As is par for the course when leading in to a Sam Thao fight, two opponents dropped off the card in the past month, and one as recent as just days ago for undisclosed reasons. Let’s be honest, it looks like they’re running scared. A sprained ankle the size of a softball? Excuses, excuses.
Chris “Swiss” Befera, known for his predictable fight endings (most end by way of guillotine choke, or the aptly-named “Swissotine”), was Thao’s original opponent. He suffered the ankle injury, and was unable to fill the duty of defending his bantamweight title. Okay, so we’ll get ourselves a replacement.
Perhaps an even more intriguing matchup revealed itself, after Janesville’s Floyd Hodges openly said Thao was “nothing special his own damn self” in an interview I conducted prior to there being any knowledge of any opening on the card.
So, Befera was out, and Hodges stepped in – for a week. Just days ago Hodges removed himself from Saturday’s main event based on unknown circumstances. The only clarification came from KTK head man Corey Christopherson, who iterated that Hodges’ reasons for pulling out were out of his control. A likely story.
A mad scramble obviously ensued, as showtime was merely hours away. Jack Bauer was on speed dial, and Kimbo Slice on the back burner as a last resort, but Wade Choate stepped up, taking the fight on extremely short notice. Choate’s last bout was against the aforementioned Hodges, and he was overwhelming unsuccessful in requiring less than a minute to be TKO’d. So, that’s where we stand. Two potential Fight of the Year candidates out the window, replaced by a solid, respectable bout.
Most of the umpteen fights on the card will be filled by Wausau and north-central Wisconsin area fighters, as Rising Son will look to dominate on their home turf. Expect madness during the Thao introduction.
For extra information check out WICombatSports.com, and this week’s edition of the City Pages. There, strangely, you’ll be able to read more – more from me.
by John H. Fischer on January 13th, 2010
A while back, an interesting thing happened at city council in Wausau. They took a vote, the person in the audience whose issue it was then asked to speak because they were very confused with what the vote meant, was the item approved or not approved. The item was the Peace Sculpture and the Mayor explained that the sculpture was approved, but the City had to put in place a system for reviewing sculptures, but once that system was made, this one was approved.
Instantly a number of people who voted for the sculpture hit their blue lights to speak. They had understood that this procedure for accepting sculptures had to be developed, and then this proposal would go through that procedure. A review of the minutes determined that to not be the case, and the Mayor’s interpretation of the motion, as amended, was correct.
While I was at the council meeting last night for a completely different issue, we had another one of those “What Did We Just Vote For” moments.
A while back, Trigs got a conditional use to put a sign on the back of the property that could be seen from the freeway. Signs are only allowed to be 30’ high, but with a conditional use, the sign could be over 30’ but not more than 50’ high. The height is actually measured from the curb on the FRONT of the property. In the case of Trigs, they wanted a 50’ sign to get it up high enough to get over the hill in the back of the property and still have freeway visibility. In reality though, the sign is actually only 38’ tall. But, the application was for a 50’ sign because the back of the property is 12’ higher than the front of the property, where the front curb is.
County Market was asking to put up a similar sign. All during the council meeting, they discussed that County Market wanted a 40’ tall sign to be at the same elevation as the Trig’s sign. City staff seemed to think that the geographical features that County Market was dealing with would actually allow for similar visibility with a 30’ tall sign, so that is what staff recommended, and that is what the Plan Commission recommended.
A representative of County Market was allowed to address the Council before the vote to explain why they wanted the sign 10’ higher.
The motion was made to approve the sign, second, and passed unanimously with no discussion. The person representing County Market wanted to know if they got their 30’ sign or their 40’ sign. The Mayor indicated they got the 30’ sign, because no one on the council offered an amendment, they went with the recommendation of Plan Commission.
Alderperson Rasmussen was then quick to point out that when looking at the council agenda, they did approve a sign that “exceeded 30’ in height”, so she inquired if, in fact, they can have the 40 sign.
Good question.
They then called a member of staff to explain the situation. Much like Trigs, County Market must actually measure the height of the sign from the front curb. Also, much like Trigs, the back of the lot is higher than the front of the lot, 10’ higher to be exact. So, on the drawing that they submitted, the 40’ tall sign was actually considered a 50’ sign when measured from the front curb. The Plan Commissions recommendation to the council was to allow for a 40’ tall total height sign (10’ in difference from front curb, 30’ in sign itself). What they approved was what the plan commission recommended, which was a specific sign per drawings and diagrams that is, in fact, in excess of 30’ – even though the sign itself was only 30’ tall.
I was debating if I wanted to go the Council meeting. I had a meeting in Sun Prairie that ran from 3:00 to 6:00 that I needed to leave at 4:30 to be back here in time for the meeting. My item was a conditional use for a business associate that passed the Plan Commission on a unanimous vote. Most things that pass like that see very little discussion and pass at council. I am happy I made it. A question was asked for a clarification on a parking issue, and I was asked to answer that simple question, which I did. However answering that questioned opened the door to other discussion I didn’t see coming – discussion that was brought up at the public hearing, but was not a concern of this particular neighbor at that time. After a minor amendment, we did get our conditional use but I think had I not been there, there might have been a different result.
by Dino Corvino on January 8th, 2010
John Jordan has a plan. A plan that gets Public Access out of the City, off the books, and over to the University. Times are tough, and as such the University cannot fund it. So, he must raise the $40,000 to do that very thing. But it might be just the solution this problem calls for.
On December 21st, Mayor Jim Tipple announced that the City of Wausau would stop funding Public Access television. This elimination of Public Access, and the staff housed there, would save the city roughly $90,000. The Mayor said that the City had to make this cut based on the fiscal needs of the city, and that Public Access would cease operation on January 31, 2010 — roughly 40 days later.
The timing of this action by the Mayor could not have been worse given the proximity to Christmas and by connection the amount of available funders in their offices, and as more than one city council member stated, the action was totally unilateral, since it appears in no committee minutes, or agenda items. But, this issue is incredibly complex, and some of it is very much in dispute.
I spoke to John Jordan, and he seemed positively hopeful about a plan and a tentative budget that he has put together, and the future of his station. Clearly community media can bring out the best in people, and, in fact, build community.
Jordan, who appeared on Glenn Moberg’s Wisconsin Public Radio show “Route 51″ on January 7, said that he has spoken to UWMC in regards to creating a home for the station at UWMC. This moves it out of the City, and Jordan thinks he needs to raise about $40,000 to get the station moved and keep it operational for six months. During this time he would even move himself to a part-time employee to save funds. He seems in high spirits about this challenge.
There is an ongoing court case between the City of Wausau and Charter. The scope of the case is in regards to what are called “PEG funds” and “franchise fees”. The source of the lawsuit is the refusal of Charter to pay PEG fees, and instead pay franchise fees. It is all very confusing. There are federally mandated dollars called PEG funds. PEG stands for Public, Education, and Government. These are federally mandated dollars that are used specifically to fund Public Access programming and operations with the intent of making those types of programs available.
These funds that are in dispute are not directly related to the franchise fees that are being discussed by Barbara Morgan later in this article — they are PEG fees. These fees are specifically allocated by the state from companies like Charter for the support of public access television stations and programming. This money is from a previous agreement that Charter says it no longer needs to pay, since a new franchise agreement was made.
This conflicts with the city’s position, which seems to be that this money was agreed upon for three years, and Charter should pay it. The current franchise agreement states that Charter has to pay a percentage of its billing to the municipality, but this number should not exceed a specific percentage. Charter believes that the franchise fee, combined with the PEG fee, would exceed the maximum percentage, and as such Charter has chosen not to pay the PEG money.
Jordan said that this matter did not help the budget process in regards to the Public Access station. Maryann Groat said that while the disputed money has not been paid to the city; the City has paid for Public Access out of franchise fees. But, with a tight budget, and rising costs of Public Access, the Office of the Mayor had to make a choice.
Along the way there has been talk about streaming the meetings online, or like the Village of Weston, creating a podcast that is available for download. Obviously we believe more transparency is better, and city government should be as open as possible. Consider Internet usage in our town. Sure, you’re a reader of Citizen Wausau, so you are an Internet person, but studies have shown that the rate of broadband penetration in rural areas (most of the area) has diminished from a 40 percent growth in 2005/2006, to a dismal 12% in the last year. So fewer people get the Internet, and fewer people have broadband than we thought. Streaming is out.
Creating podcasts, while part of most of our daily lives, is also something that is technologically forward. My mother does not subscribe to any podcast (not even the two that I am a part of). So that is the standard I apply. It would be hard to convince me that the elderly population who have spoken out about seeing church services, or city meetings, are going to be the first to download iTunes, and find the RSS link to the city podcast (the city makes things so easy on their website), and then download and listen. I mean, I can do that, but not sure that my mom can.
Clearly, the importance of community media cannot be overstated. These are voices of our community, voicing, often times, issues that are not covered by other media outlets. With our daily newspaper being owned by Gannett, and our talk/news radio station being owned by Midwest Communications, we are losing local media. And as such, a resource such as Public Access television is important and something that should be saved.
Wausau is developing itself into a progressive media city in some regards. The existence of the only Hmong-operated radio station in America in WNRB-LP FM is part of this story. As are the municipalities that use things like podcasting to communicate the business of their municipality with their residents.
In the Wausau Daily Herald Barbara Morgan wrote a passionate column about how Public Access is the one utility in this area that pays for itself. She makes this point, “Every month there is $2.60 on the Charter cable bill for “franchise fees.” This totals $330,000 per year collected from cable subscribers and paid to the city.
That lump sum goes toward some additional city expenses. When I spoke to Maryann Groat she said that the dollars are for various things like utility pole right-of-way, licensing, underground cabling, etc. But, at the same time, it all ends up in the general fund, so I am not exactly sure how this works.
Morgan goes onto write: “[Groat] goes on to say that the money will now go toward general expenses in the tight budget. So now the cable TV subscriber is getting nothing for the $330,000 collected each year and given to the city? This is a very generous donation to the general fund by cable TV subscribers, wouldn’t you say?”
Groat confirmed that the money does in fact all end up in the general fund. This fund is used for the run of the mill operations of the city. One of them being Public Access of course. But, like I stated before, this is not as simple as it seems. These are two agreements, and one of them seems to cancel the other out. At least that is Charter’s position.
Morgan further states: “Another disappointing aspect of the demise of public access is that it was done under a cloak of secrecy. Not one word of discussion, not one opportunity for Charter subscribers, who fund the channels, to state their case.”
Clearly, this is an issue that this administration has struggled with; the perception that transparency is not very high on the list of operating principals. No one is entirely sure as to the way the cut was made by the Office of the Mayor. Clearly there are differing accounts, and lots of people are assigning blame. The timing though, is not in dispute.
For more information about Jordan and his attempt to save Public Access television, go to Glenn Mobergs radio show and listen to what John Jordan had to say about his plan to save Public Access.
by Dino Corvino on January 5th, 2010
It appears that we will be having a primary in some of these districts. We have to be proud of everyone running for office, that sort of desire for civic involvement is admirable.
District 1: Jim Rosenberg, Roland “Sonny” Neitzel
District 2: Greg Foye, Romey Wagner, Jay Carlson
District 3: Craig Gardner, Chuck Szalewski, Jonahtan Havel, Matthew Sann
District 4: Jim Brezinski
District 5: Gary Gisselman
District 6: Gary Lee Klingbeil, Edward Marek
District 7: Lisa Rasmussen
District 8: Karen Kellbach, Chris Barr
District 9: Matthew Kaiser, David Overbeck
District 10: David Nutting, Chuck Gering, Dan McMullen
District 11: Sherry Abitz, Debra Weiss, Tom Wohlfahrt
District 12: Ed Gale, Cody VanRyn
Further contact information can be found in this document.
by Dino Corvino on December 29th, 2009
This afternoon IC Willy’s accepted a voluntary suspension of its operating license. This suspension will run from January 4th through January 18th.
IC Willy’s owner Tom Nowell agreed to this compromise with the Public Health and Safety Committee. The voluntary nature of the suspension allows the owner and the City to reach a compromise on consequences of the complaints, and to allow for formal suspension and revocation later on if needed.
Nowell was also instructed to meet with the neighborhood residents. This meeting will be held and hosted by Chief Hardel at the Wausau Police Station in February.
Police Chief Hardel initially suggested a 30-day suspension, but after a reading of the ordinance by City Attorney Anne Jacobsen, the 15-day voluntary suspension was agreed upon.
At issue are the 15 noise violations since opening as a business, as well as numerous concerns rendered by the neighbors. One of the hot, sticking points was the allegation that owner Nowell lied to police officers in regards to the Girls Gone Wild event.
From what was said at the meeting, it appears that Nowell has purchased and installed “decibal meters” and “sound baffling” to make the club more appropriate for the neighborhood.
Again, a 15-day voluntary suspension will run in January for IC Willy’s.
by John H. Fischer on December 22nd, 2009
The current situation with IC Willies and the status of their liquor license has been put on hold for one week to give attorneys on both sides time to prepare to present their respective cases. However, in following along with this story, the daily police logs, the minutes of the Public Health and Safety Committee, and the article comments on the Wausau Daily Herald website, I have to ask myself a question – When is it OK to “C Willies”???
According to Wausau Police Chief Hardell, since October there have been 15 service calls to IC Willies, 12 of these were for noise (primarily the bass levels) and 2 citations have been issued. In addition, there is a squad parked in the lot, or in the lot next door, every night they are open. However, with all of these noise issues, the item that seems to be “the straw the broke the camel’s back” was the Girls Gone Wild event in mid-November.
For those not familiar with the late night infomercials, Girls Gone Wild (or GGW) basically goes in places where they can find young women who, often with a little bit of “liquid encouragement,” are willing to get naked in front of a camera, and then GGW will sell these videos. Popular places where they are often found filming include college spring break locations and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
According to Chief Hardell, prior to the GGW event at IC Willies, he had met with their owners and made it very clear what can and cannot happen, what the limitations were of “adult entertainment”. Yet, when police were there during the GGW event (to see if anyone on parole came to check it out), they witnessed just that thing that they gave warnings about. Although the GGW crew was to find the aspiring video stars at the club, the actual filming and nudity was to take place in the private bus they parked on the property, not in the public bar. Yet, it appeared that some of the female customers of the bar were not willing to wait until being in the bus to “let it all hang out.”
So, my question for the readers of Citizen Wausau – What is “adult entertainment”? When does the line get crossed from risqué to that behavior that requires special zoning and special licenses? Should adult entertainment even be allowed? Or, should the argument heard so often in the smoking ban discussions, the business owner should be able to decide what happens within their business establishment, prevail?
In reading the comments on the Wausau Daily Herald articles about this, it seems that a large number of people think that limited nudity happens in night clubs all the time. I really am not into the night club scene myself, but I have talked to a number of people who indicated that to have a woman lift her shirt while on the dance floor is not as uncommon as one would think. Even Mrs. Rent, who tends to be fairly conservative, indicated that if the police saw a couple of customers expose themselves, that maybe they should have cited the women and not come after the bar owner.
On the other hand, many people, including the neighbors, indicated that having certain events, such as the GGW or the Chippendales dancers the following week, is not consistent with the neighborhood. At the Public Health and Safety Committee meeting on Monday night, one neighbor pointed out how inappropriate they feel it was for the GGW bus to be parked in the lot of the business for two days. They had lived in their house for 40 years and indicated “we’re Wausau, not Chicago.” The neighbors asked how they explain to their young children or grand children what Girls Gone Wild is when they see that big bus next door.
Also interesting to me, are the comments that could be found on the Rants and Raves section of Craigslist after the IC Willies Halloween party. Again, many who I have talked to who are night-club regulars tell me that if you are going out and want to see some bare breasts, Halloween is the night to do it. There was probably much more nudity at IC Willies for Halloween than there was for Girls Gone Wild. However, the many of those commenting on Craigslist seemed to be offended by the scantily clad wait staff.
Even the establishments that outright classify themselves as “adult entertainment” or “gentlemen’s clubs” find themselves at the center of controversy. Most municipalities have specific zoning that covers them. I was very active in Schofield government politics when Grand Daddy’s on Grand Avenue was trying to get its conditional use for “adult entertainment.”
More recently, even though Kronenwetter does not have an “adult entertainment” venue since the closing of the New Yorker, the Village Board decided to establish an ordinance that alcohol could not be served at one within the Village. Although the argument was that nudity + alcohol is a problem waiting to happen, most agree the true reason is that by not allowing alcohol to be served, a new business would be less likely to locate themselves in Kronenwetter because they would not be able to compete with the existing establishments in Wausau and Schofield were you could get your nudity with a vodka-sour.
In talking to people about this article, I had one person comment that the Wausau area is always looking to market our region and bring people into the area, to show what a great place this is to live and work and play. That person questioned which would be more likely to generate tourism to Wausau: the new Weston video or Girls Gone Wild – Wausau. Although they make an inappropriate point – they do make a point. Don’t they?
However, no matter what the societal implications are of mixing exotic dancers and alcohol, as far as a police problem, that does not seem to be the case. In looking at the monthly reports that the Police Dept provides to the Public Health and Safety Committee, their really are very few calls to Showtime. In a meeting I was at with Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks last week, a topic of police calls at night clubs and bars came up, and he noted that Grand Daddy’s had very few neighbor complaints and also generated very few calls for service. So, as to Kronenwetter’s argument about adding alcohol to nudity just making the problem worse, based on the Wausau Area’s local “adult entertainment” establishments, it would appear that the opposite is actually true.
This is a complicated issue. I haven’t touched on legitimate concerns about how “adult entertainment” facilities exploit women, or other societal issues. Does a woman on the dance floor taking off her shirt cross the line into adult entertainment? What responsibility does a club owner have when this happens? What is “right”? What is fair? What about the double standard with men and women? If a guy on the dance floor made IC Willies live up to its name, you would most likely have them escorted out and arrested, yet when a woman lets it all hang out, that type of behavior tends to be encouraged. What are the thoughts of Citizen Wausau?
by Dino Corvino on December 21st, 2009
We received this today, about Mayor Tipples press conference. Thoughts?
WAUSAU (WAOW) – Mayor Jim Tipple announced the closure of the Wausau Area Access Channel, Monday.
The announcement came in Mayor Tipple’s morning press conference.
Both the Public and Education & Government access channels (Cable Channel 98/980 and 96/981) will stop broadcasting after 2009.
According to a news release from the Mayor’s Office, the cost of maintaining the channels would be $90,000. According to Mayor Tipple, this may solve the city’s budget shortfall.
The Wausau Access Coordinator position will be eliminated and the Wausau Area Access Channel Office in City Hall will close. Mayor Tipple says tough economic times required “tough decisions.”
The Wausau Area Public Access Channels are most commonly used to broadcast community events including: forums, meetings, sporting events, graduations.
by Dino Corvino on December 20th, 2009
I think I need to preface this immediately. My good friend Rob Mentzer made a top ten list on his blog, and I am concerned that his top ten list is simply so far out of the loop that it will create a rift in the fabric of all space-time, and as such the universe will fall into molecular chaos and entropy. His blatant use of things like this list of his are apocryphal, and could very well lead to some sort of apocalypse.
That being said, this is a list of my favorite musical things that happened in Wausau this year. We would love to get more lists from you.
- “Godspell”: This show at the PAF was so overwhelming to me. It was one of those right place, right time sorts of things. Tough work schedule, tough whatever, and ka-pow, I ended up sitting there crying with tears of joy. The energy and exuberance was so high, so powerful, and so uplifting, I was moved to just heights I had not expected. It moved me, and it was grand.
- The release of ‘Before the Devil Knows Your Dead’ by Meantooth Grin: This album was 18 months in the making, and it started to feel like Tom Jordan’s ‘Chinese Democracy’, but when it came out it raise the bar for what all blues cats were going or should do next. It is a well-written, well-arranged, well-played local masterpiece. It puts all the False Dog records to absolute shame with its real emotions and amazing production.
- Triclops at the PI: I am not a PI sort of fellow, but the Triclops show was so amazing, and so powerfully destructive that it shook the walls off that whole block. Triclops are one of those bands that are sonically unique, and performance aggressive. It was pretty amazing.
- Scott Holt at Malarkeys: I am sure that including one of my friends in the list is not all that kosher, but objectively Scott did things even better than when he got a stand ovation at Big Bull Falls. City Councilman Rosenberg called him a virtuoso, and Tyler Vogt said ‘Now that Scott Holt has shown us what is possible with a guitar’. And, in my observance, I think Scott sang better than ever.
- Sneak Peak/Why Not Wausau: The set up concert on the mountain was epic. It paves the way for people to see Why Not Wausau as a legitimate thing. The guys from Flapjack Creative did something, in their first year, that few others do in a lifetime in town.
- The Rob Piehl/Tom Jordan/Eric Messenberg jam: I did not get to hear this in person, but by all accounts these three cats did something amazing. It is great when two guitar KILLERS like Eric and Tom can get together. You’ve got to hope Eric comes back bigger stronger, and heavier.
- Receiving a copy of ‘icantfeel’ by iloveghosts: I have said for a long time, that my favorite band to EVER come out of central Wisconsin is iloveghosts, and their record is an overwhelming assault on the senses. Brave, emotional, techie, and cool. Iloveghosts are rock stars. PERIOD.
- Rob Mentzer/Tom Neal/and Sam Staples on WNRB: I love WNRB, but do not catch as much as I should. But when these guys are on, I listen from start to finish. WNRB is cool.
- The Demise of the Fillmor: It is not okay to root for the decline of something, but I think the final nail in the coffin showed a lot of people that music is a profession, and not a hobby. And when you do not know what you are doing, a lot of things go wrong. I do not think Dan and Bill were bad guys, I just think they were in over their heads and made some bad choices. We all do. Now, the Fillmor is free and can be snatched up by someone who knows what they are doing.
- The Blueheels/Pat McDonald/Vinny Bex Dae. These cats have all played all over, and when they played Malarkeys (or anywhere else in town), they blew up the place. We are lucky musicians still see Wausau as a good place to come and play.
So, what do you think? Send us your list, and we can try to post them.
by Mitchel DeSantis on December 9th, 2009
“Look at this photograph. Everytime I do it makes me laugh. How did our eyes get so red and what the hell is on Joey’s head?” Let’s follow this genius song (insert laughter here) with some Chris Daughtry, Creed, and dare I say it, “Careless Whisper,” by Seether? Well I love variety, but I, like the rest of the Wausau, gets bored of their usual Midwest Communications and WIFC’s Top 40, so I then change it to one of Wausau’s ten other similar classic rock stations — okay put a barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger.
I’m just going to come out and say this — I hate the radio music selection that is provided my Wausau’s very own Midwest Communications. Though I love radio stations for what they do for a community, for example charitable events, (I will admit Midwest Communication radio stations do very well at this) I can’t stand radio stations that will take a song and play the hell out of it. I would compare it to a farmer overusing their cows to the point of exhaustion. Yes, to me what Wausau radio does to music compares to animal abuse.
I have recently moved from Wausau to Milwaukee (where the radio stations are beautiful and don’t abuse music like terrible farmers would with their cows), and though I live in a new city, I still have a place in my heart for the beautiful city of Wausau. However I would be lying if I said that I enjoy hearing the same Nickelback (which is a terrible band in general) song that has been played obsessively since 2001. I am sick and tired of the crap that we are forced to listen to on the radio in my sweet town of Wausau. I believe it is time to stop complaining about this and finally take action. I am calling WIFC along with Midwest Communications out. I am tired of listening to mainstream crap. Let’s face it, very few people like Nickelback, Hinder, Chris Daughtry, and hell, no one likes Seether.
I believe that there needs to be more radio variety in Wausau. The area has a surprisingly huge alternative music scene full of unique individuals who love the discovery of independent music. In order to please everyone, we need an alternative radio station that doesn’t follow the mainstream guidelines that Midwest Communications follows. I believe it’s time to stop complaining secretly and take action over this.
