Letters to the Editor

Dear editor, In the past month I received my first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses at the fire house in Spring Green. I want to thank the EMS people and all the other volunteers who made the experience easy — in fact, one might say enjoyable. A giant shout out to these wonderful people, our friends and neighbors who make this the wonderful place to live in that it is. THANKS. Peter Livingston Spring Green   Dear Editor, As a resident on N. Wood Street in Spring Green, during the spring and summer (and winter and fall) we face many issues of safety, noise, and speeding vehicles. There is a state law that concerns speed limits. The speed limit is 25 m.p.h. on Wood Street. Wood Street is not the Indy 500. I was in the crosswalk on Sunday, March 14, on the walking trail, a vehicle was speeding towards me and the driver was busy looking for a street address on the west side of the street, not watching what was happening in front of her. I was almost hit. Then she turned around and parked her car between the mailbox and within 5 feet of a crosswalk. Residents put their life on the line to cross the road in the crosswalks with the “speed demons” of Spring Green. I waved a county dump truck to slow down, the driver flipped me the bird!!!! In the spring and summer when the Harley’s come out, the noise is terrible, especially when they travel in groups of three or more and are staggered. You cannot sit in your home or back yard and watch TV or listen to music. And to top it off these bikes are illegal, they remove part of the muffler to make them so loud, they do not come out of the factory that way. They should be ticketed but are not.  Hellooooooo - SGPD??? Now the Spring Green Village Board has approved, for one year, an ATV route along Wood Street. We, the residents were not asked our opinion on this matter. Some folks have small children on this street and a lot of people walk and bicycle on this street.  What studies were done on the safety and noise impact on the residents of Wood Street? I moved to this village to escape the noise and violence of Verona/Madison.  Guess I was wrong. I have spoken to some residents on Wood St. and they do not like the idea of the ATV trail on Wood Street. Sharon Pasowicz Spring Green   Dear editor, So what’s in a name? The editors of the Valley Sentinel seem to think it is OK to impose their opinions on our community in the name of truth and caring without telling us who they really are. They print anonymous lengthy political editorials but demand personal information for submitting letters to the editor which they say are vetted for accuracy.  The legal editor claims to be a lawyer, but how can we tell? Is it OK for lawyers to operate under fake names? How credible are his opinions? He claims the Spring Green Village Board made a technical error but he is committing an ethical and possible legal breach himself. I’d argue that what he’s doing is far worse for the community than a correctable misstep by a fully accountable board. Is it legal or ethical to attend public meetings and hearings using a fake name, as “Emilie Conlon” did on Monday the 8th at a public hearing on the budget? Are anonymous journalists welcome at village board meetings when the rest of us must disclose our identity? If they disclose their names to the clerk is that enough? Once we are meeting in public can they attend with in disguise?  Even Facebook will delete your account if they catch you using a fake name. In most cases it is illegal to use a fake name to intentionally convey false or misleading information. It seems to me that practicing community journalism under a fake name is intentionally conveying false or misleading information about who you are. The Valley Sentinel has chosen to be misleading. A report by the Columbia School of Journalism states that “pseudonyms are inherently undesirable in journalism. They introduce fiction and ask readers to trust that this is the only instance in which a publication is inventing details at its discretion.” Google will tell you all about it. Try this: https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/are-pen-names-ever-ok-in-... But why do it? Because everybody does it on social media? They are just using “handles” or “pen” names. Fiction writers use “pen” names, not journalists. Why would a real journalist or lawyer think it harmful to use their real names? What is it about working for the Valley Sentinel that is so awkward that they can’t own up? Paula Schiller Spring Green   Dear editor, We were disappointed to learn about the ATV proposal for Spring Green. People visit your town because it is not like everywhere else. Pointless machines roaring around using gas and frequenting bars. It’s too bad that you see value in that meaningless “entertainment.“  Spring Green has done well in supporting an environment of businesses and activities that offer substance and authentic experiences which draw people to your community, convince them to stay awhile, and return often. What has been proposed is the result of short-term thinking. This would be a big change for Spring Green - and in the wrong direction. Think again about what you have in your unique town and reject this proposal for such an unnecessary, polluting activity.  Tourists thinking about Spring Green for 2022?  Maybe not. Joan Smith Wausau   Dear editor, State Senator Howard Marklein’s (R-Spring Green) recent support for Wisconsin Republican’s partisan audit of the state’s November 6, 2020, election is what I believe to be his latest attempt to promote racism and white supremacy in Wisconsin.  That has been his focus ever since he was elected to Wisconsin’s legislature. Marklein was a major supporter of Wisconsin’s Act 23 in 2011. The sponsors of that act admitted that the intent was to help Republicans win elections by suppressing the votes of minorities and students. In past newsletters, Marklein condemned demonstrations against racially motivated police brutality, but was conspicuously silent about white supremacists’ January 6 insurrection that trashed our nation’s Capitol, injured hundreds, killed several, and threatened to kill Democratic legislators, in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Marklein’s support for Wisconsin’s nationally embarrassing and racist gerrymandering was the reason the Wisconsin State Journal gave for endorsing his opponent, Kriss Marion, in the 2018 election. Marklein’s upcoming audit is a regurgitation of former president Donald Trump’s previously investigated and thoroughly discredited claims of voter fraud.  It is part of Republicans’ current national effort to suppress the vote, because they cannot win on ideas.  Their only chance to win is to trash democracy and suppress the vote. The important question to ask is, “Why do Senator Marklein and Wisconsin’s Republican legislators insist on wasting taxpayers’ money on yet another phony, partisan, and anti-democratic investigation?” Dave Wester Baraboo  Documentation I.  From:  Stand Up To Alec  (search “standuptoalec.org”) “Marklein voted for discriminatory and suppressive voter ID legislation. Similar to ALEC model Voter ID legislation, Wisconsin’s Act 23 (2011) requires registered voters to obtain and to present photo ID in order to cast a ballot. Though proponents claimed publicly that voter ID legislation aimed to eliminate voter fraud, sworn testimony from a former Republican staffer in Wisconsin indicates otherwise. Todd Allbaugh testified under oath in 2016 that in a Republican caucus meeting planning passage of the bill, proponents fully acknowledged the political and discriminatory intent of the legislation. In responding to concerns that the bill would suppress votes, bill co-sponsor Glenn Grothman responded, “What I’m concerned about here is winning [elections], and that’s what really matters here.” In the same meeting, state Senator and bill co-sponsor Mary Lazich stated, “we’ve got to think about what this would mean for the neighborhoods around Milwaukee and the college campuses.” The intent of the bill, to its cosponsors, was to help Republicans win elections by suppressing votes in student and minority-heavy areas. [PR Watch, 9/26/2017; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/16/2016; AB 7 Passed Assembly 59-36 5/11/2011, the Senate 19-14 on 5/19/2011] “Howard Marklein Wisconsin Senate District 17 Summary Official Legislative Biography: Act 23 (2011) Voter ID Act Voted YES” II.  State Journal’s Endorsement of Marklein’s opponent “Our endorsements for the state Legislature “Wisconsin State Journal editorial board, October 22, 2018 The State Journal editorial board met in person with nearly two dozen candidates for the Legislature from across south-central Wisconsin. The candidates below are best suited to represent their districts. “Senate District 17, KRISS MARION . . . . Endorsing Marion, a Democrat, over Marklein, R-Spring Green, isn’t an easy decision. Marklein has earned our support in the past. . . . But too often during Marklein’s first Senate term, he has acquiesced to his Republican leaders when they undermined good government protections and strayed from smart financial decisions. Unlike Marklein, Marion is a strong supporter of nonpartisan redistricting and criticizes excessive Foxconn subsidies. She’s fought at the statehouse and in court to give her fellow “soil sister” entrepreneurs the right to sell small batches of baked goods. Marion has a broader and bolder vision of what southwest Wisconsin can achieve.” III.  Marklein condemning Wisconsin protests in his newsletter, while ignoring Trump’s white supremacist insurrection: “Senator Howard Marklein “August 25, 2020 “It is almost exactly two months since the last time I sat in my office at the State Capitol with broken windows. There is absolutely no justification for the vandalism, destruction, rioting and looting that took place at the State Capitol, in the City of Madison or the City of Kenosha last night.”