Editor's notebook

What Are We Saying No To?

How my hometown dealt with a Walmart moving in, a little insight from my old high school history teacher (who's also still on the Common Council) and a few questions I'd love to see pondered in public discussions.

Editor's Note: This column ran in March 2011 and I thought I'd resurrect it because of the newest proposal by Walmart in Caledonia. I just returned from a visit to Ohio and I wanted to add that Buehler's, a local food market located close to the Walmart in Wooster, is still in business. I don’t claim to have all of the answers about Walmart’s project in Caledonia, but I can tell you about how Walmart impacted my hometown. About 20 years ago, Walmart planted its boxy-blue presence on Burbank Road in Wooster, Ohio near the Mystic Meadows horse farm. At the time, the people living in the county produced everything: milk and trucks, paintbrushes and plastic containers, steel and oil, brakes and titanium gadgets. And up until 2009, we had …

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Laurie Giese

12:01 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

http://www.caledoniawi.com/Ordinances.aspx   more ›

Walker Hopes Manufacturing Tax Credit Lures Companies Over the Border

The governor hopes a manufacturing production credit will help convince companies in Illinois that want to expand to move to Wisconsin.

Gov. Scott Walker visited Gateway Technical College's iMET Center in Sturtevant Thursday to promote partnerships between government, business and the state's colleges and universities. The goal, he said is to get people the skills they need as quickly as possible so they can move into family-supporting jobs and a future. Walker highlighted Gateway's CNC and welding boot camp programs, which typically run six to 16 weeks, that help employers find the workers they need and help individuals start careers into which they can continue to grow and earn family-supporting wages.  But, he also touted a manufacturing tax credit that he hopes will bring companies from Northern Illinois up and over the border into Wisconsin. The manufacturing …

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Awaken All

3:55 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Dude....thanks for the non-answer. Attacking me or "liberals" does not answer my question, nor does it endear me to your perspective. I guess I'll have to ask it again...what do you mean by "liberal" and what do you find so offensive about it?   more ›

Budget Listening Session with Democrats Monday at Gateway

Democratic representatives from the area will holding a listening session Monday about Gov. Scott Walker's proposed 2013-2015 budget.

Area residents are invited to a listening session Monday with Democratic representatives at Gateway Technical College about Gov. Scott Walker's proposed 2013-2015 budget. Representatives Peter Barca, D-Kenosha; Cory Mason, D-Racine; and Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha with state Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Somers, will host event. In a written release from Mason's office, residents are enouraged to bring questions and concerns. "All members of the press and the public are encouraged to attend and share their views on the state budget," the statement reads. The session runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Gateway Technical College Racine campus in the Great Lakes Room, 1001 Main Street.

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C. Sanders

10:46 pm on Thursday, April 11, 2013

I like Obama's budget better: Separate vacations from Mooshell Another 8 trillion in added debt Savings totaling 85billions starting four years after Odumbo leaves office P   more ›

Voters Kill Gateway's Referendum

In order to spend $49 million of taxpayers' money, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties would have had to have a majority of voters approve the referendum Tuesday. But that didn't happen.

Residents from Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties shot down a $49 million referendum for Gateway Technical College on Tuesday, according to a story in The Journal Times. The money would have been used on several construction projects, including a $15.6 million public safety training facility, and a $13.5 million expansion and renovation project at the campus in Elkhorn. Gateway president Bryan Albrecht told the Journal Times: “It’s disappointing that the referendum didn’t go our way but we continue to be strong advocates for Gateway and our students." The referendum would have only passed if all three counties had a majority of voters support it.

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Come on Already

7:36 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Yes.   more ›

Letter to the Editor

New Public Safety Training Facility Benefits Communities

Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College, writes that a high-tech public safety training center benefits everyone, from first responders for preparedness to the residents who might one day need them.

Public safety is important for society. It’s as basic of a service a government can provide its residents. Yet, the demands society places on law enforcement professionals for more sophisticated training grows. Successful public safety begins with the training law enforcement and correctional officers receive as they enter their career, and continues to build in quality through the professional development they receive throughout their career. The number of trained professionals who protect us is amazing. Gateway plays a role in this through its law enforcement academy and its law enforcement degree program graduates. Agencies in the Gateway district seek these graduates as qualified applicants for an increasing number of open positions – …

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Should Gateway's Funding Be Tied To Their Performance?

Gov. Scott Walker wants to tie the technical college's funding to how well it meets performance standards.

One of the provisions in Gov. Scott Walker's budget, which he'll officially unveil on Wednesday, will be changing the funding model for Wisconsin's technical colleges, including Gateway Technical College, according to a story by The Journal Times. Technical colleges receive $83.5 million in state aid and Walker wants to increase that to $88.5 million. However, beginning this year, Walker wants 10 percent of that funding would be tied to the colleges achieving their performance benchmarks and by the year 2020, all of that funding would be tied to meeting those benchmarks. The details around how the funding formula would work still need to be hammered out by the Wisconsin Technical College System. According to the story, Gateway Technical …

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Richard Head

2:43 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013

SO - where are the jobs for the people? Where are all the Corporations wanting to locate here? It seems to me that the more RUSD, Gateway and the City of Racine take, the fewer jobs there are, the more foreclosures, and the more homeless. They are greedy and are abusing their taxing authority. What will save the region is the utter collapse and bankruptcy of these taxing authorities. It's coming…   more ›

Tarnowski Hall at Gateway Named for Caledonia Couple

Otto and Beverly Tarnowski donated what may be the largest donation to Gateway from an individual in college history.

Caledonia residents Otto and Beverly Tarnowski are giving the largest private donation to Gateway Technical College in the school's history. A wing of the new SC Johnson integrated Manufacturing and Technology Center is named Tarnowski Hall in their honor. Beverly attended the official grand opening Tuesday of the 18,000 square foot addition to Gateway's Sturtevant facility.  Fisk Johnson, CEO of SC Johnson, also delivered remarks, saying iMET will help train workers to fill the skills gap area employers are talking about. "There are good jobs that need filling but the gap between jobs and workers is troubling during this time of high unemployment," he said. "Southeast Wisconsin has a jewel in Gateway that other communities don't have."

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Gov. Walker Will Attend Gateway's New Facility Grand Opening

The public is invited to watch experts conduct demonstrations of cutting-edge technology at Gateway Technical College's expanded facility in Sturtevant.

Gov. Scott Walker will visit Sturtevant Tuesday to celebrate the grand opening of Gateway Technical College's SC Johnson integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Center. Referred to as the iMet, formerly known as CATI, the addition to GTC in the Renaissance Business Park features cutting edge technology to help provide the workers needed for 21st century manufacturing. From a press release issued by Gateway: Visitors can experience Tarnowski Hall, the region’s first flexible manufacturing training lab that includes computer numerical control machining, welding, metal fabrication, automated manufacturing systems and industrial robotics in addition to classroom and apprenticeship training space. The hall is named after the late …

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Frightened By The Cost of Four-Year Colleges?

A new dual enrollment partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Gateway Technical College looks to ease the burden of a four-year degree.

Paying for college has become to daunting of a task for many students. However, a new partnership between UW-Parkside and Gateway seeks to alleviate that issue, according to a Journal Times article titled UW-Parkside, Gateway expand dual enrollment The two colleges will begin offering the dual enrollment program this spring. “This provides another option for a four-year (degree) path,” said DeAnn Possehl, Parkside’s associate vice chancellor for enrollment management. To read more, click here.

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C. Sanders

7:26 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The most stress free job in America? A university professor.   more ›

Horlick Teacher Says 'No' to Getting Award from Paul Ryan

Selected as a recipient of an annual Humanitarian Award in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Al Levie would not accept the award from Congressman Paul Ryan because of Ryan's stance on certain issues.

Being chosen to receive an award because of your dedication to your community is usually a time for celebreation. But Al Levie, a Horlick High School teacher, on Jan. 16 decided to turn away from part of his Humanitarian Award because of who was presenting it to him. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) was at the ceremony to award his own Congressional Certificate of Recognition to Levie and two other Humanitarian Award recipients. The event took place at the Kenosha campus of Gateway Technical College in honor of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. While Levie can be seen in the video holding his Humanitarian Award, when Ryan tries to hand Levie the Congressional Certificate, he turns away and speaks to the crowd. What he says isn't audible…

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