SURPRISING STUFF
The Republican Party of Wisconsin strikes again.
First, under the order of Vos in Madison, the people of Wisconsin must be billed almost seven hundred thousand dollars for an audit of the last presidential election that will yield yet another treasure trove of nothing. The 700 grand is to make sure that some sort of not-so-subtle message is sent back to the former president that his ‘stop the steal’ anti-democracy campaign is being supported by what’s fast becoming the Wisconsin backwoods of the Midwest.
Now, there’s another bill to be sent to the governor for veto. This one would deny certain words to be used in any Wisconsin schools, or among students or teachers. Words like ‘racial justice’ or racial healing.’ Words like equity, equitable, whiteness, white supremacy, critical self-awareness…and so many more. This is almost like a return to the time when burning books brought Rodenberry to write Fahrenheit 451! How has the republican party become the butt of elementary school humor? This ridiculous bill was actually passed along party lines in the Wisconsin Assembly last week. Assembly of what?
Do body cams have a future in the City of Lake Geneva?
The Lake Geneva Police Department has been researching and budgeting for body cams the last year, or so. The chief of the department and his lieutenant have reached out to other departments that do use them and have researched grants to help cover the cost to the city. Unfortunately, they have not qualified well as candidates because the community isn’t hurting enough financially. If the body cams do get approved, the department will also need to hire a records clerk to review the footage and redact any personal information that could be compromised.
Calls to the police for assistance in 2021 have been significantly higher than previous years, and the trend is likely to continue in the upcoming years. The other side of the problem is that the city doesn’t have enough officers to handle the calls coming in as it is, and has to rely on the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department for backup, especially on the weekends. With an increase in calls and a decrease in staff the police department is in desperate need of more officers. The idea is to hire more full-time officers as it’s getting very difficult to hire part-time officers.
Lake Geneva is busier than it’s ever been and there’s no signs of things slowing down. The chief believes the city is in need of the body cams, and the department is on board with him and wants the cameras as well. The body cams help protect the officers as much as it does the public, and they are instrumental in allowing training reviews. If the chief had to choose between the body cams or hiring additional staff, he said the need for staff is the more urgent out of the two. As a compromise, the city is considering adding two full-time officers and five community officers to the police department next year and pushing back the purchase of the body cams until later in the year.
Things are looking bright for the police department so hopefully only good things will come in the next year for them and the entire community the department so wonderfully serves. The city is also going to miss Chief Mike Rasmussen mightily when he takes his retirement next September.
Place of the Week
The home on the corner of Spring and Sage Street is the place this week! Halloween is only a few days away and Lake Geneva can count on some spooky good fun from Pauline and Dave and their Halloween house.
