Little Gems

Bill the Barber.
The business named after this man (Bill Huntress) was an institution in Lake Geneva. It was located right across a short stretch of the parking lot just west of the city’s municipal building, and not far from the equally wonderful institution known as Torcaso’s Shoe Repair. How many villages and towns across the country have a real barbershop and a real, from scratch, cobbler? The barbershop is gone, however. Bill called it quits a few months back and retired. The COVID19 Pandemic had something to do with that. This man was not just a barber though. He was a fountain of information and a nexus where citizens could go to find out what was really going on, from Bill’s viewpoint, of course. This shop, and Bill, are badly missed and it’s a shame that this virus has claimed so many important and vital business entities. Thanks, Bill, if you’re still out there, for all that you did for the city and so many citizens that have no real clue as to how much you really loved them and the city itself.

It may look like paid parking is no longer a thing in Lake Geneva, but it is still in effect.
The Lake Geneva Street Department removed the parking stall posts which provided stall numbers for everyone at every slot. The new parking kiosks in all of Lake Geneva do not use stall numbers, instead, parking is paid for by using license plate numbers. This has cleared up space on the sidewalks and created a more pleasurable visual scene for everyone, but it has also created the wandering license plate zombies. The “zombies” are those who get to a distant kiosk and find out they haven’t memorized their license plate number and have to go back. Parking can be paid for at one of the fifty parking kiosks or using the park mobile app. Typically, free parking begins on November 15th and remains free until February 28th.

At least, that is how it has been in previous years. This year it is very uncertain on all levels. 2020 is the year of the virus, the year of the election, the year of conflicting views, and the year of financial hardship. The city of Lake Geneva, just like the rest of municipalities across the country, is struggling with all manner of new issues. Paid parking plays a big role in the financial stability of the city, so the possibility of year-round paid parking becomes a necessary discussion on the city council agenda. The Finance, Licensing, and Regulation Committee considered paid parking all year round but then submitted a proposal to the city to only increase paid parking by making it required to start on February first instead of the twenty-eighth. We’ll see what the council does a bit later on.

Governor Evers press release on 9/22/2020:
Governor Evers declared a renewal of his public emergency orders, due to campus outbreaks among others. The governor issued new face-covering orders in effect now through November 21, 2020. Evers felt it was necessary to order the extension, requiring face coverings, due to the recent increase of COVID19 cases amongst young people. When face masks were first discussed, considered, and ordered, the idea was met with much resistance on the state, county, and city levels. The controversy over the enactment of mandatory face mask rules, including those with enforcement by the police and punitive fines, has not ended by any means, however, by and large, the wearing of face masks, at least inside structures is becoming ever more common.