SURPRISING STUFF
Lake Geneva’s Business Improvement District wants to expand.
Over a year ago, after the new BID board was appointed and installed, the publisher of the Geneva Shore Report spoke at one of the regular BID meetings and proposed that the BID expand its area to bring in members who were currently gaining mightily from what Lake Geneva’s other businesses were doing for them but not participating in either the leadership, work, or funding of the BID’s efforts.
Finally, at the next BID meeting in January (the 12th) the BID board will discuss this great idea after putting it on the agenda. The BID needs to respond to rising costs and also share the success of its work with the other businesses that are enjoying success because of it. Companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, Kwik-Trip (both of them, the current one and the coming one) Culvers and so many more need to be absorbed into the BID structure. The publisher of the GSR also mentioned bringing the big box stores, like Home Depot, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and Target in, but that kind of inclusion would probably be rife with long-term political and legal issues.
Will the current BID leadership survive into early or mid-2021?
Rumors abound. The BID’s request for a forensic audit of the previous board’s financial conduct has not gone down well with aged and still installed members of what the GSR calls ‘The Good Old Boys.’ There is lobbying going on that might result in the BID losing Speedo Condos and Demetri Condos from the board. The Geneva Shore Report, in a very rare move, is supporting staying the course when it comes to Lake Geneva’s elected and appointed officials in the coming elections. That includes the members of the BID and any organization whose members are connected with the city today that asks for its own finances to be examined. These dutiful and contributing members of the business community should be complimented for honesty and openness, not denied, derided, or removed from office.
December 17th has come and gone, but not without much stress and anxiety.
A new Tik-Tok challenge has had schools across the country taking heightened precautions. The school threat on Tik-Tok emerged suggesting school shootings would take place on December 17th, 2021. The originator of the Tik-Tok challenge is unknown at this time, but with everything on the Internet, it is surely traceable and will be investigated on a national and local level. Authorities across the nation haven’t reported any credible threats but did take the potential very seriously and did raise safety measures.
Lake Geneva Police Department, along with surrounding departments, sent out notices on social media letting the people know they are aware of the potential threats and reassured the public that no specific threats to any of the schools were being investigated and that they would have an extra police presence at all the schools. Even with no reported threats and reassurance from the locals, many parents struggled with the decision to send kids to school, and many chose not to. The schools did send out mass emails to all parents and tried to give as much information regarding the situation to help them make the difficult decision, as well as decide what was best for them and their children.
On Friday morning, the Lake Geneva school administrators found it necessary to send the High School students home at 10 a.m. due to a threat at the school stating, “action is being taken even though we feel the threat is not credible.” The threat was specific to the Badger High School, and all the other Lake Geneva schools remained open. Friday morning, at approximately 8:57 a.m., just after classes started, the school resource officer at Badger High School received information that there was going to be a school shooting between 11 a.m., and 11:35 a.m. The information was received through a text message from an unknown phone number delivered to a student at Badger High School.
Detectives with the Lake Geneva Police Department were able to trace the number back to a child from the Town of Geneva. The juvenile was interviewed and admitted that the message was sent to a friend as a joke and that he was only trying to scare the friend. That mission was certainly accomplished, as the friend, along with the school administration, and the entire school was obviously scared. The juvenile was taken into custody and turned over to Walworth County juvenile intake. Charges for terroristic threats will be referred to the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office.
Business of the Week
Locally owned, Jan’s Hallmark in Delavan, offers a variety of unique gifts for any occasion, especially at Christmas time.
