The First Amendment

4A

The Platteville Journal

JUNE 22, 2016

ETC.

Mr. Answer Man

he editor of your favorite

weekly newspaper is asked
questions from time to time.
(Which could include: Why are
you referring to yourself in the
third person?)

As a professional opinionmonger, I am
required to have answers. They may not
be the right answers, and they may not be
answers you agree with, but consider that Steve Prestegard
for subscribers in Grant, Lafayette and
plattevillejournaleditor@
Iowa counties, this column costs you, by
gmail.com
my estimation this week, 0.7867 cents.
Q: What can be done about tragedies
like the Orlando shooting?
A: The only answer I have is what should not be done,
and that is abridging peoples constitutional rights, like the
First (freedom of religion), Second (freedom to bear arms),
Fourth (unreasonable search and seizure and probable
cause), Fifth (due process of law), Sixth (rights in court) and
Seventh (trial by jury) Amendments, all of which have been
proposed to be abridged in the past two weeks as the result
of the shootings. There is a sandwich sign west of my office that quotes my favorite Founding Father, Ben Franklin:
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a
little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Q: Well, shouldnt something be done?
A: Your definition of something (or anyone elses, or mine)
is not necessarily the right answer. I think it is better to do
nothing than the wrong thing. Newspaperman H.L. Mencken
(who I may be becoming) said, For every complex problem
there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
Q: Are you allowed to make controversial statements?
A: Franklin also said, If all printers were determined not
to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody,
there would be very little printed.
Q: Why was Ashley Javon Toney, who is on the Indiana
sex offender registry, released on $1,000 signature bond after
he was arrested last week?
A: This (paraphrased) question was asked on our Facebook page last week. Im not a lawyer, I wasnt present at
Toneys first court appearance, and to quote Cops, all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But
it seems to me (and Ive said this before in this space) that
such questions deserve an answer for us taxpayers, whose
taxes pay for our criminal justice system.
Q: Why is the speed limit 55 mph at the U.S. 151/County
XX interchange?
A: I was asked this a couple years ago. I would guess
its because the Platteville city limits end west of the interchange. So youd have to inquire of Grant County, not
the city, the wisdom of traffic going 55 mph through that
interchange with two left turns without stop signs. (The
speed limit through the 151/Wisconsin 80/81 and 151/Grant
County D interchanges is 45 mph.)
Q: Why is the city redoing Furnace Street this year when
Southwest Health EMS is moving from Furnace Street later
this year?
A: I assume its because the city is also redoing Bonson
Street. But redoing Furnace this year instead of next year
required the construction of a temporary driveway so the
ambulances could get out. Neither the driveway nor the
building will be needed after that.
Q: What are the citys plans to upgrade Greenwood Avenue
and Bradford Street if the St. Augustine housing project is
approved?
A: Thats a very good question. That subject hasnt come
up in the discussions about the project, and it would be good
to know the answer before the vote to pass it takes place,
because those two streets will get considerably more traffic
once construction is completed.
Q: Is that a prediction that it will get approved?
A: Yes. Thats because the citys first priority is more property
tax revenue, both because of big-ticket capital items (streets,
the fire station, streets, the Municipal Building, streets, possibly
water and sewer on Enterprise Drive and streets) and because
of, as Ive argued in this space before, failure to develop the city
to generate more tax revenue in past years and decades.
Q: Why are you typing this standing at your desk?
A: For the same reason I walk a lot. Supposedly sitting is
the new smoking. Im not sure I buy that (I am not breathing in cancer-causing materials when sitting), but I am
aware that I sit a lot, though as anyone who watches me at
one of my childrens games knows I also pace a lot. If anything this saves me a step as I pace around the office while
writing, to the annoyance of my coworkers.
Q: You think you have all the answers. Why dont you run
for office?
A: Believe it or not I was asked that a couple months into
starting work here. My answer then and now is: Who would
vote for me?

The Platteville

journal
www.swnews4u.com

Serving the Platteville Area Since 1899

USPS 435-560
John Ingebritsen, Publisher

Editor
Steve Prestegard
plattevillejournaleditor@gmail.com
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Shirley Thalmann
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WA S H I N G T O N J O U R N A L

Manufacturing universities bill OKd

he U.S. Senate passed the

2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which included U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwins bipartisan legislation to
help U.S. universities strengthen
their engineering programs to
meet the demands of the modern
manufacturing industry.

The Manufacturing Universities legislation authorizes the Department of

Defense to support industry-relevant,
manufacturing-focused, engineering
training at U.S. universities.
Institutions would be selected through
a competitive grant-based process and
would be required to better align their
educational offerings with the needs of
modern U.S. manufacturers.
As the demand for a highly skilled
workforce continues to grow, Im proud
to have worked across party lines to
support the Manufacturing Universities Act, said Baldwin (DWisconsin). This bipartisan legislation will
strengthen engineering programs and
help ensure that our universities offer
courses that can better prepare students for our 21st century advanced
manufacturing economy. It will also
give students the tools they need to
carry on Wisconsins tradition of making things, and move our manufacturing economy forward.
Im thrilled the Senate came together in a bipartisan way to pass
our legislation that will help students
across the country acquire the skills
they need for jobs in todays advanced
manufacturing industries, said Sen.
Chris Coons (DDelaware). Manufacturing has transformed over the years
but job training programs offered at
universities have failed to keep up,
leaving students unprepared to meet
the demands of 21st century manufacturing. We need to better equip Delawareans and students across the country for todays advanced manufacturing
jobs. Manufacturing Universities will
do just that by ensuring our country

is offering higher education that gives

young people the skills necessary to excel in this growing field.
I am so pleased that we were able
to work successfully across the aisle to
include in this years NDAA this important provision that will strengthen
manufacturing in New Hampshire and
across the country, said Sen. Kelly
Ayotte (RNew Hampshire). This legislation works to ensure that students
have the education and skills they
need to compete in the 21st century
workforce and to keep manufacturing
jobs in the United States. It has been
an honor to work with Sens. Coons,
Baldwin, Gillibrand and Graham on
this legislation that will help better
prepare our students for good-paying
manufacturing jobs.
I am pleased that the Senate came
together to pass our bipartisan Manufacturing Universities bill as part of
this years NDAA, said Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand (DNew York). This legislation gives our universities access
to new resources that can help them
prepare more engineers, more product
designers, more innovators, and more
men and women to drive our economy
forward. No job should go unfilled and
no companys expansion should ever be
inhibited because there arent enough
trained workers ready to work, and
this legislation takes important steps
to give students the skills they need to
compete in the 21st century manufacturing workforce.
This is an incredibly important issue for our states institutions of higher
education and manufacturing industries, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R
South Carolina). It will foster entrepreneurship and innovation by prioritizing advanced manufacturing, research, and industry collaboration. I
look forward to working on additional,
innovative ways to ensure our manufacturing sector thrives and maintains
its international competitiveness in the
years to come.
Manufacturing Universities would
establish a program within the

Department of Defense charged with

designating schools as Manufacturing Universities. Designated schools
would receive federal grant funding to
meet specific goals, including focusing
engineering programs on development
of industry-relevant advanced manufacturing skills, building new partnerships with manufacturing firms, growing hands-on training opportunities for
students, and fostering manufacturing
entrepreneurship. The program would
be run by the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with other federal agencies such as the National Science
Foundation, and the Department of
Education.
The original bipartisan standalone
legislation S. 771, was endorsed by the
Association of American Universities,
the Association of Public and Landgrant Universities, the Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation, the Precision Metalforming Association, the National Tooling & Machining Association, Young Invincibles,
New York State Technology & Engineering Educators Association, North
American Manufacturing Research
Institution, Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, the University
of Delaware, Delaware State University, Clemson University, University of
South Carolina, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University,
Temple University, Drexel University,
the University of Missouri System, the
University of Illinois, the University
of California, Davis, the University of
California, Irvine, Boston University,
the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the State
University of New York System, Kent
State University, UWMadison, UE
Milwaukee, the University of Connecticut, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
Clarkson University, the Ohio State
University, Alfred University, Northern
Illinois University, Wayne State University, Georgia Tech University, Florida State University, AMETEK Floorcare & Specialty Motors, Dow, DuPont,
and Siemens.

LETTERS
The Platteville Journal, P.O. Box 266, Platteville, WI 53818-0266 plattevillejournaleditor@gmail.com

Payment to whom?
I attended the Town of Kendall annual meeting April 19. During the
meeting, the amount of money being
spent on lawyer fees by the town board
was presented. One of the amounts
presented was $5,054.00 for lawyer
fees against Ray McDonald. This is the
amount spent in 2014 and 2015; no
amount was shown for 2016. According
to the copy of the tape of the annual
meeting, Town Sup. Don Christianson issued a statement saying that the
township had received a check from
the townships insurance company to
offset the lawyer fees against Ray McDonald. It was also stated that no taxpayer dollars were spent for these lawyer fees. He asked Mary Leahy, boardappointed treasurer/clerk, to verify
this, and Mary Leahy stated that was
true, that the township received an insurance check for those fees.
On April 20 I made an Open Records
request for the documentation to support Mary and Dons statements. On
May 25 (five weeks after my initial request) I received documentation showing what the insurance company paid.

The documentation I received was a

copy of the Detail Loss Sheet. The Detail Loss Sheet showed all claims paid
to the Town of Kendall for the last
five years as of May 19. It showed no
checks were issued to pay the lawyer
fees against Ray McDonald. The Detail Loss Sheet showed checks were received by the Town of Kendall in 2014,
in the amount of $2,068.00 for an Open
Records violation. No other checks
have been received for lawyer fees.
Theresa McCarthy
Belmont

Blood needed

When you support Red Cross Blood

Services you are also supporting important preparedness and response
programs. The Red Cross is there
through every imaginable crisis, from
house fires and distribution of blood
products, to mass flooding and major
storms.
The Red Cross Wisconsin region responded to 828 disasters, helped 4,118
individuals, 11,000 military personnel and trained over 107,869 community members in health and safety. In

addition, our blood products are available to over 50 hospitals in Wisconsin.

The recipients could be our neighbors,
family and friends.
The next blood drive will be held
at the Platteville United Methodist
Church July 11 from 16 p.m. and will
be dedicated to the memory of longtime
volunteer Harriet Gibbon. Please plan
to join us!
Barbara Browning

American Red Cross Coordinator

The Platteville Journal will print

most letters to the editor, regardless of
the opinion presented. The Journal reserves the right to edit material that is
libelous or otherwise offensive to community standards and to shorten letters
The Journal determines are excessively
long. All letters must be signed and the
signature must appear on the printed
letter, along with a contact number or
email for verification. Some submitted letters may not be published due to
space constraints. Thank you letters
will not be printed. All letters and columns represent the views of the writers and not necessarily the views of The
Platteville Journal.

Every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being
responsible for the abuse of that right, and no laws shall be passed to restrain or abridge
the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libel, the
truth may be given in evidence, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged
as libelous be true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party
shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.
Wisconsin Constitution, Article I, section 3