21 total articles : showing 1-10 next 10 >
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: 'Declaration of Independents' a good local idea
Kudos to the Dane Buy Local folks for their creative play on today's Fourth of July holiday with their own "Declaration of Independents." read story
Plain Talk: WMC can thank an 'activist' court
Jim Pugh, the hardball mouthpiece for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, called me the other day to complain about a recent column in which I remarked that WMC had "aided and abetted" the borderline-racist campaign of soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Restoring Hope Transplant House deserves our support
Cindy Herbst's patience is far from running out, but it is starting to wear a little thin. It has been two years since she and her husband, inspired by their experience at the Mayo Clinic, formed a nonprofit corporation here to open a house to help transplant patients and their families get through their ordeal. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Byline a day not the measure of a good reporter
Like so many newspapers these days, though, the Chicago Tribune, or at least the Tribune we know and love, is endangered. The Internet and the bad economy have combined to make life miserable for newspaper companies across the land and, from all appearances, doubly so in Chicago. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Band-Aid not enough for health care
This may finally be the year that the United States gets serious about its failed health care system. It's nothing short of shameful that 45 million Americans, all too many of them kids, have no health care coverage at all and millions more have health coverage that's totally inadequate. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Farm bill will make a huge difference this year
As a young kid on the farm, I remember after one particularly heavy rainfall my grandfather, gazing at the under-water cornfield in our low-lying land, sadly proclaiming in broken Swiss-German: "Kein korn heuer." read story
Dave Zweifel: Concerts rejuvenated downtown
The 25th season of Madison's unparalleled Concerts on the Square begins this Wednesday evening and, as has been the case all these years, the Capitol Square will be jammed with people taking in the music and enjoying food and fun as only summer in Madison can bring. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Flood plain label not beloved, but needed
The catastrophic flooding in our area the past couple of weeks has been sad enough, but sadder yet is that many of the property owners didn't have flood insurance because their municipalities decided not to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance program. read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Will appeal to bigotry work again?
I did a double take when I saw the recent newspaper headline that read "Gableman race may be a road map for McCain." Did this mean that the Republican leadership in Wisconsin is planning a reprise of what most observers of the state political scene agree was one of the nastiest races in Wisconsin election history? read story
Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: It's not costly going green
We had a pleasant visit last week from two representatives of the Sierra Club who wanted us to know more about the organization's big push to get Wisconsin and its industry base to embrace a clean-energy economy. read story
