Candidates for the Board of the School District of Menomonie will speak to the public Tuesday, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts, 205 E Main, Menomonie.

The seven candidates are vying for three 3-year terms on the board. The field will be narrowed to six candidates at the primary election on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and to three victors at the spring election on Tuesday, April 7. Voters will vote for three candidates at both the primary and spring elections.

The free forum will include brief opening and closing statements from each candidate. Audience members will have a chance to submit questions.

Candidates are Tanya Husby, Heather Klanderman (I), Daniel Paulson (I), Amy Riddle-Swanson (I), Josh Risler, Charlie Schneider, and Sandy White. Incumbents are identified with an (I).

In the event of severe weather, the forum will be postponed to Feb. 11.

WisCommunity will either live-stream or videotape this forum and make it available soon after the event.

During the State of the State, Governor Tony Evers reflected on the accomplishments made in 2019 and the priorities we must carry out in the year ahead. As we draw closer to the end of this legislative session, we have a stronger sense of urgency to get things done.

Governor Evers showed exemplary leadership and his willingness to tackle the serious issues in our state during his State of the State Address. Along with his effort to create a Fair Maps Commission and Task Force on Student Debt, Evers announced a 3 part plan to address the visible challenges affecting our farmers and rural communities.

Finally, Wisconsin has a leader who values the dedication of our family farmers, recognizes Wisconsin’s role as America’s Dairyland and wants to learn from those who live and work in rural Wisconsin.

The Legislature is wrapping up session too soon. The Majority Party has neglected to hold public hearings or schedule votes on legislation that offer solutions to some of the most pressing issues in our state, including the dairy crisis. Wisconsin lost more than a third of dairy farms in the last decade, losing 800 in 2019 alone. At a time when local, family farms are disappearing rapidly and Wisconsin is leading the nation in farm bankruptcies, we need to take action.

During the State of the State, Evers called for a special session for the Legislature to take up 8 bills to support our farmers and invest in our agricultural industries and rural communities. I’m especially proud of the proposal to create a small farm diversity grant program to help new producers with initial start-up costs, a bill I introduced earlier this session with Rep. Vruwink (D – Milton).

In the agriculture special session bill package, Governor Evers also included proposals to:

·         Create the Wisconsin Initiative for Dairy Exports to help build Wisconsin’s presence in international dairy markets.

·         Offer more opportunity for dairy processors who want to innovate and become more efficient in their practice through the dairy processor grant program.

·         Expand the Farm Center to assist farmers in financial planning and farm succession.

·         ...

Tired of fighting? Feel like voting / marching / calling Congress / all of it is pointless? Maybe you are suffering from democracy fatigue, which threatens to become both epidemic and chronic in the United States.

The causes are not hard to find: just turn to your Twitter feed, open your newspaper, or turn on the television and watch U.S. Senators waiting for their seemingly inevitable vote to continue the most corrupt and incompetent presidency of the past century. This president is not only a disgrace to office, but also holds that office despite receiving nearly three million votes less than his opponent. Has the Constitution failed to protect the country, or have we failed to honor the Constitution? Either way, we’re screwed.

This failure is not the end of the story. This is no time to give up. Now, more than ever, we must fight harder. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, of our country, of our world, we must take this country back from the minority who claim it now. And yes—they are a minority. They are far less than 50 percent, less even that the minority that voted this president into office. Never forget that he lost the election by three million votes. A majority said no to him, but the Electoral College said yes.

In this fourth year of the Trump debacle, we are tired, but we must not stop fighting. Interviewed in Salon, Professor Henry Giroux said:

“’Democracy fatigue’ does the work of moral depravity because it seems to suggest that even in the face of horrors, we should not be outspoken. That we should get tired and fade into the darkness so to speak.

“When you fade into the shadows you become part of the problem. This is not a matter of being tired, it’s a matter of justice. It’s about the truth. It’s about social responsibility. It’s about facing up to the fact that we live in very dangerous times. The issue is not to get tired; the issue is to fight harder.”

Cynicism and despair are as much our enemies as Trump and racism and corruption. Nothing about this Constitution or this country make either unworkable or unsalvageable. What makes any country or system function well is not an underlying ideology but rather the care, commitment, and hard work of its people.

Look at religion, any religion. You will find examples of people of faith working together to care for one another and to care for strangers, to build up the world and make it a better place. You will also find people who use religion as a weapon of division and hatred and persecution....