This is great news.

I’m glad to see the South Milwaukee School Board recognizes the need for a full-time position in the district’s early childhood program. The EC program at Blakewood School seeks to better prepare children with autism before they reach school age, in hopes that the children can be “mainstreamed” into regular classes. According to the article, since the 2003-04 school year, the school district has gone from seven students recognized with autism spectrum disorders to 22 projected for the coming year. It’s obvious there’s a need for a full-time position, and I’m so pleased to see the School Board taking appropriate action to address the issue. What really amazes me is the fact that the School Board obviously did their research on the issue, with board President Brett Briesemeister saying, “We try to find kids who need help, as early intervention will help smooth the transition. If we catch kids early, they’re better off for the 12 years they are with us.”

It’s no secret early intervention is the key to success for children with autism, and I’m glad the folks on the School Board of South Milwaukee recognize that fact.

So over at Watchdog Milwaukee, Jim McGuigan blogged a few days ago about fired Milwaukee police officers receiving paychecks while they appeal their terminations. Milwaukee police officers are unique in being able to collect a paycheck while they appeal their terminations, thanks to a 1980 state law enacted to counteract the capricious firing of officers by former Milwaukee Police Chief Harold Breier. What’s interesting is that some conservatives are quick to point the finger at Governor Doyle for not repealing the law, apparently ignorant of the fact that repealing laws isn’t in Governor Doyle’s job description.

While it’s true Governor Doyle hasn’t talked much about the issue, the fact remains he can’t repeal anything, since that’s the responsibility of the State Senate and Assembly, which up until the last election were both controlled by the Republican Party for a number of years. The reality of the situation is Republican lawmakers have had just as many opportunities - if not more - than Democrats to repeal the law, yet they’ve not done a darn thing about it.

In fact, I distinctly remember former Assembly Speaker Jon Gard effectively killing a bill that would have done away with that law. Coincidentally enough, Gard’s campaign received a $5,000 donation from the police union’s political action committee in June of 2005 for his congressional campaign, and then in 2006 the bill was killed. Interestingly, since 1993 the Milwaukee Police Association has given Republicans nearly three times as much as it has given Democrats.

Next week Tuesday, voters will get to choose the next County Supervisor for Milwaukee County’s 8th District. I’ve talked a little about the two candidates, and I’ve expressed my misgivings about Chris Kujawa, given the relative lack of substantive information available about his issue positions on his website, and now comes a report in South Milwaukee NOW that Kujawa has said he’s only running in order to uphold County Executive Scott Walker’s vetoes of the County Board. I haven’t been able to find a link to the comments by Kujawa, which were apparently made to WisPolitics.com, so I don’t know for sure if that’s really what he said, but it wouldn’t surprise me, given the fact that he’s been endorsed by County Exec. Walker and seems just nutty enough to be a supporter of his.

Earlier today Governor Jim Doyle was cleared of any wrongdoing in the 2005 sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant. The sale of that plant became the subject of an investigation after it was revealed utility company executives had given more than $43,000 to Doyle’s re-election campaign just prior to the approval of the sale by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Shortly after the revelations came to light, former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager opened an investigation into whether Governor Doyle’s office improperly influenced the Public Service Commission in its deliberations about the proposed sale of the Kewaunee power plant. This investigation became the subject of more than one attack ad against Governor Doyle during the gubernatorial race in 2006, with some citing the investigation - along with the prosecution of high-ranking state employee Georgia Thompson - serving as proof of how corrupt the Doyle administration supposedly was. Georgia Thompson’s federal conviction has since been overturned, and now we have this decision by the Wisconsin Department of Justice that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the Governor in the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant.

In a statement released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen cleared Governor Doyle of any wrongdoing, saying:

“After a thorough investigation, we have not found any evidence linking campaign donations to Governor Doyle to the PSC decision to approve the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant. Nor did we find any evidence that the governor’s office improperly influenced the PSC decision in any way.”

I give Attorney General Van Hollen credit for doing his job and seeing this investigation through to completion, as well as for his unwillingness to make a case out of nothing.

I came across an interesting article on the long wait to get children with autism therapy in the MJS. According to the article, “[h]undreds of children with autism aren’t getting the therapeutic aid many medical experts say represents their best hope of attaining a normal life.” As the parent of an autistic four year-old, I can speak firsthand about the long wait for therapy. Nick was first diagnosed as autistic over a year ago, and despite completing and submitting the Medicaid paperwork right away, we’re still on the waiting list for Medicaid. As a result, Nick has to go without the therapy that everyone agrees would be so beneficial to his continued development. In fact, here’s an interesting quote from the MJS article:

Although there is no known cure for autism spectrum disorders, or developmental disorders characterized by impairments of social functioning and both verbal and non-verbal communication, studies show that some children with autism are able to achieve near-normal functioning through a rigorous combination of speech, occupational and physical therapies.

What’s so frustrating for Patti and I is the fact that we both know Nick would would make so much progress if just given the right chances. Nick’s incredibly bright, and pretty much every “expert” - teachers, doctors, etc. - who have interacted with him have agreed his is a very mild case of autism, which is obviously a good thing, but it also serves to add to our frustration. As a parent, I just want the best for my son, and that includes the best possible treatment to help him deal with his autism. I wish I could afford the $40,000 per year for the therapy Nick needs, but I can’t, and that kills me.

So I had an opportunity to watch a replay of the Democratic YouTube debate tonight, and after listening to each of the candidates, I have to say I was impressed with Barack Obama’s performance. I know a lot’s been made of his statement that he’d be willing to sit down and talk with “questionable world leaders” - folks like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and Kim Jong Il - and how naive a statement like that really is - but I give him credit for taking a chance and being honest about what he’d do. As for the naivety of Senator Obama’s statement, I’ll just say that the diplomacy of George Dubbya hasn’t produced many positive results when it comes to our relations with the rest of the world, so maybe it’s time for a radically different approach.

Now I’m not saying Barack Obama has the answer, but at least he’s willing to try something different, and at least he’s not afraid to take a chance and not give the “safe answer.” I give Obama a lot of credit for taking a chance, and I think he and his campaign have done a good job of spinning his answer in the aftermath of the YouTube debate.

Edit: I also have to say while it was mildly amusing at first when Mike Gravel kept referring to not getting a chance to speak, it started to annoy me towards the end of the debate. Perhaps if he had something relevant and not completely crazy to say, he’d have more of an opportunity to speak.

So Democratic and Republican lawmakers are in negotiations to get a compromise state budget finished, and today’s MSJ is reporting that the eight legislative leaders working on finding a compromise state budget have pocketed $617,000 for themselves from special-interest groups and individuals in the first half of the year. What’s interesting is that of that $617,000, about $100,000 came from health care professionals, hospital executives, their statewide organizations and health care lobbyists. Now $100,000 is a lot of money, and it’s worth noting that among the hottest topics of debate and discussion among lawmakers has been the universal health care proposal offered up by Senate Democrats and vehemently opposed by Republicans. According to the article in the MJS, State Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, the chief budget negotiator for Republicans who control the Assembly, received about $10,500 - or just over 20% of the $49,596 his personal campaign fund raised between January and June - from doctors, other medical professionals and groups with a stake in the health care debate.

And of course, when asked about the large percentage of his campaign donations that came from folks associated with the health care industry, Huebsch said he didn’t know why those medical professionals gave that much to his campaign. Now maybe I’m crazy, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on here. After all, why would Republicans dare support universal health care when that support might mean the end of the money train from the special interests in the health care industry?

Derrick Nunnally over at Proof and Hearsay [one of my new favorite blogs, by the way] is reporting that the three officers convicted in federal court for their roles in the beating of Frank Jude, Jr. have been moved to the Dodge County Detention Facility until they’re sentenced on November 29th. Interestingly enough, the Dodge County Detention Facility is the same jail where Ald. Mike McGee Jr. has been a resident for about a month - and where he’ll presumably remain a resident until his federal case has reached its end.

Now I’m not sure whether or not Jon Bartlett will be joining his partners in crime at the Dodge County Detention Facility or now, because he falls under the custody of Wisconsin Department of Corrections as a state prison inmate, but if all three are in fact in the same facility as Alderman McGee, I’d love to be a fly on the wall if they ever happened to come into contact. I’ve got no doubts every effort will be made to keep Alderman McGee and the three dirty cops as far from each other as possible, but I’d be willing to bet there’d be some definite chemistry if they all happened to come into contact with each other.

I know they’re not terribly politically correct [actually, they're not at all politically correct], but I’m a big fan of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. I first saw
Super Troopers shortly after it came out on DVD, and it instantly became one of my all-time favorite comedies. While I’m not as big a fan of Club Dread, my faith in Broken Lizard was restored with the release of Beerfest. Sure, the comedy is pretty sophomoric and not at all politically correct, but I just can’t help but find myself laughing uncontrollably when I watch these movies.

My advice? If you haven’t seen them, rent Super Troopers and Beerfest; you won’t be disappointed.

Just a little while ago, a federal jury found three former Milwaukee Police Officers guilty of federal civil rights violations for their role in the beating of Frank Jude, Jr. outside an off-duty police party in Bay View in October of 2004. A fourth man currently on suspension by the Milwaukee Police Department was found not guilty of the two federal charges against him. Jon Bartlett, Andrew Spengler, and Daniel Masarik were all found guilty of conspiring to violating Frank Jude’s and Lovell Harris’ rights and of assaulting Jude as police officers, while the jury acquitted suspended officer Ryan Packard. Masarik and Spengler were taken into custody pending sentencing in November, while Bartlett was returned to state custody, as he’s currently serving prison time for a state conviction that he called in a bomb threat to a Milwaukee Police district station. After hearing the verdict, Frank Jude issued a statement:

“I’m happy. The truth has been told today, what they did and how they did it.”

The conviction of the three main actors in the Jude beating has to come as a small bit of vindication for former Milwaukee District Attorney E. Michael McCann. After all, McCann’s loss in the state case against the three men was the only felony jury verdict McCann ever lost in more than 40 years of prosecuting. Shortly after that verdict McCann retired, and from what I’ve read and heard, he felt that case was the ‘one that got away.’ No doubt McCann had been hoping for a conviction in the federal case, and I’m sure this verdict will serve as a small measure of vindication for him.

What really infuriates me about this situation is the fact that until they are sentenced, Masarik and Spengler will continue to be paid under existing state law unique to Milwaukee which requires the city to pay fired officers until their criminal appeals are exhausted. City officials are pushing to change the law, but I don’t expect any significant progress towards changing the law, since some state legislators seem to be firmly in the pocket of the powerful Milwaukee Police Union. The current state law does say police officers convicted and sentenced for a felony can be removed from the payroll, but until such time as Masarik and Spengler are actually sentenced, they’ll continue to collect fat paychecks from the Milwaukee Police Department. In a statement earlier today, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the city has paid Masarik, Spengler and Bartlett $475,000 in pay and benefits since they were fired. Now while I’m not a taxpayer in the City of Milwaukee, the fact that these guys are still collecting paychecks absolutely galls me.