All Sprizzo, all the time.

Ok, not all the time but for this post.

First, Sprizzo Galley Cafe  owner Karla Harper got the honor of introducing Barack Obama at the town hall style rally at the Expo Center.  Then Darryl Enriquez reports that Sprizzo’s will cater the House of Guinnes’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.  Anyone who has ever been to the House of Guinness for St. Patrick’s day knows that it is a very well-attended event and they go through a ton of food (and beer too).  The past few years have been catered by the Rochester Deli, which was a logical fit given Chef Dan’s reputation for awesome corned beef sandwiches.   St. Patrick’s day revelers shouldn’t fret, Sprizzo makes some great sandwiches too and I think the extra exposure will help increase their business.

For those that haven’t tried Sprizzo yet, you should pay them a visit.  Its a low key place that serves some awesome and unique sandwiches.  Their grilled cheese (cheddar, provolone, tomato and dill mayo)  and their ZO Veggie (mixed veggies with cream cheese and olive spread) are my two favorites.

Ziegler case should be a wakeup call for downtown property owners

Last week wasn’t a good week for Waukesha.  The Scott Ziegler case and the rooming house fire dominated the headlines.  The Scott Ziegler case is the most troubling.  The fact that this guy was able to operate a store that attracted teens when the guy was a known sex offender was quite disturbing.  What is even more disturbing was that teens were even allowed in the store, which sold pot smoking paraphernalia and supposedly porn.   I guess I cannot blame landlords for leasing to whoever can produce a rent check.  There are a lot of vacancies downtown and someone has to pay the mortgage and the property taxes.  I just wish some of the property owners would take a look at the bigger picture before they lease to someone like Ziegler.  If landlords continue to lease to stores that sell drug paraphernalia, porn, and other less than desirable merchandise it will ultimately lower the value and leaseability of buildings downtown and make it less attractive as a place to do business.

—

The Grammys were on last night.  Is it just me or does it seem like there are only 10-15 artists that seem to get media attention while better, more talented, and more important artists are left by the wayside.  Most of the artists featured are more style than substance….aww never mind, its not worth getting worked up over.  The Grammys have been pissing me off since I was a Freshman in High school.
—

I think that Hillary is going to win Wisconsin next week, not because the state Democrats like her, but because Republicans have their candidate set (even though nobody likes him) and they figure that Hillary is easier to beat in November than Obama so they are all going to cross over and vote for her.

—

Five Points Contest

What is the least surprising comment in Darryl Enriquez’s post about the aftermath of the Wisconsin House Fire and who made it?  Anyone who follows “controversial issues” in the City should get this.

I’ll buy a drink for the first person who gets it right.

The Steaming Cup

On the pages of this blog I have touted how good the Steaming Cup’s coffee, pastries (particularly their cinnamon rolls), and breakfast sandwiches are.   In fact a simple search on this blog will reveal eight mentions of the Steaming Cup throughout various posts.  Well this weekend was the first time I had lunch their and I can tell you that its just as good as breakfast.  The chicken chili was outstanding. Not too spicy and fill of fresh flavors, I would recommend it to anyone who likes chili.  I have also heard that the Chicken Tortilla is even better.  I also had a half sandwich (three cheese with tomato, lettuce and some flavored mayo (maybe pesto flavored?) that was also very good.  So for a nice breakfast or lunch, the Steaming Cup deserves a visit.

Lost

The question of the day is: What is more annoying: Watching “Lost” or listening to people who watch “Lost” talk about it?

Overbearing parents

The Journal has an interesting article on “helicopter parents.” I don’t care what argument you want to use, anyone who has their mommy and/or daddy sit in a job interview after college is a loser.  I were the person doing the hiring and some parents wanted to sit in on the interview I would never even consider hiring that person.  I would tell the parents that there is no way I am hiring a college graduate who still has to have their parents help with everything.

When people say stupid crap I must respond.

We haven’t heard much about the Community Based Residential Facility (CBRF) that a neighborhood in the Town of Waukesha was complaining about last fall. Well the Freeman has an update and one of the quotes was so asinine that I needed to comment. Sue Christensen, a concerned neighbor says “It’s a business that has employees and other people coming and going, it’s no different than having a Kwik Trip in the middle of neighborhood.” Um…a residential facility with 8 residents and a couple of employees is not the same as a Kwik Trip. If you don’t have the mental capacity to differentiate the two maybe you shouldn’t be speaking about this issue at all. A convenience store typically generates 100-150 vehicle trips per day per pump. Assuming 10 pumps (Kwik Trips usually have a lot of pumps) that would be 1,000 to 1,5000 trips per day. This CBRF probably won’t generate that many trips in 6 months. In fact I would argue that it will probably generate fewer trips than a typical household with 2 kids. People in that neighborhood have every right to argue against it but when you make blatantly false and idiotic comments you weaken any rational argument you have. How about we put a Kwik Trip in your neighborhood for a week. You will be begging for a CBRF within an hour.

As I stated when this was first publicized there is nothing that the residents can do to stop this. State law allows for CBRFs with 8 or fewer people to locate in single family zoning districts without any special local approvals. Plus I still find it appalling that neighbors don’t want a place where senior citizens can live in their neighborhood.

—

Muskego wants to create a downtown. Makes me glad I live here where we have a real, authentic downtown.

Regime change in Waukesha

(note: the Freeman links have not been e-mailed back to me yet. I will add them when I get them)

The new City Administrator starts work today. I would assume a tour of the City is on the agenda today. Rumors of a lunch stop at Steak and Shake with Mayor Nelson are unconfirmed.

—

Is it just me or is the soundoff section getting bigger and bigger. Today there are some comments about the inspection fee for apartments. I have been giving this some thought and if indeed the City is moving forward with this proposal I think there should be an inspection fee for all rental property, not just apartments. Some of the worst looking housing in the City is single and two-family homes that are being rented out.
—

The Freeman has an article about the impact of McDonalds plans to add fancy coffee to their restaurants and the potential impact on local coffee houses. I say the impact will be minimal. The only thing that may hurt local coffee shops would be if a chain coffee store moved downtown.

—

NFL nonsense

First the NFL Network, now this.  The NFL is coming down on theaters who show Packers games.  What a bunch of greedy douche bags.  Oh and lets not forget that you cannot mention the Super Bowl in any promotions without paying them.

Bill Kramer has an opponent

I got a press release from Thomas Russ who is running against Bill Kramer for the 97th District State Assembly Seat. I am not a huge fan of Kramer but until Thomas Russ gets more information on his website I cannot decide whether I like him or not. So far I think he is right on on some issues and has his head in the clouds on others.

He opposes the minimum markup law, which I also oppose. This law requires wholesalers to mark up their costs by at least 3 percent and retailers by at least 6 percent. Its one of the reasons that our gasoline prices are so high. People argue that without this law the mom and pop gas stations, stores, and other businesses will suffer because places like Wal Mart will cut prices to below cost as a loss-leader (where one item is priced below cost in an effort to get people into places to buy other items). I say let the market dictate where prices are.

He also is a critic of schools using kids to fund raise for basic school stuff. I agree, it is asinine to require kids to sell stuff to raise money for the school. For sports and other extra curricular activities its ok, but our tax money should cover all of the regular school expenses. However I don’t really think this is an issue that has any relevance in the State Assembly, its more of an issue for a local school board race.

Iwould like to know what his positions are on gun laws, abortion, same-sex marriage, smart growth law, and taxes (should the state or local governments decide how to control spending?). In regards to taxes, his goal is to “reduce residential property taxes by 75%.” Good luck dude.