The Daily Tribune from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin • Page 7

Opinion 7A Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids Saturday, January 8, 201 1 Daily Tribune Editorial Board Allen HicksGeneral Manager, Editor Mystique MacomberCommunity Editor Brenda Challonerlnformation Technology Jim StrasserReader Member Jessica ArtzReader Member Founded May 25, 1914 www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com I I I I I I 1 I I gji frpwsky Tvw mmwi Bill Letters Policy Send your letter by e-mail to editorwisconsinrapids tribune.com or by mail to Letters to the editor, 220 First Ave Wisconsin Rapids, Wl 54495-8090. Include your complete" address and day and evening telephone numbers for verification purposes. We welcome your comments on editorials, columns or other topics in the Daily Tribune or any subject important to you. Letters are limited to 350 words, and authors may have one letter published per calendar month. Those interested in writing a My View column, should call 715-422-6724.

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com. 'NO BIG DEAL. IT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR." River City boosters sought state capital Letters Community progress initiators got good news in early 1904. On the night of Feb. 26, 1904, a gas jet ignited a newly-varnished ceiling in the Wisconsin state capi-tol building.

A series of unfortunate events followed, including finding the nearby university reservoir empty. When Milwaukee firefighters arrived in the bitter cold, their equipment was frozen and temporarily unusable. To make matters worse, the fire occurred just after the state Legislature voted to cancel the capitol's fire insurance policy, a decision blamed on Gov. "Fighting Bob" La Follette. Most of the structure burned to the ground, destroying documents and most famously, the stuffed eagle, Old Abe, Civil War mascot.

The fiasco provided our state senator, Herman C. Wipperman, a perfect moment to propose to bring home a barrel of pork we would be barbecuing still: Move the state capitalcapitol to Grand Rapids. Sounded pretty good to Rapids Mayor Wheelan, who immediately appointed a committee to assist. The March 2, 1904, Grand Rapids Tribune, grabbed a figurative pitcher and poured what we now call "theKool-Aid." story were also featured in the Chicago Chronicle, repeated locally, again with the same talking points. "The Wisconsin River Valley is rapidly becoming the leading manufacturing, commercial and agricultural section of the state, and when preparing to build a new capital it seems the most natural thing possible to locate it in the industrial as well as geographical center and have such railroad facilities as to make it easily accessible to every part of the State." The Pittsville Times, from a village that had identical cartographic claims, joined he boomers for Grand Rapids," because, "Anything that helps a city in this county helps us.

"Grand Rapids' spelled out in big black capital letters on the future maps of Wisconsin, with a big six-pointed star indicating the location of the capital of the state would look good." Fun while it lasted, Wipperman's capital idea was buried in the Capitol and Grounds committee, leaving good ol' River City to forge a solely industrial destiny and to face its startling decline in the New Millennium. Dave Engel is a Wisconsin Rapids native, local historian and author of books in the "River City Memoirs" series. His column is a regular feature in the Daily Tribune. I honestly don't think their motive was to create something It breaks my heart because I feel that while in these hard economic times when people are losing their homes and jobs, people are having "ugly sweater parties" while some of us, including me, can't even afford to buy a new sweater. We should be grateful for what we have.

It seems so arrogant for us to be flaunting what some may feel are ugly sweaters when there are people all over the world who are freezing. What would be so wrong with having a simple "holiday" sweater party? Jennifer Reinert Wisconsin Rapids lawmakers if we did not want to, and it is possible that if we did condescend to associate with them it would raise their standard of morality very considerably. "Of course it is barely possible that the new capitol building may not be built here, but if the powers that be are onto their job there will not be much hesitation in the matter." The rival Wisconsin Valley Leader newspaper agreed that Grand Rapids, on the picturesque "Old Wisconse," with its railroad connections, would appeal to the unprejudiced voter; but there were obstacles, such as that unprejudiced voters were few to none and the belief that a constitutional provision required the capital and state university to be located in the same city. Belmont, the original capital, Oshkosh and Milwaukee also pursued the opportunity but local pundits cautioned that, if it were to be located in Milwaukee, that city would "be found to possess the longest pole and would "rake in the another wording for "pork," now called "earmarks." Sen. Wipperman's bill, presented a year after the Madison fire, received the approval of several upstate newspapers, including the Marinette Eagle.

Wipperman and his course and lobby for a change that that would allow more victims to file claims in state court. The short and unfortunate answer: No. The archdiocese continues to feel that "window" legislation would unfairly target the Catholic Church and treat it differently than, say, public schools and governments, said Jerry Topczewski, the archbishop's chief of staff With all due respect, so what? The archdiocese of Milwaukee is already in bankruptcy. Any claims initially made in state court will apparently be paid off with limited funds set aside in federal court. This isn't really about money anymore.

It's also not about government boards run by elected officials. It's about a church that is supposed to be a paragon of moral clarity and virtue and relies on the faith of its members. Anyway, what now other than the money that is now protected by a bankruptcy court does the Archdiocese of Milwaukee have exactly to lose? Its secrets? Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul attorney who represents 23 alleged MEMOIRS "It is hardly necessary to enumerate all of the advantages that there would be in having the capitol located in Grand Rapids, as every small boy in this locality knows them by heart." The ten o'clock scholars could recite that Grand Rapids: 1. Occupied one of the most central locations in the state and 2.

Had more railroads serving it than any other city in the state with prospects for more, or so the vision went. Certainly, there was lots of water, River City "being situated on one of the prettiest streams in the state, and the fluid is good to wash in and drink also." Too much water or Kool-Aid seemed to be affecting the newspaper, which further declared, "We have no brewery but no doubt with the increased demand created by the location of the capitol it would soon be established and would be one of our most paying institutions." So what if legislators here would contaminate the better class of our people, "corrupt their morals, so to "Of course we would not have to associate with the slate. There is only one problem. Many I A victims of clergy abuse have long been prevented from filing claims because politicians in Madison have refused to relax statutes of limitation. Time and again, victims have asked legislators to give them at least a limited window of opportunity to file suit.

Time and again, at least partly because of lobbying by the church, they have been stymied. Just a year ago, Listecki went to Madison himself to testify against a bill, the Child Victims Act that would have given more victims the right to file suit. One of his major concerns, he told lawmakers, was that the bill could bankrupt the archdiocese. That concern is, of course, now irrelevant. The bill died, and the archdiocese went bankrupt anyway.

I called the archdiocese and asked if, now that bankruptcy is a fact, the church would change -'I if 1 it I Mike Nichols Let all abuse victims be heard Let's drop the 'ugly sweater parties' I am writing this letter in opposition to "ugly sweater While I imagine all the people at the parties laughing and commenting on each other's sweaters, I think about all the homeless, freezing people that would be so grateful for what some may call the ugly sweater. The ugly sweater parties also put so much emphasis on how important it is to have fancy and brand-new clothes. I imagine the creators of the sweaters and how much hard work they put into making their creation. Nekoosa school choir concert inspiring With the holidays behind us, Christmas 2010 now includes the memories we hold in our hearts. One of the most beautiful memories of this recent Christmas past is that of the Nekoosa High School Choir Concert of Dec.

20, performed at Sacred Heart Church in Nekoosa under the direction of Mrs. Julie Stoffel and accompanied by Mr. Will Louis-Brux. Because several of the selections required organ accompaniment, we at Sacred Heart were honored when Mrs. Stoffel asked permission for us to host their program in order that our pipe organ and excellent acoustics could Thanks for support of those in service My name is Rich Gerzmehle (Lincoln High School, class of '94), and I am a sergeant first class in the U.S.

Army. I've been searching for a way to personally thank the city of Wisconsin Rapids for all of the support they've shown for us young men and women in the services. In the past seven years, I've been on multiple deployments to Iraq and stationed in Korea, and the entire time I have felt the love from home. My mother, Dottie Milkey, and her team be utilized. The combination of the college-level material Mrs.

Stoffel expected her high school choirs to sing and the expertise Mr. Louis-Brux demonstrated at the organ left the audience at the Dec. 20 concert with no less than a sense of awe and wonder upon hearing the glorious classical melodies performed with a bit of light-hearted pop thrown in for fun! Hats off to the Nekoosa High School Choirs for the beautiful way in which they inspired our minds and touched our hearts with their wonderful holiday music! Peggy Wettstein Director Religious Education Liturgical Music Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church Nekoosa from Hearts Apart have sacrificed their personal time to ensure that each local military man and woman always has a little piece of home through the mail. I'm blessed to come from such a supportive area of such good people, and throughout all my years in the military, not too many people I've met can claim the same. So this season as the military is thought of so much, it is you, the good citizens of the tri-city area, for whom I tip my hat to.

Thank you. Respectfully, Sgt 1st Class Rich Gerzmehle U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nekoosa victims with claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, says the bankruptcy filing is nothing but another attempt to delay the depositions of top church officials who still don't want to answer questions about which priests were accused and when. He also says there are still all sorts of victims who are being prevented from filing claims in this state. The Child Victims Act, he says, "absolutely should be reconsidered and reintroduced." He is right.

Until all victims can file claims with some legal backbone to them, the archdiocese will never be able to sincerely say it made an effort to compensate all victims. It will not be able, in any truly meaningful way, to move forward with a new beginning. And neither will any of the other dioceses in Wisconsin trying to find a way to someday bankruptcy or not have a new beginning as well. Mike Nichols is a syndicated columnist, author and senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. Views expressed in this column are his own.

E-mail Nichols at MRNicholswi.rr.com. A bout the same time the Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for bankruptcy the other day, Archbishop Jerome Listecki apologized to victims who were sexually abused by priests and stated that he is deeply ashamed. I think we have to take him at his word. He stated that he wants to do as much as he can to compensate those who have been abused. As a Catholic who grew up in the pews and still sits in them, I'd badly like to believe that as well.

He stated that "by serving as a final call for legal claims" the bankruptcy will allow the church to nove forward" and have "a new beginning." That will take much more than just a statement, or a bankruptcy filing or even a fervent prayer. Around two dozen people have claims pending against the archdiocese alleging abuse, and the clear hope is that, once those cases and others brought in the near future are resolved with monies set aside during the bankruptcy process, the church can move on with a clean.