Driving In Wausau – A Grand Experience

Eds Note:  Dr. Rent’s post this week has nothing to to with rentals — unless you count rental cars.

By Dr. Rent

This weekend I was on the go.  This is a very busy time for landlords:  move outs, move ins, spring cleaning, lots of stuff going on.  It got in the way of me finding time to post last weekend, and most of my personal errands (such as grocery shopping) had to be done today (Sunday).

Below is my top ten list; some friendly suggestions for driving in Wausau.  Yes, I know it was Sunday so Sunday drivers were to be expected, and yes I know that I am a quite aggressive driver… but still… I think these suggestions will help.

1)Wausau area traffic moves at 5-10 miles over the posted speed limit.  I am willing to go the posted speed limit, but if you are running at 5 miles or more under, you are more of a hazard than the speeders.

2)For those of you about to pass those not complying with item 1, using your turn signals to indicate lane changes IS NOT giving information to the enemy.  I would be more than happy for you to pass them first, you are ahead of me… but don’t just jump in front of me without signaling.  99% of us will slow down to let you in if you signal.

3)That 99% thing in item 2 does NOT apply if, because of construction, lanes are going to one lane, and we have all already merged into that lane, and you pass 30 of us to where the barrels start.  We will remember you and you won’t be let in until all 30 of us have gotten by.

4)One way streets apply to everyone, sorry.

5)If you know you are going to have to turn left… it is strongly suggested that you get into the left lane more than one block ahead of time.

6)I understand if you are new to the area, you may not know if the left lane or the right lane is the best way to go… but I GUARANTEE that you are better off choosing one and being wrong than you are riding the center line.

7)Construction zones are dangerous, even a lead foot like me respects construction zone speed limits.  If I am doing 55 in the construction on the freeway and you blow past me like I am going backwards… don’t be too surprised to catch the attention of the troopers who like sitting in the construction zones.  Fines are double.

8)There is no right turn on red coming off Stewart onto 1st St. by the mall, don’t honk at me if I don’t run the red.  The same is true where Business 51 turns off of Schofield Ave by Krueger Floral in Weston/Schofield.

9)It was over 80 and yes, some people look really REALLY good in tank tops, but if traffic stops suddenly in front of you… your rear-ending that guy will get her attention, but not in the way you want.

10)To the motorcycle going up Franklin Street at about 15 miles an hour looking at all the cool houses, THANK YOU for pulling way over when a car came up behind you.

Have a safe summer driving season Wausau!

Dr. Rent

Race Ya!

On a gorgeous day yesterday, some downtownies were at play on the 400 Block.

Friday Dudley: April 27, 2007

In the gloaming.

A Walk into History

By Christine Martens

The Marathon County Historical Society has created a new guide for a walking tour of the Andrew Warren Historical District. This guide is great- complete with photos and stories of the people who originally owned the homes. It comments on architectural style and architects as well. The guide is free and can be picked up at the Historical Society (on McIndoe Street), local B & B’s and the Visitors Center (the tee pee building near Cedar Creek). And just incase your are concerned, the tour does not take you up the Franklin Street hill- maybe in their next guide.

The Marathon County Historical Society is also hosting guided walking tours on Mondays in May. Give a call to them at 842-5750 for more details or www.marathoncountyhistory.com.

Happy Birthday Wausaublog!

By Bill Coady

There have been more than a few times when I thought that I would not be writing this post for the Wausaublog.  There have been a few times when I thought the Wausaublog was not going to live another day, but here it is a year later, and it is still standing.  Or perhaps lying down or maybe even on life support, it is kind of hard to tell right now.  I have been very busy with other projects and the same seems to be true of the other contributors.

The blog was started a year ago in response to a perceived need for a blog about Wausau, not just from here.  Pat Peckham was doing a story for the City Pages and contacted Dino to see if anyone had a non-corporate blog about Wausau and between the two of them, they could not find one.  So, for no other reasons than impatience and a love for my adopted hometown, I stepped into the breech and started the Wausaublog and registered the domain name.

My original intention was to simply provide a “clothesline” that people could hang things on, but that vision never really jelled, and somehow it became a fairly personal effort.  It was never my intention that the blog would be about me in any way, shape or form, but surely you know what road is paved with good intentions.

Doing the Wausaublog over the past year has been an amazing experience for me.  I have met many people I would have probably otherwise never met.  People who have enriched my life in ways I cannot even begin to fathom.  For this I am deeply grateful.  I have learned more about and been more aware of the wonders of Wausau over the past year than in the 8 previous years of residence here.  I am grateful for that as well.  I guess I am most grateful for the opportunity to try different things have a chance to find what my passion is, and perhaps where my talent lies.  I have been taking pictures for a long time, but this is the first time my work has been recognized professionally.  I have a long way to go in that department, but my confidence in that area is growing, and I have the comments and support of readers of the blog to thank for that.  You know who you are.

It has not been all roses, either.  Along the way, apparently I have manage to tick off and disappoint people, but I guess that is also part of life’s rich pagaent.  The blog has suffered through ups and downs in activity as contributors have come and gone for their own reasons and my ability to keep up with daily postings has waxed and waned.  I guess we will have to see what a second year will bring.

I have said from the beginning that I am not the right person to be writing a blog about Wausau.  I am not a native and being a full time dad, live a somewhat sheltered life.  I still continue to feel that way.  But I do get out more now and continue to keep my eyes and ears open, and I will continue to write about our fair city and especially take pictures of it.  And when I do, I will post them here.  And I hope you will keep reading and commenting.  And I especially hope you will consider writing something yourself or even starting your own blog about Wausau.  The more the merrier.

Thanks Wausau and I hope to be able to celebrate a second birthday on a bigger and better Wausaublog.

And that’s a Wrap

By Bill Coady

I had the pleasure of sitting down with James Rubino, the organizer of the Wausau Film Festival after it was over last night.  He was pleased with the turnout for the event and is planning further film events here in Wausau.  He is hoping to have have quarterly showings of local films at an intimate venue like Kelly’s with a larger annual festival.  Certainly ambitious plans, but if realized it will add very much to the already vibrant arts scene here in Wausau.

About 120 people attended the 4 showings of the festival, which James considered pretty good for the first time out.  It may be that the perfect spring weather held down attendance during the afternoon showings, the 7 pm showing was completely full, and the folks at Kelly’s were kind enough to allow an extra showing of some of the films after 9 pm, which also attracted a pretty good crowd considering it was not on the original program.

Audience members were enthusiastic about the films, as I chatted with James at the end of the last showing, he would ask people as they left what they thought of the event and which films they liked best.  Every one gave the event as a whole a thumbs up, and picked “Tractor for Sale”; “The Magnificent Donut” and the “big budget” “West Bank Story” as favorites.  James also mentioned that among the younger set, “Ghost Tag” got rave reviews as it is somewhat of a music video featuring the music of local bands.  If you missed the festival, you can check out the films by going to www.jcrubino.net, where James has links to all of the films that were shown.

But interestingly enough, James gives the internet mixed reviews when it comes to filmaking.

“It is great for communications among filmmakers,” he said, “and good for getting the word out about a film,” but he feels it “would be a shame” if that is how people experienced film.

“It should be a community experience,” he went on, citing similar thought expressed by Ken Burns in his recent appearance in Stevens Point.  “There should be a shared experience with film — maybe you will start laughing after you hear the person next to you laugh, too.”  Especially if that person is snorting through their nose at “Chad Vader,” I have to add.

Community was a big theme in why James put together the film festival and throughout our conversation.  James feels that there is the underpinnings of a very good film making community here is Wausau.  James feels that with some sponsorship and underwriting that a community film making effort could really take off here.  James feels the talent and creativity is here, and judging from the films that were shown, I have to agree.  James also feels that perhaps one avenue that really needs to be explored is the collaboration between local bands and local film makers.

It is true that Wausau has a tremendous arts community, including such wonderful institutions such as the Leigh Yawkey-Woodson Art Museum, The Center for the Visual Arts, the Wausau Conservatory of Music, Wausau Dance Theater and many others.  It would be nice if soon there was a similar place for film makers and their art, and I think that James and his crew that put together this first film festival are off to a good start to make that happen.

Friday Dudley: April 20, 2007

A little later than I like to post these, but hopefully worth waiting for.

And speaking of waiting, I also added a few more pix to the CW 360, you can check those out as well.

Got Culture?

By Bill Coady

One of the “problems” with living in a smaller city is that there is “nothing to do.”  Or at least that is what a lot of people seem to say.  Personally, I don’t think we have that problem here in Wausau, or frankly anywhere in Wisconsin, stuff seems to be happening all the time.  But still I hear the “nothing to do” lament from time to time.

The flip side to the “nothing to do” lament is that it sometimes seems that when there is “something to do” the number of people who participate sometimes seems small.  Now, I only lived in big cities (St Louis and Phoenix) for a few years of my life, so I don’t really know how many people actually take advantage of the cultural and other activities in those places.  I am going to guess though, that as a percentage of the total population, it is about the same as here in Wausau.  A hundred people might show up at a poetry reading in Chicago as compared to a handful here, but the percentage of the total population is probably about the same, maybe even higher here.

So, it strikes me that we have to make a little extra effort to get out to support the arts here in Wausau so that we can make sure the good stuff keeps coming and that new ideas keep bubbling up.

A new idea that has bubbled up is the first ever Wausau Film Festival to be held this Saturday, April 21 at Kelly’s Martini Bar downtown.   It sounds like a very wonderful opportuity.  For $5 you get to see 10 Award winning short films which range in length from 5 to 25 minutes.  Often times short films are much more powerful than their full length cousins — and certainly independent films such as these are much more relevant than the Hollywodd product the normally fills theaters.  Mike Kaspar, the owner of Kelly’s feels that “Wausau is ready” for this kind of event, and I hope that he is right.  Kelly’s is a nice inviting place to hang out and I hope that all the showings of the film fest are completely packed.  Fill up Kelly’s this Saturday and next thing you know there will be a regional film festival at the Grand.  It can happen, that is how things really start.  Showings of the film festival are at 1 pm, 3 pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm on Saturday.  Surely one of those can fit your schedule.

If you have never been to Kelly’s (or even if you have before) and want a little warm up to familiarize yourself with the place, you could head on down tonight.  John Greiner and his big band will be playing tonight from 7 pm to 10 pm — perfect for a school night.   I think Greiner and his bandmates are fantastic, they play with a lot of soul and passion, which really comes across in an intimate venue like Kelly’s.

There are lots of other cultural events coming up, but I will get to them in later posts, I’ll just let the film festival shine on its own for today.  Attending a film festival at a martini bar — what could be more big city than that?  And it is an easy way to support the arts and keep those events coming to us.  Hope to see you there!

There’s No Place Like Home (During A Foreclosure)

By Dr. Rent

The Daily Herald recently ran an article indicating that sub-prime mortgages are leading to foreclosures.  That is only partially true, there is a larger cause.

I am probably in the courthouse more often than our wonderful moderator Bill is in the library.  When I am at the process server window, I often go through the foreclosure notices.  Our company is always on the lookout for a good value, and if you understand the foreclosure process, you sometimes get lucky.  Lately two trends are painfully obvious.  The number of Marathon County foreclosures is higher than I can remember them being, and the dollar values of the judgments are almost always well more than what the house is worth.

I believe that a contributing factor to foreclosures… the root cause… is the overwhelming emphasis that is put on the importance of home ownership.  Every one is pushing it.  The government at all levels believe that home ownership should be the ultimate goal of every American household, and until you have obtained that goal, you have not succeeded.  Hey, who made up that rule?

I will be the first to admit that because I am a landlord, that of course I am going to see the importance of rental properties.  However, I will not say that rental housing is more important than owner-occupied housing.  I will however say that it is JUST as important.

Home ownership is not for everyone.  There is a reason you need 20% down payment and a stable work and credit history before you qualify for what is known as a “conventional” mortgage.  These requirements demonstrate not only an ability to pay the loan payments, but also an ability to save and budget (saving a 20% down payment is quite the feat today).

I can only sit in disbelief when I read that the Federal Government is considering some type of “bail out” program because of the high foreclosure rate caused by sub-prime lending and other “creative financing” scenarios.  The government blames sub-prime loans, yet they also propose loan packages that require as little as zero down.  Don’t they realize they are contributing to the problem?

Good, hard working people are convinced that they are nothing until they become home owners.  So as soon as they get the chance, through a sub-prime loan requiring very little down payment, and with monthly payments that may need to negatively amortize the loan just to be affordable, they purchase homes.  Of course, they can probably not afford the median priced newer construction at well over $150,000 in the Wausau area, and are probably finding themselves in a home 50+ years old for under $100,000.  A water heater dies and its $500 (a mortgage payment is missed).  A furnace dies and it’s easily $1,500 and a bunch of payments are missed.

That equity they had built up in the home?  That’s not there.  The down payment would have been the equity, but with no or little down… there is no or little equity.  A conventional mortgage with a stable housing market still requires 5 years to build enough equity in the house to sell it without loosing money.  However, the last few years have seen property values increase at rates that rivaled stocks.  This opened the door for some of these sub-prime loans.  People believed that its okay that they weren’t paying down on principle, the house would appreciate 10-15% per year building equity that way.

Well… it doesn’t work that way.  The only way to solve the foreclosures is to stop putting so much emphasis on home ownership.  What’s wrong with renting until you are in a position to purchase?  Is it really wise for the government to be exploring a federally funded zero-money down program while cutting funds for rental assistance such as Section 8?

Yes, sub-prime lenders are a big factor in the current foreclosure crisis, however it is the government and our society who have created the perfect climate for sub-primes to get out of control.

Dr. Rent

Friday Dudley: April 13, 2007

A bit hard to get a good view from the East side, but I did find this one.