Whooping cough alert

City Manager Richard Wollangk passed this alert along to City Council members on Friday:

In speaking with Health Director Paul Spiegel today, he informed me that his department is being overwhelmed with suspected cases of pertussis (whopping cough). This week alone, our Health Department has dealt with 43 suspected cases. In the State of Wisconsin, Winnebago County has been especially hard hit. Paul told me that Wisconsin has reported almost 2,000 cases to-date for 2004 with over three months remaining, when typically, there are less than 200 cases for an entire year. Hopefully, this serious situation will subside soon.

Presidential candidate in Oshkosh

Photo by T.R. Gleason

Bob Poeschel (left), of the Winnebago Peace and Social Justice Center and the UWO Campus Greens adviser, talks with Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb at Rainbow Park in Oshkosh on September 18.


Green Pary candidate David Cobb visited Oshkosh Saturday.

Take Back the Night

14th Annual Fox Cities
Take Back the Night Awareness Event
Tuesday, September 28th 6pm at Riverside Park, Oshkosh

It is time for family, friends and our community to take stand TOGETHER to end violence against women.

10 ways YOU can help stop violence against women:

EDUCATE YOURSELF
SUPPORT WOMEN
SPEAK OUT GET INVOLED
BE A ROLE MODEL
REACH OUT
REFUSE TO TOLERATE VIOLENCE
START WITH YOURSELF
MOTIVATE OTHERS
JOIN TAKE BACK THE NIGHT

Every 9 seconds a woman is the victim of a violent crime.

Please help us create awareness and
Help make our community a safe place for women.

Thank you for your support,
Take Back the Night Committee

Heather Holly
920.233.2995

Bush twins in Oshkosh

Barbara Bush arrives at Reeve Union.

A protester expresses his views.

Jenna Bush arrives at Reeve Union.

Students in a UWO photography class record protesters and supporters of President Bush while waiting for Barbara and Jenna to leave the Reeve Union September 15. President Bush's daughters gave the protesters the slip by exiting Reeve in a vehicle that was parked in a secured garage attached to the union.

Photos by T.R. Gleason.

More storm claims shot down

It looks like the City Council will disallow another three dozen insurance claims this week.

Transit system seeks new revenues

At its Wednesday meeting, the City Council will consider a new fare structure for the Oshkosh Transit System.

The full proposal is here (PDF).

Here are the key sections:

The Oshkosh Transit System Management Plan recommends a series of revenue increases for the next five years. The recommended changes for 2005 are shown below.

REVENUE GENERATORS
Dial-A-Ride (Non-ADA) $3.25 to $4.00
Access to
Jobs $2.00 to $2.50
EAA (Round-Trip) $2.00 to $3.00

The higher fares combined with a 10% increase in advertising rates and a 3% growth in ridership should generate $68,500 in new revenues.

A brief analysis of each fare category is shown below.

Dial-A-Ride (Non-ADA) Fare Increase

This fare increase will impact a minority of users while retaining the $1.00 fare for most passengers. The proposed fare increase will increase the cost for 30% of the users. The remaining 70% of users will not see any increased cost for service. The fare increase will apply to seniors that are able to use the regular routes, but choose to use taxi service for their transportation needs. The fare increase will most likely decrease usage, but some users may be able to qualify for an ADA card that allows them to ride for $1.00 during normal bus hours. A 15% decrease in ridership is projected, but revenue should increase by 19%. This fare change should generate $14,000 in new revenues.

Access to Jobs Fare Increase

This program provides transportation to jobs for low income persons after normal operating hours. The service is provided by the City Cab Company at a cost of $7.00 per trip. The passenger pays $2.00 and federal/state funding provides $4.20 per trip. The $.50 fare increase will bring this program to near self-sufficiency. I don’t believe the fare increase will have a negative impact on ridership. An increase of $4,000 in revenues is projected for this program.

EAA (Round-Trip) Fare Increase

The current fare for EAA is $2.00 for a round trip ride. The EAA fare has not been increased since 1986, and unfortunately the need for additional revenue in 2005 requires a fare increase. A $3.00 round trip fare is proposed for 2005. This fare increase should generate approximately $19,000 in new revenues. The current parking rates at EAA are $5.00 per day, so the bus fares remain an attractive alternative to using an automobile.

SUMMARY

In order to maintain a reasonable local share, the Oshkosh Transit System will need to generatenew revenues over the next several years. The OTS Management Plan outlines potential revenue sources and the fare increases in this report are contained in the management plan. The system has been able to hold the local share at the same level since 2001. The 2005 budget will be a challenge, and hopefully the Common Council will understand the need to increase the local share after years of no growth.

New ambulance in service

A new ambulance was placed into service at Station #15 at Court Street andCeape Avenue, according to Fire Chief Tim Franz. Its gives the city three ambulances to respond to the increased calls for service. This information comes from the city adminstrator's weekly newsletter (PDF).

Citizens Forum Opens

What matters to you?

What issues should your elected officials pay attention to and try to do something about?

Oshkosh News has started the Citizens Forum Web log to give you a chance to connect with the current campaign in the 54th Assembly District.

Starting next week, the four candidates in that race will engage in an online forum, responding to questions that are developed with the help of the League of Women Voters. Using the Citizens Forum Web log, you can submit your ideas for topics to be discussed or even the specific questions to be asked.

The site explains several different ways that you can provide your input. The voting booth is private, and this Web log is designed to allow you to make your comments anonymously.

Oshkosh Truck gets $204 million order

Here's the Defense Department's announcement.

Here's a story from Reuters.

Here's a message from a Yahoo message board:

Here is why I bought OSK today. First I bought at 58. Then at 57. Now at 52. The reason I think Oskosh is a buy is that this is an election year and Wisconsin is a swing state. The last big truck contract from the US I think went to Texas. It would help GOP IF Oshkosh got the next truck contract. I know the British awarded them one in August I think. good long term investment also

Candidates to debate on line

The four candidates who are running for the Wisconsin Assembly in the 54th District have agreed to engage in an innovative online forum that will allow them to debate the issues in cyberspace.

The forum is sponsored by the Oshkosh Community News Network, the Oshkosh League of Women Voters and the Oshkosh Public Library and will be accessible from the OCNN Web site, Oshkosh News, and from the library’s Web site.

The four participants in the forum are independent Dan Carpenter, Democrat Gordon Hintz, Wisconsin Green Tony Palmeri and Republican incumbent Gregg Underheim.

The forum will be conducted using a Web log and will function for approximately four weeks, from mid-September to mid-October. A parallel Web log will also be established where citizens will be able to post their comments about the debate. This will be an added benefit to candidates since they will be able to learn in real time how voters are thinking about and reacting to the issues.

The site will remain available through Election Day, so that voters will have access to this information as they decide how to cast their votes.

The sponsors of this project believe that it will provide a number of benefits, including the following:

• First, the Web log will be available at all times so that citizens who are unable to attend a debate in person or watch it on replay can use the online forum to learn about candidates. Citizens who have not paid a lot of attention to the campaign will be able to consult the Web forum as Election Day approaches to help them make up their minds.

• Second, because it depends upon written answers, the online forum will allow and even encourage candidates to take a longer time to think about their responses. Candidates need not worry about being cut short—they can write as much as they want.

• The interactive format of the forum will also make it easier for candidates to respond to other candidates, offering rebuttals or clarifications as necessary. Candidates can also use hyperlinks to draw citizens’ attention to additional research and information.

• Finally, at a time when national studies show that television and print publications are losing audience share, the use of the Internet presents an opportunity to engage with potential voters, particularly younger ones, who might not otherwise have an effective way to learn about candidates and their positions. While the League will oversee the process of posting questions, it is not responsible for setting the agenda of the forum. All citizens are invited to provide input, and questions will be solicited from throughout the community.

Healthcare issues for the community

Are you interested in improving your health? Do you have questions about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack? Are you curious about healthcare issues in India? How does humor affect your health? What is a brain attack? What are the healthcare issues that affect our local community? The College of Nursing faculty at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has many healthcare experts that would be interested in sharing information.

Just a tidbit, did you know one of the first signs of a heart attack in women is increased fatigue? Women are less likely to experience chest pain than men.


Suzanne Marnocha RN, MSN, PhD, CCRN
marnocha@uwosh.edu

Oshkosh News Goes Live

New Web-Based News Source
Starts Operating in Oshkosh

Oshkosh News, a Web-based source of information and a platform for community interaction, began operations Sept. 1 at http://www.oshkoshnews.org.

The Web site is operated by the Oshkosh Community News Network Inc. (OCNN), an Oshkosh-based nonprofit organization focusing on participatory journalism.

Participatory journalism allows individuals—whether trained as journalists or not—to become involved in and exert greater control over how the news is covered. It has been enabled by new technology, such as digital cameras and low-cost programs for Web logs, and encouraged by the recent consolidation of media ownership, which has coincided with a decline in investment in news gathering by traditional journalism organizations.

The Oshkosh News site is designed around a series of projects. These include:

• Oshkosh@151: An Electronic Scrapbook. This will be an online community scrapbook consisting of photo images to be submitted by area residents and memorializing life in Oshkosh during its 151st year. The Oshkosh Public Library is a partner in this project and has agreed to create a permanent archive of images and descriptive data.

• Online Candidate Forum. Candidates in a local political race will debate and discuss the issues on line using a Web log. Using a separate Web log, citizens will also be able to comment during the course of the forum, which will last approximately one month. This project is cosponsored by the Oshkosh League of Women Voters and the Oshkosh Public Library.

• Oshblog. This is a virtual town square, in the form of a Web log (or blog), where Oshkosh residents can post news, information and commentary affecting the community.

• Oshkosh Dining & Entertainment. This site is also built around a Web log format and allows residents to submit reviews of dining and entertainment venues. This forum is also available, free of charge, for anyone in the local dining or entertainment business to promote their activities.

The Oshkosh News site is hosted as a public service by the Oshkosh Public Library.

For more information, visit www.oshkoshnews.org.