October 2019

I was very much looking forward to a long awaited trip to Memphis from with my longtime friend Wendy. She lives in New Orleans and we decided to meet in Memphis for a long weekend to see Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, who is on his farewell tour, aptly named “Roll Me Away.” 

I have been to Memphis several times, but it had been about 20 years since I had stayed downtown. Walking around downtown was a strange juxtaposition of desolation and gentrification. Main Street is a tourist hot spot with upscale restaurants and shops, and it goes right past Court Square, where many homeless people sleep at night. 

I have touched on homelessness in the past in this column, but what I have not revealed is the reason I am an advocate for helping the homeless (aside from just plain humanitarianism). I was once homeless and living in my car. 

Editor’s Note: The following story is the second in a two part series regarding the formation of an opposition group to the possible expansion of the Middleton Municipal Airport. The group has filed two open records requests, the first in June and a second in September. The records requested last month have not yet been released by the City of Middleton.

MIDDLETON–While some City of Middleton officials say they haven’t committed to a longer runway at Middleton Municipal-Morey Field, expansion opponents wonder if the master plan is currently being developed in order to pave the way for it.

In a January 2019 email from Mark Opitz, city planning and zoning administrator, to Greg Stern, of Mead & Hunt, which is drafting the master plan, Opitz wrote, “As I understand the scope of your services, the outcome of the master plan is to justify the improvements to the airport.”

MIDDLETON–The developer behind Greenway Station, Jeff Strauble, is proposing a 12 to 14-story residential development on the east side of Pleasant View Road tucked between the Pleasant View Golf Course and Greenway Boulevard. The plan commission reviewed the conceptual proposal at its Oct. 8 meeting.

Joe Lee from JLA Architects provided an overview of the proposal. He pointed out that the initial concepts for a multi-family development at this location were four to five stories with about 250 units. He said because of a bike path constructed across the southeast portion of the site, the topography and road constraints, they needed a design with a smaller footprint.

To keep the density they would need five or six stories, according to Lee. Because that necessitates a different type of construction used for taller buildings it makes sense economically to go higher, he said. 

Flashbacks of last year’s heartbreaking playoff loss were fresh on Kallion Buckner’s mind.

Middleton’s standout running back just had a touchdown called back last Friday night, and the momentum had swung back in host Sun Prairie’s favor.

“I came into this game and I was thinking about last year,” Buckner said. “We lost (42-36) and that was on my mind the whole time. I was thinking when they called that touchdown back, that brought me back.”

But, instead of his team going on to lose, a long touchdown run by Buckner on the Cardinals’ next possession helped lead Middleton to a convincing 35-19 victory over host Sun Prairie in a Big Eight Conference game last Friday night.

“We stayed tough, we executed everything, and came out with a ‘W’,” Buckner said.