October 2019

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Plan Commission approved the conceptual plan and set a public hearing for rezoning for a proposed four-story, 37 unit apartment building at the site of the now closed Sonic fast food restaurant 6413 University Ave. 

The project is being proposed The Commonwealth Companies. Kevin McDonell from Commonwealth said they are the seventh largest affordable housing developer nationwide.

McDonell explained the company in vertically integrated with in house architects, construction and property management.

McDonell said Commonwealth developments are mostly in Wisconsin but they have properties in 14 other states as well with 5,850 units altogether in nearly 100 properties.

The University Avenue proposal would consist of 37 units at market rate and affordable apartments in a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. Thirty-one of the units would be affordable while the remaining would be market rate. 

Primitive is relative

I somehow failed to rinse all the shampoo out of my hair the other day. When I noticed it later, my daughter ran her little finger through it and exclaimed: “It feels like dry wetness!”

A few days earlier, when I told her she had to wait 30 days to get something she wanted, she lamented: “Thirty days?! But 30 days is 100 days!!!”

It’s easy to think ‘No, 30 isn’t 100,’ but to do so is to miss the point. Because when she said those words, when she told me that little story, she wasn’t showing me the world; she was showing me herself. She gave me a glimpse into her inner emotional life. It was only 30 days, scientifically speaking, but there is so more to life than cold, hard facts.

PINE BLUFF/MOUNT HOREB-Robert Paul Ellestad, age 100, of Pine Bluff/Mount Horeb, passed away on Oct. 24, 2019 at his home. He was born to Andrew and Alma (Quale) Ellestad on Sept. 24, 1919 in Madison. He grew up in Madison and graduated from Central High School.

After high school, he went to work for Gisholt Machine Company as a draftsman where he met his future wife, Joan Coyle, in 1942.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a SEA BEE in 1942 and was stationed in Okinawa during World War II. He married Joan Coyle on Feb. 11, 1944 at St Francis Xavier in Cross Plains. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and their family moved to Cross Plains. They then moved to Madison in 1952. In 1962, Bob and Joan bought the Coyle Homestead in Pine Bluff where they raised their four children. In 1972, he went to work for the US Post Office as a rural postal carrier and retired in 1985. 

CROSS PLAINS–On Oct. 22, over 50 people attended the Black Earth Creek Watershed Association (BECWA) fall meeting, held at the Cross Plains Fire Station. It brought interested parties together from government, nonprofits and citizens, to share and discuss findings regarding the August 2018 flood impact upon communities, farming and trout in the watershed.

BECWA President Greg Hyer began, “For over 30 years, BECWA has been a community-based watershed advocate and educator,” working with farmers, landowners, developers and communities to protect watershed wildlife, fish and water. “The past focus has been on the quality of water,” he said, “now it’s quantity.”

August 2018 to Present: Increased Water

The increased volume of water the area has experienced in the past year has significantly impacted many, garnered the attention of most and is leading to communities-wide discussions on how best to proceed in tackling excess precipitation.