 | |  | |  | |  |
2009 Production Schedule Classified Ads Section Additional Web ads WI DWD-Manager-Chief Financial Officer (Deadlline July 16) We also accept Online-Only Ads at discounted rates! Display Ads Section Subscription Information: The Capital City Hues 612 Christianson Ave., Madison, WI 53714-1533 ($45 a year) Contact Number: (608) 241-2000 Advertising: Claire G. Mendoza sales@capitalcityhues.com Next issue: July 9, 2009 Advertise with us! |
| Unique hits only |
| Vol. 4 No. 13 June 25, 2009 |
| 46,472 |
| EDITORIAL STAFF Jonathan Gramling Publisher & Editor Heidi Manabat Managing Editor Clarita G. Mendoza Sales Manager Contributing Writers Paul Barrows, Alfonso Zepeda Capistran, Fabu, Andrew Gramling, Lang Kenneth Haynes, Heidi Pascual, Jessica Pharm, Laura Salinger, Jessica Strong, & Martinez White |
| We are all deeply saddened by the death of Michael Jackson this week. He has indelibly impacted world culture since he first began singing as a part of the Jackson Five back in the early 1960s. Indeed his career spanned from my high school days way back when to today. For our children, there has always been a Michael Jackson. “Thriller” was such a seminal event ion our mass culture because it launch music videos onto a totally different plain and musical numbers such as “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” raised public awareness about the issues of gang violence and fatherhood responsibility. Michael Jackson was such an incredible positive voice back then and his messages still resonate today. “We Are the World” symbolized how Michael’s music brought a unifying sense to the world long before there was talk about the global economy and a shrinking world brought about by advances in transportation and telecommunications. In contrast to his professional messages, his personal life became a polarizing influence in American life. While some viewed him as weird and a social deviant for his relationships with young people, particularly young boys, I also know that there were many in Black America who felt that Michael was persecuted because White America could not stand to see a wealthy, influential, independent Black man. It will probably be well after my lifetime before the “truth” of Michael Jackson’s personal life will ever be known. Personally, I will always think about Michael Jackson — before his physical appearance drastically changed — as the very talented and handsome young Black man who gave expression to the dreams and concerns of several generations. His music will continue to make my body move and take me back to a time of innocence whenever I hear his music. No level of controversy or spin can ever take that away. *** On July 7, the city of Madison may rezone the corner of W. Washington and Bedford Streets, which will lead to the demolition of the Badger Bus Depot and the construction of a five-story mixed use building. It’s not that the Badger Bus Depot is moving. For the first time in many decades, Madison will be without a bus depot period. This is so surprising because Madison has always made alternative plans for such eventualities and intermodal transportation linkages are extremely important. Mass transit — intercity and intracity — is inordinately used by low-income citizens. And in this community, many of those individuals are people of color. It is unfortunate that the city of Madison hasn’t created a bus hub – transfer hub like those it created in South Madison and elsewhere for the intercity bus traffic. The Memorial Union on Langdon Street is already over crowded with bus traffic and the Dutch Mill Road site is very inconvenient for many intercity bus users. The city should make some provisions for a downtown hub — even if it is temporary until high speed rail comes to Madison — for the convenience and safety of Madison’s intercity bus riders. *** It seems that the election controversy in Iran, the death of Michael Jackson and other events have overshadowed the Obama Administration’s efforts to enact healthcare reform by October 2009. Healthcare is a $2.5 trillion industry in the United States. And in its current state, it continues to consume a greater proportion of the American economic pie every year. This is having a detrimental effect on the cost and quality of care. Last week, the Obama Administration released some facts about the state of healthcare in Wisconsin. Currently, • Eight percent of people in Wisconsin report not visiting a doctor due to high costs. • Wisconsin businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $900 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured. • Nine percent of people in Wisconsin are uninsured, and 67 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.7 • The percent of Wisconsinites with employer coverage is declining: from 74 to 67 percent between 2000 and 2007. There is a lot at stake here in Wisconsin and across the nation and the Obama Administration as well as Congress will come under increasing pressure from special interests across the political spectrum to fashion healthcare reform according to their own narrow interests. It is important for everyone to find out what is at stake and to call their elected representatives to support them in the stands on healthcare reform they have taken or to urge them to reconsider. Personally, I think a public option of some type is important. There are some heavily moneyed interests — judging from the frequency of their advertising — who do not. Make your voice heard on this important issue, which will impact us for generations to come! |
OBAMA IN GREEN BAY President Barack Obama's town hall meeting on healthcare reform |
| Reflections/Jonathan Gramling Michael Jackson and issues |
