Ah, the Ides of March. Dig into your high school freshman memories. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was stabbed on the steps of the Roman Senate. Not a good day for Caesar.

Will the Ides of March 2010 be a good day for the Wheatland School Board? Will they "succeed" at confirming that yes indeed, Wheatland Is A Place For Hate? Or will concerned Platte County citizens and WHS students show up to try once again to talk sense into their closed little minds? What Would Jesus Do? He'd grab his dad's hammer and put those banners up himself.

Tonight's school board meeting starts at 7pm, at the usual place. The board is keeping its collective fingers crossed that they "won" and that everyone will have forgotten those soundbytes and all the recognition their Hate Games illicited for our fair town. They're hoping with whatever hearts they have that no one will show, no one will ask questions, no one will make them think.

See you at the meeting. The board will have to allow that confounded 30 minutes of public comment (and this time shout foul if Kelly Tyson uses some of it like he did month) but they won't like it any more than they did last time. Dallas Mount may ask that the time be extended, so that all may be heard, but likely no other board member will have the decency to second his motion. Again.
 
The board will have to deal with the "No Advertising in Schools" situation, because that was officially asked for. Seeing how they decide to handle that alone will be worth attending the meeting.

WHS is safe from the No Place For Hate label. No one is thinking of moving to Wheatland or Wyoming for its progressive, or liberal or "Do Unto Others" ethics. No one thinks that Wheatland is even aware of what's going on outside its walls. Nope, Wheatland is "safe" from infiltration by anyone who doesn't Think Like Jack. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

Any change for Wheatland will have to come from those of us who already live here. If Wheatland is ever to be more than what it is, it will be because of the people like the ones who showed up, and spoke up last month at the school board meeting, and those of us who will indeed show up again. Please join us. Make them listen to 30 more minutes of what the people of Platte want. Show them that Wheatland is NO Place For Hate.

A school board in Wheatland, Wyoming, made its message loud and clear during a recent meeting: Schools are a place for hate. Or so disciples of modus tollens would insist, now that the administrators administrating Platte Country School District have reaffirmed their decision to prevent the area's temples of education from hoisting banners that read NO PLACE FOR HATE.

The Anti-Defamation League-sponsored posters had already been 86ed by the board once back in January, but hate-hating parents, students, teachers, and members of the community's "we want people to like each other" camp swarmed to the board's meeting earlier this week to try to sway the opinion. The gathering quickly became a place for hate.

The original snag, according to the article, was the inclusion on the banner of a logo for the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado—a deal breaker for naysaying board members. Discouraging hate they're all for. But discouraging hate against a specific group, while also discouraging hate against everyone else not in that group? That might seem like anti-hate preferential treatment. And you know how high school kids get about perceived favoritism.

But not to worry. Board chairman Kelly Tyson swept in with an enlightenment bomb and explained that he simply didn't want to deal with the social issues (what are those?), and that the schools are equipped to handle cases of hate in-house. For example, he cited the district's strict stance against bullying, thereby reassuring the assemblage that, if nothing else, the school is doing what every other school in the entire world already halfheartedly does.

What the board members failed to realize is that the banner would not actually curtail hatred—the preservation of which clearly being important to them. Rather, it would just encourage students to relate to one another as human beings and exalt individual expression as the highest virtue. But since all high school students do—other than text naked pictures of themselves to each other—is indiscriminately hate, the board members wouldn't have anything to worry about. Except maybe the cost to pay union custodians to hang the banners, those collectivized wage-gougers.

—Neil Janowitz

Check out Neil on his blog!

Sitting in on a typical Platte County School Board meeting is about as exciting as watching a cat sleep. This Monday  however, that cat will be a lion, and it won't be napping.

The February 15 board of trustees meeting will be the first since January 18, when the board voted 4-3 to remove the "No Place for Hate" banners because the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) program is partially sponsored by the Colorado Gay and Lesbian Fund (CGLF). The banners, which had been up at Wheatland High School (WHS) since fall, include the CGLF logo along with those of the other sponsors.

Shortly after the Jan. meeting, the banners were taken down, the ADL reluctantly removed WHS from the list of 25 regional schools who had earned the honor of being "No Place for Hate", and Wheatland was in the spotlight. The four board members who voted to remove the banners were interviewed by local and state newspapers, and students responded by putting NPFH posters on their lockers, and forming a Facebook page to rally support to get the banners put back up. The Platte County Record Times devoted extra space to print the many letters from WHS alumni, parents and residents who disapproved of the board's decision, as well as a handful from those who agreed with the removal of the banners. Wheatland's "Banning the Banner" became news all around Wyoming, and then the nation.

Despite what appears to be keen interest on both sides of the banner issue, and what could be a record turnout Monday, the February board meeting will be held in its regular venue, the meeting room at the Administration Office, at 1350 Oak St. As of this writing, the only time allotted to any discussion of the NPFH banners will be during the ten minute "Public Comment" period. (This is usually at the beginning of the meeting, so public, you have been warned; don't be late.)
 
ADL representative Bruce DeBoskey has formally requested time at the meeting to present facts about the NPFH program, and to answer any questions and address misconceptions the board or the public may have. DeBoskey will be at Monday's meeting, although as of this writing his Feb. 3 request to be included on this month's agenda still has not been granted.

PCSD1 Superintendent Stuart Nelson has also declined individual requests from Platte County residents to be included on the agenda regarding the banner. As of this writing, there is no Agenda available to the public on the district's website. 
 
According to Jason Marsden, of the Matthew Shepard Foundation in Denver, individual board members had not returned calls from the ADL. However, Chuck Ruwart, who voted with Dallas Mount and Jay Haux to keep the NPFH banners up, has not received a phone call from the ADL, or had any other communication from them besides a form given to each board member shortly after January's vote.

Two weeks after the board's decision, Superintendent Nelson told The Wyoming Tribune Eagle that the "...only negative comments [he has heard about the board's decision] had come from out-of-towners, special interest groups, and former residents" and that “…every local parent he'd spoken with supported the board's decision.”  

Another two weeks have gone by and if that was true then, it's not any more.

Part of Monday's meeting will likely include the presentation of a petition designed to keep the NPFH banner issue alive by requesting a definition of policies currently in place in local schools, and signed by local residents.

Wyo. Stat. 21-3-110(a)(viii) requires the School Board to "Consider every petition presented to the board and subscribed by at least five (5) citizens of the school district and take some action on such petition within thirty (30) days after it is received; provided, that no action shall be required if the precise question presented by the petition has been considered and acted upon by the board of trustees at any meeting held within the current fiscal year." In effect, any five people, who live in the district, can force the board to include an item on their agenda, and to vote on it, as long as the school board has not voted on the exact same thing within the same fiscal year.

Stepping up onto soapbox:  If this issue is important to you, go to the meeting. Whichever side you're on, be respectful of those who disagree with you. Listen. Ask questions. Don't jump to conclusions. Wheatland will learn something from this, and everyone has something to contribute to that.

The Mission statement of PCSD1 is available on their website, and it's exactly what I'd like to hold them to. It's worth it for all to take the time to read (or re-read) it, so here it is: 

Our Mission

The District is committed to the process of continuous school improvement.

The board, administration, and the staff will model a positive, professional working relationship by:

•Operating openly and honestly.

•Establishing two-way communication and problem solving with our patrons.

•Following a chain of command when solving problems.

•We will jointly celebrate our successes and give credit to those responsible for our successes.

 

Our vision is to prepare children to become citizens for a 21st Century workplace.

If you're attending Monday's meeting, or if you're one of the people who've publically declared your support for the banner and the NPFH program, in letters to the editor or out on the streets of Wheatland, constructively holding the district accountable to the vision declared in their mission statement would be an excellent place to start.

Right?

I mean, we all sort of think that Hubert got his Special Use Permit this time around. Didn't he? Sure he did. How could he not?

If he did, it comes strapped to a lot of conditions, including, you guessed it, a fence. And this time a fence with Conditions. (Ain't nobody in Wheaterville gonna have to say: "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." Uh-Uh.)
 
Hubert finally gets his Special Use Permit (for at least six months or until there are more complaints) after a Zoning Certificate is approved, and after he builds a fence of bundles or boards, eight feet high, from the NE corner of his place to 50 feet from his house.

Deja vu again, but on a more manageable scale.

Marlin the Planner however, does not like being undermined, and he said so. He's not sure the current screening really screens, although everyone else, including the Planning and Zoning Board, disagrees with his assessment. If that fence does anything, it screens, is the the concensus. But darn it all, Marlin the Planner does not appreciate the "established rules" being bent. He was supposed to win this one.

Platte County resident Chris Gray agreed that Hubert's "bad behavior" shouldn't be "rewarded". Wait, what "bad behavior?" Oh--challenging his right to get the Special Use Permit! Which he got. Which indicates that he should have had a whole hell of a long time ago. Seems like "bad behavior"  like that "fighting for what is right" is something we all oughta see more of.

However, just to make sure that no one thinks anyone except Hubert and the posse were ever in the wrong, one of the conditions of Hubert's Special Use Permit is that everyone agrees that the approval of the Special Use Permit does not in any way "...imply any County override of applicable District Court Orders." So there. Na na na na na. 

Bottom line is that there'll be some more fence building going on before the Saga of Hubert is over, but it looks like everyone is ok with all of it.

Right?

2009 in Wheatland, WY and the surrounds looks like the times they are a' changin'.

WADCO is PCED...New Year, New Name. Wheatland Area Development COrporation (WADCO) is now Platte County Economic Development (PCED). New executive director coming soon, and a new website too...former ed Susan Jenkins had Big Wind Guys in town and they were NOT just talking hot air. 2009 could bring more wind and more economic development to Platte County, and PCED will be a driving force.

For instance, take a photo of the drive on I25 between Wheatland and Chugwater sometime this year. Odds are it's going to look mighty different by the time 2014 rolls around. That's been named The Wind Corridor by wind folks in the know--pretty soon you'll be able to connect the dots between the wind turbines, 'cuz folks, we got wind, lots of it, and the gov'ment gots cash to spend on turning it into energy.

That Big, Wonderful, New nursing home in Wheatland? Sounds like Platte County Economic Development there too. There's a timeline on this and lots of checkpoints--stay tuned and get involved. The good news is that the new nursing home will affect just about everyone at some point. Make it what you want it to be.

Get involved in PCED, get involved in the Chamber of Commerce, support local businesses, stick your nose into local politics, contribute time and ideas to your town and be a part of all the positive that's happening. 

You don't have to "go with the flow" but you should at least jump into the water.

Boulder, CO had their annual "Naked Pumpkin Run" with 300 bare-buttocks (that'd be 150 partici-pants, with two buttocks per) runners. They run thru the streets of that crazy liberal prarie dog hugging elitist enclave every year, wearing just a pumpkin on their head, er, on their noggin to be more specific. And if that doesn't make you just want to spit and poke fun, how 'bout the fact that 12 of those intellectual latte drinkers got CAUGHT and arrested! (Would you DO this if you couldn't avoid being CAUGHT?!?!?)
Anyway, Boulder might just slap their behinds with "sex offender" status, so there!

And sorry folks, but if you don't know who Ace is you're just not paying attention :)

Ace pauses from Real Work to reflect, enlighten and shut the cranky guy up.

The Mitch Cozad story "timed out" as in literally. Ace conferred with the in-house Guru who'll cement all the stories into the right-hand column for anyone who likes to beat dead horses. The Guru is busy doing Real Work Guru jobs right now, but hold onto your poison pen and we'll get it up there for you to fume at. The Mitch story has certainly been interesting and likely will get even more so.

Here's the abridged Wheaterville.com history, for anyone interested. Ace quit the PCRT. (That's a chapter in itself, and is most entertaining over a cuppa coffee or a glass of wine.)

Back before the first rattlesnake of the season, an editorial with a totally erroneous and unresearched LIE appeared in the PCRT. Ace, who has a low tolerance for both bad ethics and shoddy research, whipped up a rebuttal but needed a vehicle to get it out there. Ace correctly predicted that the PCRT would not supply the ride, and when that was confirmed by the nut behind the wheel (a most dangerous malfunction in any vehicle) Wheaterville.com was born.

We'll get the Guru to get that seminal work back up in the right-hand column too, so folks can reminisce.

Folks who figgered out who the heck Ace was pretty darn quickly started contacting Ace with story ideas. Clearly there was a hole in the fabric of journalism that only Wheaterville could fill, so Ace cheerfully began writing stuff.

More calls, more emails, more "hey, I L-O-V-E Wheaterville" praise from both natives and transfers and even more hand-covering-mouth whispered accolades from people who didn't think they should be sporting "Go Wheaterville.com" verbal bumper stickers in the checkout line at Safeway. (You really wouldn't believe who's reading Wheaterville! Or maybe you would...)

Be assured that Ace doesn't take offense to any nasty comments. Life'd be pretty boring if that were the case. Do be assured however, that Ace smiles broadly and often at compliments, so thanks to all-y'all who bother to pat backs and scratch itches. 'Tis much appreciated!

Copy and Paste journalism here? Not a chance in Hades. You don't like the way Ace writes? Go somewherez else. Ace'll try to not lose too much sleep over it.

Fans, be patient, 'k? Wheaterville is at that awkward Toddler stage. Smart and sassy enough that folks expect we know what we're doing, but we're really just learning how to maneuver around this strange new world. And we're growing at an astonishing rate, with lots more ideas than time. But winter is a comin'...those long dark days are great for implementing crazy ideas.

Cranky guy, knock off the out-of-your-posterior plagerism/copyright accusations. You can keep being as cranky as you want to about anything else tho. Keeps us on our toes. We like that.