A little something for everyone to start the year

Cleaning out the inbox to start the new year fresh:

What's wrong with this picture? The Waukesha engineering firm that won a $109,100 regional water study consulting contract from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission also boasts the Waukesha Water Utility as a client, Story Hill's Gretchen Schuldt reports on Hood Happenings. Waukesha, of course, has a water shortage and is looking at Lake Michigan as a way to quench its growing thirst. Can you say conflict of interest?

Walker's deja vu campaign. Scott Walker announces his agenda for his first 100 days as governor (dream on), but Playground Politics says it's the 2001 Republican legislative agenda. It should sound familiar to Walker, because he was in the Assembly in 2001.

Voter fraud? It's no secret that Scott Newcomer, GOP nominee for Dan Vrakas' old Assembly seat in Waukesha County, voted from an address where he doesn't live. He says that was legal, but the Waukesha County Democratic Party now has filed a formal complaint with DA Paul Bucher. Because Bucher and Newcomer share a political consultant, the Dems are asking Bucher to recuse himself from the case.

Feingold for President? "He tests the waters, but will he jump in?" Katherine Skiba asked in a Sunday Journal Sentinel story on Russ Feingold. "Yes, Feingold jumps," says Brian Christianson of Free Will.

Green wins governor's poll. No, not GOP hopeful Rep. Mark Green, but Green Party candidate Tony Palmeri, who wins a complicated and convoluted online survey on Babblemur, a blog which exists in a different dimension.

Is Wal-Mart Good For America? That's the question posed in a "Frontline" documentary, to be rebroadcast on public television tonight. Check listings, but it is 8 p.m. on most stations.

Replace the Bradley Center? Why? That's what Joel McNally wants to know in his op ed column in the Capital Times. Says McNally: It seems awfully wasteful to litter the downtown landscape with disposable, multimillion-dollar sports palaces just to junk them every 20 years. It's hard for me to argue with that, although Ulice Payne certainly will.

Scooter,pack your toothbrush. Former State Rep. Bonnie Ladwig cops a plea in the caucus scandal, and agrees to cooperate in cases against two former Republican colleagues, Scott Jensen and Steve Foti, and Sherry Schultz, their former staffer whose full-time taxpayer-paid job was to raise money for Republicans. Jensen is the only one charged in the scandal who is still in office, but a felony conviction would end that.

R-rated commentary. Or PG-13, anyway. Renee Crawford offers an impeachment poster with this disclaimer: "I know this is a bit crude, but it's the hottest poster, t-shirt, bumper sticker on the web right now and I just couldn't stop myself from sharing." Enjoy.

Look for the silver lining. Laurel Walker, Waukesha columnist for the Journal Sentinel, says Dan Vrakas and Jenifer Finley each deserve a little credit for doing something right in their messy split in the county exec's office -- Vrakas for getting rid of her and Finley for giving back some of her salary. Walker's column.