On Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., the City of Appleton's City Plan Commission will entertain approval of an 18-month moratorium on large (exceeding 20,000 square feet) AI data centers in the City of Appleton.  I believe this to be wise as we all know that there are a number of logistical and infrastructure concerns when a large data center is proposed — excess water usage, excess electrical usage, etc. — and there are concerns that there is questionable long-term need for large AI data centers considering technological progress and rapid, rather unpredictable changes coming in that realm.

The first discussion of a potential Wheel Tax came at a Special Town Board meeting held on June 23, 2026, at 9:00 AM. Only two residents, myself and one other, were in attendance at the special meeting. That means, with only one discussion, and without seeking any resident input, the Board, in a vacuum, created a new Town tax in just a two-week period. This special Town Board meeting raised several issues.

On Monday, July 6, Fox Valley Initiative will feature two speakers: Laura Ackmann of Moms for Liberty and Carolyn Pierre of Guardian School Consulting [invited]. Both organizations are working to protect children from sexual predators in schools. The problem of sexual misconduct by teachers and other school staff has grown in the Fox Valley and across Wisconsin.

I have questions about the Wilden Portfolio Park development (at Thrivent) and the proposal that Appleton create a 14th Tax Incremental District (TID) to help incentivize this development. The Appleton City Council should consider both sides of this pancake. The colorful sprinkles presented by Thrivent’s request to create a Tax ID are all obtainable without a TID.

According to the 2020 Census, nearly SIX TIMES as many people in Outagamie County are Catholic: 62,763 Catholics versus an estimated 10,725 LGBTQIA+. Add in the numbers who belong to other Christian faiths, and you can see how many more people in Outagamie County are Christian than LGBTQIA+. So why is the Pride Flag being flown at the County Courthouse, but the Christian flag cannot be?

This November, Wisconsin voters will have an opportunity to protect the freedom of churches to gather during future emergencies. A YES vote on the proposed constitutional amendment means churches decide for themselves whether they stay open or close during a state of emergency. 

The Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released the Agency Sunshine Report on Thursday, finding that most Wisconsin offices and agencies failed the State’s own public records performance test. The report examines how quickly state agencies and constitutional offices answer the public and is accompanied by an interactive dashboard displaying response times.