opinion

As I was covering the elections last Tuesday night, it became obvious early in the process that the referendum for a new Hudson High School was doomed. Before the night started, I had no idea which way it would go. There is no polling for this sort of thing. So what do we make...

In the weeks leading up to the election, Gov. Scott Walker visited Hudson four times. To his credit, it wasn’t just Hudson he was visiting – he blanketed all of western, central and northern Wisconsin and the election results proved the trips were a smart move on his part. If...

By the time this appears in print, Hudson voters will have decided whether or not to build a new high school on the south side of the city. The acrimony, sadly, is likely to continue. I wish it wasn’t so. There was a time when I jumped into these debates with glee, but...

--Meg Heaton, Hudson Star Observer There always seems to be some drama when it comes to deciding things in Hudson. Maybe that’s OK if it gets people interested, but only if we don’t let it distract from the real issue at hand. When it comes to the referendum,...

There are a lot of pros and cons regarding the upcoming school referendum. The bottom line is that we believe a new high school is warranted. Yes, the price on the referendum package is large -- $100 million, plus another $7 million if voters want an auditorium. The problem with...

I don’t know exactly how or when it happened, but somewhere along the line, the Avenue Bar in Madison became the watering hole of choice for an army of state politicians. I’d quaff a few soda pops with them every Friday afternoon with my Madison Magazine colleagues, former...

There are plenty of volunteers in our community, but among those at the head of the list deserving praise are the volunteer firefighters who respond to calls any time of the day or night. Fire Prevention Week was recently observed and firefighters have safety tips for homeowners,...

With the Twins and Brewers out of any postseason baseball, it’s hard to get overly excited about the playoffs, but it still has my interest because of one team -- the Kansas City Royals. I’m probably not alone in hoping they get to the World Series and -- against all odds -- win...

The news from the Federal Reserve that college loan debt has reached $1.2 trillion -- second only to home mortgages as a category of household debt -- prompted me to have a long-overdue conversation with my second-born. Over a burger and fries at the Oakwood Inn up north, my...

This is National Newspaper Week and we would like to toot our own horn a bit! The newspaper industry, with its print and online formats, continues to play a critical role in documenting the daily activities of communities like Hudson, and others also across Wisconsin and the...

After being around for the construction of the Hudson Middle School, Hudson Prairie Elementary, River Crest, a major remodel at Willow River Elementary and additions at the middle school and Houlton and Rock, there is no perfect location, no perfect time and no perfect price when...

There have been an increasing number of reports about small dogs, being walked by their owners, being attacked by larger dogs. Reports have come in Hudson and North Hudson (not all were reported to the police). In many cases the attacking dogs are being labelled as pit bulls....

My wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for a few days recently and the city continues to thrive. We travelled with Jackie’s sister Sandy and her husband Tom. There was one attraction I hoped to visit and, despite staying only a few hundred yards away, we never made it for a ride...

Citizens of Hudson have added incentive to go the polls on Nov. 4. Not only can they cast a vote in what is shaping up to be a tight gubernatorial race, they’ll have a say in whether a new high school is built and can either second-guess or support Gov. Scott Walker’s decision...