The state Legislaturecan help these innocent victims by acting on the Child Victims Act, which hasbeen approved by one Assembly committee, before the session ends on April 22.
The bill would eliminatethe statute of limitations on civil cases involving the sexual assault of achild. It would also give victims a three-year window of opportunity to act onallegations that would otherwise be too old.
The Child Victims Act isabsolutely necessary to bring child sex abusers to justice and also preventpedophiles from acting again.
We understand that theCatholic hierarchy does not support this legislation. But church leaders havenot acted in good faith in the past. They have denied and covered up decades ofabuse instead of protecting the most vulnerable members of theircongregationchildren. Because of this horrific legacy, the state mustintervene and allow victims to bring forward cases that would otherwise beburied.
Hero of the Week
E.B. Garner
Few rights of passageare as memorable as the first time a child goes fishing with an adult. For manycity kids without transportation or access to outlying lakes, however, thatopportunity never arrives.
Enter E.B. Garner, acrucial player in the Urban Ecology Center’smission of connecting children with nature. Every Wednesday during the summer,Garner, a retired Milwaukee County Parks worker, leads dozens of youth on freefishing expeditions in Washington Park (1859 N. 40th St) from 5 to 6:30 p.m.Garner provides the poles and instructs participants in fishing techniques.
In addition to hisweekly outings, Garner also hosts “E.B Garner’s Fishing Day” (June 5, 10 a.m.to 3 p.m.), a free family event where all of the “how-to” basics of fishing aretaught.
Adults who wish toassist Garner in fostering environmental stewardship among Milwaukee’schildren are encouraged to contact the UrbanEcology Center’sWashington Park branch at (414) 344-5460 or visitwww.urbanecologycenter.org.
Jerk of the Week
Scott Walker
It’s amazing howMilwaukee County Executive Scott Walker can cook the books and twist the truemeaning of words to boast about his management of Milwaukee Countyfinances when the facts show quite the opposite. Walker is bragging about an unaudited reportshowing that the county may have an $8.9 million surplus for 2009. But Walker fails to note thatthe county also has a massive hole in its 2010 budget and hundreds of millionsof dollars in unfunded liabilities and deferred maintenance.
Honest accountants orcomptrollers will tell you that you should responsibly address a deficit byeither cutting costs or raising revenues. Essentially, you pay for youroperating or recurring expenses in the current year. Walker did make some budget cuts, but thatonly goes part of the way. Instead of doing the difficult and responsible thingof raising revenues or increasing some fees, Walker just borrows the money, which puts theburden on future property taxpayers, or kicks the problem down the road sosomeone else will fix it. Thanks, Scott. Hopefully, you will not have the sameopportunity to implement your voodoo economics on the entire state.
