Archive for ‘Community’
Flooding Damages Interrupt Media Services
Spring has sprung. With the warmer temperatures and melting snow, we have experienced localized flooding in many Sheboygan neighborhoods. On Friday, March 15 flooding along the Sheboygan river in the area near the intersection of Taylor Drive 
and Indiana Avenue damaged Spectrum equipment used to deliver community media stations to local residents. The Interruptions affected the lines used to send the local Public, Education, and Government (PEG) channels from the studio on the UWGB-Sheboygan campus to Spectrum and the subscriber lines that provide Internet access to the studio.
“Our operations were severely curtailed during the outage,” said Scott Mealiff, WSCS Director. “We could still record shows but we weren’t able to broadcast or stream.” Crews were alerted to the problem and worked diligently for several days to find solutions, despite some of the affected equipment being swamped by flood water.
As of Wednesday morning, the school district (993), University (994), and city (990) channels have been restored to cable customers as well as live streaming of WSCS on the web and OTT devices. Thank you to all who worked to get our community media back online.
FCC Action Threatens Existence of Community Access Channels
FCC action threatens the existence of community access channels
Community Access Television is under an unprecedented attack from the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC, chaired by Ajit Pai, is considering ways to whittle away the public interest obligations cable companies have under federal law by charging cities for anything that does not earn the companies revenue.
City expenses will go up, cable company expenses will go down, and cable subscribers will pay the same price for cable but without the Public, Education, and Government (PEG) access channels that air locally-produced programs. Community access channels will disappear because many cities will no longer be able to afford to equip, staff, and pay for them.
Reposed from Wisconsin Community Media, https://wisconsincommunitymedia.com/advocacy/
City of Sheboygan Offers New Transparency and Benchmarking Center
Sheboygan is part of a growing movement of Wisconsin municipalities taking transparency in government to a higher level. Sheboygan utilizes the ClearGov platform, which showcases basic profiles of every municipality in the state. Sheboygan added detailed revenue and expenditure breakdowns of its account data as well as debt information. This site features benchmarking comparisons to all Wisconsin municipalities in a concise and informative format. Please note, comparable information may reflect up to a two-year delay based on the availability of statistics from the State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
The municipal transparency and benchmarking site helps local governments communicate and operate more effectively and efficiently through a unique fiscal clarity and insights platform. The site serves as a valuable tool to clearly communicate their performance in an effort to build citizen trust and participation through transparency. Our partnership with ClearGov provides valuable municipal benchmarking intelligence to help the City of Sheboygan’s leaders quickly compare their finances against similar communities to make more informed and data-driven policy and budgetary decisions.
The site may be accessed at sheboygan-wi.cleargov.com. This tool provides users an easy-to-understand, visual breakdown of Sheboygan’s finances, as well as insights into the city’s demographics. The site informs visitors as to how each budget item compares to neighboring communities.
Please contact Budget Analyst Carrie Arenz at carrie.arenz@sheboyganwi.gov or 920-451-2367 with any questions or comments.
WSCS Receives 8 Awards
E
ight WSCS Programs Recoginized in 2018 Best of the Midwest Media Fest
Wisconsin Community Media has announced the 2018 Best of the
Midwest Media Fest award winners. Award-winning producers and their shows will be honored at the Best of the Midwest Media Fest Banquet and Show at the Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center on Thursday evening, May 10 as part of Wisconsin Community Media’s two-day conference.
|
Program |
Community Producer |
Award |
| Create A Life You Love “Pet Food” | Toni Greene | Excellence |
| Ignite Sheboygan | Ignite Sheboygan | Achievement |
| 100 Thousand Poets for Change | Lisa Vihos | Merit |
| 25th Annual Sheboygan Jaycees’ Holiday Parade | Sheboygan Jaycees | Achievement |
| Million Person Unity March | Nanette Bulebosh | Merit |
| Quality of Life “Robotic Surgery” | Dave Augustin | Merit |
| Ignite the Spark “ADHD” | Char Pachniak | Merit |
| 32nd Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival featuring Porsche and Formula Junior | John Seaman | Achievement |
Go here for the WCM press release with the full list of award-winning programs.
Candidate Forums
WSCS partnered with the Sheboygan Branch of American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters-Sheboygan County to broadcast eight candidate forums, held at mead Public Library. 
The forums features the candidates for five aldermanic districts in the City of Sheboygan, two county supervisor district races and the candidates for the three open seats on the Sheboygan Area School Board.
Sveral members of the station’s staff worked to record each of the events, quickly get the programs ready, and schedlue the replays to air ahead of the spring election on April 3. Seven episodes were created and each was televised at least 10 times, nearly 84 hours of programming, during the week leading up to election day. The forums were also posted online so citizens could watch at their convienence.
Communities Respond to Governor’s Decision to Rescind
March 8, 22018
Impacted Communities Respond to Governor’s Decision to Rescind Nomination of Wisconsin National Marine Sanctuary
Residents, educators, business leaders, tourism executives, environmental groups, and elected officials from the Cities of Port Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers have reacted with disbelief and disappointment to Governor Walker’s action rescinding his 2014 nomination of the area of Lake Michigan off their communities to be American’s newest National Marine Sanctuary.
The entire sanctuary designation process began with that nomination, which the Governor himself had submitted in November 2014 on behalf of the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. The nomination was officially selected by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to begin the Sanctuary Designation process and was perceived to be well on its way to Final Designation in late 20018 or early 22019. Once designated, the Wisconsin ‐Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary would become only the second Sanctuary in the Great Lakes and the 15th Sanctuary nationwide.
“The Governor’s decision represents a missed opportunity for all of us,” stated Kathy Tank, City of Port Washington Tourism Council Executive Director. With roughly 33% of State visitor spending occurring each year along the I‐433 corridor and our harbor communities preparing for tourism growth from the Designation of our Wisconsin Sanctuary, our business partners were very well‐positioned to capture additional tourism dollars.”
“Our communities have collaborated very effectively on our National Marine Sanctuary Nomination, and that includes proud institutions of maritime heritage learning like our Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc and partner organizations in Sheboygan and Port Washington,” said Rolf Johnson, CEO of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. “Working together over the past several years, we’ve prepared and shared exciting, engaging, new public exhibits that provide inspiring educational opportunities for future generations of scientists, researchers, engineers, explorers, and historians.”
The regional nomination as submitted to NOAA detailed a proposed 875‐squaare‐mile area National Marine Sanctuary, stretching from Port Washington to Two Rivers. It would contain 399 known shipwrecks, including the two oldest shipwrecks in Wisconsin and 15 intact shipwrecks (three with standing masts). Fifteen of thee 39 shipwrecks are on the National Register of Historic Places. NOAA would assist with location, identification, and preservation of another 80 or so expected shipwrecks.
“We believe a Sanctuary Designation is truly fitting,” stated Leslie Kohler, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors for the Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan (SEAS). “Our marine environment is enormously rich in historical, cultural, and archaeological treasures, and a National Marine Sanctuary will afford greater opportunity for discovery, protection, and preservation of those unique treasures.”
“A National Marine Sanctuary in our Mid‐Lake Region will be an economic bonus for our four communities and the region and will serve as a tremendous source of pride and celebration for our entire State of Wisconsin,” said Chad Pelishek, City of Sheboygan Director of Planning & Development.
For more information, please visit www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/wisconsin
Station Grieves Passing of Long-time Crew Member
Fritz Zenk was a popular, friendly face behind the camera who helped to showcase his hometown of Sheboygan on local cable for decades. Station staff were saddend to learn of his passing, at age 97. The full obituary can be found here.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sheboyganpress/obituary.aspx?n=fredrick-h-zenk&pid=187149135
Relive the Levitt AMP Concerts
For the third consecutive summer, Sheboygan has enjoyed the Levitt AMP Concert series hosted by the John Michale Kohler Arts Center. When schedules and contracts permitted, WSCS recorded these hot performances for you to enjoy long after the thermometer drops.
New Program Partnership
It is becoming widely known that eating local, in-season produce is best for our health, but this notion can seem daunting and out of reach for most of us. The City of Sheboygan and the Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization (SCIO) have partnered to produce a program through WSCS entitled, Market Fresh Me
als to help bring this healthy practice into more Sheboyganite’s homes. This program runs on WSCS, and can be viewed through Video on Demand at WSCSsheboygan.com anytime. Five episodes will be produced t
his season, each bringing you a healthy, easy recipe that can be created with local produce and products found at the SCIO Farmer’s Markets. When you can’t grow your own food, the next best option is to buy from vendors you can trust, who grow in the area, and harvest their goods a matter of hours before they are sold. You can find these vendors at the SCIO Farmers Markets happening twice a week in Sheboygan, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, June through October, and on Thursdays in Plymouth. The Sheboygan markets are held at Fountain Park, and the Plymouth market is at the Fairfield Plaza.
Market Fresh Meals is more than a mere cooking show. Made possible thanks to a generous sponsorship from Aurora Health Care, these programs provide information on the health benefits of 
local ingredients, and helpful health tips from Aurora’s own Wellness Coordinator, Michelle Urbanek. Michelle is joined in the Relish Kitchen on 8th Street by Farmer’s Market Manager, Maria Liesegang and together they cook up healthy options with a dollop of good food information. Some episodes of Market Fresh Meals include segments at the Sheboygan Farmer’s Market, highlighting helpful vendors, and the SCIO information tent with resources explained by SCIO’s own Executive Director, Heidi Gudmundson.
The City of Sheboygan recognizes the health of the population of Sheboygan as an important component to the success of our great city. Access to healthy food is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to health, and healthy eating, but it is important to also hold an understanding of how to source, choose, prepare, consume, and store healthy food. We aren’t all natural chefs, but we all have bodies that can benefit from the nourishment that accompanies a lifestyle where eating fresh local food is paramount. Market Fresh Meals offers information and easy, approachable recipes and methods of preparation.
The first episode of Market Fresh Meals is available now and viewable on WSCS, via under Video on Demand, or by visiting SheboyganCountyInterfaith.org. This first episode shows you how to prepare pan fried tilapia, couscous, and a spring green salad – topped off with local mic
rogreens. Four more episodes will be accompanying this one, each highlighting new market items available as the season progresses, culminating with an episode featuring fall vegetables.
Market Fresh Meals wouldn’t have been possible without the formation of important partnerships. The City of Sheboygan Department of City Development partnered with SCIO to make the production of Market Fresh Meals a reality, and WSCS brought technical expertise, filming, and direction. Relish, located on North 8th Street has been a terrific partner, allowing Market Fresh Meals to be filmed in their newly completed demonstration kitchen. And of course, none of this would have been possible without the generous sponsorship Aurora Health Care provided.
If you would like to find out more please tune in to Market Fresh Meals, and don’t forget to visit your local farmers markets. These markets are an awesome asset to our community and will help each of us live our most healthy life.
By Nancy Maring, City of Sheboygan Neighborhood Development Planner
Local Sports Double-Double
WSCS TV Sports Delivers Two Nights of Double Features
WSCS TV Sports is offering its viewers a Holiday gift of two nights of double features of sports programming by producer Mike Martin. All shows run about 30 minutes.
The first night’s double feature will have a basketball flavor. The Armory Show features former Sheboygan Press Sports Editors Dwight Pelkin and Pete Barth and retired basketball coaches John Schumann and Tom Desotell talking about the Armory and its history. The show has excellent footage of the Armory taken by WSCS cameraman Brian Andrews. Live game footage is also included.
Sheboygan North Basketball: The Tom Desotell Years is an award winning show that features Tom Desotell along with former players, coaches and support staff from both North and South high. The program takes the viewer through Desotell’s first year at North to the 2011 season. Also featured in the show is a segment on the 1986 state championship team.
The second night’s double feature is about two of Sheboygan’s best-known sports personalities Denny Moyer and Roy Pirrung.
Denny Moyer and the Sheboygan A’s was produced in 2013, the 50th year of the Sheboygan A’s. The show features Denny and Donna Moyer along with former players and club officers as they take the viewer from the earliest years to the present day Sheboygan A’s. Footage at the ballpark will the take the viewer to various parts of the park and includes live game footage.
I Run: The Roy Pirrung Story is about how Roy went from an overweight smoker to world class ultra-marathoner. Roy’s inspirational story includes comments by fellow runners and Roy himself. Roy’s extensive collection of photos also helps tell the story. The show also includes a segment of Roy talking about and showing some of the numerous awards he has won over the years.
Here is the schedule:
The Armory Show Tues. 12/27 @ 6:30 PM and Thurs. 12/29 @ 9:00 PM
North Basketball: The Tom Desotell Years Tues. 12/27 @ 7:00 PM and Thurs. 12/29 @ 9:30 PM
Denny Moyer and the Sheboygan A’s Wed. 12/28 @ 2:00 PM and Fri. 12/30 @ 7:00PM
I Run: The Roy Pirrung Story Wed. 12/28 @ 2:30 PM and Fri. 12/30 @ 7:30 PM