A lot of people are not aware of the fact that in addition to the local bars that are hidden treasures, there are also two breweries within the Kenosha city limits. These two breweries inside the heart of Kenosha are Public Craft Brewing Company and Rustic Road Brewery, each with its own style and taste.

The first of these gems that I learned of was Rustic Road Brewery, located on 56th Street in downtown Kenosha. The bar brews all of their beer in the open for all to see while customers can enjoy a sample or pint of what they have to offer in the tasting room. Small and quaint, this brewery is quite welcoming upon arrival. Usually a quiet place, it proves to be quite enjoyable and has a good selection. At any given time, they will have an average of about seven beers on tap. They do have a few that are more popular than others and switch between a few seasonal beers every year, but try to keep the ones in higher demand around more often. They try to keep their most popular beer, their Harvest Hazelnut, on tap as more of a year-round option. A lot of their brewers began as home-brewers, so there are a lot of different talents coming together for a selection that has something for every beer lover!

Rustic Road Brewery tries to welcome the city of Kenosha through many events that they hold year-round. Every Friday evening they have a trivia tournament where winners can earn bragging rights as well as prizes. They are also actively involved in what downtown Kenosha calls their “Second Saturday” events. Every second Saturday of the month, many local favorites in the downtown area run specials on food and drinks, and Rustic Road is no exception. On Saturday, April 11, they offered a $2 discount on all “growlers” with the purchase of a pint (a growler is a take home freshness sealer for about 3 to 4 pints worth of beer). Public Craft Brewing Company is no stranger to Second Saturdays either. They most recently had the Trolley Dogs cart at their brewery, offering attendees the chance to have a dog with their brew.

Public Craft Brewing Company, located on 58th Street, is kind of hidden, sharing a building with another business, but is definitely worth finding. With a laid-back atmosphere, this brewery provides a ton of options for things to do while you enjoy your beer. In one corner, patrons can try their hand at chess or checkers, in another there is a group of vinyl records and still yet there are multiple bookshelves with a wide array of books to choose from to keep your mind sharp as you feel your senses dulling. With their business expanding through bottling and distributing their beers, they seem to stick to a lot of the same beers year round. A few change with the season to keep things fresh.

Public Craft Brewing Company also focuses on community events, often having live music on Friday and Saturday nights for the listening enjoyment of Kenosha. They are also running a special beer for the upcoming Orson Welles ceremony that much of Kenosha is involved in. To commemorate this hometown celebrity, they are currently brewing a special beer that will premiere on Friday May 8 to honor Welles.

These two bars often work together to keep small brews alive and well within Kenosha. A lot of their beers are served on tap at the same bars, such as Ashling on the Lough and the Mike’s businesses around town. Public Craft Brewing Company loves to branch out, hoping to gain a following through the multiple places that you can enjoy their beer. Rustic Road Brewery seems to want to keep it local and within their business, as a brewer told me. They have attempted bottling before, but found that it was competing with their tasting room and did not like that. Both breweries are extremely successful and both are checking out if you haven’t already been there.

 

Article by Krista Skweres

On Wed Apr 15 around noon, about 40 Parkside students and staff marched the halls of the University in protest of Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cuts. The protestors organized near the OMSA (Office of Student Multicultural Affairs) in Wyllie Hall and made their way across the school to the student center. Permission for the protest was not requested; however, the Parkside Police did not make any attempts to stop it.

Students held signs reading “Stop the Cuts” and “Save the UW”, while chanting “Up up with education, down down with legislation”. Among student concerns were delays in graduation and grant availability. “Because of limited class availability, I have had to drop my minor. I’ve also been forced into taking out more loans because my grants have been reduced,” says an anonymous Parkside junior.

Student Ritu Patel, 20, mentioned that she knows several students, herself included, that have had significant delays in graduation, because the class availability in the biology department does not meet the needs of the students.

Protesters gathered outside on the steps near the student center where they voiced their opinions. “You’re not only taking away from each individual’s potential, but from our state’s potential!” shouts student body vice president Gabrielle Krawczyk “With these cuts, we cannot afford the amazing professors that make our UW system great!” adds student Annalee Sepanski.

Preceding these statements, student body president Gabriel Coronado urged protestors to call their state representative Senator Richard Gudex to make their disapproval of the UW Budget known. In an interview, Coronado stressed that “anyone who is concerned about the cuts should reach senator Gudex at (608) 266-5300 or via email at [email protected].”

Surrounding the protest, many students expressed concerns that the protest should not have taken place on Parkside’s campus, because “administration is not to blame for these cuts”. In response to these concerns, President Coronado stated “I would agree with their perspective that it’s not the administration who proposed these cuts; however, one of the objectives was to raise awareness of the current status that the UW System is going through. Although many students are aware, there are also many that are not. During the protest we called several legislators, regardless of party, and asked them to not approve the proposed budget.”

He also added that based on the feeds he has seen on social media and local press, it seems like their objective to raise awareness and concern was achieved.

 

Article by Doria DeBartolo

Do you love food, beer and wine? Do you want to support one of Parkside’s graduate programs? Come join the Graduate Business School Alumni Association on Friday, April 17 from 7-10 p.m. at Casa Capri by eating, drinking and being merry. Robert Mitchell gave us all the details!

The event that takes place on Friday is entitled “Grill Meet” and is going to be held in the banquet room of Casa Capri. They will be serving a variety of different food including multiple different meats from salmon to beef tenderloin, grilled mussels and oysters, as well as finger foods and desserts. There will be beer featured from Rustic Road Brewery, which in itself is a selling point, and a range of wines for the tasting.

Robert Mitchell is an active member of the local Kenosha restaurant and bar scene. He runs an online blog entitled “Cork Meets Fork” in which he reviews restaurants, gives suggestions for food and wine pairings and shares recipes. He has been in the food industry for over thirty years, starting out in Boston before moving back to the Chicago area. He currently helps Wine Knot and Rustic Road Brewery with their liquor and wine selections along with special events for these two businesses in the downtown Kenosha area.

Mitchell also organizes for wine tasting trips and tours, and is currently preparing for a trip to France to give people a taste of all that their vineyards have to offer. He has teamed up with the Parkside Graduate Business School Alumni Association for a few years now, and this will be his fourth event that he helped organize for the university. Mitchell became involved when one of the founders of the organization, Jeremy Covey, motivated him to participate. The money that will be raised by tickets for the event will go towards scholarships for Parkside graduate students in the field of business.

Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door on the day of the event. There will be raffles with multiple different prizes, including a night at Grand Geneva resort, grilling tools and, of course, wine! One lucky scholarship winner will be announced during the event. So come on out and support your school and your fellow Parkside Rangers! Tickets can be purchased by calling (262) 331-4140 or by logging onto gbsaa.org.

Article by Krista Skweres

When Governor Walker unveiled his new budget, one of the key components was a thirteen percent cut of state funding for the University of Wisconsin higher education system. Widespread concern throughout the UW system spread. Chancellors from different UW branches talked of how this would affect their schools, and ultimately the students. But what do we really know about the impact of this budget? How will it affect us here at UW-Parkside? The answer seems to be a resounding: “We are not quite sure.”

Here is what we do know. We know that the Governor has done this before. We know that when things get cut, they stay cut, and there is no use in trying to get him to change his mind. He has a very precise idea of what he wants, and whether you agree with it or not, he is going to carry that idea forward. So where does that leave the UW system as a whole? More directly, where does that leave UW-Parkside and Parkside students? Let’s look at it from large scale to small.

This budget will go into effect in two years, beginning in the year 2017. That means the system has two years to figure out how it is going to handle the reduction of funding. Throughout the system the consensus seems to be that in order to function under the new budget, there will have to be a serious loss of jobs, first and foremost. The Chancellor of UW-Milwaukee forecast a loss of 200 to 300 personnel, UW-Stout predicted 50 to 90 and UW-Stevens Point estimated around 115. The leaders of both UW-Madison and UW-River Falls have said that there seems to be no way to avoid layoffs and that there is a high possibility that jobs will be cut. But what type of jobs?

The Chancellor of UW-Milwaukee said that it would have to start with Administrative jobs first, then there would be a decrease in full-time professors with a switch to more part-time adjunct professors, then research funding would be cut and finally, costs to students. Here at UW-Parkside, this reporter was told by a reliable source that is currently teaching here that already ten current teachers that hold multiple positions within their departments have been told that they will not be coming back. Another source who is a long time professor here said, on the condition of anonymity, that he was aware of professors either losing their jobs entirely or getting pay cuts, while administration was being given raises. A student senator told us that when discussing the budget with the Chancellor here at Parkside, the perception was that our Chancellor was unsure of exactly what was going on.

We do know that there is a tuition freeze that lasts until 2017, so if you are going to graduate within that time frame, you do not have to be concerned about that. But it seems like you do have to be concerned about larger classes, fewer teachers being asked to accomplish more tasks and possibly a smaller administration staff to assist you with your non-scholastic concerns. After 2017 there is a big cloud of confusion as to what will happen to the students. The Governor was asked and he said that there would be an “inflation-based cap” on tuition, but that was not specifically written in the budget. This reporter encourages all of you to go to the uwp.edu webpage, and at the bottom of the page there are links to view a budget summary, the governor’s speeches and transcripts as well as reactions to this budget. What we do know is that the UW-system is losing money from the state. What we don’t know is how hard it will hit us and in what fashion, and not knowing seems to be worse than the facts.