Public officials in these parts seem totally silent on the effects of proposed energy cost increases on their constituents from area power monopoly WE Energies. The utility is asking that rates go up 4.9 percent in 2010 and another 4.5 percent in 2011.

In Texas, pols are more proactive about their energy issues. A group of mayors in that state went to the legislature asking for relief from high electric bills. Several of the city officials noted that after paying electricity rates below the national average for many years, Texans now pay prices above the national average.

One mayor said that his city lost out on a $150 million glass company to Oklahoma because that state had lower power rates. Municipal officials support legislation that would allow Texas residents to seek savings on their electric bills through group purchasing.

Squawking on Schools: Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan continues to hitch himself to the issue of the state of our public schools. A recent report suggests that MPS could save $103 million in cleaning up wasteful spending "yet we haven't heard as much as a peep from the mayor since he released the report amid promises to act quickly and to appoint an advisory committee," he said.

"Seems to me it would be nice for someone to be looking hard at eliminating the millions in waste and inefficiency so we could use that money to fix our streets, hire more cops, or somehow provide relief to city taxpayers," Donovan added.

Donovan apparently has no faith in the media to get his word out. He's taken to publishing his own newspaper and a Web site, too. Called "Common Sense," Donovan has put his views about schools and the mayor's office in print. He calls the mayor's budget "astonishingly irresponsible" for proposing to cut firefighters.

Job Increases: Believe it or not, Milwaukee actually had an increase in jobs, as opposed to see them run off to the suburbs. The Milwaukee metro area was the only large metro area to see an increase in jobs, according to a study by the Brookings Institute.

Detroit, Chicago and Dallas saw the greatest shift of jobs away from the city center (10 miles or more.) More than half of the major metro areas experienced rapid job sprawl. Detroit saw 77 percent of its jobs migrate out of the city, Chicago 68 percent and Dallas 66 percent.

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis had a .03percent gain of jobs within its three-mile ring of Downtown between 1998 and2006. It was one of only three metro areas to do so and the only metro area in the ‘large' category.

The study noted that financial, insurance and utility industries locate almost one-third of their jobs in the inner three-mile ring of metro centers -- three industries that are strong in the Milwaukee area.

Cheaper Drugs: Drug discounts are heading our way after the City of Milwaukee joins the National League of Cities Prescription Discount Card Program administered by CVS Caremark Corporation. Discounts average up to 20 percent.

The cards, which include more than 59,000 participating pharmacies and would be honored at over 80 Milwaukee locations, may be available as early as summer 2009.

Parking Problems Again: Allowing people to park their cars without having to move from one side of the street to the other isn't the greatest of plans, says Milwaukee Department of Public Works Director Jeff Mantes.

However, Mantes admits that enforcing the alternate sides rule is a lot of work for the city.

"This is an extremely labor-intensive violation to enforce," Mantes concludes. "it typically took the enforcement officer two hours per day plus up to 15 minutes per day for record keeping or greater than one-quarter of his shift for five days per week. ... With patrolling and record keeping and allowing for vacation time, this officer spent over 280 hours from March 1 to Nov. 30, 2008 patrolling just for this violation. During that time, only 10 citations were issued, resulting in a low cost-benefit in terms of effort."

Parts of the lower East Side and Downtown areas allow residents to park their cars in one place for up to five days. Mantes says the practice interferes with the city's ability to spot stolen or abandoned cars and can hinder street cleaning efforts as well.

One Party Kids Don't Want to Attend: Here's some fodder for the bar stool philosophers. The Democracy Corps reports that its poll finds that the Republican Party is becoming "irrelevant" to young people.

Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner's first post-election survey of youth suggests voters ages 18 to 29 have undergone a striking political evolution in recent years.

By a 59 percent to 14 percent margin, these voters prefer the Democrats when it comes to "paying attention to issues that affect younger people," a six-point gain since 2007. The poll also reports that young people support President Barack Obama with 66 percent approval rating.

Recall Fever: It's apparent that the Citizens for Responsible Government is obsessed with recalling politicians. And this time CRG operatives are going after Gov. Jim Doyle. The effort is called the Recall Doyle Exploratory Political Action Committee under the guise of Wisconsinites Interests Now, according to spokesman Chris Kliesmet.