Update - Kimberly’s last remaining paper mill closing, taking 475 jobs (July 31, 2008)

Great two-part series by Barry Adams in the Wisconsin State Journal, Paper mill jobs disappearing; stunned workers look for alternatives, and in this morning’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, we read the news, Midwest Airlines to cut 1,200 jobs.

I grew up in Wisconsin Rapids and spent two summers at a mill working as a summer replacement employee (SRE), when I was a student at UW-Madison.

It was work, and a 20-something art history undergraduate woman was not always treated with immense kindness by long-time colleagues.

But Adams' articles capture well the devastation wrought far and wide. Few who grew up in the Rap don’t know at least one friend or family member who hasn’t lost a job in the last several years.

What Causes Job Creation Far From Where Job-Seekers Live

A little while ago, I suggested that people check in with bloggers Rick Esenberg and Paul Soglin as they debate urban issues.

Rick, my colleague and the durable, conservative punching bag on Eric Von's "Backstory" Thursday afternoon drive-time roundtable on AM 1290 in Milwaukee, blogs here.

The liberal Paul, for whom I worked in his first incarnation as Madison Mayor, blogs here.

I tend to stay out of much of the bloggers' back-and-forth: a great deal of it is goofy-talk among journalist wannabees, but the Soglin-Esenberg discussion is worth reading because they both have something to say.

Did you ever notice how there is just enough news to exactly fill the pages of the newspaper?

Or how there are enough "help wanted" ads to fill the classifieds every Sunday?

Is it a miracle, or intelligent design? Jessica McBride knows.