Sunday, February 26, 2012

City Accepting Applications for Home Loan Program


The city of Oshkosh would like to remind homeowners that the city has an owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program. The program offers a zero percent deferred interest loan that is available to low and moderate income single family property owners within Oshkosh city limits.

Loans may be used for roofing, plumbing, electrical, furnaces, painting, and general repairs. Funds may not be used for remodeling and additions.

Interested homeowners must complete an application and be approved before any work is done.
The annual gross household income may not exceed the amounts listed below.
Household size                Gross Income
1                                        $34.750
2                                        $39,700
3                                        $44,650
4                                        $49,600
5                                        $53,600
6                                        $57,550

Larger households should call the planning office for income limits. The application deadline is March 15, 2012.

For more information, please contact the Planning Division at (920) 236-5059. The Planning Division is located in City Hall in Room 204.

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Local artists share Views from the Petrified Forest at Oshkosh Public Library

Feb. 20, 2012 – Two weeks in the Petrified Forest has left its mark on local photographer Erv Schroeder and Oshkosh artist Jill Thurk. The pair will share a taste of their adventure in this land of scenic wonders on Sat., Feb. 25, at the Oshkosh Public Library.
The program, Views from the Petrified Forest, begins at 1 p.m. in the library’s lower level meeting room. Thurk and Schroeder will share some of the work inspired during their time as artists in residence at Petrified Forest National Park in July of 2011. They also will present a slide show including stunning images and art from their time in the park.

Thurk and Schroeder had driven through the park previously, but the residency afforded the pair the opportunity to take their park experience to another level. “We could just strike out on our own – it was fantastic,” Schroeder said. “There’s so much to see. It’s like three parks in one.”

Thurk and Schroeder were at the park during the rainy season and he described the way the clouds would amass in the afternoons in advance of spectacular thunderstorms. At night, the sky was amazingly clear. “The Milky Way was unbelievable,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder has a BFA in photography from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and an MFA in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. While he has not made a career of photography, it obviously is a passion for him. His black and white photos from the residency continue a body of work about stones, which he began in 1995.

“Stones held an attraction for me. They bear witness to the primordial forces of the Earth,” he explains. “In my photographs, I try to capture the feelings experienced while in these timeless places of nature's power.”
Thurk has an MA in art education and teaches art at St. John Neumann Middle School in Oshkosh. She took hundreds of photographs during the residency and worked with several media, including pencil, pastel and watercolors. She was amazed at the beauty and range of colors in the petrified wood, and marveled at the way the shifting clouds altered light and changed the colors of the landscape in a matter of moments.

“In my work I show the beauty and harmony I find in nature, and strive to evoke in others the same feelings that moved me to create the work,” Thurk explains. “My drawings are a visual record of my residency at the park. I want it to show the peace and solitude, as well as the celebration of color and light that this magnificent park offers.”

Thurk lauded park staff as welcoming and helpful. She and Schroeder even had the opportunity to visit a dig where scientists unearthed a newly discovered Metoposaur fossil. “It was so magical to be in the middle of the Painted Desert and see the skull of this creature as the layers of time were being dusted away from its enormous skull,” she says.

Both Schroeder and Thurk say they would participate in another park residency. “You wouldn’t have to ask me twice,” Schroeder says. Thurk adds, “It has been a joy to share this experience with my students at St. John Neumann.”

For links to some of Schroeder’s work and more about Views from the Petrified Forest and other library events, visit www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org. More information is also available at 236-5205.

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Here is what's playing this week on Eye on Oshkosh...

Be sure to join us starting Monday, Feb. 20 when Cheryl and Dan begin interviewing candidates for the Oshkosh Area School District’s Board of Education. There are open three seats and five candidates seeking those seats. During this week’s show, incumbent Karl Loewenstein and newcomer Jared Erdmann join us to discuss why they’re running and a variety of issues facing the school district.

In the Oshkosh area, "Eye on Oshkosh" can be seen Mondays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m. Check with your local cable company or its TV listings for replay times in other, more outlying areas. “Eye on Oshkosh” also may air at times other than just those listed. Check the guide on your cable access channel for other days and times, as well. Eye on Oshkosh is copyrighted and any unauthorized copying or use of any portion of the program is strictly prohibited by law.

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Here is what's playing this week on Eye on Oshkosh...

Be sure to join us starting Monday, Feb. 13 when Cheryl and Dan are joined in the first segment by war veterans Randy Locke and Ami Messner. Both spent time serving our nation in the Middle East and they share with us what training and life are like over there, and how one prepares to be so far away from home, especially when facing war and an uncertain future.

In the second half of the hour UW-O political science professor Jim Simmons joins Cheryl and Dan to give his take on the upcoming recall election, as well as the local spring elections.

In the Oshkosh area, "Eye on Oshkosh" can be seen Mondays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m. Check with your local cable company or its TV listings for replay times in other, more outlying areas. “Eye on Oshkosh” also may air at times other than just those listed. Check the guide on your cable access channel for other days and times, as well. Eye on Oshkosh is copyrighted and any unauthorized copying or use of any portion of the program is strictly prohibited by law.


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Monday, February 06, 2012

Here is what's playing this week on Eye on Oshkosh...


Be sure to join us starting Monday, Feb. 6 when Cheryl and Dan are joined in the first segment by Oaklawn Elementary parents Liz Lynch and Jared Erdmann. They will discuss why they believe Oaklawn needs to be replaced as opposed to closing it and sending kids to other schools in the district. Detailed information about the upcoming referendum on this issue can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/oshkosh.k12.wi.us/referendum.

In the second half of the hour Dan discusses his recent month-long trip to the Netherlands and shares with us how society and customs there are different than here.

In the Oshkosh area, "Eye on Oshkosh" can be seen Mondays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m. Check with your local cable company or its TV listings for replay times in other, more outlying areas. “Eye on Oshkosh” also may air at times other than just those listed. Check the guide on your cable access channel for other days and times, as well. Eye on Oshkosh is copyrighted and any unauthorized copying or use of any portion of the program is strictly prohibited by law.

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Friday, February 03, 2012

Reading to dogs at Oshkosh Public Library improves literacy skills; sign up now

Feb. 3, 2012It might look like storytime for dogs, but it’s the humans who benefit from a program at Oshkosh Public Library that helps children to become better readers.

The Read to a Dog program pairs children with trained reading/therapy dogs to improve literacy skills. Sessions are available by appointment at 236-5208. Registration is required. The program runs Feb. 6 - April 30 and is open to children of all ages.

According to Sandy Joseph, Oshkosh Public Library children’s librarian, reading to a dog is a fun and effective way for children who struggle with reading to build both skills and confidence.

“Children who are nervous and self-conscious about reading aloud often feel very comfortable reading to a dog,” she explains. “The dog isn’t judgmental or intimidating, so it boosts the child’s confidence, they forget about their limitations, and their reading skills improve.”

The dogs in the program are trained through the Reading Education Assistance Dogs program, a division of Intermountain Therapy Animals.

Read to a Dog is held in 20-minute blocks on Monday nights in the library’s lower level meeting room. Register at the Children’s Desk or call 236-5208.

Don’t miss these other programs for children at the Oshkosh Public Library:

Winter Wonderland Storytime: Stories, songs and activities for children of all ages on Mondays at 10 a.m. Sessions available through Feb. 27. No registration necessary. 

Pajama-Rama Storytime: A family storytime for all ages at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in the Cozy Book Corner. Stuffed animals, pajamas, and blankets are welcome (but not required). Sessions available through Feb. 28. No registration necessary.

Dr. Seuss's Birthday Open House & Film Festival: Drop by Sat., March 3, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., for Dr. Seuss films, birthday cake, a book zoo, prizes, birthday card signing and singing.

For more information about library programs for children and families, visit http://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/.

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