If you haven’t been completely enthralled and distracted by the tale of the Dump Truck Bandit or the tale of the Plummeting Window Washer, your local news radar may have picked up on that fact that, on Monday, Eau Claire’s Plan Commission recommended doing everything the county wants as far as green-lighting the downtown jail expansion. But the City Council still needs to produce a super majority vote in favor of the county’s plans, or the downtown jail is a no-go. And things look pretty iffy for the county. As the Leader-Telegram points out, it looks like enough council members are leaning against the project to vote it down. From the L-T:

• Councilman Brandon Buchanan voted against the rezoning Monday as a member of the Plan Commission and said he will do the same next week. Councilman Berlye Middleton said he also plans to oppose the rezoning.
• Meanwhile, Councilmen Andrew Werthmann and Larry Balow said they're leaning against the proposal to build a new jail just east of the courthouse, while Councilman Thomas Vue said he's concerned the project is too large for the space allowed by the comprehensive plan. Councilman Thomas Kemp has spoken against the downtown jail in the past …

And also meanwhile, WQOW ran a story on last night’s 10pm newscast about Councilman Buchanan’s Facebook page, on which Buchanan posts, "Councilman Brandon Buchanan is voting no. The jail is officially DOA next week." Jail issues aside, is it kind of weird for him to be so open? And weird or not, is it OK? We’re all for transparency in everything from the businesses we frequent to our elected officials, but this feels … just kind of weird. Maybe our innate Midwestern drive to Keep To Yourself  is getting the better of us, but … huh. What do you guys think?