Chippewa Falls is getting some giant slaps on the back right now because they were able to balance their city’s budget without laying anyone off. They somehow managed to obliterate a $730,000 deficit with a potent combo of early retirements and insurance plan tweaks. So kudos to them.

Meanwhile, a host Eau Claire community and arts groups spent Tuesday evening pleading our city council to maintain (all or some of) their funding through city monies. Everyone from the Chippewa Valley Museum to the Eau Claire Municipal Band to the L.E. Phillips Senior Center was on hand to ask for continued support.

The Leader-Telegram’s Julian Emerson even describes how an elderly Municipal Band fan got out of his wheel chair at the city’s public hearing to plead his case. Which doesn’t seem to relate to the issue in any way at all.