A mysterious Fox Valley resident, whose name and affiliation I will reveal if permission is granted, has sent me a helpful update on local restaurants. I've used it to revise some outdated info on my page about Dining in Appleton. Many thanks!

Here is the update:

Mister Churro's and Fusion have both just closed (both of which were great!) -- see story.

Jonathan's Italian Bistro in Appleton is no longer owned by the Supples (although the Jonathan's in Fond du Lac is). Unfortunately I can't find a link for this, but know I read about it several months ago (and the Appleton location doesn't show up on the Supple site).

La Fiesta recently moved to a new location in Menasha: see Post-Crescent story.

Lemon Grass is now owned by the same owners as The Seasons and is called "Lemon Grass -- An Asian Bistro": see LemonsGrassWI.com.

Mongo's is closed: see BuilderOnline story.

Cub Foods isn't around the Fox Cities anymore, although Festival Rainbow Foods is going to take their place on Northland in addition to their new store in the Kimberly area.

The Frozen Tundra Bar and Grill is closed, with Gyros Kabob taking their location and closing their previous hole-in-the-wall location in Soldiers Square: see Gyros-Kabob.com.

Update: The help came from Chad Leder in the Marketing Department of Schenck Business Solutions, which is the 35th largest accounting firm in the country and is headquartered in Appleton. Thanks, Chad! And I'll mention Schenck on my main Appleton page as well.

A full-page ad in today's Post-Crescent announces the brief visit of a jewelry company in Appleton to buy up items such as silver coins. A big headline proclaims that they are going to pay 600% of the face of silver coins minted before 1964. That sounds great - if you don't know anything about the silver market. A 90% silver coin (like all US silver coins from 1964 and before) has silver that is worth 10 times (1000%) the face value, apart from any numismatic value the coin may have due to its rarity and condition. Coins like silver dollars go for even more. Please don't throw away your valuable silver coins for a mere 600% over face value. You should be able to get closer to 900% or better. And you should hold out for at least $12 for a silver dollar (and often much higher). Let me know if you'd like some tips on where to find buyers.

The Appleton Public Library is featuring a Family Story Celebration in Hmong and English on Monday, April 23 at 6:30 pm. Some stories will be told in the Hmong language and translated to English. The program will only last about 30 minutes or so, after which parents can work with the librarians to get library cards or learn about other services.

Nice opportunity for Hmong families and others.

I have to say that the Appleton Public Library is really outstanding, offering numerous services and programs and featuring a very talented and helpful staff. And the selection of books, periodicals, CDs, DVDs, and tapes that they provide are surprisingly rich.

Folks in Neenah, Wisconsin are so friendly, they even take steps to keep statues comfortable in winter. Dressing up the "Rain Dance" sculpture at Riverside Park is a winter tradition.

Just a couple weeks ago, there were tracks running from the shore out into the midst of frozen Lake Winnebago. This photo was taken March 14 from Wisconsin Ave. in Neenah, on the south side of Riverside Park. A few days later, temperatures were above 60 degrees and the crazy roads of ice across the lack came unglued. Lots of things are that way, just not so rapid.

Now it's spring, though it was cold with a touch of snow today.

Appleton is on the cutting edge of many things - but not always when it comes to modern technology. OK, we've got decent options for cell phone services, and we've got a couple choices for DSL Internet access, but competition is lacking when it comes to cable TV and cable modem. The only player is Time Warner, which we've found to be quite technologically impaired when it comes to some things. Sure, they offer decent broadband for Internet access, but based on a couple of experiences, they are decades behind when it comes to customer service, perhaps most egregiously in the area of bill payment. They are the only company we deal with that cannot adequately handle online bill paying. And when they goof up, it can take you months of wrangling to deal with their antiquated systems and service. Can you hear the word "Aaargh!" playing in the background?

We used online bill pay to pay their bill in at the beginning of January 2007. A few weeks later we received a disconnect notice for failure to pay. They said they had no record of receiving payment. But our excellent bank, Horicon Bank, provided records showing that the funds had been sent to Time Warner and received early in January. My wife has gotten several different stories and several different run-arounds in dealing with customer service at Time Warner during the following three months. Finally, after jumping through their hoops, they told us that all the things we had done to meet their demands of proof of payment -- including having a letter and explanation from the bank sent to them -- did not count after all, and that the only thing they would accept would be for us to physically bring in a bank statement physically to their office to show yet another employee the evidence. As usual, I'm sure we're the only customer in this part of the solar system who has had a problem with this company, so don't worry. I'm sure your experience will be better!