The rebuild of the College Avenue bridge in Appleton has been completed and the new, wider bridge will open officially on Friday at 5 pm. There is a big program of events beginning at 2 pm to celebrate the opening. Fox 11 News gives the agenda:

College Avenue Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
AGENDA
(Appleton Mayor Timothy Hanna - Master of Ceremonies)
2 p.m. - American Legion Post No. 38 Color Guard leads the West High Band marching from the west end of the bridge to the center of the bridge (playing West High School song)

* VFW Color Guard leads the East High Band marching from the east end of the bridge to the center of the bridge (playing East High School song)
* Drum cadence
* Presentation of colors
* “National Anthem” performed by both bands
* “Pledge of Allegiance” given by members of the Edison and Richmond Elementary School safety patrols

2:15 p.m. - Speakers and special guests introduced by Mayor Hanna

* Alderperson Curt Konetzke (Council President and Chairman of the Bridge Design Committee)
* Kevin Kaufman (citizen representative from Bridge Design Committee)
* U.S. Congressman Steve Kagen
* Governor Jim Doyle (invited)

2:30 p.m. - Ribbon cutting (Mayor Hanna, Governor Doyle, Congressman Kagen, speakers and members of the safety patrols)
2:40 p.m. - Bands play “God Bless America”
2:50 p.m. - Cake and visiting
(Following the ceremony, the bridge will remain closed to motorized traffic for a short while to allow citizens to tour the bridge.)
4:45 p.m. - Drawing for first ride across the bridge (police car driven by Police Chief David Walsh)
5 p.m. - Bridge opens to traffic

The bridge is tentatively scheduled to open at 5 p.m. Friday, but the project schedule is weather dependant. Rain during the week could delay the bridge opening to traffic for a few days. Friday’s ribbon cutting event will take place as planned.

A group of high-school students went to Wild Truffle Pizzeria last night for dinner. In making reservations for the group, they were told that there would be a minimum order of $15 per person for the food. When they got there and were seated, THEN they were told that the minimum order was $20. For a pizzeria! That pretty much forces people to order more than just a main course, and was a potentially painful surprise to people using cash who might not have had enough.

Wild Truffle Pizzeria is styling itself as a classy gourmet place, but forcing people to spend a lot isn't classy at all. When I went there, two of us had more than we could eat for about $15 a person, and I would have preferred just ordering one $15 pizza for two instead. Forcing people to buy $20 of food per person - more than most people could eat - is not just unkind, it's unhealthy and wasteful.

On the other hand, I can understand the concerns of management worried about a large number of customers who won't be purchasing liquor, a major source of income for restaurants. Perhaps they should simply not take reservations for high-school groups or groups greater than, say, 10 people.

If you're in a group, I recommend eating elsewhere.

On Oct. 7, 2009, the Nobel Prize committee announced that the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry would go to an alumnus of Appleton's Lawrence University, Dr. Thomas Steitz. I heard the news while on campus at Lawrence, right before I gave a lecture to an amazing group of students in Lawrence University's Science Hall, a building that Dr. Steitz helped dedicate in 2000: he was the keynote speaker at the ceremonies. (My lecture in Science Hall was on intellectual property and the broader topic of intellectual assets, going over basics that future business leaders and entrepreneurs should know. Not nearly as intense as the crystal structure of RNA in bacterial ribosomes, the topic behind Dr. Steitz's chemistry prize.)

Lawrence University is proud of this remarkable achievement. Wisconsin is also proud that an alumnus of a fine Wisconsin school who was born in Milwaukee is being recognized with this honor.