Steve Jagler, for BizTimes Media

Have you ever enjoyed a chapter of your life in which, as you turn the page, you know in your heart that you've just been living through what you will remember fondly as “the good old days?”

Every time the outlook has appeared gloomy for the prospects of an agreement for the public financing of a new arena in downtown Milwaukee, the various powers that be at the table have reassured me, “Relax. It will get done. It will get done, because it has to get done.”

The fun continues on Day 3 at Summerfest with the Summerfest Parade at 3 p.m.

For about two weeks every year, Milwaukee becomes the coolest place on the planet.

Economist Bruce Bartlett, a former adviser to both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, recently stirred up a political hornet's nest with his theory that Fox News has damaged the Republican Party by creating a bubble for conservatives to brainwash themselves.

When I hear the words “West Bend Cookware by Regal Ware,” the first image that comes to mind is my grandmother's old stainless steel oblong slow cooker that created many heavenly Sunday dinners over the years.

With so much at stake politically and financially, the deal that is being negotiated behind closed doors this week to generate $250 million for a new arena in downtown Milwaukee may be one of the most convoluted and complex public financing agreements in professional sports history.

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I worked at another media company that strongly believed that annual employee performance reviews were the best way to evaluate and get the most out of its employees.

Several jaws dropped and eyebrows rose in January when BizTimes predicted a robust year of national economic growth for 2015.