Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:02 and sunset 7:44 for 13h 41m 23s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 2008, Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
How Did This Animal Survive Extinction in Dubai?:
See Ingenuity’s Flight Map: 72 Helicopter Flights on Mars:
Good morning.
This Leap Day in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 43. Sunrise is 6:29 and sunset 5:44 for 11h 15m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1796, the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.
People have a right to defend themselves against dangerous animals, including endangered species, but defending against dangerous endangered animals does not include bating them with Kellogg’s snacks. Henry Redman reports Former DNR warden under investigation for wolf killing posted online about baiting in his yard:
A former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) warden who served on the agency’s committee to create a new wolf management plan for the state is under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for killing a wolf in his yard in December. He has claimed self-defense, but he posted on Facebook in November that he was baiting the animals with doughnuts and rice crispy cereal.
The warden, Patrick Quaintance, also sits on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress where he holds positions on the body’s fur harvest and bear committees. The conservation congress serves as an important pathway between residents in Wisconsin and environmental policy makers. In the past, conservation groups have complained that the body is controlled by pro-hunting interests.
….
The investigation into Quaintance was first reported by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Ashland Daily Press. The Examiner has confirmed the investigation with the DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
A month before killing the wolf, in November, Quaintance posted a photo of a wolf from a trail camera on his property to his Facebook page. In the comments, he is asked what he’s baiting them with.
He first responds with an emoji of a doughnut before adding that he used “rice crispy.” Another commenter responds with “snap crackle POP.”
Because wolves are currently listed by the federal government as endangered in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest, a wolf can only be killed in self-defense. The hunting and trapping of wolves, including the use of bait, are currently illegal in Wisconsin.
Quaintance did not respond to a request for comment.
Quaintance’s career places a special burden on him: a warden, or former warden who respects the legacy of his service, cannot uphold the law by breaking it. As a smaller matter, it should be obvious that wolf-hunting with rice crispies is simply a weakling’s method. No bragging rights here, old boy.
Smoke spews from Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano:
Embed from Getty Images Kyle Melnick reports In Kenya, the king of the jungle faces a new challenge — ants (‘Researchers said big-headed ants started an “ecological chain reaction” in a Kenya conservancy, impacting lions and other animals’): Lions have long stood atop the food chain, but now a new enemy has forced the dominant…
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged from his burrow to forecast there will be an early spring. The spectacle that is Groundhog Day at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania took place as usual. The prognosticator of prognosticators emerged at dawn on Friday. Members of his inner circle revealed he had not seen his shadow, which is rare,…
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will see flurries in the morning then cloudy skies with a high of 34. Sunrise is 7:25 and sunset 4:36 for 9h 11m 21s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 27.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in his State of the Union address.
The largest rodent in the world is a Capybara—and they are VERY cute. Native to South America, these semi-aquatic gentle giants are known for their peaceful, sociable personalities. But there’s something special about the Capybaras in Japan’s Izu Shaboten Zoo – here they live a pampered life, drawing crowds of people to see them.
Spending winter days relaxing in their personal onsen (hot bath), eating fruit they relish their time in the warm waters—an activity that has become a tradition in about 20 zoos across Japan since its accidental discovery in 1982. The Izu Shaboten Zoo, where we find ourselves in today’s Great Big Story, is particularly famous for this practice – sit back, relax and get cosy with these cute Capybaras.
Stunning auroras seen during Hurtigruten Coastal Express astronomy voyage:
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will see morning showers with a high of 49. Sunrise is 7:14 and sunset 4:20 for 9h 06m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 12.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1775, British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British government rule in Virginia.
GoPro: Top 10 Animal Encounters:
Stranded goats rescued from ledge after nearly two weeks:
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 26. Sunrise is 7:02 and sunset 4:23 for 9h 21m 17s of daytime. The moon is full with 100% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 6 PM and the full board at 7 PM. Earlier, Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 4:30 PM.
On this day in 1945, CARE (then the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is founded to send CARE Packages of food relief to Europe after World War II.
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
John Davis reports Car-deer accidents in Wisconsin in 2023 are expected to be similar to recent years (‘In the last 15 years, the chances of hitting a deer have increased’):
Wisconsin drivers are on pace to hit as many deer this year as they have in each of the past three years.
Car-deer accidents in the state have been declining recently according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. But according to data from an insurance company, there’s still a greater chance of hitting a deer now in Wisconsin than there was 15 years ago.
“Recently, it’s been holding pretty steady,” said David Pabst, director of the Bureau of Transportation Safety for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. “We’re still doing over 16,000 crashes over the last three years, and we’re on that same track right now for 2023.”
Pabst said there have been about 11,000 car-deer accidents as of mid-October of this year. Between 25 and 33 percent of all the state’s car-deer accidents happen in October and November each year. This is the mating season for deer, also known as the rut, and deer are on the move. Most deer accidents this time of year happen in the dark, especially around dawn and dusk.
….
“We’ve always thought of deer hunting as a northern thing and that was certainly the case in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s,” said DNR deer program specialist Jeff Pritzl. “There’s still deer up north, but at the turn of the century, the deer population in the southern half of Wisconsin blossomed and continues to.”
This libertarian blogger uses a Mac, not a PC, but millions of Americans use their PCs for work and gaming. Many gamers enjoy snacks when battling monsters or fighting enemy armies while communicating with other players via headset. Where there’s a will, there’s a way: Steve Mollman reports Doritos is offering gamers AI-powered software that cancels out annoying crunching sounds. Mollam reports:
Consider eating Doritos while playing video games. For many, gaming and the popular PepsiCo snack go hand-in-hand, but there’s a problem for players communicating via headset mics: crunching sounds. Many complain the noises distract them and hurt their performance.
AI has come the rescue in the form of Doritos Silent, described in a PepsiCo promotional video as “the world’s first AI-augmented snack powered by crunch cancellation.” The idea is that players can munch away without fear of disturbing other players. In addition to the snack there is software available for free download (it only works with Windows PCs for now).
Developing the product took six months and involved artificial intelligence and machine learning analyzing more than 5,000 crunch sounds, according to the snacks-and-beverage giant.
….
Of course, many observers might dismiss Doritos Silent as a trivial development, or a mere marketing ploy. A PC Gamer review called it “profoundly stupid,” while admitting it worked well enough with Doritos, if not always with competing snacks.
Either way, Doritos Silent speaks to how drawn marketers are to the video game industry (including Heineken, which recently offered a gaming PC that doubles as a fridge). Globally this year, that industry is expected to generate $188 billion in revenue, up 2.6% from 2022, according to a report from Newzoo, an Amsterdam-based industry tracker.
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:53 and sunset 4:27 for 9h 33m 38s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 51.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.On this day in 1945, Nuremberg trials begin against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
Wisconsin Life | Amazing Grace:
US Soybean Farmers Enjoy Export Windfall:
