FREE WHITEWATER

City, Open Government, Police, School District

Status of a School Resource Officer for Whitewater’s Schools

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 5:27 and sunset is 8:16, for 14 hours, 49 minutes of daytime. The moon is in its third quarter with 50.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Common Council meets at 6 PM. (Please note the new start time.)

On this day in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

Sometimes, despite one’s hopes, a decision goes from bad to worse. Whitewater finds herself in an unnecessary conflict over the Whitewater Unified School District’s decision to pursue an out-of-community school resource officer. Instead of working for a resolution within the community, the school district continues along an impractical course.

This post updates the controversy in three parts: (1) events previously, (2) events subsequent to FREE WHITEWATER‘s last post on the subject from 5.6.25, and (3) where matters stand presently.

Previously: In the spring, a dispute arose from the Whitewater Unified School District about the long-standing arrangement with the Whitewater Police Department for a school resource officer. At the time, one sensible option was a contract extension of the existing agreement until various concerns could be addressed. See Discussion of Whitewater’s School Resource Officer Merits a 120-Day Contract Extension, FREE WHITEWATER, 4.30.25.

Events moved quickly, and the City of Whitewater then proposed an amended contract. See More on a Whitewater School Resource Officer, FREE WHITEWATER, 5.1.25.

Either an extension or an amended contract were good options for Whitewater.

On 5.6.25, in the early afternoon, a joint press release from the Whitewater School Board president and the Whitewater Common Council president offered hope that a resolution would be forthcoming. See Update on School Resource Officer Discussions Between the Whitewater School District and the City of Whitewater, FREE WHITEWATER, 5.6.25.

Subsequently (after my 5.6 post): The Whitewater Common Council met on the evening of 5.6, and Whitewater’s police chief presented on his perspective for a school resource officer. See Whitewater Common Council Video, 5.6.25, YouTube @ 51.21.

City officials and school board members then met on 5.16, only for city officials to report that the meeting revealed that (1) the school board did not even discuss the City of Whitewater’s proposed contract extension, (2) the school board did not see a letter from Whitewater Police Chief Meyer about the SRO position, (3) the district rushed ahead with a request-for-proposal for an SRO without informing city officials, and (4) city representatives learned at that 5.16.25 meeting that an unnamed private entity had already received the request-for-proposal and intended to respond, even before the RFP was published with an issue date of 5.19.25.

The 5.16 meeting between district and city officials also revealed that the school board discussed purported grievances concerning the program at a 4.28.25 closed session of the board, but apparently only related the full list of concerns at the 5.16.25 meeting. If the grievances were genuinely serious, then the district administration should have conveyed all of them sooner. See Whitewater Common Council Packet, Section on School Resource Officer, 5.20.25.

Presently:

Of fundamentals: This is not an issue merely of left, center, or right. It’s a transcending issue of open government and practical public safety.

Of responsibility: The City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District are not equally responsible for this impasse. It is the WUSD that has walked away from a long-standing partnership. These are not simply two quarreling parties; this is not simply a battle of press releases.

Of public issues, public employees, at public expense: There are no private parties here (unless the WUSD presumes to hire a security guard to protect Whitewater’s school children). We are all members of the same community (unless the WUSD presumes that an outside agency would serve better than our own local police force).

This is not a matter for a mere 15 of 15,000 residents in the city; it is not a matter for a mere 22 of 22,000 residents across the entire district. It’s a matter for all of us.

In any event, the students, parents, and residents of this district are owed an open accounting of the conduct of their public schools. If this is too hard for some, then they should return to (or remain in) private life.

Of wandering: This district is now in the position of a group of hikers, where one leads the others into becoming lost in the woods. Rather than find their way back with a map and compass, or staying put until help arrives, they wander only farther off the path, and farther from home.

Of solutions: The City of Whitewater has a sound, defensible position. The most important question in any dispute is whether one is sound in one’s views. If so, then the primary justification for defending a position has been met. While everyone should hope for a resolution, it’s sensible for the city to explore calmly and thoroughly all its options, including legal recourse.

The Whitewater Unified School District, through its board, should abandon an outside request-for-proposal, and negotiate with the city and her police force for a new contract before the current contract’s expiration on 6.30.25. Alternatively, the district’s board should approve an extension of the existing contract until a new district administration can consider matters.

The Whitewater School Board would do well by this community to work with Whitewater’s police force, come to a resolution, and thereafter concentrate on the important work of students’ education. Our district should be looking forward to students’ and teachers’ work under a new superintendent. That important work will happen here, in this community. It serves no positive purpose for students or families to be distracted and diverted from that educational mission. A departing district employee should not be their focus.

Our board’s obligations are to Whitewater’s students, Whitewater’s parents, and Whitewater’s residents. We, here, are their neighbors, friends, and constituents.

As before, indeed, more than ever: discussions between the parties should strive to achieve an agreement between Whitewater’s schools and the city’s police department as promptly as possible.

Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 5.19.25: Wisconsin’s State Parks 125 Years On

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy and windy with a high of 57. Sunrise is 5:28 and sunset is 8:15, for 14 hours, 47 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 60.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1780,  New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada:

In Connecticut, a member of the Governor’s Council (renamed the Connecticut State Senate in 1818), Abraham Davenport, became most famous for his response to his colleagues’ fears that it was the Day of Judgment:

“I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.”

Wisconsin’s park system is now 125 years old:

Today, Wisconsin’s 50 state parks — not including 15 state forests and 44 state trails — comprise nearly 156,000 acres and are enjoyed annually by about 20 million campers, hikers, anglers and others.
Not one Wisconsin State Park is like any of the others. And like the variety of landscape and wildlife found in each, the parks differ in size, popularity, staffing and ability to maintain their amenities and natural resources.

….

Smaller parks have become particularly reliant on the volunteer fundraising and sweat equity provided by park-specific friends groups.

Members of these groups staff nature centers, remove invasives, restore equipment, run programs and organize fundraising efforts.

“Most of the parks can’t afford to have a full-time naturalist, so they depend heavily on friends members to give guided nature hikes,” Buchholz said. “We really couldn’t run the state parks without them.”

Belmont Mound State Park near Platteville is operated in cooperation with a local Lions Club, said Michael Degenhardt, state property supervisor for the park — as well as Yellowstone Lake State Park and Cadiz Springs State Recreation Area.

“A new friends group started up (at Belmont Mound) a few years ago, too, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm,” he said. “They’re finishing up a playground project.”

See Joel Patenaude, Much loved and underfunded, Wisconsin State Parks celebrates 125 years (‘Revenue sharing and volunteers manage to keep the 50 state parks open’), Wisconsin Public Radio, May 19, 2025.

The World’s Most Famous Language Police:

Bad Ideas, Daily Bread, Economics, Economy, Tariffs, Taxes/Taxation

Daily Bread for 5.18.25: Let Them Eat Tariffs

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 61. Sunrise is 5:28 and sunset is 8:14, for 14 hours, 45 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 70 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1863, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant begin the Siege of Vicksburg during the Vicksburg campaign in order to take full control of the Mississippi River.

We have heard from this federal administration, falsely, that foreign countries pay the cost of Trump’s tariffs. By Trump’s account, April 2nd was supposed to be a ‘Liberation Day’ (“one of the most important days in American history”).

On May 17th, only forty-five days later, Trump warns Walmart: Don’t raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes:

As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses. Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. Walmart warned on Thursday that everything from bananas to children’s car seats could increase in price.

Trump, in his Truth Social post, lashed out at the retailer, which employs 1.6 million people in the United States. He said the company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should sacrifice its profits for the sake of his economic agenda that he says will eventually lead to more domestic jobs in manufacturing.

….

In April, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was among the retail executives who met with Trump at the White House to discuss tariffs. But the Trump administration went forward despite warnings and has attacked other companies such as Amazon and Apple that are struggling with the disruptions to their supply chains.

Walmart chief financial officer John David Rainey said he thinks $350 car seats made in China will soon cost an additional $100, a 29% price increase.

“We’re wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday after the company reported strong first-quarter sales.

See Josh Boak, Trump warns Walmart: Don’t raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes, Associated Press, May 17, 2025.

If foreign countries truly paid the cost of tariffs, there wouldn’t be costs Americans needed to eat.

Turns out “one of the most important days in American history” was a blunder of historic magnitude.

Spider monkey rescued after bizarre drug bust:

A spider monkey named Violeta has a temporary home at the Oakland Zoo after authorities found her while executing a drug-related search warrant.

Daily Bread, Drink, Faraway Places

Daily Bread for 5.17.25: The World’s Most Remote Brewery

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 61. Sunrise is 5:29 and sunset is 8:13, for 14 hours, 44 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 79.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1673, Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.

The World’s Most Remote Brewery:

In Arctic Svalbard, Norway — home to polar bears, reindeer & extreme snow — a brewery makes beer with 2,000-year-old glacier water. Welcome to Svalbard, one of the world’s northernmost inhabited places, where brewing beer was illegal for nearly a century. That all changed in 2015 when local pioneer Robert Johansson led the charge to change the law, and Svalbard Brewery was born. Today, this trailblazing Arctic brewery makes high-quality beer in one of the planet’s most remote and extreme environments, using 2,000-year-old glacier water – one of the purest sources on Earth.

Cat notices the camera:

Business, Daily Bread, Federal Government, Government Spending, Tariffs, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 5.16.25: Solar Faces a Federal Budget Hit

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 5:30 and sunset is 8:12, for 14 hours, 42 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 86.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1527, the Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.

On 5.5.25, FREE WHITEWATER published a post on the tariff hit that solar projects will take. See Solar Takes a Tariff Hit. There’s another economic blow that solar projects, generally, may face: elimination of federal subsidies for solar projects.

(While there is a proposed Whitewater Solar Project, it’s only one of about twenty in the state. I’ve no prediction about how any single project will fare economically, either from tariffs or federal subsidy cuts. Some projects will have more dependable economics than others; some, however, are likely to succumb to changes in fiscal policy.)

Eric Gunn reports on the elimination of solar subsidies in a proposed congressional budget:

To help pay for the extension of tax cuts enacted in the first Trump administration, the GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee is proposing to repeal clean energy tax credits, Politico reported this week. The tax credits were among the measures enacted in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

….

In addition to the tax credits that the U.S. House proposal would repeal, President Donald Trump in his second term has frozen federal clean energy grants that were part of the 2022 legislation. Those include grants to establish a network of electric vehicle charging stations — prompting a lawsuit by 15 states, including Wisconsin.

See Eric Gunn, Advocates say U.S. House tax cut proposal would kill clean energy investments, jobs, Wisconsin Examiner, May 16, 2025.

Although the Wisconsin Examiner story is written from the perspective of proponents of solar projects, I present it here for another reason: a Wisconsin trend that seemed certain a few years ago is now in doubt.

See also Joe Schulz, Trump tariffs expected to increase costs, limit options for Wisconsin solar (‘Combination of tariffs on China, steel and southeast Asia could make some projects ‘economically unfeasible’ ‘), Wisconsin Public Radio, May 5, 2025.

Tornadoes and severe weather in Wisconsin, parts of the Midwest:

Cats, Science/Nature

Friday Catblogging: The Genetics of Orange-Colored Cats

by  • 

Two new studies identify the genetics behind orange house cats:

Now two papers, published concurrently on Thursday in Current Biology,reveal a remarkably unique genetic pathway that has never been seen in other felines—or any other mammals. With their colleagues, two separate groups at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan independently arrived at the same surprising conclusion: a tiny deletion in a cat’s X chromosome increased the activity of a gene called Arhgap36, which scientists had never previously associated with pigmentation. In this case, it appeared to be coaxing the cat’s melanin-producing cells to shift orange.

These findings close decades’ worth of investigations surrounding house cats with a ginger hue—a coat coloration that had “been recognized for more than a century [as] kind of an exception to the genetic rules that explain coloration in most mammals,” says Christopher Kaelin, a geneticist and lead author of the Stanford study.

That’s partly because what seemed to be causing orange fur in cats wasn’t so much an “orange gene” as it was an “orange mutation” in an unknown gene, Kaelin says. 

….

Orange and tortoiseshell cats’ tendency toward amusing, friendly and sometimes mischievous behavior is a running joke among cat owners, but there’s no scientific evidence linking coat colors and behavioral differences, Barsh says. Researchers aren’t yet sure if the mutation could play a role in this—it’s a question they’d like to ask next, however. “Because Arhgap36 is expressed not only in pigment cells but also in the brain and hormonal glands, an interesting possibility is that its altered expression causes changes in neuronal activity and even behavior,” Sasaki suggests.

See Gayoung Lee, This Strange Mutation Explains the Mystifying Color of Orange Cats (‘Your orange cat may host a never-before-seen genetic pathway for color pigmentation, according to new studies’), Scientific American, May 15, 2025.

City, Film

Film: Wednesday, May 21st, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, I’m Still Here

by  •  •  Comments

Wednesday, May 21st at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of I’m Still Here @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:

Drama/History

Rated PG-13

2 hours, 17 minutes (2024)

Languages: Portuguese, French; shown with English subtitles

In 1971, A military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva Family, Rubens, Eunice and their five children, live in a beach house in Rio. One day, Rubens, a congressman and outspoken critic of Brazil’s newly instituted dictatorship, is taken in for questioning… and does not return. Eunice is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family. A devastating, true story.

Oscar Winner for Best International Film.

One can find more information about I’m Still Here  at the Internet Movie Database.





Daily Bread, Economics, Economy, Tariffs

Daily Bread for 5.15.25: Retail Sales Stall

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will see afternoon thunderstorms with a high of 89. Sunrise is 5:31 and sunset is 8:11, for 14 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1911, in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.

Uncertainty is bad for business:

After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.

Retail sales rose a scant 0.1% in April, the government said Thursday, matching the Wall Street forecast.

….

After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.

….

U.S. tariffs are still higher than they’ve been in decades and more costly import prices could turn off buyers.

See Jeff Bartash, Retail sales peter out in April as tariffs kicked in (‘Trade wars force consumers to weigh how much to buy — and when’), MarketWatch, May 15, 2025.

See also Melissa Repko, Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month, CNBC, May 15, 2025:

In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said tariffs are “still too high” – even with the recently announced agreement to lower duties on imports from China to 30% for 90 days. 

“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” he said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that [the] consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”

Iggy enjoys watermelon:

Birds, Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 5.14.25: Winner of Wisconsin’s 2025 Fat Bird Contest

by  • 

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:32 and sunset is 8:10, for 14 hours, 37 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1973,  NASA launches Skylab, the United States’ first space station.

On 4.23.25, FREE WHITEWATER recommended that readers Mark Your Calendars for Fat Bird Week (Yes, Wisconsin Has a Fat Bird Week).

We now have a winner:

The video below chronicles the fierce completion:

The contest, and good work throughout the year, comes from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, a 501(c)3 nonprofit formed in 1986.

Views of Mars and its moons captured by the Hera spacecraft during flyby:

The European Space Agency’s Hera mission flew by Mars in March 2025. See views captured with its Asteroid Framing Cameras.

Congress, Daily Bread, Elections, Gerrymandering, Law, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 5.13.25: Probable Consequences of Redrawn Wisconsin Congressional Maps

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:33 and sunset is 8:09, for 14 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Public Works Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council at 6 PM.

On this day in 1985,  police bomb MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia, killing six adults and five children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.

Two petitions before the Wisconsin Supreme Court now challenge Wisconsin’s congressional maps. See Two Lawsuits Against Wisconsin’s Congressional District Maps. If one of those lawsuits should prevail, what would be the likely result for district boundaries? Roll Call explains:

Democrats have long criticized the Wisconsin congressional map as heavily favoring Republicans in a closely divided state. The GOP holds six of the state’s eight House seats. And of those six Republican-held seats, just two are considered competitive by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales: the 1st District represented by Rep. Bryan Steil and the 3rd District represented by Rep. Derrick Van Orden. 

Redistricting was an issue in this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race – a nominally nonpartisan contest that was won by the Democratic-backed Susan Crawford and helped preserve the court’s 4-3 liberal majority. Some Republicans had speculated that Crawford’s election would lead to the state’s congressional map being redrawn to Democrats’ benefit ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

Van Orden told CNN earlier this year that he and Steil would “both lose” under new congressional lines if Crawford won. 

See Mary Ellen McIntire, Challenge to Wisconsin map adds latest wrinkle to 2026 House fight, Roll Call, May 12, 2025.

Well, Van Orden’s right: redistricting would make these two seats more competitive, and both Van Orden and Steil would likely lose in more competitive districts. Both federal representatives have positioned themselves as committed conservative populists. They’re ill-suited to districts that would be even slightly more centrist.

Most likely outcome: redistricting Wisconsin’s congressional boundaries would take Wisconsin from a 6-2 Republican advantage to a 4-4 split between the major parties.

Contact requires consent. ‘Justice was done’, says victim after Depardieu guilty verdict:

Campaign Ads, Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 5.12.25: $100M Wisconsin Court Elections

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:35 and sunset is 8:08, for 14 hours, 33 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board moves into a closed-session meeting shortly after 5 PM. Whitewater’s Plan and Architectural Review Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

Wisconsin’s elections to her high court have come to cost about nine figures in total. Jay Heck asks Will $100M Supreme Court elections be the new normal in Wisconsin? and Tim Connor writes Record $100M spent on Wisconsin Supreme Court race raises concerns over judicial independence.

The last Wisconsin Supreme Court elections were expensive races (2024 @ $53 million and 2025 @ over $100 million).

There’s a reasonable prediction on spending: while there is enough money in America to make every Wisconsin Supreme Court race a $100 million dollar contest, there’s only the willingness to do so while Wisconsin remains a swing state and in the absence of more compelling swing-state priorities.

The 2024 contest was one of many spending priorities across the country; the 2025 contest stood by itself in April of an off year. In both cases, Wisconsin was a swing state, but in one case a swing state competing with the attraction of other swing-state races across the nation.

There’s also a difference between changing the balance of a court and spending money knowing the ideological margins won’t change even after a barrel of money. The 2026 race will not flip the court. (Rebecca Bradley, if she says in the race rather than receiving and accepting a U.S. Court of Appeals appointment, would be running in Wisconsin only to remain in the minority.)

Rush-hour traffic:

Adventure, Cats, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 5.11.25: A Spring Walk

by  • 

Good morning.

Mother’s Day in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 5:36 and sunset is 8:07, for 14 hours, 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1997,  Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of a rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format.

Canadian adventure cat Fitz takes a Spring walk:

The ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ of the Carina Nebula Complex – 3D tour of Webb imagery:

Take a 3D tour of James Webb Space Telescope’s view of the ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ of the Gum 31 nebula (part of the Carina Nebula Complex).