Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of eighteen.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 01m 55s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 58.0% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Rec Board meets at 5:30 PM.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Bruce Vielmetti and Molly Beck report ‘Effort to stop removal of 234K voter registrations heads to federal court, while attorney general tries to stall purge in state court:

An effort to stop the state from removing the voter registrations of 234,000 Wisconsin voters who may have moved heads to federal court as the Democratic attorney general seeks to stall the purge in state court.

Attorney General Josh Kaul on behalf of the state’s Elections Commission on Tuesday filed notice that it would appeal and is seeking to stay an Ozaukee County judge’s order that it immediately remove more than 200,000 names from the roll of registered voters in Wisconsin.

As Kaul filed his notice, the liberal-leaning League of Women Voters of Wisconsin sued in federal court to try to halt the purge of voter names.

….

It is possible the Court of Appeals, noting the statewide impact and time pressure of the case, could refer the state case directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a 5-2 majority.

The state filed its appeal in District IV, located in Madison.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin had sought to intervene in Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty’s lawsuit against the Elections Commission, but Malloy denied its petition.

Elaine Kamarck writes Why Trump’s tax returns are so important:

In 2014, Eric Trump told the golf writer James Dodson “Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” He has subsequently denied the statement but there are other suspicious connections. For instance, a large number of apartments in Trump Tower in New York and other locations are owned by Russian nationals or by companies thought to be fronts for Russian criminal organizations. The Yale historian Timothy Snyder describes the following: “In Trump World Tower, constructed between 1999 and 2001 on the east side of Manhattan near the United Nations, a third of the luxury units were bought by people or entities from the former Soviet Union.”[1]

The many layers of smoke around Trump and Russia are perhaps best summarized by the following real estate transaction. In 2004, when he was going through bankruptcy, Trump bought a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, for $41 million. In 2008 Trump sold the mansion to a Russian billionaire named Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million. Rybolovlev never lived in the mansion, and held onto it for more than a decade, paying the taxes and upkeep on it.

….

If Donald Trump’s tax returns and other financial statements reveal that he is not a brilliant businessman but rather a wholly-owned subsidiary of Russians, his presidency will collapse one way or another. Trump’s financial story will provide a motive for what has been an irrational presidency, prone to destructive and “self-impeaching” behavior. It could be the final shoe to drop and it now sits at the Supreme Court.

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of thirty.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 02m 10s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 68.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Alcohol Licensing Board meets at 6:10 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1903, the Wright Brothers make the first powered, controlled airplane flight.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Katie Shepherd reports ‘Vile and disturbing’: Army unit marks Battle of the Bulge with pic of Nazi war criminal who massacred Americans:

On the 75th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s final major push in World War II, a U.S. Army unit shared a tribute to the “greatest battle in American history” — a detailed portrait of a worried military commander fretting over the plan that would ultimately secure an Allied victory over the Nazis.

“The fate of his beloved nation rested on his ability to lead his men,” the XVIII Airborne Corps wrote on a Monday Facebook post featuring the striking photo.

But the description wasn’t detailing the heroics of an American general poised to destroy fascist German forces. Instead, it seemingly celebrated the strategic mindset of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper, an infamous German commander who ordered the massacre of 84 U.S. prisoners of war during the Battle of the Bulge.

The Army unit posted a glamorous, colorized photo of Peiper alongside an intimate narrative depicting the Nazi writing in his diary. The photo was also shared on the Facebook pages for the Defense Department and the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

The backlash was swift. Critics in the Facebook comments accused the post of “glorifying a Nazi war criminal,” called it a “’fanboy’ flavored piece,” and described the photo as “vile and disturbing.”

Shortly after a public affairs officer for the Army criticized the posts on Twitter, the photos disappeared. The Defense Department and 10th Mountain Division deleted their posts, and the XVIII Airborne Corps removed the photo of Peiper from its lengthy narrative.

Officials for the Army and Pentagon have yet to explain why the photo was chosen, or how it was vetted for publication. But the origins of the image raise more questions about the thinking behind the controversial Facebook post.

In the lower right-hand corner of the photo, a historic image rendered modern through digital editing, a watermark reads, “Colored by Tobias Kurtz.” The same watermark is visible on an identical image uploaded to the Deviant Art gallery of a user who goes by “kapo-neu” and identifies himself on his “about” page as Tobias Kurtz. The connection was noted by journalist Corey Pein, who tweeted a link to the image posted by Kurtz on Sept. 21, 2014. Kurtz did not immediately return a request for comment.

Kurtz’s Deviant Art and Flickr accounts say he is a Slovakia-based gamer who likes photography and graphic design. He has also shared an image of Hitler laughing as a group of German soldiers prepare to execute a kneeling man and ‘favorited’ an illustration Hitler punching an American soldier while Nazis cheer.

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-one.  Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 02m 27s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 79.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Fire Department meets at 6 PM, and Whitewater’s School Board meets in closed session at 6 PM, with an open session scheduled to begin at 7 PM.

On this day in 1944, the Battle of the Bulge begins with a German counteroffensive on the western front. 

Jennifer Rubin writes Don’t worry, Sen. Graham. No one thought you’d be fair:

The Post reports:

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Saturday that he’s made up his mind that President Trump should be acquitted, dismissed the notion that he has to be a “fair juror” and said he doesn’t see the need for a formal trial in the Senate.

He need not have worried. Amidst his boot-licking and willful ignorance of a “quid pro quo,” Graham left little doubt that he had the slightest intention of doing his job as a juror.

At the trial, Democrats should certainly appeal to the presiding judge, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., to disqualify Graham. After all, it is impossible that he could take an oath as required under the Constitution. “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things appertaining to the trial of ____, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God,” is the oath Graham and others must take. He has declared not only his partiality but his determination to ignore all evidence.

Margaret Sullivan writes Chris Wallace wants journalists to push for the truth. But Fox News often traffics in propaganda:

Wallace’s Sunday morning interview show is often riveting, creating newsworthy moments — whether he is grilling former FBI director James B. Comey as he did this week or holding White House adviser Stephen Miller’s feet to the fire as he did in late September.

“According to POTUS, Chris Wallace is a partisan hack. In reality, he’s consistently the gold standard for American political interviewers,” Jonathan Swan of Axios noted on Twitter shortly after the Comey interview aired.

Tough, well-prepared and knowledgeable, Wallace is willing to interrupt, ask follow-up questions and assert facts when his subjects are insistently spewing talking points. That President Trump bashes him as “nasty and obnoxious” or calls his interviews “dumb and unfair” doesn’t detract from that reality.

Earlier on Sunday, during the two-hour “Fox & Friends” show, this typical chyron led the cheers: “Trump’s Week of Winning Despite Impeachment.” And the hosts’ softer-than-Charmin interview with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) mocked Democrats for talking about “prayerfulness” as next week’s impeachment vote approaches.

….

Wallace is a straight-shooter and a pro.

We need lots more of what he offers.

But his contributions to truth-telling and holding public officials accountable — important as they are — don’t make up for what goes on at Fox News too much of the time.

(Wallace is a faint voice against Fox’s screaming opinion side.)

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of twenty-five.  Sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 02m 51s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 86.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1846, voters reject the first draft of a constitution for Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full:

Kyle Farris reports Accuser says ex-UW-La Crosse professor preyed on many women, and got away with it for years:

Caycee Bean says two dozen women have come forward with stories about former UW-La Crosse art professor Joel Elgin sexually harassing, assaulting or preying on them during his two decades with the university.

Bean, the former student who publicly accused Elgin of sexual misconduct this fall, said she has been overwhelmed by the number of messages she has received from women who say they were also victimized by the once-popular professor.

While most of the stories were shared by students, Bean said, some were offered by faculty. One involves a woman who had been silent for 17 years.

“He’s been doing this for a very long time and has been getting away with it for a very long time,” Bean said at a press conference with her attorneys Thursday. “I’m here today to let victims know we no longer need to feel intimidated. I want them to know it’s OK to come forward. We’re here for you. The community is here for you.”

Bean also responded to a recent statement from Elgin’s attorney, Cheryl Gill, who called the other accusers Bean’s “minions” and said UW-La Crosse faculty should be “afraid, very afraid” of bogus misconduct claims from students.

….

“I laughed when I first read that — it’s so ridiculous,” Bean said of the “minion” comment. “These girls aren’t my minions. I do not know these women. These are complete strangers who heard … about this guy finally being caught and have a story to share.

“Joel and his attorney’s words were meant to hurt and intimidate me and many others who have come forward. This is a textbook case of why so many victims don’t come forward.”

John Diedrich and Kevin Crowe report A Milwaukee hospital is turning away ambulances, despite agreeing not to except in emergencies:

By getting hospitals to reform their operations and stop turning away ambulances, Milwaukee County put itself at the forefront of a push to ensure patients get the best, fastest care.

But experts warn voluntary agreements like the one in Milwaukee and other cities can be fragile and easily discarded, in part because there is little regulatory oversight to ensure hospitals follow them.

The approach also leads to a peculiar patchwork, where hospitals in neighboring counties continue to turn away ambulances, even though other facilities within the same health care system have stopped doing so.

In fact, new figures show diversions by some hospitals in the Milwaukee area — particularly those belonging to Ascension Wisconsin — have crept up this year, despite the ban local hospitals agreed to three years ago.

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty.  Sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 03m 17s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 93.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1896, Frederick Jackson Turner delivers his “Significance of the Frontier in American History” address at the forty-first annual meeting of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full:

Bruce Vielmetti and Patrick Marley report Judge orders state to purge more than 200,000 Wisconsin voters from the rolls:

Lawyers for the League and for the Wisconsin Elections Commission indicated they will appeal and asked Malloy to stay his ruling pending those appeals, but he declined.

At issue is a letter the state Elections Commission sent in October to about 234,000 voters who it believes may have moved. The letter asked the voters to update their voter registrations if they had moved or alert election officials if they were still at their same address.

The commission planned to remove the letter’s recipients from the voter rolls in 2021 if it hadn’t heard from them. But Malloy’s decision would kick them off the rolls much sooner, and well before the 2020 presidential election.

Three voters sued the commission last month with the help of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. They argued election officials were required to remove voters from the rolls 30 days after sending the letters if they hadn’t heard from them.

They asked Malloy to issue an injunction that would require election officials to purge their rolls. Kaul, commissioners and others say that would lead to some people getting knocked off the rolls who shouldn’t be.

But Malloy went further than issuing an injunction. In granting a writ of mandamus — essentially a court order that a government official or agency do its job — he said he was convinced the commission had a clear, positive, plain legal duty to purge the voter rolls within 30 days.

Nick Miroff reports Pentagon inspector general to review $400 million border wall contract given to firm Trump favored:

The Defense Department’s inspector general’s office will audit a $400 million border wall contract that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded to a North Dakota construction company run by a GOP donor whom President Trump repeatedly urged military officials to hire.

Glenn A. Fine, the top official at the Pentagon office, authorized a review of the contract in response to a Dec. 4 letter from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, asking inspectors to take a closer look. Fine informed Thompson of the audit in a letter Thursday.

[Read the Defense Department’s inspector general’s letter]

“You raised concerns about the possibility of inappropriate influence on USACE’s contracting decision, and questioned whether the bid submitted by Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. met solicitation standards,” Fine wrote in his letter to Thompson. “You also questioned whether USACE made the award in accordance with federal procurement law and regulations.

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