Good morning.

Wednesday will be sunny with a high of eighty-two, with west winds of 5 mph. Sunrise was 6:23 AM and sunset will be 7:24 PM. The moon is a waning crescent with only 1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1886, Geronimo surrenders:

On this day in 1886, Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered. General Nelson Miles accepted Geronimo’s surrender, making him the last Indian warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest….

Geronimo and a band of Apaches were sent to Florida and then Alabama, eventually ending up at the Comanche and Kiowa reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory. There, Geronimo became a successful farmer and converted to Christianity. He participated in President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade in 1905. The Apache chief dictated his autobiography, published in 1906 as Geronimo’s Story of His Life. He died at Fort Sill on February 17, 1909.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is entitled, Labor Unions:

Labor Unions
We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:
SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer:
Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit:
Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Wednesday, September 4
PBOSYBHCAHORLTOGLISETY

Good morning.

It’s a beautiful Tuesday for Whitewater: sunny, a high near seventy-five, and calm winds from the west at 5 mph in the morning.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1783, the Revolutionary War comes to a legal end:

The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France sign the Treaty of Paris on this day in 1783. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies, and the boundaries of the new republic were agreed upon: Florida north to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River….

The National Archives have a more online information about the Treaty in their 100 Milestone Documents series.

On this day in 1947, the federal government sells a Walworth County marijuana farm:

1947 – War Assets Office Sells Hemp Factory
On this date the federal War Assets Office sold a local government-owned hemp mill to Walworth Foundries. The mill, located on Highway 14 two miles north of Darien, consisted of 20 acres where marijuana was grown and seven buildings where the hemp was used to create rope and burlap, as part of the war effort. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Yes, Walworth County. No, the county didn’t fall apart, or the world end. In fact, one recalls that the Allies won the Second World War, preserving democratic civilization, while liberating millions from fascism and Japanese imperialism. Those twenty acres did their part for that effort.

Puzzability‘s series for the week is entitled, Labor Unions:

Labor Unions
We’re sure you can work this all out. For each day this Labor Day week, we started with the name of a TV character and his or her occupation. Each day’s clue shows the name and the occupation melded together in a string of letters, with each in order but intermingled with the other.

Example:
SAHNDEYRTAIYFLOFR

Answer:
Andy Taylor/sheriff

What to Submit:
Submit the character’s name and his or her occupation, in that order (as “Andy Taylor/sheriff” in the example), for your answer.

Here’s today’s puzzle:

Tuesday, September 3
AALTLYTMOCRBENALEY

Good morning.

A mild and partly sunny Labor Day awaits, with a high of seventy-two and northwest winds at 5 to 10 mph. Sunrise was 6:21 AM and sunset will be 7:27 PM.

On this day in 1945, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. The Associated Press reported the news:

Aboard The U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Sunday, Sept. 2–Japan surrendered formally and unconditionally to the Allies today in a twenty-minute ceremony which ended just as the sun burst through low-hanging clouds as a shining symbol to a ravaged world now done with war.
[A United Press dispatch said the leading Japanese delegate signed the articles at 9:03 A.M. Sunday, Tokyo time, and that General MacArthur signed them at 9:07 A.M.] Twelve signatures, requiring only a few minutes to inscribe on the articles of surrender, ended the bloody Pacific conflict.
On behalf of Emperor Hirohito, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Government and Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu for the Imperial General Staff.

On this day in 1862, Wisconsinites express unfounded worries over a suspected tribal attack:

1862 – Rumored Indian Attack Panics Citizens
On this evening, Manitowoc settlers were awakened to the cry of “Indians are coming.” Messengers on horseback arrived from the Rapids, Branch, Kellnersville, and other nearby communities, announcing that Indians were burning everything in their path, starting what was known as the “Indian Scare of 1862.” Fire and church bells gave warning to frightened residents. Over the next few days, people from the surrounding areas fled to Manitowoc and other city centers.

Ox carts were loaded with women and children carrying their most valuable belongings. Men arrived with guns, axes, and pitchforks, anything with which to defend themselves and their community. A company of recruits from the Wisconsin 26th Regiment formed themselves into two scouting units, both of which returned to report that there was no threat of an Indian attack. Even after the excitement had subsided, many frightened farm families could not be persuaded to return home. [Source: Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Genealogy]

Good morning.

A new month begins, with high of eighty-three and an even chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Sunrise was 6:20 AM, and sunset will be 7:29 PM. The moon is a waning crescent with 14% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Friday Poll’s now closed, but on the question of whether it’s a good idea to call 9-1-1 over a spider on one’s sofa, the results are in: 80.77% said the call was unreasonable, and 19.23% thought it was reasonable. (See, Poll: Calling 9-1-1 Over a Spider.)

There’s a story at Gizmodo of a radio ad about extraterrestrials discussing Earth’s conquest that scared some children and led to police and school inquiries to radio station.

The ad’s hardly a Mercury Radio Theatre quality production:

Here, by the way, is that far-better Mercury Theatre War of the Worlds program from October 30, 1938:

Good morning.

The month ends on an initially cloudy day that will later grow sunnier, with a high of eighty, and northeast winds of 5 mph.

On this day in 1980, the Polish trade union Solidarity formally organizes, after weeks of labor strikes, to represent Polish workers in a Communist country that supposedly had no labor strife at all:

Solidarity ….full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity” – …. is a Polish trade union federation that emerged on 31 August 1980 at the Gdansk Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Walesa. It was the first non–communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. Solidarity reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 Congress (up to 10 million[1][2]) that constituted 1/3 of the total working age population of Poland.[3] In its clandestine years, the United States provided significant financial support for Solidarity, estimated to be as much as 50 million US dollars.[4]

In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using the methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers’ rights and social change.[5] The government attempted to destroy the union during the period of martial law in the early 1980s and several years of political repression, but in the end it was forced to negotiate with the union.

The Round Table Talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed and in December 1990 Walesa was elected President of Poland. Since then it has become a more traditional, liberal trade union. 30 years after emerging its membership dropped to between just over 400,000[1] and 680,000.[2]