Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 84. Sunrise is 6:35, and sunset is 7:04, for 12h 29m 36s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 82.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1994, the rest of the Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike.
Britain’s Red Arrows soar over Niagara Falls on Canadian tour:
Wednesday, September 18th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Perfect Days @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Drama Rated PG 2 hours, 4 minutes (2023) Our last art film of Summer is one of serene peace, joy, and contemplation. Hirayama is content with his life as a public toilet…
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 6:29, and sunset is 7:13, for 12h 43m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 32.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Planning Board meets at 6 PM.
On this day in 1839, John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.
What conditions should a local government body always meet? Two come to mind in all cases.
First, board members must not vote or deliberate on matters in which they have a conflict of interest. This should be evident to a person of average understanding, and yet, throughout the last decade, the Whitewater Community Development Authority was plagued with conflicts repeatedly. Someone so implicated who looks at this situation without personal contrition and insists that these conflicts do not matter is, and always will be, unsuited for public life.
At Planning, for example, the board chairman should ask all board members before a significant matter with competitive implications: does anyone on this board have a conflict that he or she should declare? Those who remain silent yet have material conflicts known or discovered are unfit to stay on that public body. (Note well: this question from a chairperson is for those for those on a board or commission.)
Second, public comment in Whitewater often comprises both ordinary residents and special interests advancing their economic gain (e.g., principals, operatives, catspaws, etc.). See The Special-Interest Hierarchy of a Small Town and The Special-Interest Hierarchy of a Small Town (Adjacent Support). Almost all ordinary residents will have sincere reasons for supporting or opposing a policy; special interests will manipulate a few people now and again for the special interests’ own ends.
Boardmembers should consider of those who seek or oppose government action: cui bono? For whose benefit? In Whitewater’s case, is it for the community or for a few aged men who want to prevent competitive opportunity?
How Much Cheese Do Americans Eat Per Year?:
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 6:26, and sunset is 7:18, for 12h 52m 25s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1946, United States Secretary of State James F. Byrnes announces that the U.S. will follow a policy of economic reconstruction in postwar Germany.
Kamala Harris sometimes uses the expression “what can be, unburdened by what has been.”
The sound implication is that the present is burdened by what has been, but can be unburdened with effort.
Whitewater is like this, as the city is burdened twice-over by her past. First, she’s afflicted by a small faction of ordinary men possessed of extraordinary self-promotion and self-dealing. See A Reminder on Whitewater’s Fumbling & Stumbling Old Guard, The Special-Interest Hierarchy of a Small Town, and The Special-Interest Hierarchy of a Small Town (Adjacent Support).
Second, that small faction diverted attention from basic needs, including the ability of adults to discourse on a proper high-school level, leaving a small number in the community as little more than ignorant (lit., lacking knowledge or awareness) or confused tale-bearers. See Formation, General, Formation Hasn’t Stopped Mattering, and Formation, Moral.
Special interests’ particular avarice, afflicting the town with general stagnation, was worse even than economic: it has led to a decline in acculturation among the portions of the community those interests variously patronized or ignored.
They’ve left the next generation with a significant burden to overcome. Whitewater has made solid progress these last two years, and although we have years to go, we will overcome the burden of the past.
Tuesday, September 10th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Thelma @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Comedy/Action Rated PG-13 1 hour, 38 minutes (2024) When 93 year old Thelma Post (June Squibb) gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a quest…
The Whitewater Police Department released today a statement identifying the suspect in the fatal shooting of Kara Welsh. That statement appears below:
Whitewater Police Make Arrest in Homicide Investigation – UPDATEWhitewater, WI – September 3, 2024 – The Whitewater Police Department is confirming the identity of the suspect arrested in this case as Chad T. Richards, 23, of Loves Park, Illinois. Richards is scheduled to appear in court today, September 3rd, at the Walworth County Courthouse.
The Whitewater Police Department forwarded the following charges to the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office: First-Degree Intentional Homicide (Wis. Stat. 940.01(a)), Endangering Safety by the Use of a Dangerous Weapon (Wis. Stat. 941.20(1)(c)), and Disorderly Conduct while Armed (Wis. Stat. 947.01). It is noted that this case has not been concluded. Unless a judgement of conviction is entered, the arrestee/defendant is presumed innocent of all charges.
Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation, no additional details will be provided at this time. Anyone with information relevant to this investigation is encouraged to contact the Whitewater Police Department at 262-473-0555 option #4. Anonymous tips may also be shared using P3Tips.com.
Previously: A Fatal Shooting in the City, Official Release of Information on Student Fatally Shot.
Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:21, and sunset is 7:27, for 13h 06m 31s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1939, Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II.
On Saturday afternoon, UW-Whitewater released a statement following the identification of the victim of a fatal shooting in the city. That statement, from Chancellor Corey King, appears in full below:
Message from Chancellor King
Dear students, faculty and staff,It is with great sadness that we announce a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student has passed away. Kara Welsh, age 21, from Plainfield, Illinois, died in a shooting off campus on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. More information is available on the City of Whitewater website.
Kara was majoring in management in our College of Business and Economics and was a standout member of the Warhawk gymnastics team, winning an individual national title on the vault in 2023.
We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community. It is a time when we are all called upon to support one another, to process, and to grieve.
Please know that counseling services are available to you. For students, please contact the University Health and Counseling Services. For faculty and staff, please contact Acentra, the Employee Assistance Program.Since learning of this tragedy, our colleagues across Whitewater have come together to respond and to engage in layers of support for our students, faculty and staff.
- Our Dean of Students office is connected with Kara’s family and is helping them navigate through the unimaginable situation of the loss of their loved one.
- Our Athletics leadership brought together the gymnastics team and coaches to inform them in person, and University Health and Counseling Services offered counseling support.
- Our Academic Affairs staff are planning to provide extra support and flexibility to affected students with classes beginning on Tuesday.
- Our UW-Whitewater Police Department continued their close collaboration with the City of Whitewater Police Department by providing assistance in the investigation.
- The Chancellor’s Cabinet and other university leaders continue to stay in contact and take action to lead us through this difficult time.
Details for memorial services will be shared when they are available. I have directed that the UW-Whitewater flag fly at half-staff on Tuesday, Sept. 3, in Kara’s memory.
Sincerely,
Corey King
Chancellor
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 6:20, and sunset is 7:29, for 13h 09m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1939, Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe.
One reads this Saturday morning from a press release and professional reporting that there was a fatal shooting in the city shortly before midnight on Friday. From that reporting, Whitewater Police: 21-year-old woman dies from ‘multiple gunshot wounds’:
A 21-year-old woman has died after sustaining “multiple gunshot wounds,” according to information released Saturday by Whitewater Police Chief Dan Meyer.
Meyer, within the release, stated that police responded Friday, just before midnight, to an apartment in the 100 block of W. Whitewater Street after receiving a report of an individual who had suffered gunshot wounds.
Upon arrival, police found a woman deceased in the apartment.
Also present, the release read, was a 23-year-old male who was known to the deceased woman.
An investigation has led police to believe that prior to the shooting, an altercation occurred between the male and female, according to the release.
The male has been detained and the investigation remains ongoing, the release noted.
“We are confident that there is no threat to the community at this time,” the release reported.
The department was right to publish quickly a succinct release to inform the city and prevent rumor.
This fatal shooting is a fathomless loss for which one offers condolences to the family and friends of the deceased woman.
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 84. Sunrise is 6:17, and sunset is 7:32, for 13h 14m 52s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 18.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1997, Netflix launches as an internet DVD rental service (streaming came later, in 2007).
Joe Tarr reports on the enthusiasm that Kamala Harris is generating among many college students in Young Wisconsin Democrats fired up with Harris at the top of the ticket. Tarr’s story begins with an anecdote from UW-Whitewater:
Alyssa Wahlborg knows that her politics don’t always gel with that of the community where she attends college.
While a lot of students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater might lean left, the larger community “leans a bit red,” she told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” Nevertheless, Wahlborg sees hope that the Democratic Party can make gains in rural Walworth County and elsewhere.
“Having conversations with people on our campus makes you realize how blue we can get, and how we can flip our district,” Wahlborg said. “We even flipped our city council blue. We (elected) Democrats to our school boards.”
First and foremost, to all those arriving on campus: Welcome to Whitewater. It’s a beautiful city. There’s no better place to live.
The story inspires me to update a series of posts I wrote in 2021 about politics in the city proper (city politics that are evolving and different from red Walworth County). Here are those posts from 2021: 2021 Unofficial Spring Election Results, The Kinds of Conservatives in Whitewater, The City’s Center-Left, The City’s Few Progressives, The Campus, The Subcultural City, Marketing, COVID-19: Skepticism and Rhetoric, Majoritarianism, and The Limits of Local Politics.
Kevin the Canadian Chihuahua calculates the task ahead:
Tuesday, August 27th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of The Fall Guy @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Comedy/Action/Romance Rated PG-13 2 hours, 6 minutes (2024) Stuntman Cole Seaver (Ryan Gosling) has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy, and try to win back his girlfriend…
Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:08, and sunset is 7:47, for 13h 39m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1794, American soldiers are victorious at the Battle of Fallen Timbers:
American troops under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne defeated a confederation of Indian forces led by Little Turtle of the Miamis and Blue Jacket of the Shawnees. Wayne’s soldiers, who included future Western explorer William Clark and future President William Henry Harrison, won the battle in less than an hour with the loss of some 30 men killed. (The number of Indian casualties is uncertain.)
The battle had several far-reaching consequences for the United States and what would later become the state of Wisconsin. The crushing defeat of the British-allied Indians convinced the British to finally evacuate their posts in the American west (an accession explicitly given in the Jay Treaty signed some three months later), eliminating forever the English presence in the early American northwest and clearing the way for American expansion.
The battle also resulted in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, in which the defeated Indians ceded to Wayne the right of Americans to settle in the Ohio Valley (although the northwestern area of that country was given to the Indians). Wayne’s victory opened the gates of widespread settlement of the Old Northwest, Wisconsin included.
I had heard, and now have read, that the Irvin Young Auditorium will rebrand itself as The Young.
The change is a clever, contemporary way to describe the venue. The Young is pithy and, in its way, more familiar than the longer formal name (as people in families have sometimes have diminuitives for their relatives’ names).
Well done.
Underwater video shows marine life flourishing in railcars:
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 6:07, and sunset is 7:49, for 13h 42m 01s of daytime. The moon is full with 100 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 5:30 PM. The full board goes into closed session shortly after 6 PM, to return to open session at 7 PM. Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1944, the Liberation of Paris begins as the city’s residents rise against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
I don’t believe that Whitewater has a public health vending machine, but it would be a good idea to install one. Jefferson, Wisconsin has done so, as WKOW reports:
Rangers Band and Tag Northern Royal Albatross Chicks Across the Colony:
Wednesday, August 21st at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Anatomy of a Fall @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Psychological Legal Drama Rated R (language) 2 hours, 31 minutes (2024) A woman is suspected of her husband‘s murder. Her young, half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole…
Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 6:01, and sunset is 7:56, for 13h 55m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 68.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill sign the Atlantic Charter stating postwar aims.
Two proposed Wisconsin constitutional amendments on the ballot yesterday failed decisively:
Statewide, Question 1 (Prohibit Legislature from Delegating Appropriations) lost 57.4% to 42.6% and Question 2 (Require Legislative Approval for Federal Funds) lost 57.5 to 42.5%.
In Whitewater, the questions had a similar fate (combining totals from Jefferson and Walworth counties):
Question 1 (Prohibit Legislature from Delegating Appropriations) lost 68.8% to 31.2% and Question 2 (Require Legislative Approval for Federal Funds) lost 68.6 to 31.4%.
See also No on Amendment Questions 1 and 2 (“Questions written nebulously, and presented to voters on a month of traditionally lower turnout, deserve rejection. Government, and the questions it presents, are meant to be more than semantic trickery”).
Watch video from space of the moon setting into auroras:
