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Daily Bread for 12.21.24: Sure, It’s Winter Here, But It’s Springtime Only 103 Million Kilometers Away

Good morning.

Winter begins this Saturday in Whitewater with partly sunny skies and a high of 19. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:24, for 9 hours, 1 minute of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 62.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1937,  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world’s first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.


Fall and Winter are may favorite seasons (in that order), but for those preferring warmer weather, there’s a place offering consolation. It’s winter here on Earth, but on springtime on Mars:

Mars scientists have recently marked a new year on the Red Planet, a milestone that occurs every 687 days. Because the Martian new year coincides with spring in the planet’s northern hemisphere, it’s a time of lots of activity — avalanches, exploding jets of gas, and more. JPL research scientist Serina Diniega explains some of the changes to the Martian surface that scientists can track with spacecraft like NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

(The distance between Earth and Mars varies, but today — 12.21 — it’s a short 103 million kilometers away.)


Creating a Christmas Song from Scratch in Five Days:

Christmas number 1 song? Top of the Xmas UK music chart? East 17. Mariah Carey. Wham!… Bobby and the Baubles? With the help of East 17’s John Hendy, music mogul Fred Casimir, and a bunch of Fiverr musicians, Great Big Story’s Bob Fletcher attempts to make this dream a reality.

Daily Bread for 2.9.24: A February Tornado in Wisconsin

 Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 47. Sunrise is 6:59 and sunset 5:18 for 10h 19m 39s  of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United States v. The Amistad case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.


  Wisconsin Public Radio reports First-ever February tornado recorded along Dane-Rock County border:

For the first time on record for February, a tornado touched down Thursday night near Edgerton along the Dane-Rock County border.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado at 6:00 p.m. and said it was a dangerous storm and to “seek immediate safe shelter if in its path.”

A tornado warning was issued for northeastern Rock, southeastern Dane and southwestern Jefferson counties in effect until 6:30 p.m.

Videos show portions of last night’s storm:


Orcas trapped in sea ice off Japan’s coast have escaped:

Daily Bread for 1.4.24: Wisconsin’s Snowfall and Whitewater’s Student Housing

 Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 32. Sunrise is 7:25 and sunset 4:34 for 9h 09m 10s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 46.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 2004, Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.


Snowfall was down in December for northern Wisconsin, as Danielle Kaeding reports in Lack of snow threatens to upend business, winter activities in northern Wisconsin (‘Warm weather led to drastically reduced snowfall for the month of December’):

In northern Wisconsin, where outdoor enthusiasts live for snow and ice, warmer than usual weather has skiers and snowmobilers turning to wheels, and race organizers breaking out snowmaking machines.

In December, weather stations in Brule, Ashland and Hayward recorded temperatures more than 12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 30-year average, according to the National Weather Service.

Kevin Huyck, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth, said those areas saw around 11 to 16 inches less snow than average for the month.

“(It’s) definitely been drier than what we’ve seen in the past as far as snowfall for this past month of December,” Huyck said

Understandably, the lack of snow threatens businesses that depend on snow sports. Some enterprises may be able to produce artificial snow, but that creation may not be enough in volume or satisfaction for winter sports enthusiasts. 

For it all, however, Wisconsin’s economy does and should rely on many activities rather than fewer. Seeing Wisconsin only through winter sports would be both erroneous and short-sighted.

One can say the same about Whitewater’s student housing market. It’s been profitable for some (a few landlords) who have benefited privately in a relationship with a publicly-funded university. (These gentlemen talk about private business but their income has depended on a healthy public institution. Not one of these men built their enterprises on purely private relationships.)

The city’s economy, however, is and healthfully must be more than a student-housing market (supportive of higher education though I am). Indeed, normal, thriving economies in America simply aren’t built on rental properties. A hundred other industries would take precedence. 

Worth considering the next time some of these gentlemen expect preferential consideration…


Denmark’s Queen Steps Down: