Courts, Crime, Daily Bread, Press, Walworth County

Daily Bread for 9.25.24: Oops, Someone Has the Wrong Date

by JOHN ADAMS • 09/25/2024

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:46, and sunset is 6:45, for 11 hours, 59 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 42.0 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1804, the Teton Sioux (a subdivision of the Lakota) demand one of the boats from the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a toll for allowing the expedition to move further upriver.

The Daily Jefferson County Union (‘no one does local like we do’) leads with this story yesterday afternoon and this morning:

And yet, and yet…the Walworth County Circuit Court lists the next appearance for defendant Chad Richards as 10.25.24:

It’s easy to see which is correct.

Sure enough, no one does local like that.

So lots of bird species seem to be migrating, but others are stickin’ around. Your Top Bird Migration Questions – Answered by an Expert:

Cornell Lab scientist and Bird Academy course instructor Dr. Kevin J. McGowan answers 6 common questions about bird migration, including Why do birds migrate? What prompts the start of migration? What’s the best time to migrate? How can we help birds on their way? and more. This video compiles highlights from an hourlong webinar from September 2023.

Daily Bread, Health, Walworth County

Daily Bread for 12.6.22: Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes Plague Walworth and Rock Counties

by JOHN ADAMS • 12/06/2022

Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 39. Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 4:20 PM for 9h 09m 11s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.8% of its visible disk illuminated. The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM. On this day in 1917, Finland declares independence…

Daily Bread, Elections, Local Government, Politics, State Government, Walworth County, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.10.22: Wisconsin’s August 9^th Primary

by JOHN ADAMS • 08/10/2022

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 5:56 AM and sunset 8:03 PM for 14h 06m 28s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 96.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1977, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) is arrested for…

Coronavirus, Public Health, Walworth County

The Problems of COVID-19 Aren’t Uniformly Acknowledged (and Likely Never Will Be)

by JOHN ADAMS • 06/29/2021

David Leonhardt accurately writes that Heavily Republican areas of the U.S. have a growing Covid problem: Cases have begun to rise more rapidly in communities with lower vaccination rates. Consider this chart, which looks at the number of new cases in counties across the U.S., grouping counties by the share of residents who have been…

City, Courts, Crime, Law, Walworth County, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Supreme Court Grants New Trial in State of Wisconsin v. Alan M. Johnson

by JOHN ADAMS • 06/16/2021

Alan M. Johnson was convicted in Walworth County of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his brother-in-law. (Johnson’s late brother-in-law is identified in today’s high court opinion as ‘K.M.’ The events of the case took place in Whitewater, and the Walworth County trial was before Circuit Judge Kristine Drettwan.) Johnson appealed his conviction, and…

CDA, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Walworth County, WEDC, Wisconsin

Whitewater & Walworth County’s Working Poor, 2020 ALICE® Report

by JOHN ADAMS • 08/03/2020

The 2020 ALICE® report, on those who are “asset limited, income constrained [yet] employed” is now available. These latest data were collected before the recent recession – one can be sadly confident that hardship reaches farther now. For Wisconsin, 11% of households were below the poverty level, and 34% (including those below the poverty level) were…

Bad Ideas, Coronavirus, Covidiocy, Public Health, Walworth County

How ‘bout a New Slogan for the Walworth County Fair?

by JOHN ADAMS • 06/23/2020

One reads that not only are organizers planning to hold the Walworth County Fair during a pandemic, but that they hope to entice patrons with beer sales. Candidly, aside from the pig races (always suspenseful), one can be hit-or-miss about the fair. Holding it this year is problematic; looking for ways to attract more people…

Authoritarianism, Books, Coronavirus, History, Libertarians, Liberty, Public Health, Reasoning, Rhetoric, Russia, Tyranny, Walworth County

An Example of Bottomless Ignorance in Walworth County

by JOHN ADAMS • 06/19/2020

Some residents of Walworth County, Wisconsin object to public health measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. So hysterical is their opposition that one reads Opponents say county’s coronavirus safeguards are ‘like Russia’: Confronted by a raucous crowd of opponents fearing government intrusion, Walworth County Board members have backed away from a measure…

Coronavirus, Local Government, Natural Disaters, Public Health, State Government, Walworth County

Local Government Before a Flood

by JOHN ADAMS • 05/27/2020

Imagine that, during flooding near a small town, the town’s levees are about to fail. How might local officials respond to this impending calamity? 1. They might deny that there is a flood. 2. They might admit that there is a flood, but deny that the levees are failing. 3. They might admit that there…

Health, Walworth County, Wisconsin

The Washington Post’s Pain Pill Database

by JOHN ADAMS • 07/23/2019

The Washington Post, as part of its Opioid Files series, has published Drilling into the DEA’s pain pill database: For the first time, a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — by manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town…

Courts, Crime, Drug War, Health, Law, Walworth County

Treatment Courts as Practical Success Stories

by JOHN ADAMS • 05/22/2019

Treatment courts, whether for drunk driving or drug abuse, have been successful in jurisdictions across the country. Counties from coast to coast – red or blue – have seen positive outcomes from judicially-overseen treatment programs. Despite this, there’s been opposition to a drug treatment court in rural Walworth County, sadly beset by addictions of various…

Crime, District Attorney, Walworth County

Walworth County D.A. Wiedenfeld’s Charging Push

by JOHN ADAMS • 02/25/2019

There’s a story from the Janesville Gazette about how Walworth County’s district attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld is charging more frequently even as arrests in Walworth County are down significantly. See Walworth County DA charging more cases even though arrests are down. (For a post about Wiedenfeld’s insistence that he have a veto over judicial placements into…

Courts, Crime, Law, Walworth County

Scenes from the Alabama Walworth County Legal System

by JOHN ADAMS • 02/07/2019

One reads that Walworth County treatment courts face uncertain future after DA questions role: The future of Walworth County’s treatment courts is uncertain after District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld at a special meeting Tuesday questioned his office’s participation in the programs and its level of control over who enters them. Most questions from Tuesday’s meeting went…

City, Elections, Local Government, School District, Walworth County

Elections, Contested or Uncontested

by JOHN ADAMS • 01/03/2019

As a general rule, contested elections are preferable to uncontested ones. That rule applies in Whitewater: there have been too few contested elections, and too many of the same people carrying on as though political offices were freehold estates.