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…
Walworth County
Daily Bread, Elections, Local Government, Politics, State Government, Walworth County, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 8.10.22: Wisconsin’s August 9th Primary
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • 1 Comment
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
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 • • Comments
Health, Walworth County, Wisconsin
Walworth County Average or Below Average in Health of Residents, Influences Contributing to Health
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Most of Whitewater sits within Walworth County, a county that ranks in Wisconsin’s bottom half for the overall health of its residents (‘ length and quality of people’s lives’) and average for the influences on health (‘individual health behaviors, social and economic conditions, access to healthcare and the quality of the physical environment’). Malia Jones of WisContext asks Which Counties Rank Best For Health? Here’s how Walworth County ranks:
(Jefferson County, in which a smaller part of Whitewater is situated, ranks far better, at 12 of 72 for health outcomes and 14 of 72 for health factors.)