FREE WHITEWATER

Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.30.25: Of Course It’s a Partisan Race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 51. Sunrise is 7:11 and sunset is 5:05, for 9 hours, 55 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1933, Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.


I’m not sure what to make of a story that finds the Wisconsin Supreme Court race effectually partisan. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been partisan for many years. Still, someone feels the need to explain this to Wisconsin readers:

As with each one before them, Wisconsin’s next Supreme Court justice pledges to be “impartial” when ruling from the bench.

But the current race for that coveted seat has been — and will continue to be — anything but politically neutral.

Indeed, the two candidates are repeatedly pointing out the other’s political ties leading up to the April 1 general election, and the two major political parties have lined up behind their preferred candidate, animated by the prospect that voters could again flip the court’s ideological majority.

One hears that even a broken clock is right twice a day, and so it’s Brad Schimel (of all people) who explains the state of affairs accurately:

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Schimel said he didn’t see a retreat from the overt partisanship of state Supreme Court races coming any time soon.

“It’s just become that way, that liberal judicial candidates will associate with the Democratic Party and conservative judicial candidates will end up affiliating with the Republican Party,” he said, adding that each campaign needs grassroots support. “The question isn’t whether you have a political affiliation. It’s whether you can set that aside when you get on the bench.”

See Alison Dirr and Daniel Bice, Just how partisan are the candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court? Here are the details, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 30, 2025.

Indeed: that is a question.

The choice for voters, however, depends on what one prefers from the partisan alternatives on offer.


Drone captures hundreds of dolphins along the California coast:

A whale-watching group captured drone video of a large pod of Risso’s dolphins near Carmel Bay, California.

Daily Bread for 1.29.25: The Connection Between Two Murderous Extremists

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 41. Sunrise is 7:12 and sunset is 5:04, for 9 hours, 52 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1845, “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.


Madison and Nashville killers visited the same online networks:

Moments before 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire inside her Madison, Wisconsin, school, killing two people and herself last month, a social media account believed to be hers posted a photograph on X showing someone sitting in a bathroom stall and flashing a hand gesture that has become a symbol for white supremacy. 

As news about the shooting broke, another X user responded: “Livestream it.” 

Extremism researchers now believe that second account belonged to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, who police say walked into his high school cafeteria in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday and fired 10 shots, killing one classmate and then himself. Archives of another X account linked to him show that he posted a similar photo to Rupnow’s in his final moments. 

While there isn’t any evidence that Rupnow and Henderson plotted their attacks together, extremism researchers who have tracked their social media activity told Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica that the two teenagers were active in the same online networks that glorify mass shooters, even crossing paths. Across various social media platforms, the networks trade hateful memes alongside terrorist literature, exchange tips on how to effectively commit attacks and encourage one another to carry out their own.

See Phoebe Petrovic, Madison and Nashville school shooters appear to have crossed paths in online extremist communities (‘A month after a student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, another killed a classmate at Antioch High School. Both were active in an internet subculture that glorifies mass shooters and encourages young people to commit attacks themselves’), Wisconsin Watch, January 24, 2025.


Lightning strikes British Airways plane at a Brazil airport:

Video shot by an eyewitness shows the moment lightning strikes a plane’s tail while parked at a gate in Sao Paulo’s International Guarulhos Airport on Jan. 24. (Eyewitness Bernhard Warr said the aircraft was moved away to undergo safety checks after the incident, and that it departed almost six hours after it was scheduled to fly, following repairs of minor damage.)

Daily Bread for 1.28.25: Data Centers

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 48. Sunrise is 7:13 and sunset is 5:03, for 9 hours, 50 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Public Arts Commission at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1958, the Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.


New data centers may be coming to Wisconsin, in Kenosha and Wisconsin Rapids:

More data centers — computer warehouses that underpin artificial intelligence and store everything from PayPal transactions to YouTube videos — are coming to Wisconsin.

Microsoft has purchased 240 acres for a new data center complex in Kenosha, the city announced Monday. It will sit northwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Route 142, 6 miles south of the company’s $3.3 billion data center campus under construction in Mount Pleasant.

Meanwhile, the hydroelectricity that once powered Wisconsin Rapids’ paper mill will now flow to a new data center. The data center developer Digital Power Optimization, known as DPO, announced on Thursday it has purchased the site and its power supply.

See Nick Rommel, New data centers planned for Kenosha, Wisconsin Rapids (‘Hydroelectricity, unused since paper mill closure, will power Wisconsin Rapids facility’), Wisconsin Public Radio, January 27, 2025.

Microsoft is one of the world’s largest corporations; DPO is far smaller, and involved in the volatile cryptocurrency mining sector.

Two announcements do not mean two constructed data centers. They mean only two announcements.


Highway bridge in Germany demolished with controlled explosion:

A highway bridge near Dortmund, Germany, was brought down with a controlled explosion.

Daily Bread for 1.24.25: World’s Richest Man Weighs In On Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 19. Sunrise is 7:16 and sunset is 4:57, for 9 hours, 41 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 24.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1943, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca:

Key decisions included a commitment to demand Axis powers’ unconditional surrender; plans for an invasion of Sicily and Italy before the main invasion of France; an intensified strategic bombing campaign against Germany; and approval of a US Navy plan to advance on Japan through the central Pacific and the Philippines. The last item authorized the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, which shortened the war.


ALTERNATIVE TITLE:

Wisconsin has 5.9 million people, but he has 400 billion dollars. He’s overmatched.

The Nazi-adjacent Mr. Musk has weighed in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race:

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Tesla CEO, has waded into Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court race that will determine if the court stays under liberal control or flips back to a conservative majority.

“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk posted Thursday morning on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that Musk owns.

While races for Wisconsin Supreme Court are technically nonpartisan, partisan groups and donors have already heavily flooded cash into the campaigns of Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate, and former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, the conservative in the race.

See Hope Karnopp, Elon Musk weighs in on Wisconsin’s high-profile April state Supreme Court election, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 23, 2025.

Much better to be, as I am, one of these Wisconsin millions. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race will be decided here, and nothing of Musk’s voice or money will change the outcome.


Doorbell cam captures meteorite crashing into Earth (video & audio):

A ring doorbell camera captured a meteor strike near a house in Canada’s Prince Edward Island.

Daily Bread for 1.23.25: The WisDems’ Bipartisan Delusion

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 23. Sunrise is 7:17 and sunset is 4:56, for 9 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 33.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1957, American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee.”


I’m not a member of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. I’m also not looking for El Dorado, the Fountain of Youth, or the Lost City of Z. It’s possible that Wisconsin Democrats are looking for some of these fantastical places, because they’re still looking for bipartisanship with the WISGOP.

The Democrats have been searching for months. See The Glistening Optimism of Wisconsin’s Senate Democrats and That ‘Bipartisanship’ Didn’t Last Long — Because It Was Never There.

The fruits of this quest have been wanting, as Baylor Spears reports:

Each session the Assembly Speaker has the responsibility for determining the number of members per committee, unless a rule specifies otherwise. The Speaker also determines the ratio of majority to minority members on each committee. The committees are essential to the lawmaking process given that they are where bills are first moved to be discussed after being introduced, where bills receive public input and are debated by lawmaker before ever being considered for a vote by the full body. 

Democrats have complained about losing members on committees despite winning additional seats in the full body. Despite Republican’s narrower majority this session, in some cases Democrats make up a smaller proportion of members on committees than they did in the last session.

“Unfortunately, Assembly Republican Leadership has chosen to begin the legislative session in a highly partisan fashion, reducing Democratic positions on the vast majority of committees despite the people of Wisconsin choosing to replace ten incumbent Republican legislators with Democrats in the last election,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said in a statement announcing Democratic committee membership. “I hope my Republican colleagues will choose to shift course and join Democrats in putting the people of Wisconsin over partisan politics in the coming legislative session.”

Neubauer’s staff said they were not consulted by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about the committee sizes or ratios. 

Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said there was a “general understanding” that with more members in the house overall, Democrats were expecting that to be reflected in committees. Democrats picked up  10 additional seats in the Assembly, making the body about 55% Republican and 45% Democratic. 

See Baylor Spears, Assembly committees this session are different — and smaller, Wisconsin Examiner, January 22, 2025.

I’m sure Rep. Vining is an intelligent and capable representative, but here her charity exceeds her opponents’ merit. There can be no general understanding with these WISGOP leaders. They’ll say what they want and later take what they want.

Indeed, I’m not sure why the Wisconsin Democrats aren’t aware of the video record of Speaker Robin Vos’s past scheming. It’s right there, on YouTube:

(There’s much to learn from Tolkien, in print, of course, but from Peter Jackson’s films, too.)


Here’s a palate cleanser after that last video. Disc Dog – amazing disc catching dogs:

Daily Bread for 1.17.25: Kickapoo Valley Reserve Battles Light Pollution

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 45. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:49, for 9 hours, 27 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 86 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1944,  Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.


Wisconsin has a designated international dark sky park, Newport State Park. The Badger State could, however, have a second dark sky park if the Kickapoo Valley Reserve achieves that designation:

Angela visits the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, 8,600 acres between La Farge and Ontario, to learn about its bid to become the state’s second International Dark Sky Park. Executive director Jason Leis and electrical engineer Scott Lind demonstrate their efforts to maintain low light pollution through special fixtures and community outreach.

Directions from Whitewater to Newport State Park and Directions from Whitewater to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.


Rocket science really is as hard as rocket science:

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights

Daily Bread for 1.16.25: Great Lakes Gulls

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:47, for 9 hours, 26 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1945, Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.


Whitewater has geese at Cravath, but not far away by the Great Lakes one can find large numbers and varieties of gulls.

See Joe Tarr, Why gulls of the Great Lakes are no ordinary birds, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 16, 2025.


Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on first test flight:

Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth. [While the rocket reached orbit to launch a satellite, the first-stage booster missed its landing on a barge in the Atlantic. See Marcia Dunn, New Glenn rocket reaches orbit on first test flight, Associated Press, January 16, 2025.]

Daily Bread for 1.15.25: Far Too Soon for 2026

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 20. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:46, for 9 hours, 24 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1967,  the first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Packers defeat the Chiefs 35–10.


It is from our daughter-in-law in Seattle that we first learned the term The Big Dark for winter at that high latitude. These months, in the Pacific Northwest and Wisconsin, bring less daylight, more nighttime. The Big Dark.

The term has other uses. All of us, politically, are now in a big dark: while one can dimly see the terrain, there’s not enough light to be confident when placing each and every footstep. Predicting any given step, any given day, always has some uncertainty. It has greater uncertainty now, as unpredictability is among the characteristics of the populism that holds sway.

A story in the Journal Sentinel about prospective Wisconsin 2026 gubernatorial candidates might make sense in ordinary times, as statewide campaigns have to fundraise long in advance of election day. See Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea, Republican challengers start to line up as Gov. Tony Evers considers 2026 run for 3rd term, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 14, 2025. In these times, the story is of limited use to anyone other than campaign teams.

Who’s running in 2026 matters far less than what happens, and who’s running, in 2025. It’s better to turn away from next year’s possibilities and list in this year one’s principles, all the better to meet challenges and threats far closer than next year’s candidates.

Overused but never more useful: first things first. Far too soon for 2026.


How one AP photographer covers the Dakar Rally:

The Dakar Rally, an annual rally raid organized by the Amaury Sport Organization, is currently happening in Saudi Arabia. AP photographer, Christophe Ena, offers a behind-the-scenes look into how he captures the off-road motorsport event, frame-by-frame.

Daily Bread for 1.12.25: Brad Schimel’s Work Ethic

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy & windy with a high of 34. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:43, for 9 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1969, the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.


Hardest-working man in Wisconsin, Schimel Campaign website, screenshot from 1.12.25

Sometimes, before a friendly group, a man will admit how slothful he truly is:

But [Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate] Schimel suggested there are other perks to being a judge than having your own potty.

“You set your own hours,” Schimel said. “I set the hours. Certainly, I’ve got to get my cases done, but I can decide — you know what? — if I want to do golf on Thursday afternoon, I can do that.”

The same, Schimel said, is not true for lawyers, who have to show up in court when told to do so. He said he doesn’t misuse that power. And, he said, there are times he’s had to work “all day and into the evening.”

But that appears to be the exception.

“I’m home for dinner most nights now,” he said. “I shoot in two sporting clays leagues. Or I was until I made this announcement (to run for the Supreme Court). I was shooting in two shooting clays leagues a week. I was doing all this, playing band rehearsals.”

See Daniel Bice, Brad Schimel boasts he gets a private bathroom and sets own hours as judge, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 10, 2025.


Wolves traveling through deep snow:

Daily Bread for 1.10.25: Wisconsin’s Next Big Election

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be snowy & cloudy with a high of 29. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:40, for 9 hours, 16 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 86.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 2 PM.

On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet Common Sense.


Yesterday, I posted on the statewide race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and mentioned local races that were contested. One Wisconsin election, however, is sure to attract attention far beyond the Badger State:

About $5 million has already been raised by two judges vying to be the next justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the candidate backed by Democrats, claiming she’s outraised former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel by $600,000.

While detailed reports aren’t due until Jan. 15, both candidates released fundraising totals Wednesday covering a period ending Dec. 31.

Schimel’s campaign said it raised $1.5 million between July 1 and Dec. 31, and a grand total of $2.2 million since he got into the race in November 2023.

….

Crawford’s campaign said she raised $2.8 million since entering the race in June 2024, seven months after Schimel. During the July to December reporting period, Crawford’s campaign said it raised more than $2.4 million from donors in 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties and ended the period with $2.1 million in the bank.

See Rich Kremer, Crawford, Schimel both report ‘historic’ donations in state Supreme Court race, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 9, 2025.

There’s Wisconsin’s big contest for 2025, with only few other high-profile elections nationally (notably, gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia). Our Wisconsin Supreme Court election will receive attention, and money, from across America.

The 2023 election spending between Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly was well over $50 million, and it’s a comfortable guess that this race will top that figure.


US hiring grows, unemployment down, report shows:

Employers added 256,000 workers last month, surpassing economist expectations of 155,000 jobs added, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed.

Daily Bread for 1.9.25: For Elections, More Candidates Are Better

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 27. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:39, for 9 hours, 15 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Arts Commission meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1945, the Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines.


Statewide, there will be a February primary election for Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. In this statewide race, it’s not merely contested but contested in a way that requires a primary election:

Three candidates have filed nomination papers for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, which means there will be a primary election next month for Wisconsin’s top education post.

State Superintendent Jill Underly has two challengers: Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright, and Brittany Kinser, a former special education teacher and reading advocate.

The primary will be held Feb. 18 with the top two candidates facing each other in the nonpartisan election on April 1.

See Corrinne Hess, State Superintendent Jill Underly will face primary challenge in February, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 8, 2025.

Locally, we’ll have, it seems, contested races for the Whitewater Unified School District Board and one of our city’s assembly districts before the voters in April. That’s all to the good: voters will be able to see differences between candidates.

Choice is preferable.


Entering a dragon’s lair:

Daily Bread for 12.30.24: Wisconsin Sled Dog EditionTM

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 42. Sunrise is 7:25 and sunset is 4:30, for 9 hours, 5 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with 0.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1853, with the Gadsden Purchase, the United States agrees to buy land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.


These sled dogs are undeniably cool:

Step into the town of Gleason, Wisconsin, where the serene beauty of rural life meets the exhilarating world of dog sledding. Join us as we follow Melissa Omernick, a passionate musher whose love for the sport and her beloved sled dogs is truly infectious.

New York holds a confetti test in time for New Year’s Eve:

The famous Times Square Ball drop in New York City officially signaled the start of 2021, ending a year fraught with the pandemic and social turmoil in America and around the world.

Daily Bread for 12.23.24: Four Billion’s a Lot of Money to Be Left Unused

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 37. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:25, for 9 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 43.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1688, as part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to France after being deposed in favor of his son-in-law and nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary.


The State of Wisconsin has both a general fund surplus and a rainy day fund, with the surplus now at $4,500,000,000. It is, after all, a lot of money:

Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday that Wisconsin’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which is published by the Department of Administration, recorded a $4.5 billion positive balance in the state’s general fund at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year. 

In addition to the general fund, the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund — or “rainy day” fund — ended the fiscal year at the highest level in state history with a balance of $1.9 billion. The rainy day fund has set a new record every year since Evers took office in 2019.  

“For thirty consecutive years, our state’s checking account ran at a deficit. Thanks to our efforts to pay down our state’s debt and work across the aisle to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, Wisconsin has never had a deficit since I took office,” Evers said in a statement. “This is great news for the people of Wisconsin and our state’s economy.” 

The balance in the general fund — a budget surplus — will likely be a major point of discussion next year as Evers and lawmakers begin work on the state’s next two-year budget.

See Baylor Spears, Wisconsin’s annual financial report records $4.5 billion budget surplus, Wisconsin Examiner, December 21, 2024.

The inability of lawmakers to agree on a plan for the use of the general fund surplus is unsurprising. These are the men who gerrymandered, backed grossly wasteful projects, pretended a pandemic was safe, and endorsed election conspiracies for so long as conspiracists did not level accusations in their own direction.


Honda and Nissan start merger talks in historic pivot:

Honda and Nissan have started talks toward a potential merger, they said, a historic pivot for Japan’s auto industry that underlines the threat Chinese EV makers now pose to some of the world’s best known car makers.

Daily Bread for 12.19.24: The Wisconsin Man Who Backed Foxconn Now Brings You Government Efficiency

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be snowy with a high of 29. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:23, for 9 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 79.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine publishes the first of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled “The American Crisis.”


Of past performance, consider from 2017: Vos: Foxconn Deal Will Be Good For Taxpayers. And yet, and yet, these are ahistorical times, where past performance is ignored:

MADISON – A new Assembly committee will focus in the next session on government efficiency, inspired by a similar federal department to be run in part by Elon Musk.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in a Wednesday interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the new committee will be known as GOAT: Governmental Oversight, Accountability and Transparency Committee.

See Laura Schulte and Hope Karnopp, Robin Vos to create government efficiency committee inspired by Elon Musk’s DOGE, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 18, 2024.


Binary star system found near monster black hole:

A pair of stars orbiting one another has been found near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT).
Full Story: Astronomers discover 1st binary stars orbiting supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way