Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 68. Sunrise is 7:13 and sunset is 6:05 for 10 hours 52 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 58.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM and the Library Board at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1781, the Battle of Yorktown, following an earlier siege, comes to an end with British surrender:
After the British surrender, Washington sent Tench Tilghman to report the victory to Congress. After a difficult journey, he arrived in Philadelphia, which celebrated for several days. The British Prime Minister, Lord North, is reported to have exclaimed “Oh God, it’s all over” when told of the defeat. On March 4, 1782, a motion to end “further prosecution of offensive warfare on the continent of North America”—effectively a no confidence motion—passed in the British House of Commons. Lord North and his government resigned on March 20.
There are new administrative developments in the BECI proposal for taking private property for an unprecedentedly large power line across large parts of Wisconsin. This libertarian blogger opposes that line. See FREE WHITEWATER, Opposing the Routing of the BECI 765-kV Transmission Line (8.17.26), Sugar Creek Stands Tall (8.20.26), and Main Gubernatorial Candidates Now Oppose the BECI Power Line (9.13.26).
On October 15, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission issued a Notice of Proceeding in Docket 2708-NC-100. This proceeding concerns the application by Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin LLC, the developer of the proposed Bell Center–Columbia–Sugar Creek–Illinois transmission project. The company is seeking authority to operate as an electric public utility in Wisconsin, along with exemptions from certain utility holding-company requirements. The PSC has designated the matter a Class 1 contested case, which provides for a trial-type hearing and formal participation by qualifying parties.
This is a preliminary administrative matter to determine if Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin LLC can operate as a utility in this state. The present matter concerns the developer’s legal status and requested regulatory treatment. It does not determine whether the BECI transmission line will be constructed or where it will run. Those two key questions will require a separate construction-approval proceeding. (Midcontinent expects to submit that application — for construction approval — in early 2027.)
This distinction is critical because a certificate permitting the developer to operate as a utility is not equivalent to approval of a particular transmission route (or approval of any route).
From a practical perspective, this is a proceeding before another proceeding. There is value, however, in knowing where a proposal stands. See PSC Notice of Proceeding, October 15, 2026, ERF 615173; PSC Docket 2708-NC-100.
Of reporting about BECI, the Royal Purple reports on statements of local opposition from the City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District. See Eric Arguelles, City and school district oppose proposed transmission project, Royal Purple, October 12, 2026. Of Walworth County, TMJ4 reports on opposition from the Walworth County Board of Supervisors. See Taj Simmons, Walworth County opponents of power line hopeful after county’s action against project, TMJ4, October 13, 2026.
There’s not much independent, professional-quality reporting in our area, and the Royal Purple and TMJ4’s Walworth County site are valuable news sources for information. Indeed, within Whitewater proper, there is only the Royal Purple for professional-standard journalism.
A sad anecdote from the past that still resonates with the reporting-averse among us: Many years ago, an administrator in the Whitewater Unified School District declared that the Whitewater schools did not need a student paper because journalism was not a real profession. That’s what’s left of Old Whitewater’s outlook in a single anecdote: aged men and women suspicious of reporting they do not value because that reporting brings information they cannot control (and that may explain to the community mistakes that those few have made).
This libertarian blogger is not a journalist. (That’s why I am clear that I’m a libertarian blogger — it’s right there in the description. Bloggers are modern-day pamphleteers, electronic pamphleteers.)
I have, however, spent a lifetime reading newspapers, and, having done so, appreciate that the journalism of others is a community value.
An astonishing scene — Couple enjoys a drink as fires burn nearby amid Paris unrest: