Good morning. 
Saturday in Whitewater will be snowy with a high of 5. Sunrise is 6:52 AM and sunset 5:25 PM, for 10h 32m 13s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 3.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1981, a series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
Recommended for reading in full —
Kelly Myerhofer reports UW System looking at consolidation between UW branch campuses, technical colleges:
[UW System Pres. Tommy] Thompson has added another item to his agenda, one that could reshape public higher education in Wisconsin: Exploring the possibility of consolidation between the System’s branch campuses and Wisconsin Technical College System institutions.
What the consolidation would entail — whether it be physical buildings, academic programs, administrative services or some other combination — isn’t clear. Thompson said all options, including declining to pursue anything, are on the table, stressing that the idea is in its infancy.
“We have a lot of buildings, lot of duplication and I want to sit down, discuss it and come up with a solution,” he said in an interview. “I’m not saying one (system) is better or one should be the only survivor. I’m saying let’s discuss it before the problem gets any worse.”
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Thompson is pitching the possibility as the System’s branch campuses operate under existential threat because of rising costs, declining state support and tuition that has been frozen for 13 of the past 15 years.
A 2018 restructuring placing the campuses under the authority of various four-year institutions has kept the campuses afloat but done little to stem the steep decline in student enrollment. At UW-Platteville Richland last fall, total headcount was 108 students.
Mary Spicuzza reports Kenosha County says it’s cracking down on Illinois residents crossing the border for vaccine appointments:
Kenosha County says it’s cracking down to make sure out-of-state line jumpers aren’t getting shots of COVID-19 vaccine at clinics in the county, which is located along the Illinois border.
“Our vaccination clinics are for Kenosha County residents 65+ and in the 1A category, or people in those categories who work in Kenosha County,” Kenosha Health Officer Jen Freiheit said in a statement. “We are trying our best to discourage non-residents and some might have slipped through, but we are working to crack down on that going forward.”
Freiheit added: “While we want to get as many shots in arms as possible, Kenosha County residents are our priority.”
Freiheit’s comments come after a woman contacted the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to report some family members, including a couple in their 50s who live in the Chicago suburbs — and don’t work in Wisconsin — were able to book appointments with the Kenosha County Division of Health and get doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Kenosha.
Philip Bump reports Once impeachment is over, the threat to Trump shifts to real courtrooms:
For example, we learned this week that investigators in Georgia were beginning the process of potentially bringing charges against Trump for another facet of his impeachment: his effort to get Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” enough votes in the state to give Trump a victory there in the 2020 presidential contest. (Secretary Brad Raffensperger declined to do so.)
It’s unlikely that this will result in charges, but it’s not a casual investigation. Speaking to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Thursday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) explained that her office’s probe extends beyond the recorded call with Raffensperger first obtained by The Washington Post last month. The investigation being led by Willis is also separate from a similar one initiated at the state level.
Mars arrivals, ‘Farfarout’ object and more this week:
Martian moon projected into night sky over UAE, China enters Mars orbit and captures footage, ‘Farfarout’ is now the farthest observed object in our solar system, and a collection of black holes is discovered by Hubble.