Good morning. 
Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of thirty. Sunrise is 7:04 AM and sunset 5:13 PM, for 10h 09m 20s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 82% of its visible disk illuminated.
Today is the one thousand one hundred eighty-fourth day.
On this day in 1849, the University of Wisconsin opens with 20 students led by Professor John W. Sterling.
Recommended for reading in full —
Samantha Michaels writes Trump Just Bragged About Criminal Justice Reform. Look Closer at How His Administration Is Undoing It:
Yes, it’s true that Trump—the same man who recommended heavier enforcement of stop and frisk policing, and whose administration brought back the federal death penalty and fueled the expansion of private prisons—signed a much-heralded bill in 2018 to reform the federal criminal justice system, with broad bipartisan support. The First Step Act made changes that have reduced the federal prison population, and it was the first criminal justice reform bill to pass Congress in a generation. So far, the law has shortened the prison stays of about 2,500 people who were serving disproportionately long sentences for crack cocaine offenses, most of them African American. It has also let more than 3,000 people go home early because of their good behavior during incarceration. And it could lead to improvements in prison conditions.
But as Trump claims credit for freeing people from prison, there’s one very big problem that he’s not mentioning: His Justice Department is actively pushing to send some of these same people back behind bars, and to prevent others from reducing their sentences—which greatly limits who can benefit from the law that Trump has touted as one of his signature achievements.
While the First Step Act has allies in the White House—including Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner—the officials tasked with implementing it are in the Justice Department. Attorney General Bill Barr, who leads the department, has reportedly raised concerns in private that the legislation’s reforms will drive up crime. And under his watch, the department’s prosecutors have argued that hundreds of incarcerated people applying for relief under the law’s cocaine sentencing reforms are not eligible, according to an investigation by the Washington Post. In some cases, Trump has even stood onstage hugging and congratulating people who were recently released under the law—even as the Justice Department was arguing in court to lock those same people up again.
Jeramey Jannene reports Milwaukee DNC Leaders Fired by Board:
The top two employees of Milwaukee’s Democratic National Convention host committee were fired Tuesday as part of an investigation into a toxic work environment at the organization.
The board terminated president Liz Gilbert and chief of staff Adam Alonso less than 48 hours after opening an investigation into a “toxic” and “unstable” work environment.
“Adam Alonso has consistently bullied and intimidated staff members, but of note is that this is primarily directed at the women on staff. Resulting in a culture that coddles male senior advisors and consultants who have no clear role or clear lines of management,” wrote an anonymous group of “senior women from the host committee” to the committee’s five-member board. The letter, dated Thursday, January 30th, said the concerns were brought to Gilbert’s attention in November, but she defended Alfonso and dismissed the issue.
(Emphasis in original.)