Good morning. 
Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 71. Sunrise is 5:19 AM and sunset 8:25 PM, for 15h 06m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1899, Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stagecoach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
Recommended for reading in full —
Corri Hess reports Village Paid Foxconn Project Manager Nearly $1 Million (‘Private contractor billed Mount Pleasant for $973,750 and has just gotten a raise’):
The project director hired to oversee the failed Foxconn development in Racine County has been paid nearly $1 million in taxpayer money since he was hired in 2017 — and he was recently given a raise, according to documents obtained by WPR.
Claude Lois is a contracted consultant with Kapur and Associates, who works in Mount Pleasant’s Village Hall. Through April, Kapur and Associates billed Mount Pleasant $973,750, according to records provided to WPR. Of that, $1,681 was for labor and overhead for employees other than Lois.
Since it was announced with much fanfare, Foxconn has repeatedly fallen short on job and building promises. One of the complaints that Racine County residents and some politicians have had with the company is they are unclear what type of work is being done in Mount Pleasant. Still, Village officials praise the work Lois has done in his role as project consultant.
In a written statement, Mount Pleasant Village Administrator Maureen Murphy said Lois “continues to provide exceptional service to the Village as Project Director.”
“Through his work, the Village has acquired and developed thousands of acres, overseen hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment in TID#5 (tax increment district) and continues to help secure and attract new business to the TID, including a $48 million investment in the North Area announced last week,” the statement said.
Lois did not respond to requests for comment from WPR.
Last month, the Mount Pleasant Village Board extended Lois’ contract by two years. He’ll be paid $175 per hour beginning Aug. 31. His salary will increase to $200 per hour on Aug. 21, 2022, according to the contract.
Lois was also hired as the Village of Saukville’s economic development consultant in January 2020.
Lois’s salary is paid using money from the special taxing district created to pay for the local portion of the Foxconn project.
When the Village of Mount Pleasant and Racine County created the $911 million tax-increment finance district, officials said the money would pay for land acquisition, infrastructure upgrades and other expenses. Local governments expect money generated by Foxconn’s projects will cover the costs. But right now, local taxpayers have already spent over $1 billion for the project.
Sam Levine reports Republicans who embraced Trump’s big lie run to become election officials:
Republicans who have embraced baseless claims about the 2020 election being stolen are now running to serve as the chief elections officials in several states, a move that could give them significant power over election processes.
The campaigns, first detailed by Politico last week, underscore a new focus to take control of election administration. Secretaries of state, who are elected to office in partisan contests that have long been overlooked, wield enormous power over election rules in their state, are responsible for overseeing election equipment, and are a key player in certifying – making official – election results.
Winning secretary of state offices across the country would give conspiracy theorists enormous power to wreak havoc in the 2024 presidential election, including potentially blocking candidates who win the most votes from taking office.