Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:18 and sunset 8:26 for 15h 08m 01s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 40.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1790, the United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
On this day in 1899, two salesmen, John H. Nicholson and Samuel E. Hill, crossed paths a second time, in Beaver Dam. The pair had first met eight months before in the Central Hotel in Boscobel and discussed the need for some way to provide Christian support to traveling businessmen. During this second meeting in Beaver Dam the two decided to “get right at it. Start the ball rolling and follow it up.” They invited their professional contacts to an organizational meeting to be held in Janesville on July 1, 1899, at which the organization was formally named and chartered. By 1948, the Gideons had distributed over 15 million bibles world-wide.
Rich Kremer reports Nearly half of Wisconsin Legislature won’t run in old districts as new maps shake up state politics (‘At least 44 state representatives and senators will run in new districts under maps drawn by Gov. Tony Evers and passed by Republicans’):
As the dust settles from the past year’s redistricting battles in Wisconsin, the state Legislature is undergoing a shakeup, with nearly half of all state lawmakers having announced they won’t run in their old districts.
All told, at least 61 members of the state Assembly and Senate won’t run again in their old districts. Of those, 41 are Republicans and 20 are Democrats.
In the Assembly alone, 40 representatives — more than a third of the chamber —have either filed to run for new seats in the Legislature or say they plan on it.
Another 16 state lawmakers, including eight Democrats and eight Republicans, have announced plans to leave the Legislature entirely.
This is all to the good — Wisconsin could use a new legislature.
Back from the brink, whooping cranes inspire awe but still need help: