Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be increasingly sunny with a high of 91. Sunrise is 5:37 and sunset is 8:24, for 14 hours, 47 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1829, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
A better Wisconsin politics requires a better Legislature, and a better Legislature requires better legislators:
An analysis by Marquette University Law School researcher John Johnson suggests there are four “battleground” state Senate districts in play ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
They include:
- The 5th Senate District held by Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield
- The 17th Senate District held by Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green
- The 21st Senate District held by Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine
- The 31st Senate District held by Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick
“The good news for Democrats is that I would say all four of these seats lean Democratic, even though three of them have Republican incumbents,” Johnson told WPR. “I say that because not only did (Democratic U.S. Sen.) Tammy Baldwin win a majority of the vote in each of these districts in her 2024 senatorial reelection campaign, so did Kamala Harris, even though she lost the state.”
See Rich Kremer, Fight for control of Wisconsin Senate is shaping up ahead of 2026 election (‘Democrats focused on flipping seats made competitive under new legislative maps’), Wisconsin Public Radio, July 23, 2025.
Want better? Elect more.
What’s happened to Japan? Bear drill takes place following recent attacks in Japan:
Honest to goodness. If bear attacks on people were to befall Whitewater, the residents of this beautiful city should expect more than fireworks as a defense.