Good morning,
The forecast for Whitewater today calls for a high temperature of thirty degrees, with a chance of snow this evening, of two to four inches accumulation.
In Whitewater today, there will be a Planning Board meeting at 6 PM. The agenda is available online. Later, at 6:30 PM, there will be a meeting of the Library Board. That agenda is also posted online.
There’s a monthly public listening session scheduled tonight with the public school district administrator, at the district’s Central Office. The English language session runs from 5 to 5:45 PM, and the Spanish language session from 5:45 to 6:30 PM.
In Wisconsin history on this date, the Wisconsin Historical Society recalls a confrontation in Congress, in 1858:
1858 – Wisconsin Congressman Starts Fight in Legislature
Just before the Civil War, the issue of slavery tore apart the U.S. Congress. On February 8, 1858, Wisconsin Rep. John Potter (considered a backwoods hooligan by Southern aristocrats) leaped into a fight on the House floor. When Potter embarrassed a pro-slavery brawler by pulling off his wig, the gallery shouted that he’d taken a Southern scalp. Potter emerged from the melee covered in blood and marked by slave owners as an enemy. Two years later, on April 5, 1860, he accused Virginia Rep. Roger Pryor of falsifying the Congressional record. Pryor, feeling his character impugned, challenged Potter to a duel. According to Southern custom, a person challenged had the right to choose weapons. Potter replied that he would only fight with “Bowie knives in a closed room,” and his Southern challenger beat a hasty retreat. Republican supporters around the nation sent Potter Bowie knives as a tribute, including this six-foot-long one. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]
Last night saw an exciting Super Bowl, more so than the final score suggests, but commercials that I think were only average. Of those commericials, I’d say a few stood out for me —