Good morning,

Whitewater’s weather forecast for today calls for a sunny day with a high of sixty-one degrees.

There’s a regular school board meeting tonight, with open session scheduled to begin at 7 PM.

I’ve an update to a story about Debbie Millier, a third-tier con artist, but a first-tier screwball. In 2008, I posted about Miller’s attempt to defraud a restaurant, by claiming that she found a rat in her food. Here’s what I wrote, in a post entitled, “Ratology“:

Most people can tell the difference between a wild rat and a white laboratory rat, but apparently not every alleged con artist sees the importance of the difference.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Debbie Miller, aged 41, of Appleton

….claimed to find the rat in her lunch April 17 as she ate at the upscale Seasons Restaurant in Grand Chute, according to the criminal complaint.

She threatened to alert the media unless the owners paid her $500,000, the complaint said.

The owners turned the rat over to their insurance company. Investigators there determined the rodent was a white laboratory rat, not a wild rat, the complaint said.

Tests also suggested the rodent had been cooked in a microwave, but the restaurant doesn’t use microwaves in cooking.

(Emphasis added)

I am a blogger, and not a certified, credentialed ratologist, but even I could easily tell a lab rat from a wild one. What’s more, I could tell the difference between convection and microwave cooking. If I could tell, a restaurant could probably tell, too.

Next time — a Weber grill, perhaps.

There’s a follow up story, to Miller’s nutty fraud, that reveals her fate: “Wis. woman gets 9 mos. for extortion plan with rat.” more >>

Good morning,

Whitewater’s forecast for today is for a chance of showers, with a high of sixty-four degrees.

It’s activity night at the Middle School tonight, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Here are some updates on recent posts:

• Assemblyman Jeff Wood (Miscreant-Chippewa Falls) was censured, will stay in the Assembly, but will spend some time in jail, too.
• In a community still feeling the effects of the wrong decision on sale of seized property, Linn town chairman resigns. When police seized a lawnmower, the town shouldn’t have sold it as they did, and shouldn’t have pursued action against the whistleblower.
• The Wisconsin legislature dropped the medical marijuana bill, without a vote. The issue will return, and proponents will one day win the right to lawful use of medical marijuana.
• Raw milk advances! The legislature approved limited sales of raw milk, and the legislation now awaits the governor’s approvals.

Good morning,

Today’s forecast calls for a sunny day, with a high of sixty-five degrees.

It’s Earth Day.

There’s no better way to celebrate than to support the work of the Nature Conservancy, “the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.” Here’s a description:

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished since our founding in 1951:

We’ve protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide — and we operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.

We have more than 1 million members.

We work in all 50 states and more than 30 countries — protecting habitats from grasslands to coral reefs, from Australia to Alaska to Zambia.

We address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems.

Why We’re Successful — It’s how we work that has made the Conservancy so successful — and makes us optimistic that we can expand that great conservation work to meet the challenges ahead:

We use a science-based approach — aided by our more than 700 staff scientists. We pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges.

We partner — with indigenous communities, businesses, governments, multilateral institutions, other non-profits…and people such as yourself.

At Lincoln School, proud home of the Leopards, it’s Market Day. Pickup is scheduled for the upper gym from 5 to 6 p.m. Tonight at the Middle School, 5th grade parents and students are invited to visit at 6:30 p.m.