Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:30 AM and sunset 8:31 PM, for 15h 01m 21s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 19.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1960, Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of chimpanzees in the wild.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Katelyn Ferral reports After years of failure, Defense Department moves to address sex assault in National Guard:

For years, the Defense Department has failed to hold the National Guard accountable for its longstanding sexual assault problem.

But now, the agency is considering adopting broad reforms in how the Guard handles such cases.

Routine audits, prevention policies and more data are among the changes the agency is considering and that were outlined in a Defense Department task force report in June.

The task force’s report reflects the findings of a Journal Sentinel/Cap Times investigation earlier this year that found Guard units have buried sexual assault allegations and do not have basic data on such claims. The investigation also showed how the Guard’s bureaucracy and complex state-federal structure is so impenetrable that it is difficult for victims to navigate and easy for commanders to weaponize.

The task force largely agreed, calling for distinct reforms for the Guard, which is different than full-time, active duty forces and the U.S. Reserves because the Guard is made up of militias in 54 U.S. states and territories and answers to the governor of each state rather than the federal government.

“Recent independent investigations of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the Guard and Reserve have surfaced troubling findings,” the task force report said. “These components face special jurisdictional challenges by their very nature that simply do not resonate with the Active Duty component.”

 Ed Pilkington reports Ken Starr helped Jeffrey Epstein with ‘scorched-earth’ campaign, book claims:

In Perversion of Justice, the Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown writes about Starr’s role in securing the secret 2008 sweetheart deal that granted Epstein effective immunity from federal prosecution. The author, who is credited with blowing open the cover-up, calls Starr a “fixer” who “used his political connections in the White House to get the Justice Department to review Epstein’s case”.

The book says that emails and letters sent by Starr and Epstein’s then criminal defense lawyer Jay Lefkowitz show that the duo were “campaigning to pressure the Justice Department to drop the case”. Starr had been brought into “center stage” of Epstein’s legal team because of his connections in Washington to the Bush administration.

Perversion of Justice will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.

Rachel Pannett reports Iranian intelligence agents plotted brazen abduction of Brooklyn dissident journalist, U.S. prosecutors say:

Iranian intelligence agents plotted to abduct an Iranian American journalist living in Brooklyn and spirit her away to the Middle Eastern country, possibly via a daring maritime evacuation, the Justice Department alleged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Four Iranians were charged in federal court in Manhattan with conspiring to kidnap the exiled journalist and women’s rights activist, Masih Alinejad, who has long been critical of the regime in Tehran. Alinejad was not identified by prosecutors, but she confirmed on Twitter that she was the intended target.

“I am grateful to FBI for foiling the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry’s plot to kidnap me. This plot was orchestrated under Rouhani,” she wrote on Tuesday, referring to outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Lab-Grown Foie Gras is Here to Take Away Ethical Concerns:

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 83. Sunrise is 5:29 AM and sunset 8:32 PM, for 15 h 02m 49s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 12% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1973, Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Patrick Marley reports Wisconsin man who’s scanning ballots, conducting election review was convicted of fraud:

A small group of Wisconsinites conducting a review of the presidential election — including a felon convicted of fraud — hopes soon to scan ballots in Brown County.

The group of about a half dozen volunteers has collected images of about 2 million ballots using the state’s open records law, said Gary Wait, a former private investigator who is helping lead the effort. Those involved have visited two Dane County communities to scan ballots and examine them with microscopes.

Assisting Wait is Peter Bernegger of New London, who was convicted in 2009 of bank fraud and mail fraud. A federal judge in Mississippi sentenced him to 70 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $2.1 million.

An appeals court upheld his conviction but lowered his restitution to $1.7 million. Bernegger has spent years fighting his conviction, filing numerous appeals.

 Josh Dawsey reports The Republican Party’s top lawyer called election fraud arguments by Trump’s lawyers a ‘joke’ that could mislead millions:

Justin Riemer, the Republican National Committee’s chief counsel, sought to discourage a Republican Party staffer from posting claims about ballot fraud on RNC accounts, the email shows, as attempts by Donald Trump and his associates to challenge results in a number of states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, intensified.

“What Rudy and Jenna are doing is a joke and they are getting laughed out of court,” Riemer, a longtime Republican lawyer, wrote to Liz Harrington, a former party spokeswoman, on Nov. 28, referring to Trump attorneys Rudolph W. Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. “They are misleading millions of people who have wishful thinking that the president is going to somehow win this thing.”

Jamelle Bouie writes The Less Trump Pays for Jan. 6, the More It Costs Us:

For two months after the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump fought to invalidate and overturn the results. When election administrators and judges refused to play ball, he urged his most loyal followers to march on Congress, to prevent final certification of the electoral vote. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told a crowd of thousands on Jan. 6.

“We’re going to the Capitol,” Trump said, and though he did not, many of his supporters did.

Trump was impeached for his leading role in the insurrection, but not convicted. The stain of that second impeachment notwithstanding, he left office without sanction. He lives in freedom, cushioned by continued wealth and influence. He still has the Republican Party in his thrall, and within that party, the only orthodoxy that matters is whether you also want to “stop the steal.” After a brief and uncharacteristic silence on this point, Trump now hails the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as heroes.

“These were peaceful people, these were great people,” he said during a recent interview on Fox News, in which he also embraced the MAGA martyrdom of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed inside the Capitol.

We are not the only democracy to have had a corrupt, would-be authoritarian in high office. But we have had a hard time holding that person minimally accountable, much less keeping him out of contention for future office, which would have been accomplished had he been removed from the White House.

World’s Deepest Pool Opens in Dubai:

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 75. Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:32 PM, for 15h 04m 14s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 6.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM, and her Planning Commission at 6 PM.

On this day in 1962, The Rolling Stones perform for the first time at London‘s Marquee Club.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Kevin Sieff reports The Trump administration used an early, unreported program to separate migrant families along a remote stretch of the border:

The Trump administration began separating migrant families along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border months earlier than has been previously reported — part of a little known program coming into view only now as the Biden administration examines government data.

In May 2017, Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Ariz., began implementing a program known as the Criminal Consequence Initiative, which allowed for the prosecution of first-time border crossers, including parents who entered the United States with their children and were separated from them.

From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, 234 families were separated in Yuma, according to newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security, almost exactly the same number as were separated in a now well known pilot program in El Paso that year. Because the Yuma program began in May, and the existing data on family separations begins only in July, the number of separations there was likely higher than 234, a prospect the Biden administration is now investigating.

Some of the parents separated under the Yuma program still remain apart from their children four years later. Others are missing — lawyers and advocates have been unable to locate them since they were deported alone. The children separated in Yuma in 2017 were as young as 10 months old, according to government data.

 Tiffany Hsu reports Despite Outbreaks Among Unvaccinated, Fox News Hosts Smear Shots (‘Months after Rupert Murdoch got a Covid-19 dose, one of his network’s stars, Tucker Carlson, called a Biden vaccination proposal “the greatest scandal in my lifetime” ‘):

Back in December, before the queen of England and the president-elect of the United States had their turns, the media mogul Rupert Murdoch received a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Afterward, he urged everyone else to get it, too.

Since then, a different message has been a repeated refrain on the prime-time shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham on Mr. Murdoch’s Fox News Channel — a message at odds with the recommendations of health experts, even as the virus’s Delta variant and other mutations fuel outbreaks in areas where vaccination rates are below the national average.

Mr. Carlson, Ms. Ingraham and guests on their programs have said on the air that the vaccines could be dangerous; that people are justified in refusing them; and that public authorities have overstepped in their attempts to deliver them.

Peter Beaumont reports Haiti police say murder suspect is middleman living in Florida:

As Haiti descended ever deeper into a dangerous political chaos, with notorious gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier calling on Haitians to “mobilise”, the motive for the killing of [Haitian Pres. Jovenel] Moïse remained clouded in mystery.

The latest suspect was identified by police as Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian in his 60s living in Florida who describes himself as a doctor and has accused his homeland’s leaders of corruption.

“He arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act,” Haiti’s police chief, Léon Charles, said, describing a private Venezuelan security company based in Florida called CTU.

See Virgin Galactic Unity 22 travel to space and back:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy, with scattered showers, and a high of 72. Sunrise is 5:27 AM and sunset 8:33 PM, for 15h 05m 37s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 2.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1839, Ebenezar G. Whiting of Racine receives patent #1232 for his improved plow, the first patent issued to someone from Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Rich Kremer reports Eau Claire County District Attorney to Resign Amid Sexual Harassment Investigation:

Eau Claire County District Attorney Gary King, who is being investigated for sexually harassing employees and being intoxicated in court, will resign from office in August. 

In a letter sent to employees Friday, King said he will step down from his position Aug. 14.

“I feel this decision is in the best interest of the office,” wrote King. “It is my hope that this decision will allow the work of the office to move forward without further distraction.”

King had been the focus of a sexual harassment investigation since Feb. 10. After an employee had asked the county’s human resources department for assistance in addressing her concerns about King’s behavior, an outside attorney was hired to write an investigatory report.

The report contained interviews with unnamed employees in the district attorneys office that cited instances where King had rubbed a female employee’s foot when she had taken a shoe off, pulled her onto his lap and asked her if she would participate in a threesome with him and a resident living nearby the county courthouse.

 Mitchell Schmidt reports Tony Evers vetoes bills eliminating personal property tax, creating legislative human resources office:

Another bill vetoed Thursday would have established a nonpartisan human resources office with a director appointed by and reporting to the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, which Republicans control.

The office would have provided human resources services to the Legislature, and also with establishing a formal complaint process to review and investigate allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, violence or bullying by legislators or legislative or service agency staff.

Open records advocates raised concern over specific language in the bill regarding confidentiality that they said could be used to shield investigatory records from public access.

“While I would support a clean bill that establishes a Legislative Office of Human Resources, I cannot support a bill that would be used to hide official misconduct from public scrutiny,” Evers wrote in a veto message.

Dan Spinelli reports Under Trump, Presidents Got More Power to Fire Agency Heads. Biden Just Used It:

On Friday, Joe Biden fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, a Trump administration appointee who had clashed with congressional Democrats and disability rights activists. Originally appointed by Donald Trump in 2018, Saul’s term was set to last until 2025.
….

While federal law says that the Social Security Commissioner can only be fired for cause, recent Supreme Court rulings have strengthened Biden’s ability to oust independent agency leaders as he likes. Last year, in a case brought during the Trump administration, a conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled that Congress’ mandate that the president only be able to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “with cause”—and not “at will”—was unconstitutional. The issue arose after the Obama-appointed CFPB director, Richard Cordray, resigned to run for governor of Ohio, kicking of a complicated legal- and power- struggle over the agency’s leadership.

Under that ruling, Biden was able to replace Trump’s permanent CFPB director shortly after entering the Oval Office. Last month, the justices ruled that the president can similarly fire the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency without cause, clearing the way for Biden to quickly replace the Trump holdover leading that office.

Why Championship Chess Sets Are So Expensive:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will see scattered afternoon showers with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:26 AM and sunset 8:33 PM, for 15h 06m 56s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1832, General Henry Atkinson’s troops begin construction of Fort Koshkonong after being forced backwards from the bog area of the “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk: “The Fort, later known as Fort Atkinson, was described by Atkinson as “a stockade work flanked by four block houses for the security of our supplies and the accommodation of the sick.”

Recommended for reading in full — 

Rich Kremer reports Search Committee Named to Find Next UW System President:

University of Wisconsin Board of Regents President Edmund Manydeeds has named a 19-member search committee charged with selecting a new UW System president. The announcement comes just more than a year after a previous search failed, with the sole finalist withdrawing his candidacy citing “process issues.”

The naming of the search committee kicks off what is expected to be a 10- to 12-month process to find a new leader to replace interim President Tommy Thompson, who has held the job since July 1, 2020.

The committee is more than twice the size of the previous presidential search committee, which drew anger and multiple resolutions from campus employee and student government groups because it didn’t include faculty, staff or non-regent students.

Regent Vice President Karen Walsh will chair the search committee, which includes four other board members, two former regents, three chancellors, two provosts and a campus vice chancellor along with professors and staff members from multiple UW campuses.

 Maya Yang reports Charlottesville removes Confederate statues that helped spark deadly rally:

Work was under way on Saturday morning to remove a statue to a Confederate general that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

The small Virginia city said the equestrian statue of Gen Robert E Lee and a nearby statue of Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson would be removed to storage. Designated public viewing areas for the removals had been established.

A crane was moved into place and workers were preparing as the sun came up first to hoist Lee away. Just after 8am local time, the statue of the man on his horse was hoisted slowly off its plinth.

Charlottesville’s mayor, Nikuyah Walker, gave a speech in front of public and media as the lifting equipment was moved into position.

(America’s seditious enemies are unworthy of America statues.)

 Philip Bump writes A third of White conservatives refuse to get vaccinated — a refusal shown in polling and the real world:

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released over the weekend shows a stark divide in vaccination hesitancy by political group. Overall, about a fifth of Americans say they definitely won’t get vaccinated. That’s about the percentage for independents and Whites overall. But among Republicans and White conservatives, the figure is more than a third.

If you’re skeptical of those results, fair enough. But there is a correlation in the real world: States that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 have almost uniformly seen lower densities of vaccinations than states that voted for Biden. About the time that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused, the two groups of states diverged, with blue states continuing to add vaccinations far faster than red ones.

Poor People’s Campaign co-chair on voting rights, poverty:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:26 AM and sunset 8:34 PM, for 15h 08m 10s of daytime.  The moon is new with 0.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1962, Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear explosion at orbital altitudes.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Molly Beck reports Tony Evers signs Republican-written state budget that cuts income taxes, announces $100 million more for schools:

WHITEFISH BAY – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday signed into law a new state budget written by Republican lawmakers that includes billions in income tax cuts and announced he would be providing school districts with an additional $100 million in federal funding to make up for what he characterized as a plan that falls short for schools.

The Democratic governor signed the $87.3 billion two-year state spending plan in an elementary school library in a Milwaukee suburb, igniting his reelection campaign that will rely on areas like Whitefish Bay where a shifting electorate could prove crucial in Wisconsin’s tight statewide races.

The governor tweaked the plan using his veto authority in 50 largely minor areas but left intact the centerpiece of the Republican plan — a more than $2 billion tax cut package that would reduce the state’s third tax bracket for about half of Wisconsin residents to 5.3%.

 Shamane Mills reports DOJ: Wisconsin Could Get $65M Under Proposed Opioid Settlement:

Wisconsin could receive $65 million from a proposed $4.3 billion multistate settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced Thursday.

In 2019, Attorney General Josh Kaul filed suit against Purdue alleging the maker of OxyContin helped ignite the drug crisis with deceptive marketing claims.

“It’s critical that we hold those responsible for the opioid epidemic accountable,” said Kaul in a statement announcing a proposed settlement. “No lawsuit can undo the destruction the opioid epidemic has caused. But by recovering funds from those whose unlawful conduct led to the opioid crisis, we can support prevention, treatment, and recovery programs and deter the kind of conduct that led to the epidemic.”

Wisconsin is one of 15 states that dropped their opposition to the Purdue Pharma Oxycontin bankruptcy plan which critics initially thought let the Sackler family, which made billions off the sale of opioids, off too easily.

 Rebecca Beitsch reports Trump appointee erred in firing Voice of America whistleblowers: watchdog:

A government watchdog found the Trump-appointed leader of Voice of America (VOA) erred in his dismissal of six employees, which was likely retaliation against whistleblowers and wrongly stripped some of them of their security clearances.

President Biden dismissed U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack on his first day in office following a string of complaints by employees that he was politicizing VOA and other state-funded media outlets.

Five of the employees in question have already been reinstated to their positions by the new administration, but the Thursday review from the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) clears all the employees of wrongdoing, while documents reviewed by The Hill include some previously unreported details about strife at the agency.

….

“What is shocking are OIG’s discovery of the many more ways Pack and his political appointees – while running USAGM for a mere six months – managed to break the law, abuse authority, endanger public health and safety and grossly mismanage the agency,” David Seide, a whistleblower attorney with the Government Accountability Project who represented one of the employees, said in a statement.

Pack faced complaints from more than 30 whistleblowers during his tenure, firing six on the same day who had protested management decisions while at USAGM.

Zaila Avant-garde wins Scripps National Spelling Bee: