Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 71. Sunrise is 6:17 and sunset is 7:32, for 13 hours, 14 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 43.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1799, the entire Dutch fleet is captured by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell during the War of the Second Coalition.
As she had not been fundraising for her reelection effort, and as she had not applied for a vacancy on the federal bench, it’s unsurprising that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley declined to run for reelection. What she said about the race is more telling than her own role:
“I will not seek reelection to the Wisconsin Supreme Court because I believe the best path for me to rebuild the conservative movement and fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court,” she said in a statement.
In her statement, Bradley simultaneously concedes that the judiciary is not her best option, that anyone backed by the WISGOP will be in the minority even if successful, and, incredibly, contends that the far-right populism she supports is a ‘fight for liberty.’ In this, Bradley is right twice and wrong once: she is without the judicial temperament the court requires, and anyone from the far-right who wins will be in the minority, but she’s simply mendacious to claim that it’s a battle for liberty she and far-right populism have in mind.
Five gene-edited foals, cloned from a polo prize winner, promise greater speed thanks to CRISPR technology. While Kheiron Biotech sees a revolution in polo, breeders and players say gene-editing could threaten the sport’s integrity.
Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 72. Sunrise is 6:16 and sunset is 7:33, for 13 hours, 17 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 34.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
It’s fallen to Vice President JD Vance to improve the reputation of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Yesterday, Vance visited La Crosse, part of Derrick Van Orden’s congressional district, in that effort:
LA CROSSE – Looking to reshape public opinion on the Trump administration’s sweeping tax and spending law, Vice President JD Vance made a stop in western Wisconsin to promote its effects on the manufacturing industry and its efforts to lower taxes for workers while dismissing Democrats’ concerns that it will disrupt access to health care and food aid.
….
Manufacturing and agriculture are the largest sectors of Wisconsin’s economy. The manufacturing industry employs nearly half a million people in the Badger State, and it contributes more than $70 billion per year to the state’s Gross Domestic Product. But economic uncertainty has brought challenges to the industry, as employers struggle to hire and retain workers and combat inflation and rising material costs.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” contains provisions designed to incentivize manufacturers to invest in research and development and to build new factories in the U.S. Such “Made in America” efforts have seen bipartisan support in Wisconsin.
The law also makes changes to government assistance programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin.
Ahead of Vance’s visit, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration released a new analysis estimating the sweeping tax and spending law will cost the state $284 million every two years once fully implemented.
“I’ve been clear from the get-go that Republicans’ so-called ‘big beautiful bill’ is bad for Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement. “And now, it’s also clear this bill is just as bad for Wisconsin taxpayers, who will be forced to help foot the bill for Republicans’ red-tape requirements just to make it harder for folks to get the care they need and food to eat.”
Van Orden’s fate rests on how his constituents view Trump, and (less probably) whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court orders congressional redistricting before the November 2026 election.
“I've gotten a lot of good on-the-job training over the last 200 days,” JD Vance said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, when asked if he was ready to assume the role of commander-in-chief.
The wonders of the universe played out against a magical backdrop in Syria this week. A time-lapse from the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra shows a Milky Way dancing its way across a star-studded sky. (AP video by Ghaith Alsayed).
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 6:15 and sunset is 7:35, for 13 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 26 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1845, the first issue of Scientific American magazine is published.
A few political realities of our time are clear: (1) the GOP is a populist movement, (2) populist movements are authoritarian, (3) there’s no genuine bipartisanship with an authoritarian populist movement (as it insatiably takes, but does not give), and (4) local politics takes on the character of national politics.
Following repeated spring election losses to Democrats, and facing a future without President Donald Trump boosting base turnout at the top of presidential tickets, the Republican Party of Wisconsin must increase its out-of-state fundraising, an internal review recommends.
The report was prepared by a post-election commission assembled by the party in the aftermath of several disappointing recent elections — notably three spring state Supreme Court races in which a Democratic-backed candidate decisively defeated one supported by Republicans. In addition to more aggressive fundraising, it also calls for better coordination with county parties and outside groups.
Yes, indeed: the WISGOP needs out-of-state money and outside (often national) groups. Of course it does. Wisconsin’s elections, like those in so many other states, have become referendums on national politics. They’re referendums on national politics because Trumpism (a far-right populism) willingly accepts no limits on its own reach. Every topic becomes a matter for its intrusion and striving for control.
A single misstep from national GOP orthodoxy and their Wisconsin political careers would be over. Statewide WISGOP officials, once seen as significant in their own right, are now only mere foot soldiers in a national populist movement.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 74. Sunrise is 6:14 and sunset is 7:37, for 13 hours, 23 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 17.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1776, members of the 1st Maryland Regiment repeatedly charged a numerically superior British force during the Battle of Long Island, allowing General Washington and the rest of the American troops to escape.
Without action, the program will end next summer. In his initial budget proposal, Gov. Tony Evers had asked for the program to be provided $100 million per year for 10 years. The version of the budget signed into law in July did not include the program’s re-authorization.
Another bill authored by Republican Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) and Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) would re-authorize the program for six years at $28 million per year. To gain the support of the Republicans who want more oversight of the program, the bill would require that any land acquisitions that cost more than $1 million be approved by the full Legislature.
Tuesday’s proposal from Democrats would re-authorize the program for six years at $72 million per year. The bill would also create an independent board with oversight authority over the program.
The 17-member board would include members of the majority and minority in both chambers of the Legislature; two representatives from environmental organizations; two representatives of hunting, fishing or trapping interests; two DNR representatives, including one member from the Natural Resources Board; one representative from the Department of Tourism; one representative of the outdoor recreation industry; one representative from the Ice Age Trail Alliance; a representative of a federally recognized Native American tribe in the state; one local government representative and two members of the public. Members of the board would serve staggered three-year terms.
As the WISGOP controls both chambers, success depends on WISGOP votes. Some legislation may come of this, but likely less than the WisDems would hope in funds and independence. More likely — something hollow, something hobbled.
Monsoon rains and a massive dust storm – also known as a haboob – engulfed the Phoenix metro area, creating low visibility, knocking out power for thousands and even grounding flights.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 70. Sunrise is 6:13 and sunset is 7:38, for 13 hours, 25 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Redistricting that way is not possible in Wisconsin, as the WISGOP legislature and the Democratic governor would not agree on any congressional redistricting that reduces existing gerrymandering in the state. (It’s notable that the WISGOP argues fallaciously that any attempt to reduce the gerrymandering of the maps from the last decennial census is, itself, a form of gerrymandering.)
For Wisconsin, any adjustments to the state’s Congressional districts will come from judicial action. Two cases are now pending in Dane County Circuit Court: Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, No. 2025CV002252 (Wis. Cir. Ct. Dane Cnty. July 8, 2025) and Elizabeth Bothfeld, et al. v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, No. 2025CV002432 (Wis. Cir. Ct. Dane Cnty. July 21, 2025).
A couple of very normal-looking Blue Jays are joined for a moment by an individual whose head is practically featherless! Despite the strange appearance, this is actually quite common at this time of year, especially for Blue Jays. In late summer and fall, when a bird molts, it usually grows and replaces its feathers gradually, but occasionally a bird loses all the feathers on its head at once. This is particularly true of Blue Jays, many of which molt the feathers of the head, or “capital tract,” in synchrony. The result is a very strange looking bald bird! This bald appearance lasts for about a week before new feathers replace the molted ones.
Monday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 68. Sunrise is 6:12 and sunset is 7:40, for 13 hours, 28 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 5.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 5:30 PM. The Whitewater School Board goes into closed session shortly after 6:30 PM, resuming open session at 7 PM.
At the Journal Sentinel, Craig Gilbert offers an assessment of the 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial race. His article presents a few key points (points summarized as ‘AI-assisted’ by the Journal Sentinel; I’d recommend readers review the article in full, of course):
Wisconsin’s 2026 gubernatorial election is unusual due to the lack of an incumbent and potentially no widely recognized candidates.
Few candidates have high statewide name recognition, creating an unpredictable race where candidates have more leeway to define themselves.
Historically, candidates with low name recognition rarely win statewide races, but the open field presents a unique opportunity.
The race is expected to be highly competitive and the most open-ended in decades.
Gilbert’s full article would have been, in the political era before this one, the gold standard of analysis. In conditions of two conventional political parties, with a conventional federal executive, Gilbert’s assessment would be sound.
This is not, however, that time, as these are not those parties and this is not that federal executive. One party is a far-right populist party, and the federal executive is Trump, a bigoted authoritarian.
And so, and so, one should, adjust the Journal Sentinel‘s summary to represent the actual conditions of 2025-2026:
Wisconsin’s 2026 gubernatorial election is unusual as it has a major authoritarian party and an authoritarian president.
The lack of statewide recognition will not matter once Trump and supportive donors join the fight. Candidate ‘definitions’ will rest on how they stand in relation to Trump.
The outcome of the race will depend mainly on how Wisconsinites view Trump and Trumpism.
‘Historically’ is yesterday’s now-discarded perspective.
Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:11 and sunset is 7:42, for 13 hours, 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1970, Vietnam War protesters bomb Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, resulting in the death of a postdoctoral researcher and injuries to three others.
A Wisconsin judge Friday declined to dismiss felony charges against two attorneys and a former aide to President Donald Trump who advised Trump in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely claiming that the Republican had won the battleground state that year.
Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland rejected the motions to dismiss the 11 felony charges filed against the three defendants. The charges are for using forgery in an attempt to defraud each of the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump that year.
Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s attorney in Wisconsin, Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised the campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020, all were initially charged in June 2024. The case has stalled as the judge considered their attempts to have the charges dismissed.
Each of the 11 of the felony charges they face carries the same maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
“Troupis does not show that the First Amendment protects the right to commit forgery, does not show that the government violated his right to due process by entrapping him into that forgery, and does not show prosecutors must exercise discretion to charge an accused of his preferred offense,” the judge said in rejecting the motions to dismiss.
…
The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them in 2023.
The southern Chinese tourist city of Sanya on the island province of Hainan closed businesses and suspended public transport as it prepared for the arrival of Typhoon Kajiki.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 74. Sunrise is 6:10 and sunset is 7:43, for 13 hours, 34 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1775, King George III delivers his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St James’s stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion.
The Joint Committee on Legislative Organization voted by paper ballot along party lines Friday afternoon to direct the Legislative Reference Bureau not to publish any rule that hasn’t gone through a review by the Legislature in accordance with Wisconsin law.
Republican lawmakers on the committee proposed a vote on the motion Thursday after Gov. Tony Evers told agencies to skip lawmakers in the final steps of the rulemaking process. There are 27 administrative rules, including one to address the state’s policy on gray wolf management, that Evers submitted to the LRB for publication. Of those, 13 have not been reviewed by a standing legislative committee and are yet to be published.
It’s the latest step the administration has taken in testing the bounds of the recent Evers v. Marklein II ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The majority found in the case that the state laws giving the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules broad powers to block administrative rules indefinitely were unconstitutional.
The Evers Administration will have to decide whether to mount a legal challenge, an action that would seek a broader application of Evers v. Marklein II (Tony Evers v. Howard Marklein, 2025 WI 36, No. 2023AP2020-OA (July 8, 2025)).
Researchers have used a phenomenon called thermal transpiration to create a solar powered flying device that could one day carry sensors and communication equipment high in the mesosphere. Because these devices can fly in any low-pressure environment, the team think that in future it could even be used to collect data in the thin atmosphere of Mars.
Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:09 and sunset is 7:45, for 13 hours, 36 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 0.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 2004, versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway. Both paintings are later recovered.
Doctors gave Cindy Bentley 24 hours to live after she was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. She beat the odds though, and through Special Olympics Wisconsin, she found purpose and athletic success, earning White House invitations from two U.S. presidents. Now leading People First, she advocates for disability rights across the state.
Hopefully, by the time you read this, the Brewers will be thick into this season‘s Race for the 2025 pennant! This is the chronicle of the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin and their 55 year love affair with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the incredible yet heartbreaking run in the 1982 World Series. (Our day will come). You’ve got to believe!
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:08 and sunset is 7:47, for 13 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 3.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Lakes Advisory Committee meets at 4:30 PM and the Community Development Association meets at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 1883, an F5 tornado strikes Rochester, Minnesota, leading to the creation of the Mayo Clinic.
In an Aug. 12 letter to state agency leaders, Evers said a 4-2 ruling from the Supreme Court means there “no longer remains any statutory requirement to wait for legislative committee review before promulgating a rule once I have approved it.”
“I respectfully request that you analyze areas in which the Legislature’s prior abuse of power forestalled, delayed, or halted prior rulemaking in service of the people of our state,” Evers said.
In July, the Supreme Court struck down parts of state law that allowed the Republican-controlled Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, or JCRAR, to indefinitely suspend rule changes.
Gov. Evers is applying the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision from July to other stalled rule changes, and here he’s likely to prevail in any possible litigation with the Legislature. The same reasoning that Wisconsin’s high court applied in July would apply to other administrative rules as well.
The politics will depend on how one views the rules advanced by the Evers Administration and may influence the 2026 gubernatorial race.
