Tuesday, June 24th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Nickel Boys @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Coming of Age/Drama/History
Rated PG-13; 2 hours, 20 minutes (2024)
The chronicles of a powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers, navigating the harrowing trials of the Nickel Academy, a Florida reform school in the 1960’s Jim Crow South. Based on the best selling novel by Colson Whitehead. Nominated for Oscars: Best Film and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset is 8:36, for 15 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 40.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.
It’s Juneteenth. On this day in 1865, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are officially informed of their freedom:
Despite the surrender of Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not formally surrender until June 2. On the morning of June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its enslaved population and oversee Reconstruction, nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers. The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all enslaved people were free:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
Why are Wisconsin’s summer skies hazy these past few summers? Here’s why:
Early snowmelt is a warning sign of intense wildfires to come
Although separated by thousands of miles, Milwaukee’s air quality shares a surprising connection with the snow in western Canada. Scientists are finding that early warning signs of an intense wildfire season — one that can generate fires sending smoke all the way to the Great Lakes region — come not when the Canadian fires are sparked, but during warm winters and long springs, when snow melts early.
Although some people still don’t like hearing it, that’s a function of climate change.
Much of the early snowmelt turns into runoff, and does not adequately soak into soil. That leaves behind dry land that serves as fuel for fires. Even wetlands, which would normally stop the fires or provide water for firefighters, dry out and burn.
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To understand how wildfire smoke is transported from Canada to the Midwest, [air quality meteorologist at Wisconsin DNR Alex] Oser said, it’s helpful to think of the atmosphere as multiple layers surrounding the Earth. Smoke in the surface layer, where we live and breathe, can sometimes travel long distances, but typically stays put or moves slowly.
The most significant movement occurs when smoke enters the high winds of the jet stream at the next level – the stratosphere. “If you have a very hot fire, a very large fire, that smoke can punch through the film between these two layers” said Oser.
Once in the stratosphere, near the height where planes fly, wind can carry Canadian smoke from west to east across the continent and to Europe. Images from NASA satellites this year show a smoky haze across North America.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with afternoon showers and a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset is 8:36, for 15 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 52.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1815, the Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, forcing Napoleon to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.
Yesterday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision striking down a law enacted in 2018 that required the Department of Justice to obtain approval from the Joint Finance Committee before settling many civil cases. The court held that litigation in two primary areas (civil enforcement actions and cases the DOJ brings at the request of executive agencies) constitutes core executive functions. Wisconsin’s high court held that requiring legislative approval for settlements in these cases violates the Wisconsin Constitution’s separation of powers.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset is 8:36, for 15 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1673, Marquette & Joliet reach the Mississippi: “”Here we are, then, on this so renowned river, all of whose peculiar features I have endeavored to note carefully.”
Eleven Wisconsin lawmakers are named in a manifesto written by a gunman suspected of killing a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and shooting another lawmaker and his wife, according to Democratic sources.
Wisconsin Democrats gathered June 14 at their annual convention under increased security after the two Democratic lawmakers in neighboring Minnesota were gunned down in their homes overnight.
Authorities say Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured at their homes by 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, who was impersonating law enforcement in what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination.” Hoffman and Hortman are both members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
Democratic sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that 11 Wisconsin lawmakers’ names are on a manifesto police recovered in their search for Boelter, who was apprehended in Minnesota on June 15. In some cases, the Wisconsin lawmakers were relocated from their homes to keep them safe as the search for Boelter continued, according to the sources. The group of Wisconsin lawmakers included eight women and three men, according to one source. All are Democrats.
“I just learned that. And that’s just shocking, to be honest with you, that is just absolutely shocking,” Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff of Onalaska said. “I don’t understand the level of anger that would lead to such a violent outburst that took place today in the Twin Cities, and I don’t understand why state legislators here in Wisconsin would also be on such a list.”
He said his name was not among those on the list.
Pfaff said he’s concerned that intensifying political rhetoric has pushed the country to this point.
Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 83. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:35, for 15 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 73.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Hey there Scott Walker. I noticed you deleted this after learning that in fact the shooter was from the right. I don’t think it matters either way, violence is violence, so I’m waiting for you to tweet the same thing with corrected facts?
Cuz you’re uh, to use your words, “being silent.”
Father’s Day in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:35, for 15 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 82.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The American Kestrel Cam saw all five of its female fledglings take flight between June 13 and 15—and we’ve compiled their first flights into one amazing supercut!
With the nest box behind them, the fledglings will still depend on their parents for food as they practice flying and learn how to hunt. For now, these siblings will stick close to one another, and they may gradually form small groups with other juveniles as they grow stronger and more independent. Soon, they’ll set off to claim their own territories!
The American Kestrel cam is a collaboration between the Cornell Lab or Ornithology and the Raptor Resource Project.
This American Kestrel pair is nesting in a gravel-bottomed nest on private property near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The nest box is located on the side of a traditional limestone-footed barn, overlooking a rolling grassland that slopes away into folded hills and forests. Our partners at the Raptor Resource Project have watched kestrels breed at this site for over 25 years, and the wonderful combination of grassland, forest, and water that surrounds the property is an excellent example of the habitat that kestrels need to survive and thrive. Watch cam.
The young birds begin to hatch out of their eggs after about a month of incubation. Over the following 3-4 weeks, the nestlings will transform from downy bobbleheads to sleek, dull versions of their parents on a diverse diet of invertebrates, small mammals, and birds (watch this highlight of the female feeding the young). After fledging, the young will continue to be cared for by their parents, remaining near the nest as they learn to hunt and master flight.
Baby Kaja is exploring her enclosure and having fun with her parents. While the mother initially had some trouble feeding her baby, her 55-year-old aunt and animal keepers helped to solve the problem. Under the watchful eye of zookeepers, vets, the family of elephants seems to be thriving.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:34, for 15 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 89.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States.
In April, Quita Sheehan helped organize a “Hands Off!” protest in Eagle River, a small community of around 1,600 in Wisconsin’s Northwoods.
Organizers expected 20 people to attend. Instead, 200 people showed up to protest federal funding cuts and layoffs under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“So this time, we’re expecting 50 people. And hopefully 500 people do not show up, just because it’s a smaller space,” Sheehan joked. “But it would be nice just to have a space so that those people who are concerned about the changes going on in our government, with the current administration, don’t feel so alone.”
More than 50 protests are planned in communities across Wisconsin as part of the national No Kings movement. The events were planned before immigration raids in California led to protests last Friday that have spread to other cities.
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The No Kings demonstrations are scheduled for the same day Trump is holding a massive military parade in Washington D.C. The administration says the parade will honor the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, but it will also coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday Saturday.
“President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday,” the ‘No Kings’ website says. “A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.”
Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:34, for 15 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 94.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Republican state lawmakers have rejected a plan that would have created a new security force for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, arguing other police who protect the state Capitol can handle the job on their own.
The decision marks the second session in a row the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee has declined the court’s request for added security, despite warnings that threats against judges are on the rise.
The latest request was endorsed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, whose budget would have spent around $1 million annually to create a security force known as the Office of the Marshals of the Supreme Court. The office would have been staffed by 10 people, including eight law enforcement officers with statewide jurisdiction.
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court tracks “credible, identified threats” against judges, according to a summary of the issue by the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office. There were 30 such incidents in 2022, 46 in 2023 and 29 in 2024.
But there were 22 such incidents in just the first three months of this year, according to the court — a period of time that coincided with judges nationwide coming under a spotlight as they blocked major executive orders by President Donald Trump.
The WISGOP knows precisely what it’s doing. A threatened Wisconsin judiciary is a vulnerable judiciary; judicial vulnerability serves right-wing interests.
A bobcat kitten was recently reunited with its mother after getting lost during a severe thunderstorm in Lenexa, Kansas. A resident discovered the bobcat kitten inside their home during a severe thunderstorm, according to a Facebook post. Authorities kept the kitten safe overnight, and the next morning took it to the same place it was found. Its mother heard its cries and the pair were reunited.
Wednesday, June 18th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of All We Imagine as Light @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Psychological Drama/Romance
Not Rated; 1 hour, 58 minutes (2024)
The light, the lives and the textures of contemporary, working class, Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The New York Times says “a soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood, in all its complexities and richness.” Grand prize winner, Cannes Film Festival, 2024. Shown with English subtitles.
Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 79. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:34, for 15 hours, 18 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 98.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Commission meets at 5:30 PM.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is suing billionaire Elon Musk over allegations that he violated multiple state laws, including the election bribery statute, when he offered voters a potential $1 million award for signing a petition as part of his effort to sway the result of Wisconsin’s April Supreme Court election.
Represented by Wisconsin’s Law Forward, Democracy Defenders Fund and New York-based law firm Hecker Fink, the lawsuit accuses the world’s richest man of implementing “a brazen scheme to bribe Wisconsin citizens to vote.”
Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, played a major role in this spring’s election becoming the most expensive judicial campaign in American history. Musk’s involvement in the race, which came as he was leading President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting initiatives and firing thousands of federal employees through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was widely seen as causing a backlash and helping Dane County Judge Susan Crawford defeat Musk-backed Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel.
Musk and his PAC spent more than $20 million on the race.
Prior to the election, America PAC offered voters $100 if they signed a petition “in opposition to activist judges,” and another $100 if they referred another voter to sign the petition. Later, at a pre-election rally in Green Bay, Musk handed out two $1 million checks to voters, which had been advertised as awards “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”
The lawsuit, filed in Dane County court, notes it is against the law to offer anyone more than $1 to induce them to go to the polls, vote or vote for a particular candidate.
Police in South Carolina engaged in a slow pursuit as they followed an excavator down a main highway for more than an hour at the speed an average adult walks. Read more: https://bit.ly/4l3CnDH
Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset is 8:33, for 15 hours, 18 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.
A few remarks appear below on recent Whitewater Unified School District actions for a new superintendent and about a school resource officer (SRO) agreement.
Chronology. On 5.27.25, the Whitewater School Board voted 6-1 (Tortomasi dissenting) to offer a contract to Samuel Karns, currently employed in the Beloit School District. On 6.5.27, the board met in closed session, returning to open session, to consider both an employment contract for Karns and a school resource officer for the district.1
The Draft Minutes of the 6.5.25 Board Meeting. The draft minutes of the 6.5.25 WUSD meeting include the following key paragraphs:
ADJOURN INTO CLOSED SESSION A. Adjourn into closed session – Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to adjourn into closed session, pursuant to the provisions of §19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats., considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility, and pursuant to the provisions of § 19.85(1)(e), Wis. Stats., deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Specifically, to discuss and take action on the terms of the employment contract to be offered to the new superintendent. Pursuant to the provisions of §19.85(1)(e), Wis. Stats., deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Specifically, to discuss and take action on the proposals related to school resource officer services and the terms of contracting for such services. Motion carried 7-0. Also present was Brian Dorow, Sean O’Neal, and Tom Czarnecki from Secure Resources Unlimited. Jeff Tortomasi left at 6:46 p.m.
OPEN SESSION A. Reconvene into open session – Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to reconvene into open session at 7:36 p.m., pursuant to §19.85(2), Wis. Stats., for possible action on any matter discussed in closed session. Motion carried 6-0-1-0 (Tortomasi – ABSENT). In the interest of transparency, the Board wishes to provide further information to the public regarding its closed session discussions concerning its efforts to contract for SRO services. The Board deliberated regarding its strategy for negotiating a new SRO contract with the entities that have shown interest, including those who responded to the District’s RFP and the City of Whitewater. We believe the strategies discussed will lead to the type of cooperative relationship with the eventual SRO provider that will best serve the safety and security needs of the school community. The Board intends to be open and transparent regarding this matter to the extent possible. In furtherance of that goal, the board will now entertain a motion in open session regarding the action to be taken on the Board’s efforts to contract with an SRO provider. Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to extend the term of the First Amendment to the School Resource Agreement for a period of thirty days from the original date of June 30, 2025, making the new expiration date to July 30, 2025. Motion carried 6-0-1-0 (Tortomasi – ABSENT). Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to accept Sam Karns’ Superintendent contract for the 2025-2026 contract period. Motion carried 6-0-1-0 (Tortomasi – ABSENT).
Actions of the Board on 6.5.25 on an SRO. The draft minutes (acknowledging that it’s a draft) are plain on the board’s decision to extended an existing school resource officer agreement with the Whitewater Police Department for an additional month (“Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to extend the term of the First Amendment to the School Resource Agreement for a period of thirty days from the original date of June 30, 2025, making the new expiration date to July 30, 2025”). (It’s also plain from the minutes that the board did entertain in closed session representatives of a private security firm.)
Extending the existing contract, with the goal of approving a new contract with the Whitewater department, is the only sensible course for this district.
Ambiguities of the Draft Minutes on a New Superintendent. The 6.5.25 minutes leave key aspects of a new superintendent’s contract ambiguous. I don’t think that’s intentional; I think the language of the draft is imprecise. The minutes state that “Hicks moved and Aranda seconded the motion to accept Sam Karns’ Superintendent contract for the 2025-2026 contract period. Motion carried 6-0-1-0 (Tortomasi – ABSENT).” Accepting the contract would mean an offered contract (by the district) has been accepted (by Samuel Karns). The district is the offeror (unless, improbably, these minutes are a discussion of a counteroffer by Karns.) It’s possible the minutes mean that a draft to be presented to Karns was approved at the 6.5.25 meeting. Again, it’s imprecisely written, and does not follow conventional legal usage.
The “2025-2026 contract period” described in the minutes would be for only a single year (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026) but it’s likely the draft minutes mean to convey a two-year period (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027).
Specifically, to discuss and take action on the terms of the employment contract to be offered to the new superintendent.
This sentence suggests that there has been no final offer to the board’s preferred candidate before 6.11.25, and that the 6.5 minutes are not describing an accepted offer (but, instead, board approval and acceptance of something else, or no real acceptance at all). There are other possibilities that might come into play in back and forth discussions between the parties, but I will not speculate on these other possibilities now, as the draft minutes are of limited reliance in that regard.
Deficiencies of the 6.5.25 School Board Meeting. The 6.5.25 board agenda did not include an online live viewing option (in violation of WUSD Board Policy 822.12), does not have even at this date a recorded version, and the draft minutes for the 6.5.25 do not include a return-to-open-session explanation for the absence of a virtual viewing option or a recording of the open session. In the absence of a stated explanation, one cannot tell whether the violations of WUSD policies were negligent or intentional.
Note well: if this community had followed Yesteryear’s Familiar Tune, much about these public issues, about these public officials, and at public expense would have been confined to a dark corner among only a few people.
Whitewater would have known even less.
The best record of an open session is a recording, both live and for reference later, and the interests of transparency are best served in following good open government practices and the board’s own published policies.
“Regular and Special School Board meetings will be broadcast live to community residents with the link posted on the agenda,” Whitewater Unified School District Board Policy 822.1 (revised March 20, 2023). ↩︎
The culprit for the strange blue light show is a specialized train that records track condition information using lasers at speeds of up to 125 mph. It is officially known as the New Measurement Train (NMT) Captured on two nights – May 1 and May 29, 2025 from Oxfordshire, UK on an auroracam and all sky camera.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset is 8:33, for 15 hours, 17 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 99.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 3 PM and the Public Works Committee meets at 5:15 PM.
Color panorama taken from “Larry’s Lookout”. On the far left is “Tennessee Valley” and on the right, rover tracks. Public Domain, Link.
Of all the federal budget cuts to make, cutting food aid is among the least necessary but most vindictive:
Every county in America experiences food insecurity, according to a new report from Feeding America. And recent cuts made by the Trump administration mean $1 billion will no longer fund farms, food banks and school programs.
As 600,000 people face food insecurity across Wisconsin, local food pantries now face increasing demand while having less food to distribute.
“The number of families that come through looking for support with food is staggering for the small number of people in our Waushara County,” Susan Herman, a volunteer with Waushara County Food Pantry, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
The Waushara County Food Pantry in central Wisconsin supports about 1,100 people every month. Last year, the pantry distributed nearly 500,000 pounds of food to those in need, including 2,000 pounds of fresh produce donated by local gardeners and farmers.
To help meet the growing demand this year, the pantry is partnering with the Waushara Gardeners club to distribute more fruits and vegetables to those in need. It is one of many Wisconsin pantries looking to gardeners to help feed people in the community.
In central Wisconsin, an elusive bird called the greater prairie chicken lives in the grasslands of Portage County.
They are generally only visible during the breeding season in spring, when people can watch the males compete over females. The birds will stomp their feet and inflate orange air sacs on the side of their neck that release a deep billowing call.
Conservationists have been trying to help the prairie chicken, going back to the 1920s. However, over the past 70 years the population has steeply declined. Today, it’s considered a threatened species, mainly due to fragmentation and loss of habitat.
