Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of two.  Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 5:04 PM, for 9h 53m 00s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 33.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, the 12th Wisconsin Light Artillery fights a skirmish at the Combahee River on the coast of South Carolina, and the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry fights another one 50 miles west at Robertsville, South Carolina.

Recommended for reading in full:

Yian Mui reports The government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, including a permanent $3 billion loss, Congressional Budget Office says:

“Among those who experienced the largest and most direct negative effects are federal workers who faced delayed compensation and private-sector entities that lost business,” the report said. “Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income.”

  Michael Scherer and Scott Clement report Democrats’ 2020 presidential contest is wide open as danger mounts for Trump, new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows:

A 56 percent majority of all Americans say they would “definitely not vote for him” should Trump become the Republican nominee, while 14 percent say they would consider voting for him and 28 percent would definitely vote for him. Majorities of independents (59 percent), women (64 percent) and suburbanites (56 percent) rule out supporting Trump for a second term.

….

While 75 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents approve of Trump’s performance in office when asked separately, nearly 1 in 3 say they would like to nominate someone other than Trump to be the party’s candidate for president.

 Patrick Marley reports Gov. Tony Evers to use private attorneys after AG declines to defend lame-duck laws:

Attorney General Josh Kaul has declined to represent Gov. Tony Evers in a suit over lame-duck laws limiting their powers, prompting Evers to spend up to $50,000 of taxpayer money on private attorneys.

The move comes soon after Republican lawmakers approved billing taxpayers for their own private attorneys in the legal fight. They have not said what firm they plan to use.

The Democratic governor selected the Madison firm Pines Bach to represent him last week after Kaul told Evers he couldn’t represent him because of a conflict of interest.

….

Kaul sent Evers a letter Jan. 18 telling him he would not represent him because one of the lame-duck laws in question curbed the power of Kaul’s Department of Justice.

“DOJ has a direct and substantial interest in this case that is in conflict with the defense of this case,” the Democratic attorney general wrote.

….

GOP lawmakers recently agreed to pay the Chicago firm Bartlit Beck up to $840,000 to represent them in a lawsuit over legislative maps they drew in 2011. Including previous expenses, those maps and the lawsuits they spawned are on track to cost taxpayers $3.5 million.

(The contrast between the WISGOP-controlled Assembly’s use of public money and Evers’s use of private money is stark.)

  LG’s New TV Rolls Itself Up When You’re Not Watching:

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will see snow in the morning and a high of twenty-five.  Sunrise is 7:12 AM and sunset 5:03 PM, for 9h 50m 43s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 43.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart shortly after liftoff, killing all seven members of the crew.

Recommended for reading in full:

Colten Bartholomew of the Lacrosse Tribune reports Tribune investigation: UW-Whitewater defensive schemes sent to UW-La Crosse football:

An email containing eight PowerPoint presentations that detail the Warhawks’ defensive principles, coverage rules and alignments against a number of opponents’ formations was sent to UW-L coach Mike Schmidt on Aug. 22 and sent from Schmidt to UW-L offensive coaches on Sept. 17.

The email containing these PowerPoint files was sent to the Tribune as part of an open records request into the reassignment and eventual resignation of former La Crosse offensive coordinator Luke Bengtson.

The five-times-forwarded email chain started with craigsmith0306@gmail.com — Craig Smith was the former offensive coordinator at UW-Whitewater, whose contract wasn’t renewed after the 2017 season. The Tribune confirmed it was the account of that Craig Smith via email.

The account emailed the PowerPoint documents to edmondsnelson@gmail.com, which forwarded it to NEdmonds@dbq.edu, the University of Dubuque account of Nelson Edmonds, the dean of student engagement and services and a former assistant coach at Whitewater. Edmonds forwarded it to the university email of Stan Zweifel, the Spartans football coach, who then forwarded it to Schmidt.

The Tribune confirmed that the PowerPoint documents were accurate and featured code words that pertained to Whitewater schemes this season.

Dubuque lost to Whitewater 38-6 in the season opener, and La Crosse fell 30-7 in the first WIAC game of the season.

 Craig Gilbert writes Latest polling data point to major re-election challenges for Trump in Wisconsin:

In 10 Marquette polls since Trump took office, his approval rating has never topped 47 percent. The share of voters who disapprove of him has equaled or exceeded 50 percent in the past nine polls dating back to June 2017.

….

Among Republicans, 58 percent said they would definitely vote for Trump, 22 percent said they would probably vote for Trump, 6 percent said they would probably vote for someone else and 10 percent said they would definitely vote for someone else. That is a party with a few cracks in it. Fewer than six in 10 GOP voters say they are certain they would support the Trump in the next election.

Among Democrats, there isn’t much doubt: None said they would definitely vote for Trump, 1 percent said they would probably vote for Trump, 4 percent said they would probably vote for someone else and 95 percent said they would definitely vote for someone else.

….

The intensity of public opinion matters a lot in politics and it is not on Trump’s side: 30 percent of Wisconsin voters “strongly” approve of him and 46 percent “strongly” disapprove.

  How Toy Story Creator Pixar Revolutionized Animation:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with snow this evening and a high of nine.  Sunrise is 7:13 AM and sunset 5:01 PM, for 9h 48m 28s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 53.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1888, the National Geographic Society is incorporated.

Recommended for reading in full:

 The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign writes Walker Far Outspent Evers in Election: 

Republican candidates and the special interest groups that supported them spent an estimated $57.7 million, which was about 63 percent higher than the more than $35.3 million spent by Democratic candidates and groups. Minor party candidates spent about $32,550.

The 20 major and minor party candidates for governor, and the two major party lieutenant governor candidates who won their primaries, spent more than $52.4 million. Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, led candidate spending with nearly $36.2 million. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, spent a combined $10.8 million.

Independent expenditures and phony issue ad groups often funded by wealthy, secret contributors that represent ideological, business, and labor interests, spent $40.6 million (see table below). Groups that supported Walker and Kleefisch spent about $21.5 million and groups that supported Evers and Barnes doled out more than $18.6 million. Three groups also spent about $427,000 to support unsuccessful primary candidate Mahlon Mitchell.

All told, nearly $58 million or 62 percent of the $93 million spent on the governor’s race supported the Walker-Kleefisch ticket.

(Eight years as the incumbent governor and still – with millions more in campaign contributions, Walker lost. Craig Gilbert is right: “In short, the man who dominated Wisconsin politics for nearly a decade was never terrifically popular.” )

 James Rowen writes Gerrymandering Costs Taxpayers Millions:

The Wisconsin GOP’s principles include “sound money management should be our goal,” but its legislative leadership is spending money on itself like it won the lottery.

Self-anointed shadow Wisconsin Governor and ‘man slapped silly by the same Federal judge twice’ Robin Vos just revealed under pressure the $840,000 contract he approved for a Chicago law firm to fight for a partisan gerrymandering plan already ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.

Recall that Legislative Republicans had already spent more than $2 million in state funds to write their plan in secret, as I’ve previously written:

It has become known that redistricting work took place, though publicly-funded, in private attorneys’ offices near the State Capitol into which GOP legislative leaders’ staffers were moved, and Republican legislators who were invited to those offices to review maps and boundaries proposed for their districts had to sign agreements requiring them to keep quiet about what they’d seen seen.

The Journal Sentinel now computes all the costs of redistricting litigation to state taxpayers at $3.5 million, which must be why the GOP’s principles said sound money management “should” be the goal, not ‘must be.’

  This Mountain Has Been Home to Monks for 12 Centuries:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of nine.  Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 5:00 PM, for 9h 46m 14s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1925, a fire destroys the Whitewater Hospital (“monetary losses were estimated at $20,000, but no deaths were reported.”).

Recommended for reading in full:

Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, and Seung Min Kim report ‘Prisoner of his own impulse’: Inside Trump’s cave to end shutdown without wall:

His poll numbers were plummeting. His FBI director was decrying the dysfunction. The nation’s air travel was in chaos. Federal workers were lining up at food banks. Economic growth was at risk of flatlining, and even some Republican senators were in open revolt.

So on Friday, the 35th day of a government shutdown that he said he was proud to instigate, President Trump finally folded. After vowing for weeks that he would keep the government closed unless he secured billions in funding for his promised border wall, Trump agreed to reopen it.

He got $0 instead.

Trump’s capitulation to Democrats marked a humiliating low point in a polarizing presidency and sparked an immediate backlash among some conservative allies, who cast him as a wimp.

….

“He was the prisoner of his own impulse and it turned into a catastrophe for him,” said David Axelrod, who was a White House adviser to President Barack Obama. “The House of Representatives has power and authority — and now a speaker who knows how to use it — so that has to become part of his calculation or he’ll get embarrassed again.”

(If Axelrod should be right – and it seems so – then a disordered man like Trump, in the grip of his impulses, will get embarrassed again. Such a man will learn nothing from past mistakes.)

Kelly Meyerhofer reports $840,000 redistricting contract released after Robin Vos initially refused to provide it:

A law firm hired by Republican state lawmakers to help defend them in a redistricting lawsuit can collect up to an $840,000 fee, but taxpayers could end up paying even more, according to a newly released contract.

The lawsuit is part of an ongoing court battle over Wisconsin’s legislative district maps passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2011. Before the latest contract, taxpayers had already paid some $2.5 million to outside law firms to draft and defend the maps in court.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, initially refused to release the latest contract to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in late December, citing an attorney-client privilege exemption in the state’s open records law.

Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council president Bill Lueders said at the time that he believed the denial of the newspaper’s request was illegal.

(Vos relented and released this contract, but claims a right to withhold other similar contracts in the future.)

Here’s the contract:

  Carmen Sandiego: The True Story:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will see occasional afternoon snow showers and a high of nine.  Sunrise is 7:15 AM and sunset 4:59 PM, for 9h 44m 03s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 74.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1932, Janesville continues its prohibition on Sunday dancing (“the Janesville council deadlocked, 3-3, on an ordinance that would have permitted public dancing on Sundays”).

Recommended for reading in full:

Mark Mazzetti, Eileen Sullivan, and Maggie Haberman report Roger Stone, Adviser to Trump, Is Indicted in Mueller Investigation:

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime informal adviser to President Trump, was charged as part of the special counsel investigation over his communications with WikiLeaks, the organization behind the release of thousands of stolen Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign, in an indictment unsealed Friday.

Mr. Stone was charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering, according to the special counsel’s office.

F.B.I. agents arrested Mr. Stone before dawn on Friday at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and he was expected to appear in a federal courthouse there later in the morning. F.B.I. agents were also seen carting hard drives and other evidence from Mr. Stone’s apartment in Harlem.

The indictment is the first in months by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump campaign associates. Citing details in emails and other forms of communications, the indictment suggests Mr. Trump’s campaign knew about additional stolen emails before they were released and asked Mr. Stone to find out about them.

Here’s the Stone Indictment:

Laura Strickler, Ken Dilanian, and Peter Alexander report Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled:

Jared Kushner’s application for a top secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him — but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017. Kushner’s was one of at least 30 cases in which Kline overruled career security experts and approved a top secret clearance for incoming Trump officials despite unfavorable information, the two sources said. They said the number of rejections that were overruled was unprecedented — it had happened only once in the three years preceding Kline’s arrival.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.

Kushner’s FBI background check identified questions about his family’s business, his foreign contacts, his foreign travel and meetings he had during the campaign, the sources said, declining to be more specific.

  How NASA Paints Its Spacecraft: