Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 61. Sunrise is 5:29 and sunset is 8:13, for 14 hours, 44 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 79.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1673, Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
The World’s Most Remote Brewery:
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 5:30 and sunset is 8:12, for 14 hours, 42 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 86.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1527, the Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
On 5.5.25, FREE WHITEWATER published a post on the tariff hit that solar projects will take. See Solar Takes a Tariff Hit. There’s another economic blow that solar projects, generally, may face: elimination of federal subsidies for solar projects.
(While there is a proposed Whitewater Solar Project, it’s only one of about twenty in the state. I’ve no prediction about how any single project will fare economically, either from tariffs or federal subsidy cuts. Some projects will have more dependable economics than others; some, however, are likely to succumb to changes in fiscal policy.)
Eric Gunn reports on the elimination of solar subsidies in a proposed congressional budget:
To help pay for the extension of tax cuts enacted in the first Trump administration, the GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee is proposing to repeal clean energy tax credits, Politico reported this week. The tax credits were among the measures enacted in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
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In addition to the tax credits that the U.S. House proposal would repeal, President Donald Trump in his second term has frozen federal clean energy grants that were part of the 2022 legislation. Those include grants to establish a network of electric vehicle charging stations — prompting a lawsuit by 15 states, including Wisconsin.
See Eric Gunn, Advocates say U.S. House tax cut proposal would kill clean energy investments, jobs, Wisconsin Examiner, May 16, 2025.
Although the Wisconsin Examiner story is written from the perspective of proponents of solar projects, I present it here for another reason: a Wisconsin trend that seemed certain a few years ago is now in doubt.
See also Joe Schulz, Trump tariffs expected to increase costs, limit options for Wisconsin solar (‘Combination of tariffs on China, steel and southeast Asia could make some projects ‘economically unfeasible’ ‘), Wisconsin Public Radio, May 5, 2025.
Tornadoes and severe weather in Wisconsin, parts of the Midwest:
Two new studies identify the genetics behind orange house cats:
Now two papers, published concurrently on Thursday in Current Biology,reveal a remarkably unique genetic pathway that has never been seen in other felines—or any other mammals. With their colleagues, two separate groups at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan independently arrived at the same surprising conclusion: a tiny deletion in a cat’s X chromosome increased the activity of a gene called Arhgap36, which scientists had never previously associated with pigmentation. In this case, it appeared to be coaxing the cat’s melanin-producing cells to shift orange.
These findings close decades’ worth of investigations surrounding house cats with a ginger hue—a coat coloration that had “been recognized for more than a century [as] kind of an exception to the genetic rules that explain coloration in most mammals,” says Christopher Kaelin, a geneticist and lead author of the Stanford study.
That’s partly because what seemed to be causing orange fur in cats wasn’t so much an “orange gene” as it was an “orange mutation” in an unknown gene, Kaelin says.
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Orange and tortoiseshell cats’ tendency toward amusing, friendly and sometimes mischievous behavior is a running joke among cat owners, but there’s no scientific evidence linking coat colors and behavioral differences, Barsh says. Researchers aren’t yet sure if the mutation could play a role in this—it’s a question they’d like to ask next, however. “Because Arhgap36 is expressed not only in pigment cells but also in the brain and hormonal glands, an interesting possibility is that its altered expression causes changes in neuronal activity and even behavior,” Sasaki suggests.
See Gayoung Lee, This Strange Mutation Explains the Mystifying Color of Orange Cats (‘Your orange cat may host a never-before-seen genetic pathway for color pigmentation, according to new studies’), Scientific American, May 15, 2025.
Wednesday, May 21st at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of I’m Still Here @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Drama/History
Rated PG-13
2 hours, 17 minutes (2024)
Languages: Portuguese, French; shown with English subtitles
In 1971, A military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva Family, Rubens, Eunice and their five children, live in a beach house in Rio. One day, Rubens, a congressman and outspoken critic of Brazil’s newly instituted dictatorship, is taken in for questioning… and does not return. Eunice is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family. A devastating, true story.
Oscar Winner for Best International Film.
One can find more information about I’m Still Here at the Internet Movie Database.
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will see afternoon thunderstorms with a high of 89. Sunrise is 5:31 and sunset is 8:11, for 14 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 1911, in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.
Uncertainty is bad for business:
After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.
Retail sales rose a scant 0.1% in April, the government said Thursday, matching the Wall Street forecast.
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After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.
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U.S. tariffs are still higher than they’ve been in decades and more costly import prices could turn off buyers.
See Jeff Bartash, Retail sales peter out in April as tariffs kicked in (‘Trade wars force consumers to weigh how much to buy — and when’), MarketWatch, May 15, 2025.
See also Melissa Repko, Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month, CNBC, May 15, 2025:
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said tariffs are “still too high” – even with the recently announced agreement to lower duties on imports from China to 30% for 90 days.
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” he said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that [the] consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”
Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:32 and sunset is 8:10, for 14 hours, 37 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.
On this day in 1973, NASA launches Skylab, the United States’ first space station.
On 4.23.25, FREE WHITEWATER recommended that readers Mark Your Calendars for Fat Bird Week (Yes, Wisconsin Has a Fat Bird Week).
The video below chronicles the fierce completion:
The contest, and good work throughout the year, comes from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, a 501(c)3 nonprofit formed in 1986.
Views of Mars and its moons captured by the Hera spacecraft during flyby:
Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:33 and sunset is 8:09, for 14 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Public Works Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council at 6 PM.
On this day in 1985, police bomb MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia, killing six adults and five children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
Two petitions before the Wisconsin Supreme Court now challenge Wisconsin’s congressional maps. See Two Lawsuits Against Wisconsin’s Congressional District Maps. If one of those lawsuits should prevail, what would be the likely result for district boundaries? Roll Call explains:
Democrats have long criticized the Wisconsin congressional map as heavily favoring Republicans in a closely divided state. The GOP holds six of the state’s eight House seats. And of those six Republican-held seats, just two are considered competitive by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales: the 1st District represented by Rep. Bryan Steil and the 3rd District represented by Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
Redistricting was an issue in this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race – a nominally nonpartisan contest that was won by the Democratic-backed Susan Crawford and helped preserve the court’s 4-3 liberal majority. Some Republicans had speculated that Crawford’s election would lead to the state’s congressional map being redrawn to Democrats’ benefit ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Van Orden told CNN earlier this year that he and Steil would “both lose” under new congressional lines if Crawford won.
See Mary Ellen McIntire, Challenge to Wisconsin map adds latest wrinkle to 2026 House fight, Roll Call, May 12, 2025.
Well, Van Orden’s right: redistricting would make these two seats more competitive, and both Van Orden and Steil would likely lose in more competitive districts. Both federal representatives have positioned themselves as committed conservative populists. They’re ill-suited to districts that would be even slightly more centrist.
Most likely outcome: redistricting Wisconsin’s congressional boundaries would take Wisconsin from a 6-2 Republican advantage to a 4-4 split between the major parties.
Contact requires consent. ‘Justice was done’, says victim after Depardieu guilty verdict:
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:35 and sunset is 8:08, for 14 hours, 33 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater School Board moves into a closed-session meeting shortly after 5 PM. Whitewater’s Plan and Architectural Review Commission meets at 6 PM.
On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
Wisconsin’s elections to her high court have come to cost about nine figures in total. Jay Heck asks Will $100M Supreme Court elections be the new normal in Wisconsin? and Tim Connor writes Record $100M spent on Wisconsin Supreme Court race raises concerns over judicial independence.
The last Wisconsin Supreme Court elections were expensive races (2024 @ $53 million and 2025 @ over $100 million).
There’s a reasonable prediction on spending: while there is enough money in America to make every Wisconsin Supreme Court race a $100 million dollar contest, there’s only the willingness to do so while Wisconsin remains a swing state and in the absence of more compelling swing-state priorities.
The 2024 contest was one of many spending priorities across the country; the 2025 contest stood by itself in April of an off year. In both cases, Wisconsin was a swing state, but in one case a swing state competing with the attraction of other swing-state races across the nation.
There’s also a difference between changing the balance of a court and spending money knowing the ideological margins won’t change even after a barrel of money. The 2026 race will not flip the court. (Rebecca Bradley, if she says in the race rather than receiving and accepting a U.S. Court of Appeals appointment, would be running in Wisconsin only to remain in the minority.)
Good morning.
Mother’s Day in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 5:36 and sunset is 8:07, for 14 hours, 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1997, Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of a rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format.
Canadian adventure cat Fitz takes a Spring walk:
The ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ of the Carina Nebula Complex – 3D tour of Webb imagery:
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 5:37 and sunset is 8:06, for 14 hours, 28 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1773, the Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the right to sell tea directly to North America:
The Act granted the Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, although the tax imposed by the Townshend Acts and collected in the colonies remained in force. It received the royal assent on May 10, 1773.
Colonists in the Thirteen Colonies recognized the implications of the Act’s provisions, and a coalition of merchants, smugglers, and artisans similar to that which had opposed the Stamp Act 1765 mobilized opposition to the delivery and distribution of the tea.
So there’s a claim that if you impose tariffs (they’re taxes) on imports from foreign manufacturers, then out from the ground will spring domestic manufacturing. It’s a dubious claim. Consider textiles:
Iris Acevedo of Milwaukee researches sustainable textile materials, like plant-based fibers, to teach students at Mount Mary University and Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design how to create low cost, high quality clothing.
On “Wisconsin Today,” she said tariffs in the textile and apparel industry are concerning, as China is the leading exporter of denim in the world. Meanwhile, the U.S. is the top consumer of denim.
In 2023, America imported about $31 billion in apparel from China and Vietnam, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Last month, President Trump imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports, while there’s a 125 percent retaliatory tariff by China on U.S. goods.
“We do a lot with China,” she said. “I know [U.S.] cotton producers who export to China for manufacturing are concerned.”
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Acevedo said it would be a great time to think about reintroducing domestic production to reduce the cost of shipping jeans overseas — effectively a tax due to the tariffs.
However, that comes with costs of building infrastructure that could replace the supply coming from China, as well as labor to produce the apparel.
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And despite small-scale businesses like Acevedo’s and growing interest in the textile and apparel industry, there’s simply no quick, straightforward transition away from the current global market.
See Courtney Everett, Facing tariffs, Wisconsin clothing makers consider what onshoring production would take, Wisconsin Public Radio, May 9, 2025.
Under tariffs, Americans will pay more or go without for years in the hope that more expensive domestic options will eventually arise. Tariffs are an imposition on consumers and a reallocation of wealth that could be better applied where Americans are already more efficient than foreign producers.
They’re an ignorant person’s idea of being knowledgeable.
(It’s a coyote not a wolf, but the person speaking on the recording is likely experiencing a coyote invasion for the first time and so does not identify this invader accurately. He’ll become more experienced after many thousands of these animals conquer his borough block by block.)
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 5:38 and sunset is 8:04, for 14 hours, 26 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 91.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1974, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Nixon.
There are now two lawsuits filed against the current apportionment of Wisconsin’s Congressional districts. A story from WPR does a good job of summarizing the petitions (each filed in state court).
First, the story from WPR:
One of the petitions was filed by the Democratic firm Elias Law Group. It claims the state’s congressional map, endorsed by the court’s former conservative majority in 2021, violates several sections of the Wisconsin Constitution.
The case claims the map violates Democratic voters’ rights to free speech and association under the state constitution because despite nearly equal numbers of Democratic and Republican votes in Wisconsin’s statewide elections, the GOP has been able to hold six of eight congressional districts.
“This congressional map directly discriminates against Petitioners, who support Democratic candidates in Wisconsin and—because of that affiliation—are effectively silenced and shut out from casting a meaningful congressional vote,” the lawsuit states. “Wisconsin’s Constitution prohibits this injustice several times over. This Court should grant this original action and replace the adopted congressional map with a lawful alternative.”
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The Campaign Legal Center’s challenge [petition here] claims the congressional map violates the state constitution’s guarantee of equality because it “does not equally apportion population among Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts.”
The suit also focused on the number of counties that were split when the current congressional map was approved by the court three years ago. It claims the former conservative majority erroneously put more importance on the “least changes” directive than “traditional redistricting” principles in the Wisconsin Constitution, like minimizing the number of counties that are split to form congressional districts. It alleges an “eight district map need only have seven county splits to achieve population equality” while the current map has 12.“Thus, in addition to being unequally populated, the current congressional map is an improper court-imposed remedy because it elevated ‘least change’ over Wisconsin’s traditional redistricting criteria of minimizing county splits, resulting in the needless splitting apart of counties (and therefore communities of interest),” the lawsuit states.
See Rich Kremer, 2 lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map filed with state Supreme Court (‘The cases look to overturn Wisconsin’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms’), Wisconsin Public Radio, May 8, 2025.
Second, while I’ve read both petitions, but have read only the accompanying memorandum of law in the Campaign Legal Center’s filing, I’ll not offer an opinion on the relative strengths of the respective cases. (Proper practice is to see both petition and memorandum from each.)
Easiest, most obvious contention, however: there’s much ahead, in state (and likely federal) court.
Underwater volcano off Pacific coast could soon erupt:
See Michelle Starr, Study Reveals a Simple Technique to Communicate With Your Cat, Science Alert, May 6, 2025.
Tuesday, May 13th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Sing Sing @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Docudrama/Prison drama
Rated R (language)
1 hour, 47 minutes (2023)
Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he did not commit, finds purpose by acting in a theater group with other incarcerated men and an unforgettable ensemble cast of actual, formerly incarcerated actors. Nominated for three Oscars, including Best Actor, Song, and Screenplay.
One can find more information about Sing Sing at the Internet Movie Database.
