Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday will bring early showers but then a cloudy-but-dry afternoon to Whitewater, with a high of sixty-nine. Sunrise today is 5:15 and sunset 8:33, for 15h 18m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 19.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

WEST BERLIN, June 12 — President Reagan sought today to undercut Europe’s perception of Mikhail S. Gorbachev as a leader of peace, bluntly challenging the Soviet leader to tear down the Berlin wall.

Speaking 100 yards from the wall that was thrown up in 1961 to thwart an exodus to the West, Mr. Reagan made the wall a metaphor for ideological and economic differences separating East and West.

”There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace,” the President said.

”Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace – if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe – if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. ”Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. ”Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Mr. Reagan made the remarks with the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin in the background. An East Berlin security post was in view….

On this day in 1899, Wisconsin experiences her most deadly tornado, claiming over one-hundred lives:

1899 – New Richmond Tornado
On this date the worst tornado disaster in Wisconsin history occurred. The storm virtually leveled New Richmond on the day the Gollmar Brothers Circus came to town. At the time, New Richmond was a prosperous town of 2500 people and one of the most scenic places in Wisconsin. On the day of the storm, the streets were filled with residents and tourists waiting for the afternoon circus parade. Shortly after the circus ended, the tornado passed through the very center of town, completely leveling buildings. Over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Massive amounts of flying debris resulted in multiple deaths in at least 26 different families. In all, the storm claimed 117 lives and caused 150 injuries. [Source: National Weather Service]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday will bring thunderstorms to Whitewater, on a day with a high of seventy-one. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset 8:33, for 15h 17m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 29.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1982, Universal Pictures releases E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

On this date Gene Wilder (aka Jerome Silberman) was born in Milwaukee. Wilder graduated from Washington High School in Milwaukee in 1951. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1955. and studied judo, fencing, gymnastics and voice at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England. Wilder won the Clarence Derwent award for the Broadway play “The Complaisant Lover” in 1962. He continued to perform on Broadway in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1963), Dynamite Tonight (1964), and The White House (1964). Wilder made his film debut in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), then earned an Oscar nomination the following year as the accountant Leo Bloom in The Producers, the first of three films he made for writer-director Mel Brooks. Wilder is known for his work in such films as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), Blazing Saddles (1973), and Young Frankenstein (1974).

After his second wife Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer, Wilder co-founded Gilda’s Club, a support group to raise awareness of the disease. [Source: Internet Movie Database]

Here’s Puzzability‘s Thursday game in this week’s Disappearing Acts series:

This Week’s Game — June 8-12

Disappearing Acts

They’re all trick questions this week. For each day, we started with the name of a magic or mentalist act as it would be billed. We removed all the letters that appear more than once, leaving just the singly occurring letters. Each day’s clue gives the unique letters in order (with any spaces removed), along with the word lengths of the act’s name in parentheses.

Example:

AYOUDN (5,7)

Answer:

Harry Houdini

What to Submit:

Submit the name (as “Harry Houdini” in the example) for your answer.

Thursday, June 11

PADTR (4,3,6)

Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of eighty-four. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset 8:32, for 15h 16m 54s of daytime. The moon is waning crescent with 40.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1692, Bridget Bishop becomes thew first person executed during the Salem witch trials:

Bishop was accused of bewitching five young women, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard, on the date of her examination by the authorities, 19 April 1692.

A record was given of her trial by Cotton Mather in “The Wonders of the Invisible World.” In his book, Mather recorded that several people testified against Bishop, stating that the shape of Bishop would pinch, choke or bite them. The shape also threatened to drown one victim if she did not write her name in a certain book. During the trial, anytime Bishop would look upon one of those supposed to be tortured by her, they would be immediately struck down and only her touch would revive them. More allegations were made during the trial including that of a woman saying that the apparition of Bishop tore her coat, upon further examination her coat was found to be torn in the exact spot. Mather mentions that the truth of these many accusations carried too much suspicion, however.

William Stacy, a middle aged man in Salem Town, testified that Bishop had previously made statements to him that other people in the town considered her to be a witch. He confronted her with the allegation that she was using witchcraft to torment him, which she denied. Another local man, Samuel Shattuck, accused Bishop of bewitching his child and also of striking his son with a spade. He also testified that Bishop asked him to dye lace, which apparently was too small to be used on anything but a poppet (doll used in spell-casting). John and William Bly, father and son, testified about finding poppets in Bishop’s house and also about their pig that appeared to be bewitched, or poisoned, after a dispute with Bishop. Other victims of Bishop, as recorded by Mather, include Deliverance Hobbs, John Cook, Samuel Gray, Richard Coman, and John Louder.^{[citation needed]}

During her sentencing, a jury of women found a third nipple upon Bishop (a sure sign of witchcraft) but upon a second examination the nipple was not found. In the end Mather states that the biggest thing that condemned Bishop was the gross amount of lying she committed in court. According to Mather, “there was little occasion to prove the witchcraft, it being evident and notorious to all beholders.” Bishop was sentenced to death and hanged.

Here’s Puzzability‘s Wednesday game:

This Week’s Game — June 8-12

Disappearing Acts

They’re all trick questions this week. For each day, we started with the name of a magic or mentalist act as it would be billed. We removed all the letters that appear more than once, leaving just the singly occurring letters. Each day’s clue gives the unique letters in order (with any spaces removed), along with the word lengths of the act’s name in parentheses.

Example:

AYOUDN (5,7)

Answer:

Harry Houdini

What to Submit:

Submit the name (as “Harry Houdini” in the example) for your answer.

Wednesday, June 10

DOUHEI (4,7)

Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a sunny Tuesday in Whitewater with a high of eighty-six. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset 8:32, for 15h 16m 11s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 52.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Rec Board meets at 5:30 PM this afternoon.

I’ve added a video to When Green Turns Brown, in response to a request, showing the principal discussion of Common Council on 6.2.15 regarding a public meeting about upgrades to Whitewater’s wastewater plant. The video is also available on the right sidebar of this page. (There’s a later discussion, toward the end of the 6.2.15 Council meeting, that’s worth posting and considering another time.) I’ve also updated yesterday’s post from the WGTB series to include the video.)

It’s worth mentioning again that When Green Turns Brown in a series about a small town’s digester energy project, based on the importation of waste from other cities into Whitewater. Other facility upgrades are not primarily a concern of this series, but are secondarily important only as they implicate managerial ability.

On this day in 1973, Secretariat became a Triple Crown winner by taking the Belmont Stakes. American Pharoah, of course, just won his own Triple Crown.

Here’s how the two horses ran the Belmont, with side by side video that the Wall Street Journal crafted:

On this date guitarist Les Paul (aka Lester Polfus) was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Best known for the guitar that bears his name, Les Paul was a country-music guitarist, jazz-pop musician and pioneer in music technology. In 1941, Paul built his first solid-body electric guitar and over the next decade he developed revolutionary engineering techniques such as close miking, echo delay, and multi-tracking. Paul was also well known for recording with his wife, singer Colleen Summers (a.k.a. Mary Ford).

Their biggest hits included “How High the Moon” (1951) and “Vaya Con Dios” (1953), both reaching #1. The recordings of Les Paul and Mary Ford were not only popular hits, they also showcased Paul’s pioneering use of overdubbing, or the layering of guitar parts one atop another. In 1952, Les Paul introduced the first eight-track tape recorder as well as the solid-body electric guitar he is known for. Built and marketed by Gibson, the Les Paul guitar has been used by such guitarists as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. [Source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]

Here’s Tuesday’s game from Puzzability:

This Week’s Game — June 8-12

Disappearing Acts

They’re all trick questions this week. For each day, we started with the name of a magic or mentalist act as it would be billed. We removed all the letters that appear more than once, leaving just the singly occurring letters. Each day’s clue gives the unique letters in order (with any spaces removed), along with the word lengths of the act’s name in parentheses.

Example:

AYOUDN (5,7)

Answer:

Harry Houdini

What to Submit:

Submit the name (as “Harry Houdini” in the example) for your answer.

Tuesday, June 9

AVCORFL (5,11)