Good morning.

We’ll have about a one-third chance of thunderstorms today, with a high of eighty-five, and light west winds of 5 to 10 mph.

At 4:30 PM this afternoon, there will be a meeting of the Community Development Authority.

Like many others, I’ve always liked the science fiction film Independence Day. It’s simply a popcorn movie, not to be be taken seriously, but rather enjoyed despite occasional silliness. Yesterday, I came across a good-natured parody of the film from Honest Trailers by Screen Junkies. Clever, I think —

On this day in 1950, Pres. Truman responds to Stalinist aggression:

On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia. In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea, Truman also deployed the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to guard against invasion by communist China and ordered an acceleration of military aid to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.

Stalin’s support of invasion and a years-long war lead to the deaths of over one-million people on all sides.

Puzzability continues its series about cars, running from 6.24 through 6.28:

Assembly Line
This week—summer road trip! For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the make and model of an old car.

Example:
Body’s energy important in acupuncture / penultimate word in many fairy tales / Hogwarts mail carrier / scraped into, as a pattern in glass / compete / large often-canvas bag

Answer:
Chevrolet Chevette (chi / ever / owl / etched / vie / tote)

Here’s the puzzle for Thursday:

Negative reply / secluded Hindu retreats / machine that makes bundles of hay.

Good morning.

We’ll have a sixty percent chance of thunderstorms today, mostly in the morning, with a high of eighty-five.

Downtown Whitewater’s board meets this morning at 8 AM, and the Fire-Rescue Task Force will meet later today at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1948, America begins the Berlin Airlift:

U.S. and British pilots begin delivering food and supplies by airplane to Berlin after the city is isolated by a Soviet Union blockade.

Though some in U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s administration called for a direct military response to this aggressive Soviet move, Truman worried such a response would trigger another world war. Instead, he authorized a massive airlift operation under the control of General Lucius D. Clay, the American-appointed military governor of Germany. The first planes took off from England and western Germany on June 26, loaded with food, clothing, water, medicine and fuel.

By July 15, an average of 2,500 tons of supplies was being flown into the city every day. The massive scale of the airlift made it a huge logistical challenge and at times a great risk. With planes landing at Tempelhof Airport every four minutes, round the clock, pilots were being asked to fly two or more round-trip flights every day, in World War II planes that were sometimes in need of repair.

The Soviets lifted the blockade in May 1949, having earned the scorn of the international community for subjecting innocent men, women and children to hardship and starvation. The airlift–called die Luftbrucke or “the air bridge” in German–continued until September 1949, for a total delivery of more than 1.5 million tons of supplies and a total cost of over $224 million.

Puzzability continues its series about cars, running from 6.24 to 6.28:

Assembly Line
This week—summer road trip! For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the make and model of an old car.

Example:
Body’s energy important in acupuncture / penultimate word in many fairy tales / Hogwarts mail carrier / scraped into, as a pattern in glass / compete / large often-canvas bag

Answer:
Chevrolet Chevette (chi / ever / owl / etched / vie / tote)

Here’s the puzzle for Wednesday:

Upper limb / toothed wheel that’s part of a larger machine / paper package amount / king of the jungle.

Good morning.

Whitewater will hold a public meeting this afternoon, beginning at 4:30 PM, to reveal plans for the reconstruction of the downtown’s East Gate Way. Following open house introductions, two identical presentations will take place at 5 to 5:30 PM and 6 to 6:30 PM. At the Cravath Lakefront Community Building.

The Urban Forestry Commission will also be meeting at 4:30 PM today.

There’s great inspiration in tenacity, in refusing to yield, and in making the most of the present. I’d say the Chicago Blackhawks understand that very well. Through those virtues they overcame a 2-1 game deficit in an astonishingly brief time (17 seconds!), to win not just a game, but the Stanley Cup:

So very well done.

Puzzability has a series about cars, running from 6.24 to 6.28:

Assembly Line
This week—summer road trip! For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the make and model of an old car.

Example:
Body’s energy important in acupuncture / penultimate word in many fairy tales / Hogwarts mail carrier / scraped into, as a pattern in glass / compete / large often-canvas bag

Answer:
Chevrolet Chevette (chi / ever / owl / etched / vie / tote)

Here’s the puzzle for Tuesday:

Tiney utensil / slang for great, like a comedy jam / Boeing 787, for one.

Good morning.

Monday brings an even chance of scattered thunderstorms and high of eighty-four.

Whitewater’s Fire-Rescue Task Force meets tonight at 6:30 PM. At 7 PM, Whitewater’s School Board meets in open session following an earlier closed session discussion.

On 6.24.1997, a report about the 1947 Roswell incident:

On July 24, 1997, barely a week before the extravagant 50th anniversary celebration of the incident, the Air Force released yet another report on the controversial subject. Titled “The Roswell Report, Case Closed,” the document stated definitively that there was no Pentagon evidence that any kind of life form was found in the Roswell area in connection with the reported UFO sightings, and that the “bodies” recovered were not aliens but dummies used in parachute tests conducted in the region. Any hopes that this would put an end to the cover-up debate were in vain, as furious ufologists rushed to point out the report’s inconsistencies. With conspiracy theories still alive and well on the Internet, Roswell continues to thrive as a tourist destination for UFO enthusiasts far and wide, hosting the annual UFO Encounter Festival each July and welcoming visitors year-round to its International UFO Museum and Research Center.

June 24th 1946 was a very wet day in Mellen, Wisconsin:

1946 – Most Precipitation in One Day
On this date Mellen, Wisconsin received 11.72 inches of rain within a single day. This set a record for Wisconsin for precipitation received within 24 hours. [Source: National Weather Service]

Puzzability has a new series about cars, running from 6.24 to 6.28:

Assembly Line
This week—summer road trip! For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get the make and model of an old car.

Example:
Body’s energy important in acupuncture / penultimate word in many fairy tales / Hogwarts mail carrier / scraped into, as a pattern in glass / compete / large often-canvas bag

Answer:
Chevrolet Chevette (chi / ever / owl / etched / vie / tote)

Here’s the puzzle for Monday:

Sharp part of a pencil / by way of / fingerprint or DNA evidence / low haunted house noises.

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny, with a high of eighty-eight, and a slight chance of late afternoon showers.

If you’ve a house full of wild baboons, and one of them has not the slightest worry about your threats for it to leave, then you’ve a situation like this:

On this day in 1911, a first for Wisconsin aviation:

1911 – First Home-Built Airplane Flies
On this date Wausau native John Schwister became a pioneer in Wisconsin aviation by flying the state’s first home-built airplane. The plane, named the “Minnesota-Badger,” was constructed of wooden ribs covered with light cotton material. Powered by an early-model aircraft engine, the “Minnesota-Badger” flew several hundred feet and reached a maximum altitude of 20 feet. [Source: Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame]

Watch Wausau – Wisconsin’s First Homebuilt Airplane on PBS. See more from Wisconsin Hometown Stories.