Dustin Reichwald

Warhawk Football Coaches Join Effort To Help Local Brain Injury Survivor

UW-Whitewater head football coach Kevin Bullis and retired head coach Bob Berezowitz will join a post-game reception and fundraiser for local brain injury survivor Thomas Hapka after the Warhawk football game against Oshkosh on Saturday, October 6.

The event, organized by Life Beyond Brain Injury, will be held immediately after the Warhawk football game at the Willow Brook Golf Course (formerly Whitewater County Club) located at N9035 WI Highway 89 in Whitewater. Coaches Bullis and Berezowitz, as well as unspecified Warhawk players, will be on hand to meet fans.

There will be appetizers, a 50/50 cash raffle, and a silent auction of UW-Whitewater sports items, including a game-used helmet, two 2014 Championship commemorative footballs, team-signed footballs, and other Warhawk memorabilia. The event is open to the public and there is no admission fee, but donations are welcome and all proceeds from the event will go to Hapka’s medical fund.

Hapka, a UW-Whitewater graduate, was critically wounded when a chiropractor tore an artery in his neck and a nearby emergency room failed to diagnose his brain injury for almost three days. Hapka never received a legal settlement, and the ongoing complications from his brain injury have financially devastated Tom and his family.

Starr Lee, a founding member of Life Beyond Brain Injury and a journalism student at UW-Whitewater, said the group planned the post-game fundraiser as part of UW-Whitewater’s Family Day festivities.

“Family Day is all about UW-Whitewater families, and Tom’s family has a deep, longstanding connection to this university,” Lee said. “Tom’s dad, who died last year, worked at the campus for more than 37 years, and the Hapka family as a whole has provided more than 100 years of dedicated service to UW-Whitewater. Now the Hapka’s need their Warhawk family to rally around them, and that’s our call to action for this year’s Family Day.”

Those interested in learning more about the Life Beyond Brain Injury event at Willow Brook Golf Course (formerly Whitewater Country Club) are encouraged to email info@LifeBeyondBrainInjury.org or call 262.458.4090.

Referendum Listening Session Today

Do you have questions about the November referendum?

Please attend tonight’s Community Listening Session. The event starts at 7 p.m. in the Whitewater High School Auditorium.

Coffee with a Cop Day – Today from 7 am to 10 am

 

The Whitewater Police Department is excited to participate in the 3rd Annual National Coffee with a Cop Day from 7 am to 10 am this Wednesday, October 3, 2018.

Coffee with a Cop Day is an opportunity many law enforcement agencies participate in to open up lines of communication and establish relationships within their communities. This community outreach program was created to allow citizens and officers to have conversations in a calm and comfortable setting to discuss anything from safety and concerns to sports and pets. The goal is good conversation and good company.

The Whitewater Police Department has partnered with two great local establishments, Jessica’s Family Restaurant and The Sweet Spot Café. An officer or two will be stationed at both locations and all citizens are welcome and encouraged to pull up chair, order some breakfast or coffee and enjoy some conversation.

“Whitewater is a small community where the police are not only here to serve and protect, but they are also neighbors and friends,” said PR & Communications Manager, Kristin Mickelson. “We feel it is important to recognize, at the end of the day, we are all people and many of us just trying to live a happy life and get home safe to our families. We hope this new initiative to connect with the community is a success.”

The Whitewater Police Department is looking forward to this new opportunity to build relationships with the community and citizens they serve.

Jessica’s Family Restaurant
140 W. Main Street

The Sweet Spot Café
226 W. Whitewater Street

David Stanley Meyer, 62, Whitewater passed away at his home, surrounded by his family, on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.

Dave was born on December 18, 1955, in Fort Atkinson to Stanley and Elizabeth (Speed) Meyer.  He attended Whitewater High School before entering the United States Army in 1972.  On May 10, 1974, Dave married the love of his life, Christine Welter in Kitzingen, Germany.  Together they owned Meyer’s Bumper to Bumper auto parts store.  Dave enjoyed fixing houses, old cars and going for rides.  He also enjoyed the Northwoods, his children, grandchildren, and his special friends; Mickey Mouse and John.

He is survived by his wife, Chris; children Angie (Tommy) Meyer, Clintonville, WI, Carrie (Brad) McDermott, Whitewater, WI, Jeremy (Kori Kincaid) Meyer, Whitewater; grandchildren Logan Lizak, Colten and Kylie McDermott, Dylan, Olivia and Jaymason Meyer; siblings Dennis (Mary) Meyer, Wisconsin Dells, Sandra Frye, Bethel, ME, Linda Kieffer (Hal), Lake Tomahawk, WI, Ellen (Jim) Streib, Milton, Jim (Vickie) Meyer, Whitewater, Brenda (Fred) Roloff, Indiana; numerous nieces and nephews and many sisters and brothers-in-law.  He was preceded in death by his parents; mother and father-in-law, Reinhard and Ruth Welter; 2 sisters-in-law; 2 brothers-in-law; a great nephew and great niece.

A celebration of Dave’s life will be held at a later date.

As an expression of sympathy, you may wish to consider memorials to Rainbow Hospice, Jefferson, WI.  The family would like to thank Rainbow Hospice for their loving care.

The Nitardy Funeral Home, Whitewater, WI is assisting the family, www.nitardyfuneralhome.com

Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) National Test, October 3, 2018

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system on October 3, 2018.

Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) Test

  • Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 1:18 p.m. CDT. During this time, WEA-compatible cell phones that are switched on and within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless carrier participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message. Cell phones should receive the message only once.
  • The WEA test message will be a Presidential Alert and will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

Emergency Alert System (EAS) Test

  • The EAS test message is distributed to radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers.
  • The test message will be similar to regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar and interrupts programming for approximately one minute.
  • The EAS message will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. A similar Wireless Emergency Alert test message has been sent to all cell phones nationwide. Some cell phones will receive the message; others will not. No action is required.”

For more information, 

Memory Café Meeting, October 8 at Irvin L. Young Memorial Library

The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, is hosting a monthly Memory Café for individuals who are living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), early-stage Alzheimer’s or other dementia, and their care partners. This free social event is held on the second Monday of every month in the Library Community Room at 431 W. Center St. in Whitewater, at 10:30 am.

The next meeting will be October 8. The theme will be “Target Plinking” with fun target practice games.

The Memory Café offers participants a safe and fun way to share their stories and socialize with others who have similar experiences. Learn how staying physically, socially and mentally active is good for the brain.

Registration is required for first-time attendees. Please call 800-272-3900 to register.

Lifelong Learning Opportunities: Upcoming History Talks

Cold War Stories: Soviet American Tension 1945-1991

Wednesdays, 1:00—2:30

Starin Park Community Building

A timely topic. Join Dr. Richard Haney, Emeritus UW-W, for interesting and informative history talks.

Thanks to the UW-W Continuing Education Department for funding the series. Please call 262-473-0535 in advance, if you will be attending.

  • October   3:     Berlin, the Airlift and the Wall: Ground Zero of the Cold War.
  • October 10:     Korean War 1950-53: A Regional Hot War
  • October 17:     Cuba and the 1962 Missile Crisis: The Brink of Nuclear War
  • October 24:     End of the [first] Cold War [and the Seeds of a Second].

Scholarly Scoop:  Beyond the Peace Accords: Legacies of America’s Secret War in Laos

Friday, October 5 10:30 am

Starin Park Community Building

When did America’s Secret War in Laos end? For most Americans, America’s involvement in this war officially ended with the peace agreements in 1973 and, practically, when the last American left the country in 1975. In this talk, I argue, however, that this war did not end with the peace agreements or American withdrawal from Laos. Instead, it led to another secret war in Laos, more than forty years of Hmong American involvement in this new war, and a long, persistent, but ultimately contradictory relationship between Hmong and the United States in the past half-century.

Nengher N. Vang, a UW-W Assist. Prof. of Transnational American History in the History Dept., teaches the Vietnam War, US foreign relations and empire, Hmong American historical and contemporary issues, and other courses in History and Race and Ethnics Studies. His research interests include US-Asia relations, American imperialism, comparative race/ethnicity, immigration, social movements, and the politics of diasporic communities in the U.S. with an emphasis on the politics of the Hmong.

Please register in advance if you will be attending by calling 262-473-0535.

November Referendum About Maintaining Programs, Services | Referéndum de Noviembre sobre el Mantenimiento de Programas, Servicios

 

By Casey Judd, President, Whitewater Unified School District Board

As many in our community are aware, the Whitewater Unified School District School Board has placed a referendum question on the regular election ballot for November 6. For more details click here.

Por Casey Judd, Presidente, Consejo del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Whitewater

Como muchos en nuestra comunidad saben, el Consejo Escolar del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Whitewater ha colocado una pregunta de referéndum en la boleta electoral regular para el 6 de noviembre. Para’mas detalles haga clic aqui.

UW-Whitewater invites university and community members to join new Community Advisory Council

UW-Whitewater invites members of the campus and Whitewater community to join the Community Advisory Council, a new entity that will seek to expand and build new partnerships between business, community, and governmental organizations. The Council will also provide input to strengthen existing programs such as the Community Engagement Center, UW-Whitewater’s camps and conferences, parking, the Fairhaven Lecture Series, housing and other campus-community partnerships.

“A strong community benefits a university, and a thriving university benefits the community,” said UW-Whitewater Chancellor Beverly Kopper. “This Council will help strengthen our relationships with our community partners, and explore new opportunities as we work together.”

The Community Advisory Council, which will be led by Joel Nilsestuen, legislative and community outreach coordinator for UW-Whitewater, is expected to meet quarterly or on an ad hoc basis.

Members will include representatives from key campus and community organizations and others responding to this call for membership. Those interested are invited to complete this brief online form by 5 pm Friday, Oct. 12: http://uwwhitewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b26nZlO9WP6CoTP