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(From Whitewater Fire Department Facebook page)

At approximately 5:10 p.m. on Tuesday evening, January 12, the WFD was dispatched to the intersection of Starin and Tratt St. for a report of a gas leak. First arriving crews found a utility crew from All Underground Incorporated working on laying Fiber Optic cable. The crew had hit a gas line which was venting from a hole dug west of the intersection. Crews closed off Tratt Street in both directions and evacuated nearby homes and apartments. Occupants were sent to the University for shelter. WE-Energies arrived on scene and called for additional assistance in order to shut off the leak. This was delayed due to no crews being available in the area and a response was requested from WE-Energies crews out of Milwaukee. It was unknown at the time if a service line or main had been ruptured. Fire/EMS crews were on scene for approximately 3 hours. It was eventually determined that a service line to a residence was struck. WE-Energies remained on scene after the gas was shut off to repair the line.We would like to thank We-Energies for their quick response, Whitewater Police Department, UW-Whitewater Police, for assisting with traffic control and coordinating shelter space , and Lauderdale La-Grange Fire and Rescue for assisting with covering a 2nd call for a vehicle accident while we had resources tied up.

Per a press release issued by the City of Whitewater, residents in the City of Whitewater are now eligible to have groceries delivered directly to their doorstep from Festival Foods in Fort Atkinson or Janesville within two hours.
Festival Foods is known to work closely with and get involved in the communities in which they serve. It is a family and employee-owned grocery company operating stores throughout Wisconsin with their headquarters located in DePere. It was founded as Skogen’s IGA by Paul and Jane Skogen in 1946 and is still owned by the Skogen family.

Economic Development Director, Cathy Anderson reached out to Festival Foods in hopes to expand their delivery service to include Whitewater. Festival Foods agreed and this service is now available for many within the 53190 zip code. UPDATE: Delivery is available to the areas shown in red on the revised map above. The best way to see if delivery is available to your residence is to enter your address on the website. Note that an initial screen that pops up will ask whether you wish to try a special subscription offer from Instacart, which after a 2-week trial period would cost $99/year. It appears that there may be little/no benefit to this offer under the Festival program.

“It is very exciting to work with a company willing to expand their local service and assist the Whitewater community,” said Anderson. “I placed my first order and was amazed at how simple, easy and quick the process was. It is very user friendly and the items I needed were on my doorstep within about two hours.”
Festival Foods contracts with Instacart allowing for a personalized home delivery service. Residents can visit the Instacart website, https://www.instacart.com/store/festival-foods/storefront or download the app to their smartphone. Enter the zip code of 53190, create an account with an email address and you can shop the virtual aisles of the store as if shopping it in person. Options for delivery of 2 hours, 5 hours or a window of your choice are available.

A nominal delivery fee may be applied to some orders and residents have the opportunity to tip the delivery driver if they wish.

“What a unique, convenient and safe service for the Whitewater community to benefit from in this time of uncertainty,” said Anderson.

Banner note: The Gazette on January 12, 2021 also has an article on this new service. It includes this quote from Anderson: “Monday’s news, while it is welcome, does not end the effort to bring a grocery store to the city,” she said.

Banner note: On the Instacart site you will note that there are several other grocers (from Milton and Janesville), as well as a few other retailers, that may offer delivery to your address. All of those other grocers, however, indicate that their pricing through Instacart may be higher than their in-store pricing. Festival states that their pricing is the same as the shelf price.

The City of Whitewater provides efficient and high-quality services which support living, learning, playing and working in an exceptional community. Visit www.whitewater-wi.gov for community information and updates.

(News release) CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (01/11/2021)– Emma Van Daele of Whitewater, WI, has been named to the Southeast Missouri State University Dean’s List for academic achievement during the fall 2020 semester.

Students named to the list earned at least a 3.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, completed at least 12 hours of standard graded credit, achieved no grade below a B and received no failing grades in enrolled, credit/no credit or pass/fail courses.

Tuesday, January 26 at 7 p.m.
Live on Zoom

“Some writers use diaries, journals, photos or family histories to jumpstart writing a
memoir. For me, a dream ignited my interest in writing a five-volume series starting with –
Escaping Her Dungeon of Despair, based on my own experiences.” —Vivian Probst
The Dwight Foster Public Library invites you to attend this timely presentation. We will
broadcast Probst’s presentation on Zoom and Facebook Live. To register for the Zoom portion
go to https://www.fortlibrary.org/writing-your-memoir/.

Vivian Probst is a novelist, writer of several memoirs, linguist, and champion of language skills.
She wants to inspire people to write their memoirs, especially now, during the time of COVID-19
when they may have more time to put their thoughts on paper.

“Each of us has a unique life story that shapes our future and can inspire others. I hear people
say, “Someday I’ll write a memoir.” “I say do it! It can be hard, I know, to share painful
memories but it can also be a healing process.”

Probst is not new to memoir writing. Three years ago she chronicled her deeply personal story
about what it took to restore her marriage. The experiences were recounted in her riveting
memoir, I Was a Yo-Yo Wife.

Nancy Brunner, Janie Anderson and Katie Melody are WUL Hometown Heroes, and have been nominated for “Volunteering at the Whitewater Food Pantry at various times, and through that opportunity to help others they found a way to help each other, teaching and learning sign language.  They have also found individual interests in supporting the Whitewater community at their churches, the Whitewater Arts Alliance, the Whitewater Aquatic Fitness Center, Rockin’ Respite, and Studio 84.  Sharing their time and talents is a way to build up the community and build friendships as well.”

WUL (Whitewater Unites Lives) is a locally-focused civil and human rights group that works to connect the people in our community and to create opportunities for all people to learn and support each other in our common humanity.   

 Anyone who would like to nominate a local hero of any age should send their nomination, with a short description, to whitewaterunites@gmail.com