News

Egg Harbor, WI – Dante Baker, a talented young musician from Delavan, WI, spent the past two weeks in Door County, Wisconsin studying at Birch Creek Music Performance Center. Baker, a student at Whitewater High School, was among 18 musicians from throughout the country to attend the Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music session at this prestigious academy whose unique mission is to provide intensive, performance-based instruction to promising young musicians by immersing them in a professional, mentoring environment.

Birch Creek celebrates its 50th concert season in 2025 and continues to support a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 2:1. This provides students with an abundance of personal attention from their faculty mentors, who represent top music educators and performers from around the country. Students are given the opportunity to hone their technical skills and learn all the aspects of life as a professional musician firsthand. During their two-week residency this summer, students attending the Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music session performed seven concerts alongside their teachers in front of paying concertgoers.

Dr. Dan Moore is the Program Director of the Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music session. 2025 marks his 27th year on faculty at Birch Creek, and 10th year as Program Director. He is a Professor of Percussion and Director of the award-winning percussion program at the University of Iowa. Dr. Moore is an internationally known musician, composer, and educator.

Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, WI is a residential summer music academy for advanced young musicians. With a performance emphasis, students are taught by nationally known performers and educators during the day, and perform in concerts alongside them at night. Four sessions focus on Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music; Symphony, and Big Band Jazz. 2025 concert and session dates are posted at BirchCreek.org/Tickets.

2025 Concert Schedule
Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music: June 19-21, 26-28
Symphony: July 3-5, 10-12
Big Band Jazz (Two Sessions): July 16-19, 23-26 | July 30-August 2, August 6-9

According to a press release from the Janesville Police Department, “In February of 2025, the Janesville Police Department received information that a juvenile was receiving inappropriate messages from an adult.   Numerous search warrants were served on electronic service providers and Carter J. Powers, a 26-year-old Janesville resident, was developed as the suspect.  
 
Powers was arrested on June 9th, 2025 in the 4100 block of Kennedy Road in the City of Janesville.  Officers from the Janesville Street Crimes Unit and detectives from the Janesville and Whitewater Police Departments assisted in his arrest and a search warrant at his residence.”

Whitewater Police Chief Dan Meyer confirmed to The Whitewater Banner that “a minor residing in Whitewater was a victim in this case.”

Powers has been charged with five counts of Possession of Child Pornography, a felony. He was released from the Rock County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond., with conditions of no intentional contact with any minors, not to possess any electronic device that can access internet, and not to be on any social media websites.
 

The following individuals from your area have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the Spring 2025 semester. UWM is the second largest university in the State of Wisconsin, with more than 22,800 undergraduate and graduate students.

Whitewater, WI

 Ghati Binagi, Letters & Science Undergrad
 Myia Cobbs, Nursing Undergraduate
 Kymora Kimbrough, Letters & Science Undergrad
 Skylar Staebler, School of the Arts-Undergrad

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Loras College has announced the names of students who achieved Dean’s List status for the 2025 spring semester. A student must earn a 3.5 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 credit hours to be recognized.

Whitewater, WI

 Mayte Navejas

The Universities of Wisconsin recently announced the selection of the 2025–2026 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars.

This year’s Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars (WTFS) participants include 21 faculty and instructors from the Universities of Wisconsin’s 11 comprehensive universities, nominated by Provosts for their excellence in teaching and learning.

The WTFS program provides UW faculty and teaching academic staff a unique opportunity to collaborate with other exceptional teachers from across the Universities of Wisconsin and from various disciplines. In addition to discussing effective evidence-based teaching and learning approaches, participants are guided through systematic research focused on improving student learning through a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project. The yearlong program begins in May and will culminate with a research presentation in Spring 2026. 

Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars is one of three signature programs offered by the Universities of Wisconsin’s Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID). OPID supports the Universities of Wisconsin’s’ 13 Centers for Teaching and Learning in fostering a culture of teaching and learning excellence in Wisconsin. Together they offer professional development programs that seek to enhance student learning in face-to-face, online, and blended learning environments. Fay Akindes is the OPID Director.

The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars program is directed by two faculty leaders, Valerie Barske, a history professor at UW-Stevens Point, and Heather Pelzel, a biological sciences professor at UW-Whitewater.

The two 2025-26 Teaching Fellows & Scholars selected from the UW-Whitewater faculty are:

Steve Girard, Associate Professor, Chemistry
Lauren Zepp, Assistant Professor, Special Education

Gov. Evers Orders Flags to Half-Staff in Honor of Milwaukee Police Department Officer Kendall Corder

Gov. Tony Evers today issued the following statement on the passing of Milwaukee Police Department Officer Kendall Corder and ordered the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff immediately in honor of Officer Corder, who was killed in the line of duty on June 29, at the age of 32. “Officer Corder was responding to a shots fired call last week and ran toward danger when he was shot in the line of duty and ultimately passed away from his injuries. Our hearts break for Officer Corder, his family, loved ones, colleagues at the Milwaukee Police Department, and the greater Milwaukee community, and we join Milwaukeeans and Wisconsinites in honoring the life of this dedicated public servant,” said Gov. Evers. “Kathy and I will continue to keep his family and loved ones and all those who knew Officer Corder in our thoughts and our prayers as they mourn his loss and this merciless tragedy.”   Gov. Evers is also ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to half-staff across the state immediately until sunset on Tues., July 1, 2025, as well as the date of Officer Corder’s interment, which has not yet been announced. An executive order will be forthcoming.

Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser

The following area students were named to the UW-Whitewater Dean’s List for the 2025 spring semester. [Unless otherwise noted the student is a Whitewater High School graduate.] These students have demonstrated their academic abilities by receiving a grade point average of 3.4 or above in a single semester.

“We’d like to congratulate all the students who were recognized on our Dean’s List for the spring semester,” said Robin Fox, UW-Whitewater’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Making the Dean’s List is a tremendous honor and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students – their success is paramount to the strength of our university.”

The university’s Registrar’s Office reports 3,506 students were selected for the Dean’s List for the spring semester. More than 11,700 students are currently enrolled at the university’s Whitewater and Rock County campuses.

Michelle Abarca
Madelynn Buehler
Canyon Caputo
Lucas Castro-Huempfner
Anders Clarksen
Christopher Cortes
Sebastian Cuellar Meza
Alejandra Diaz-Gallegos
Charlie Eckert [Milton High School]
Jaciel Flores [Delavan-Darien High School]
Brock Grosinske
Reagan Hammons
Jake Hintz
Cali Kopecky
Andrea Kuhl
Niles Long
Aiden Murray
Lexi Nelson
Emily O’Donnell
Brianna Ophime
Johan Perez
Charlotte Pham [Milton High School]
Mel Prince
Yovanni Rojas-Reyes
Cody Rupke
Tyler Schneider [Delavan-Darien High School]
Holly Shannon [Milton High School]
Connor Sharlow
Jazmin Soto [Palmyra-Eagle High School]
C.J. Tomomitsu
Dejaney Valles
Tania Verduzco
Emma Wade
Molly Wade
Carter Waelchli

Editor’s note: This press release was received from UW-Whitewater. This link leads to a section on the UW-Whitewater website where you can find information such as the major of each student, and in some cases, there is also a photo.

​​Starting June 1, 2024, Wisconsin residents have had the option to add one emergency contact to the driver license or ID card record. This contact information could be available to law enforcement agencies in the event that you are in a collision or are experiencing a medical emergency. This information may save crucial time if ever it becomes necessary to contact your family members or other loved ones.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says 82,100 Wisconsinites added their emergency contact information to their DMV record in the first year of the “To Inform Families First” Act. An average of a little over 1000 people add the contact to their file every week.

As part of every application for a Wisconsin driver license or ID card, the applicant will be asked if they would like to include emergency contact information in their file. Adding the information is voluntary. If you would like to have an emergency contact listed, you will be required to provide the contact’s name, residential address, phone number and their relationship to you. This information will not be printed on the driver license or ID card.

If you would like to add an emergency contact to your file, click here.

You will need to enter:

• Your first and last name
• Your Wisconsin Driver License or ID Card number
• The last 4 digits of your Social Security number  
• Your date of birth

​AND

• Your emergency contact’s name
• Your emergency contact’s address
• Your emergency contact’s phone number
• Your relationship to the emergency contact

The Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS] is offering discounted private well water sample kits for the entire month of July to help residents protect their health and ensure the safety of their drinking water.

Well owners can purchase individual test kits at the following reduced prices:

• Bacteria: $10 per sample
• Nitrate: $10 per sample

Arsenic and lead water tests may also be purchased for the regular rate of $20 per sample. Well water test kits may be purchased and dropped off during regular business hours at Walworth County Health and Human Services. Only cash or check payments will be accepted.

Unlike municipal water systems, private wells are not regularly monitored, which means it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to test their water. Contaminants like bacteria, nitrate, lead, and arsenic are often invisible, tasteless, and odorless—but they can pose serious health risks, especially for infants, children, pregnant individuals, and those with weakened immune systems.

DHHS hours are: Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri 8-4:30, Tues 8-6
The office is located at 1910 County Road NN, Elkhorn.

Visit www.co.walworth.wi.us/430/Well-Water-Testing for water-laboratory hours or call (262) 741-3200 for more information.