Family of Five Needs Assistance After Fire Friday Morning / Esta mañana, una familia de 5 perdió todo cuando su hogar se incendió.

(Whitewater Unites Lives submission – January 15, 2021) This morning a family of five lost everything in a home fire. Family members are not hurt, but they lost everything. Gift cards, cash and donations are much appreciated. 

Donations of items can be dropped off at The Community Space during the hours they are open (and please make sure to tell the volunteers at TCS that the items are specifically for the Arredondo family.)

Monday: CLOSED

Tuesday: 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Wednesday: 3:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Thursday: 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Friday: CLOSED

Saturday: 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM

Sunday: CLOSED

Questions?  Contact: (262) 379-0187

Donations of cash can be dropped off attention Rosie Martinez at Whitewater High School.  Checks can be made out to the Whitewater Unified School District Family Emergency Fund – please put for the Arredondo family in the memo line.  Questions?  Contact Rosie Martinez at 262-472-8216  or Mary Geraghty at  262-472-8115.

Clothing sizes for four of the family members:

dad:

XL in shirt

underwear/boxer: L

Pants: 34X30

Shoes size: Men 8

11 year old / female:

shirts size: M (womens)

Pants: size 4

shoes: 5

13 year old/ male

shoes: 11 WIDE

athletic shorts/sweats: 2X

shirt: 2X

Mom

shirt size: 3X

shoe: 10Wide

pants: 3X or 22w 

Esta mañana, una familia de 5 perdió todo cuando su hogar se incendió. No hubo heridos pero perdieron todo. Tarjetas de regalo, dinero en efectivo y donaciones serán apreciadas. 

Las donaciones pueden ser entregadas a El Espacio Comunitario durante las horas que están abiertas. Cuando lleven donaciones por favor déjenle saber a los voluntarios en El Espacio Comunitario que la donación es específicamente para la familia Arredondo.

Lunes: Cerrado

Martes: 8:30 AM – 11 AM

Miercoles: 3:30 PM – 7 PM

Jueves: 8:30 AM – 11 AM

Viernes: Cerrado

Sábado 8:30AM – 2PM

Domingo: Cerrado

Donaciones de dinero en efectivo pueden ser entregadas a Rosie Martinez en la escuela secundaria de Whitewater. Cheques pueden ser hechos al Whitewater Unified School District family fund, por favor escriba familia Arredondo en la línea de memo. Si tiene preguntas puede contactar a Rosie Martinez al 262-472-8216 o a Mary Geraghty al 262-472-8115.

League of Women Voters – Whitewater Area Hosts Program on Local Healthcare Services for the Underserved – Thurs., Jan 21

The League of Women Voters-Whitewater Area invites the public to attend a virtual presentation, “Healthcare Services for the Underserved,” on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. The League of Women Voters believes that every person should have access to affordable, quality healthcare. Our co-host for this program, Rock River Community Clinic (RRCC), provides affordable healthcare services, including dental services, to our most vulnerable populations. RRCC currently has four clinics, including one at 1461 W. Main Street in Whitewater. Cori Olin, Director of the RRCC will speak on the services RRCC provides, who RRCC serves, and the state of COVID-19 in our community. 

Due to COVID-19, this event will be virtual. To attend live, please join the webinar by using the URL: bit.ly/LWVHealthCareProgram. Passcode: 140443. Or, join us by telephone: Dial (312) 626-6799, Webinar ID: 988 5614 7123, Passcode: 140443. The event will also be livestreamed on the LWV-WW Facebook page (facebook.com/lwvwhitewater.org), as well as recorded and made available to the public afterwards.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit our website at lwvwhitewater.org and like us on Facebook!

UW-W Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic Cancelled for 2021

(UW-W press release) – January 14, 2021 – Due to COVID-19, the UW-Whitewater Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clinic has been cancelled for the 2021 filing season.

The following resources may be helpful in identifying alternatives:

Taxpayers may also use IRS Free File to prepare and file their federal income taxes. More information can be found at https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free or by calling (800) 906-9887. Information for 2021 should be published in late January.

Local Student Named to Dean’s List at UW-Eau Claire

EAU CLAIRE (January 14, 2021) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire extends congratulations to the 2,986 students named to the fall 2020 Dean’s List. Their academic performance has been outstanding, and we recognize these students with pride.
     
The Dean’s list eligibility criteria can be found online at https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/fall-2020-deans-list-4529/.
     
Students from this area who were named to the Dean’s List are:
     
Whitewater, WI

Naomi Allen, College of Nurs and Hlth Sciences

Fire Department: Tratt Street Closure on Tuesday Evening was Due to a Gas Leak

(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.

Local Students Named to UW-La Crosse Dean’s List

UW-La Crosse has announced its Dean’s List for the fall 2020 semester, recognizing academic excellence. Qualification for the Dean’s List is limited to students who have attained outstanding academic achievement. To be eligible, students must have earned not less than a 3.5 semester grade point average and have carried a minimum of 12 semester credits.

The following students are from Whitewater:
Tom James Stockton Duval – Public Health and Community Health Education Major
Josef William Gmur – International Business Major
Josie Hintz – Exercise and Sport Science Major: Exercise Science – Pre-professional Track
Thomas Edward McManaway – Recreation Management Major: Generalist Emphasis
Brady William Meudt – Biology Major
Julia Marie Nelson – Management Major
Jacob Daniel Riemer – Public Health and Community Health Education Major
Hayden James West – Undeclared Major – CASSH

Festival Foods Offers Delivery to Whitewater Residents (UPDATED with revised map)

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.

Local New COVID-19 Cases Reverse Downward Trend of Past Two Weeks

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
January 11, 2021

In December the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, for the first time, started providing COVID-19 data for each municipality and school district in the state. This is particularly helpful for Whitewater, as the previous information that was enumerated by census tract did not isolate the portion of the city that is located in Jefferson County. The statistics for the seven days ending January 11 reflect a reversal of the progress that had been made in the past two weeks. Twenty-five new cases were diagnosed, compared with eleven in the previous week.

The city’s rate per 100,000 population is still the lowest among the cities/counties shown on the chart below; however, it must be noted that with many of the UW-W students still being at home, Whitewater’s current population is overstated for this purpose.

In response to a request for an update regarding COVID-19 testing and reporting at UW-W, Jeff Angileri, Director of Public Information, indicated that as of December 18 there had been 12,466 “surge” tests conducted. Further information has not yet been provided.

Twenty-eight deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in the city, an increase of three from last week; thirty-one have been reported in the school district. It is believed that the majority of the deaths that have been reported in the city have taken place in senior residences.

New daily confirmed cases reported as an average over the last 7 days and rate per 100,000 population:

City of WhitewaterAverage new daily casesRate per 100,000 population
12/57.1448.4
12/1210.5771.6
12/214.2929.1
12/283.0020.3
1/41.5710.6
1/113.5724.2
Whitewater Unified School District
12/59.2946.1
12/1213.1465.2
12/215.0023.4
12/284.5722.7
1/43.0014.9
1/115.0024.8

Rates per 100,000 population for selected municipalities based on past 7 days as of 1/4

12/1212/2112/281/41/11
Madison35.125.824.327.938.9
Jefferson39.443.146.655.653.9
Palmyra49.540.924.857.624.8
Fort Atkinson50.652.925.350.650.6
Jefferson County5342.233.445.452.0
Entire state of WI 6561.4*51.3**40.1***38.5 ****
Milton66.517.920.489.769.2
Walworth County67.549.431.934.450.3
Milwaukee67.853.430.134.543.7
Rock County 67.850.133.540.445.9
Whitewater71.629.120.310.624.2
Elkhorn73.656.233.227.446.1
Janesville7860.434.835.041.9
Cambridge8045.6045.656.8
*The statewide rate is for the past 14 days. ** Statewide rate for the 14 days ending 12/22 ***14 days ending 12/29 **** 14 days ending 1/5/21

Local Student Named to Southeast Missouri State University’s Dean’s List

(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.

Award-winning author shares tips about writing a memoir – January 26 on Zoom

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.