News

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the Office of the Governor, State of Wisconsin

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #154 ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff on Wed., Feb. 2, 2022, in honor of firefighter Robert “Bob” A. Stevens of the Fremont-Wolf River Fire Department, who passed away on Jan. 27, 2022, at the age of 66, due to complications from contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty. 

“Whether defending health and safety, being there for folks in times of need, or helping others enjoy the great outdoors, Bob dedicated more than half of his life to serving the people of his community and he will be forever remembered for his dedication,” said Gov. Evers. “Our thoughts are with the Stevens’ family, everyone at the Fremont-Wolf River Fire Department, and all of his colleagues, friends, and fellow community members in Fremont as they mourn this loss.”

Services for firefighter Robert A. Stevens will be held on Wed., Feb. 2, 2022, in Fremont. 

Executive Order #154 will be in effect from sunrise to sunset on Wed., Feb. 2, 2022, and is available here.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the City of Whitewater.

Week of January 31, 2022
Work Schedule for week of January 31-February 5

No work scheduled for Monday or Tuesday due to warm temperatures and snow.
Wednesday – Saturday – 24 hours
Saturday work to finish by 7 pm
*All work is dependent on weather and the worksite conditions.

Cravath Lake

Construction crews will continue to lay down matting on the lake bed to prep for dredging. Due to a few wet areas, mats have been put in a variety of places along the dredging area on Cravath. Dredging will start as soon as enough frost builds up in the ground along the dredging area to allow for work to commence. Once dredging starts, the hope is to work around the clock including some potential weekends in the near future. Dredged material will be removed through Cravath Lakefront Park boat launch area.

Trippe Lake

Mats have been put into place and dredging should start on Wednesday, February 2. Construction crews plan to work around the clock to start dredging. Dredged material will be hauled through the Southeast directly to HWY 12 over by the new Kwik Trip. The images below were taken of Trippe Lake on January 28, 2022 to show the dredging area.

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The Walworth County Health & Human Services Department stated in its January 27 weekly report that the county remains in the CDC’s high COVID-19 transmission level, along with all other WI counties. The county’s transmission level this week declined to 1104 cases per 100,000 vs. last week’s 2226. Three weeks ago, however, the level was “only” 686.”

Walworth County statistics as of January 27 may be viewed here. Although it has been indicated that, on average, the Omicron variant of the virus which is now dominating the state is less serious than Delta was, only an average of 3.5% of ICU beds in the county are available.

The county states, “Current models predict that we may have passed our most recent surge peak. However, case levels will remain high for the next few weeks as we move back down the curve. In addition flu activity continues in the area. Please remember to stay home if you are sick, wash your hands regularly, and cover your cough/sneeze.”

Information on testing sites, including at UW-Whitewater, may be found here. As was previously announced on the Banner, the federal government is now mailing four at-home COVID-19 test kits to any residence upon request. At-home tests may also be available at local retailers. Private insurance companies are now required to pay for or reimburse, subject to a limit, for the purchase of at-home tests; however, Medicare is not providing this coverage.

The first wave of 400 million free high-filtration “N95” masks provided by the federal government have shipped to participating pharmacies and community health centers. Although many people find these masks to be uncomfortable, they have been found to offer the best protection against COVID-19, far better than cloth masks without filters. Some masks are now available, with a limit of four per family. More will be arriving in coming days, and the program will be fully running by early February, according to White House officials. It was recently reported that a supply of masks was available at the Walmart courtesy desk, but the Banner has not confirmed whether there is current availability there or at Walgreens. If readers have current information, we would be happy to receive a report.

Recently we have experienced some technical issues with our Community Calendar. We’re working to resolve these, but in the meantime if you have events you’d like to submit to our calendar please send them via email to us at whitewaterbanner@gmail.com. We’d ask that you’d help us sort through article submissions versus calendar submissions by kindly including “Calendar Submission” in the subject line of your email. We’d then ask that you provide us some basic information for your event on the timing and venue as well as provide an image we can include. Thank you on behalf of our Whitewater Banner volunteers for your help and patience!

Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by Whitewater Grocery Co.

Whitewater Grocery Co. recently raised over $8000 in our Beds for ‘Lil Buds fundraiser over the holidays and into the new year. This far exceeded our original goal of $6000. We partnered with Leon Furniture in downtown Whitewater. Whitewater Grocery Co. purchased the beds, and Juan, owner of Leon Furniture, generously donated all of the metal frames for them. He and his team delivered most of the beds before Christmas and the balance before the New Year. We were able to donate over 30 beds.

With the additional monetary funds, we purchased pillows, sheets, and blankets to make the beds complete for the children and families that arrived in Whitewater over the summer. A special shout out to Kay Robers of the Community Space for putting us in touch with Sandra Ramirez, ELL teacher at Washington Elementary School. Sandra was instrumental in connecting Whitewater Grocery Co. with the ‘Lil Buds in our community. She worked with Juan and the Leon Furniture crew to get the beds to the families. Sandra also delivered all of the pillows, sheets, and blankets. This amazing community effort supported approximately 45 families.

Several community members donated gently used sheets and blankets. We also received a baby crib that went to a family with a 7-month-old newborn.

Special thanks to the students and teachers from Lincoln Elementary School and Lakeview Elementary School for their contributions to the fundraiser.

Whitewater Grocery Co. was thrilled to work with community members and local businesses and looks forward to future collaborations and fundraisers in the future.

Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by Whitewater High School.

Seven Whitewater High School students have been selected to attend Badger Girls State this year!  Badger Girls State is a program designed to develop leadership skills in high school students and train future stateswomen in the science of government.  It will be held on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus from June 19-24, 2022.  Students selected to attend are juniors and seniors who have an interest in government and citizenship, outstanding qualities of leadership, good moral character, cooperativeness, dependability, and participation in extracurricular activities.  One student will be sponsored by the Whitewater Rotary Club, two students will be sponsored by the Breakfast Kiwanis Club and four students will be sponsored by the Whitewater American Legion.

Congratulations Caelyn Caputo, Kate Coburn, Savannah Hill, Skylar Staebler, Josephine Treder, Sophia Walton, and Emma Weigel.  We are so proud of you!  Thank you to our wonderful service organizations for sponsoring this amazing program each year!

Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

The following students from the Whitewater area earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at winter commencement, held Dec. 18, 2021.

• Nicky Anditon graduated with the following degree: Elementary Education – BSE
• Grant Behrens graduated with the following degree: Information Technology – BBA
• Caitlin Bowen graduated with the following degree: Psychology – BS
• Nelson Calvillo graduated with the following degree: Integrated Science – Business – BS
• Gerardo Cervantes graduated with the following degree: Criminology – BS
• Kiley Dempsey graduated with the following degree: General Business – BBA
• Jessica Dittner graduated with the following degree: Art – BA
• Belen Esquivel graduated Summa Cum Laude with the following degree: Elementary Education – BSE
• Brandon Forbes graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Finance – BBA
• Hana Jacobs graduated with the following degree: General Management – BBA
• Tessa Jaskolski graduated with the following degree: Liberal Arts – AA
• Elliot Jezo-Sywulka graduated with the following degree: Social Work – BS
• Krystal Leon graduated with the following degree: Psychology – BA
• Devin Lewis graduated with the following degree: Human Resource Management – BBA
• Betsy McKelvey graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Computer Science – BS
• Joyce Mendoza graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA
• Hope Montey graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Early Childhood Education – BSE
• Reese Nasser graduated with the following degree: Journalism – BA
• Raevin Peek graduated with the following degree: Psychology – BS
• Kayla Pintar graduated with the following degree: Social Studies – BSE
• Brianna Pope graduated with the following degree: Social Work – MSW
• Vahid Rakhangi graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA
• Mark Rastenis graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Music – BM
• Abdoul-Aziz Savadogo graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA
• Allyson Schmude graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: General Management – BBA
• Lindsi Starrett graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Music – BM
• Sonia Tomei Castro graduated with the following degree: Communication Sciences and Disorders – BS
• Andrew Yang graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS
• Ian Zaeske graduated with the following degree: Criminology – BS

More than 762 students crossed the stage to receive their degrees at the ceremony, held at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center. The graduating class included 4 international students, 71 military veterans and 168 nontraditional students, defined as undergraduate students who are 25 years of age or older. In addition, 79 self-identified students with disabilities received degrees.

Dozens of students participated in the university’s Hired Before Graduation campaign, which celebrates students who landed a job, earned acceptance to graduate school or started their own business before commencement.

Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The following individuals from the Whitewater area have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the Fall 2021 semester:

 Catherine Strait, Education Undergraduate
 Nicole Tomomitsu, AOC-Undergraduate
 Eleanore Treder, Business Undergraduate
 Viet Vo, Social Welfare Undergraduate

Editor’s Note: This information was provided by Terry Boydston.

St. Johns Lodge #57 Whitewater-Palmyra had its annual “Stick it to Bruce” canned goods drive in December. Begun several years ago by Br. Bruce Eshelman, the food drive challenges members of St. Johns to donate funds to purchase canned goods for the food pantries in Whitewater and Palmyra. Bruce matches the donations until he reaches a point of “crying uncle.” This year the lodge members raised a total of $2100. Due to supply chain issues, it was decided to donate money to the pantries.