News

State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Rep. Don Vruwink (D-Milton) will hold a forum on Wednesday, January 15^th to hear from community members and business owners in the 43^rd Assembly District on the impact of student loan debt.

The 43^rd Assembly District includes much of Rock County and parts of Walworth County, Jefferson County, and Dane County.  The forum will be hosted jointly by Forward Janesville and the Milton Area Chamber of Commerce.

WHAT: Student Loan Debt Forum with State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski & Rep. Don Vruwink

WHEN: Wednesday, January 15^th, 2019

TIME: Noon to 1 p.m.

WHERE: Culver’s Restaurant, 571 E Richardson Springs Rd, Edgerton (Newville)

State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Rep. Don Vruwink will hold a forum to discuss strategies to help borrowers refinance at lower interest rates, help lenders build public-private partnerships, and help create new consumer protections. Since becoming State Treasurer, Godlewski has made economic security a top priority, holding listening sessions statewide to hear personal stories and potential solutions to reducing the burden of student loan debt on Wisconsinites.

Wisconsin has a $24.4 billion student loan debt problem, according to a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Another report by The Institute for College Access and Success shows Wisconsin ranks 13^th highest in average debt when looking at a graduate from the class of 2018.

“How can we expect Wisconsinites to get ahead when they start from behind with student loan debt at high interest rates?” said State Treasurer Godlewski. “This is about giving people a chance at financial security while also helping our state’s economy.”

“Helping our young people get out from under student debt will not be an easy undertaking, but we are up to the challenge,” Vruwink said. “I look forward to hearing from people in the communities I represent.”

Sophomore Julia Bezzo’s stippling piece, The Iguana, won a Silver Key in the Scholastic Art Competition for Drawing and Illustration. This is a prestigious award; thousands of students enter this competition, and colleges will take this into consideration when determining admissions. Her piece will be on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum in the Schroeder Galleria from February 1st through March 15th. The awards ceremony is February 8th at the Milwaukee Art Museum. 

Congratulations, Julia! #TheWhippetWay

The School District Boundary Appeal Board (SDBAB) denied the dissolution of the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District (PEASD) Thursday evening, January 9. In doing so, PEASD will be expected to continue operating for the 2020-21 school year and beyond. The dissolution process began after PEASD failed to pass an operating referendum in April 2019 and after the PEASD School Board took action first to consider dissolving and a second time to order dissolution. After the second vote, the SDBAB was charged with making the final decision.

The SDBAB began meeting in November 2019 to decide the fate of PEASD and was required to make their decision by January 15, 2020. Of the seven SDBAB members, six voted to deny the dissolution.

Casey Judd, WUSD School Board President, said, “I hope that the Palmyra-Eagle Area School District can find a way to do what is in the best interest of their students. Schools are a cornerstone of any community, and every school district should have the resources and community support to provide a quality education.”

For Wisconsin State Journal article, “Palmyra-Eagle School District survives, but possibility of massive budget cuts loom,” click here.

For Daily Jefferson County Union article, “Board denies dissolving Palmyra-Eagle Area School District,” click here.

Fort Community Credit Union has announced that they will be awarding $10,000 in scholarship money for the 2019-2020 school year. Five current high school seniors heading off to a 4-year university or a 2-year technical or trade school in the fall, will be selected to receive $2,000. Reflecting the mission statement of FCCU, “To help our members be in a better financial position than when we met them,” the scholarship program was designed in 2018 to help their members achieve their educational dreams.

To be considered for a scholarship, the student must meet the following criteria:

• Be the primary owner of an active account (savings or checking) at Fort Community Credit Union for a minimum of 3 months. Current FCCU staff, directors and scholarship committee members and their immediate family members are not eligible.

• Be enrolled in a Jefferson, Walworth, Rock, Dodge, Dane or Waukesha County high school. Students participating in a home-based educational program, privately operated correspondence or virtual school must reside in the qualifying counties listed above. Applicants attending these programs must also provide proof of enrollment with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for the 2018-2019 school year, ACT or SAT scores, and any records relating to curriculum and academic progress.

• Be eligible for graduation at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

• Applications must be submitted online by March 1st, 2020 along with the high school transcript through first semester senior year and a letter of recommendation from a non-related teacher, coach, school administrator, community member or employer.

To apply online, please visit the ‘Planning & Tools’ section on the FCCU website. All applications, transcripts, and letters of recommendation are due no later than March 1, 2020.

About FCCU: Established in 1940, FCCU is a member-owned financial cooperative open to anyone living or working in Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Rock, Walworth or Waukesha counties, any employee of this credit union and any member of the immediate family of any other eligible person. Fort Community holds over $260 million in assets and has more than 21,000 members. For more information, visit fortcommunity.com or call (920)563-7305

The following individuals have filed to appear on the April 7 ballot for the Whitewater Unified School District Board: Thayer Coburn, Casey Judd, and Steven Ryan.

The following individuals have filed to appear on the April 7 ballot for the City of Whitewater Common Council: AD 2 – Matthew Schulgit; AD 4 – Lynn Binnie; and Councilmember at Large – Jim Allen.

It is expected that the only race on the February 18 primary ballot will be for State Supreme Court Justice.

Current Ferradermis members, their mentors, and a few of their alumni traveled to Mukwonago High School on Saturday, January 4, for the 2020 FIRST Robotics season kickoff joining host Team #930, the Mukwonago BEARs; Team #5976, the CyberSaders from Catholic Memorial; Team #6421, the WarriorBOTS from Muskego; and Rookie Team #8002, The Knack from Lake Country School.

The game for the season, Infinite Recharge, was unveiled worldwide with a series of videos between 10 and 11 a.m. The main game piece this year is a 7-inch playground ball known as a Power Cell. Teams score points by shooting the Power Cells into their various Power Ports, rotating and holding the position of a colored wheel known as the Control Panel, and hanging from and potentially leveling the Shield Generator structure by hanging multiple robots from the same bar.

After the unveil, teams spent the rest of the day digesting the rules of the game and planning their strategy for game play. Ferradermis’ ultimate season goal they kept in mind while planning is winning a regional event and qualifying for the World Championships for the third straight year.

The team now has approximately 7 weeks to design, build, wire, and program their robot before their first competition at the Northern Lights Regional in Duluth from March 4 – 7. Different this year is the absence of a “bag and tag” day; teams no longer have to seal their robot and cease work at a designated time.

To view the game animation video (explanation of the game) for Infinite Recharge, visit https://youtu.be/gmiYWTmFRVE   

The Whitewater area community was more than generous in donating needed items to the annual UW-W/Community Optimist Club Mitten Tree Project. There were enough items donated that Rick Fassl, co-chair of the project, contacted Whitewater Police Chief, Aaron Raap, to see if our local police squad cars could use some extra hats and mittens since they are often the first on the scene of traumatic events. Chief Raap consulted with his staff and was delighted when, on Dec. 31, 2019, Rick and Jeanine Fassl were able to deliver 10 sets of hats and mittens to add to each of the City’s 10 squad cars for use in case of emergencies.