News & Events

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

According to an article on Bloomberg.com on June 11, Coach USA, which owns Van Galder Bus Company and Megabus, filed for bankruptcy, indicating that it was unable to recover from a decline in ridership as a result of the pandemic. Van Galder, based in Janesville, operates a popular route that stops in Janesville for shuttle service to O’Hare airport and downtown Chicago. Per Van Galder’s website, the company, [originally family owned], has operated the shuttle service for over 70 years.

“Per its Chapter 11 petition that was filed on June 11 in Wilmington, DE, the company owes creditors between $100 -500 million. Chapter 11 in the bankruptcy code allows companies to keep operating while they shed debt and reorganize.

Private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors purchased Coach USA from British bus company Stagecoach Group in April 2019, less than a year before Coach USA’s business was decimated by the pandemic. Commuter ridership declined 90% in 2020, according to court papers, and the company turned to Covid relief funding to help stay afloat. Ridership has partially recovered, but last year was only about 45% of prepandemic levels. Meanwhile, the company was contending with higher expenses due to rising fuel, insurance and labor costs. Its management began to explore a possible sale late last year.

Across the US, the transportation industry has had to contend with low ridership levels on trains and buses as many Americans now work from home or only commute into the office a few times a week. In 2019, there were about 3,000 bus companies, according to Peter Pantuso, the chief executive officer of the American Bus Association. Since then, about half have closed, many of those remaining are operating at about 70% capacity, he said.”

According to WREX-Channel 13, The Renco Group, which owns Bus Company Holdings, is reportedly purchasing Van Galder as well as other Coach USA operations.

“Coach offers bus services in 27 locations in the US and Canada and carries more than 38 million passengers every year, according to its website. Its Megabus service has carried more than 50 million people through more than 280 cities since it was started in 2006. The company employs about 2,700 people,” Bloomberg stated.

Former Whitewater Resident Earns PhD

Rebecca Fischer (née Brereton) formerly of Whitewater, defended her doctoral dissertation June 13, 2024. Through her research and dissertation titled Reducing Kidney Transplant Rejection Rates Through Medication Adherence Education Post-Transplant: A Quality Improvement Project, Fischer earns her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Jacksonville University. Fischer, who attended Lincoln Elementary for Kindergarten through 6th grade in the 80s and 90s, is a nurse practitioner in abdominal transplant surgery at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Congratulations, Becki. We are proud of you.

Submitted by Roni Telfer and Rachel (Telfer) Dorn

Editor’s note: The Banner appreciates having permission to use the image on the homepage by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay.

Versiti is the primary blood supplier for Southeastern Wisconsin hospitals, including Lakeland and Fort Memorial.

Reserve your spot at this link or by calling 262-473-2997. Please note that several appointments are still open for double red cells. Be sure to take note of the new location at the Cravath Lakefront Community Center.

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by the Whitewater Dementia Friendly Community Initiative.

Congratulations to Fairfield Inn & Suites for being recognized with the Purple Angel Designation by the Whitewater Dementia Friendly Community Initiative. This designation shows that at least fifty percent of the staff has been through a dementia friendly business training learning about dementia and how to best serve those with the disease. There was also a walk-through of the facility with recommendations to assist those with dementia.  Others in Whitewater with this designation are Binning and Dickens Insurance, First Citizens Bank, Reynold’s Heating and Cooling, Studio 84, Irvin L Young Memorial Library, Seniors in the Park, New Beginnings APFV, First United Methodist Church, First English Lutheran Church, Discover Whitewater, and Associated Bank – Whitewater.

If any business or church is interested in the Dementia Friendly training please contact Jennifer Jackson, Seniors in the Park at 262-473-0535 or jjackson@whitewater-wi.gov

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

The Congregational United Church of Christ has sold its building with an expected real estate closing date of July 31.  The congregation will continue to use the building at least through the end of 2024, and eventually will be meeting in a yet-to-be-determined space. 

Senior Pastor Dr. David Mc Donald told the Banner, “The Congregational United Church of Christ is looking forward to a new phase in its ministry. Our building has been a remarkable home to us since 1881, and while we have many memories of family, friends, and worship in the space, we are eager to determine our “next” in service to Christ and the community. We have been in Whitewater since 1840–before Wisconsin was made a state, and look forward with hope to our bicentennial celebrations in 2040.”

The following area students have been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for the spring semester of the 2023-24 academic year, ending in May.

Qualification for the Dean’s List is limited to students who have attained outstanding academic achievement. To be eligible, students must have earned at least a 3.5 semester grade point average and carried a minimum of 12 credits. 

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, founded in 1909, is one of 13 four-year institutions comprising the Universities of Wisconsin. UWL offers 130-plus degree programs from undergraduate to doctoral levels in arts, social sciences and humanities; science and health; business; and education. UW-La Crosse – www.uwlax.edu – is a top-ranked national university. It is the No. 1 public university in Wisconsin with fewer than 25,000 students, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best National Universities ranking. 

Students on the Dean’s List from this area include:

Whitewater, WI

 Bryce Hibbs, Communication Studies Major: Organizational and Professional Communication Emphasis
 Josie Hintz, Finance Major
 Catherine Skindingsrude, Biology Major

Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and passed a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white,” and that “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

Over 100 years later, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson marked the anniversary of that decree by officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day.