News & Events

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by Walworth County.

Water lovers of all ages are invited to join the statewide search for aquatic invasive species (AIS) on August 19, 2023. This fun, hands-on effort, known as AIS Snapshot Day, relies on participants to monitor streams, lakes, and wetlands at designated sites across the state, for signs of non-native plants and animals that pose risks to Wisconsin waterways and wildlife.

Volunteers have a choice to register at one of over 20 event locations hosted by local conservation groups, including Walworth County’s Land Use & Resource Management Dept., which will host its own Snapshot Day event on Saturday, August 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Participants will meet at Walworth County Government Center, 100 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn, for a brief training before heading out to a handful of locations throughout the County on the hunt for AIS.

“AIS Snapshot Day is a great opportunity for residents to get involved in protecting their local waterways,” says Walworth County Land Use & Resource Management Deputy Director Mandy Bonneville. “The success of this event truly depends on volunteers; we hope Walworth County residents will join us on August 19!”

Coordinated in partnership with UW-Madison Division of Extension, UW-Stevens Point Extension Lakes, River Alliance of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Snapshot Day is entering its 10th successful year. Information collected during the event will be provided to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to inform and guide monitoring and response efforts.

“Projects like AIS Snapshot Day are a fun and simple way for volunteers to get engaged and for the local site leaders and DNR to collaborate,” says Maureen Ferry, DNR AIS Monitoring Coordinator. “DNR has a long list of sites with suspected but unverified AIS that AIS Snapshot Day monitoring targets. This increases the chances of volunteers finding a species. Plus, each year, we make new detections.”

Last year over 150 volunteers rolled up their sleeves to monitor more than 234 sites across the state making for a fun and safe event. This is a free event. Recommended for ages 8 and up, minors must be accompanied by an adult. To learn more about the event, visit https://wateractionvolunteers.org/event-page/aquatic-invasive-species-snapshot-day-2023. To register, complete the form at https://forms.gle/D1rRbDSUVKXpdXoF8. Advance registration is requested to help Site Leaders build monitoring plans.

EVENT DETAILS:
AIS Snapshot Day
Saturday, August 19, 2023
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Walworth County Government Center, 100 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn

Editor’s note: The following press release was received from the Rock County Communications Center.

The Rock County Communications Center is announcing a temporary outage of Text-to-911 Services in Rock County, beginning July 26th, 2023.

Rock County is beginning a readiness testing period to merge our phone system with
NextGeneration911 technology. During the cutover period, the ability to text 911 in Rock
County will be unavailable. The ability to call 911 and the Non-Emergency number (608-
757-2244) will be operational as usual.

The expected completion date is August 17th, 2023. Once all work has been completed
and the systems are functional, information will be shared indicating such.

Sherry Stanek, Chair of Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission, recently completed the requirements of the Wisconsin Community Tree Management Institute (CTMI). This innovative training program helps municipal employees and community forestry volunteers develop effective urban forestry program leadership and management skills. Ms. Stanek completed this program as part of the requirements of the $25,000 DNR matching grant received by the city to develop the Arboretum at Starin Park.

Students from twenty-nine Wisconsin communities participated in this training program. Knowledge and skills acquired during six days of intensive CTMI training will help graduates apply resourceful solutions to improve management of municipal trees and green space. Well-maintained trees contribute to increased property values, energy conservation, improved air quality, reduced storm water runoff, improved public health and a better quality of life.

The Community Tree Management Institute is sponsored and developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources with assistance from UW-Stevens Point and the City of Stevens Point.

Editor’s note: This public service announcement was posted to the Whitewater Police Department Facebook page.

On Friday, July 21, 2023 The Whitewater Police Department received a report of an internet/phone scam from a resident of Whitewater. The victim reported that a pop-up on their computer directed them to call a phone number and speak with someone from Microsoft. The scammer accused the victim of financial crimes, and later the victim received a call from someone pretending to be with the “Federal Government Treasury Department” and F.B.I. The scammer instructed the victim to stay on the phone, and assisted the victim with placing an order for over $200,000 worth of gold bars online, and wire the money through a local bank. Thankfully this scam was interrupted before it was completed.

We are asking residents of Whitewater to be aware of internet and phone scams. Please be skeptical of any internet or phone communication that is asking for, or trying to give money. Contact the Whitewater Police Department if you suspect you are the victim of a scam.

Editor’s note: The following press release regarding a similar scam was received from the Rock County Sheriff’s Department.

Scam Calls Impersonating Former Sheriff

Over the past couple days, the Rock County Communications Center reported phone
calls from four citizens throughout the State of Wisconsin indicating they received scam
calls from an alleged “Deputy Sheriff Spoden” with the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.
In each case, the caller is a male, with a southern accent and has left messages for some
people indicating they need to return his call regarding an urgent legal matter. The calls
also came from the same phone number which appears to be untraceable voiceover IP
number likely spoofed from the internet.

In one instance where someone actually answered the phone, the suspect advised a
woman she missed a court proceeding and needed to drive directly to the Rock County
Sheriff’s Office while staying on the phone with him for the entire drive, which would have
been over two hours in length. While deputies and investigators from the Rock County
Sheriff’s Office sometimes schedule meetings over the phone, we would never require
someone to stay on the phone with us the entire time and travel such great distances to
do so.

This has happened in the past where suspects have used the names of current Rock
County Sheriff’s Office employees in attempts to defraud people. In this case, the name
used was of former Sheriff Spoden who has since retired from office.

In the event any citizens have received any recent calls similar in nature, or any time
someone receives a call where the origin and validity seem questionable, the Sheriff’s
Office would like to be notified. Members of the public can call the non-emergency
number for the Rock County Communications Center at (608) 757-2244.

“Tapestry” presented the Savory Sounds concert on July 20. Brats and lemonade were provided by the Whitewater Arts Alliance. Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser.

Editor’s note: Jefferson County is included in the list of eligible “primary” counties, while Rock and Walworth Counties are shown as “contiguous counties” that are also eligible. The photo on the homepage was not taken in the local area.   Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) this week issued statements regarding the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretarial natural disaster designations due to recent drought-like conditions. To date, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has designated 27 Wisconsin counties as natural disaster areas due to drought. This designation allows the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. “We’re continuing to do everything we can to support our farmers and their families, and we appreciate the help from our federal partners and USDA Secretary Vilsack to support our state’s farmers and our local communities during the recent drought conditions,” said Gov. Evers. “I encourage eligible Wisconsin producers to access these critical resources that are available through this designation, including assistance like emergency loans.” “Unpredictable weather impacts the wallet and wellness of producers,” said DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski. “Producers with questions about USDA FSA programs and emergency credit should contact their local FSA office. As always, the Wisconsin Farm Center at DATCP is available to answer questions and connect farmers to resources, including conflict mediation, financial consulting, and the Farmer Wellness Program.” The Wisconsin Farm Center can be reached at (800) 942-2474 or farmcenter@wisconsin.gov. Two stakeholder messages from USDA about the natural disaster designations can be found here and here. Producers can find their local FSA office online. Additional resources can be found on DATCP’s drought resource page.

Mike’s Journey

Whitewater Native Bikes 4,000 miles Pacific To Atlantic Solo

Mike Willegal, retired software engineer, started on his solo journey on June 1^st flying with his bike from his home in Tewksbury, Mass. to Seaside, Oregon. After 40 days and 2,393 miles he is in southern Wisconsin visiting family before continuing to Mass. and the Atlantic. During the first weeks he followed the Lewis & Clark trail, camping with the small tent he has in a pannier and hangs the food over a tree branch to keep the animals away, with an occasional motel stay, due to weather. He has met many kind and interesting folks along the way. A nice gentleman gave him a can of bear spray in grizzly country and the small country shopkeepers offer to have him camp in their backyard if there’s no campground nearby. While here he bikes Lake Mills to Whitewater to Lake Geneva and back adding more miles to the trip. After a visit here with his two sons visiting from Colorado he plans to continue on his journey on Thursday.

This story is written by Genevieve Thompson.

A dozen members of Ferradermis traveled to Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, July 22 to compete with 30 robots from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Wisconsin at the Rock River Robotics Offseason Competition (R2OC) at Rock Valley College. This was an opportunity for the team to work with many other teams that they had never encountered in competition before.

The team was led onto the field by Driver Andrew O’Toole, Operator Ace Hudec, Human Player Erison Dreksler, Technicians Chacha Binagi and Rae Breisath, and Drive Coach Jacob Lee. Other team members worked together to scout robots and prepare for matches and alliance selections including Emerson Dunham, Zoe Olson, and Andrew Zimmermann. Margaret Brown took on the job of filming each match for the Drive Team to analyze and use to adjust strategy between matches. Administrative Team members Maddi LaHaie and Ghati Binagi took care of our team’s donation to the event’s collection of toiletries and canned food for the Rockford Rescue Mission. We were also joined by Class of 2023 alum Mel Prince and mentors Rob Prager, Mark Zimmermann, and Rich Grosse, along with several parents who helped lead the cheers from the stands.

Ferradermis went 3-2 in their five qualification matches, but they earned enough ranking points to be ranked 8^th out of 30 teams at the end of quals. Ranking points not only come from wins but from other tasks the robots perform while on the field. According to stats on The Blue Alliance website, Ferradermis was ranked 4^th overall in scoring during the autonomous period, 4^th overall in scoring during the tele-op period, and 2^nd overall in scoring during the end game, placing them high on other teams’ lists for alliance selections.

Although they were already in the position of being the #8 alliance captain during alliance selections, Ferradermis was the first pick of the #4 alliance captain, Team 3061 Huskie Robotics from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois and gladly accepted their invitation to move to the higher ranked alliance. 6574 and 3061 then invited Team 648 QC ELITE Flaming Squirrels, a community team from the Quad Cities in Iowa as their next pick. The four-team alliance was finalized when the group added Team 967 Iron Lions from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa to their team. Normally alliances only consist of three teams, but in certain events a fourth robot is added as a backup.

The alliance’s playoff run did not last long as 6574 struggled with an electrical issue in the first match that left their bot unable to drive, and the bot belonging to our captain 3061 quickly tipped over in the second match of the double elimination tournament. The team spent the remainder of the day cheering on PWNAGE, an historically successful community-based team from St. Charles, Illinois, that will be disbanding after this event due to the loss of their sole sponsor, who also housed the team’s workspace, after the company was sold. Teams in FIRST Robotics are either considered school-based or community-based, and listening to this team’s story made Ferradermis even that much more grateful for the broad support they receive from their multitude of sponsors in the Whitewater community as well as the school district.

If you’d like to learn more about Ferradermis, the team will have the robot at the Whitewater City Market on July 25, August 8, and August 22 (weather permitting). They will also be in action at Mukwonago High School on Friday, July 28 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, July 29 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. for MROC, the Mukwonago Robotics Offseason Competition. This event is free and open to the public. Additional new members will be accepted at the start of the school year. Incoming freshmen will have the opportunity to sign up at the Activities Fair on the first day of school. Other interested students should reach out to a current team member or to advisor Laura Masbruch. There will be a mandatory parent meeting for all participants on Wednesday, October 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the high school library. The team will have one more offseason competition this fall with the current robot before beginning to build a brand new robot for a totally different game when it is revealed in January.

Article Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor and Banner Volunteer
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
Action Photos Courtesy of Rich Grosse