News & Events

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the office of the governor.

Oct. 15 – Gov. Tony Evers today signed Executive Order #137 ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff on Fri., Oct. 15, 2021, in honor of Navy Seaman 2nd Class Arthur R. Thinnes, who lost his life during the attack on Pearl Harbor.   “Our state is proud of our servicemembers and their tremendous sacrifices, and we pay our deepest respects to the life and memory of Mr. Thinnes,” said Gov Evers. “I am glad to know that after nearly 80 years he is finally being laid to rest in the place he once called home.”  Navy Seaman Thinnes, assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, lost his life on Dec. 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sustained multiple torpedo hits that capsized the boat, claiming the life of Navy Seaman Thinnes and 429 of his fellow crewmen. Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew between 1941 and 1944 and interred unidentified remains, including those of Navy Seaman Thinnes, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu shortly after World War II. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed USS Oklahoma Unknowns in 2015 for scientific analysis and identified Navy Seaman Thinnes, who was accounted for on March 24, 2021.    Navy Seaman 2nd Class Arthur R. Thinnes will be laid to rest with full military honors at Wood National Cemetery in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Fri., Oct. 15, 2021.  Executive Order #137 will be in effect from sunrise to sunset on Fri., Oct. 15, 2021, and is available here.

Banner note: The following information was provided by the UW-W College of Arts & Communication, Dept. of Music.

The College of Arts and Communication at UW-Whitewater is pleased to announce three upcoming concerts taking place at the end of October. The first will take place on October 21, 2021 @ 7:30 pm by Matthew Sintchak, saxophone, then on October 24, 2021 at 3:00 pm the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra (WSO) and Chamber Orchestra will perform in Young Auditorium. Coming up last on October 28, 2021 @ 7:30 pm is Cristina Ballatori, flute with guest artist Kevin Chance, piano. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at tickets.uww.edu or by calling (262) 472-2222. Masks are required for anyone entering a campus building. Do not come to campus if you are ill. For the most up to date campus safety information, visit the Warhawks are Back webpage at the link below. uww.edu/warhawks-are-back.

Faculty member Matthew Sintchak will present a solo saxophone recital featuring premieres of works by composers David Amram and Robin McLaughlin. Sintchak has been part of the faculty since 2001 and has given saxophone performances and master classes throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Japan. He has performed with the Hartford Symphony, the Portland Symphony (Maine), the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble on two tours of Japan. He is a regular member of the Ancia Saxophone Quartet (based in Minneapolis), Duo Nouveau (saxophone and guitar), and the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble. 

The Whitewater Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra will perform works from “Swan Lake” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and works for string orchestra. This concert will feature student soloist Miranda Johnson performing “Horn Concerto No. 1” by Richard Strauss. Originally from Roscoe, IL, Johnson is majoring in Music Performance for Horn with a minor in Music theory. “In my opinion, the performance of this piece is all about bringing back the joy of live performance. It feels really special to be able to play the music I thought I might never get the chance to when the pandemic hit. After all the pain and loss over the last two years, I finally have the opportunity to do what I love most: perform,” says Johnson.

Cristina Ballatori, flute, and Kevin Chance, piano will play an eclectic program of works inspired by songs and dances. The program will feature a selection of major repertoire from the flute and piano repertoire including Franz Schubert’s Introduction and Variations (Opus 160) on Trockne Blumen from Die Schone Mullerin and Robert Muczynski’s Sonata, Op. 14 along with other lesser-known gems such as Samuel Zyman’s Canción de Cuna, Michael Torke’s Sprite, and Dan Welcher’s All the Words to All the Songs.

The Department of Music presents three concerts at the end of October:

Matthew Sintchak, saxophone on October 21, 2021 at 7:30 pm in Light Recital Hall,

Whitewater Symphony Orchestra on October 24, 2021 @ 3:00 pm in Young Auditorium, and

Cristina Ballatori, flute with Guest Artist Kevin Chance, piano on October 28, 2021 at 7:30 pm in Light Recital Hall. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at tickets.uww.edu or by calling (262) 472-2222. Masks are required for anyone entering a campus building. Do not come to campus if you are ill. For the most up to date campus safety information, visit the Warhawks are Back webpage at the link below. uww.edu/warhawks-are-back.

The image on the homepage, “Music Note Bokeh” by all that improbable blue is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Banner note: The following information has been provided by the City of Whitewater.

As some retail options may not be directly available in Whitewater, Instacart has expanded their offering of delivery and pickup options to allow residents in the City of Whitewater to take advantage without having to leave their homes.

Options include Woodman’s Food Market, Festival Foods, Best Buy, Aldi, Sam’s Club, Target and many more.
By visiting Instacart’s website and entering in an address, the page populates with options of retail businesses that will deliver or allow for pickup from neighboring cities. This list continues to expand for groceries, electronics, home goods, pharmacies, pet supplies and more.

Economic Development Director, Cathy Anderson has used this program upon her relocation to Whitewater. “Moving to Whitewater was a great new chapter in my life,” said Anderson. “I became a resident of the city and I wanted to know firsthand what obstacles the city had. I also wanted to find the best way to provide the community with what they needed.”

“Many businesses know how vital our community is and they are willing to go the extra mile to supply Whitewater with their greatest needs,” said Anderson. “This community is so rich with creativity, growth and loyalty, it is only a matter of time until more retailers will know how imperative it is to service the city and hopefully build or relocate to Whitewater.”

To see what is available for delivery or pickup, visit https://www.instacart.com and enter in your address. Residents can sign up for an account and start ordering today.

Banner note: Festival is one of the few retailers that indicates that their products are offered at shelf pricing. In most cases there is an upcharge for the products, in addition to a delivery charge and the suggestion to tip the driver.

The image on the homepage, “Mainstream Groceries Vs. ALDI” by timsamoff is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

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

Signs have now been installed at both of the Whitewater Kwik Trips that are under construction.

As the Banner previously reported, “Shari Meyer, Real Estate Administrative Coordinator at Kwik Trip’s headquarters in La Crosse, told the Banner on September 16 that “store #493,” the first of the company’s Whitewater stores, to be located at the roundabout on Elkhorn Road, is still on schedule to have its “soft opening” on December 9. Ribbon cutting/grand opening is planned for December 15. The second store, “#1065,” at Janesville Street and Highway 59, is expected to open on January 20, 2022, with ribbon cutting/grand opening scheduled for January 26.”

Our thanks to Dave Traxler for sharing another Kwik Trip photo with the Banner.

Our thanks to Lisa Dawsey Smith for these beautiful photos. She writes, “Photos are from this morning (Oct. 11) along Starin Road. Although it does feel a bit odd to still see earthworms about this time of year….I have always wondered why there wasn’t more traffic on that particularly wide path along Starin Road especially since it affords such lovely views.”

— Our Readers Share: We hope that you might have something that you’d be willing to share.  Anything that’s been created by someone else should, of course, be credited, and you should ask their permission if you’re able. We cannot post copyrighted material without permission. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have space for all submissions, and contributions will be subject to editorial board approval. The one definite exclusion is anything politically oriented. We will assume that you’re willing for us to include your name as the submitter unless you indicate that you prefer to remain anonymous. Send to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com or click on “submit a story” near the top right of our homepage.  Thanks for thinking about this!

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the League of Women Voters – Whitewater area.

The League of Women Voters-Whitewater Area invites the public to attend a virtual presentation, “Drawing Power: The Consequences of Gerrymandering on Representation in the 2020s,” on Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. with Dr. Eric Loepp, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dr. Loepp is a specialist in American political behavior, the newly-appointed Director of the UWW Learn Center, and a longtime friend of the League.  Eric will share with us his insights on the history of gerrymandering, the issues confronting us now, and what lies in store for us as political boundaries are redrawn for the first time in a decade.

This event will be virtual. To attend live, please join the webinar by using the URL: https://bit.ly/3FAJ5NB. Passcode: 055146. Or, join us by telephone: Dial (312) 626-6799, Webinar ID: 892 3274 3970, Passcode: 055146. This event will also be recorded and afterwards will be made available to the public.

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 https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/whitewater-area and like us on Facebook!

The image on the homepage, “illinois-4th-district-map-gerrymandering” by SBTL1 is marked with CC PDM 1.0.

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

Walworth County OWI Court Marks Ten Years Since Inception: Intervention Program Helps Repeat OWI Offenders Maintain Drug- and Alcohol-Free Lives

Oct. 11, 2021, marks the 10-year anniversary of the Walworth County OWI Court (WCOC), a four-phase intervention program for adults who have pled guilty to third or fourth Operating While under the Influence penalties (OWIs) and are struggling with sobriety. The program arrives at this milestone with many notable successes behind it—to date, the OWI Court has 203 graduates and a recidivism rate of just 7%. Between 2020 and 2021, the program had 18 new admissions, 14 graduates, and a 90-percent completion rate.

For Alex, a 34-year-old from the Lake Geneva area, participating in the WCOC was an opportunity to start anew after years of drug- and alcohol-related run-ins with the law. “I knew I had a problem,” he says. “I knew I had to make life changes. And I had a lot to lose with the situation.” Now two-and-a-half years sober, Alex graduated from WCOC in 2020. He credits group therapy, a mandatory component of WCOC, as a big part of his success. “To be able to sit around with people of all ages and hear their experiences and share my experiences was really beneficial,” he says.

The WCOC’s mission is to reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries in Walworth County, focus on the habitual problem of repeat OWIs, and reduce jail overcrowding. Given the statistics, its task is a critical one: The State of Wisconsin is the ninth highest state of drunken driving in the nation, with 159 drunk driving deaths in 2018 and 136 drunk driving deaths in 2019. According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, someone is injured or killed in an alcohol-related crash approximately every three hours.

“In Wisconsin, we see 6,000 alcohol-related crashes each year,” says Carlo Nevicosi, director, Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services. “We also have the United States’ largest percentage of binge drinkers. The personal and financial costs of this behavior to individuals, communities, and society are staggering. We chose to aggressively address the problem of drunk driving by eschewing the conventional response of escalating periods of incarceration.”

The WCOC tackles the social, economic, and behavioral factors at the root of repeat OWI offenses—factors that often go unaddressed when repeat offenders cycle back through the judicial system. Representatives from law enforcement, judicial agencies, educational institutions, and social-service organizations collaborate to provide controlled supervision and programs that support sobriety, mental health, and education.

“By all measures, OWI Court has been a huge success,” says Judge David Reddy, who was part of the team that helped organize the OWI Court. “In large part, this is due to the remarkable collaborative efforts of the team members. This community should be as proud of the program and the participants as I am. What started as an effort to reduce jail overcrowding has blossomed into a program that saves money and, more importantly, saves lives.”

Participants must apply to the program and meet certain eligibility criteria. The program requires frequent court appearances, random drug and alcohol testing, as well as group and/or individual counseling. The incentives to participate are many, including access to quality substance-abuse treatment; a large support system; the ability to complete their GEDs through a partnership with Gateway Technical College; reduced license revocations, fines, and jail sentences; and monetary savings.

Looking ahead, Walworth County recently applied for a treatment alternatives and diversion enhancement grant that, if awarded, would provide funding for court-required services as well as housing, transportation, and peer support.

About the Walworth County OWI Court: The mission of the Walworth County OWI Court (WCOC) is to enhance public safety and reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries in Walworth County. By effectively partnering with government agencies and community resources, the WCOC will focus on the habitual problem of repeat OWI offenders. Learn more at https://www.co.walworth.wi.us/156/OWI-Court.