News & Events

The following students from the Whitewater area earned degrees from UW-Whitewater.
Editor’s note: It’s obvious that not all of these graduates have been long-term Whitewater residents. The university includes anyone who indicates that they consider Whitewater to be their home.

Whitewater, WI 53190: Chris Abts graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jocelin Beecroft graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Physical Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Michael Blija graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Psychology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Gracia Boley graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Journalism – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Alondra Buboltz graduated Summa Cum Laude with the following degree: Elementary Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Riley Burbach graduated with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Cody Carlson graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Brandye Carter graduated with the following degree: Journalism – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Juan Cuellar Meza graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Anna Dahl graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Communication – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Midalis Delacruz graduated with the following degree: Higher Education Leadership – MSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Brian Duncan graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Kennedi Finley graduated with the following degree: Psychology – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Griffin Gerber graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jacob Godden graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Reilly Grasso graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Nathan Gross graduated with the following degree: Supply Chain Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Josie Hammes graduated with the following degree: Social Work – MSW

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jack Hanlon graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Finance – BBA

Greendale, WI 53190: Megan Haskins graduated with the following degree: Special Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Joshua Hetz graduated with the following degree: Journalism – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Gaby Islas graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Finance – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Talba Kabore graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Teagan Kane graduated with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Michael Kelley graduated with the following degree: General Business – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: David Kneiser graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: General Business – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Sarah Lalasz graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Special Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Earl Lewis graduated with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Yingxin Lin graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Mathematics – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jack Lind graduated with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Parker Louden graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Finance – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Isaac Lytle graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Joey Maffiola graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Natalie Mayer graduated with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Danielle McCauley graduated with the following degree: Social Work – MSW

Whitewater, WI 53190: Janessa Norvell graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Social Work – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Katie Oehm graduated with the following degree: Marketing – MS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Annabelle Olson graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Criminology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Kaitlyn Partoll graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: General Business – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Montana Petersen graduated with the following degree: Sociology – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Brodie Peyer graduated with the following degree: Cybersecurity – MS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Aeron Polley graduated with the following degree: Social Studies – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jenna Prock graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Psychology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Hayden Radloff graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Media Arts and Game Development – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Sandra Rasmussen graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Emma Reineking graduated with the following degree: School Psychology – MSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Melanie Reyes graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Human Resource Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Yacouba Soire graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Ashlee Steed graduated with the following degree: Biology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Keagan Stoltz graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Lili Templeman graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Art Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Krystalyn Terski graduated with the following degree: School Psychology – MSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Mason Thompson graduated Summa Cum Laude with the following degree: Journalism – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Sebastian Van Wyhe graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Zach Wagner graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Environmental Science – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Joel Watter graduated with the following degree: Human Performance – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Carolyn Watts graduated with the following degree: School Psychology – MSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Mackenzie Wesoloski graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Biology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Trenten Zahn graduated with the following degree: General Business – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Brianna Zimdars graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: General Business – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Elizabeth Zinda graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Approximately 1,500 students crossed the stage to receive their degrees at the ceremony, held at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center.

The graduating class included nine international students, 102 military veterans and 200 nontraditional students, defined as undergraduate students who are 25 years of age or older. In addition, 187 self-identified students with disabilities received degrees.

A total of 231 students participated in the university’s Hired Before Graduation campaign, which celebrates students who landed a job, were promoted in their current job, earned acceptance to graduate school or started their own business before commencement.

John’s Disposal is celebrating Independence Day as a holiday, and consequently the city trash pickup that normally occurs on Thursday will be on Friday.

4th of July Festival Quick Tips from the questions I answer often:

– Festival opens Wednesday. Full schedule on website – whitewater4th.com

– Festival is cash only. Yup it’s true, plan ahead.

– Wrist band sessions [unlimited rides for $25] are on the festival schedule and only at specific times not throughout the entire event.

– All food vendors south of the railroad tracks are local organizations – this is a fundraiser for them. Please support them as much and as often as you can. [These vendors do not accept cash; purchase your tickets at the festival booths.]

– Fireworks are 10 p.m. 7/4, 7/6. If for any reason there are weather changes the ONLY place to stay informed is the Whitewater 4th of July Festival Facebook page; we are a water launch and a metal platform + explosives + lightning don’t mix.

– The festival (outside of family owned and operated carnival) is volunteer run; please be kind and thankful for the tremendous amount of time these folks invest in this event to celebrate with their friends and neighbors.

– The parade is 7/4 at 10 a.m. Preceded by the Whippet City Mile at 9:45. Road closure is a firm 9:30 am.

– Road closures around the festival on Whitewater St begin today and run through 7/8. Thanks for your patience.

– Helping hands make light work. The festival is always seeking volunteers and donor support. Connect with us down at the ticket booths or by email whitewater4th@gmail.com

– Thank the city streets crews when you see them. They are also working as hard as our volunteers and we are so thankful for their partnership. City of Whitewater

Last but not least, be patient with our social media page; we try to answer comments but once we’re on-site that is our primary focus.

Have an absolutely amazing holiday week, be safe, please keep your teens off the railroad tracks [the trains do run during the festival], hydrate, and have fun!

Editor’s note: Lisa Dawsey Smith posted this message on Facebook and gave the Banner permission to post it.

Editor’s note: The following was posted to the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network on Monday, July 2 at 11:00 p.m.

On Saturday, 6/29/2024, at 7:38 PM, Officers responded to Soup’s On Bar, 1125 Whitewater Ave in the City of Fort Atkinson for a report of a male subject dragging a female into a black sedan, possibly a Pontiac Firebird T top. The vehicle left at a high rate of speed traveling southbound on Highway 12 out of the city. Witnesses heard screaming and said the female was not moving and was possibly unconscious. Suspect was described as a skinny white male wearing a hat and the female was described as having long hair.

No plate was obtained. If anyone has similar contacts or can identify the vehicle or subjects involved, please contact our department: Fort Atkinson Police Dept., Officer Adsit, aadsit@fortatkinsonwi.gov, 920-397-9905.

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

Six teams of Prairie Village residents fanned out over their entire community on Wednesday, June 26 to install nearly 400 American flags in honor of the celebration of Independence Day. It’s the second year for their patriotic display; last year they put out 144 flags, but according to Curt McCulley, “We were so pleased with how it looked and the community response that we are putting even more out  this year.”

Beth McCulley, pictured above, wielded a battery operated drill to make the holes in the ground for Susan Schilt to place the flags in their assigned section. The drill was a much better approach than last year’s hammer and rod, Beth had determined. Originally the project had been planned for Friday the 28th, but at coffee on the 26th concern was expressed that rain was forecast for Friday. Could they move the project to Thursday? No, too many of the busy residents already had plans for that day, so the plan was put into motion the very afternoon of the coffee klatch.

Barbara Dosemagen invited city residents to “Come and enjoy viewing flags on our streets. It started with our neighbor Lee Murray donating flags and soon others were donating . We work as a community of loving, caring for others and our country. Many are involved with donating time to Whitewater’s library, food pantry and feeding University students with a church.”

Prairie Village by Fairhaven is a community for people age 55+, and it was reported that several who were on the teams placing flags were over 80, including one who is 98.

The following press release was received from Lakeside Fire Department and Rock County Emergency Management.

Lakeside Fire Rescue, a part of the Edgerton Fire Protection District, was alerted by the Rock County 9-1-1 Center at 5:19 a.m. on Monday, July 1 for a report of an LP gas leak at Milton Propane, 3992 Vincent Street, on the southwest side of the City of Milton.

First arriving units from Lakeside Fire-Rescue Station 3 (Milton Station) observed an LP vapor cloud in the area being driven to the south by the prevailing winds. Lakeside crews working closely with Milton Police and Rock County Sheriff’s Office quickly closed off John Paul Road, Vincent Street, and the surrounding area.

It was determined the leak was coming from a valve on the bottom of an approximately 60,000 gallon liquid propane tank, and fire crews in concert with employees of Milton Propane began to assess the best way to safely access the area of the leak when the leak “froze over” due to the temperature of the leaking propane.

This stopped the immediate flow, but then presented a challenge as to how to safely off-load the contents of the storage tank to prevent additional releases of propane gas.

Rock County Emergency Management and the Rock County Hazardous Materials Response Team were requested to assist in coordinating and mitigating the situation. The City of Madison Hazardous Materials Response Team was also requested for additional air monitoring equipment.

Off-loading of the leaking 60,000 gallon tank began at approximately 1:53 p.m., and was complete by 4:10 p.m.

In all firefighters from Lakeside, Janesville, Evansville and Madison Fire departments were involved, along with personnel from Rock County Emergency Management, and law enforcement units from the City of Milton Police Department and the Rock County Sheriff’s Office who coordinated evacuation and securing a safe area around the facility during the incident. Additional agencies that supported Incident Command during the incident included City of Milton Dept. of Public Works, Rock County Dept. of Public Works, Alliant Energy, Rock Energy Cooperative, Rock County Communications Center, City of Beloit Police Department and SWEPT.

Roads in the area, an estimated three homes, and three businesses were evacuated for approximately 10 hours; there were no injuries. Officials want to express their appreciation for the public’s cooperation and patience during the incident.

Editor’s note: The image on the homepage is from Milton Propane’s Facebook page.

According to The Gazette, “The estimate of structural damage the EF-2 tornado that struck the south side of the city on June 22 caused has surpassed $20 million, a city official said.

Nick Faust, assistant to the city manager, said that estimate was as of Thursday with about 300 structures damaged. Both figures might change as the city continues to assess damages.

Janesville was the site of one of eight tornadoes across southern Wisconsin on June 22. There were estimated wind speeds of 115 mph in the Janesville tornado. It was on the ground for 11 minutes from 7:42-7:53 p.m……”

The National Weather Service summary on the tornado in Janesville:

“The tornado began just west of Murray Rd, north of Bass Creek where portions of several trees were snapped. The tornado quickly grew, moved to the east-northeast and produced damage rated EF-1 neighborhoods near Loch Lomond park. EF-2 damage was noted at a residence on the east side of county highway D where well over one hundred trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado continued to the northeast, crossing the Rock River, Highway 11 and Highway 51 producing damage rated EF-1. The second area of EF-2 damage was noted a neighborhood just northwest of Burbank Park, where a house lost its roof and a portion of its second story. The roof was found to the north-northwest over a block away. The tornado continued northeast crossing Beloit Ave. and ending in the fields to the west of South Read Rd. Damage along the majority of the path was rated EF-1. Tree damage was substantial with well over 1000 trees that were snapped, uprooted or had large sections damaged. Roof damage on several structures included shingle loss, occasional loss of roof decking material, peeled or dislodged siding and other facia and soffit peeling and removal. A few structure sustained damage to walls when their garage doors were breached. Numerous power poles were leaning, with several snapped.”

Path length was reported at 6.21; maximum width, 700 yards.

Twelve members of Ferradermis were able to represent Whitewater High School at the Laser Lights Offseason Robotics Competition at Kettle Moraine Middle School on Saturday, June 29.

Since the team returned from the World Championships in Houston in April, they have been discussing changes and improvements to their robot that would allow them to accomplish one of the scoring feats in the game that few robots could do. They wanted to “trap.” This means that the robot could climb on a chain and reach high enough to push in a trap door and pass through one of the notes (the orange circular game pieces). The robot the team competed with in Houston could do all of that, except its reach was just a few inches short of the trap door. In order to add those few inches of reach, the students worked to increase the height of their elevator and replace the climbing arms with something that could give them just a little more height. That mission was accomplished when the team successfully trapped in the final 10 minutes of work time before they packed and loaded for Laser Lights!

However, with no time to practice, the impact that these changes had on the other previously successful portions of the robot’s scoring mechanisms went unnoticed until the robot was on the field in Kettle Moraine. This led to some tough morning matches with little time to troubleshoot until the lunch break.

The Ferradermis Drive Team took the field with veteran driver Andrew O’Toole serving as Drive Coach and incoming sophomore Preston Miller stepping into the Driver role. They were accompanied onto the field by Operator Kay Mikos, Human Player Erison Dreksler, and Technician Nina Heim. Due to the quick match turnaround with only 14 robots competing, Ferradermis rarely made it back to their pit between matches. Incoming freshman Vivian Harris took on the role of runner, making sure the team had what they needed from the pit, including a fresh battery for each match. Margaret Brown continued her role of videographer, capturing match video to help the drive team analyze their performance, and Programming Subteam Lead Ace Hudec made adjustments to the code when time permitted between matches. Rae Breisath and Carson Miller cheered on the team from the stands and provided feedback on matches.

Some successful afternoon matches left Ferradermis with a 4-5 record in qualifications, ranking 7^th overall. CAD Subteam Lead Zoe Olson represented the team during alliance selections when they were invited to be part of the #3 seeded playoff alliance, joining forces with Team 1259 Paradigm Shift from Pewaukee and Team 3596 Rocket Robotics from South Milwaukee.

The alliance went 0-2 in the double elimination playoffs, coming up just short in both matches 63-54 and 50-44.

This event also marked the launch of Ferradermis’ newest sustainability initiative, Project Preserve. Robotics teams, including Ferradermis, are doing more and more 3D printing of parts, leading to a great deal of filament waste from prototyping, failed prints, and printing supports. Ferradermis has connected with a company that will recycle the clean, sorted PLA, PLA+, and PETG plastic waste and provide recycled spools of filament in return. The team had advertised this project in advance to those attending the event, and Team 930 from Mukwonago dropped off the first contribution, bringing over 10 kilograms of scrap filament! Business Subteam Lead Andrew Zimmermann made the rounds to all of the pits, discussing the program and encouraging teams to participate. At the same time, he was working on behalf of Team 8744 Leviathans from Eau Claire who was not in attendance, trying to recruit additional teams for their new offseason event in August.

Ferradermis continues to have a busy summer ahead, with the 4^th of July Parade this week and continued work on a new robot so that the team can put two bots on the field in Mukwonago on July 20 and 21 during the MROC Offseason Competition, giving even more team members a chance to get on the field.

New members and new mentors continue to be welcome over the summer and fall. Those interested should reach out to Laura Masbruch at lmasbruch@wwusd.org.

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor
lmasbruch@wwusd.org