News & Events

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It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society. Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, one of the most solemn times in the Christian calendar. Here is a view of one of Whitewater’s long-time churches, the First English Lutheran Church. But, this post card is labeled the Norwegian Lutheran Church, not the First English Lutheran Church. This is because the post card was probably produced before 1937 when the congregation officially changed its name. In the mid-19th century, Norwegian immigrants founded the local Norwegian Lutheran Church on the east side of Whitewater. In 1908 the congregation relocated to this building, the old Baptist Church, originally built in 1886-1887. In the early 20th century, services began to be held in English, and by 1937, the church dropped its affiliation as a Norwegian Lutheran church.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society.

(5523PC, Whitewater Historical Society)

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced his retirement effective with the end of the current session in a speech on the Assembly floor on the last in-person day on February 19th. He stated that he suffered a heart attack last year and took it as a sign from God to retire. Vos, age 57, (R-Rochester) was first elected to the Assembly in 2004 and has served as Speaker since 2013. During his tenure, he became one of the most powerful figures in state government and the longest-serving Assembly Speaker on record.

Per Wikipedia:

“Vos attended the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he studied political science and public relations. While at Whitewater, he roomed with Reince Priebus, who later became chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and White House chief of staff. In 1989, Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson appointed Vos as a student representative on the University of Wisconsin board of regents. Vos graduated in 1991.^[7]

After graduation, Vos worked as a legislative assistant to state representatives Jim Ladwig and Bonnie Ladwig…..Vos has an ownership stake of $4.8 million in rental properties in Whitewater, Wisconsin.” [Per the Walworth County property tax site, Ladwig & Vos, Inc. owns over twenty residential properties in the city.]

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Gov. Tony Evers issued the following statement on February 19 regarding the retirement announcement.

Gov. Evers Releases Statement Regarding Speaker Vos’ Retirement

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today released the following statement regarding Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ (R-Rochester) retirement announcement: “The Speaker’s retirement marks the end of an era in Wisconsin politics, and I’m grateful to have served as governor during Speaker Vos’ tenure. Although we’ve disagreed more often than we didn’t, I respect his candor, his ability to navigate complex policies and conversations, and his unrivaled passion for politics. “I’m also incredibly proud of the bipartisan work we’ve been able to do together these past seven years. We passed the first bipartisan budget in decades last year that made historic investments in our kids and public education. We worked together to find compromise and provide the first increase in state support for our local communities in over a decade. We kept the Brewers in Milwaukee for generations of new Wisconsinites, provided billions in tax relief for middle-class families, made one of the largest investments in affordable housing in state history, and increased key investments for the first time in a generation, from special education to funding to fix our roads and bridges. And those are just some of the highlights. “I wish the Speaker well in his retirement and hope he and his wife, Michelle, enjoy this new chapter together. Robin’s one-of-a-kind, so I wish whoever becomes the next Assembly Speaker well. They’ll no doubt have their work cut out for them. Being in public service is challenging and can be thankless work, most especially when you’re responsible for getting things done. I understand that better than most. For your sacrifices and your service over the years, thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

Update 2/29/26 @ 5:00 p.m. – The agenda, which includes the virtual access link, may be viewed here.

The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Committee invites residents to comment on a proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) amendment to the existing County Zoning Ordinance during its public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 19 at the Jefferson County Courthouse (Room C2063) or via Microsoft Teams teleconference.

The County is exploring this amendment because it has potential to contribute to two pillars within the Jefferson County Strategic Plan: diverse housing opportunities and intentional economic growth. ADUs support diverse housing opportunities by enabling the addition of new housing units that broaden the variety, size, and cost of local housing options. They enable intentional economic growth by adding housing units quickly on developed land, with no impact on farmland or undeveloped spaces.

ADUs provide flexibility and efficiency that many existing housing options lack. Homeowners may opt to build an ADU to facilitate multi-generational family living on the same lot, or they may rent an ADU to supplement their income while providing additional affordable housing.

The amendment contains several safeguards designed to maintain quality of life for current residents:

• Lot size restrictions: ADUs can only be built on standard, conforming lots
• Lots must contain enough space for two parking stalls per dwelling unit
• Septic/sanitary district requirements: Septic systems must be approved to serve the total number of bedrooms (main residence and ADU); all homes in sanitary districts must receive approval before permitting
• The property owner must live onsite (in the main residence or the ADU)

After this public hearing, the Planning and Zoning Committee will consider the ADU amendment at its Planning and Zoning Committee meeting on February 23 and may recommend action by the Jefferson County Board at its March 10 meeting.

For more information about Jefferson County, visit https://www.jeffersoncountywi.gov.

Editor’s note: The above press release was provided by Jefferson County on February 18.

The following students are serving on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee for the 2025-26 year:

Whitewater, WI 53190: Orin Smith, who is studying Higher Education Leadership MSE, is the Vice Chair and College of Graduate Studies Representative.

Whitewater, WI 53190: Olivia Nanni, who is studying Human Resource Management, is the College of Business and Economics representative.

The Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC) is made up of student representatives from across campus that allocate fees to student organizations and campus departments. SUFAC appropriates budgets to fund more than 100 activities, programs, and student organizations on campus.

“Representatives come from each academic college and Whitewater Student Government. Students gain decision-making skills, policy development and implementation, and the management of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Kim Clarksen, an advisor to SUFAC. “Their goal is focused on providing access to funds that assist students in having meaningful educational experiences while maintaining affordable fees for all students.”

Clarksen assists the committee in applying policy and understanding the nuances of the groups requesting funds. She also supervises the budget interns that work alongside the committee, helping groups to spend their allocated dollars.

Students can reach out to the dean of their colleges and/or to the Whitewater Student Government to express interest in serving. For more information, visit uww.edu/sufac or send questions to sufac@uww.edu.

Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Nearly 900 students graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at winter commencement, held Dec. 13, 2025, at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center.

The following students from our coverage area earned degrees from the UW-Whitewater at winter commencement:

Whitewater, WI 53190: Salaar Akbar graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Biology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Garrett Allamian graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Samantha Beecroft graduated with the following degree: Sociology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Nicole Butry graduated with the following degree: Art – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Montserrat Cuevas graduated with the following degree: Spanish – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Makenna D’Amico graduated Summa Cum Laude with the following degree: Biology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jaciel Flores graduated Summa Cum Laude with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Dawson France graduated with the following degree: Music – BM

Whitewater, WI 53190: Sirena Gomez graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Early Child Care and Education – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Elyse Hansen graduated with the following degree: Elementary Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Stephanie Hensel graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Accounting – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Aidan Impola graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Criminology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Misynn Jones graduated with the following degree: Art – BA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Caleb Karlson graduated with the following degree: Physical Education – BSE

Whitewater, WI 53190: Andrea Kuhl graduated Magna Cum Laude with the following degree: Biology – BS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Aubrie Malette graduated with the following degree: Associate of Arts and Science – AAS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Elvia Meza Klosinski graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Bradley Morris graduated with the following degree: Music – BM

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

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jonah Panning graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Finance – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Dante Poe graduated with the following degree: Cybersecurity – MS

Whitewater, WI 53190: Pureless Powell graduated with the following degree: Computer Science – BS

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

Whitewater, WI 53190: Jazmin Soto graduated Cum Laude with the following degree: Marketing – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Anna VanWormer graduated with the following degree: Management – BBA

Whitewater, WI 53190: Brianna Zimdars graduated with the following degree: Business Administration – MBA

Students crossed the stage to receive their degrees at the ceremony, held at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center.

The 888-member graduating class included nine international students, 69 military veterans and 154 nontraditional students, defined as undergraduate students who are 25 years of age or older. In addition, 77 self-identified students with disabilities received degrees.

A total of 61 students participated in the university’s Hired Before Graduation campaign, which celebrates students who landed a job, earned a job promotion, were accepted to graduate school, or started their own business before commencement.

Editor’s note: It is likely that a number of these graduates did not reside in Whitewater prior to enrollment in the university. UW-W lists graduates as residing in the city that is shown in their registration.

Sixteen members of Ferradermis chose to participate in the team’s 4^th annual trip to Madison for Robotics Advocacy Day at the State Capitol on Thursday, February 12.

Over 300 middle school and high school robotics students and their mentors from across the state gathered at Monona Terrace to begin their day with lessons on state government and how to advocate with legislators. As both a parent of robotics team members and a state legislator, Representative Brienne Brown addressed the large group and encouraged students to embrace the opportunity to make a difference.

Wisconsin offers a robotics league participation grant as one way to promote STEM education, and each year, teams descend on the capitol to discuss the importance of continuing and potentially increasing this funding. This year’s ask was for our representatives to consider lowering the age group for the grant to include elementary school teams; currently the grant is only open to teams with students in grades 6-12.

After a morning of speakers and meeting rehearsals, teams moved to the capitol building. Throughout the day, robot demonstrations took place in the rotunda.

Ferradermis members were able to schedule meetings with seven different legislators and/or their staffers over the course of the afternoon. In order to cover the full schedule of meetings, the students split into two and sometimes three groups. Within each group, students divided up their talking points with one student taking on the role of facilitator. At times, Ferradermis joined together with other teams who shared the same legislator.

Ferradermis’ first meeting of the day was with Senator Melissa Ratcliff, a joint meeting with Ferradermis and FTC Team 10100 Phoenix Force from Verona.

Next up was a meeting with Representative Brienne Brown who is very familiar with FIRST already, but the team spent some time talking about the changes coming to FIRST Lego League and the need to extend the Robotics League Participation Grant to the lower grades.

The team then met with staff from Representative Ann Roe’s office in conjunction with FTC 21355 Turtle TEK from Beloit. The Assembly was in session throughout the day, so many of the meetings were with staffers instead of the representatives themselves if the timing did not work out.

Part of the team was then able to meet with staffer Katherine Morgan for Representative Joan Fitzgerald.

Next on the Ferradermis Advocacy Day agenda was a meeting with a staffer for Senator Mark Spreitzer. The Whitewater team was again able to team up with students from Turtle TEK for this meeting.

Thank you to staffer Cameron O’Connell from Representative Tyler August’s office for taking the time to learn about FIRST Robotics.

The final Ferradermis meeting on Advocacy Day was with staff from Senator Steve Nass’ office.

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

The Whitewater Unified School District will present its annual State of the District update on Thursday, February 19, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Whitewater Public Library.

Superintendent Samuel Karns will provide an overview of district priorities, student achievement, financial stewardship, and ongoing efforts to support student learning and wellbeing. The presentation is part of the State of Our City and Schools event hosted by the League of Women Voters Whitewater Area.

“This event is an important opportunity to share the progress we are making across our schools and to highlight the accomplishments of our students and staff,” Karns said. “We are committed to continuous improvement and working in partnership with our families and community members to ensure every student has the support they need to succeed.”

In addition to the district’s update, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chancellor Dr. Corey A. King and Whitewater City Manager John Weidl will present a comprehensive look at the state of education, local government, and higher education in the Whitewater community.

The event is open to the public, and community members do not need to be members of the League of Women Voters to attend.

For more information about the State of Our City and Schools event, community members may contact Mary Beth Byrne of the League of Women Voters Whitewater Area at wisconsinwoods@gmail.com.

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.

Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Whitewater Unified School District.

Apologies that we’re tardy in posting John’s 2026 schedules for the city and all of the nearby towns. It’s the first item under the “Helpful Links” section of The Whitewater Banner.

Our thanks to former Banner volunteer Lisa Dawsey Smith for taking care of this from her new home in North Carolina, and also to two readers who prompted us to get this done.