News & Events

Recently the City announced that there would be bulk trash pickup on every Thursday during the month of May. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding between John’s Disposal and City staff. Per John’s, in prior years the extra bulk pickups have only been scheduled around the student housing near campus.

We are sorry for the inconvenience to those residents who put items out for the May 7 pickup that were not picked up. Obviously the terrace lawns would look nicer if it’s not too much trouble to take the items back until the citywide pickup on May 14. If, however, that is inconvenient, no fines will be issued for items that are left out until the 14th.

The bulk pickup on May 21 will again only be campus focused. May 28 will be an all city pickup.

Apologies for the confusion on this matter.

Brad Marquardt
Department of Public Works Director

Per an announcement in the May 6 newspaper, The (Janesville) Gazette will end its Saturday and Sunday print editions, trimming print publication to five days a week as economic pressures on the news industry continue to mount amid the COVID-19 crisis. The Gazette has delivered seven editions a week for 32 years. The change goes into effect June 1.

The decision comes as the paper faces a falloff in advertising and subscriber revenue that’s worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s a measure the newspaper’s ownership had been discussing “for some time,” said Mary Jo Villa, Gazette publisher and Adams Publishing Group regional president.

“I absolutely believe it is the appropriate and necessary step to ensure we remain viable and have the ability to publish quality local journalism for many years to come,” Villa said in a statement. “The COVID crisis further put into perspective how important it is that we size our organization in a manner that ensures we can continue to provide the quality of journalism our communities deserve.”

The Gazette will continue to deliver news and advertising on GazetteXtra.com, the paper’s website, seven days a week, Villa said.

The elimination of two print editions a week will result in a total of six employees being laid off—some in the newsroom and some in the circulation and distribution divisions. The layoffs are effective at the end of May.

As the newspaper industry grapples with changing realities in business, one common response is to decrease the frequency of print products or end publication on certain days of the week, Villa said.

In an interview, Villa said The Gazette’s weekend papers have tended to be the most costly to produce given typical staffing at the printing plant in Janesville, which Adams Publishing also owns and manages.

The decision ends a seven-day-a-week print schedule established in 1988 to capitalize on advertiser demand and growth in preprinted advertising inserts. During most of The Gazette’s 175 years of publication, the paper printed five days a week.

In the last few years, the demise of local advertisers, including Shopko, Sears, Boston Store, JCPenney, Pick ’n Save and Maurer’s Market, among others, has hurt Gazette revenue, Villa said.

The COVID-19 crisis brought on a worsening falloff in advertising revenue, in part because many businesses have temporarily shuttered during the pandemic. In response to losses in ad revenue and the fallout of the novel coronavirus crisis, Adams Publishing in late March instituted a reduction in employee work hours at The Gazette and its other publications.

Villa said the Friday paper will become a “weekend” edition.

“We are not eliminating any content,” Villa said. “Most of the Sunday content will be in Friday’s edition, which will become a weekend edition. I believe each edition Monday through Friday will be improved, particularly as we recover from the COVID crisis and things such as sports and community events return.”

The Gazette will continue to deliver around-the-clock coverage of breaking news and sports every day, including weekends, via GazetteXtra.com.

Villa said The Gazette plans to launch an emailed newsletter to deliver readers the latest news.

The same assortment of pre-printed retail shopping fliers typically inserted in Sunday’s paper will be distributed in the Wednesday and Friday print editions. Villa said the Friday edition will include a bonus volume of games and comics.

Under the shift, subscription prices for The Gazette won’t change because Saturday and Sunday content previously printed both online and in print will continue to be available to subscribers online.

The Friday weekend edition will be delivered the same as other weekday papers, and the newsstand price for the Friday edition will be $2.50. The Sunday paper, which will cease at the end of this month, now costs $4 at newsstands. Monday through Thursday editions will sell for $1.50, which is the current newsstand price for weekday editions.

Gazette circulation surveys show at least 70% of the paper’s readers receive The Gazette’s content through online and multimedia channels.

Villa said she expects some backlash from readers who prefer to read news in print or who can’t or won’t read the paper via an electronic device.

“There is a slice of our readership that don’t have computers, they don’t have tablets, they don’t have smartphones. And I anticipate those individuals will be very disappointed,” Villa said. “But to perpetuate delivery seven days (a week) for what’s probably 20% of our customer base at the peril of the other 75% to 80% isn’t a good business strategy in my opinion.”

The Gazette is among several area newspapers owned and operated by Adams Publishing Group, a family-owned company headquartered in Minnesota. Adams acquired The Gazette and the Janesville printing facility in June 2019 in a sale by the Bliss family, who had operated The Gazette since the 1880s.

Adams media holdings in southern and southcentral Wisconsin include the Beloit Daily News, the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson and the Watertown Daily Times.

After having asked for input as to how to best recognize the UW-W Class of 2020 without being able to hold the scheduled commencement on Saturday, May 16, Chancellor Dwight C. Watson announced on April 30 that the university has decided to hold a Virtual Celebration of Graduates on the same date at 1 pm. Dr. Watson emphasized that this celebration is not taking the place of a commencement ceremony, which is hoped to be held on a date yet to be announced.

Although the graduates are obviously disappointed not to be able to be recognized in person on the originally scheduled date, social media posts in reaction to the announcement appear to be overwhelmingly positive. Zody Levin posted this comment under the Chancellor’s announcement: “Thank you chancellor for offering both a virtual commencement and planning a later date. As a graduating senior myself, we do not care WHEN commencement is, but IF it happens. I will wait as long as necessary for a proper commencement ceremony.”

The Chancellor’s announcement is shown below:

Celebrating our 150th graduating class

Warhawks,

More than 1,600 of you are ready to graduate this May.

You are the 150th graduating class of this great university. You have achieved. You have overcome every challenge put in front of you. You are standing on the threshold, ready to fly. And I couldn’t be more proud of you.

Traditionally, we mark this milestone at commencement. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all know the ceremonies at the Whitewater and Rock County campuses have been postponed. Those of you set to graduate will graduate regardless, so we want to celebrate your achievements. And so, I am proud to announce that UW-Whitewater will be hosting a Virtual Celebration of Graduates on Saturday, May 16, 2020, at 1 p.m.

At the event, which will occur via Facebook Live on UW-Whitewater’s Facebook page, Interim Provost Greg Cook and myself will share some words, as will our student speakers, Brian Martinez and Alex Ostermann. After we mark the conferring of degrees, we have a special musical surprise to share with you. And we will also share our Warhawks Rising social media campaign, where we will see photos of our newly minted graduates and read about the achievements they are most proud of. Graduating students from the Whitewater and Rock County campuses will be contacted via their university email for instructions on how to participate in Warhawks Rising.

This celebration is not meant to take the place of our traditional commencement ceremonies. We know that many of you and your friends and family members prefer to hold in-person ceremony at some later date, and that is what we hope to do. Because of the ongoing nature of the pandemic and the Safer-at-Home orders, however, we do not yet know when such a ceremony will be feasible. Simply put, we do not want to select a date at this point, only to have to postpone it again for reasons beyond our control. We are looking at potential dates, including Homecoming Week, and will be sure to let you know when we have a firm.

These unprecedented times have changed how we live our lives and forego the traditions we normally experience. Although we cannot be together physically at this time, we can still come together and celebrate the success and achievements of our graduating students. Please join us on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. for this virtual celebration of our class of 2020.

Go Warhawks!

Dr. Dwight C. Watson
Chancellor

In a seemingly topsy turvy world the sights of city crews continuing their efforts is oddly comforting. Thank you to Tom Ganser for capturing these images, and thank you to every member of the city’s streets crews diligently continuing their work throughout the city.

Ketterhagen Motor Sales, your local Ford dealership, is celebrating 100 years in business. They were founded in 1920 in Palmyra, WI by W.J. Ketterhagen. W.J. was involved in the family business until his passing in 1981. In 1943 they opened a 2nd Ford Agency in downtown Whitewater where they are still currently located and have been since 1946. In 1960 they sold the Palmyra location to Lambert Maney. In that same year Joe Ketterhagen (W.J.’s son) returned from college and 2 years in the navy to run the family business. Joe was actively involved in the dealership for 50 years until his passing in 2010. The current owner is Joe’s son, Kurt, who has been involved in the day to day operations since 1985. The 3rd generation owner expresses his appreciation to Whitewater and the surrounding communities for their continuous support throughout the years and wishes to thank his father, grandfather, and Ford Motor Company for the opportunity. Most of all, the family gives a big thank you to all of our past and current employees and customers.

April 16, 2020 

Whippet Students and Families, 

As you may know, Governor Evers directed an extension of the Safer at Home order, which contains a provision that schools remain closed through the 2019-20 school year. This extension of the stay at home order has created many questions and concerns regarding school expectations through the rest of the year as well as the status of many of our end of the year celebrations and programs. I would like to address what we can at this time. 

First, I would like to address the students and parents of the Class of 2020. As this is not the end of the school year that any of us imagined, I wanted to let students, parents and community members know that we have been and will continue to work on, alternative plans regarding the Prom, Senior Portfolio Presentations, Scholarship Night and of course, Graduation. We have included and will continue to include the Senior Class advisors, Senior Class officers and our medical advisors in this planning process. Although these events are now officially not allowed to be run in a face-to-face format as they have traditionally, we are still committed to holding these celebrations and programs in some format so we can honor the class of 2020. We will be sending out more specific information regarding these events early next week through IC, our school website, Facebook account and the Whitewater Banner.

Second, although the school may be physically closed, students are still expected to complete their assignments through the home based learning model.  In addition, because of the quick closure of our buildings when COVID-19 first appeared, students will have one more opportunity to come to the school and retrieve personal and/or academic items on Tuesday April 28. Students will not be allowed in the building but will be able to come to the main office door, where staff members will be there to assist them. Students coming to the school to retrieve items must practice social distancing and preventive measures such as masks and gloves. Congregating at the school before and after students retrieve their items will not be permitted. The times for each grade level is as follows: 

12th GRADE: 9:00-11:00 am
11th GRADE 9:00-11:00 am
10th GRADE: 12:00-2:00 pm
 9th GRADE: 12:00-2:00 pm

We will continue to make decisions with the intention of honoring our students and communicating respectfully while at the same time prioritizing the safety of our entire community.  Your patience and understanding is appreciated as we work through this unique time.

Sincerely, 

Mike Lovenberg
Principal
Whitewater High School

_______

16 de abril del 2020

Estudiantes de Whippet  y familias,

Como ya sabrán, el gobernador Evers ordenó  una extensión de la orden “Más seguro en casa”, que contiene una disposición de que las escuelas permanezcan cerradas durante lo que queda del año escolar 2019-20. Esta extensión de la orden de permanencia en el hogar ha creado muchas preguntas e inquietudes con respecto a las expectativas escolares durante el resto del año, así como el estado de muchas de nuestras celebraciones y programas de fin de año. Me gustaría abordar lo que podamos en este momento.

Primero, me gustaría dirigirme a los estudiantes y padres de la Clase o promoción del 2020. Como este no es el final del año escolar que imaginamos, quería que los estudiantes, padres y miembros de la comunidad sepan que continuaremos trabajando en crear planes alternativos con respecto al baile de graduación, presentaciones de portafolio para las personas mayores, noche de becas y, por supuesto, la graduación. Hemos incluido y seguiremos incluyendo a los asesores de la clase senior, a los oficiales de la clase senior y a nuestros asesores médicos en este proceso de planificación. Aunque ahora oficialmente no se permite que estos eventos se realicen en un formato presencial como se lo hace tradicionalmente, todavía estamos comprometidos a celebrar de alguna manera para que podamos celebrar a la clase del 2020. Estaremos enviando información más específica sobre estos eventos a principios de la próxima semana a través de IC, el sitio web de nuestra escuela, la cuenta de Facebook y el Whitewater Banner.

En segundo lugar, aunque la escuela puede estar físicamente cerrada, se espera que los estudiantes completen sus tareas a través del modelo de aprendizaje basado en el hogar. Además, debido al cierre rápido de nuestros edificios cuando apareció COVID-19 por primera vez, los estudiantes tendrán una oportunidad más para venir a la escuela y recuperar sus artículos personales y / o académicos el dia martes 28 de abril. No se permitirá el ingreso de los estudiantes al edificio. pero podrán llegar a la puerta de la oficina principal, donde los miembros del personal estarán para ayudarlos. Los estudiantes que vienen a la escuela para recuperar artículos deben practicar el distanciamiento social y las medidas preventivas como uso de máscaras y guantes. Congregarse en la escuela antes y después de que los estudiantes recuperen sus artículos no será permitido. Los horarios de recogida para cada nivel de grado son los siguientes:

12º GRADO: 9: 00-11: 00 am
11 ° GRADO 9: 00-11: 00 am
10º GRADO: 12: 00-2: 00 pm
 9º GRADO: 12: 00-2: 00 pm

Continuaremos tomando decisiones con la intención de honrar a nuestros estudiantes y de comunicarnos respetuosamente , mientras que al  mismo tiempo damos prioridad a la seguridad de toda nuestra comunidad. Apreciamos su paciencia y comprensión mientras trabajamos en estos tiempos únicos.

Sinceramente,
Mike Lovenberg
Director
Escuela secundaria de Whitewater