Around Town
WATERCOLOR PAINTING CLASS: Carolyn Rosenberger will resume her watercolor painting class in Iola on Jan. 6 at Lessons from the Art. It will start at noon rather than 9 a.m. The class will create a rural winter landscape with the sun rising behind a barn.
Around the County
CODE RED CHANGEOVER: The Waupaca County Communications Center(Dispatch) is no longer using the CodeRed alert system. They have transitioned to Smart911, which is similar to CodeRed in giving you timely alerts during emergency situations. Please consider signing up so you can stay informed.
WAUPACA CUTS TAXI SERVICE: After over 30 years, Waupaca Taxi ends service, saving the city $100,000 annually. Starting Jan. 5, Waupaca will shift to Waupaca County’s Catch-a-Ride, funded by a federal rideshare grant. There will be a four-day gap with no public transit before the new service begins. Riders must schedule trips 24 hours in advance under the new system, which aims to maintain community mobility. Read the TV26 story here.
Around the State
FARMERS HURTING: Soybean prices have declined since late 2023, while supply costs continue to climb. The American Soybean Association notes production expenses are historically high. Professor Paul Mitchell, , agricultural and applied economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says President Trump’s tariffs triggered significant commodity price swings, challenging U.S. producers’ ability to plan for the future. Read the Wisconsin Public Radio story here.
UNEMPLOYMENT PAY INCREASE: Wisconsin lawmakers will vote Jan. 6 on bills to raise weekly unemployment pay to $395, launch an employer ghosting website, tighten identity checks for claims, and impose $5,000 fines for benefit fraud. This marks the first unemployment pay hike since 2014. Read The Centre Square article here.
WEDDING BARN LAW: Starting Jan. 1, new regulations in northeast Wisconsin limit wedding barns without liquor licenses to serving only beer and wine. These venues may obtain a special permit, allowing alcohol at up to six events per year—no more than one per month—instead of a full liquor license.
Because
MEDICATION RECALL: Gold Star Distribution Inc. of Minneapolis is recalling all FDA-regulated products — including OTC cold and flu medicines, dietary supplements, pet foods, cosmetics, and medical devices — distributed mainly in Minnesota due to possible Salmonella, rodent and bird contamination, and unsanitary storage. Affected medicines include Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, DayQuil, NyQuil, Excedrin, Alka-Seltzer, and Motrin. Read the ZeroHedge story here.
Interesting Facts
In the daily surfing of the internet, some interesting facts arise that are worth sharing. These are a few recently seen.
CREATION OF THE COCKTAIL: Much to one’s surprise, cocktails weren’t invented in British taverns. It was 17th-century British sailors who got the credit because they would use local ingredients from India or Indonesia to create their own alcoholic beverages. While beer would spoil during a long voyage, the addition of sugar and citrus to spirits would help preserve the punch.
WHY CLOCK HANDS MOVE CLOCKWISE: The reason has to do with the movement of the sun on a sundial. On a horizontal sundial, the kind most familiar in Europe, the sun’s shadow moves in the same direction as the hands on a modern clock. On vertical, south-facing sundials, or at different latitudes, the shadow can move in the opposite direction, and its path changes slightly with the seasons. In the Southern Hemisphere, where the sun arcs across the northern sky, many sundials naturally produce what we would call a “counterclockwise” motion. But mechanical clocks were first developed in regions where horizontal dials were common.
