OUR PLACE
Wisconsin’s warmest winter on record sets the stage for an early bloom.
A record number of eighty days and thirty-five nights above freezing, a whopping 10 record warm lows, and hardly any snowpack brought on an early spring bloom with buds noticeable well before the official spring season started. Many folks enjoyed playing golf in February and others noticed maple syrup flowing earlier than normal. The emergence of buds is running between two to three weeks ahead of normal across southeastern Wisconsin due to this abnormally warm winter. Hopefully, there won’t be any late-season frosts to hinder the appearance of an early spring, or force much of the region’s vegetation to be spotty and a mess during the summer months.
Geneva Lake Police troubles.
The open waters of Geneva Lake are policed by a special force that’s currently based in Fontana at the harbor there. Their organization has been problematic from the beginning, as the waters of Lake Geneva are not truly ‘owned’ by any entity. The lake itself is a riparian body of fresh water in Wisconsin, of course, but it’s under the stewardship of the Department of Natural Resources, not the communities surrounding the water.
The police in this special waterborne force work primarily part-time since the winter months do not require any police services not provided by the more conventional forces of local community police departments. During the summer months, the primary hours that need coverage from the members of this force are on weekends. Therefore, most of the department is part-time in work requirements. It has proven very difficult to find and hire police officers who’ve been qualified and trained to work part-time instead of working for a while and then leaving to join some other full-time situation at a regular police organization. The force on the lake is down to one full-time officer and one community service officer and it cannot be sustained at that force level.
What is to be done? That question is still open and the GSR will be reporting about it as time goes by, and the summer comes upon the lake once more in only a few months.
Balloon Adventure 2024 is set to open April 11th and run through April 21st.
The event will be held in the boat showroom at Pier 290 in Williams Bay. This wonderful event is presented by The Santa Cause non-profit and Wisconsin Balloon Décor. Get ready to be enchanted by this fully immersive balloon display, featuring over 100,000 balloons themed from the ‘World of Oz.’ Follow the Yellow Brick Road to santacauses.org and get tickets. General admission for the Yellow Brick Road adventure is $20.00 per person, adults-only night and wicked night out, is $30 per person. Ladies’ night in Oz is $30 per person and includes 50% off drinks at the bar in the balloon adventure. The after-school munchkin special is $20 for adults and $14 per child. There are also group tours and school excursion opportunities. This is a unique magical event and is only here for a limited time, so don’t miss out.
