Jason Howarth's Blog

The March 14 meeting of the Jefferson County Board saw very few announcements, but those made were nevertheless vital to continuing the county’s success going forward. Most noteworthy was the introduction of Robert F. Dehring Jr., who as of April 1, 2017 will be serving as the Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge in branch III. Dehring will also be taking on the role of Chairperson of Jefferson County Security and Facilities Committee on the same day. In response to his confirmation, Dehring appeared in front of the county board, saying that upon hearing about the vacancy by the retiring David J. Wambach, “I eagerly got my application together, and when I got the call from Governor Walker I could not be happier to serve as your judge”.

The other major topic of discussion was the announcement of Tim Smith’s resignation from the board as the representative for the county’s 29^th district. According to Jefferson County Board Chair Jim Schroeder, Smith’s replacement is will be determined by county board approval. Schroeder made it public knowledge that three candidates are currently in the running for Smith’s spot, with a decision to be made at the board’s April meeting.    [Read more →]

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At the Feb. 7 meeting of the Whitewater Common City Council, the hottest issue of the night was the announcement of the organization Wisconsin RED pulling out of the annual Spring Splash event, which will take place on Saturday Apr. 29. The council deliberated for over an hour discussing the impact of last year’s Spring Splash had on the community as a whole. Although it was made clear by Whitewater’s City Manager Cameron Clapper that Spring Splash would not be cancelled, Clapper made it clear that along with Wallace O’Donell, the Council’s Legal Representative (attorney)  held many recent conversations with Wisconsin RED’s leadership. In said discussions O’Donell made it clear that he felt it would be best for both sides if Wisconsin RED did not promote Spring Splash via social media, due to the potential legal ramifications that could occur if things got even more out of hand than last year’s event. [Read more →]

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As technology continues its rapid expansion from the sky in the form of drones, to web-searching smartphones in the palm of our hands, the question ever looming this innovative field is often what’s next and who will make it. Amazon has been one of the companies who has built their entire reputation online/through technology, alongside brands like Google are the premier examples of 21st century business at its finest. And now, at least according to Mashable’s Lance Ulanoff and multitude of others, Amazon is getting ready to change the world again with Amazon Go. Amazon Go is essentially  designed replace the grocery store, in particular the human interactions, through the use of the Amazon Go smartphone app, simplifying shopping to a grab, check-out, and leave. In addition to this Amazon is planning on bringing physical Amazon stores to aid not only this prospect, but their online delivery ones too. This all sounds great in theory and I can understand the intrigue and excitement, but this almost feels like a giant lab experiment, one fueled by online data and consumerism, basically bringing to life the things people complain about when using the internet. [Read more →]

Tags: News Story, Personal/Opinion, Tech by Jason Howarth
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Everyone fortunate enough to have toys had their favorites growing up. Some inspired creativity, some intelligence, but all toys inspired fun and imagination. Since 1999, The Strong National Museum of Play has inducted toys and games into its Toys Hall of Fame. This year is no exception, as pointed out by Andrew Liptak of The Verge, with Fisher-Price’s Little People figures, the classic swing, and the cultural phenomenon that is Dungeons and Dragons, joining already announced entrants the Atari 2600, Frisbees, and the cardboard box. Dungeons and Dragons was created in 1974 by Gary Gygax, and is a fantasy game using dice and character sheets in combination with published books to create a role-playing experience. It not really surprising that Dungeons and Dragons is going in to this Hall of Fame, in fact it has a leg up of many of its fellow toys in that the game is still played today, often being updated and refined, but never truly removing the core experience. Many of the current and past generation look at D&D as a landmark game, yet very few seem to remember the struggle it went through to be accepted, with Christian groups demonizing the game for well, leading to devil-worship and increased practice of the occult. This of course, has never been proven despite the mass media’s attempts to draw people away from the game it instead drew them in. [Read more →]

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Well the presidential election of 2016 has come and gone, and the nation seems more divided than ever. However, this not a statement to rile up the winners and losers this election, but rather to make clear,  that despite the controversy heading into the polls, more than half the nation has been tallied as “didn’t vote”. Now it is important to note that Mashable, who has the initial numbers may wrong in the actual totals, but what is painfully clear is that as it stands now 46.6% of Americans didn’t vote.  Their statistics are based on eligible voters in the US which is a staggering 231,556,622. This kind of information becomes massive media news, so its no wonder Mashable (among many others) would jump at the story, but one has to wonder if such stories aren’t a bit premature. [Read more →]

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Note: This is not meant to be an attack on any political party or it’s representatives

When it comes to connecting with other people and sharing our thoughts we are now just a click or swipe away from doing so. That doesn’t mean that media like magazines or TV are invalidated, but there is one common thing that journalists no matter how they spread their opinions shouldn’t do and that is endorse political parties and their candidates. Yet, this is what The Economist and several other pieces of journalistic media of all platforms have done with their announcement of support for Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Now while there are others that support Clinton’s opponent Donald Trump, that is not the issue, rather it is any indication of the media like The Economist from removing bias from there reporting and trying to herd readers together to embrace their line of thinking. Now, while every human being has a right to opinion and can even express that opinion, it is different for journalists.

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This past Sunday’s Green Bay Packers game against division rival’s the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field was a tale off two completely different Packer teams. The first half saw utter dominance over the Lions on both sides of the ball, with 4 Aaron Rodgers passing touchdowns and a 31-10 halftime lead. Unfortunately, defensive injuries finally seemed to catch up to the Packers who held on to win 34-27. Four defensive starters sat out for the Packers last Sunday including Clay Matthews, Morgan Burnett, Letroy Guion, and Datone Jones. Combine that with already out with an injury star player Sam Shields and struggling against the pass already (the team finally having locked down opponents on run defense), Packer’s defense was backed in to a corner despite stellar first half play. Mike Spofford, who wrote the original blog on this story, shows through a series of video interviews with Head Coach Mike McCarthy and Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers that their confidence in the team hasn’t wavered in spite of the crop of injuries. [Read more →]

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The story of UW-Whitewater’s LIT Organization’s event to raise money to fulfill a local cancer patient’s Make-A-Wish dream!

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The Sports’ Team at 91.7 The Edge took over the airwaves for a 24 hour Hawktalk-on-air-arthon from noon Friday November 13 to noon Saturday November 14

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A car accident involving Mayor Gustavus Petykiewicz leaves one man in the hospital and the mayor’s future in doubt.:   News Writing Midterm

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