Does it seem like there hasn’t been a lot of severe weather this year? If so, you are absolutely right. There have been 0 severe weather reports this year in the FOX 11 viewing area which covers the majority of Northeast Wisconsin. With numbers like that, it comes as no surprise that this has been the slowest start to the severe weather season on record.

Peas sized hail was witnessed in Bellevue on June 14th with nickel sized hail from the same storm in Ledgeview. You might be thinking, isn’t that considered severe weather? The answer is no. Earlier this year the National Weather Service changed the severe criteria for hail from nickel sized hail to quarter sized hail. Severe storm reports also include tornadoes and damaging wind gusts near 60 mph or greater.

While severe weather has been virtually non-existent in Northeast Wisconsin, almost every other portion of the state has recorded a severe weather storm report, as shown in the image below.

There have been a variety of hail reports (yellow dots), especially in western Wisconsin. Southern Wisconsin, on the other hand, has seen mostly wind damage reports and tornadoes. There have been 8 tornado reports this year, but it is likely that some of these reports have come from the same tornado. On an average year, Wisconsin will see 21 tornadoes, with most of them coming in the months of June and July.

So far there have been 117 storm reports in Wisconsin this year. While that may seem like a lot, the entire state has been enduring a slow severe season due to the weather pattern. Until the month of June, there hadn’t been a lot of instability in the atmosphere for thunderstorms to thrive off of.

Severe weather hasn’t only been slow in Wisconsin. After a fast start to the year, total severe weather reports are below average for the entire United States. There have been fewer tornadoes and hail reports than usual, while wind damage reports have been near average.

Until Next Time,
Meteorologist Andrew Thut

June of 2009 has had some of the coolest and some of the warmest days on record. Early on in the month, temperatures struggled to climb even close to average. In fact, during the first 13 days of the month, 12 of them were below average. There were also two days (June 6th and 7th) where several locations in Northeast Wisconsin reached record low high temperatures in the lower 50s. Part of the reason why temperatures were so cool is the position of the jet stream. The jet stream as shown below was positioned over the central and southern portions of the state, just far enough south to allow cool Canadian air to sneak in.

By mid June, the general weather pattern hadn’t changed significantly. A trough was still positioned over the western US. The jet stream however, did move just far enough north to allow Wisconsin to reap the benefits of seasonable conditions. Seasonable is just the word to describe it. From June 14th – 18th, the high temperature reached 77°, which also happened to be the average high. It’s not too often that you see the same high temperature over 5 consecutive days, but considering that it was the average high makes it even harder to believe

The weather pattern started to take a major shift last week as a ridge built across the northern Plains and the upper Midwest. This meant that the jet stream was positioned well to north, which allowed unseasonable warm air to move in. Not only was Tuesday’s high of 95° a record, but it was also the warmest high temperature that Green Bay has seen since July 17th of 2006. Temperatures again reached the 90s on Wednesday, making the first time we have seen back to back days in the 90s since July 31 and August 1 of 2007.

The hot weather pattern did not stick around long. A trough has developed across the eastern third of the nation which has allowed cool Canadian air to return to the area. Highs over the next coupled of days will remain in the 60s.

The good news is that the pattern will begin to change as we had towards the weekend. The trough in the east will become less pronounced and the jet stream will move further north, allowing us to return to more seasonable weather.

Until Next Time,
Meteorologist Andrew Thut

You’ve probably heard some big numbers concerning the number of people in the country who don’t have health insurance. But who exactly are the uninsured? What’s their background, where do they live, and how many of them are children?

GOOD day for following Twitter

It wasn’t good news. Farrah Fawcett had died. I first learned about it on Twitter. And that was a 1st for me.
I was checking my iphone Twitter account while I was out doing yard work.
I felt so sad. I remembered a cup I took to camp when I was in 3rd or 4th grade — with that famous photo of Farrah in her bathing suit. I know — on a cup. Weird. But she was my idol. I feathered my hair because of her.

And then later I learned about Michael Jackson’s death when I logged onto my computer.
I went back to Twitter to see when the 1st Tweets came out about it.
Ryan Seacrest was all over it.

The TV was the THIRD place I got news of the deaths.

Kind of scary considering I work for TV. But we talk about this all the time in our newsroom. The news business is changing and we have to adapt. We ARE adapting. Pete and I are “old folks” in the newsroom. But we are coming to terms with Facebook and Twitter and our mobile browsers. Slowly — but surely.

Don’t get me wrong — I got most of the news from TV. That’s where I found the best storytelling, best images, clearest picture. Farrah flashing her pearly whites — Michael Jackson skating backwards on stage.

We’ll try to keep up with all of you savvy communicators. So stay in touch. Follow us (Good Day) on Twitter. And stay tuned for our Facebook page. And as always, we can be reached the “old fashioned” way, by email. (goodday@wluk.com)

BTW. That 1st “tweet” I received about Farrah — was from FOX 11 NEWS.

By The Associated Press

If you’re following coverage of postelection protests in Iran, you’re probably seeing green.

Many supporters of the opposition have made a point of wearing green, a color that’s also popular elsewhere in Islamic world – it shows up on national flags, mosques and even the cover of the Muslim holy book.

So, why all the green?

Curiosity about the color inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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Last year, Barack Obama offered to help Hillary Clinton get reimbursed for her campaign losses when she gave up her bid for office and directed her supporters to back Obama. I can’t find any information regarding how much she was reimbursed. Did Obama pay off the remaining debt before offering her the secretary of state position?

Don Downey
Tucson, Ariz.
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President Obama did not reimburse Hillary Clinton’s campaign debt, which totaled $5.3 million in late 2008 when he invited his former rival to be secretary of state. But Obama has made good on his promise to help Clinton retire it.

Under law, Obama was prohibited from giving more than $2,000 from his campaign funds to pay off Clinton’s debt. But he and his wife, Michelle, wrote personal checks totaling $4,600 to Clinton’s campaign, the maximum allowed under law. Obama’s finance chair, Penny Pritzker, also maxed out to Clinton with a $2,300 personal check.

Since then, Obama has urged his contributors to give money to Clinton. Late last year, then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden signed a fundraising e-mail that went to the vast list of Obama For America donors, urging them to give money to Clinton.

Clinton has whittled her debt down to about $2.3 million, according to her most recent campaign disclosure filing submitted in April. The vast majority of the debt is owed to the polling firm of her senior strategist, Mark Penn.

Beth Fouhy
Associated Press Writer
New York

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The flags of Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have the color green in them. And the leading rival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential elections, Mir Hossain Mousavi, also uses green as his trademark color.

Why is green so widely used in the Islamic world?

Daniel Lippman
Washington
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Green has long had a special place in Islam. Many flags in the Muslim world use the color, including those of Saudi Arabia and Libya. The cover of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, is green, and the color has been used in the decoration of mosques.

However, it is not entirely clear why the color became so closely associated with the faith.

It might have something to do with a mention in the Quran, which says that upon the inhabitants of paradise “will be green garments of fine silk.” And a Saudi clergyman, Sheikh Mohammed al-Nujaimi, said the color may have become a favorite because it’s a symbol of “clarity and purity.”

Toufic al-Sudairi, undersecretary at the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, said there’s nothing in Islam that stipulates that green should be the faith’s color.

“It’s just a practice that began a few centuries ago,” he said.

Donna Abu-Nasr
AP Chief of Bureau
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Why can’t America stop importing so many dangerous items from China, and begin producing items domestically? This would seem rather logical, considering we have so many Americans without jobs. Would that not be a simple solution to our country’s economic situation?

Nic Ellis
Danville, Pa.
—

This is a question that may be on the minds of lots of parents after recent scares over lead paint on some toys imported from China. But there is a reason most of the toys U.S. tots play with come from other countries – it’s a lot cheaper to make them there than here.

Like it or not, the basic economics of why jobs go overseas explain this. Labor in many foreign factories is much cheaper and the tasks don’t require highly skilled workers. These products could be made in the United States, but companies would have to pay much the higher wages that U.S. workers command.

Companies almost always pass those types of costs along to consumers. That means more expensive toys. At a time when many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, higher prices would probably not be very popular.

Stephen Manning
AP Business Writer
Washington

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

My time wasn’t THAT good. But it always FEELS good to cross the finish line. Never mind the fact that I had a PAINFUL stitch in my side for 3 of the 6 point 2 mile run! Never mind that it was HOT and I was THIRSTY and I can’t drink water when I run. I just had to remind myself that in just one hour, it’ll all be over for another year and I’ll be able to once again say: “I ran the Bellin.”

It’s like a badge of honor. I’m NOT distance runner.
I can handle a 5K.. But a 10K feels like a marathon to me.

But I do it because this 10K is special. 16 thousand others think so, too. People are friendly, even when they are cutting you off. The community is supportive with their banjo playing and water spraying. And there are treats at the end.

This year I ran with a video camera.  I tried to capture the essence of the Bellin. I succeeded in capturing some bad shots of me.. And some of the atmosphere around me. If you can stomach the shaky video.. Click here to see it.

Hope to see you at the START next year! (and, of course, at the FINISH.)

Sonia Sotomayor has been getting so much attention lately, she even made headlines when she broke her ankle at the airport.
Is there anywhere else in the world where a high court nominee is followed so closely by the public and the media?
Curiosity about the attention paid to Supreme Court nominees inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.
If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.
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I appreciate having closed captions on my television sets. Is there a way to watch movies at the theaters using closed captions?
Russell Lee
Albuquerque, N.M.
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A closed captioning system for movie theaters does exist, but its availability is somewhat limited.
The Rear Window system displays captions on a panel that is generally attached to a seat or a floor stand, allowing theatergoers to read the words on or below the movie screen, according to the U.S. Access Board, a federal agency that aims to increase accessibility for the disabled.
The Rear Window system allows deaf or hearing impaired people to follow captions without having them appear on the screen for the entire audience to see. (Another approach, called open captioning, puts the captions directly on the screen.)
Rear Window systems are used by several movie theater chains. Carmike Cinemas Inc. marketing director Dale Hurst says the company currently has one system in place in Des Moines, Iowa, following a moviegoer’s request for her brother. Regal Entertainment Group uses both open captioning and Rear Window systems at select locations.
The Rear Window system is also available at certain AMC, Crown, Loews, Mann, National Amusements and Imax Corp. theaters across the country, according to Rear Window developer The Media Access Group of WGBH, which is affiliated with Boston-based public broadcaster WGBH.
A list of theaters offering the Rear Window closed captioning system can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/qwl3rv
Michelle Chapman
AP Business Writer
New York
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President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be a Supreme Court justice has been a huge story in the news ever since it was announced. Does the public in other Western democracies pay the same amount of attention to high court appointees, or is this a uniquely American phenomenon?
Daniel Lippman
Washington
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This sort of thing isn’t unique to the U.S. – it’s just a more extreme version of what goes on in many other countries.
The public and the media follow high court nominations most closely in common-law countries, where the judiciary plays a bigger role in defining laws – and so has more influence over people’s everyday lives. The U.S. federal judiciary uses common law; other common-law countries include Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and Pakistan.
“Courts matter politically, or are understood to matter politically, and therefore they are of public interest,” George Bermann, director of Columbia Law School’s European Legal Studies Center, said of common-law countries in general and the U.S. in particular.
Countries in Latin America and most of Europe, Asia and Africa have civil law systems, in which the judiciary is part of the civil service. Judges in that type of system – even those on the highest courts – don’t get nearly as much attention from the public.
“Judges in those countries tend to be promoted according to general civil service criteria and, though they too may become high court judges late in their careers, they do not do so as a result of a process as highly political as in the U.S.,” Bermann said.
Carley Petesch
Associated Press Writer
New York
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There is a vast difference between a person making $251,000 and $2.5 million, yet both are taxed at the same rate under our progressive taxation system. What is the justification for not increasing the tax rate with additional brackets above the current ceiling?
K.J. Hodgson
Scotch Plains, N.J.
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The federal income tax system has six tax brackets, or marginal tax rates, which progressively tax higher incomes at higher rates. The lowest rate for 2009 is 10 percent on taxable income below $8,350 for single filers and $16,700 for joint filers. The top rate is 35 percent on taxable income above $372,950 for both single and joint filers. The income thresholds increase each year with inflation.
Historically, the highest marginal tax rate was 94 percent on taxable income above $200,000, at the end of World War II. As recently as 1980, the top marginal rate was 70 percent on taxable income above $215,400.
President Barack Obama wants to restore the top two rates to their 2000 levels of 39.6 percent and 36 percent, respectively. His proposal would affect individuals making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000.
While some critics of the tax system would like to see more tax brackets for higher earners, others say there are too many brackets already, making the system excessively complicated.
Stephen Ohlemacher
Associated Press Writer
Washington
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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

It’s been 20 weeks since my coworkers and I began the Good Day Wisconsin Great Weight Loss Challenge.    There were some good weeks and some bad weeks.  For me it was a good 3 days and then a bad 4 days.  Bad in terms of eating whatever I wanted over the weekend.  I was really good in the beginning at keeping track of my calories and every little bite that I ate.

As I got used to eating less, I stopped logging my meals but I never stopped working out.  I tried to get to the gym or do some sort of exercise every day.   I average about 4 or 5 times a week. 

HERE ARE MY RESULTS.  I came in 3rd.  Not too bad!  There were about 14 of us taking part and we ALL lost weight.  One of our news directors came in 1st place losing 33 pounds or 14.3%   Way to go Lee!  He gave up a lot and started working out a lot!  For him the weight loss effort was daily.  No room for slacking!   I lost 13.7 lbs.  My goal was 20.  Not great.  But not horrible.  I definitely feel better.  And like Lee said today during the final results — “it’s a lot of hard work.”   But the payoff was great.  

So set a goal.  Grab a buddy.  And “just do it.”

See you at the Bellin!

Packers public OTA (organized team activity) for Wednesday, June 10.

Conditions- perfect for practice!  Sunny and 65, light breeze. Of course, that’s also perfect for golfing, but hey, we all have to make sacrifices.

11:15 am- Stretch them out- some faces returning to camp- LB Clay Matthews (1^st round pick 2009) is participating today, and NT Ryan  Pickett also is here.  S Atari Bigby is also participating today.  It will be interesting to see how he picks up the new defense.  He has said it is perfect for a safety who likes to come up and hit, which he does.  Speaking of safeties, Nick Collins absence has become conspicuous.  He says it isn’t contract related, and I have a good source that tells me his family issues truly are tough right now, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

11:25- Seems like we are down a punter- only two on the field.  Adam Graessle is nowhere to be seen.  I mean, how injured do you have to be to not be able to take a knee on the grass, like most punters do for 75% of the practice? (Note: Just found out he was cut!  That’s how you have to be as a punter to miss practice…)

11:35- Brad Goode is snapping into a net, but when they turn around and do punter snap catching practice, they use the JUGGS machine.  Someone please explain that to me.  Perhaps they would get done too quickly if they put the two drills together, ie: the long snapper practicing snapping to the punter who is practicing catching.  Call me crazy…

11:45- Had a great conversation with former long snapper Rob Davis, who is now in charge of player development in a non-football sense.  He puts together a program that teaches the players how to handle their money, all about taxes, beware of groupies, find a passion after football.  He mentioned how Brett Favre can’t step away from the game because he doesn’t have anything else in his life he is passionate about enough to make him move into that realm.  Rob’s doing a great service to the young players, if only they will listen.  We’ll do a story on this soon.

11:53- Matt Flynn running the offense.  Have you ever noticed he looks just like Matt Damon?  I told him I enjoyed his work in the Jason Bourne series, but Matt didn’t think that was particularly funny.  I’m guessing he gets this all the time.  Maybe he switches identities as a pick-up line, however.  No? Just me who thought of this?

12:02- OL coach James Campen is urging his troops to put a little more hustle in between drills, in a little more colorful language than I’m comfortable using here.  His players respond well, and get their feet off the ground as they walk to the next drill.

12:05- DL Aaron Kampman is getting some one on one attention with coach Kevin Greene.  This is going to be quite a journey for Aaron.  He did himself no favors by his frosty interview last week, making those who heard it assume he was angry.  I think he’s just cautious, because he has made a couple of pro bowls and doesn’t know if his skill set will translate.  If anyone knows that position, however, Kevin Greene is the guy.

12:10- I look down on the sidelines, and I see various hats and sweatshirts, and sweatpants lined up.  It reminds me of my daughter’s school.  All in a neat row and in numerical order, each with the player’s number sewn in the back, just like my daughters name in her school stuff.  What happens to all that gear when someone gets cut?  Does the next 41 just get the stuff the other guy wore, regardless of fit?  Or does he get to pick out new stuff?  So many questions unanswered…

12: 15- General Manager Ted Thompson shows up in his customary baseball cap and sunglasses.  I say hello, he nods.  Not much information exchanged.  I don’t think he’s going to show his cards on the Jennings or Collins extensions, but it’s nice to be acknowledged.

12:25- About 100 railbirds were watching practice today.  They were treated to some nice catches by Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley, Brett Swain (!) and Korey Hall.  Not a loud group, but very dedicated to be attending an OTA.

12:30- Souvenirs!  Punter Durant Brooks has just shanked two punts onto Oneida Street!  Into traffic!  Luckily, no one drove off the road.  I’m thinking if you can’t keep it in the practice facility, your chances of making the team are looking a little worse.

12:45- Nice play by Brandon Chillar- tipping an Aaron Rodgers pass in the air, then making a nice catch for the interception.  A very interesting dress choice for the linebackers, by the way.  Chillar likes his sleeves hiked all the way over his shoulders (Welcome to the gun show!) and has neoprene leggings under his shorts.  Poppinga is the same way.  AJ Hawk and Desmond Bishop, on the other hand, have the neoprene top AND bottom under their jersey and shorts, while most everyone else is just in shirt and shorts.  Maybe they called each other before practice…

12:54- Did I mention Jordy Nelson has been making some nice catches?  Gets another.  James Jones will have a fight on his hands this training camp for that number three spot.

1:04- There has been a Pat Lee sighting!  He had a couple of nice knock aways today.  Would be nice if he were to develop into a future replacement for the “two aging corners” (I believe copy law dictates we have to refer to Woodson and Harris that way), but I’m not sold just yet.

1:12- Practice finishes!  Another OTA in the books.  The Packers have more next week, then the mandatory mini-camp is from June 22-24.

3 days to the Bellin! Time to get organized. What will you wear? Figure it out now and go for a run in it. You don’t want your pants to fall down. You don’t want the tag in your shirt to rub your skin raw. Even your sports bra can cause some serious issues. Seriously, weird things will happen if you haven’t already gone for a run in the clothes you plan to wear for what could be a very sweaty 6 point 2 miles.

And if you are going to listen to music — practice that, too. Don’t borrow a person’s ipod the night before and expect everything to go smoothly. Get it now. Program it. And go for a run. Practice your music listening plan. I spent the first 5 minutes of my first Bellin run trying to get my music started. Ended up the batteries were dead. Had to run with this bulky CD player the whole way with no music.

Good thing there were a lot of spectators playing music. Horns were blaring. Drums were banging. Fiddlers were fiddling.

But I need my music. My FOOTLOOSE. My CLARKSON. My BLACK EYED PEAS.

What do you listen to??

See you at the start!