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It was a most unusual year because ...
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The Retrospect section chronicles news that took place in southern Grant County and western Lafayette County during 2012.

Some news, however, deserves repeating because of the unusual nature of the news.

Consider:

•    April 3 was not a fun election day for David Millsap, who was a candidate in two races. Millsap finished fifth in the five-person race for three Platteville School Board seats, while also losing to Grant County Sup. Mark Stead. Any candidate, however, requires credit for running, regardless of result, or results.

•    The May 23 Platteville Journal included a letter about downtown parking signed by 94 downtown business owners and employees and downtown residents. It is believed to be the most signatures on one letter in the history of The Platteville Journal.

•    The last high school commencement in the area’s was Platteville’s, on June 3. Commencement speaker Logan Cooley may have gotten the last word, literally: “If what I’ve read about the Mayan calendar is right, this school has literally saved the best graduating class for last.”

•    The drought forced cancellation of some area fireworks, but not Platteville’s on Independence Day. The Platteville Fire Department was at the Legion Field fireworks, conveniently, because some of the fireworks set a tree on fire north of the field toward which the fireworks were shot.

•    The dry summer not only reduced water levels in rivers, but also drained ponds, including the stormwater retention pond in front of Walmart. A family of Canadian geese got the attention of a Platteville resident, who asked the City of Platteville and Walmart to add water to the retention pond. A Blue River woman, the daughter of a Platteville resident, donated $20 for water herself.

•    Platteville police had to deal with a flood, so to speak, of public urination cases once UW–Platteville classes began.
Three people were ticketed within 20 minutes of each other Sept. 9. One man was arrested Sept. 22 for urinating in the Platteville Police Department parking lot; police reported he “was unable to answer simple questions,” including his name, birth date, hometown and who he was with. Two men were ticketed for urinating on, respectively, the Veterans Honor Roll and the Korean/Vietnam War memorial in City Park … on Veterans Day.

Urinating in the police parking lot was repeated by two Madison men Dec. 12.

•    This year’s Historic Reenactment in Platteville included a wedding … of two dogs. The two Newfoundlands were “married” as part of an awareness event by a member of the River King Newfoundland Club in Illinois.