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Report: Watch out for dangerous toys when holiday shopping
From choking hazards to poisonous metals and compounds, the toy aisle still poses a danger to children, a report released Thursday warns. The report, Trouble in Toyland, published by the WISPIRG Foundation and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, urges parents and caregivers to exercise caution in choosing children’s playthings. The groups have published the report […]
Tougher livestock farm rule dies
Years in the making, a plan to change the rules governing large livestock farms is dead — a side casualty of the state Senate’s party-line vote Nov. 5 to fire Gov. Tony Evers’ agriculture secretary. For rural residents who must put up with odors from neighboring livestock operations, the change might have offered new standards […]
Evers signs pipeline protest bill over critics’ objections
Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday signed a widely supported, yet also controversial, bill escalating penalties for trespassing on pipelines and other energy and water sites. Evers signed AB 426, which passed with bipartisan support and was backed by business groups as well as labor unions whose members work in pipeline construction projects. Opponents of the […]
Contract in hand, Milwaukee bus union looks to 2020 county elections
Lingering conflicts over funding, bus route management, and driver security could play a role in next spring's for Milwaukee County elections.
Seeking an Rx for skyrocketing drug prices
Although skyrocketing drug prices are a national problem, states can do a lot to help consumers. A new task force invites governors from around the country who are working on drug-pricing policy to present their ideas in Wisconsin, as the Evers administration seeks immediate relief for state residents.
Wisconsin’s frac sand mining business hits a slump
Hi-Crush Inc. laid off 37 workers in October and November.
Pipeline bill’s backers, critics both lobby Evers as signing deadline nears
Pressure is building on Gov. Tony Evers from both backers and critics of a controversial bill that would make it a felony for protesters to trespass on pipeline sites and other forms of energy and water-transmission infrastructure. Assembly Bill 426 formally reached Evers’ office Thursday, Nov. 14, giving him one week to sign or veto […]
All about the PFAS problem
They’ve been a part of life for decades, used for everything from waterproofing clothing to making foam for fighting airplane and industrial fires. But for most of that time, the class of chemicals known as PFAS escaped detection as potentially hazardous to human health. And not until the last five years or so have Wisconsin […]
Shareholders give the OK to Gannett-GateHouse merger
Shareholders for the country’s two largest newspaper groups on Thursday voted to approve the merger of Gannett Co. and GateHouse Media, opening the next chapter in more than a decade of struggle for Wisconsin’s largest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as well as 11 other dailies in the state. The vote came even as both […]
Federal bill would cap loan interest for consumers
Wisconsin Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) introduced bipartisan legislation this week along with several progressive co-sponsors that aimed at protecting consumers from predatory lenders. “Just on its face, where you’re getting interest rates up over 300%, it’s immoral,” Grothman said in a telephone press conference on Tuesday to mark the introduction of the bill. Citing a […]
Democratic report: Trump farm benefits help those who need it least
Payments the Trump administration has made to compensate farmers for losses they’ve incurred as a result of the administration’s trade policies have benefited farms with less damage while providing insufficient help to the hardest hit, according to a new report commissioned by Senate Democrats, including Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin. The report looks at the impact […]
Legislators end session with little consensus, no action on gun control
In a floor session that opened after 2 p.m. and didn’t end until 9:30, the state Assembly on Thursday began with three failed veto-override attempts and ended with President Pro Tempore Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva) gaveling a special session on gun violence open and shut without action. In between, a Republican bill allowing pharmacists to […]