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Baldwin-backed bill gives volunteer firefighters housing break
Hoping to attract more rural residents to join their local volunteer fire departments, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and a bipartisan group of Capitol Hill colleagues on Thursday introduced legislation to add volunteer firefighters and first responders to the list of people eligible for federal housing assistance. “These communities cannot afford to move to fire departments […]
Lawyers, tribes raise concerns about adoption bills
A package of bills aimed at streamlining adoption, ensuring more stable lives for adopted children and their new families and expanding the rights of foster parents could produce more litigation, making the process more complex and lengthy, witnesses warned a state Senate public hearing at the Capitol on Wednesday. The cautionary testimony came alongside comments […]
Too many things?
While thousands of shoppers prepared to converge this Friday on discount retailers and big box stores to stock up on merchandise for Christmas, Becca DuBey of rural Sauk County made other plans. “I find it is usually a great day to share with a good book, watch birds and squirrels, and enjoy my home,” DuBey […]
Racist social media incident investigation is complete
An investigation into a series of racist Snapchat social media messages circulated among members of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team has concluded, but it will be next week before sanctions for those involved in the incident can be finalized, the university’s chancellor said Wednesday. Chancellor James C. Schmidt told the Wisconsin Examiner in […]
Racist messages prompt outcry, investigation at UW-Eau Claire
This article includes reporting by staff of the UW-Eau Claire student newspaper The Spectator, including Managing Editor Rebecca Mennecke, Lea Kopke, and Ta’Leah Van Sistine. A series of racist social media messages, accompanied by images of a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning, has sparked a week of discussion and protest at the University of Wisconsin-Eau […]
Evers signs ‘telehealth’ bill
Medicaid patients who get medical or behavioral health care delivered long-distance now qualify for coverage under a bill that Gov. Tony Evers signed Monday. The bipartisan bill, SB 380, passed the state Senate and the Assembly earlier this fall. In signing the legislation at Richland Center Hospital, Evers said it would offer expanded options for […]
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.