News
CDC report: Voting in Milwaukee fell April 7, but COVID-19 cases didn’t rise
The April 7 election doesn’t appear to have sparked a surge in COVID-19 infections in Milwaukee, according to a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — but it also saw overall voter participation cut nearly in half and close to an 80% drop in in-person voting in the city […]
Badger style cartooning is a work of art
The Badger State’s rich cartooning history will be celebrated in an exhibit opening Aug. 8 at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. “Wisconsin Funnies: 50 Years of Comics” will be on display through Nov. 22 at the West Bend museum and Saint Kate — The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee. The split location and timing are intended […]
UW-Madison may be trial site for COVID-19 vaccine
A new partnership could make the UW-Madison a trial location to test a COVID-19 vaccine targeting those most vulnerable to the virus — including the elderly and people with weak immune systems. The plan was announced Monday morning by the UW-Madison’s Waisman Biomanufacturing and Heat Biologics. The group’s mission is to advance new vaccines and […]
Living through the pandemic in a news desert
If a person is infected in the forest, and no one is there to report it, were they infected at all? The answer is yes, of course, but as COVID-19 continues to spread through all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, people are increasingly being infected in communities that have seen local journalism institutions shut down or […]
Proposed mine faces mounting troubles
The controversial proposed Back Forty open pit metallic sulfide mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border has suffered major financial and permitting setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and increasing public concerns over the safety of tailings dams to store mine waste. The proposed mine, would be located next to the Menominee River, which flows into […]
Battle lines harden over governor’s new health emergency, mask order
On the day before Gov. Tony Evers’ mandatory mask rule takes effect, reaction swiftly hardened Friday along predictable lines. More Republicans lined up to condemn the governor’s new health emergency declaration and the accompanying mask order, announced Thursday to curb the state’s renewed surge of COVID-19, which takes effect Saturday, August 1. Senate Majority Leader […]
‘14,000 attempts’: Balky technology, expiring benefits worry workers, state leaders
Congress is continuing to squabble over whether to extend a federal supplement to unemployment insurance and if they do, by how much. But as they argue over whether to continue the supplement at $600 a week or some fraction of that, out-of-work Americans are left to worry whether they can survive on state benefits that […]
Town hall participants discuss Wisconsin’s climate crisis
The climate crisis was the focus of a virtual town hall on July 29 featuring Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes and others leaders who stressed the urgency of climate adaption in Wisconsin. Climate change has major consequences for the Badger State, from the increase in severe weather events to the upcoming election. […]
Evers declares new health emergency, mandates masks statewide
With COVID-19 infections steadily rising by as much as a thousand detected cases per day, Gov. Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency Thursday, and with it, announced a statewide mandatory mask order to take effect Saturday, August 1. “A few months ago, Wisconsin was in pretty good shape. The numbers were improving and […]
U.S. House passes package to rescue child care industry
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House stepped in Wednesday to try to rescue the nation’s child care system from collapse under the weight of the pandemic. The chamber approved a pair of bills that backers say are needed to fully reopen the economy and shore up the child care industry in the longer term. The bills […]
Robin Vos voices regrets about the notorious lame duck session
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has a few regrets about the notorious lame duck session he oversaw in December of 2018. You may recall that Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald — with help and a signature from then-Gov. Scott Walker who had just lost an election to Gov.-elect Tony Evers — set about […]
Outdoor classrooms could help solve the school reopening dilemma
To re-open or not to re-open? The great back-to-school debate currently taking place in communities all across the country pits public health against education. It’s a difficult dilemma: Should school districts pack kids into classrooms to share germs with each other and vulnerable, older school staff — even as COVID-19 rates continue to spike? Or […]