The Great Lakes

A project housed under the Wisconsin Department of Education is using federal special education funds to pay speakers to provide instruction to teachers on race, equity and Black queer feminist methodology. Wisconsin’s Educational Equity Network’s virtual events feature presentations from authors and activists, including notable and controversial writers such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, about racism, inequity and marginalized gender or sexual identities.

In November 2023, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was copying documents in a law library at a federal prison in Tucson when he was stabbed 22 times. Chauvin is slowly recovering from the attack but continues to suffer a series of peculiar setbacks and double standards.

A Michigan report says up to 700,000 people could leave the state by 2050. An April report, which does not measure inbound migration, from the Michigan Center of Data and Analytics says Michigan’s population has shifted to mostly older people and more residents are dying than being born.

The State Bar of Wisconsin isn’t ending its diversity clerkship that faced a federal discrimination lawsuit, instead it is changing the definition of diversity. The State Bar agreed to tweak the program and make it about the diversity of ideas and experiences, rather than base the clerkship on race and gender.

A proposed statewide “ban on book bans” in public schools and libraries is just one of about 100 new provisions contained in a DFL-backed omnibus education policy bill that passed off the Senate floor this week. SF3567 is sponsored by Democratic Sens. Steve Cwodzinski of Eden Prairie and Mary Kunesh of New Brighton. It passed on a 35-31 vote Tuesday, with Sen. Jim Abeler of Anoka casting the lone vote for Republicans.

Democratic congressional candidate Don Samuels is in a potentially tight race against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, according to a new poll released by his campaign. Running in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, Samuels is challenging Rep. Omar for the district’s Democratic nomination. In the new poll, when likely Democratic primary voters were initially asked about their preferences between Omar and Samuels, 49% said Omar, 30% said Samuels, and 21% said Undecided. However, the same poll found that the margin shifted to a tie between the two candidates (41% – 41%) after those same voters heard Samuels’ message of being “a progressive and pragmatic alternative to Rep. Omar without the divisive comments and history of taking unpopular votes.”

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill Tuesday barring biological men from competing in women’s sports just weeks after it passed the state Senate. The bill was passed by the state Senate in March by a 20 to 11 vote and would require athletes to compete in sports categories in line with their biological sex. Evers had expressed displeasure with the legislation in the past and opted to veto the bill, arguing that it would only embolden “anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence,” according to a press release.

Twenty-five Michigan lawmakers oppose President Joe Biden administration's electric vehicle mandate through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA rules for light-duty and medium-duty vehicles phased in from 2027 through 2032 will require about 67% of new car sales to be electric by 2032.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report Thursday arguing that a Michigan law requiring parental consent for abortions harms minors. The law, which became effective in 1991, requires all Michigan residents under the age of 18 to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion or receive a waiver from a judge. The ACLU of Michigan chapter, alongside Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), however, argued that the law “undermines the safety, health, and dignity” of minors and that the process to waive parental consent is “traumatizing.”

Wisconsin’s most-recent former governor says elections in the state must be fair and free from outside money posing as election aid. Former Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday said voters need to approve a constitutional amendment banning so-called “Zuckerbucks” in order to keep politicians from sapping faith from voters.

Four pieces of legislation that Democrats have introduced at the Minnesota Legislature in recent weeks aim to transfer ownership of property they say tribal nations inside Minnesota lost decades ago due to federal and state government policies. But while proponents believe these land reclamation, or “land back,” bills are gaining momentum, many residents and local government officials in those areas are criticizing the legislation and opposing it at the Capitol.

Wisconsin tax collections were down more than $51 million year over year in February after being roughly even in January. The numbers come despite one more day this February than the year before.

Over 10 years, the city of Detroit went from the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy to investment-grade status. Moody’s Investors Services gave Detroit a rare two-notch bond rating increase from Ba1 to Baa2 with a positive outlook, returning Motor City to investment-grade status for the first time since 2009.

Democratic members of the Minnesota House of Representatives rejected an amendment that would have allowed local law enforcement agencies to purchase armored and tactical vehicles with state funds. Last year, Minnesota state government authorized legislation that allocated $300 million to law enforcement agencies around the state. Agencies that received the money could use those funds to update equipment, offer raises, give out retention bonuses, and other needs. However, the agencies who received those funds were barred from using the money to purchase armored or tactical vehicles.

State Rep. Tom Kunse wants reform within the Michigan Liquor Control Commission after an audit found more than 62,000 liquor bottles were missing. The audit from the Office of the Auditor General marked three “material conditions” – the most severe rating – for the group composed of five unelected governor appointees that oversee liquor distribution through authorized agents using 11 state-owned warehouses.