State and Local News That Matters
Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are not happy with the new choice for chancellor at UW-Madison.
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who is the vice chairman of the Senate’s committee for universities and technical colleges, called Dr. Jennifer Mnookin a “ridiculous choice.”
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined a resolution introduced by his Republican colleagues in the Senate to call on President Joe Biden to take action on border security and a spike in crime across the country.
Wisconsin has been subjected to a wave of violent crime that has included riots, a mass attack on a Christmas parade, and an arson attack on a pro-life group.
There’s now legal help for three middle school boys in Kiel who are facing a sexual harassment complaint that accuses them of misgendering another student.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Monday announced that it is defending the three.
The Republicans running for governor in Wisconsin are promising more cops, more prisons, and say they’ll fire prosecutors who don’t get tough on crime after a violent weekend in Milwaukee that saw more than two dozen people shot.
Milwaukee Police say Friday night’s shootings near the Deer District wounded 21 people. Another of those shootings saw 17 people shot. A string of shootings on Sunday saw another five people shot, including two people who died.
Nurses in Wisconsin say Gov. Tony Evers is making it harder for folks in rural parts of the state to get care.
Evers last month vetoed a proposed law that would have allowed advanced practice nurses to work more independently. Advanced practice nurses currently can provide care, but need to collaborate with a doctor.
Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch is running on a get-tough-on-crime agenda to unseat Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, saying Friday his “permissive culture” allowed the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy to happen.
“The Waukesha parade massacre killed six people, injured 61. And it’s because of his permissive culture,” she said Friday on the “Just the News – Not Noise” livestream TV show on the Real America’s Voice network.
U.S. drug overdoses increased 15% between December 2020 and December 2021, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The two-year jump established new records for overdose deaths over previous years.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson called on Governor Tony Evers to remove the chair of the Wisconsin Parole Commission.
Chairman John Tate II and the panel opted to allow a convicted killer, Douglas Balsewicz, to be released after serving only 25 years of the 80-year sentence he was given.
The calls for a federal investigation into a firebombing at the pro-life office in Madison are growing.
Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen Tom Tiffany, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, Bryan Steil, and Mike Gallagher all signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, asking the Department of Justice to get involved in the case.
The investigation into Wisconsin’s last vote for president is on hold.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Wednesday said he is pausing the investigation from former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) voted against a new measure in the U.S. Senate to advance federal, pro-abortion legislation.
The measure failed on a bipartisan vote, as Senator Joe Manchin, (D-WV) joined all Republicans in opposing the measure.
There’s finger pointing and some unanswered questions about why Wisconsin’s National Guard troops are leaving the Veterans Home at Union Grove.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, sent Gov. Tony Evers a letter Tuesday asking why the governor is sending the troops home when there continues to be a critical need for frontline workers at the facility.
“Despite the looming withdrawal of the [troops], we have seen no plan put in place to deal with the gap in critical services their departure will create,” Vos and Wanggaard wrote. “The National Guard has been providing necessary assistance to our veterans and the staff at the Veterans Home at Union Grove during this time of need.”
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch called on Governor Tony Evers to protect pro-life organizations in the state.
The demand follows an apparent arson attack on Wisconsin Family Action, a prominent pro-life group in the state.
The first report on officer-involved use-of-force in Wisconsin may surprise some people.
Attorney General Josh Kaul on Monday released the numbers on cases where suspects died or were hurt, or where police officers fired their gun while chasing or arresting a suspect.
The head of one of Wisconsin’s most prominent pro-life groups is vowing not to be intimidated by a weekend arson at their Madison office.
Wisconsin Family Action’s Julaine Appling said on Sunday that the attack on their office was an attempt to silence pro-life voices in the state.
“While this attack was directly provoked by the leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dobbs case earlier this week, this has far broader implications,” Appling said in a statement. “Apparently, the tolerance that the left demands is truly a one-way street. Violence has become their answer to everything.”
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Another 66,000 birds in Wisconsin were put down because of the bird flu this week.
The state’s Department of Agriculture on Thursday said cases were confirmed in Sauk and Pierce counties. New cases were also confirmed in Barron County, which now has the most cases of the bird flu in the state at five.
One western Wisconsin state representative says kids looking to get into gifted and talented programs in public schools across the state are out of luck for another year.
Rep. Warren Petryk, R-Town of Washington, on Thursday said Gov. Evers’ veto of his gifted and talented legislation puts a brick on progress for kids who want the most out of their education.
A Wisconsin man was sentenced to serve more than a decade in prison after being convicted on charges connected to a Ponzi scheme with roughly 70 victims.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, Robert Narvett was sentenced for one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is pouring millions of dollars into Wisconsin to protect incumbent Governor Tony Evers.
The initial buy, one of the first of the 2022 midterm elections, reserved $21 million worth of airtime for television ads.
The top teacher in Wisconsin says it is important for all kids in Wisconsin to learn from the author who wants to “upend mainstream ideas about race, class, and gender.”
State Superintendent JIll Underly on Monday responded to Sen. Chris Kapenga’s letter full of questions about a Critical Race Theory author and activist who spoke to teachers in the state back in February.
Mandela Barnes, a Democrat running to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, utilized a leaked document from the Supreme Court to reiterate his call for an end to the filibuster.
The document from the Court was an initial draft from Justice Samuel Alito that suggested the Court favors overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that federally legalized abortion across the country.
Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators, governor and candidates for public office are talking about the future of Roe v. Wade.
Gov. Tony Evers took to Twitter Monday night after a report on a leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision first made headlines. He vowed to fight to continue legal abortions in the state.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels is distancing himself from his connections to other states, as he runs to lead Wisconsin.
First reported by Wisconsin Right Now, Michels allegedly has extensive holdings in Connecticut and New York.
There are new questions for Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools about critical race theory, politics, and a webinar for teachers in the state.
Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, on Monday released an open letter to State Superintendent Jill Underly that asks her a series of questions about a February webinar featuring activist and author Charlene Carruthers.
More parents in Wisconsin are getting behind the idea of school choice.
The latest Marquette Law School Poll shows 58% of voters in the state support the idea of ending limits on vouchers for private or religious schools. That would open up school choice to more than just low-income families in many parts of Wisconsin. The poll says 33% of voters oppose the idea.
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) introduced a measure to block the Biden administration’s plan for the asylum process.
Biden’s proposal, known as “Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers,” would allow asylum request to be processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials, rather than judges.
The latest focus on election integrity in Wisconsin will mean training for poll workers and a conversation about relationships.
The Tea Party Patriots are launching a new statewide integrity tour on Monday.
A new poll from Morning Consult showed that Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is “underwater” with voters as the November election draws closer.
More individuals disapprove of his job performance than those who support it. Specifically, 48 percent of residents in the state express their disapproval, while only 45 said they approve of the performance.
Voters in Wisconsin are beginning to regain trust in the state’s electoral process.
The latest Marquette Law School Poll shows 76% of Republicans and 96% of Democrats said they trusted the results of the April election. Just 67% of independent voters said the same thing.
The investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election won’t end until lawmakers are certain about the legal authority to issue subpoenas by the state’s special investigator.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Tuesday issued a statement explaining why he is extending former Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman’s special investigation once again.