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Robin Vos recall effort heads to court
The effort to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos heads to court this morning — a hearing that could make an already messy situation messier. A Dane County judge is hearing oral arguments about whether to allow organizers of the recall push additional time to respond to a challenge to the effort filed by Vos.
Are schools around the US closing for the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Schools in at least eight states will close April 8, 2024, because of the solar eclipse that day, according to news reports. The states...
Power line debate in Wisconsin and Iowa pits environmental allies against each other
A lawsuit that has paused the completion of a power line in Wisconsin and Iowa is part of a conflict that exposes differences within the environmental and clean energy advocacy communities. Power line debate in Wisconsin and Iowa pits environmental allies against each other is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
How Milwaukee’s top election official has worked to restore trust after a 2020 misstep
Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall uses a 26-point checklist to ensure the integrity of ballot counting and reassure the public. How Milwaukee’s top election official has worked to restore trust after a 2020 misstep is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Has ‘just about every law enforcement agency in the country’ endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. As of early April, few law enforcement organizations have announced endorsements in the 2024 presidential election. Former President Donald Trump, comparing himself with President...
Did groups in Green Bay, Wisconsin, offer free food and an open bar to voters in the April 2, 2024, election?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. An election day get-out-the-vote campaign that advertised free food and drink to voters was canceled after a prosecutor said the campaign might violate Wisconsin law on election bribery.
Tighter regulations are reducing the risk of lead exposure in public housing
A new study finds that tougher inspection standards have led to lower blood lead levels among tenants, but any exposure is still too much. Tighter regulations are reducing the risk of lead exposure in public housing is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin voters approve ban on private election grants as Biden, Trump win primary
Private money to fund elections will be banned in Wisconsin after voters Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment put forward by Republicans in reaction to grants received in 2020 that were funded by donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Wisconsin voters approve ban on private election grants as Biden, Trump win primary is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Did the US Air Force secretary order reducing white males serving by 33%?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. In an Aug. 9, 2022, memo, U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall directed Air Force and Space Force officials to develop a plan to meet diversity goals in recruiting officer applicants.
Your Right to Know: Shine more light on open investigations
A horrific scene played out in February in an apartment complex in Middleton, a Madison suburb. A woman and her two young children had died. The tight-knit community mourned for this family as its members asked: How could this happen?. Several days after the shootings, Middleton police released a statement...
5 things to watch during Tuesday’s spring election
Wisconsin residents will cast ballots across the state Tuesday, weighing in on a range of local races, school referendums, constitutional amendments and the presidential primary. Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and will be open until 8 p.m. To find out what’s on your ballot and your polling place...
Rural Wisconsin communities struggle to get candidates to run for local offices
On April 2, voters across Wisconsin will head to the polls to cast a ballot for a number of local elections, but for some races, there will be no one to vote for. A number of local races across Wisconsin — especially in rural areas — have no candidates, leaving voters with no choice over who will represent them on the local level.
Here’s what Milwaukee voters should know about the $252 million public school referendum
As the April 2 election draws near, debate continues over whether voters should support Milwaukee Public Schools’ $252 million referendum, which would raise property taxes. Here’s what Milwaukee voters should know about the $252 million public school referendum is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin ballot questions on election administration are too vague, officials say
Wisconsin residents will vote Tuesday on two proposed amendments to the state constitution that could reshape how elections are run in the state — but voters, and many election officials, don’t know exactly how the broadly written proposals would be interpreted by state election officials and the courts.
Wisconsin Supreme Court lets stand ruling that declared Amazon drivers to be employees
The Wisconsin Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that declared some delivery drivers for Amazon were employees as the state argued, not independent contractors as the online retail giant contended. Wisconsin Supreme Court lets stand ruling that declared Amazon drivers to be employees is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
As of early 2024, is the waiting period for a US immigration asylum hearing six to eight years?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. The average waiting period for an immigration asylum hearing is 3.9 years, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Would the April 2024 Milwaukee Public Schools referendum raise property taxes 30%?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Milwaukee Public Schools’ property tax levy would increase 30% if voters approve an April 2, 2024, referendum. It would allow MPS to collect...
Midwest maple syrup producers adapt to record warm winter, uncertainty as climate changes
The art of maple syrup production flows through generations of Dan Potter’s family history. His great-grandfather bought the family farm in rural Iowa in the late 1880s and cleared the land for strawberries, clay and whiskey production. Eventually, he transitioned to making maple syrup to add to his whiskey. That started a 140-year-old tradition that has persisted through the Civil War, the Great Depression and both World Wars.
Ice cover on the upper Mississippi River was fleeting this winter. Is this our future?
Above-average temperatures across the upper Midwest, driven in part by the El Niño climate pattern and in part by human-caused climate change, made for less than one month of safe ice on the Mississippi River, scientists estimate. Ice cover on the upper Mississippi River was fleeting this winter. Is this our future? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Next week’s election features powerful people you may have never heard of
Next week Wisconsinites in 34 counties will elect some of the most powerful office holders in their communities: circuit court judges. Making up the bottom tier of the state’s court system, Wisconsin’s 261 circuit court judges collectively handle hundreds of thousands of cases each year, ranging from speeding tickets to murder trials to challenges to state law. Elected to six-year terms, circuit court judges enjoy broad autonomy and far-reaching authority in the cases they oversee.
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