Home

The Memorial Union Terrace in Madison is back open for the season today.  The Wisconsin Union started returning the chairs to the terrace at 9:00 a.m.  Hundreds of chairs will be set out over the next several days.  There are also dozens of events planned for the terrace this summer.

Wisconsin is in the top half of America’s greenest states.  WalletHub says Wisconsin is the 17th-greenest state based on dozens of metrics including air, water, and soil quality, renewable energy consumption, and gasoline consumption.  WalletHub says the greenest state is Vermont and the least-green state is West Virginia.

Milwaukee is now part of the investigation into yesterday’s shooting on a New York City subway. Police say the suspect in that shooting, 62-year-old Frank James, is from Milwaukee. There is no official motive for the shooting, but there are a number of reports that James posted racist and black-nationalist videos on social media. New York City Police say at least 10 people were shot, though they are all expected to survive. Investigators say James got away after the shooting,

Eau Claire’s new skate park is finally becoming a reality. The city council last night approved construction for a new park at Boyd Park. Plans for the new skating area have been in the works for years. The new skate park will be larger than the current park on Broadway Street. Construction should start this summer.

It’s the first wildfire warning of the spring. The state’s Department of Natural Resources says the risk of fire is very high across the western half of the state. DNR is banning outdoor burning in 26 counties from Dane County to the Mississippi River. The state says crews have responded to over 100 wildfires so far this year, with 19 of them coming this week alone. High winds and dry brush are the biggest fire dangers in the state.

A new Serta Simmons manufacturing facility is being built in Janesville.  The company says the facility will bring in over 300 jobs when it opens with the possibility for more jobs in the future.  Current facilities in Beloit  and Janesville will be consolidated once the new one opens.  It’s set to open in 2023.

The first step toward a final decision on ballot drop boxes and absentee ballots in Wisconsin comes today. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the case this morning. The high court will decide if Wisconsin law allows for drop boxes, and decide if voters are allowed to return someone else’s ballot. A judge in Waukesha County back in January said state law doesn’t allow for either, but an appeals court later disagreed. A decision from the court is expected this summer.

The new president at the University of Wisconsin wants to see lawmakers do more to support the school.  New President Michael J. Falbo yesterday said a new report shows state support for the UW System has fallen from 30 percent to 18 percent over the past 20 years.  Falbo says students have made-up the difference, and says that leads to more student debt and fewer students enrolling at Wisconsin’s campuses.  Falbo is not saying just how much more he’d like to see the

Wisconsin’s special election investigator says judges are ‘dragging out’ the review into the 2020 vote. Former Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman told a Green Bay radio station yesterday that a judge in Waukesha County and another in Dane County have waited to rule on whether he can force the mayors of some cities and members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission to testify as part of his investigation.  Gableman says the law is clear, and the legislature has the power to subpoena the

If Wisconsin wants to enforce rules for so-called forever chemicals, then the state needs to write those rules first. A judge in Waukesha yesterday essentially froze Wisconsin’s efforts to force companies to clean-up PFAS chemicals. The judge says there are no official standards for the chemicals in either state law or in the rules at the Department of Natural Resources, so there can’t be any enforcement. DNR and environmental groups have suggested rules, but the legislature and the DNR board have not formally