Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Author at Channel3000.com

Wisconsin Supreme Court weighs state power to protect water from farm pollutants

The outcome of a nearly decade-long dispute in Kewaunee County could shape regulatory power across state government.

The state Supreme Court on Monday hears arguments in a case that could determine whether the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources failed to adequately protect water from manure pollution when awarding a permit to a giant dairy farm in northeastern Wisconsin — or whether the agency lacks the authority to issue such restrictions.

‘We're not given the option to get vaccinated’: Advocates work to narrow racial and ethnic disparities in Wisconsin

Community groups find success through partnerships, deep listening and meeting people where they are — lessons that transcend vaccination campaigns

Barbara felt ecstatic in January when a Wisconsin Department of Health Services letter confirmed that she and her parents were eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Undocumented immigrants qualify for rent relief, but Wisconsin sends mixed signals

Some intake forms ask for Social Security numbers — a ‘red flag’ for renters who are not U.S. citizens, advocates say

At least eight of the 14 organizations administering the Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance (WERA) program ask applicants to share their Social Security numbers through pre-screening forms, a Wisconsin Watch review has found.

How to get a COVID-19 shot in Wisconsin: Vaccine hunters share tips

Robin Davis was thrilled to learn that Wisconsin deemed her family eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations starting March 1.

Bids to alter Wisconsin elections fall mostly along partisan lines

Republicans want to restrict drop boxes and absentee voting. Democrats aim to make it easier to vote. Both parties favor quicker vote counting.

Proposals to change Wisconsin’s voting system could determine how one of America’s top swing states picks congressional candidates, how it awards its 10 Electoral College votes, how fast results can be announced and who can use the increasingly popular method of absentee voting.

‘I got nothing left’: Wisconsin’s jobless pushed to brink as ideas swirl for mending torn safety net

Upgrading outdated technology could help. So could making claims more user-friendly and overcoming partisan paralysis.

Brandon Cacek filed for unemployment insurance in mid-March last year after losing his substitute teaching job due to the pandemic. He’s still waiting for that crucial aid 11 months later.

‘He shouldn’t have had to die’: COVID-19 infects half of Wisconsin inmates, five times the overall state rate

Prisoners lack space and some say rules to curb COVID-19 are unevenly enforced

The coronavirus has run rampant across Wisconsin’s state prison system, infecting at least 2,153 staff members at adult institutions who self-reported test results and 10,786 inmates throughout the pandemic — more than half of the current population.

Wisconsin’s No. 1 mink farming industry now seen as a COVID-19 risk

State officials knew little about the secretive industry until the pandemic struck; now they are scrambling to keep mink farmers and their animals safe

The first sign of trouble was that the mink stopped eating, said Hugh Hildebrandt, one of two main mink vets in Wisconsin.

In evenly split Wisconsin, partisan divides may only grow

Close elections may become more common in Wisconsin, fueling participation but also more political divisiveness

Partisan division has paralyzed Wisconsin’s efforts to tackle its biggest challenges — including a pandemic that has killed more than 5,600 residents and left thousands jobless and dependent on a dysfunctional unemployment system.

So you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19. What next?

Wisconsin experts share tips for limiting spread and boosting your immune system — aiming to prevent hospitalization.

Morganne Seiner struggled to decide whether to visit her sister’s family in Marshfield, Wisconsin for Christmas. The 29-year-old Waterloo resident is five-months pregnant with her first child, a girl. She knew that traveling could put herself and the baby at risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

‘The happiness and joy has been sucked out of me’: Wisconsin dairy farmers face mental health crisis

Many Wisconsin milk producers are overwhelmed, dogged by financial worries, a crushing workload, labor shortages and bad weather

Conversations with 10 current and former family dairy farmers in Wisconsin revealed that work days, which often start before the sun rises and end well after it sets, are jam packed with stressors that make coping difficult.

‘We’re not going to be quiet’: Disability community in Wisconsin demands better access to voting

State’s decentralized election system makes it hard to guarantee accessibility; definition of ‘indefinitely confined’ under challenge

Rhonda Staats had two choices during the November election: cast a ballot in person and potentially expose herself to COVID-19, or vote absentee and risk having her vote changed without her knowledge.

As semester ends in Wisconsin, COVID-19 fears shrink — while concerns of academic slide grow

Schools are not the superspreader sites that many feared, but research indicates U.S. students fell behind in math during the pandemic

One family reported driving to the community library parking lot, sitting there for hours each day so their children could use the wifi to do homework in the car.

Wisconsin's nonvoters could be a powerful bloc — but barriers, disillusionment stand in the way

Working digitally and on the streets of Milwaukee, activists tried to convince nonvoters to go to the polls, but distrust and disgust kept some away

When Angela Lang reflects on the thousands of conversations she and other members of her community organization, BLOC, have had with Milwaukee residents, one floats to the top of her mind.

A Wisconsin hospital promised to stop suing most patients during the pandemic. Then it filed 200 lawsuits.

Consumer advocates see an ‘electronic debtor’s prison’ when hospitals and collection agencies take patients to court.

Alysa Gummow didn’t know what to think in October when the letters from bankruptcy law firms arrived in the mail. She had filed for bankruptcy in 2017 to restructure nearly $50,000 in debt — mostly stemming from a hip surgery two years earlier.

‘I just kind of panicked’: Patients confused as hospitals file liens to recoup costs of treating injured uninsured

Hospitals file liens against uninsured patients to get a cut of compensation in personal injury lawsuits.

Maneisha Gaston was driving west on Milwaukee’s Brown Street with her 15-year-old son when another driver blew through a stop sign, crashed into the passenger side of her car and fled the scene.

Duane Bark — beloved educator and football coach who painted daughter’s nails, dies of COVID-19 at 61

The Markesan District Schools superintendent and athletic director mentored those around him without seeking recognition.

By Bram Sable-Smith WPR/Wisconsin Watch Duane Bark was nearly late for his wedding. He went golfing with the minister that morning, and they left the course later than intended. When Pam, the bride-to-be, showed up at the church carrying her…

Claire Woodall Vogg, Executive Director Of Milwaukee's Election Commission, Works At The Presidental Recount Held At The Wisconsin Center Convention Center In Milwaukee, Wi On Wednesday November 25th, 2020.

A pandemic. False fraud claims. A misplaced flash drive. How Milwaukee elections chief led high-pressure vote count.

Facing intense scrutiny, Claire Woodall-Vogg fought against ‘racially motivated’ attempts to suppress voting in the 2020 election

This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access.

Aggressive policing escalates violence at protests, research shows. A former Madison police chief touts a better way.

David Couper, Madison’s police chief from 1972 to 1993, says law enforcement should ditch the riot gear and tear gas to keep the peace.

At least 1,500 young people gathered on Madison, Wisconsin’s Mifflin Street in April 1973 for a block party featuring street dancing, potato salad and sunshine. People drank beer, smoked weed and tossed Frisbees in the neighborhood near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus known informally as Miffland.

COVID-19 killed a thousand Wisconsinites in three weeks. These residents don't see the danger.

Some Wisconsinites downplay the severity of COVID-19, spurning masks and vaccinations and inhibiting efforts to contain the pandemic.

Coronavirus skeptics have made themselves known in Wisconsin throughout the pandemic. In the spring, an estimated 1,500 protesters gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol, demanding that the statewide COVID-19 lockdown be lifted.

Wisconsin GOP official bucks Trump and draws backlash: ‘There is no fraud in this election’

Lifelong Republican Rohn Bishop believes the GOP must stop trafficking in conspiracies and falsehoods, for the good of his party — and the country

Knowing he would probably face fierce criticism, Rohn Bishop raised a dissenting voice while some of his fellow conservatives argued in favor of invalidating votes in Wisconsin.

Could lawmakers ‘mess’ with Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes? Possibly.

Experts say pro-Trump lawmakers could try to overturn voters’ will and send an alternate set of electors, but the Democratic governor could block the effort

When Wisconsin voters took to the polls on Nov. 3, they were not actually choosing among Joe Biden, Donald Trump and third-party candidates. Rather, they were voting for a slate of 10 partisan electors who would pledge their support for the winner of the popular vote at the Electoral College.

Nurses and doctors at University Hospital in Madison, Wis., walk through a hallway Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, in one of the hospital’s COVID-19 units. As coronavirus infections continue to surge statewide, patients are consistently filling all 28 of the unit’s beds — and Wisconsin’s top leaders continue to clash over how to address the pandemic.

Illness, stress fill a COVID-19 unit as Wisconsin leaders stalemate

Health care workers scrambled to treat patients on a day when 92 Wisconsin lives were reported lost. Outside of the hospital, politicians postured.

The exterior of University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon looked remarkably ordinary.

‘Checks and balances’: Inside the life cycle of a Wisconsin absentee ballot

President Donald Trump claims widespread fraud in states including Wisconsin. Elections officials say numerous safeguards make that nearly impossible.

In spite of difficulties — and facing a state split almost equally down the middle by party — experts say Wisconsin election officials handled the election with integrity.

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Author: Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism