GOP questions delays at Evers' licensing agency
Republican lawmakers are raising questions about why the state Department of Safety and Professional Services is taking weeks to issue licenses.
Politics
Republicans block Evers spending plan for opioid settlement
The Legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee objected Wednesday to Gov. Tony Evers' plans to spend $31 million Wisconsin is slated to receive in a multi-state settlement with drug manufacturers over their role in the opioid crisis.
Pence tells GOP to stop lashing out at FBI over Trump search
Former Vice President Mike Pence is imploring fellow Republicans to stop lashing out at the FBI over the search of Donald Trump’s Florida home. And Pence is denouncing calls by some of the former president’s allies to defund the FBI, saying that is “just as wrong” a push by Democratic activists to shift money from police. Pence also says he'd give “due consideration” if asked to testify before the House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence's pleas for restraint come as law enforcement officials warn of an escalating number of violent threats targeting federal agents and government facilities since agents last week searched Mar-a-Lago.
Wisconsin democrats hold slight edge over GOP in latest Marquette poll
In a Marquette Law School Poll released Wednesday, Democrats hold a slight advantage in the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, though the gap in the governor's race is narrowing.
Wisconsin school board votes in favor of pride flag ban
A Wisconsin school board has voted in favor of a policy that prohibits teachers and staff from displaying gay pride flags and other items that district officials consider political in nature. The Kettle Moraine School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to keep a code of conduct in place that the superintendent recently interpreted as forbidding district employees from displaying political or religious messages, including pride flags, and Black Lives Matter and We Back the Badge signs. Staff also may not say in emails what their preferred pronouns are. Most of those who spoke at Tuesday’s packed board meeting opposed the policy. Christine Donahoe, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, says she's looking into the policy.
Planned Parenthood to spend record $50M in midterm elections
The nation's leading abortion rights advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections. It's pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot. The effort comes about two months after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which created a constitutional right to have an abortion. The campaign will be waged by Planned Parenthood's political and advocacy arms and will focus on governor’s offices, U.S. Senate seats and legislative races in nine states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood's previous spending record was $45 million in 2020.
Johnson holds US-Mexico border roundtable amid increase in migrant encounters
MILWAUKEE — Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday hosted a roundtable discussion about the U.S.-Mexico border, blasting the Biden administration for what he called “open border” policies as border protection officials deal with a spike in land border encounters. The roundtable in Milwaukee comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows encounters at the southern border for the 2022…
Wisconsin pumps $10M into revamping contaminated private water wells
Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin DNR announced a new $10 million dollar grant program Tuesday aimed at cleaning up contaminated private water wells in the state.
New Van Orden ad slams Biden administration for Afghanistan exit
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's Third Congressional District Derrick Van Orden has released a new campaign ad on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. pulling out of Afghanistan.
Court: Mask order didn’t violate shop’s free speech rights
File photo.MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal appeals court says Dane County health officials didn’t violate free speech protections when they cited a Middleton cafe for advertising itself as a “mask-free zone” during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Helbachs Cafe posted a sign in July 2020 saying the shop was a “mask-free zone” in defiance of a county…
