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Decision on former Wauwatosa cop Joseph Mensah’s 2016 shooting to come Wednesday. Here’s what we know about the proceeding.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The law Motley is seeking to use — Wisconsin Statute 968.02 — is similar to a John Doe proceeding, but is technically not the same thing, according to Keith Findley, a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Findley said the law is essentially used as a check on the court system. Findley also said Statute 968.02 means a judge has more discretion when it comes to filing charges. Under the statute, a judge “may” file charges if they find probable cause.

Gov. Tony Evers Calls Special Session On Increasing School Spending

Wisconsin Public Radio

Noted: The governor said the session would be an opportunity to make investments in education he believes should have been included in the budget. GOP lawmakers approved an education spending plan that was roughly $750 million less than the governor originally requested for K-12 schools. For the University of Wisconsin System, the GOP-backed budget included an increase of just $8 million over two years, a fraction of the $191 million proposed by the governor.

More Universities Offer Vaccination Incentives. Will They Work?

Forbes

Noted: On Sunday, University of Wisconsin (UW) System President Tommy Thompson announced a new program that provides an opportunity for UW students who are vaccinated against Covid-19 to win a $7,000 scholarship.

Under the “70 for 70” campaign, vaccinated students who attend UW campuses that achieve at least a 70% vaccination rate will be eligible to win one of 70 scholarships valued at $7,000 each. Students at all UW System universities except UW-Madison are eligible for the drawing. UW-Madison is reportedly developing its own vaccination incentive program.

What’s blood flow restriction training and why are Olympic athletes using it?

Today

Quoted: “It’s almost like a personal tourniquet system. So you have a cuff that’s applied to your arm or leg that significantly reduces blood flow,” Marc Sherry, a physical therapist and manager of the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Department in Madison, Wisconsin, told TODAY. “The basic premise is that it’s inflated to a pressure that prevents the blood from coming out of your arm but doesn’t prevent the blood from going into your arm.”

‘An abomination’: the story of the massacre that killed 216 wolves

The Guardian

Quoted: Adrian Treves, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied wolf-hound conflicts, found that neighboring Michigan, which has stricter hounding regulations, has seen far fewer dogs injured or killed by wolves. Lighter regulation in Wisconsin means more dogs in the woods, Treves said, which leads to more conflict. “Houndsmen prefer to hunt in a place that lets them do what they want to do.”

Reports Of Students Cheating Increased Substantially At Some UW Universities During Pivot To Online Learning

Wisconsin Public Radio

Reports of cheating and other forms of academic misconduct increased substantially at six of the University of Wisconsin System’s 13 universities when classes were moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrators say increased student stress was a major contributor, and they expect misconduct reports to decrease once more classes are taught in person.

A federal eviction moratorium ends July 31. Here’s what you need to know about rental assistance and more.

Green Bay Press Gazette

Quoted: Landlords have a lot more options available to them than eviction, Madison-based rental housing lawyer and University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Mitch said. Mitch said property owners can negotiate rather than file evictions that will go permanently on the tenant’s record.

“I know that eviction isn’t the only tool in your toolbox when renters don’t pay, and I wish that property owners would realize that they have other tools such as working out agreements on early move-outs, working on payment plans or working together to get government assistance,” Mitch said.

Intense heat raises the risk of violence in American prisons

The Economist

Noted: Another, and probably underestimated, factor may be the weather. Mississippi summers usually see average temperatures rise above 80℉ (26.7℃), a threshold at which the likelihood of violence in prisons increases.

That is the finding of a working paper by Anita Mukherjee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Nicholas Sanders of Cornell University. The authors matched county-level weather variations across Mississippi with violent incidents reported in the state’s 36 prisons and jails between 2004 and 2010. Using these data, they built a statistical model that controlled for the time of year that the violence took place, the type of institution and other factors. They calculated that on days with average temperatures of 80℉ or higher the chances of violence increased by 20%. The hot weather leads to an average of 44 additional incidents of severe violence—those that result in serious injury or death—each year,

Kathleen Gallagher: What’s standing in the way of growing Wisconsin’s wine industry?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “You used to have to use McKinsey or another specialized consultant, but with the Internet and data science you can do this at a fraction of the cost and make it very easy for the farmers themselves,” said Tom Erickson, Founding Director of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences.

Milwaukee considers updating building codes in the wake of Surfside collapse. Should other Wisconsin cities and the state do the same?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Annual inspections might offer peace of mind, but building professionals said the expenses would be astronomical. Besides, it’s when the building is being constructed that inspectors have the most critical safety checklist to ensure its longevity, said Steven Cramer, vice provost for instructional continuity & academic affairs and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“We have a great set of building codes in Wisconsin, but the greatest scrutiny occurs at the time of construction or remodel when building permits are required and inspections occur,” Cramer wrote by email.

UW System Will Offer Scholarship Drawing For Students Who Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Wisconsin Public Radio

The University of Wisconsin System plans to offer about $500,000 in financial incentives aimed at encouraging students to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The campaign features a lottery in which a total of 70 students will each receive a $7,000 scholarship if 70 percent of a campus’ student body reports being vaccinated.

UW-Madison is not participating.

‘It’s five years since a white person applied’: the immigrant workforce milking America’s cows

The Guardian

Noted: Green county has seen one of the state’s fastest growths in Latino population, increasing by an estimated 228% from 2000 to 2019, according to the Applied Population Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Monroe is the largest city in Green county and has seen a steady increase of Latino immigrants over 20 years. With a population of only about 10,800, new people stand out, which has made the adjustment, like the farm work, incredibly difficult for some dairy workers.

Frustrating College Access and Enrollment Barriers: Websites and Application Processes

The Good Men Project

Noted: While some higher education institutions like the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The Johns Hopkins University feature sophisticated and user-friendly websites, and their leaders have instituted efficient, unencumbered application processes, college applicants may encounter inept websites and application processes when applying at many other institutions.

Carbon-capture pipelines offer climate aid; activists wary

Associated Press

Quoted: “These early plants are relatively easy and that’s a good place to start,” said Greg Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in the development of climate-friendly energy technology. “As that gets shown and proven, you get some transportation networks, then it gets easier to do the harder stuff later.”

Small Farms Vanish Every Day in America’s Dairyland: “There Ain’t No Future In Dairy”

Mother Jones

Quoted: Mark Stephenson, the director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the industry definitely has a lot of challenges but is nowhere near extinction.

“We’ve produced record amounts of milk in the last year or two. It’s being consumed. Most of it domestically, but increasingly with exports,” said Stephenson.

UW System announces a lottery with $490,000 in scholarships to encourage vaccination

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As an incentive for students across the UW System to get vaccinated, interim President Tommy Thompson on Sunday announced a lottery giving out nearly a half-million dollars in scholarships.

Under the plan, vaccinated students at all University of Wisconsin campuses except UW-Madison will be entered into a lottery for one of 70 one-time, $7,000 scholarships.

Celebrate the summer Olympics with PBS Wisconsin

PBS Wisconsin

Noted: George Poage moved to La Crosse as a young child in 1884. Locally, he was known as a scholar and remarkable athlete. He went on to become the first African American on the UW-Madison track team. But his greatest triumph came at the 1904 Olympics when he became the first African American to medal in the 200m and 400m hurdles. From Wisconsin Life, WPR’s Maureen McCollum talked with UW-La Crosse retired special collections librarian Ed Hill about George Poage’s life as a student athlete in La Crosse.

Wisconsin Lawmaker Proposes Lifetime Restraining Orders To Protect Sexual Assault Survivors

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Ryan Poe-Gavlinski is clinical director of the Victims of Crimes Act Restraining Order Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She said creating a lifetime protective order would put survivors of assault “in the driver’s seat.”

“If someone has committed sexual assault and that’s been determined, either at the (civil) restraining order level or through a criminal court, there’s no reason that that perpetrator needs to have contact with that victim going forward,” Poe-Gavlinksi said.

Opinion: Legislation would make obesity medications more widely available and help reduce inequities in care

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Dr. Luke Funk is an associate professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Srividya Kidambi is an associate professor and chief in the Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert Hospital. Dr. Christopher Weber is an obesity medicine specialist practicing in Milwaukee.

From kindergarten to college, schools are trying to return to some sense of normalcy. But they’re not there yet.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Schools across the state — whether they serve kindergartners or college students — continue to adjust plans for the fall based on the ever-evolving COVID-19 situation. The general idea is to bring as many students back in person as possible — the so-called return to normalcy — while not endangering students, teachers or their families.

Badgers Football Players Begin Profiting From Name, Image, Likeness Following NCAA Rule Change

Wisconsin Public Radio

Less than a month after the NCAA ruled college athletes can profit from their names, image and likeness some Badgers Football players have begun to reap the benefits.

On July 1, the NCAA adopted a temporary policy to suspend rules that banned college athletes from getting paid for the use of their names, images and likeness. It was a significant shift but a small part of a larger debate over whether students should be paid to compete in college sporting events.

How the new, expanded federal child tax credit will work

Wisconsin Examiner

Quoted: “This is just a stunning change in the American social policy context,” says Tim Smeeding, a professor of public affairs and economics with the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an advocate for the policy.

Some form of universal child allowance benefit is found in 17 affluent countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

“They allow parents who don’t have enough money to do things for their kids,” he adds. “It says kids are important.”

Families Embrace Their A, B, CTCs As Child Tax Credit Expands To Monthly Payouts

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: “It’s transformative,” said Tim Smeeding, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s a recognition that kids are expensive, and that we as a society have an obligation and an interest in having them grow up well, and do well.”

Smeeding noted that it’s particularly remarkable for including families who aren’t typically reached by the Earned Income Tax Credit, like the children of immigrant parents and “grandfamilies” — families where kids live with grandparents at least half of the year, and for whom grandparents provide at least half of the support. Unlike the Earned Income Tax Credit, which families receive as a credit when they file taxes each year, families can be eligible for the child tax credit even if they don’t make enough to file taxes.

Why Did Evers Veto An Update to Withholding Tables After a Tax Cut?

PBS Wisconsin

Quoted: “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I have no idea why he did that,” said John Witte, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus who specializes in tax and budget policy.

Witte said there is speculation that Evers vetoed the change in the withholding tables because the governor hopes Democrats will take control of the Legislature in the 2022 election and repeal the tax cuts. By not changing the withholding tables, most taxpayers wouldn’t notice a difference, that thinking goes.

“If he changed the tables the tax cuts would be permanent,” said Witte.

Wisconsin Labor Market Faces Challenges New And Old Coming Out Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Menzie Chinn, an economics professor with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an email that while there is much demand for workers, supply remains constrained.

“Rising wages are not a ‘bad’, since that’s how the market adjusts to market conditions,” said Chinn. “There’s not a ‘shortage’ as the business community keeps on complaining about.”

Steve Deller, an applied economics professor at UW-Madison, said increased wages and benefits are one way companies are trying to be creative in the current labor market.

“Five years ago or so, people would think that a $15-an-hour job is a good paying job,” said Deller. “People are coming to the realization that’s not a good paying job. It’s got to be more than that. And businesses are coming around and saying, ‘If I want quality workers, I’ve got to up my pay.'”

Previewing the Statue of Vel Phillips

PBS Wisconsin

Noted: Phillips lived and worked a life of firsts. She was the first black woman to graduate from the university of Wisconsin law school. She was the first black woman on the milwaukee common council. Phillips was the state’s first black woman judge. In 1978, she was elected secretary of state, the first female, nonwhite person so elected. Her statue will be a legacy to not only her own work, but the product on gg work propelled by the racial justice movement. Phillips’ son was there on tuesday. He said his mother’s statue will help ensure her legacy.

‘Why Do You Keep Harassing Me?’: An Outagamie County Judge Controls Defendants After Sentencing

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: “It is a little bit gray whether or not courts have the authority to do that,” said Cecelia Klingele, a law professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Wisconsin law alludes to the inherent authority of the court over its sentence, but it has not been fleshed out fully in case law, sort of, what are the outer bounds of that power,” she said.

LIFT Dane’s Legal Tune-up Tool can help you remove eligible criminal and eviction records

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “We used public data that is so often used against people to help correct situations or improve situations that might be barriers to employment, housing, education, childcare and health,” explained Marsha Mansfield, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Economic Justice Institute and director of LIFT Dane.

Milwaukee Cuban-Americans watch with unease as Cubans take to the streets in protest

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “We haven’t seen these kinds of protests in Cuba, in part because the system is not one that grants the legitimacy of that kind of civic protest,” said Patrick Iber, an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The Cuban government often sees and accuses people who are involved in these protests as being interests of foreign powers, and that is the kind of accusation that the current president has used against the protestors.”

Shutdowns, sales and uncertainty: Can Wisconsin’s paper industry adapt to remain viable post-COVID?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Steven Deller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist and part of a group that studied the impact of Verso’s closure in Wisconsin Rapids, said he thinks the paper industry in Wisconsin is declining for reasons similar to what happened in Maine, where he worked at a university before coming to Wisconsin.

The problem in both states, he said, is that many of the plants are old and companies are finding it doesn’t make sense to invest in aging facilities. Instead, they are building new, often in the south to reduce transportation costs by being closer to timber producers in warmer places where trees grow faster.

In San Francisco, ‘I Dos’ Echo Throughout City Hall

New York Times

Noted: Benjamin Reid and Lauren Marinaro met in high school in Minnesota, but their relationship didn’t spark until college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I skipped orientation to watch Shark Week, so Lauren picked classes for us,” said Mr. Reid, 32, a biochemist at Quanta Therapeutics in San Francisco.

Boosting Funding for K-12 Schools

PBS Wisconsin

An increase for Wisconsin’s K-12 schools in the state’s budget coupled with one-time federal pandemic aid still falls short according to public school advocates. Julie Underwood, former dean of the UW-Madison School of Education and board president for the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, explains.

A Basic Primer On The Delta Coronavirus Variant

WORT FM
In recent weeks, public health officials have been raising concerns over the delta variant of the coronavirus.

But, according to numbers from Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services, only about 83 casesof the variant have been formally diagnosed in the state.

For more on the variant, and the risk it could pose, our producer Jonah Chester spoke with Doctor Ajay Sethi, an Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences at UW-Madison.

‘They’re More Than Willing To Suppress My Vote’: Voters With Disabilities Sound off on GOP Voting Bills

Up North News

Quoted: The proposals, which would broadly make absentee voting more difficult, are in line with legislation that’s moved forward in other battleground states with Republican-majority legislatures, said Barry Burden, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. Similar bills advanced in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona.

“The bills we’re seeing in Wisconsin and other battleground states are really just an immediate reaction to legislators’ discontent with what happened in 2020,” said Burden. “Its roots are in Donald Trump’s complaints about absentee voting. He railed for about a year, consistently and publicly, in speeches and on Twitter, about what he believed was fraud happening with mail-in voting,” he added.

University of Wisconsin is planning a Badgers block party … in Milwaukee’s Deer District

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

From an ocean of green to a sea of red. It really is Christmas in July at the Deer District.

Maybe Frank Kaminsky will be present for both?

Though the Milwaukee Bucks playoff run will be over one way or another by July 29, the Deer District will still be a hot spot for local sports celebration, though this time it’s for a brand outside the city.

Wisconsin DNR working on wolf hunt and management plans

Spectrum News

Noted: A recent study from UW-Madison showed that about an additional 100 wolves had been killed during the hunt last winter on top of the 218 killed by hunters and trappers.
“Researchers estimate that a majority of these additional, uncounted deaths are due to something called cryptic poaching, where poachers hide evidence of illegal killings,” a university release about the study said.

Gov. Evers stresses importance of vaccines after someone at budget signing event tests positive for COVID-19

CBS 58

Quoted: Ajay Sethi, professor of population health sciences at UW-Madison, said this scenario is proof the pandemic is not over.

“It’s a good reminder that anybody who is not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 really ought to do so because as soon as you leave your house without a mask, you have a risk of catching the virus,” said Sethi.