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Category: State news

Officials: Don?t change Wisconsin Retirement System

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Wisconsin State Journal

Despite projections showing what could be the deepest benefit cuts yet for Wisconsin Retirement System pensioners, officials said Thursday they don?t recommend changes in the pension fund, which in recent years has emerged as the nation?s most solid. System actuaries project possible cuts in payments of between 9 percent and 15 percent for thousands of retirees ? if fund investments maintain their current healthy pace for the rest of the year.

UW-Madison Law School creates clinic to help immigrants

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin Law School students launched a new clinic Wednesday to help immigrants at risk of deportation navigate through the complicated legal proceedings surrounding deportation hearings. The Immigrant Justice Clinic is the result of several years of work by the Latino Law Students Association with immigrant detainees at the Dodge County Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Juneau, Wisconsin. According to third year law student and LLSA President Kathryn Finley, it quickly became evident the detainees had few options for much needed legal assistance due to a lack of Wisconsin attorneys willing to defend them.

Capitol protesters ticketed at work, home

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — Capitol protesters say a new police practice of delivering tickets to alleged offenders? workplaces and homes is disturbing, and a possible attempt at intimidation. UW-Madison maintenance mechanic Bart Munger tells 27 News two officers arrived at his workplace and issued him tickets for allegedly obstructing access in the State Capitol building. Munger believes the choice to ticket him while at work was an attempt to diminish him at his job.

Management still holds clout following collective bargaining reversal

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Wisconsin State Journal

A ruling reversing key provisions of the state?s controversial collective bargaining law may leave most negotiating clout in management hands, despite worries by some that the court action could trigger big retroactive payouts to government union workers. On Monday, lawyers for major public employee unions, school boards, local governments and others were still analyzing last week?s ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas.

….Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of public affairs and applied economics at UW-Madison, said school boards and districts are facing such difficult financial times that teachers may not see much of a financial difference if collective bargaining is restored.

Having it both ways: Small slice of Wisconsin voters supports both Walker and Obama

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Wisconsin State Journal

For all of the hyper-partisanship and divisiveness in Wisconsin politics these days, a small group of people say they back both Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic President Barack Obama.

“We have seen that consistent pattern for a modest group of people,” said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School poll.

Judge tosses collective bargaining law

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Badger Herald

Although the law?s supporters are likely to appeal the decision, a circuit court judge struck down the collective bargaining law passed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public employees.

Tech and Biotech: PerBlue named to young entrepreneurs list

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Wisconsin State Journal

Madison mobile game developer PerBlue has been named one of the 2012 Empact100, the only Wisconsin company to make the list, which honors outstanding entrepreneurs under age 30. Co-founded in 2008 by Dane County native and UW-Madison graduate Justin Beck ? who turned 25 in April ? PerBlue has 40 employees. The company had $1.5 million in revenues last year, all based on its flagship game, Parallel Kingdom….Beck and the other honorees have been invited to a luncheon at the White House on Sept. 28, and 15 of them will be chosen next week to make two-minute presentations about how they will give back to the entrepreneurial community.

All public high school juniors would take ACT in 2014-15 under Evers proposal

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Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin would pay for all public high school juniors to take the ACT college admissions test starting in two years as part of a $7 million budget initiative State Superintendent Tony Evers announced Wednesday. The proposal also includes administering three other tests offered by ACT to measure college and career readiness in high school.

Chemistry renovation could create more labs

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Daily Cardinal

Future University of Wisconsin-Madison students may have an easier time registering for introductory chemistry courses and be able to conduct more experiments in new lab facilities if building project plans receive additional funding from the UW System. The UW System Board of Regents approved the 2013-15 Biennial Capital Budget in their August meeting, but it remains subject to further approval by Gov. Scott Walker and the state legislature.

On Campus: Most Wisconsin schools with McNair Scholars to keep funding despite national cuts

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Wisconsin State Journal

It was a very mixed picture for state programs designed to help poor and minority students with college. In one program on the federal funding chopping block ? Ronald E. McNair Scholars program for undergraduates hoping to head to grad school ? the state did remarkably well. In another program ? Upward Bound for high schoolers hoping to head to college ? the state?s programs took a big hit. Of 13 state universities that currently had funding for the McNair Scholars program, 12 of them will keep their federal funding despite steep cuts to other programs nationally, it was announced recently.

GOP sees opportunity in ‘disillusioned young voters’

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Wisconsin State Journal

?I think young voters are very hungry for new ideas and solutions to address long-term problems,? said Jeff Snow, chairman of the College Republicans at UW-Madison. ?Our main objective is asking students if their future is brighter than it was $5 trillion ago?? He?s referring the ballooning federal deficit, which along with bleak employment prospects for young people are the issues Republicans plan to stress in their outreach to young voters. College Republicans will be trumpeting those messages on campuses across the state starting this week, he said, joining a coordinated effort in Wisconsin that started with a prime-time appeal to young voters by Janesville Republican and vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan at last month?s Republican National Convention.

Can Tammy win? Baldwin would be 1st openly gay senator, but that won’t decide the race

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Capital Times

UW-Madison professor Kathy Cramer-Walsh, who has extensively studied political opinions in Wisconsin in recent years, says homosexuality almost never came up in her many political discussions with rural Wisconsinites.

UW-Madison professor Charles Franklin, who conducts political polling and is doing so this year while serving as a visiting professor at Marquette Law School, says one should be skeptical that otherwise committed Democrats would vote differently because of one issue.

Wisconsin home to rising stars of GOP

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison College Republicans Chair Jeff Snow credited the success of the three fresh-faced Wisconsinites to their willingness to risk their political careers to make bold moves…UW-Madison Political Science Professor Ken Mayer said while you cannot deny the national prominence of the three Wisconsin conservatives, it does not necessarily signal a shift in the electorate in the state. ?I don?t think the emergence of Ryan, Walker and Priebus signifies an enduring shift in the Republican direction,? Mayer said. ?That might happen, but I don?t think that this is a sign that that has happened or a cause that it has happened.?

Madison360: Race, rural identity shape Wisconsin politics

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Capital Times

If, after all that?s happened, you still can?t understand the appeal of Gov. Scott Walker and his arch-conservative allies, you might consider the roles of race and rural identity in Wisconsin. They seem to be crucial drivers in the anti-government tidal wave that has washed over our political landscape. That is a central finding of a major paper by Katherine Cramer Walsh, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist who has been widely applauded for a research style that relies more on personal interaction and group observation than on polling.

Catching Up: UW-Madison plans to try a three-week ?winterim?

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison will offer a few three-week classes in January, experimenting with a small-scale ?winterim? term that could grow in future years, said Aaron Brower, vice provost for teaching and learning. The idea of offering classes during the typically dormant month on campus arose last school year as part of discussions about ?educational innovation,? a term interim Chancellor David Ward used to describe how the university can operate more efficiently and creatively in a time of diminishing state funds.

On the agenda: More autonomy for campuses

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As the University of Wisconsin begins to noodle out its budget for the next two years, it?s a good time to remind the state?s lawmakers – and the public – of some unfinished business that we hope is taken up in the next session of the Legislature: greater autonomy for the university.

Amid the firestorm in 2011 over a secretive plan to split off the Madison campus from the rest of the system, a very good idea was lost: giving all the campuses more control over their own affairs. More autonomy especially would benefit the Milwaukee campus, which educates more Wisconsin natives than any other and runs leaner than most other campuses in the nation.

Official state bird is ‘super spreader’ of West Nile virus, researcher says

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Capital Times

The official state bird of Wisconsin is being called the primary culprit in spreading a deadly virus across the Northeast and Midwest. The American robin is being called the West Nile “super spreader,” based on research conducted by a team headed by UW-Madison infectious disease expert Tony Goldberg. “Robins are in the sweet spot,” Goldberg said in a news release from UW-Madison. “They are abundant, mosquitoes like to feed on them and they happen to support virus infection better than other species.”

Editor to retire after 26 years at The Journal Times

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Wisconsin State Journal

RACINE ? Steve Lovejoy, editor of The (Racine) Journal Times, announced plans Tuesday to retire from the newspaper at the end of September….In April, Lovejoy was honored with the first Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics by the University of Wisconsin?s Center for Journalism Ethics.

State makes it easier to obtain license to teach in public schools

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Wisconsin State Journal

The announcement raised some concern at the UW-Madison School of Education, Associate Dean for Teacher Education Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell said. “At the same time that they are ratcheting up requirements for students going through the traditional route, it looks like they?re reducing the cost and requirements for those going through alternative-route programs,” Hanley-Maxwell said.

Report paints mixed picture of UW-Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

When the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents meets later this week, it will for the first time be presented with a separate, Legislature-mandated performance report on UW-Madison in addition to the one regents typically see annually for the 13-campus university system. Both reports were released publicly late Monday. At first glance, they paint a picture of the flagship UW-Madison campus living up to its reputation, with students more likely to stay put from freshman to sophomore year, more likely to graduate in six years and more likely to say they?d recommend the school to others when they?re done.

Walker says budget cuts to UW will not be permanent

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Wisconsin State Journal

A $66 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System?s budget will not be made permanent, Gov. Scott Walker said in a letter to state agencies. The university is one of a handful of agencies Walker wrote to Tuesday to declare them exempt from permanent cuts going into the next two-year budget cycle. The Associated Press obtained that letter Friday.

On Wisconsin: Questions abound after UW-Superior library flooded

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Jim Dan Hill Library has reopened but is still recovering. And when the university?s 2,800 students return to classes in a few weeks, they?ll find the bulk of the book collection missing. Only a few Dewey decimal signs, another telling visitors this is a “quiet floor” and the tracks from the movable shelving give a hint that the basement space had been home to thousands of books. UW-Superior had 16 buildings damaged by the floods and the cost could hit $25 million, the majority of it covered by insurance. But the library and the university?s heating plant took the brunt of the damage, collecting 1.8 million gallons of water.

Experts say this allergy season one of the longest

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. – Hang on to your tissues. Experts in Wisconsin said this allergy season will be one of the longest. Dr. Mark Moss at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health said the allergy season began about two to three weeks early. The mild winter and unseasonably warm spring temperatures caused trees to bud and bloom and release pollen and mold much earlier.

Drought creates danger of toxic fungi in surviving crops

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Wisconsin State Journal

“It?s going to take a really unique year if we?re going to see it here, and we?re having that unique year,” said Joe Lauer, an agronomy professor at UW-Madison. Lauer said farmers also need to be on the lookout at harvest time for toxins from another genus of fungi called Fusarium. Those toxins can cause milking cows to become less productive and can induce farm animal miscarriages if ingested in high enough concentrations.

A single provision should not upend state wolf hunt

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Several acknowledged wolf experts in Wisconsin, including retired DNR managers Dick Thiel and Randy Jurewicz as well as University of Wisconsin researcher Adrian Treves, filed statements with the state warning against the use of dogs to hunt wolves.

GOP Senate candidates to gather for last debate

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Wisconsin State Journal

The four Republicans vying for a shot at Wisconsin?s open U.S. Senate seat are scheduled to attend one more debate before Tuesday?s primary election. Tommy Thompson, Eric Hovde, Mark Neumann and Jeff Fitzgerald are set to appear on the UW-Madison campus Friday evening for an hour-long debate sponsored by Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.

UW-Madison students hold candlelight vigil

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WKOW-TV 27

A number of University of Wisconsin-Madison students joined together Wednesday to remember those affected by the Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek. Organizers said the candlelight vigil was a way for them to spread awareness about the tragedy that occurred at the temple Sunday. Among the students was Harmanjot Singh. The UW-Madison junior is from Burlington, Wisconsin but grew up going to the Sikh temple in Oak Creek. He was home with his family when he found out about what happened.

Campus Connection: Can you guess Wisconsin?s lone great college to work for?

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Capital Times

Only one school in all of Wisconsin made The Chronicle of Higher Education?s annual list of ?Great Colleges to Work For.? Can you guess which one? According to this article accompanying the survey, ?open channels of communication, along with concrete ways of appreciating employees and helping them balance work and home, are hallmarks of great academic workplaces. At colleges, such policies have become more important as a slow national economy delays or shrinks raises ? ?

Executive Q&A: Michael Williamson is investing in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin State Journal

Michael Williamson holds the keys to $80 billion, money that more than half a million people are counting on to pay their bills when they retire. Williamson is the new executive director of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), the agency that manages the Wisconsin Retirement System?s two trust funds.

Know Your Madisonian: Kathy Borkowski helps make history accessible

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Wisconsin State Journal

Kathy Borkowski landed in Madison as so many do, to attend graduate school at UW-Madison. She was a bit of a late bloomer ? 35 at the time ? owing to family tragedy. Her parents died when she was a teenager, leaving her to raise three younger siblings in South Bend, Ind. She didn?t begin her undergraduate coursework until age 30. The delayed start has not held her back. She went on to earn two master?s degrees, one in history, the other in library sciences. In 2004, she became director of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, the state?s oldest book publisher.

National Guard troops get crash course in ag

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The Country Today

MADISON ? Captain Craig Giese of the Wisconsin Army National Guard grew up in an agricultural family ? his parents were both raised on Shawano County dairy farms ? but when he was assigned as the officer in charge of a 12-member Agribusiness Development Team that will deploy to Afghanistan early next year, he knew he needed some more agricultural knowledge.

UW-Madison receives $7M grant for manure conversion projects

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison has received a $7 million federal grant that will help a large dairy farm near Green Bay convert cow manure into ethanol, fertilizer and mulch.”The idea is to use virtually everything,” said John Markley, a biochemistry professor and a principal investigator for the project, which is a joint effort between the university, Madison-based biotech company Soil Net and Maple Leaf dairy farm near Green Bay.

$6.6M in grants to 30 state groups geared to boost healthy living

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Transform Wisconsin Coalition will distribute grants to 30 organizations for projects advocates say will encourage active lifestyles, healthy eating habits and smoke-free places to live. Their goal: Avoid higher health costs down the road from obesity and smoking. Tom Sieger, prevention director for University Health Services at UW-Madison, which oversees Transform Wisconsin, said the “return on investment” in funding preventive health initiatives is high. According to Sieger, $3 of every $4 spent on health care in Wisconsin goes toward treating chronic health problems, many of which are preventable. “We can realize tremendous health care savings in this state,” he said.

Chris Rickert: Kohl’s gets deal; retirees get … job?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A recent UW-Madison study projects 766,326 of the 808,914 additional people living in Wisconsin in 2040 will be over 65 ? a demographic shift that almost certainly will require more taxpayer-funded medical, housing and income help for this group whose working days largely will be over. So clearly, giving a multibillion-dollar company up to $62.5 million in tax credits over 12 years is the prudent thing to do.

The Precarious Profession of University President

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Chronicle of Higher Education

Noted: The case of Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin at the University of Wisconsin at Madison demonstrates the limits imposed on the discretionary actions of senior university leaders. Last year, then-Chancellor Martin, with the apparent prompting of the governor, proposed to expand the university?s autonomy by breaking away from some restrictions imposed by the UW system. The key proposal would permit UW-Madison greater tuition autonomy, given its special status as a flagship research university.

Wisconsin frac sand sites double

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Capital Times

The number of Wisconsin frac sand mining operations has more than doubled in the past year, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found, and the state leads the nation in production….A year ago, the Center identified 41 facilities operating or proposed in the state. This summer 87 are operating or under construction, with another 20 facilities in the proposal stage.

Madison prepares for ‘inevitable’ emerald ash borer invasion

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Wisconsin State Journal

Phil Pellitteri, a UW-Extension insect specialist, said he has been surprised at how quickly the ash borer has seemed to spread just this summer. In recent weeks, it has shown up for the first time in the city of Janesville as well as in Milwaukee. “It?s just kind of popped,” said Pellitteri of the insect?s recent spread. “That?s what it has felt like . . . So would it surprise me if it comes here this year? No, it would not.”

Big boost in state population seen, especially older residents, study says

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Wisconsin State Journal

The number of Wisconsin residents older than 65 will double within 30 years, suggesting a host of challenges that future employers, leaders and taxpayers will face, a new state study shows. Released Thursday by the state Department of Administration, the report by UW-Madison?s Applied Population Laboratory predicts the state?s overall population will grow by about 800,000 people by 2040, bringing the total to about 6.5 million.

Big challenges for graying state

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Wisconsin State Journal

….Wow. We?re graying fast. And that means longer lives, something we all hope for. In fact, Wisconsin enjoys higher life expectancies than the nation as a whole, a trend that?s expected to continue. But our rapidly aging population also will mean fewer workers per retiree to pay the state?s bills for everything from schools to health care to government services for the elderly and poor. And that makes keeping, educating and attracting young, talented, highly productive people more important than ever for Wisconsin. Our state and region need to encourage entrepreneurs, innovation and technology that lead to more high-paying jobs.