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Category: State news

Baby steps: A new program aims to raise awareness about early childhood mental health

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Can a baby be depressed? Can a toddler have a mental illness? Are pre-schoolers being expelled from childcare for aggressive, unmanageable behavior?

The answer to all these questions is ?yes,? and experts say a lack of understanding about the social and emotional development and psychological wellbeing of babies and young children is at the root of many vexing long-term problems, from school failure to serious mental health issues.

….A new postgraduate certification program that began earlier this summer at the University of Wisconsin aims to help. The UW Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health Postgraduate Certificate Program is unique in Wisconsin and among only a handful of programs throughout the country that focus on the social and emotional health of very young children.

Quoted: Program co-director Roseanne Clark, a psychologist and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Guest column: LZ Lambeau stayed true to budget

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Green Bay Press-Gazette

As residents of Green Bay and members of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board ? one of the entities that oversees Wisconsin Public Television ? we are proud of the success of LZ Lambeau.

In May, 70,000 people took part in events on the Lambeau Field grounds and throughout Green Bay. On the evening of May 22, more than 26,000 people came together to thank the state’s Vietnam veterans and pay tribute to the 1,244 service people who were killed or are missing in action.

Unfortunately, recent news reports and community conversations erroneously have reported on the LZ Lambeau budget, claiming that it resulted in a financial shortfall or deficit. This isn’t the case.

Vaudreuil sworn in as U.S. attorney in Western District

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Wisconsin State Journal

John Vaudreuil, whose first and only job as a lawyer was as a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney?s Office in Madison, was sworn in Tuesday as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. Vaudreuil, 56, a native of Rice Lake, was confirmed on Thursday by the U.S. Senate after his nomination to the post by President Obama was approved on July 29 by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Obama formally appointed Vaudreuil on Tuesday.

State conducts surprise inspection of UW Hospital after syringe incident

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Wisconsin State Journal

The state Department of Health Services conducted an unannounced inspection of UW Hospital on Friday following media reports of a syringe being used on more than one patient. The patient, Vincent Stepter, said an infectious disease specialist at UW Hospital contacted him and told him he needed to be tested for hepatitis and HIV because of the reuse of a syringe, a breakdown of hospital policy.

Wood chips may pose problems when Charter Street plant converts to biomass

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Capital Times

For decades, pollution spewed from factories and power plants across Wisconsin. As a result, air and water became polluted. Now it seems, so did the trees.

At a time when state-owned power plants are ditching coal and going green by including biomass such as switch grass, compost, and wood chips into the fuel mix, it is becoming evident that even trees may release harmful chemicals when burned for energy.

Flu in August? It’s rare, but four people in Wisconsin have been sick recently

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Wisconsin State Journal

Four people in Wisconsin have had the flu in recent weeks, and two small outbreaks have struck eastern Iowa ? activity that normally doesn?t start until November.

“It?s unusual but not unheard of,” said Tom Haupt, influenza coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Health officials, vigilant after last year?s surprise appearance of swine flu, or H1N1, are alerting doctors to be on the lookout for more flu cases this summer, Haupt said.

….In a separate study this week, UW-Madison researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka and other scientists identified a protein mutation that allowed the swine flu virus to replicate well in people.

University of Wisconsin needs to get off nation?s party school list

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison?s reputation for wild parties matters, even if the survey is unscientific. That?s because the Princeton Review publicity can affect college recruitment.

We?d love to attract the brightest minds from across the country to Madison for their higher educations. We?d rather not be a beacon for Party Nation. Madison and Wisconsin already have enough problems with heavy drinking, related violence and drunken driving.

Wis. higher ed leaders say more aid money needed (AP)

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BusinessWeek

Higher education leaders want Wisconsin lawmakers and the next governor to provide tens of millions of dollars more for need-based financial aid, saying the investment is desperately needed despite a looming budget shortfall.

The University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System want funding increases to fill gaps that have left thousands of eligible low-income students without grants, according to budget documents. Private school leaders want modest increases for a separate program for their students.

Quick-response center helps manufacturers improve efficiency

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Wisconsin State Journal

Even as manufacturing emerges as one of the few sectors showing consistent life in the nation?s struggling economic recovery, experts at UW-Madison stand ready to help Wisconsin businesses get a bigger piece of the action.

At UW-Madison?s Center for Quick Response Manufacturing, one of director Ananth Krishnamurthy?s goals is increased outreach to help state manufacturers be more competitive, by applying center principles aimed at cutting costly lead time in all phases of a company?s manufacturing and office operations.

Military recruiters? business is good

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Wisconsin State Journal

In June, the wiry 18-year-old walked across the Oregon High School stage at his graduation ceremony. Now Fred Machado is at a military base 2,000 miles away, training to become a Marine. He joins more than 2,700 Wisconsinites younger than 25 entering active military duty this year.

….Recruiters say the lengthy economic downturn, which has created double-digit unemployment rates in some parts of Wisconsin, and a strong sense of patriotism, especially in rural areas, have made recruiting easier.

It doesn?t matter that Walker doesn?t have college degree

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Capital Times

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Superior. That?s a fine school. But after seven years with Schwarzenegger at the helm, California is an economic and political mess.

On the other hand, Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell has no college degree. Yet her state is doing rather well after six years of her leadership. So should Wisconsin be looking for someone with a college degree to take over from outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle, a graduate of both the University of Wisconsin and Harvard Law School?

Senate candidate Ron Johnson maturing quickly

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U.S. Senate hopeful Ron Johnson rolled into town last week for a question-and-answer session at the tony Madison Club. With his media team in tow, the latest rock star of the Republican Party made his way to the table at the front of the crowd ? and between the cross hairs.

Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison professor of political science

Report calls for overhaul of state Department of Commerce

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Others active in the six-month effort include Bill McCoshen, who ran the agency for four years under Thompson and now splits his time as lobbyist and director of the nonprofit Competitive Wisconsin business group; Tom Hefty, retired chief executive of Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin and conservative economic activist; and business school deans at both Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Boating accidents killed 16 in state

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Wisconsin State Journal

….Data from 10 years? worth of reports compiled by the DNR and reviewed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism show 189 people have died while boating in Wisconsin, an average of 19 a year. Despite the continued concern over preventable boating accidents and fatalities, Wisconsin lawmakers tried but failed in the last session to pass laws mandating life jackets for children and cracking down on drunken boating, which is No. 5 on the top 10 list of accident causes.

Secondhand smoke exposure among highest in nation for state youths

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Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin?s youth are struggling for breath, as the state was among the top five in the nation with high levels of secondhand smoke exposure for children 17 and younger.

About 10.5 percent of Wisconsin children were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes in 2007, according to an article published in this month?s health journal Pediatrics.

Dane County’s first black DA ready to take the reins

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Wisconsin State Journal

When Ismael Ozanne goes to work on Monday, it will be his first as Wisconsin?s first black district attorney.

While that distinction carries historic significance, Ozanne knows that it?s the present that matters, fraught with the same challenges that prosecutors across the state are facing, and some that are particular to Dane County.

Chris Rickert: Questions aplenty, but Morgan’s not talking

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Wisconsin State Journal

You?ve heard the old saw about never getting into a fight with an organization that buys ink by the barrel.But what about turning the other cheek? Newly hired UW System senior vice president for administration and fiscal affairs Michael Morgan is doing something like that in repeatedly turning down media requests to talk about his controversial hire.

Panel to review Wisconsin financial aid programs

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — Wisconsin lawmakers have created a special committee to review the state?s financial aid programs for higher education. The panel, expected to recommend policy changes, is chaired by Representative Joan Ballweg, a Republican of Markesan.

Ballweg has has been involved in financial aid issues in recent years. She says the goal of the review is to improve access to higher education, make sure resources are being used effectively and retain graduates in the state. The review will look at the Wisconsin Covenant program, the tuition reciprocity agreement between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and loan forgiveness programs.

UW-Milwaukee student identified as flooding victim

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WKOW-TV 27

MILWAUKEE (WISN) — A 19-year-old UW-Milwaukee student missing from Cudahy has been identified as the body pulled from a creek Saturday night. The Milwaukee Dive Rescue Team pulled the body from the Lincoln Creek near 32nd Street and Hampton Avenue around 8 p.m Saturday. Family members said Kyle Pelesnik has been missing since Thursday.

Next ag secretary must be a fighter for farms and food

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Capital Times

The death of Rod Nilsestuen, who drowned Wednesday while swimming in Lake Superior, leaves a huge hole in state government.

Of all the tributes to Nilsestuen, I was particularly struck by what Molly Jahn, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, had to say….

Jahn would be an appealing choice, although she is just back from a stint as deputy undersecretary of research, education and economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hmong presence growing at Farmer’s Market

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Wisconsin State Journal

Quoted: Farmers markets are especially important for recent immigrants, said Alfonso Morales, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at UW-Madison and an expert on public markets. A market, such as the Dane County Farmers? Market, where shoppers pay a premium, gives the Hmong a better outlet than a roadside stand or another farmers? market because of its great reputation and its large, affluent customer base.The income they make frequently gets plowed back into their operations and paid forward through investment in their children, he said.

UW System Wants Furloughs To End, Raises Restored

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin System officials said they will push the state to end employee furloughs next year and restore 2 percent raises taken away from faculty and staff.

Michael Morgan, the system?s new chief operating officer, told the Board of Regents Friday the system would not propose a plan to help lagging university salaries catch up to those at rival schools.

Wis. court: Man can’t sue over fiancee’s slaying (AP)

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Madison.com

A slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student?s fiance cannot sue authorities for mishandling her 911 call or the couple?s landlords for lax security because he doesn?t have the legal standing, a court ruled Thursday. The District 4 Court of Appeals dismissed two lawsuits filed by Jordan Gonnering, whose fiancee, Brittany Zimmermann, was stabbed and strangled by an intruder in their Madison apartment in April 2008. The killing remains unsolved.

Wis. mayor’s silence on attack wins him admirers

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Madison.com

Quoted: Barry C. Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, said voters would be reminded of the attack at the sentencing and again during televised debates in fall when it will be obvious he can?t fully use his hand. He compared it to former GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, who didn?t have use one of his arms because of war injuries. “I think those kind of personal factors get more weight for voters who are paying peripheral attention and right now that?s most Wisconsin voters, frankly,” he said.

Wis. ag. secretary’s death leaves ‘glaring void’

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Madison.com

Rod Nilsestuen, the head of Wisconsin?s Department of Agriculture since 2003 who died while swimming in Lake Superior, was remembered Thursday as a consensus-building, bipartisan, visionary advocate for farmers. He earned a law degree from UW-Madison.
Quoted: Nilsestuen?s “passionate commitment” to preserving agricultural land will leave a “towering legacy of his influence,” said Molly Jahn, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Chris Rickert: Flap over bus-driver pay says less about them than it does about us

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Wisconsin State Journal

I?ve been hoping to catch a glimpse of one of those six-figure Metro Transit drivers. You know the ones. Those overpaid working stiffs who do nothing but drive around all day in air-conditioned buses, raking in our hard-earned tax dollars like so many Capitol-bound commuters. For comparison?s sake, UW Athletics Director Barry Alvarez and UW football coach Bret Bielema get $500,000 and $400,000, respectively, per year out of a public university?s coffers. Should they? The not-for-profit, tax-exempt UW Foundation puts another several hundred thousand more into their pockets. Should it?

UW-Madison to study how nonprofits may have helped in decline of black infant mortality

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Wisconsin State Journal

The UW Center for Nonprofits will study how nonprofits may have contributed to a dramatic decline in Dane County?s black infant mortality rate in recent years, the center announced. The center received a $50,000 grant from the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research to look at nonprofits? influence on black babies surviving their first year. The county?s black infant mortality rate declined in 2002 to 2007, a decrease that gained national attention, but rose in 2008 and remained higher last year than the earlier years. ABC for Health, Access Community Health Centers and the South Madison Health and Family Center-Harambee are among the agencies that will be analyzed, said Jeanan Yasiri, executive director of the UW Center for Nonprofits.

Wisconsin court denies new trial in gang rape

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Madison.com

Noted: An Illinois man accused of helping gang-rape a college coed more than a decade ago doesn?t deserve a new trial, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The 4-3 decision clarifies that criminal defendants can?t use civil statutes to request new trials. It also means Dimitri Henley must return to prison to finish the last half of a 20-year sentence, said his attorney, Wisconsin Innocence Project co-director Keith Findley.

Rod Nilsestuen, state DATCP head, drowns in Lake Superior

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Madison.com

Rod Nilsestuen, who has led the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection as its secretary since 2003, drowned Wednesday evening while swimming in Lake Superior off Michigan?s Upper Peninsula.

….Nilsestuen, 62, was president and CEO of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives from 1978 until September 2002. He grew up on a dairy farm near Arcadia and earned bachelor?s degrees in political science and sociology from UW-River Falls in 1970 and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1974.

Redistricting means Dane County may gain Legislative seats

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Capital Times

Thirty square miles surrounded by reality.

Since the phrase was first muttered 30-plus years ago by one-term Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus, the geographic footprint of the capital city has more than doubled. As Madison?s borders expanded, so did its population and that of Dane County.

In politics, population leads to regional power. The more people there are living in an area, the more representatives those residents are entitled to in the Legislature, which is why news that Dane County?s population has increased by 50,000, enough to warrant greater representation in the Capitol, may be a hard pill to swallow for some lawmakers.

Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer

Editorial: Progress, prosperity and priorities

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Wisconsin State Journal

You have called your plan ?Principles for progress and prosperity.? We propose to add another ?P? word ? priorities. What you really want is for us to give UW System priority in the state budget. But we want to see more prioritizing from you as well. We want you to think more boldly about trimming duplication across campuses, about avoiding the trap of trying to be all things to all people, and about doing more with less.

Big Ten Championship at Lambeau Field?

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WKOW-TV 27

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers are interested in hosting a potential Big Ten conference championship game at Lambeau Field. A team spokesman said the Packers have made preliminary contact with Big Ten officials to request information on hosting a new conference championship game, which will become possible after Nebraska leaves the Big 12 for the Big Ten.

UW poll: Feingold at 27 pct support, Johnson at 21

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Madison.com

Poll results released Thursday show Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has 27 percent support and Republican challenger Ron Johnson has 21 percent in a Senate race in which more than half of those asked say they?re still undecided. About another 1 percent said they would vote for a candidate other than Feingold or Johnson. The margin of error in the University of Wisconsin Badger Poll was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Badger Poll: GOP candidate would beat Barrett in gov race; Feingold with early edge

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Wisconsin State Journal

A new poll shows that either major Republican candidate for governor would crush the Democrat should the election be held now. But the University of Wisconsin Badger Poll released on Thursday also shows that most people just aren?t paying attention to the race four months before the election. The poll shows that 32 percent would vote for either Republican Scott Walker or Mark Neumann. Only 15 percent say they would vote for Democrat Tom Barrett.

Poll: Few paying attention to Wis. governor’s race

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Madison.com

Most people aren?t paying attention to Wisconsin?s governor?s race, but those who are overwhelmingly favor the Republican candidates, a poll released Thursday showed. The University of Wisconsin Survey Center?s Badger Poll showed that 32 percent of those who responded to the random telephone poll would vote for either Republican Scott Walker or Mark Neumann. Only 15 percent said they would vote for Democrat Tom Barrett.

The UW-Madison’s Diversity Problem (WPRI Wisconsin Interest)

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Remember Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war stalker of President George W. Bush? The poor lady?s 15 minutes of fame expired a good two years ago when even Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama kept his distance. Yet, here she was this past April primed to speak on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus when the Memorial Union realized that no proper university group was sponsoring the event.

UW Poll Gives Edge To Feingold In U.S. Senate Race

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WISC-TV 3

MILWAUKEE — A new poll on Wisconsin?s U.S. Senate race shows that few registered voters have been paying attention. But those who have prefer Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold over leading Republican challenger Ron Johnson, 27 percent to 21 percent.

The results of the University of Wisconsin Badger Poll results were released Thursday. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.

Politics blog: Greta Van Susteren for governor?

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Wisconsin State Journal

No, Greta Van Susteren wasn?t in Wisconsin filing signatures to get on the ballot in time for Tuesday?s deadline for candidates. But the Fox News host did tell Politico that she would run for Wisconsin governor if she knew she “could not fail.” Then again, Van Susteren, the daughter of a Wisconsin judge who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also told the interviewer that she?d “get rid of February,” if she was president and could make only one executive decision.