Category: State news

Former Department of Natural Resources secretary Darrell Bazzell has been appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to the Dane County Regional Transit Authority.

“I am honored to be Gov. Doyleâ??s appointee to this important new authority,” Bazzell said in a news release. “I look forward to working with regional partners in developing a sound transportation strategy that will serve our region well for years to come.”

Bazzell is vice chancellor for administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and also serves as a senior adviser to the chancellor and provost.

Gov. Jim Doyle spoke to state lawmakers and Wisconsin citizens Tuesday night in his annual State of the State Address.

Amid a $2.7 billion budget deficit and concerns over health care reform and job loss, Gov. Jim Doyle delivered his eighth and final State of the State Address Tuesday, focusing on green job creation, health care reform and education.

Q. When the UW-Madison Charter Street Power Plant is converted to burning biomass (such as wood, wood waste and switchgrass), what impact will it have on traffic in the area?

A. â??We do anticipate that switching from coal to biomass will impact traffic on and around campus,â? said Carla Vigue, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, which oversees state buildings.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison says it believes international students would be putting their visas at risk if they joined a new union for graduate research assistants, but an e-mail message that was part of an exchange between senior officials at the institution last year suggests that the university didnâ??t always take that position.

The state Senate has passed a bill that would require most Wisconsin state government contract work to be performed in the United States. The requirement wouldnâ??t apply if the services couldnâ??t be obtained within the United States, or if theyâ??re paid for with federal money, money from University of Wisconsin System gifts or grants.

The state Senate has passed a bill that would require most Wisconsin state government contract work to be performed in the United States. The requirement wouldnâ??t apply if the services couldnâ??t be obtained within the United States, or if theyâ??re paid for with federal money, money from University of Wisconsin System gifts or grants.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow said heâ??ll listen to the governorâ??s speech Tuesday for any hints of more budget cuts to come for the UW System.

Most Wisconsin state government contract work would have to be performed in the United States under a bill set to pass the state Senate on Thursday. The requirement wouldnâ??t apply if the services couldnâ??t be obtained within the United States, or if theyâ??re paid for with federal money, money from University of Wisconsin System gifts or grants.

Proponents of a $250 million project to convert a coal-fired power plant to biomass at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say the project is moving ahead, damn the torpedoes.

Growing concern about pollution from coal-powered plants is behind some of the best stories of the past day or so. On page one today, the State Journal looked into allegations by the Sierra Club that the Department of Natural Resources is dragging its feet on investigating charges made over the summer that coal-fired heating plants on the University of Wisconsin campuses in Eau Claire, Stout, Stevens Point and La Crosse are in violation of the federal Clean Air Act and need millions of dollars worth of upgrades.

That all sounds very familiar, of course, because it was just two years ago that the Sierra Club won a case in federal court against the state and UW-Madison charging that they failed to upgrade pollution controls as required by federal law at the Charter Street coal plant. As a result, UW-Madison agreed to reduce coal consumption at the plant and eventually convert it to natural gas and biomass by 2013, a move expected to cost some $250 million.

A state-funded, $250 million project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to convert a coal-fired power plant on campus to one that primarily burns biomass such as tree trimmings and crops, ideally becoming a model for how the state can reduce its carbon output and its dependence on fossil fuels.

But the massive venture – accounting for nearly one-fifth of the stateâ??s capital budget during the 2009-â??11 budget period – faces considerable hurdles.

Mentioons that the groupâ??s chair will be Richard Barrows, a retired associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The UW-Madison Law School could represent Dale or Leilani Neumann as they appeal last summerâ??s reckless homicide convictions for the death of 11-year-old daughter Madeline Kara Neumann. Byron Lichstein, an assistant professor at the law school, said the schoolâ??s Criminal Appeals Project has offered to represent one of the Neumanns in the appeal.

A union and some Democratic lawmakers are asking the University of Wisconsin System to sign a legal agreement that could make it easier for faculty and staff to organize unions.

A labor union and its Democratic allies are asking the University of Wisconsin System to sign a legal agreement that could boost ongoing campaigns to unionize faculty and staff.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed a law last year giving nearly 20,000 university employees the right to form unions for the first time to negotiate their wages and benefits.

MADISON, Wis. — A union and some Democratic state lawmakers are asking the University of Wisconsin System to sign a legal agreement that could make it easier for faculty and staff to organize unions.

AFT-Wisconsin wants the UW to sign a “neutrality agreement” that would govern the conduct of organizers and administrators during union drives.

Young adults can stay on their parentsâ?? insurance longer, and birth control costs must be covered for those looking to avoid having any kids at all, under new laws that take effect Friday in Wisconsin. Also starting in the new year, state workers and employees at the University of Wisconsin can receive domestic partner health insurance and other benefits. As of Tuesday, 710 people and 57 dependents have signed up for the health insurance, according to the Department of Employee Trust Funds. Another 179 university employees added a domestic partner to their health insurance as of Dec. 21.

Texting while driving, smoking in public and cooking with artery-clogging trans fats will be that much harder under a bevy of state laws set to take effect around the country on Friday. In Wisconsin, both same-sex and unwed opposite-sex domestic partners who work for the state and University of Wisconsin can sign up to receive health insurance benefits. A law that allowed same-sex partners to sign a registry to receive other benefits similar to what married couples get took effect in August.

The study found that one renter-occupied household in 20 is evicted each year in Milwaukee. In neighborhoods where blacks are the majority, the study found that number jumps to one in 10 renter-occupied households evicted every year.

The study was undertaken by Matt Desmond, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He analyzed court records and a did a yearâ??s worth of field work that included living in a south side trailer park and in a rooming house on the cityâ??s north side.

During his research, Desmond spent time with tenants fighting evictions and packing their belongings. He also spent time with landlords to get their side of the eviction story.

“This is a unique study because thereâ??s a lot of information about foreclosures, but not much on evictions,” said Timothy Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty and a professor in UW-Madisonâ??s La Follette School of Public Affairs.

MADISON — West Bend Republican Senator Glenn Grothman says he plans to introduce legislation that would give the Wisconsin Department of Transportation the authority to set salting and snow removal standards for the City of Madisonâ??s main arterials. Under the proposed bill, all other cities, villages, and towns around the state will continue to set their own standards.

Grothman says that while the snowstorm that walloped Madison on December 9 and 10 was unique, the road conditions in Madison were not. In his experience, when roads within Madison city limits are impassible, roads outside of Madison and in other communities are not. He says that since only a small percentage of Madison streets are main arterials, the extreme aversion to using salt should stop.

“The State of Wisconsin has chosen Madison as its State Capitol and home to its largest university. It is the responsibility of the City to maintain its roads in winter — something they’ve shown they cannot do,” said Grothman.

After today, classes are over, finals finished, and the student unions closed – so let the furloughs begin!

Wednesday, Dec. 30 is a mandatory unpaid day off for UW-Madison employees. This is one of 16 state-mandated furlough days during the 2009-2011 budget cycle.

Four University of Wisconsin campuses, including Oshkosh, will not be completely energy independent by 2012, Gov. Jim Doyle acknowledged last week about his 2006 re-election pledge. But even if our lame duck governorâ??s credibility is off the grid, Oshkosh has made notable progress. Which begs the question of why politicians feel the need to make such grandiose pronouncements only to have them fall flat.

Gov. Jim Doyle has backed off a campaign promise that four University of Wisconsin campuses will be energy independent by 2012 after determining it was not practical as proposed. Weeks before he was re-elected in 2006, Doyle said campuses would “go off the grid” by becoming the first state agencies to purchase or produce as much energy from renewable sources as they consume.

The pace of construction in the University of Wisconsin System is creating a growing to-do list of maintenance projects and nowhere near enough money to get the work done. â??We need to start thinking about this long term,â? said state Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah. â??And if weâ??re saving money on other projects, we should think of a way to utilize that money.â?

Gov. Jim Doyle has distanced himself from a campaign promise that four University of Wisconsin campuses will be energy independent by 2012 after determining it was not practical as proposed.

A company that partially demolished UW-Madisonâ??s Ogg Hall before getting fired shouldnâ??t get around $1.8 million from the state, according to a recommendation from the State Claims Board.

One state lawmaker continues to push for strict legislative oversight of the UW Board of Regentsâ?? power to condemn and acquire land under eminent domain. Milladore Democrat Amy Vruwinkâ??s bill would ensure the board is accountable for its actions and the property acquisitions really are for the public good.