Category: State news

John Moses is being remembered today as a revered leader of the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs, having served as the secretary of the department for more than 20 years.

Moses, 88, died Saturday at the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg following a brief illness.

(Moses earned his law degree from UW-Madison in 1951.

“I had a genie in my life.”

Standing in front of dozens of students Tuesday at Green Bay West High School, John Morgridge choked up as he talked about that genie – actually his older brother, who talked him into enrolling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after he graduated from Wauwatosa High School more than 50 years ago.

Now, Morgridge said, he and his wife, Tashia, want to do the same for thousands of Wisconsin high school graduates, granting their wishes to have the financial resources to attend college.

Two University of Wisconsin at Madison alumni are donating $175-million to the institution for a program to help low-income students attend college, reports the Associated Press.

The donation was made by John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco Systems, which supplies computer-networking products, and his wife, Tashia. They both graduated from the university more than 50 years ago.

In a word: Wow!

John and Tashia Morgridge keep topping their tremendous generosity to higher education in Wisconsin with bigger and bigger donations.

The UW-Madison alums announced Monday an early Christmas gift of $175 million for college grants. The money will help high school graduates from low-income families in Wisconsin pay for college or university tuition and related expenses.

John Morgridge choked up Tuesday as he spoke about the older brother who helped pave his way to college.

He was a metaphorical genie, Morgridge said, granting his wish to attend school away from their Wauwatosa home.

Now Morgridge hopes to grant such wishes many times over.

MADISON, Wis. — Two philanthropists announced Tuesday that they are donating $175 million to found the “Fund For Wisconsin Scholars,” which will work as a complement to Gov. Jim Doyle’s Wisconsin Covenant program.

The donation from John and Tashia Morgridge will fund a permanent endowment for Wisconsin high school graduates to attend colleges and technical schools in the state.

Governor Jim Doyle has high praise for the generosity of John and Tashia Morgridge: $175 million to support a Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, and provide need-based financial aid for thousands of students. Still, Doyle wants to make sure the Legislature doesn’t get the wrong idea. Doyle says the generous gift doesn’t let the state off the hook for providing financial aid.

Faculty and academic staff from eight UW System campuses told a state Senate committee Monday at UW-Eau Claire they feel like second-class citizens because they are among the few workers in Wisconsin without the right to bargain collectively.

Twenty-one faculty, academic staff and students testified in favor of Senate Bill 353, which would give UW System faculty and academic staff the right to decide whether they want to collectively bargain. The public hearing was before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) A couple who graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison more than 50 years ago said Tuesday they would give $175 million to help high school graduates in the state advance their education.

The donation from John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco Systems which supplies computer networking products, and his wife, Tashia, a retired elementary special education teacher, is to provide about 2,000 grants of $1,000 to $5,000 for the 2008-2009 school year, and more than 3,000 grants annually after that.

The Morgridges, who long have donated to educational causes, are establishing the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars with their contribution for lower-income, talented graduates of Wisconsin public schools attending a Wisconsin public post-secondary school.

MADISON, Wis. — News 3’s Jessica Arp sat down with Gov. Jim Doyle and talked about the UW’s future, among other things.

It is a happy holiday in the governor’s mansion after 2007 brought some of Doyle’s long sought-after initiatives to fruition.

He said Wisconsin education was one of the biggest boosts of the year.

MADISON, Wis. — Two philanthropists are backing Gov. Jim Doyle’s Wisconsin Covenant program.

John and Tashia Morgridge, who donated $50 million last year for the Institutes of Discovery and Research Center, are donating $175 million to fund a permanent endowment for Wisconsin High School graduates to attend colleges in the state.

A new poll shows that Wisconsin Democrats favor Hillary Clinton for president, and Republicans like Fred Thompson, but no candidate is a clear front runner.

Forty-seven percent of respondents in the University of Wisconsin Survey Center’s Badger Poll released Monday said they would vote for a Democrat for president next year, while 39 percent would chose a Republican.

UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley often spoke out about the university, with his recent announcement highlighting how his replacement will have to work with the state Legislature.

It might be assumed that every rational Wisconsinite is agreed that rape is not a choice, and as such women who are assaulted ought not be punished for having been so victimized.

But assumptions are dangerous, especially when you are dealing with the state Assembly.

Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of state representatives — including almost all legislators who proclaim themselves to be “pro-life” — say they believe that women have a right to terminate pregnancies caused by rape, the Assembly is set for a fight over whether the state will mandate that women who have been assaulted have access to emergency contraception.

Two state legislators introduced a bill Tuesday that would give University of Wisconsin faculty and staff the opportunity to unionize and collectively bargain, a right they currently do not have.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) New rules would require University of Wisconsin faculty to take sick days even when colleagues cover their classes and would financially punish those who fail to report their leave.

The rules could rein in a lucrative benefit for some university employees, who can convert unused sick days into cash to buy health insurance in retirement. They come in response to an audit 14 months ago that suggested UW employees abused the perk by failing to report sick days.

The investigation found the average faculty member had a benefit of $222,000 to buy health insurance upon retirement, three times as much as other state employees. Professors report being sick an average of less than one day per year, far fewer than all other employees, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found.

MADISONâ??A legal challenge to the state’s new constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions is gaining momentum.

The lawsuit cleared a key procedural hurdle on Wednesday, a high-profile Madison lawyer has taken the case and the state’s largest gay rights group is supporting the challenge.

Last year, 59 percent of Wisconsin voters approved the amendment in a statewide referendum that prohibits same-sex couples from getting married and the state from recognizing civil unions.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science instructor William McConkey filed his legal challenge in July claiming the amendment violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

State Sen. Dave Hansen plans to introduce a bill that would extend collective bargaining rights to University of Wisconsin faculty and academic staff and include flexibility that could resolve concerns about a previous plan.

The majority of public- and private-sector employees in Wisconsin have the right to vote on whether they would like to be represented by a union, and the Green Bay Democrat hopes to extend that right to UW faculty — including professors and faculty who are supervisors or managers — and staff who are professional and administrative personnel. Civil service classified staff are already unionized.

The raises were unanimously approved by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations, which also gave about 7,200 University of Wisconsin System professors, teachers and other non-union workers pay increases that will total 5% when phased in by early 2009.

MADISON, Wis. â?? Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s administration promised Tuesday to look for ways to increase the lagging salaries of University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff.

The pledge came as the Legislatureâ??s Joint Committee on Employment Relations voted to give thousands of UW, nonunion state employees and elected officials 5 percent raises over the next 18 months. UW System President Kevin Reilly said the raises of 2 percent now, 2 percent in July and 1 percent in April 2009 would not be enough to keep top-notch professors and researchers in Wisconsin.

Reilly said the small increases will widen the gap between what employees make in Wisconsin and at other universities, which are giving bigger raises. Already, he said salaries are 8.5 percent behind peer universities for faculty and 20 percent behind for academic staff.

The President of the UW System is calling on lawmakers to approve larger salary increases for faculty and academic staff.

A legislative panel on Tuesday approved five-percent in pay hikes for non-union UW employees, which will take effect over the next 18 months. However, System President Kevin Reilly says it’s still not enough to keep the UW competitive. Reilly says the UW is over eight percent behind the average salaries of its peer universities.

An agreement finalized Monday between UW-Madison, the state and the Sierra Club requires the Charter Street Heating Plant to immediately reduce fuel emissions by 15 percent and re-evaluate alternative energy sources to avoid termination.

The state of Wisconsin has agreed not only to clean up UW-Madison’s coal-fired Charter Street power plant but also to review and possibly improve the operation of 13 other coal-burning plants it manages throughout the state, according to a settlement of a Sierra Club lawsuit announced Monday.

Madison, Wis. – One man’s air-tight business can be another man’s pain in the neck, and new IT reporting requirements contained in the recently enacted 2007-09 state budget are giving Ed Meachen a shooting pain.

Meachen, associate vice president of learning and information technology for the University of Wisconsin System, is calling on lawmakers to remove provisions in the state budget that impose, in his words, layer after layer of requirements â??just to move in any direction with major projects.â?

The Sierra Club and the UW are both calling Monday’s settlement a victory.

The UW agreed to cut coal burning by 15% starting in January. It’ll then begin to explore alternative fuels.

“There are no losers in this agreement. We get to change our operations to reduce coal use right away. In the long run, we’ll invest in a 21st century plant,” said Alan Fish, UW associate vice chancellor for facilities.

An agreement’s been reached, to reduce pollution from a state owned power plant. It’s the University of Wisconsin’s Charter Street plant, the subject of a lawsuit by the Sierra Club. Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities at the UW, says the plant will begin burning 15% less coal starting in January, and will also begin work on a long term solution for the plant, located in the heart of the Madison campus.

MADISON, Wis. â?? The state agreed Monday to cut pollution at a Madison power plant and look for ways to reduce emissions at its other plants to settle a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club.

Sierra Club lawyer Bruce Nilles said the settlement would make Wisconsin a leader in reducing its reliance on dirty-burning coal and increasing its use of renewable energy.

The deal comes weeks after a federal judge ruled the Charter Street Power Plant in Madison has been operating in violation of the federal Clean Air Act for five years. The plant powers the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.