After a long delay, the state now has a new two-year budget. And, thanks to the tobacco tax bump it contains, it is positioned to forge a healthier Wisconsin.
A $1 increase per pack of cigarettes effective on Jan. 1 will provide just the incentive many smokers need to break a longtime addiction. It’s a great time to quit — for health and for cash saved by the smoker.
An agreement finalized today requires the University of Wisconsin’s Charter Street heating plant to reduce its coal burning to 85 percent of past levels and eventually be replaced.
In addition, the consent decree reached between the Sierra Club and Department of Administration, which manages the aging Charter Street plant, will be used as a blueprint for reducing sulphur dioxide and mercury emissions not only at the Charter Street and Capitol Heating plants, but at all state-owned coal burning plants around Wisconsin.
According to a recently released state Legislative Audit Bureau report, 77 percent of University of Wisconsin System faculty did not take a single day of sick leave during the entire year of 2005.
A special committee met earlier this month to address concerns that University of Wisconsin System faculty report less sick days than other state employees.
A new national testing program adopted by the University of Wisconsin System may give parents and students something they have wanted for years: an easier way to compare achievement at UW campuses and to compare UW schools with colleges around the country.
To pay for highways, buildings and environmental programs, state government slid 87% deeper in long-term debt over the past 10 years.
Madison, Wis. – It was a lead story this week in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and about a thousand publications worldwide, but what does the latest breakthrough in human embryonic stem-cell research mean to Wisconsin?
The UW System will conduct a statewide listening session on Tuesday to gain input about a strategic framework being developed to help the state’s universities strengthen Wisconsin’s economy and its communities.
As part of the “Advantage Wisconsin” strategic initiative, the UW System will hold public listening sessions from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday at about 50 sites around the state, mostly Cooperative Extension offices.
Wisconsin Public Radio has asked federal communication regulators for permission to establish eight new stations.
The state is capitalizing on some of its valuable assets — including UW-Madisons research prowess and the states agricultural resources — to produce development in businesses such as biotechnology and medical equipment.
Call it the Wisconsin Idea 2.0.
The University of Wisconsin is holding listening sessions around the state Nov. 27 to get ideas on how it can do a better job of bolstering the state’s economy and its communities.
A state lawmaker says he’s not satisfied with answers from the UW-Madison, regarding their contract with the Big Ten Network.
UW officials say their contract with the Big Ten Network will mean more than $6 million for the school this year. Most of the revenue will go to the athletic department, although some will go to academics as well. State Representative Dave Travis (D-Westport) says it’s still not worth it though.
Travis says the deal is a disaster because the UW is blind to the fact that the average person is being denied the ability to see away games, since the Big Ten Network is only available on satellite TV or through some small local cable providers.
A committee of the UW System Board of Regents recommended altering the stateâ??s faculty sick-leave policy Friday, though nine UW campuses have said they are opposed to some of the possible changes.
Wisconsin educational leaders and future college graduates launched the KnowHow2GO College Access Campaign for Wisconsin Friday.
There were so many awards and plaudits given out last week it brought a tear to my eye.
Or maybe I ‘m just crying and wheezing from all those soot particles spewing into the air from the state-owned Capitol and Charter Street power plants.
Three state lawmakers are asking for an audit of the University of Wisconsin athletic department’s contract with the Big Ten Network.
University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez testified at a Capitol hearing Wednesday in support of a bill that would make donations for preferential seating at UW athletic events exempt from sales tax.
A state consortium of farm, labor, business and education groups has come up with a “Competitive Mandate for Wisconsin” seeking an economic development strategy that emphasizes education and builds on state assets to cultivate more high-paying jobs
New surveys of the Wisconsin electorate show residents are more likely to vote for Democrats in the presidential primary and approval of the state Legislature has dropped significantly since the spring because of the past budget impasse.
he UW System Board of Regents outlined plans to implement its Growth Agenda through new accountability initiatives at its regular monthly meeting Friday.
The University of Wisconsin System’s decision to quietly drop its lawsuit against a former UW-Whitewater dean fired for financial mismanagement drew outrage from one state lawmaker on Friday.
Dear Editor: The Center for Patient Partnerships and Freedom Inc. Hmong Resource Center would like to thank The Evjue Foundation for funding the creation of a short film, “Body and Spirit: Healing Your Way.”
Produced in the Hmong language with English subtitles, and featuring Hmong Americans from a variety of backgrounds — shaman, nurse, patient and elder — this DVD seeks to improve the health care experience for Hmong families.
College students facing life-threatening illnesses would no longer have to worry about remaining full-time students in order to keep their health insurance, if Gov. Jim Doyle signs a recently passed bill into law.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents discussed the future of postsecondary education in Wisconsin during a meeting Friday.
Wisconsin’s biotech executives are more bullish on their own companies than on the state’s overall biotech economy, according to a new quarterly survey from the Wisconsin Biotechnology and Medical Device Association and the state Department of Commerce.
More than 70 percent of the executives who responded to the inaugural Wisconsin BioIndustry Outlook survey rated the current condition of the state’s biotech and medical device industry as excellent or good, and they were almost evenly split on whether the state of the industry would get better or stay the same during the next 12 months.
UW-Madison may top the list in academics and athletics, but the university fails to compete with other universities regarding faculty salaries.
Gov. Jim Doyle today named Jack L. Fischer, the CEO of a family-run Fox Valley real estate development firm, as the new state secretary of commerce.
Fischer succeeds Mary Burke, the former CEO of Trek Bicycles. He will begin his new job on Nov. 26; the appointment must be confirmed by the state Senate.
A split Democratic caucus failed to muster enough votes to pass major protections sought by consumer advocates in a controversial AT&T-backed cable deregulation bill.
The bill easily passed the state Senate 23-9 after five hours of debate Thursday.
Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, two major cable carriers in Wisconsin, are reporting they have lost thousands of cable subscribers, a development some tie to consumers upset that they cant get the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network.
Under an amendment adopted, if the University of Wisconsin has an agreement with an existing cable network to broadcast sporting events, any competitor that enters the market would have to provide the same service if the university requested it.
The state Senate has passed a video competition bill which aims to deregulate the cable industry in the Wisconsin. A lengthy debate Thursday saw Senators offer more than twenty amendments to the controversial legislation authored by South Milwaukee Democrat, Jeff Plale. “This is after all till an art of compromise,” said Plale. “I think this bill is a very good bill.” Plale and supporters have argued it will decrease cable costs in the long run. Opponents maintain the bill will do nothing to help consumers in underserved areas of rural Wisconsin.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that UW-Madison and the state of Wisconsin violated the federal Clean Air Act by expelling excess emissions from Madisonâ??s Charter Street Heating Plant during major renovations from 2001-â??04.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will convene Thursday and Friday, and among their discussion topics is a new accountability report.
A University of Wisconsin heating plant is in violation of the federal Clean Air Act, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The state is in violation of federal clean air laws for failing to install modern pollution controls on the coal-burning Charter Street power plant on the UW-Madison campus, U.S. District Court Judge John Shabaz ruled Wednesday in Madison.
Tom Givnish, a University of Wisconsin professor of botany, has strong feelings about deer and chronic wasting disease.
It is not surprising that he serves on the CWD Stakeholder Advisory Committee that will advise the state Department of Natural Resources on changes it should make in the DNR management program.
The most dangerous place on the job is no longer the factory floor. It’s the highway.
Great strides have been made in workplace safety over the past decades, thanks to modern equipment, protective gear and ongoing inspections by government regulators….
ELECTRIC SLED: As a cross country skier, I’ve never had a problem with snowmobiles. At least both require snow.
But here’s one answer to the noise, smoke and pollution problems: electric snowmobiles.
A team of UW-Madison mechanical engineers has now developed an earth-friendly snowmobile that could facilitate scientific research in Antarctica and Greenland.
A new nonpartisan board created to restore public confidence in government chose to fill its top staff position with the current head of an agency that will be eliminated under the reorganization.
Kevin Kennedy, director of the state Elections Board, was chosen Monday to serve as the new Government Accountability Board’s legal director. As such, Kennedy will be the top staff member overseeing the agency that is replacing the Elections and Ethics boards.
The Legislature created the new nonpartisan board of six retired judges to investigate public corruption and enforce laws involving campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying.
It takes extreme circumstances for me to support the so-called Frankenstein veto. But I’ve seen one too many Frankenstein budgets passed by the Legislature not to gain an appreciation for a little artful reassembly of a state budget.
Let’s perform an autopsy on the latest budget. Gosh, it looks like the transplant surgeons in the Legislature assembled it willy-nilly from a really odd assortment of body parts.
A UW-Madison researcher questioned a modification to the Wisconsin Covenant program.
The program promises eighth graders university or technical school admission, if they get good grades, take the right curriculum and stay out of trouble up until college.
Governor Doyle vetoed budget language which prioritized certain financial assistance for low-income, Covenant participants, or “scholars.”
Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s Wisconsin Covenant program received $40 million in endowment Thursday to fund lower-income students pledging the higher education plan.
Many fans throughout Wisconsin will not be able to cheer on the Badgers as they play Ohio State University this Saturday because the game will only be aired on the Big Ten Network, a company currently unaffiliated with Charter Communications.
A nonprofit Madison group has pledged $40 million to help fund the Wisconsin Covenant, an initiative that promises eighth-graders who do well in school a spot in college and financial help.
The Governor’s Wisconsin Covenant initiative is getting a financial boost.
A $40 million endowment from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation will help establish a new foundation, aimed at providing financial aid for students who sign the Wisconsin Covenant. The money will help provide financial assistance to students who sign the Covenant and meet the educational goals it requires.
Carla Vigue, a spokesperson in the Governor’s office, says the endowment will hopefully be the first of many. She says the board established to oversee the fund will be working to get additional private money added to it.
MADISON â?? A $40 million donation announced Thursday will help low-income Wisconsin students attend college if they meet academic and service requirements during high school.
The gift from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, a leader in the student loan industry, gives a major financial boost to the Wisconsin Covenant program.
The program asks eighth-graders to promise to earn a B average in high school, take courses to prepare for college, stay out of trouble and perform community service work. In return, the state promises them a spot at one of its universities or technical colleges and a financial aid package based on their familyâ??s needs.
Although UW System officials responded positively overall to the state budget passed last week, UW-Madison officials say they were disappointed by the exclusion of domestic partner benefits, which have been proposed in numerous budgets.
Senator Mark Miller of Monona is the new co-chair of the Legislature’s powerful budget-writing committee.
Miller takes over for Senator Russ Decker of Weston who was elected as the new Senate Majority Leader last week.
The person Decker ousted in a vote taken a day after the budget passed is joining the Joint Finance Committee.
Gov. Jim Doyle today announced the creation of a $40 million endowment to help fund his Wisconsin Covenant plan, which will guarantee financial aid for college-bound high school students.
During an event in Milwaukee, Doyle said the program will begin with a contribution from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp., which he said will be used to challenge other businesses to contribute to the covenant program and provide grants to students.
Doyle also announced the creation of a new Wisconsin Covenant Foundation, a private, nonprofit and tax-exempt charity that will raise and distribute money for the program.
Thereâ??s something that all other states with Big Ten universities have and Wisconsin doesnâ??t, and no, itâ??s not an average BAC less than .2 percent.
As it stands, Wisconsin is the only state with a Big Ten university that does not give its university employees domestic partnership benefits. Other states grant these benefits on an equal level to legally married employees.
Unfortunately, the passing of the state budget did not solve every problem the state faces and every issue that could possibly be brought up by the congressmen and women in the state legislature. It turns out politics canâ??t make everyone happy. Who knew?
As negotiations continue between cable companies and the Big Ten Network, a bipartisan group of legislators want to introduce a bill to help out football fans around the state.
There’s nothing like Wisconsin sports to unite even political rivals.
A Democratic state senator and Republican state representative from the Green Bay area are teaming up to find a solution to the blackouts on Packer and Badger games being experienced by sports fans across the state.
“There is no reason that all Wisconsin fans should not be able to see the Wisconsin-Ohio State game or the Packers-Cowboys game in November,” Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, said in a news release.
A legislative proposal to solve the stalemate between the state’s two biggest cable companies and the NFL Network and Big Ten Network is nothing more than political grandstanding, said a UW-Madison professor of telecommunications who follows cable issues closely.
“The state can’t force its way into a negotiation between two private companies,” said Professor Barry Orton, who advises many communities in their dealings with cable companies. “This bill would have zero impact. It’s just a chance for legislators to look like they care about their constituents.”
A bill restricting cell phone use in locker rooms will move to the state Senate after unanimously passing the Assembly one week ago.
Two days after the Big Ten Network announced they would air the Wisconsin-Ohio State football game this Saturday, a bipartisan team of state legislators said they are trying to make such games more accessible to fans.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is backing off a controversial plan to increase diversity and financial aid by raising all students’ tuition, the school’s chancellor said Tuesday.
Chancellor Joe Gow said he would still seek a tuition increase but will use the money to improve quality rather than add diversity to the overwhelmingly white and increasingly well-off student body.
The university will use the increase to add at least 500 students and dozens of professors to reduce class sizes, which are the highest in the UW System, Gow said.
The University of Wisconsin signed a transfer agreement with the College of Menominee Nation at a ceremony Monday.
With the passage of Wisconsinâ??s state budget last week, the University of Wisconsin System is looking forward to growth and expansion throughout the next two years.
MADISON â?? The University of Wisconsin System is about to get bigger.
More researchers at UW-Milwaukee. More adult students in the two-year UW Colleges. And more undergrads at UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh.
The state budget signed into law last week allows UW campuses to begin expansions intended to increase the number of graduates and boost economic development. UW System President Kevin Reilly had campaigned for more than a year for the so-called Growth Agenda, which he called critical to the state’s economic future.
With the long-awaited Wisconsin state budget finally signed by Gov. Jim Doyle Friday, UW System officials expressed their approval of the budget â?? with the exception of Regent Jesus Salas, who announced his resignation that same day.
Gov. Jim Doyle signed the 2007-09 state budget Friday morning at Memorial Union as the classic state mantra â??On Wisconsinâ? played in the background.
