Starting today, Wisconsin smokers who want to quit can get extra help: two weeks of free medication and a Web coaching service that supplements the state ‘s Tobacco Quit Line.
The incentives are part of the same budget measure that is increasing the state ‘s cigarette tax today by $1 per pack, to $1.77.
Low water levels. Invasive species. Global warming.
Faced with those kinds of challenges, you’d figure the Great Lakes are in trouble, big trouble. But scientists say the lakes are actually in pretty good shape and have been improving since 1969….
(Quoted: Phil Keillor, a coastal engineer with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute)
Wisconsin high school students got a great Christmas gift last week in the form of a $175 million scholarship endowment from John and Tashia Morgridge.
Their generosity and foresight will enable about 2,000 to 3,000 mainly low-income youth to attend college or technical school through grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 from the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars.
Wisconsin policymakers ought to confront the following question with a new sense of urgency:
How will the state ‘s economy generate the high-paying jobs to keep the next generation prosperous?
Gov. Jim Doyle’s signing of the state cable franchising bill isn’t likely to mean AT&T — a leading backer of the bill — will bring its U-verse TV service to the Madison area anytime soon, one prominent observer said.
“I don’t see it in Madison in any widespread way in 2008,” said Barry Orton, a UW-Madison professor of telecommunications who has advised many communities in their dealings with cable companies.
Orton noted that AT&T has been reducing its rollout projections for U-verse in recent announcements.
Mentions that nearly 500 graduates from universities or colleges in Wisconsin, predominantly the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are among more than 12,000 people who have worked for Teach for America.
Quoted: Barry Orton, a University of Wisconsin-Madison telecommunications professor and consultant to local governments.
BEREA, Ohio — Across a crowded banquet room filled with some of Cleveland’s biggest sports celebrities, Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, a Hall of Famer himself, stood at the dais and singled out the one person he wanted to meet.
Joe Thomas was caught off guard.
“That was pretty cool,” Cleveland’s left tackle said Wednesday. “I didn’t expect it. I was kind of surprised.” It may be the only time Thomas has been shocked by anything all season.
Wisconsinites want the government to stay out of the ongoing dispute between cable companies and the NFL Network.
That’s according to a new poll paid for by the cable industry, which found that 85 percent of Wisconsin adults who pay for video service from a cable or satellite company don’t want government involvement in the dispute, with 72 percent feeling strongly for this position and just 12 percent disagreeing.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said he thinks that network’s conflict with cable providers can be resolved without arbitration, as a bill proposed in the Wisconsin Legislature would provide. But negotiations with the country’s largest cable providers have been “going no place,” Delany said Thursday before a hearing on the arbitration bill.
The Wisconsin proposal, versions of which are being considered in Illinois, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Indiana, would establish an arbitration system to settle disputes between the sports networks and cable companies.
Opponents, including the cable industry, argue the state should not interfere with negotiations in a free market and say doing so may be unconstitutional.
“I urge you to not undercut our ability to continue to negotiate with cable programmers such as the NFL and Big Ten networks,” said Tom Moore, executive director of the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association in prepared testimony.
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.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Both sides of the ongoing conflict between cable providers and the NFL and Big Ten networks will line up Thursday at a public hearing on a proposal designed to resolve the dispute. But similar proposed resolutions in other states haven’t gotten past the line of scrimmage.
Wisconsin and a handful of other states think that leading both sides to arbitration is the way to solve a dispute that has left fans across the country angry and confused when key games on the networks are not carried by major cable companies.
“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.
The heads of the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network are scheduled to be in Madison on Thursday to testify in favor of a bill that would establish an arbitration system to settle disputes between the sports networks and cable companies.
In a word: Wow!
John and Tashia Morgridge keep topping their tremendous generosity to higher education in Wisconsin with bigger and bigger donations.
Before this week, Jordan Trentin had never heard of John or Tashia Morgridge.
He knows who they are now.
Trentin, a freshman at Madison Area Technical College in the nursing program, hopes he may be one of the beneficiaries of the Morgridges ‘ $175 million gift to set up the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars.
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.
The largest gift to low-income students in Wisconsin history will provide $175 million for grants to graduates of public schools to attend the state ‘s public colleges and universities and will boost the state ‘s Wisconsin Covenant program, officials revealed Monday night.
The donation from John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco Systems, and his wife, Tashia, a retired elementary special education teacher, will give about 2,000 grants of $1,000 to $5,000 for the 2008-09 school year, and more than 3,000 grants annually after that.
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.
We do not often agree with right-wing state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend. But when it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of association issues, we are more than happy to ally this newspaper with any official who is defending the right of Wisconsinites to be heard and to hear what others say.
In the last four years, local Sierra Club attorney Bruce Nilles has stopped 58 coal-fired plants from being built in the United States. As a result of his work, energy companies have abandoned their plans, fearing going through the permitting process of getting a new coal plant built.
As the campus community begins to contemplate who will succeed University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley, questions will inevitably arise about what sort of qualities we should look for in such a leader.
State Rep. Mark Gottlieb, R-Port Washington, said his objective is to ensure the state is fiscally responsible when it comes to both economic and social issues.
The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team has had more than its share of weather-related scheduling nightmares this season, but tonight won’t be one of them.
The Badgers’ game tonight against UW-Green Bay will go on as scheduled at 7 p.m., athletic department spokesperson Tam Flarup said today.
The Phoenix are already in town, as are the game officials, and in that event the game always is played, Flarup said.
Dan Trainer was in the front row last month when they named a building for him. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s College of Natural Resources building bears his name today, in honor of the man who oversaw the process of building the largest undergraduate natural resources college in the country.
Hundreds were on hand to congratulate Trainer and his wife, Betty. No one will regret being there, especially since Trainer died in his sleep over the weekend. He was 81.
….Respect for his many accomplishments, as well as a recognition of his missteps, should guide members of the UW Board of Regents as they seek a successor….
Wiley’s achievements are significant. Under his leadership, the university has expanded its role as a center of research and scientific advancement that has few public or private rivals.
….For the UW to maintain its greatness, the school must be more closely linked to Madison and Wisconsin. With the straining of that relationship, the commitment of the state to providing the public funding that is needed to keep the UW strong and independent has slackened.
John Wiley has been an able administrator in many significant senses. But the next chancellor must take a broader view of the UW’s mission and its need to reconnect with Wisconsin.
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.
There are few state jobs more important or demanding than chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsinâ??s flagship university serves more than 41,000 students, employs more than 16,000 people and has an annual budget of more than $2 billion.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will be facing challenges in upcoming years, according to a presentation given by UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell at a UW System Board of Regents meeting Friday
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students will see a big tuition increase in coming years to pay for a campus expansion and improve quality.
Students at the flagship UW-Madison campus could be next.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley announced his retirement today.
Wiley has been at the helm of the Madison campus for six years and made the announcement at the Chazen Museum of Art, which was established under his watch.
State Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, considers herself to be a true â??traditionalistâ? when it comes to issues of marriage and family.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch says he’s backing a major tuition increase at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to pay for a campus expansion.
Huebsch, a Republican from West Salem, says the $1,000 increase will help the school, the community and the entire state.
The plan would allow the university to add 500 students and hire 95 more faculty and staff.
A committee of the UW System Board of Regents approved the plan today.
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.
For the past six years we, as residents of Madison, have been living under a veil. A community so focused on activism in every extreme seems to have let one issue slip to the wayside. The issue at hand is the University of Wisconsinâ??s coal plant located on Charter Street.
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.
A group of University of Wisconsin campus-area legislators sent a letter to UW System President Kevin Reilly Tuesday, expressing their concern regarding proposed segregated fee policy changes.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student and faculty leaders will travel to Madison later this week to seek UW System Board of Regentsâ?? approval for its Growth, Quality and Access plan.
â??The implications for the future of the university and the community are huge in terms of enhancing the quality of the university, stimulating the local economy and increasing our visibility in the region,â? said UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow.
The board of regents will vote on the plan Friday, assuming the Business, Finance and Audit Committee recommends it Thursday.
The plan is a modified version of UW-Lâ??s Growth and Access proposal that failed to be included in the 2007-09 state budget.
How could it have come to this? How broken and inept must our governmental and corporate institutions be that, within the span of only a month, both Packers and Badgers fans were unable to get access to two of the most important games of the season?
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.
MADISON (AP) — Summer break for school children could end earlier under a proposal the state’s tourism industry is lining up to fight.
Innkeepers, restaurant owners and tourism officials lobbied hard to enact a law that took effect in 2000 barring schools from opening any earlier than Sept. 1. The requirement gave families more time in the prime summer months to vacation and spend money. It also allowed high school students to work longer at large tourist destinations, like the Wisconsin Dells.
But freshman Republican Jim Ott of Mequon doesn’t think the law makes sense. There’s already a sign that Ott’s bill, despite garnering nine co-sponsors, likely will go nowhere fast in the Legislature.
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.
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill Wednesday making Wisconsin the seventh state to enact “Michelle’s Law.”
Michelle Morse, of New Hampshire, lost a battle with colon cancer in 2005. She couldn’t reduce her course load while she battled the disease because she would lose her health care coverage.
Zach Grun, a University of Wisconsin-Marinette student, inspired the law in Wisconsin after losing health insurance coverage while he dealt with a serious illness, WISC-TV reported.
Taking time off because of an illness can be a difficult choice for some college students, since many providers won’t continue insurance coverage. Legislation signed by Governor Jim Doyle will keep them from facing that problem in the future though. The law allows students to take a leave of absence from their studies because of illness for up to one year, while retaining their health insurance.
The contract between the Big Ten Network and UW-Madison has come under scrutiny recently, with two legislators demanding additional answers from Chancellor John Wiley in a letter released Tuesday.
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 University of Wisconsinâ??s role in the future of the state economy was discussed at a statewide listening session Tuesday afternoon.
Today Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation that will require insurance providers to continue coverage of dependent college students if they have to leave school on a medical leave of absence.
The requirement includes all health care plans — private policies as well as those offered by the state or other public entities.
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.
The finalized agreement on the Charter Street coal plant provides a reasonable timeline for regular decreases in emissions, meaning the plant can no longer reasonably stonewall and subvert efforts to clean up local air.
