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Category: State news

Researchers: ‘Risk Map’ Helps Predict Wolf Attacks On Wisconsin Livestock

Wisconsin Public Radio

Authors of an updated study of wolf threats to Wisconsin livestock say they have a proven way to lower the risk of animal deaths. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have tested a map they put out six years ago that showed verified reports of where grey wolves attacked livestock in the state. The updated findings show that “risk map” predicted the geographic area of about 90 percent of subsequent attacks.

State fiscal year ends with no budget in sight

Wisconsin Radio Network

For the second budget in a row, Wisconsin will ends its fiscal year without a new two-year spending plan in place. The current biennium is set to end at midnight tonight, with majority Republicans in the state Assembly and Senate still far apart on finalizing details of a new budget.

Wisconsin lawmakers slipped in budget language allowing University of Wisconsin System leaders from outside of academia

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Language quietly slipped into the proposed state budget would allow someone from outside academia to become the University of Wisconsin System’s next president or a campus chancellor, potentially moving politics and business interests squarely into future searches for top university leaders.

Ozone study along Lake Michigan seeks answers to pollutant drift

Wisconsin Public Radio

High levels of the air pollutant ozone still plague a few Wisconsin counties along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Over the past month, a team of scientists, including at UW–Madison, has been taking to the sky and water to better map the origin of some of the chemicals that create the harmful ozone in the lower atmosphere .

Assembly bill on UW free speech threatening expulsion set for vote amid First Amendment debate

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As the Assembly takes up a bill Wednesday to require University of Wisconsin campuses to enforce free speech protections with the threat of expulsion, another debate is raging on the money behind conservative speakers and how well college students really understand the First Amendment.

University of Wisconsin officials make pitch for employee raises, maintenance funding

Wisconsin State Journal

The chancellors of several UW campuses, along with System President Ray Cross, asked legislators during a meeting of the Board of Regents at UW-Milwaukee to increase funding for building maintenance and construction in the 2017-19 budget, and to provide $78 million to boost compensation for workers.

Why Conservative Lawmakers Are Turning to Free-Speech Bills as a Fix for Higher Ed

Chronicle of Higher Education

A few months ago, Patrick Colbeck, a Republican in Michigan’s State Senate, picked up George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. What he read sounded familiar: oppressive oversight, restricted speech, and twisted interpretations of reality. But the government isn’t creating this totalitarian atmosphere, he felt, colleges are.

Franzen: Bill to protect free speech on UW campuses offers neither freedom nor protection

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

State Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) says a bill he is pushing that would create stiff penalties for some student protesters in the University of Wisconsin System is aimed at protecting free speech on campus. That may be his intent, but the effect more likely will send a chill over the free speech of all students, faculty and staff.

Wisconsin gives autonomous vehicle innovation a lane to drive itself

Wisconsin State Journal

The Governor’s Steering Committee on Autonomous and Connected Vehicle Testing and Deployment will advise Walker on how best to advance the testing and operation of self-driving vehicles in Wisconsin. It will include a mix of industry, technology, regulatory and academic members, and build upon the selection of the UW’s Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory as a test bed.

UW initiative aims to close disparities by supporting brain development in young children

Capital Times

[T]he University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Child and Family Well-Being organized the “Prenatal to Five Initiative,” a collaborative effort among teachers, researchers, practitioners and communities across the state to enhance brain development in order to reduce racial disparities in poverty and achievement. The initiative kicks off with a summit on Friday, June 2, at Gordon Commons, 770 W. Dayton St., on the UW-Madison campus.