Gov. Scott Walker signed the budget June 26, effectively ending the state’s 33-year-old system of providing public funding to candidates who agree to abide by overall spending limits.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Is money to blame for Supreme Court dysfunction?
News of a physical altercation between two state Supreme Court justices has, ironically, brought the people of Wisconsin together. Everyone, it seems, agrees there is something terribly wrong with our state Supreme Court.
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety, Money & Politics
Two probes launched over court altercation
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Dane County’s Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that they are conducting separate ethical and criminal investigations into an alleged physical altercation between two Wisconsin Supreme Court justices.
Posted inEconomy, Government
Should raw milk sales be legalized?
For farmer Brian Wickert, the raw milk bill is about having the freedom to live without interference from the government. But for health officials in America’s Dairyland, it’s about potentially exposing unsuspecting citizens to disease-causing bacteria. At the crux of this debate is the age-old question: How much should government protect its citizens from possible hazards?
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
A timely topic, a search for the truth
Editor’s note: The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is debuting a column called Money & Politics. Written by Bill Lueders, the Center’s Money and Politics Project director, the column will cover a wide range of topics related to money and politics, tied into contemporary events. And it will invite readers into a process of discovery, […]
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety, Money & Politics
Supreme Court spat got physical
Several sources told Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that an argument before the court’s release of a decision upholding a bill to curtail the collective bargaining rights of public employees culminated in a physical altercation in the presence of other justices.
Posted inGovernment, Money & Politics, Open records
Center posts state officials’ statements of economic interest online
The public is invited to examine the first online archive of top state officials’ 2011 financial disclosure forms, now posted on WisconsinWatch.org, the website for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Posted inEconomy, Health & Welfare
Burn cases turn up the heat on fireplace makers
In September, a family’s vacation in Wisconsin Dells turned tragic when an infant touched the glass front of a fireplace and suffered third-degree burns at a resort hotel. Manufacturers of gas fireplaces are being buffeted by lawsuits and the threat of federal regulation amid heightened concerns about the risk of burns from the appliances, which can get hot enough to melt skin.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
Twisters in history, on Wisconsin InfoLink
Compared to the devastating tornadoes that have ripped through Joplin and Tuscaloosa and other southern communities, Wisconsin has managed to avoid the high fatalities. But the Barneveld tornado killed nine and injured more than 200 on June 8, 1984. Learn more about Wisconsin twisters at InfoLink.