Academic bullying; Evers’ maps tossed; Foxconn waiting game; partisan battles in schools; no charges in Milwaukee lead poisoning probe
Of note: This week we highlight a multi-story Wisconsin State Journal investigation about academic abuse at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Reporter Kelly Meyerhofer detailed multiple recent cases of academic abuse and explored solutions for preventing future abuse. The accounts of academic bullying “show the problem extends beyond what Ph.D. candidate John Brady endured under an abusive adviser before dying by suicide in 2016,” Meyerhofer reports.
Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin Weekly roundup may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing.
Thanks for reading!

Threats, abuse, retaliation: UW-Madison confronts persistent problem of academic bullying
Wisconsin State Journal — March 19, 2022
A Wisconsin State Journal investigation identified nine employees who were accused of violating the university’s policy against hostile and intimidating behavior in the last six years.
Read the whole series: Academic Abuse: An Overdue Reckoning
U.S. Supreme Court throws out Wisconsin’s redistricting plan for legislative maps
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — March 23, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court threw out Wisconsin’s legislative maps Wednesday, less than three weeks after a narrowly divided state Supreme Court put them in place. Wednesday’s ruling leaves uncertain what maps will be used for the fall elections for the state Senate and Assembly.

Local officials say it’s only a waiting game until development explodes around Foxconn
Journal Times — March 24, 2022
Mount Pleasant and Racine County officials continue to say they have no regrets with the Foxconn project and the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the mostly undeveloped land east of Interstate 94.
Previously from Wisconsin Watch: Property owners near Foxconn say they were misled. Now their homes are gone.
As political battles play out in schools, advocacy organizations are lawyering up
WPR — March 21, 2022
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked fights over virtual learning, masks and other health precautions at schools — setting the stage for deeper divisiveness over issues like sexual orientation, gender identity and race. That’s why legal advocacy organizations are putting new resources into school issues.

No charges will be filed in years long investigation into Milwaukee Health Department lead program
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — March 24, 2022
No criminal charges will be filed in a years-long investigation into the Milwaukee Health Department’s handling of its childhood lead poisoning prevention program, officials announced Thursday.
Previously from Wisconsin Watch: ‘It’s criminal’: Milwaukeeans call for speedier lead pipeline removal to cut childhood poisoning