Wisconsin Weekly is a Friday news roundup of reports from Wisconsin Watch and other trusted news outlets. Access to some stories 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, and sign up to get our free newsletters here.
Thousands of Wisconsinites are evicted from their homes each year. Under state law, landlords may dispose of items however they want if a lease specifies that landlords won’t store left-behind items. Little, if any, aid is available to help residents retain or reclaim their possessions following an eviction, Wisconsin Watch’s Jonmaesha Beltran found. Heiner Giese, an attorney for the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin, told Beltran that government should provide some financial help for evicted renters to keep their belongings.
If you value this reporting, please consider contributing to our spring fundraising campaign. Our goal is to reach 100 new or returning members (readers who donate to support our nonprofit newsroom). Support investigative reporting with a donation of any size today!
If you value this reporting, please consider contributing to our spring fundraising campaign. 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!
Education
Wisconsin eviction process: What happens to a tenant’s property?
Wisconsin Watch — April 25, 2023
Wisconsinites who experience eviction sometimes lose more than a home. Those who can’t afford to move and store their belongings may lose them, too — adding to the financial and emotional toll of displacement. In Milwaukee County, where landlords filed for more than 200 evictions in the first week of April alone, government and nonprofit officials have in recent years bolstered resources for eviction prevention.
Health
‘Hard to get sober young’: Recovery schools, including one in Wisconsin, help students kick addictions
Kaiser Health News — April 21, 2023
Denver’s 5280 High School and Madison’s Horizon High School are among just 43 such recovery schools in the United States. These secondary schools are designed for students who are recovering from substance use disorder and might also be dealing with related mental health disorders. One Wisconsin state senator would like to see more of these schools.
Education
Sun Prairie School District disputes report alleging trans woman showered with girls at high school
Wisconsin State Journal — April 21, 2023
The Sun Prairie School District in an email to parents on Friday said allegations by a conservative Wisconsin law firm that an 18-year-old trans woman showered with four freshman girls at one of the district’s high schools is “neither an accurate nor complete account” of the incident. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty last week released a letter describing the March 3 incident and criticized the district for allegedly not providing the freshmen with the proper support or opportunity to file a complaint.
Environment
EPA still lacks method for measuring CAFO air pollution
Investigate Midwest — April 26, 2023
When gasses from large livestock facilities overwhelm communities, the health impacts can be severe. Children at schools near concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are more likely to experience asthma. Exposure to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide — both emitted in large quantities by CAFOs — can lead to chronic respiratory issues. Yet 18 years after starting to develop methods to measure and control air pollution from livestock operations, the Environmental Protection Agency still has not complied with its own mandate to protect Americans from their harmful health effects.
Democracy
In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself
Washington Post — April 22, 2023
The eight new members of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners had run for office promising to “thwart tyranny” in their lakeside Michigan community of 300,000 people. The new commissioners, all Republicans, swore their oaths of office on family Bibles. And then the firings began. Gone was the lawyer who had represented Ottawa County for 40 years. Gone was the county administrator who oversaw a staff of 1,800. To run the health department, they voted to install a service manager from a local HVAC company who had gained prominence as a critic of mask mandates.
Related coverage from Wisconsin Watch here and here.
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!
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
