News and notes: New tools for monitoring environmental data in Wisconsin; the governor’s campaign contributors favor keeping him in control of DNR; DOJ hosts free seminars on government sunshine; and tax revenue was down last year.
Posted inGovernment
Doyle’s travel records deficient 64 times, not 145
Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff submitted receipts 70 percent of the time in 2007 and 2008 for travel expenses reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, newly released records show, and not 28 percent of the time as the newspaper reported nine weeks ago.
Posted inGovernment
Wisconsin voter turnout patterns shift, creating tough landscape for Republicans in governor’s race
Republicans hoping to reclaim the governor’s office in next year’s election will have to overcome shifting patterns of voter turnout. More than two-thirds of the counties that handed victories to Republican President George Bush in 2004 shifted to support Democrat Barack Obama last year, data and interviews show.
Posted inHealth & Welfare
Seattle’s mystery man identified as University of Wisconsin grad
The man who woke up in a Seattle park with $600 in his sock but with apparently no memory of his identity is Edward F. Lighthart, who graduated in 1984 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a French degree.
Posted inHealth & Welfare
Can you help identify Jon Doe?
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is assisting The Seattle Times in an effort to determine the identity of a man, possibly suffering from amnesia, who turned up three weeks ago at a Seattle park. The man says he attended UW-Madison in the 1980s.
Posted inDairyland Diversity, Economy
Farmers discuss immigrant workers
Wisconsin Public Television, a partner with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, talks with Wisconsin farmers about the role of Hispanic immigrant workers in the dairy industry, as part of a new investigation launched by the Center.
Posted inEconomy, Government
Questions remain as state pushes ahead with rail line
Advocates for improving the nation’s passenger rail system see it as a faster, cleaner way to travel. But other transportation policy experts believe those benefits are overstated and don’t justify the high cost of providing passenger train service.
Posted inDairyland Diversity, Economy
Doyle on dairy: Immigrant worker role increasing
WATERLOO — Top Wisconsin officials acknowledged Tuesday that Wisconsin dairy farmers increasingly rely upon immigrant workers, including large numbers who may be undocumented — a result of demand for labor and the nation’s porous borders.
Posted inDairyland Diversity, WisWatch Blog
Center to probe growing role of immigrants on state dairy farms
Upcoming coverage: Dairy farmers have new incentives to expand. Meanwhile, national estimates indicate that half of the immigrant dairy workers — who make up 40 percent of the dairy work force — lack immigration papers. The Center is collaborating with The Country Today to cover the nexus of dairy and immigration in Wisconsin.
Posted inNews about Wisconsin Watch
VIDEO: Meet our staff, hear our story
Executive director Andy Hall and others talk about the Center’s creation and purpose.
Posted inGovernment
Doyle chided; lawmaker offers to track receipts
The offer by Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) comes after a collaborative report on Gov. Jim Doyle’s failure to properly document his spending.
Posted inGovernment
Newspaper: Doyle refuses questions on travel expenses
At a Milwaukee event, the governor declined to respond to our report showing deficiencies in his reporting of travel expenses.