Watch and listen to a preview of “Open and Shut,” the new podcast from Wisconsin Watch and WPR that shines a light on how prosecutors do their jobs — and the danger of allowing that power to go unchecked.
Author Archives: Bridgit Bowden / Wisconsin Public Radio
Bridgit Bowden is the special projects reporter at Wisconsin Public Radio. Previously, she was the Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow at WisconsinWatch.
Posted inOutbreak Wisconsin
Wisconsinites share how they are coping and adapting one year into the COVID-19 pandemic
Outbreak Wisconsin participants reflect on a life-changing year and what the future holds.
Posted inHealth & Welfare, Outbreak Wisconsin
‘I’ve been very fortunate’: Living on campus, Azul Kothari hopes UW-Madison will prevent COVID-19 outbreaks with new testing protocols.
Azul Kothari feels lucky to have avoided catching COVID-19 as infections surged at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall. “I just thought I would get it through community spread at some point,” he said. “I thought it was pretty inevitable.”
Posted inEconomy, Health & Welfare, Outbreak Wisconsin
‘It’s a scary transition’: After pandemic closes doors at bars and restaurants, Amy Moreland carves a new career path
With few prospects for a new service industry job, Amy Moreland enrolled at Madison College, aiming to earn a degree in social work.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Health & Welfare
Rosemary Kraemer, beloved mother, grandmother and ‘GG’, dies of COVID-19 at 74
Rosemary Kraemer died Oct. 14, 2020, of complications from COVID-19 at age 74. She is one of more than 4,000 Wisconsinites lost to the virus.
Posted inEconomy, Outbreak Wisconsin
‘Winter is coming, and a lot of doors are going to be shut’: Restaurant and bar workers in peril as weather grows cold and COVID-19 keeps spreading
Before the pandemic, Amy Moreland worked as a bartender and events coordinator in Madison. “Well, that’s canceled forever, or the foreseeable future,” she joked anxiously in her latest audio diary for Outbreak Wisconsin.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Government, Health & Welfare, Outbreak Wisconsin
‘It doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight to this’: Pandemic drags on as $600 unemployment lifeline nears expiration
Amy Moreland, a Madison bartender out of work since mid-March, has been forced to make tough decisions about money as her benefits from the federal CARES Act near expiration.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Economy, Outbreak Wisconsin
Introducing dairy farmer Bryan Voegeli: ‘Our Family Has Been Through A Lot’
Bryan Voegeli runs a dairy farm located between New Glarus and Monticello. “In our small corner of the world we were just starting to get through one set of difficult times, and now … like everyone else we kind of got hit with another.”
Posted inOutbreak Wisconsin
‘Day 54 and finally some financial relief’: Madison Bartender Amy Moreland on waiting for federal unemployment aid
Madison bartender Amy Moreland has been out of work since mid-March. “I am trying to control the things that I can control, but I’m frustrated,” she said.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Outbreak Wisconsin
Introducing Amy Moreland: Madison bartender
Prior to the pandemic, Moreland’s life was moving forward. Now she’s unemployed and scared of the unknown.
Posted inEconomy, Government
No relief from Wisconsin’s 565 percent payday loan interest under new rules
Payday lenders in Wisconsin charge an average of 565 percent interest for short-term loans. New proposed federal rules to protect consumers will not change that.
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Frac Sand Rush, Health & Welfare
Controversy on Wisconsin-Iowa border as frac sand mine, No. 1 in violations, seeks to expand
Pattison Sand Co., which recently opened a site in Wisconsin, is facing concerns over the growth of its Iowa mine, which has a worst-in-the-nation safety record.