Many small communities and rural areas have designated places where cars and all-terrain vehicles share the road. Safety advocates say that is a bad idea.
Category: Health & Welfare
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin inmates report despair, little counseling in solitary confinement that can stretch on for years
Prisoners recount suicide attempts, mental harm and lack of services in solitary confinement; former Waupun psychologist describes harsh treatment of inmates.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin prison officials quietly changed mental health status of inmates in solitary, psychologist says
When he returned from a medical leave in early 2016, psychologist Bradley Boivin discovered a troubling pattern among Waupun Correctional Institution inmates who had been held in solitary confinement. Thirteen of his patients’ mental health classifications had been changed without Boivin’s knowledge — and in his opinion, without proper assessment.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Nearly 30 years in isolation: An inmate reflects on time in solitary
LaRon McKinley, who spent 28 years in administrative confinement, says the state needs to return to rehabilitation and end long-term solitary confinement
Posted inFailure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
Wisconsin misses chances to cut risk of lead exposure in drinking water
Funding for childhood lead poisoning prevention is down in Wisconsin, and proposals to better protect children from lead in drinking water have stalled in the Legislature.
Posted inFailure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
Milwaukee takes action to reduce lead in water; critics say it is not enough
The city of Milwaukee, with more than 70,000 lead service lines, has taken several steps in the past year to lower residents’ exposure to lead in drinking water, but activists say the city has not done enough.
Posted inEducation, Failure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
‘Regulatory vacuum’ exposes Wisconsin children to lead in drinking water at schools, day care centers
Gaps in federal drinking water standards enforced by the state leave numerous school and day care sites untested for lead in drinking water; numerous lead service lines remain.
Posted inEducation, Failure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
Wisconsin schools, day care centers slated for lead service line removal under new DNR program
Eighteen communities in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, plan to replace lead lines leading to schools and day care centers. View the areas of the state where the work is planned.
Posted inHealth & Welfare
WCIJ full response to Wisconsin DNR’s comments on lead-in-water testing story
On Dec. 7, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism received an email from DNR spokesman Jim Dick demanding corrections to our story: “Wisconsin DNR fails to update lead testing guidance in wake of Flint crisis.” Here is a copy of the email, as well as our point-by-point response to the demand for corrections. We stand by our story and have not identified anything that needs correcting.
Posted inFailure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
Wisconsin DNR fails to update lead testing guidance in wake of Flint crisis
Nine months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned against flushing water systems before testing for lead, the state Department of Natural Resources has not yet passed that advice on to public water systems in Wisconsin.
Posted inHealth & Welfare
Costs of widely prescribed drugs jumped up to 5,241 percent in recent years, joint investigation shows
Recent nationwide news coverage has focused on the rising cost of EpiPens, but that medicine is just one example of lifesaving drugs with skyrocketing prices.
Posted inFailure at the Faucet, Government, Health & Welfare
‘Strict’ pesticide rules fail to erase threat to Wisconsin’s drinking water
A 2007 survey of private drinking water wells found 1 out of 3 had pesticides or their breakdown chemicals; farm groups oppose push for tougher atrazine rules.