(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission agreed to a $31.3 million increase settlement to residential rates for electricity and natural gas for Madison Gas and Electric customers over the next two years, according to preliminary estimates from the PSC sent to The Center Square.
The approval comes soon after similar approvals for Alliant Energy and Xcel Energy that amount to $300 million in increases, meaning the three combined increases will be valued at more than $330 million.
The increases will go into effect Jan. 1. The three utilities will hold 9.8% profit margins for investors.
The Madison Gas and Electric increases represented a $28.5 million decrease from the utility’s rate request.
The increase includes an estimated $19.2 million in electrical rate increases and $12.1 million in natural gas over the two-year span.

(The Center Square) – The beer man is out.
Democrat Ryan Strnad announced that he is dropping out of the Democratic primary for governor.
“I, Ryan Strnad, citing low poll numbers and the inability to raise large sums of dollars needed to compete with the sophisticated group candidates in the Democratic primary, have decided to leave the 2026 WI gubernatorial election effective immediately,” he wrote in an announcement.
Strnad was always a longshot candidate at best. He spends his summer selling beer in the stands at Brewer games, and he’d never run for office.
In fact, Strnad said he wants to focus more on his job as a beer vendor at American Family Field, though he’s not ruling out another run for office.
“I will put my focus on some newly arising labor issues affecting the vendors at American Family Field and contemplate a run for Waukesha County Executive (provided Paul Farrow chooses against a reelection),” he added.
Strnad said he is tossing his support behind Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the crowded race for governor on the Democratic side next year.
“I am happy to endorse Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley for the 2026 WI gubernatorial race!,” he wrote. “David is a proven leader who has earned my respect after getting to know him over the last several months!”
Strnad’s exit leaves six other candidates, including Crowley in the race.
There are also rumors that two other Democrats, former Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes might jump-in as well.
There are two Republicans in the race, Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
Voters will make their choice in the primary in August.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court sent a pair of challenges to the state’s congressional maps to three-judge panels Tuesday.
One was a challenge from Elizabeth Bothfeld in Dane County Court and the other was from the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy and a group of individual voters.
Both cases argue that Wisconsin’s current maps were gerrymandered and created in an unconstitutional way.
The Bothfeld case will be review by a group including Dane County Judge Julie Genovese, Milwaukee County Judge Mark Sanders and Outagamie County Judge Emily Lonergan.
Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote that he agreed with appointing a three-judge panel but did not agree with how that panel was selected.
He argued that a randomly selected panel would be better.
“These statutes are transparently designed to prevent forum shopping in disputes over where congressional lines should be drawn,” Hagedorn wrote. “To avoid litigants simply choosing their preferred venue and judge, the statute requires the appointment of a three-judge panel with each judge coming from a different judicial circuit, and then requires that venue be assigned to one of those circuits.”
The second case will be determined by a panel including Dane County Judge David Conway, Portage County Judge Patricia Baker and Marathon County Judge Michael Moran.
In that case, Justice Annette Ziegler argued against sending the case to a panel.
“The majority not only undermines our constitutional authority and circumvents established redistricting precedent but also, again, usurps the legislature’s constitutional power,” Ziegler wrote. “In allowing this litigation to proceed, the majority abdicates its constitutional superintending authority to Wisconsin’s circuit courts.”
Ziegler wrote that there are 260 circuit court justices in the state and they received no information on why the specific judges were selected but offered that half of those selected were appointed by Gov. Tony Evers.
“Hand picking circuit court judges to perform political maneuvering is unimaginable,” Ziegler wrote. “Yet, my colleagues persist and appear to do this, all in furtherance of delivering partisan, political advantage to the Democratic Party.”

(The Center Square) – The average price per gallon of gas is $2.73 heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the American Automobile Association.
That compares to a $3.05 average across the United States and $2.85 a year ago.
Wisconsin was not in the top 10 highest or lowest average price per state.
Eau Claire had the lowest average price of a metropolitan area in the state at $2.62, according to AAA.
The lowest reported Wisconsin price was $2.39 at a Citgo in Waukesha and $2.45 at Bono’s in Kenosha and at a Citgo in South Milwaukee.
Four gas stations near Oklahoma City were at $1.99, the lowest prices in the U.S. since 2021, according to GasBuddy.
“It’s pretty compelling to see gas prices this low, falling ahead of Thanksgiving, and it signals what more Americans could experience in the coming months,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post. “Lower seasonal demand, falling oil prices, and rising OPEC output are all pushing prices down.
“While a few stations have recently dipped below $2 through temporary offers and promotions, this marks the first time we’ve seen a regular sub-$2 price. Prices at this level may fluctuate, but more locations in low-cost states like Texas, Mississippi, and others across the Gulf region are likely to follow before the typical spring rebound we’ll likely see in 2026.”

(The Center Square) – The Slender Man stabber could be facing years behind bars once she returns to Wisconsin.
Prosecutors in both Waukesha and Dane County could fil charges after Morgan Geyser apparently cut off her court-ordered ankle bracelet and fled to Illinois over the weekend.
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese said she “fully support[s]” a move to revoke Geyser’s conditional release from the state mental hospital.
Geyser was sentenced to 40-years in the state hospital after she originally pleaded guilty to nearly stabbing a 12-year-old friend to death in 2014.
Geyser’s guilty plea was overturned when a court said she, and the other Slender Man stabber, were both mentally ill.
Boese said she couldn’t get into the specifics of Geyser’s case. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is technically in charge of Geyser’s sentence and custody.
DHS officials didn’t answer questions on Monday.
Geyser, however, could face six years in prison if prosecutors in Dane County file felony escape charges.
The group home where she lived is in Madison, and it is a class H felony to escape from custody.
Police in Madison say they are investigating, but they have not yet made any recommendations in the case.
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois on Sunday night. The state has requested she be extradited back to Wisconsin, but no one is saying when that will happen.
It’s also not clear what charges the man who was with Geyser could face.
Investigators say it appears he helped Geyser leave the group home. Investigators say they took a Greyhound bus to Illinois, and then a local bus from Chicago to Posen.
They were arrested behind a truck stop after police said the two were trying to sleep on the sidewalk.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin had two gun incidents, including a death after a self-inflicted gunshot, during the opening weekend of deer-hunting season, which runs from Nov. 22-30.
The fatal incident happened Saturday evening in Fond du Lac County where a 24-year-old male in a saddle stand was found after an unintentional self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest that is still being investigated.
The second gun-related incident happened Saturday afternoon in Grant County when a 57-year-old male was shot in the buttock while walking to a field to begin hunting.
The fatal gunshot was the first in the state during hunting season since 2022.
Overall, hunters registered harvesting 48,748 antlered deer for opening weekend, up from 48,063 a year before. Antlerless totals were 41,923, up 7% from a year before.
There were a similar numbers of hunters year over year with 777,843 registrations sold for all varieties of hunting.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources experts indicated that the state could see a rise in the deer harvest if snowfall occurs and remains on the ground for the second weekend of the season.

(The Center Square) – There are questions to answer after one of Wisconsin’s most famous stabbing suspects fled her group home over the weekend.
Police in Illinois say they found Morgan Geyser at a truck stop south of Chicago on Sunday night after he went missing from her court-ordered group home in Madison a little less than 24 hours after she cut-off her ankle bracelet and fled.
Geyser is the second Slander Man stabber. She and another young friend lured a third 12-year-old girl into the woods in Waukesha County in 2014 and nearly stabbed her to death.
Geyser originally pleaded guilty, but was later found to be not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. She was then sent to the state mental hospital.
In March, a Waukesha County judge ruled that Geyser’s mental health had improved enough and ordered her released. Geyser’s attorney had trouble finding her a new group home. At least two homes refused to accept her because of the publicity surrounding her case.
There is no indication that Geyser went after her former victim. In fact, police in Madison say she left with a “male acquaintance.”
But there are questions about how she was able to escape.
Geyser was last seen at her group home at about 8:15 on Saturday night. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections says it got an alert about 9:30 that night that her ankle bracelet was no longer functioning.
About two hours later, the DOC made contact with Geyser’s group home. It was about a half-hour after that that DOC issued an “apprehension request” for Geyser.
Madison Police say they didn’t find out about Geyser’s escape until almost 8 a.m. the next day. They found out after the group home called to report her missing.
It wasn’t until 8 p.m. on Sunday that police in Illinois found and arrested her.
No one has yet the delays or communication issues between the DOC and Madison Police. There has also not been any explanation as to why Geyser cut off her ankle bracelet and fled.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Tony Evers made an unprecedented move by changing characters on a bill to make a $325 per student annual school funding levy increase each year until 2425.
Now, Republican lawmakers are pushing for him to take it back.
First, it’s the Wisconsin Assembly’s turn.
The Senate approved a bill that would limit that increase to one school year, as lawmakers intended with an 18-15 vote before Senate Bill 389 heads to the Assembly and will ultimately require Evers’ approval to become law.
“The governor stepped in and did something he’s never done before,” said Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, the bill’s sponsor. “He changed the bill in a way that no governor in the history of the state of Wisconsin has changed and that’s very concerning for us because the legislature is where the voice of the people is supposed to take place.
“He went far beyond what’s ever been done before.”
Republicans call it Evers’ 400-year property tax increase because it allows schools to raise the levy on a $325-per-child basis annually for the next 400 years.
Evers used his partial veto power to erase numbers and a hyphen to change “2024-25” to “2425” in a budget bill, a maneuver approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court as legal in a 4-3 ruling.
“We want to clarify the original intent of the Legislature in the budget was to increase school funding for the next budget period,” Kapenga said. “We allow other Legislatures moving forward to decide what the best funding is after that.”
Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, argued that prior levy freezes have led schools to underfund local education by $3,573 per student compared to inflation.
“That means (classrooms) are overly crowded, that means teachers are inadequately compensated, that means it’s harder to attract and retain high quality teachers because they’re getting pulled in different directions and it means we’re failing our constitutional obligation to make sure every child has a quality education,” Larson said.
The League of Women Voters and Wisconsin Education Association Council lobbied against the bill while Americans For Prosperity, IRG Action Fund, MacIver Impact, National Federation of Independent Business, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, Wisconsin Property Taxpayer and Wisconsin Realtors lobbied for the bill.
“We applaud Senate Republicans for standing up for prosperity and fiscal responsibility, while Senate Democrats chose to defend a lame-duck governor instead of defending the pocketbooks of their constituents,” said AFP-WI Legislative Director Jerry Ponio. “Governor Evers’ veto was an abuse of power that put politics ahead of people. Wisconsinites deserve leaders who protect their financial future — not saddle them with 400 years of tax hikes.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s liquor rules for wedding barns are here to stay.
A judge in Trempeleau County ruled in favor of lawmakers who approved the new rules that all but ban wedding barns in the state.
“There is a conceivable rational basis for (the law) that the Legislature recognized that when alcohol is sold, served or allowed to be consumed and there’s a commercial aspect to those activities, the public health and safety risks are inherent and must be mitigated through regulation,” Trempealeau County Circuit Judge Rian Radtke ruled.
Two wedding barn owners, along with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, sued over the rules that forced wedding barns to largely abide by the same rules as bars, restaurants, and event halls.
They argued the law was overly broad, protectionist, violated the wedding barn owners’ rights, and all but outlawed wedding barns.
“They would need to completely upend their business model, and would lose their ability to allow guests to supply their own alcohol,” WILL wrote when it filed its suit last year.
Judge Radtke dismissed the lawsuit.
WILL’s Lucas Vebber said they are disappointed.
“WILL is disappointed in the Court’s decision,” deputy counsel Lucas Vebber said in a statement. “We remain committed to protecting our clients’ fundamental rights as we discuss potential next steps in this case.”
The rules for wedding barns were part of a sweeping 2023 law that brought other changes to Wisconsin liquor system. Those changes were driven, for years, largely by the state’s Tavern League.

(The Center Square) – WisconsinEye, which streams the state Legislature, committees and both news conferences and political events across the state, says that it will have to shut down event coverage Dec. 15 and takes its archives offline if it is not able to raise $300,000 to carry it through the first quarter of next year along with commitments to fund the $887,000 it says it will cost to carry on operations for all of 2026.
WisEye President and CEO Jon Henkes, however, told The Center Square that there is a different option as well. In its last budget, Wisconsin lawmakers approved $10 million in matching donation funds to go toward an endowment that would fund WisconsinEye into the future.
He’s asking legislative leaders to use those funds to keep the company afloat now.
“What fixes this really quickly is the Legislature just releasing funds from that $10 million,” Henkes said.
WisconsinEye made a call for $1 million in fundraising in October, with Henkes saying the current year’s budget was $1.1 million to fund a team of six employees running the video streaming platform.
For now, Henkes says that the company has put raising money through donations for the endowment on hold with an end-of-June deadline looming for donations toward the matching funds.
“The first priority, the only priority right now, is to raise the funds needed for operations,” Henkes said.
He said the current fundraising environment is difficult, going up against some companies such as National Public Radio that have lost federal funding and having donors weigh donations to the streaming platform against donating to political candidates in Wisconsin or national races.
“Now that the word is out that we are in a dire financial situation on operations, hopefully that will motivate some donors to step forward and say ‘we want to help bridge that gap,’” Henkes said. “Part two of this is really a better solution to secure statutory language that would allow that match to go away in terms of the word match.
“In other words, the money’s already been designated for Wisconsin Eye. Legislature and governor, would you please allow the funds to be distributed into our operating budget?”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s home sales report continues to sound like a broken record.
The Wisconsin Realtors released their latest report Thursday, showing October home prices were up, inventory lacked and affordability continues to be a problem.
“For the fifth straight month, both existing home sales and median prices increased statewide,” the report states. “October home closings rose 3.4% compared to October 2024, and the median price increased to $331,500, which is a 6.9% increase over the last 12 months.”
The Realtors say home sales have increased 2.4% compared to sales last year. Prices, however, increased more.
“The median price rose 5.6% to $327,500 over that same period,” the report added.
But real estate agent leaders say there is some reason for optimism.
“As we move into the slower season for home sales, it’s good to remind potential buyers that sellers who list their homes during the colder months of the year are often highly motivated to sell. This can translate into more favorable price concessions from those sellers,” Association Chairman Chris DeVincentis said.
There is also some hope on the mortgage front.
“The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was just under 7% in January 2025 and fell to 6.25% in October. Hopefully these trends continue and we start to see real improvements in affordability,” Realtors president Chris Larson added.
But affordability remains a problem in the state.
“Affordability fell just 1.5% compared to October 2024. Although home prices rose 6.9% over the last year, median family income is projected to have increased 3.6% over that same 12-month period,” the report noted.
While the statewide median price jumped to $327,500, regional prices vary. Madison and southcentral Wisconsin remains the most expensive housing market.
The median price there jumped to $374,5000 last month. The median home price in southeast Wisconsin hit $347,500. The median price in central Wisconsin remains the lowest, at $265,000.
Southeast Wisconsin also continues to be the busiest housing market. The report says almost 34% of all homes sold in the state are sold there. Northeast Wisconsin is the second busiest, with more than 20% of sales las month.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Assembly Republicans positioned five school consolidation bills as voluntary assistance for schools with declining enrollment, aging buildings and infrastructure and financial struggles related to both that have led to a record number of referenda across the state.
Democrats, meanwhile, termed it as attacking public education by closing schools, repeating the mantra “don’t close our schools, fund them.”
The five consolidation bills that fund both statewide and local feasibility studies, provide a one-time $1,500 per student bump to funding for schools that consolidate in a three-year window and provide bumps for whole-grade sharing and levy differentials passed the Assembly to end a marathon Assembly session on Wednesday night on 54-43 votes along party lines.
The bills must now pass the Senate and be signed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, in order to become law.
“Going to referendum is not the only option for school boards,” Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said.
The measures are aimed at helping school districts use consolidation to combat decreased enrollments and aging buildings across the state. Public school enrollment in Wisconsin is expected to decline by 200,000 students by 2050. The state has seen an estimated 10,000 fewer students each year.
One bill provides a one-time $1,500 per student payment for schools that consolidate in 2027, 2028 and 2029 before providing $650 per student in the second year and then $150 per student in the next three years to help the schools through the process.
There is a statewide feasibility study and local studies costing up to $25,000.
“Conducting a study of the scope specified in the bill would be a significant undertaking for any entity (consulting firm),” the Department of Public Instruction wrote in a fiscal cost estimate. “The timeframe specified in the bill is very compressed, allowing DPI a maximum of up to four months to enter into a contract. Identifying an entity that has the capability to perform such a study would require DPI to conduct a robust request for proposal (RFP), possibly preceded by a request for information.”
The bills also include grants for districts that consolidate but have differing levy limits and school board consolidation grants of $500 per student for whole grade sharing.
“Wisconsinites want us to fund our public schools,” said Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine.
Republicans pointed to a University of Michigan study showing that student bases of 600 to 900 high school students are the best educational environment in terms of advanced placement class availability and learning environment, showing that much smaller schools sometimes do not provide the same level of course access and higher-level learning.
“The issue of declining enrollment is not going away,” Nedweski said in a statement after the votes. “There is no referendum, no funding increase, and no talking point that can reverse decades of falling birth rates. Democrats want you to believe that spending more money to educate fewer kids in half-empty buildings will solve the problem. That’s not a strategy—it’s denial. These bills offer long-term, sustainable alternatives to the endless cycle of referendums, increasing affordability for taxpayers and creating access to more learning opportunities for students.”