(The Center Square) – Frustrations are growing at the Wisconsin Capitol after a second day of smoke and haze from Canada’s still-burning wildfires.
Pretty much all of Wisconsin started Friday under an Air Quality Alert. The state’s Department of Natural Resources on Thursday issued a warning for people who have breathing troubles.
“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is recommending Wisconsinites reduce their time outdoors,” the department said in a statement. “People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children should consider making outdoor activities shorter and less intense and reducing heavy exertion. Consider rescheduling or moving events indoors.”
The Department of Natural Resources said it will monitor the smoke and air quality “on a day-to-day basis through the weekend.”
Northern Wisconsin state Rep. Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk, wants more than just dealing with the smoke.
“People in northern Wisconsin are fed up with waking-up to hazy skies and hazardous air because Canada refuses to get its forest fires under control,” Callahan said. “This is a public-health crisis, an economic burden, and an affront to our way of life. Canada’s mismanagement is hurting Wisconsinites.”
Callahan said this is the second straight summer that Canadian wildfire smoke has left the northern part of the state in a haze.
“Canada’s mismanagement and inadequate prevention of its forest wildfires are becoming our problem, and that’s not acceptable,” Callahan added. “Our farmers, loggers, and small business owners don’t get to shrug off their responsibilities and neither should Canada.”
As of Friday morning, the Department of Natural Resources was reporting four counties in northern Wisconsin were dealing with “unhealthy air.” While all or parts of nine others, including Milwaukee County, were dealing with potentially unhealthy air quality.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin public officials cannot hide private text messages and messages on private messaging apps involving public business and they are accountable for legal fees in cases where the court finds the records should be released, a Wisconsin appeals court ruled.
The ruling came in Midwest Environmental Advocates v. Prehn, a case involving whether former Natural Resources Board Chair Frederick Prehn had unlawfully withheld public records that included text messages with then-Gov. Scott Walker regarding Prehn’s plans to remain in office after his term.
“This decision is a win for the people of Wisconsin,” Midwest Staff Attorney Adam Voskuil said in a statement. “It strengthens our democracy by ensuring that government officials conduct their business with openness and transparency. Had Prehn’s arguments been accepted, the public records law and our state’s commitment to open government would have been significantly weakened.”
A lower court had ruled that the case did not require legal fees be paid because the records were released during the legal proceedings before they were complete.
“The ability to recover attorney’s fees is vital for journalists and for other groups and individuals who are forced to take legal action to secure their rights under the public records law,” Midwest Staff Attorney Rob Lee said in a statement. “We are pleased the court’s decision maintains this important component of public transparency and open government in Wisconsin.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s steady increase of apprenticeships in the state over the past 10-plus years has grown to 77% higher than 2013, according to a new report.
The total comes as many industries are seeing labor shortages and those are expected to expand in coming years as the state’s population shrinks.
Wisconsin had 17,509 individuals in the Registered Apprenticeship Program in 2024, up from 9,872 in 2013, according to a report from Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The apprenticeships are available in 200 occupations and that number continues to expand due to industry demands.
“While apprenticeships are considered entry-level jobs, hiring an apprentice requires a significant investment by an employer, so workers typically need some related knowledge and experience to secure a position,” the report said. “Often this means working directly for the employer as a general laborer for some time before being brought on as an apprentice.”
Wisconsin ranks 11th nationally in apprentices per capita with 2.4 apprentices per 1,000 residents. That ranked ahead of neighboring Illinois (1.7), Minnesota (2.0) and Michigan (2.1) but was behind Iowa (3.0), Indiana (3.7) and Hawaii (4.2).
Wisconsin is one of 47 states with a teacher apprenticeship program, but its size doesn’t compare with other states, something that the Institute for Reforming Government is pushing to change.
Wisconsin offers three types of apprenticeships with workers applying directly with an employer who is the sole sponsor, workings being placed through a union construction job or non-union employers hiring an apprentice who then works through the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin.
The report highlights that the state’s Youth Apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs are at record levels but the two programs are not strongly connected.
“Most registered apprentices in Wisconsin work in construction and manufacturing, while most youth apprentices work in other industries,” the report said. “Workforce development leaders could consider whether there may be opportunities to strengthen links where occupational pathways already overlap between the two programs.”

(The Center Square) – Thirteen Wisconsin counties now have formal agreements with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that expand immigration enforcement responsibilities to local and state law enforcement, according to a new report.
That report showed that 29 Wisconsin counties and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections received a total of nearly $7.3 million in funding from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program as well, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin showed through information gathered through public records requests.
“Immigrants have been an important part of the fabric of Wisconsin for many years,” said Tim Muth, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Wisconsin. “They are a part of our families. They are our coworkers, friends, and neighbors, and the public should know what their local law enforcement agencies are doing. These cozy relationships between ICE and many sheriffs are disrupting our communities and funneling immigrant community members into the federal deportation machine.”
There were eight sheriff who had signed formal agreements with ICE as of 2022 with the additional five signing agreements this year during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The assistance program funds come as partial reimbursement for the costs of incarcerating some noncitizens. The funds are so agencies share with ICE information on individuals they have incarcerated who are or are believed to be undocumented.
The information includes home addresses and contacts with the criminal justice system.
“Leftists are really sore that Wisconsin law enforcement in many big counties are cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies because they prefer the seditiony approach of Dane and Milwaukee counties,” Patrick McIlheran, director of policy at Badger Institute, wrote about the report.
The report comes as Dane County refused an ICE arrest detainer for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila, who is being held and accused of killing 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling in a Friday crash where she was reportedly driving the wrong direction on the highway and struck a vehicle containing the two teens.
Martinez-Avila was charged with felony vehicular homicide, impaired driving, operating while intoxicated causing injury, knowingly operating with a revoked license and more.
The Dane County Sheriff’s jail log states Martinez-Avila is being held at the jail pretrial and that the agency declined to hold Martinez-Avila for ICE.
“Sheriff Barrett called me a liar when I warned Dane County’s sanctuary policies put lives at risk,” Tiffany wrote on social media. “Now, two teens are dead after a repeat illegal alien offender was allowed to remain in the community. How many more Americans have to die before Democrats end this lawlessness?”

(The Center Square) – Scott Walker sees a lot of similarities between next year’s governor’s race and his first in 2010.
“It’s wide open,” the former governor said in a radio interview on Thursday. “The last time was 15 years ago, in 2010, when we pushed Jim Doyle out of the race. He was still the incumbent, and still thinking he was going to run. And in that first half of 2009 we outraised him. And then a couple days, about this time, a report came out that he wasn’t running again. That opened things wide up.”
Walker, a Republican, went on to win the race, and Wisconsin has had a sitting governor on the ballot in each election since. Second-term Democratic Gov. Tony Evers recently said, however, he won’t seek reelection.
While it will be an open seat in the governor’s mansion, Walker said he’s waiting to see how open the Democratic primary may be next year.
“In 2009 Barack Obama and others basically strong-armed everybody but Tom Barrett out of that race,” Walker added.
He said so far, “that’s not the case.”
Two Democrats are officially in the race – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Walker said Rodriguez began her campaign with a mistake when she said she got an early heads-up from the governor about his decision to retire.
“I’m amazed on that story, by the way, that they are denying that,” Walker explained. “If you have confidence in your lieutenant governor of course you’re going to give her a heads up. Why wouldn’t you if you believe in that person?”
Walker said Rodriguez has some “problems to deal with.”
He also said Attorney General Josh Kaul, if he runs, would be a formidable candidate.
However, if there are too many candidates, and a truly wide-open primary, Walker warns that could hurt Democrats next year.
“That’s not what the Democrats want,” Walker added. “They want all of their money behind one candidate. They’re not going to get it in this case.”
Walker started the week by announcing that he is not running again, despite a tease on social media.
There are two Republican candidates – businessman Bill Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann. A third or fourth may get in soon as well.
“We can win, but it’s not going to be easy,” Walker said.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin had a net adjusted gross income loss of nearly $3.4 billion due to outmigration between 2012 and 2022, according to a report from Unleash Prosperity.
The report says more than 30,000 residents were lost during that span due to outmigration, according to data from the U.S. Census analyzed in the report.
This comes after the Census recently released data showing that, in 2017 dollars, Wisconsin household personal income went from an average of $117,606 in 2012 to $137,612 in 2023 while the median went from $75,766 in 2012 to $106,946 in 2023.
This comes despite Wisconsin seeing overall net migration increases over the past three years due to international migration.
Wisconsin wasn’t one of the largest losers in the new report, as neighboring Illinois lost 881,012 residents from 2012 to 2022 and had a net adjusted gross income loss of more than $63 billion from 2012 to 2022. New York and California were the only states with larger losses than Illinois.
Minnesota saw nearly $9.6 billion in losses, Iowa saw $3.2 billion and Michigan saw nearly $7.6 billion in outmigration losses during that time. Southern states such as Florida saw large gains with nearly $196 billion gained while Texas increased more than $54 billion, Arizona nearly $30 billion, North Carolina gained $28 billion and South Carolina nearly $28 billion.

(The Center Square) – One of Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen is not thrilled that state lawmakers rushed to maximize the state’s Medicaid take from Washington.
Congressman Bryan Steil on Wednesday said the hospital assessment in the new state budget shows just how easy it is to game the Medicaid system.
“To me it shows you, on the national level, how this program was ripe for abuse in the first place,” Steil said in a radio interview. “Many other states were already doing this. And so it’s really showing you that there are many aspects of this program, inside Medicaid, which shows the explosion of growth where it was ripe for abuse.”
Republican lawmakers cut a last minute deal with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to spike Wisconsin’s hospital assessment from just over 1.5% to 6% as a way to recoup more federal money for hospitals.
The head of the Wisconsin Hospital Association said the maximization effort should be worth at least $700 million per year.
“Of course Wisconsin’s going to take all the money that it can get. Every other state does the same,” Steil said. “But at the end of the day it’s taxpayer dollars. It’s why broader and bigger reforms are needed inside this program to actually drive the funds to where it’s needed, and remove excess funds being spent at a period of time when the federal government doesn’t have the resources.”
Lawmakers in Madison insist the assessment increase and Medicaid maximization will not add anyone to state Medicaid rolls.
Steil is not alone in criticizing the state’s push to get as many Medicaid dollars as possible. Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson was quick to criticize the idea as soon as the budget passed.
Steil said he hopes to be able to deal with Medicaid’s opportunities for fraud in another plan in the near future.

(The Center Square) – The 2026 Wisconsin race for governor is now rated a tossup, according to Sabato’s Crystal Ball, after Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not run for reelection.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley entered the race since Evers’ announcement while two Republicans – Whitefish Bay Resident Bill Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann – have also announced their candidacy.
Wisconsin is one of 17 states with open governor seats in 2026, meaning an incumbent isn’t running, of the 36 overall races.
“Even if Evers got some bad press for botching his state’s roll call at last year’s Democratic National Convention, his second-term approval ratings have been generally positive and he seemed well set up for what could be a Democratic-leaning midterm,” according to the explanation of the rating change from the Center for Politics. “With that in mind, we started the race off as Leans Democratic. But, in large part because of the uncertainty that can come with open-seat contests, we are moving Wisconsin to Toss-up.”
Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany, R-7th Congressional, continues to mull a run for the seat and was quoted in the past week saying that he believes he is the best candidate if he chooses to run.
It was enough for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to respond.
“Tom Tiffany is the world’s biggest flirt when it comes to playing footsie with a possible run for governor,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s Philip Shulman said in a statement. “He should calm down on the PDA with a run for guv – he is wasting everyone’s time and energy as he uses this as an opportunity to stroke his own ego and gain some relevancy.”
Berrien said that strong Republican candidates are a large reason the prediction has changed.
“The pundits and experts are recognizing the same writing on the wall that Tony Evers saw: Wisconsin is done buying what the radical Madison Democrats are selling,” Berrien said in a statement.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers and gig workers gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday to ask Gov. Tony Evers to sign a bill that would allow gig workers to have portable benefits plans that travel with them as they do work for companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and more.
The bill would allow gig workers to create portable benefits options such as health care and retirement accounts, though some groups including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO have organized protests of it passing, saying they are concerned the bill would strip app-based transportation and delivery drivers of employee status and reclassify drivers as independent contractors.
Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said that the bill allows drivers to be the independent contractors, not full-time employees, that they want to be.
“If a company were to offer this, these drivers would lose their independent contractor status,” Bradley said.
Drivers who make $750 in a calendar year are eligible for a portable benefits account, with the company being obligated to pay 4% of the driver’s earnings in the previous quarter, minus tips, if a company contributes to the account.
“Modern workers deserve modern solutions,” said DoorDash driver Rachel Smith of New Berlin.
Bradley and Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D–Milwaukee, said that they have not spoken to Evers about the bill.
Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, was the bill’s lead author in the Assembly.
“I think that it’s important for him to take a really good look at this,” Ortiz-Velez said. “Sit down, let’s have a chat. I feel like there’s a place for us to come to a common ground for the common good.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin has had 25 deaths on all-terrain and utility task off-road vehicles this year after there were two more deaths reported on Saturday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Only four of the 25 who died were wearing seatbelts on the ATV or UTV with 84% of those fatal incidents happening on UTVs.
UTVs have seatbelts for all passengers and the DNR said those can significantly reduce the risk of being ejected from the vehicle in a crash.
All UTV passengers are required to wear a seatbelt in Wisconsin.
“UTVs are designed with key safety features, like roll cages and seatbelts, that are there to protect riders in the event of a crash or rollover,” Lt. Jacob Holsclaw, Wisconsin DNR off-highway vehicle administrator, said in a statement. “But those features can only help if they’re used.”
The number of deaths on the off-road vehicles have continued to climb this summer as deaths have spanned from a 6-year-old who died in a UTV rollover on July 10 to a 97-year-old who died in a crash with a motor vehicle on April 14.
There were two deaths involving 10-year-olds driving UTVs near their home in the past three months.
Operators must be at least 16 to operate a full-size UTV in public areas in Wisconsin and ATV/UTV operators born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, and at least 12 years of age must complete a DNR-approved safety course.
“While these numbers are concerning, they also highlight a clear opportunity for prevention,” Holsclaw said. “Wearing a seatbelt is one of the simplest and most effective ways to stay safe while riding.”

(The Center Square) – A woman accused of driving the wrong direction on a highway while impaired and killing two teens in Dane County now is subject to an arrest detainer from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila, who DHS identified as “a criminal illegal alien from Honduras,” is charged with felony vehicular homicide, impaired driving, operating while intoxicated causing injury, knowingly operating with a revoked license and more.
Martiney-Avila is accused of killing 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling in the July 25 crash. DHS said that Dane County has not historically honored U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers due to sanctuary policies.
“Hallie Helgeson and Brady Heiling had their whole lives ahead of them – and they would still be alive today if it weren’t for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila – a criminal illegal alien from Honduras. Martinez-Avila recklessly drove the wrong way on a highway while intoxicated and killed these two teens,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “ICE has lodged an arrest detainer to remove this public safety threat from the U.S.
“Unfortunately, this sanctuary jurisdiction has a history of not honoring ICE arrest detainers often leading to the release of murderers and other heinous criminals. Under Secretary Noem, these precious victims will not be forgotten, and we will fight for justice.”
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via email that he was concerned ICE would attempt to deport Martinez-Avila before trial.
“Deporting someone before they face trial allows them to evade that accountability — it’s essentially a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” Barrett wrote to the paper.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-7th Congressional, said that the case shows the danger of sanctuary policies.
“Sheriff Barrett called me a LIAR when I warned Dane County’s sanctuary policies put lives at risk,” Tiffany wrote on social media. “Now, two teens are dead after a repeat illegal alien offender was allowed to remain in the community. How many more Americans have to die before Democrats end this lawlessness?”
Wisconsin Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee responded to Tiffany about drunk driving laws.
“Do you know how many people are killed by US Citizens who drive drunk every year?” Larson wrote. “How many drunk driving laws have you coauthored during your time in public office?”