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DNR’s Tips for Coyote Season in Lake Country

DNR’s Tips for Coyote Season in Lake Country

The time of year has come when coyote sightings are growing more likely in Lake Country. While coyotes often avoid interactions with people and are very rarely a threat to humans, they can sometimes become aggressive this time of year. The Wisconsin Department of...

Education reformers push Wisconsin lawmakers to raise the bar for reading, math

Education reformers push Wisconsin lawmakers to raise the bar for reading, math

(The Center Square) – Calls continue at the Wisconsin Capitol to change back the state’s education standards.
Reform groups lined up at the statehouse, pressing Republican lawmakers to return the standards that schools and parents used last year.
“The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently lowered proficiency test cut scores, detached our standards from National Assessment of Educational Progress proficiency levels, and modified the tests of students’ ability to read and to do math in ways that render comparisons to previous testing data impossible.,” The Badger Institute’s Mike Nichols said in an open letter about the changes. “In short, the changes force Wisconsin to start over with education data after lowering the bar.”
State Superintendent Jill Underly ordered changes the learning standards and the scores for state tests that measure student learning.
Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to change them back.
Chris Reader with the Institute for Reforming Government told lawmakers the changes not only lower the bar, they confuse parents by claiming a lot more students can read or write at grade level.
“It’s the 2023 benchmarks that clearly labeled student learning and the 2024 benchmarks that mislabeled them,” Reader said. “[The National Report card] and 2023 Forward benchmarks used to be simple. Minimal was roughly ‘below grade level,’ Basic was ‘grade level,’ Proficient was ‘college- and career-ready,’ and Advanced was ‘selective college- or career-ready.’’ Instead of simply relabeling them as such, DPI changed the cut scores to new benchmarks that no longer represent grade level.”
Reader told lawmakers that reversing the changes and going back to the standards from just a few years ago will better allow schools, lawmakers, and parents to understand if their child can read at grade and write as they should.
“Chasing high standards is what is best for kids every year,” Reader added.
Underly did not speak to lawmakers at the hearing. Instead, she issued a statement that accused Republicans at the Capitol of attacking public schools.
“Republican lawmakers are proving once again they’re not interested in real solutions – they’re too busy playing political games, using our schools and children as pawns to push their own ideological agenda,” Underly said. “Rather than empowering local districts, they are intent on ignoring local control and imposing their own control over classrooms, dictating every move and actively trying to undermine public trust in our teachers and the entire education system.”
The State Assembly has made the plan to change the standard it’s top priority, Assembly Bill 1. Thursday was its first hearing.

Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund Calls for Applications

Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund Calls for Applications

The Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund has put out a call for any and all high school seniors living in the Oconomowoc Area School District to apply. The OSF is seeking two and four year scholarship applications. There are dedicated awards for high school seniors who are...

Brookfield Police Officer Hit While Investigating Crash

Brookfield Police Officer Hit While Investigating Crash

Late on the evening of Wednesday, February 5, a Brookfield police officer was struck by a vehicle while investigating a crash. The officer was immediately taken to the hospital, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. The incident took place at the northbound section of Moorland Road around 11:30 p.m.

Republican lawmakers want schools to create cell phone policies

Republican lawmakers want schools to create cell phone policies

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to local schools to write the rules to limit cell phones in class.
A new plan that was introduced at the Capitol this week would require school districts across the state to come up with their own cell phone policies.
State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, and state Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, said their plan doesn’t tell schools how to ban limit students from using cellphones in class.
“We’re not saying ‘Oh the schools are doing it badly, so we have to step in.’ We’re just saying we want to give you support so that you can enforce these,” Kitchens ssaid.
Cabral-Guevara said a lot of parents, including her, know their children do better when they are not distracted by phones, apps or texts.
“So, if my own son is saying this you know there are other kids also that are recognizing it as a concern,” she added.
“Technology is not going away,” Kitchens said. “We just want them to learn to use it responsibly.”
The proposed legislation leaves the specifics of what a local cell phone policy would look like up to the school board, parents and principals. Many schools in Wisconsin already have rules against using phones in class or using them at all.
Mukwonago Schools made headlines in November of last year when school board members considered asking the local police department to help them enforce their school phone ban. The police department declined, and the school district never asked again.
Kitchen and Cabral-Guevara’s legislation does have exemptions for emergencies, or specific parental permission.

Bird flu suspected, not confirmed in bird deaths along Lake Michigan

Bird flu suspected, not confirmed in bird deaths along Lake Michigan

(The Center Square) – Public health and natural resource managers in both Illinois and Wisconsin are looking at, but have not yet confirmed, if bird flu is responsible for dozens of bird deaths along lake Michigan.
Reports started coming in after dozens of dead ducks washed up on lake beaches between Chicago and Milwaukee.
In Wisconsin, dead birds were found at Kenosha’s Simmons Island Beach and at Racine’s North Beach. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it is “monitoring” the situation.
The DNR is just one state agency in Wisconsin that is now actively tracking the bird flu. The Department of Agriculture, Consumer Protection, and Trade and the Department of Health Services have been tracking avian influenza for years.
The DATCP has kept a running log of bird flu cases since at least 2022.
The last update did not show any confirmed bird flu cases along Lake Michigan. The last bird flu case confirmed by DATCP was on the day after Christmas in Burnett County. The state says more than 18,000 birds in a commercial flock were destroyed after a case there.
The Department of Health Services is also tracking bird flu in Wisconsin. But DHHS has not updated its outbreak page since before Christmas. That was to issue a notice about a bird flu case at a commercial flock in Barron County. Some 13,000 birds were put down in that outbreak.
Wisconsin does have one confirmed human case of the bird flu. That person was confirmed to be sick on Dec. 18. They were a worker on the farm in Barron County where the state found at least one sick bird the week before. That worker has recovered.
Wisconsin says the bird flu has been especially problematic over the past few years in both wild birds, commercial flocks and backyard chickens kept in at-home coops.
Both DATCP and DHS officials are telling people not to touch any wild bird that they find dead. If you find five or more dead birds, public health managers say you need to contact someone so they can check for a cause.

Evers proposes $80M in additional farm, producer funding

Evers proposes $80M in additional farm, producer funding

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he intends to propose spending $80 million on farms, farm families, processors and producers in his upcoming biennial budget proposal, scheduled to be announced Feb. 18.
The proposed spending includes $15 million for the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements program, created in 2009 to help farm owners and communities keep farmland for agricultural use.
The proposal also includes $1.5 million to launch a Dairy Agriculture Resilience Investment Now Grant for on-farm projects that improve resilience and efficiency of farm operations including new IT infrastructure, milking equipment or milk processing equipment.
“Wisconsin’s agricultural industries are not only vital to our state’s economic success, they are part of our DNA as Wisconsinites and our culture and heritage,” Evers said. “We’re going to keep working to support this vital industry and the farm families who make it all possible.”
The plan would spend $30 million on a Food Security Initiative that assists food banks with acquiring food from local farmers and producers.
A proposed $10 million would be spent on a Soil and Water Resource Management program to fund county soil and water conservation staff and landowner conservation projects related to soil and water.
Evers is proposing to increase spending on county conservation staff by $12.7 million to $30.5 million. The staffers work to reduce pollution and flooding, support producer-led watershed groups, help farmers develop nutrient management plans and administer the Farmland Preservation program to assist farmers in keeping their farms.
“Gov. Evers has been a leader in supporting the producers, processors, and rural communities in our state,” said Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Romanski. “Today’s announcement demonstrates Gov. Evers’ continued investment in agriculture in Wisconsin and the future of the industry for years to come. Whether focused on dairy, conservation, farmer mental health, or supporting the connection between farm gate and dinner plate, Gov. Evers’ budget will continue to strategically invest and support Wisconsin’s place as an agricultural leader.”
The proposal also includes $1.6 million for a Meat Processor Grant Program and $1.2 million for a Dairy Processor Grant Program along with $1.6 million to continue funding for the Cover Crop Insurance Rebate Program and $1.2 million to increase funding for the Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Program.
A proposed $1 million would create a Transition to Grass program that will support farmers who are implementing livestock grass-based managed grazing systems and farmers and agribusinesses in the grass-fed livestock business to reduce runoff and protect waters.

DockHounds Celebrate Legendary ’82 Brewers

DockHounds Celebrate Legendary ’82 Brewers

The Lake Country DockHounds have announced their upcoming tribute to Milwaukee’s beloved 1982 World Series Brewers baseball team. For the DockHounds 2025 season, the team will designate five different games to their celebration of the Brewers.

Evers proposes $145M for PFAS removal, new water standards

Evers proposes $145M for PFAS removal, new water standards

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced he will be proposing spending $145 million to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the state’s drinking water in his biennial budget proposal.
The funds will go toward testing and eliminating PFAS for both municipal systems and private wells. The program will provide loans and grants toward the effect along with funding research on the topic.
The funding includes $125 million for the topic that was funding in the 2023-25 biennial budget, which Evers proposes transferring to the Department of Natural Resources. The proposal includes liability protections for innocent landowners.
Several Democratic lawmakers applauded the proposal while Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, asked why the funding wasn’t approved previously when Evers vetoed Wimberger’s bill directing the funds.
“The Governor vetoed Senate Bill 312 in its entirety due to his refusal to limit DNR authority to pursue action against innocent landowners,” Wimberger said. “Governor Evers has since refused to clarify his definition of an ‘innocent landowner.’ In December 2024, Senator Wimberger wrote a letter to the Governor seeking bipartisan cooperation to fight PFAS, but has since received no response.”
The proposal also includes strengthening standards for water and PFAS contamination. The proposal includes prohibiting spreading biosolids if the PFAS levels exceed levels set by the DNR.
“This decision is in response to the lack of action taken by the majority party on a ground water drinking standard proposed years ago; set to expire on March 12th, 2025,” said Rep. Lori Palmeri, D-Oshkosh. “This marks the 12th time DNR has requested groundwater standards since Wisconsin’s groundwater law went into effect in the 1980s.”
The Midwest Environmental Advocates pointed to a 2022 REINS Act that requires separate legislation for any proposed rule expected to exceed $10 million in compliance costs over any two-year period as a reason that PFAS rulemaking has been stalled.
“Gov. Evers has repeatedly called on the legislature to remove this procedural roadblock, but the legislature’s Republican majority has so far refused to do so,” the group said in a statement.

Trump birthright citizenship ban gets legal support from House Republicans

Trump birthright citizenship ban gets legal support from House Republicans

(The Center Square) – A coalition of House Republicans has filed two amicus briefs supporting President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.
The lawmakers asked a federal court in Washington and another in Massachusetts to deny Democratic states attorney generals’ requests for a preliminary injunction on Trump’s order, which those states and dozens of others claim violates the Constitution.
The citizenship clause found in the 14th amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
That phrase has been interpreted over the last 150 years to guarantee citizenship to any child born in the United States – with a few exceptions – regardless of whether the mother is residing in the country legally.
But the Republican lawmakers, led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, argue in the briefs that Trump’s order is indeed constitutional because the 14th amendment was meant to apply only to American citizens and recently freed slaves, not illegal immigrants and tourists who come to the U.S. explicitly to have children.
“Because the Fourteenth Amendment does not confer citizenship on the children of illegally present aliens, and because Congress has not done so by statute, the other branches cannot confer such citizenship on their own,” the brief states. “The Executive Order at issue here properly ensures that rule is followed within the executive branch, and thus the Order should not be enjoined.”
The term “jurisdiction,” they further argue, does not mean territorial jurisdiction, but national jurisdiction, which requires allegiance to the U.S. government (this is why Trump’s executive order specifically excludes children of lawful permanent residents).
The 17 U.S. representatives who joined Jordan include:
Tom McClintock from California Victoria Spartz from IndianaRobert Onder from Missouri Brad Knott from North CarolinaMark Harris from North CarolinaRussell Fry from South CarolinaBrandon Gill from TexasChip Roy from TexasLance Gooden from TexasTroy Nehls from TexasWesley Hunt from TexasBen Cline from VirginiaMichael Baumgartner from WashingtonGlenn Grothman from WisconsinScott Fitzgerald from WisconsinHarriet Hageman from Wyoming
“The Left has misused and abused birthright citizenship for too long. President Trump’s executive order must be swiftly enacted,” Gill posted Tuesday on X. “I’m proud to join @JudiciaryGOP Chairman Jordan in signing this amicus brief supporting President Trump’s executive order.”

19 AGs support Wisconsin Catholic Charities case

19 AGs support Wisconsin Catholic Charities case

(The Center Square) – Nineteen state attorneys general have joined Wisconsin’s Catholic Charities Bureau of Superior in challenging a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that the charity does primarily secular work and thus must pay into the state’s unemployment fund.
Catholic Charities appealed the Wisconsin court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and the group of 19 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the group’s case.
“If any religious activity, no matter how deeply rooted in doctrine and practice, becomes secular the moment the nonreligious adopt it, then no religious exercise is safe from government regulation,” the attorneys general wrote.
The amicus brief was led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Catholic Charities claim the Wisconsin ruling violates the First Amendment and it questions the Catholic church’s religious teachings.
“Catholic Charities Bureau answers Christ’s call to minister to the most vulnerable by caring for the poor, disabled, and elderly throughout the diocese and beyond,” said Bishop James Powers, Bishop of the Diocese of Superior. “We pray the Court recognizes that this vital work of improving the human condition lies at the heart of our duty as Catholics.”
Other briefs were filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, religious scholars, liberty law scholars and religious groups.
Non-profits that operate in Wisconsin for primarily religious purposes do not have to pay into unemployment in the state but the court ruled that the exemption does not apply to Catholic Charities because it serves everyone, not just Catholics.
“The power to define religion is the power to destroy it,” Yost said. “Our Constitution guards against government interference on religion, and few maneuvers are as intrusive as the government taking it upon itself to define religious practice.”