During last week's city council meeting council members were reminded that it is election season and that the city cannot control the content of political signs or flags. Durand Police Chief Stan Ridgeway says it's a first amendment right for those political signs regardless of the content, the only thing the police can enforce is where the sign is placed. It is illegal to place any type of sign-on city right of way. Ridgeway says the best way to avoid city right of way is to place the sign between your home and the sidewalk, not between the sideway and street.
The Durand City and Rural Fire Department released their annual report last week. The City Fire Department responded to 52 incidents in 2021 with a total estimated loss of $226,500, while the Durand Rural Fire Department responded to 74 incidents with total estimated losses over just over $1.5 million dollars.
Wisconsinites in need of assistance for broadband internet service are reminded that the Affordable Connectivity Program is open for applications. This program - created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands. The benefit also provides up to a $100 per household discount toward a one-time purchase of a computer, laptop, or tablet through a participating broadband provider. Eligible households are encouraged to contact their broadband provider to find out if they qualify for the program.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled against the use of ballot drop boxes during the April general election. Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joined the three liberal justices in a previous ruling that allowed the drop boxes to be used in the February primary. There were concerns that voters would be confused by changing procedures on short notice. Friday, Hagedorn and his fellow conservatives ruled out the ballot drop boxes for the April 5th general election. The majority opinion said the Wisconsin Elections Commission would have adequate time to educate voters about the change.
Governor Tony Evers signed bills to finalize new contracts for state workers including state troopers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and bricklayers. The legislation calls for raises ranging from one-point-two percent to one-point-eight percent. The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U-W system also finalized deals that would result in raises for the same group of professionals.
Wisconsin D-N-R officials are reviewing a ruling by a U-S District Judge in California that puts gray wolves back on the federal Endangered Species List. U-S District Judge Jeffrey White reversed a November 2020 decision that removed the gray wolf from federal protections. White agreed with environmental groups in ruling that the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service improperly relied on inadequate and outdated state plans for wolf management when deciding to remove protections for wolves in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The Minnesota Senate is scheduled to vote today on spending two-point-seven billion dollars to replenish the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The fund was depleted by impacts to employment from the reaction to COVID-19. Backers say if the legislature doesn't step in, businesses will be required to back-fill the unemployment fund by paying higher taxes. House Democrats have signaled they'd approve one billion dollars if Republicans in return agree to a billion dollars for COVID bonuses for front-line workers.
As discussions continue to swirl around a batch of fake Electoral College votes cast by members of the Republican Party after the 2020 elections, the Chairman of the state party says he wouldn't have stopped them. Paul Farrow tells WISN's UPFRONT that he approves of the effort. Farrow was not the Republican chairman at that time. A number of elected Democrats, including Attorney General Josh Kaul and US Congressman Mark Pocan, are calling for legal action against the ten fake Electors.
Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson is declining the sheriff’s request to prosecute members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling had asked for charges against the five commission members last year for allowing changes to voting in nursing homes. Hanson says she can’t charge them with crimes because they are out of her jurisdiction. She also declined to bring charges against nursing home workers who helped residents cast absentee ballots. The sheriff accuses the elections commission of enabling election fraud. He has tried to make his case in front of several legislative committees.
There are concerns about fertilizer shortages for Minnesota farmers once spring fieldwork picks up. University of Minnesota Extension educator Brad Carlson says fertilizer is being produced on a broad scale, so there is a good supply. But, the high price of the product could have an impact. Carlson encourages farmers to plan for local availability issues by having a strategy and ordering exactly what they need ahead of time. He also says producers can save some money by not over-applying fertilizer on their fields.
At the Capitol, Republican lawmakers have introduced a parental bill of rights legislation. The bill would establish parents’ and guardians’ rights over a child's religion, medical care and records, and education. In addition, it lays out a case for legal action in the form of lawsuits, in the event those rights are violated by government organizations or officials. Other parental rights included in the measure include determining the pronouns used for a child at school, opting their children out of a class if they don't like the subject matter, as well as the right to request when certain subjects will be taught or discussed.
The University of Wisconsin in Madison’s outgoing leader says politics is the biggest threat to the university. Chancellor Rebecca Blank says Wisconsin’s political divide is a threat to the university’s support. In her final report to the Board of Regents Thursday, she said politicians are using the university in their partisan “wars,” and calls that an existential threat to the U-W Madison. Blank has been chancellor at U-W Madison since 2013. She’s leaving Wisconsin at the end of the academic year. She’ll take over as president of Northwestern University this fall.
Many observers say Minnesota could have an even larger budget surplus than the record seven-point-seven billion dollars when an updated economic forecast comes out in a few weeks. Bolstering that opinion is the latest monthly report showing Minnesota tax collections 25 percent higher than expected in January. Corporate tax collections comprised the vast majority of it, at 642 million dollars, but individual income tax revenues were 42 million dollars less than expected. State budget officials as standard procedure urge caution in drawing conclusions from monthly numbers, noting there can be wide variations from month to month. House Republicans say there's a possibility the next forecast could show a surplus over 10 billion dollars -- around one-fifth of the state budget -- which would make the tax-versus-spend debate even more heated at the Capitol.
Colby cheese is one step closer to becoming Wisconsin's state cheese. A bill naming Colby as the state's official cheese was approved in a Senate committee on Friday. The bill's authors, Representative Kathy Bernier and Senator Donna Rozar both say that Wisconsin should be honoring an original cheese invention, with a unique history for the state. The Colby cheese process was invented in Colby in 1885, and it is now one of the most popular cheese varieties in the country.
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