A pair of Republican lawmakers are promising to hold hearings into why so many state and University of Wisconsin workers aren’t in their offices.
A pair of audits from the Legislative Audit Bureau looked at telework and office space trends.
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It remains to be seen just how quickly the return of abortion in Wisconsin will end up before a judge after Planned Parenthood on Monday started offering abortion services at its clinics in Milwaukee and Madison.
“Thank you so much for your enthusiasm that PPWI has restarted abortion services! We are as thrilled as you are! We haven’t been able to respond to all our DMs, comment on every thread about abortion, or talk to you individually about how you can help (but we’re trying),” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said on social media Monday.
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State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) is urging the Wisconsin Elections Commission to fire Meagan Wolfe, WEC’s controversial administrator.
The commission meets at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to take up Wolfe’s re-appointment to a four-year term. Her current term ends Friday.
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A man has been arrested on multiple criminal charges after attacking an elderly usher in the parking lot of Cornerstone Church in Madison, a suburban neighborhood of northeast Nashville.
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A half-eaten burrito led to the arrest of a Madison man in connection with the Mother’s Day 2022 firebombing of the Wisconsin Family Action headquarters building.
Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 29, has been charged with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison.
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Kelly Santana Hayes’ criminal record includes charges of setting her ex-boyfriend’s mother’s car on fire and pulling a gun on a man who was with his 1-year-old daughter at a gas station.
But the former Madison Metropolitan School District teacher’s aide has just been hired as a bus driver for the city of Madison.
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Sick of the recurring violence going on in classrooms, hallways and gymnasiums, parent Kate Bertram last week told the Wauwatosa School Board that the “new pandemic in Wauwatosa schools is a lack of accountability.”
A Republican-led bill passed Tuesday in the Assembly demands more accountability from Wisconsin’s schools in tracking crime.
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The injection of private money into public election administration — or “Zuckerbucks” — is continuing in a new form, as left-leaning candidates are being recruited to run for local elections offices by an organization that receives funds from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
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The BadgersVote initiative “strives to provide University of Wisconsin–Madison students with everything they need to know in order to participate in their elections,” according to organizers. But is the campus-wide “public service” campaign really just a Democratic Party Get-Out-the-Vote effort underwritten by a taxpayer-funded university, a nonprofit research center, and liberal activist groups?
For some, the university-nonprofit partnership feels a lot like the Zuckerbucks scandal of 2020.
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TrevorSpace bills itself as an affirming place for LGBTQ young people. Several Wisconsin school districts encourage their students to check out the site. But is the social networking site little more than an online dating community putting kids as young as 13 at risk of sexual exploitation?
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Madison East High School will host a “family friendly” drag show later this month, a taxpayer-funded woke event that is “Exhibit A” for expanded school choice, according to a parental rights activist.
East High parents recently received an email announcing the event, sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Alliance. The show is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 19, according to the school’s calendar. The festivities will take place in the high school’s Margaret Williams Theater.
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Nearly every single sheriff in the state of Wisconsin, along with the state’s police officers’ association, and the chiefs of police in Dane County are united in their opposition to a plan that would all but ban tear gas and pepper spray in the city of Madison.
Madison’s city council is set to vote on a proposed ordinance that would limit the use of tear gas, pepper spray, or other crowd control to only “circumstances in which urgent and imminent physical harm to the public or law enforcement officers is threatened or when significant property damage exists and escalation of property damage is threatened.”
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The judges and commissioners of four more Texas counties have declared an invasion at the southern border, bringing to 22 the number of counties that have done so.
Jasper, Madison, Throckmorton and Wichita counties are the latest to declare an invasion.
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Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway have announced a $9 million investment for the state’s first men’s homeless shelter.
“City-County announces additional $9 million investment in men’s homeless shelter,” Rhodes-Conway posted on Twitter highlighting the sides continued partnership. “A new commitment from @DaneCoJoe represents the single largest investment in the Dane County Capital Budget.”
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One-time Madison-area stronghold Brasserie V is the latest neighborhood eatery to fall victim to the pandemic, with the owners recently taking to social media to announce its closing this month after 15 years.
“We are so very proud of our 15 years bringing a little bit of Belgium to Monroe Street,” the owners said in an Aug. 20 Facebook post. “We wouldn’t have reached this milestone without the talent, dedication and hard work of all of our amazing staff over the years.”
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by Benjamin Yount Less than one month before Wisconsin’s next election, Madison’s mayor is proposing a new ban on harassing election workers. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway unveiled a new ordinance Tuesday that would make it a crime to “engage in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which such conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance” against poll workers or local election managers. Fines would start at $300, and are capped at $1,000. Rhodes-Conway says the $1,000 fine “reflects the harm to the election system, in addition to the effect of such behavior on election officials.” The new ordinance also allows Madison to press for a fine for each instance of harassment. “After the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capitol, election officials in Madison and Dane County and in towns and villages across the state have faced threats and harassment for merely doing their jobs,” the mayor said in a statement. “By introducing these ordinance changes, the entire City of Madison, our police and our prosecutors are standing up and saying ‘enough.’ We are going to do everything we can to protect our clerks and poll workers from threats of violence…
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One Republican state lawmaker is furious with the sentence received by one of the rioters who destroyed two State Capitol statues during Madison’s violent protests in 2020.
Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, on Thursday said the probation sentence handed down in the case is insulting.
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The head of one of Wisconsin’s most prominent pro-life groups is vowing not to be intimidated by a weekend arson at their Madison office.
Wisconsin Family Action’s Julaine Appling said on Sunday that the attack on their office was an attempt to silence pro-life voices in the state.
“While this attack was directly provoked by the leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dobbs case earlier this week, this has far broader implications,” Appling said in a statement. “Apparently, the tolerance that the left demands is truly a one-way street. Violence has become their answer to everything.”
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A recently resettled Afghan refugee who was featured on a news broadcast when he arrived in the United States has been arrested and charged for an alleged sexual assault.
Police want Matiullah Matie to be charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, according to WSAW.
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The Mayor of Green Bay is asking for sanctions against Michael Gableman, with the Wisconsin Office of Special Counsel, for his actions in the election investigation. Eric Genrich’s attorney Jeffrey Mandell made the request in Waukesha County Circuit Court, claiming Gableman made “incorrect statements.”
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Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) criticized distance learning, saying that it’s “not a substitute” for in-person learning. Gallaher made the comments about distance learning following the announcement that Milwaukee and Madison schools reverted to online schooling for the first several days back after Christmas break.
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Teachers from Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay have signed a pledge to teach Critical Race Theory in schools. The pledge, started by the Zinn Education Project, had over 7,500 signees in the end of October, which was the last time an update about the petition was posted.
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The City of Madison on Wednesday announced that all individuals who serve as poll workers will be mandated to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Earlier this year, city officials detailed the vaccine requirement or testing for all city employees. A recent memo certified that the requirements would be extended to poll workers.
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The Madison city clerk responded to a subpoena in the election investigation, saying that allowing auditors to physically handle the election records could potentially be breaking federal law. Maribeth Witzel-Behl is one of several city clerks and election officials served a subpoena in an ongoing election investigation by Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice.
The subpoena is signed by Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), and committee chair Senator Kathleen Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls). The data request asks that the city of Madison provide all “physical absentee ballot certificates for the November 2020 General Election and the results of tests on electronic voting machines used for the election.”
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Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman announced on Friday that there has been cooperation from subpoenaed Wisconsin cities in the ongoing election audit. “Following our recent issuance of subpoenas, we have received encouraging responses from most of the city officials involved, and we expect their full cooperation in scheduled interviews and the expected transfer of all related documents, data, and communications regarding their management of the 2020 election,” Gableman said.
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Five Wisconsin mayors will be receiving subpoenas as part of the ongoing election investigation. Head investigator Michael Gableman announced on Tuesday that the mayors of Green Bay, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Madison would be subpoenaed to assist in the audit.
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This capital city has become the fifth and last of Wisconsin’s so-called WI-5 cities to face a formal complaint alleging violations of election law in the November presidential contest in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.
Saying they are concerned about liberal groups entrenched in administration of Wisconsin elections, a crowd of about nearly 140 turned out for a “Standing Up for Voter Integrity” rally at the State Capitol.
The sponsor of the rally, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, has led legal challenges to the third-party groups accused of infiltrating the elections in Madison and the Badger State’s four other largest, most heavily Democrat cities.
“As I talk to citizens around Wisconsin, there still are a lot of questions about CTCL [the Center for Tech and Civic Life] and their involvement in the 2020 election,” state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, said. “The lack of oversight of these [outside] groups should concern everyone in the state of Wisconsin as we work toward transparent elections.”
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“CTCL and the other 12 nonprofits in Wisconsin cast a shadow of doubt over voting integrity for all elections moving forward,” Brandtjen said.
Few red flags appear more concerning to her and other observers than the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life’s network of liberal voting activists, who, according to emails obtained by Wisconsin Spotlight, became deeply involved in administering the November election in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine.
In final official results in Wisconsin, Biden defeated Trump by 49.6% of the vote to 48.9%, flipping a state with 10 electoral votes that Trump won in 2016.
Brandtjen is chairwoman of the Wisconsin Assembly’s Committee on Campaigns and Elections, the panel charged with investigating last year’s elections. She was joined at the rally Tuesday by state Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers; state Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Greenville; and state Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere.
As the new complaint filed Monday against Madison lays out, the Center for Tech and Civic Life showered the WI-5 cities with more than $8 million in grant funding, with Madison receiving more than $1.27 million of the cut. The complaint, filed Tuesday, names Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, a Democrat, and City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl.
In total, CTCL received $400 million from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, ostensibly to promote “safe and secure” elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, critics say, Zuckerberg’s mammoth social network was silencing many conservatives and conservative viewpoints.
Emails show liberal activists and election officials sharing raw voter data and discussing how best to maximize turnout of traditionally Democratic voters in “areas with predominantly minorities.”
The Center for Tech and Civic Life’s partners literally got the keys to absentee ballots as one long-time Democratic operative offered to “cure” ballots. The complaints allege CTCL, its partners, and city officials usurped authority solely granted to local and state elections officials under state law and the U.S. Constitution.
Mary Baldwin, one of five Madison citizens who made the latest complaint, said it’s time for Wisconsin voters to stand up and be counted.
A grandmother of five, Baldwin said she has seen a lot in her life, but what she saw at the polls in November was deeply concerning.
“I want my country to be OK for my children and grandchildren,” Baldwin said. “I don’t think it was a fair election. Five states were targeted. Wisconsin was one of them.”
Although the Center for Tech and Civic Life and its defenders argue that the left-leaning group handed out election administration grants to communities across the country, that funding was skewed heavily to liberal strongholds, particularly in battleground states such as Wisconsin.
Ron Heuer, president of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, said he is relieved to have complaints filed against all five Wisconsin cities. But the fight is far from over, Heuer said.
“We will continue to litigate,” Heuer said. “We’re now going to see more personal litigation, going after individuals.”
Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney said the commission had not received the complaint as of Tuesday afternoon, but would have no comment.
As with the other complaints, the allegations in Madison will be reviewed by outside counsel, which has asked the cities and state Election Administrator Meagan Wolfe to respond by June 15. Wolfe is named as a respondent in the complaint.
Emails show that Wolfe attempted to connect election officials in four Wisconsin cities with one of CTCL’s partners. Wolfe, the complaint alleges, publicly signaled her approval of the funding plan in defiance of state law.
A spokeswoman for Rhodes-Conway, Madison’s mayor, did not respond to a request for comment. The city clerk’s office directed all questions to Madison City Attorney Mike Haas.
“If the WEC requires a response we will submit a response,” Haas said in a curt email.
Baldwin, who refers to herself as “the right Baldwin” in a city that’ is home to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she wants to do her part to make sure every legal vote is counted.
“It’s critical that we all vote. We have to take that first step,” she said. “But I want my vote to count for the party I voted for, the individuals I voted for.”
In the end, Wisconsin’s five largest cities saw massive turnout, with Biden substantially benefiting from it.
The Democratic nominee won Milwaukee with nearly 79% of the vote to Trump’s 19.6%. In Milwaukee County, Biden claimed more than 69% of the vote.
In Dane County, home to far-left Madison, the state’s capital, Biden beat Trump 76% to 23%.
Biden won by more than 6,000 votes in the city of Kenosha, but lost Kenosha County to Trump, 50.8% to 47.7%.
Biden won Green Bay by about 4,000 votes, but lost surrounding Brown County to Trump, 52.8% to 45.6%. Trump also won Racine County with 51.3%, although Biden picked up more votes in the city of Racine.
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Metro Nashville Police this week said the city has a persistent problem with thieves stealing guns from other people’s vehicles. “A review of stolen gun reports in Nashville from Sunday, March 21, through Saturday, March 27, shows that 12 guns were stolen from cars and trucks, five from unlocked vehicles,” MNPD officials said in a press release.
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Officials have charged a Madison man this week with carjacking, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
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