Category: Wisconsin

Wisconsin MPS Recall Group Threatens Class Action Lawsuit

The Center Square
Learning

The group driving the Milwaukee school board recall is now looking to file a class-action lawsuit.

The MPS School Board Recall Collaborative said it has filed formal complaints against the city’s school board with the Wisconsin Board of Ethics, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Department of Education against Milwaukee’s elected school board members. The group is alleging “malfeasance, illegal and unethical activities that cannot be denied by any of the Board members.”

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Wisconsin Father Accused of Fatally Stabbing His Two Children was in U.S. Illegally from Mexico

Just the News
Victor Manuel Gomez Acosta

A man accused of fatally stabbing his two children and injuring his wife in a Wisconsin town was living in the United States illegally, Just the News confirmed  Thursday.

Victor Manuel Gomez Acosta has been charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and attempted homicide. His bond is set at $1 million and his first court date is scheduled for July 30.

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Matt Kittle: Wisconsin’s Democrat Stronghold Cities Will Be ‘Littered’ with Unmanned Ballot Drop Boxes This Presidential Election

Kaitlin Housler
ballot dropbox

Matt Kittle, a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist, said Wisconsin’s five largest Democrat-controlled cities will be “littered” with unmanned ballot drop boxes for this year’s presidential election amid the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent 4-3 ruling in Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reverse a previous court ruling, endorsing the widespread use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the November 5 election.

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Wisconsin Crime Labs Not Meeting New DNA Testing Deadline

The Center Square
DNA Testing

A new audit raises questions as to whether Wisconsin’s attorney general will be able to meet a new state requirement to get sexual assault kits tested within six months.

The Legislative Audit Bureau released its new report on the state’s crime recently, saying there are fewer requests for sexual assault DNA kits at the crime labs, but it is taking the labs longer to process each kit.

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Second Effort to Recall Wisconsin Speaker Fails

The Center Square
Robin Vos

Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will not face a recall election after the Wisconsin Elections Commission threw out more than a hundred signatures on a petition.

The WEC voted 4-2 on Thursday afternoon to reject the Vos recall petition after it found the number of signatures submitted by the deadline insufficient. Commission staff had recommended Wednesday the commission accept the petition signatures.

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Gangs, Crime, and Terrible Living Conditions Included in New Look into Wisconsin City’s Immigration Problems

The Center Square
Tammy Baldwin and Bryan Steil

A new report says Whitewater’s immigration problems did not end when the city’s police chief sent a letter to the White House late last year.

The Institute for Reforming Government on Monday released a report that uses 4,000 open records requests to paint a picture of the continued problems that a flood of illegal immigrants has caused in Whitewater.

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Wisconsin AG Hits 3 Trump Allies with 2020 Election-Related Charges

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Josh Kaul

Democratic Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on Tuesday charged three Trump allies with felony forgery related to the 2020 election.

Two attorneys, Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, along with former aide Mike Roman, face one count each of forgery related to their role in attempting to submit alternate elector certificates to Congress stating former President Donald Trump, rather than President Joe Biden, won the 2020 election in the state. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers shared a one word statement on X in response to the charges: “Good.”

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Two Wisconsin Illegal Immigrants Charged in Alleged Sexual Assault of 12-Year-Old Girl

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Antonio Meija

Two illegal immigrants were charged Wednesday in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, according to court documents and releases.

The office of Fond du Lac Country District Attorney Eric J. Toney announced that Elia Antonio and Juan Carlos Rocha Mejia each face multiple counts stemming from a May 19 incident where Antonio’s 12-year-old daughter escaped after allegedly being bound, blindfolded and assaulted, according to a Wednesday release from the DA’s office and a May 20 release from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office. Antonia was the 12-year-old girl’s mother, according to a criminal complaint.

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Major Shift in State Supreme Court Could Allow Unions to Wreak Havoc on Wisconsin’s Budget Once Again, Experts Say

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Wisconsin Capitol Protest Union

A legal challenge could upend a long-standing Wisconsin law that has successfully balanced the budget at the expense of curbing public unions in the state, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Lawmakers passed the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, also known as Act 10, in 2011 in an effort to reduce the state’s budget deficit primarily by limiting the power of public unions to demand higher compensation and benefits that had come to be a drag on the state’s finances. A coalition of unions had their chance to argue starting on Tuesday to a Wisconsin judge that the law was unconstitutional, despite previous legal objections and the law’s success at solving key budgetary issues that had previously plagued the state, emboldened by a new liberal majority on the court that threatens to repeal the law, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.

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Poll: Uninstructed Voters Claim to Control Biden’s Wisconsin Fate

The Center Square
Joe Biden Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s uninstructed, or uncommitted, voters are out with a new poll that says they could keep President Joe Biden from winning the state in November.

The Americans for Justice in Palestine-Action group commissioned the poll from YouGov. It says 1-in-5 Democrats and Independents in Wisconsin say they are less likely to vote for the president because of how he’s handled the war in Gaza.

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Human Rights Campaign to Target Wisconsin in Push for Equality Voters

The Center Square
People Voting

The Human Rights Campaign wants spend millions of dollars to connect with equality voters in Wisconsin this election season.

The Human Rights Campaign bills itself as the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.  It says equality voters are people who share their LGBTQ focus and agenda.

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Wisconsin Awards $32.6 Million in Grants to Housing Developers

The Center Square
Construction on House

Wisconsin housing developers are set to receive $32.6 million in housing tax credits for 2024, part of $525 million in workforce housing in this year’s biennial budget, Gov. Tony Evers’ office said.

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority received $56 million in grant requests from developers with 23 developments in 14 counties that will create 1,383 affordable housing units being awarded the grants.

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Minnesota and Wisconsin Withhold Voter Registration from Public That Most States are Federally Mandated to Disclose

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Meagan Wolfe Steve Simon

Wisconsin is one of the most fiercely contested battleground states in this election cycle, but it lacks federal transparency requirements for voter registration imposed on most states, according to a lawsuit by an election watchdog.

Minnesota, generally a solidly blue state although it saw a razor-thin margin in the results of the 2016 presidential race, also doesn’t make its voter rolls available to the public, the lawsuit contends.

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Commentary: Housing Woes in the Heartland

Admin

Wisconsin could well determine the next president of the United States. President Trump earned his historic upset victory in 2016 with a win in Wisconsin by only 27,000 votes. Four years later, Biden prevailed there by an even smaller 20,000 vote margin, out of 3.2 million total ballots.

This year’s election figures to be another photo finish. The latest battleground state polling shows Trump up +1% in a multi-candidate field. This polling was commissioned by my populist Right labor organization, the League of American Workers, and queried a sampling of likely voters in Wisconsin that split evenly in 2020 between Trump and Biden.

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Wisconsin Election Integrity Journalist Who Exposed Allegedly Illegal Democratic ‘Smurfing’ Donations Arrested

Rachel Alexander
Peter Bernegger

Peter Bernegger, president of Election Watch in Wisconsin, was arrested last week after filing complaints against officials and candidates he exposed for accepting donations allegedly facilitated by progressive activists in the names of people who were unaware of them. He was charged with a felony, simulating a legal process.

Bernegger posted on X after posting bail and being released, “This is politically motivated where they are trying to shut me up, to shut us all up. For those who don’t know, this is the second time they have come after me; the first time was dismissed in 15 minutes when the judge learned the truth of the matter.”

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Green Bay Broke Same-Day Voter Registration Rules, Allowed Illegal Votes, Election Group Alleges

Just the News
Celestine Jeffreys

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) filed a complaint on Monday against the Green Bay city clerk to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for not following state law to verify same-day voter registrations. Same-day voter registration, which is when people can register to vote and cast a ballot at the same time, is a practice that both PILF and the Honest Elections Project warn may let illegal votes be counted before a voter’s registration can be verified.

PILF reported the Green Bay city clerk to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for failing to follow state law on same-day voter registration, an election practice that election integrity advocates warn can allow illegal votes to be counted.

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Wisconsin Directs Federal IDEA Funds Toward Racism, Equity Workshops

The Center Square
Teacher with Students

A project housed under the Wisconsin Department of Education is using federal special education funds to pay speakers to provide instruction to teachers on race, equity and Black queer feminist methodology.

Wisconsin’s Educational Equity Network’s virtual events feature presentations from authors and activists, including notable and controversial writers such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, about racism, inequity and marginalized gender or sexual identities.

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Wisconsin Gov Shoots Down Bill to Keep Boys Off Girls’ Sports Teams

Admin
Girls Basketball

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill Tuesday barring biological men from competing in women’s sports just weeks after it passed the state Senate.

The bill was passed by the state Senate in March by a 20 to 11 vote and would require athletes to compete in sports categories in line with their biological sex. Evers had expressed displeasure with the legislation in the past and opted to veto the bill, arguing that it would only embolden “anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence,” according to a press release.

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Wisconsin Has Awarded 14 $3 Million Tax Credits for Investors in Innovative Businesses in 2024

The Center Square
Wisconsin Capitol

Wisconsin’s Department of Economic Development has awarded $3 million in tax credits to investors in 14 startups in the state so far in 2024.

The tax credits are part of the state’s Qualified New Business Venture program, which began in 2005. It gives 25% transferrable tax credits for investors in qualified new businesses capped at $3 million for a $12 million cash equity investment.

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Gov. Evers OKs Millions for University of Wisconsin Construction, Tuition Distribution Changes

The Center Square
UW Campus

There’s going to be a building boom on some University of Wisconsin campuses across the state.

Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday signed a new law that clears the way for a new engineering building at UW-Madison, as well as classroom renovations in both Madison and Whitewater. The new law also includes nearly $200 million for central plant renovations and demolition projects.

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Green Bay School Superintendent Resigns After Calling Colleague ‘Witch,’ Wisconsin ‘Lily’ White on Hot Mic in Atlanta Radio Interview

Tom Pappert
Radio Interview

A Green Bay, Wisconsin school superintendent resigned on Tuesday after he was captured on a hot mic describing the district as “lily” white and expressing his displeasure at working in a “white district” during an appearance on WAOK-AM as he visited Atlanta to recruit educators.

Former Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS) Superintendent Claude Tiller Jr.’s hot mic comments were broadcast on YouTube while the radio station broadcast was on a commercial break.

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