Contact:  Emily Kumlien, ekumlien@uwhealth.org, (608) 265-8199, (608) 516-9154 Madison, Wis. – Hearing loss, highly stressful life events, speech and where you live could all be risk factors for cognitive decline, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison research presented this week at the 2017 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in London. It’s the largest international meeting dedicated to dementia science. These studies gleaned data from the long-running Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP) which has been following 1,500 participants, many of them adult children of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Megan Zuelsdorff, a post-doctoral trainee in the Health Disparities Research Scholar program at the UW School of Medicine

Contact: Senator Alberta Darling 1-608-266-5830 Madison – Wisconsin continues to lead in the nationwide battle against opioid abuse.  On Monday, Governor Scott Walker signed 11 bills co-authored by Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) to fight the epidemic. One of those bills will create a high school for students dealing with substance abuse.  Senator Darling says the school will give recovering students a chance to succeed. “We see kids struggling with addiction successfully complete treatment programs but soon relapse once they return to their previous school,” Darling said, “Many times, this is due to the fact that they fall into similar routines

Contact: Ben Voelkel (Johnson) (202) 228-0071 John Kraus (Baldwin) (202) 224-6225 WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin announced their agreement to establish a Wisconsin U.S. Marshals Service nominating commission. The commission will advise the senators on the nomination of individuals to fill two positions: those of the U.S. marshals for the eastern and western districts of Wisconsin. The commission shall consist of four Wisconsinites who are members of the Wisconsin law enforcement community, representing the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association, Wisconsin Police Executive Group, Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, and the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad

Contact:  Jerad Albracht, Senior Communications Specialist, 608-224-5007 or Bill Cosh, Communications Director, 608-224-5020 MADISON – Mid-July. Summer sun. Cold drinks. Sandy beaches. 64-packs of crayons. Wake up!  It’s back-to-school shopping season again! Each year this shopping event seems to come earlier, and this summer is no exception.  The shelves are stocked and the newspaper inserts are hitting doorsteps.  To make sure you get your money’s worth at the register, take these tips from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) along with your shopping list. “Whether you are in the market for flip-flops or laptops, notepads or padlocks, there is a sale

Contact: Rep. Sondy Pope 608-266-3520 MADISON, Wis.  – Representative Sondy Pope (D-Mt. Horeb) responded to a half-hearted apology issued by Representative Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) last Friday, after he stole a permitted sign from the Capitol rotunda.  Rep. Pope was asked by the sign’s owner for help in requesting a copy of the video.  Mysteriously, Rep. Kooyenga discovered his theft would become public, then made an attempt to misrepresent the content of the sign, claiming that he stole it to “uphold appropriate decorum.” “I would like to say the immaturity, audacity and excuses displayed by Rep. Kooyenga surprise me, but quite frankly,

Contact: Tom Evenson, (608) 266-2839 SCHOFIELD – Governor Scott Walker signed three special session bills into law today that are part of the Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education (H.O.P.E.) agenda passed by Wisconsin legislature during a special session. The three bills relate to detecting, treating, and preventing opioid abuse in schools. “In 2014, 843 Wisconsinites died from a drug overdose, some of whom were students,” Governor Walker said. “That’s 843 families that lost their loved ones – and it’s 843 too many lives lost. The bills we’re signing here today at DC Everest provide the resources needed to help detect, treat, and