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Kelly Tourdot: Merit creates workforce opportunity in Wisconsin
ABC’s apprentices can graduate, be promoted, and rise to the ranks of management, or even ownership, all while keeping the benefits and resources they’ve earned during their years of work. T

George Mitchell: A fork in the road for school choice
Wisconsin is now at a fork in the road when it comes to mission-based, educational autonomy for private choice schools.

Ruth Conniff: Crackdown on immigrant workers at a Wisconsin cheese factory triggers backlash, solidarity
Workers who pulled long shifts, kept the plant going through the pandemic and took pride in producing high quality, Mexican-style cheeses — queso fresco, queso blanco, quesadilla and panela — now feel betrayed.

David Blaska: Hate on crazy people, or meet the Minneapolis church shooter’s evil with compassion for all?
The partisan wolves are busy ripping whatever political advantage can be gained from this tragedy.

Mike Nichols: Want to truly help Wisconsin’s children? Stop using them as plaintiffs
Fifteen kids — one only eight years old — just filed a lawsuit in, of course, Dane County, claiming that, as children, they are particularly vulnerable to air pollution and fossil fuel-caused climate change.

Peyton McCauley and Melissa Scanlan: Thirsty data centers in Wisconsin should disclose water use
Massive consumption obscured from public

Scott Walker: Cracker Barrel steps in it
The American heartland, not corporate elite, is the customer base.

Brian Reisinger: Antitrust pushes by JD Vance and AOC, Cracker Barrel outrage signal big change
There’s a political realignment going on around big companies, and it will reshape our economy. The question is how.

Jamie Stiehm: Just when you think Trump can’t get worse, he gets worse
Now he threatens to send soldiers and federal agents to Baltimore and Chicago next.

Michael Lucas: What’s the issue with the BLS jobs data?
BLS’s initial “preliminary” figures have overstated the number of jobs every single month this year by a combined 461,000 jobs! In other words, in just 6 months they’ve managed to create––from thin air!––78% of the jobs they created in 2024.

Bruce Thompson: The surprising views of Justice Hagedorn
Elected as a conservative, he actually sides at least as much with liberals.

Bill Barth: Wisconsin wants voting alternatives
It’s a miracle this country managed to conduct free and fair elections both the people and politicians accepted for well over 200 years. Then, somehow, a substantial portion of the electorate just stopped.

James E. Causey: Milwaukee’s teens need more financial literacy. Here’s how they can get it
Milwaukee has one of the largest wealth gaps between Black and white residents in the nation, so teaching youth financial literacy helps to close this gap.

William Osmulski: Wisconsin’s addiction to deficit spending must end
Wisconsin has a long history of deficit spending in its budgets, betting that the economy will grow fast enough to cover the gap. Over the past few years, that bet has turned into a reckless gamble, and just a slight economic slowdown could be enough to throw the state over the edge.

David Couper: Memo to police officers: You are at a crossroads
Without judicial warrants, ICE detainers are illegal. If you obey them, you betray your oath of office and destroy the community trust you need.

Mitchell A. Sobieski: Cost of bacon: Once essential workers in meatpacking during COVID pandemic now face forced deportation
These workers were deemed essential only to ensure that white America could continue its routines uninterrupted during a crisis. Now, stripped of that temporary necessity, they are recast as expendable. That is not just political opportunism, it is a reflection of a deeper rot in the national character.

Gregory Humphrey: Removing expertise and institutional memory in federal workforce harms nation
Political loyalty must never supersede competence.

Emily Mills: Wisconsin needs a candidate for governor who will defend LGBTQ people
While there’s more I wish he’d been able to do throughout his time as governor, Evers was at least always a reliable bulwark against the worst excesses of the right-wing’s anti-LGBTQ crusade.

Michael Lucas: Zoning reform: Eau Claire leads the way
Eau Claire’s new zoning code will enhance housing flexibility and affordability by reducing restrictions and allowing diverse dwelling types. Hopefully, the rest of Wisconsin will follow suit and liberalize the land market.

Carolyn Kott Washburne: Flood response presented real-world opportunity to ‘help thy neighbor’
My neighbors and I found community among carnage.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ offer suggestions to end political violence
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, look at recent political violence and suggest some ways to end it. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for Aug. 29
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya Van Wagtendonk discuss conservative Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley’s decision not to seek reelection, Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to La Crosse, the state GOP’s November election review and more.