Couldn’t understand the words, still the message came through loud and clear.

I surely was not the only one who laughed out loud when Congressman Andy Ogles described the Super Bowl halftime show as “gay pornography.” I viewed the show as stylized and choreographed in the same tradition that has defined pop‑music halftime shows for decades. But all of a sudden we are to believe that a cultural emergency has befallen the country.

Maybe the culture wars started with the Dixie Chicks. The “Dizzy Chicks” hated on Dubya and the president’s supporters returned the disfavor. Today, even Big Bird is suspect.

The city of Madison will work to protect against unreasonable monetary damages and will continue to encourage, promote, and protect the right to vote — including absentee voting. You don’t have to take my word for it; we prove it each and every election.

As lawmakers once again are poised to consider a bill related to online sports betting, they need yet another reminder that the state constitution has not changed. While the tribal gaming lobbyists may be pushing hard to get what they want, the Legislature has absolutely no power to give it.

As a doctor who has researched and used the hemp plant to help people, it would be a betrayal of Wisconsin’s consumers to take the only form of legal cannabis in Wisconsin and allow it to end or hand it over to an industry with no history, understanding or support of the plant.

Starting in 2027, Wisconsin families could become eligible to receive millions in new funds – at zero cost to the state – for all kinds of educational opportunities. The funds could be used for anything from tutoring to supplemental courses not offered in their school, to covering tuition at a private school. But there is one catch. A single person gets to decide whether Wisconsin families get to access those funds.

Until conservatives show up in the spring the way they show up in the fall for the likes of Donald Trump and Ron Johnson, our schools are going to be run by entitled elitists who want to enrich themselves all the while schools in our state are going to hell.

No finger to the wind. No telling people whatever they wanted to hear. Voters knew what they were getting. America could use more of that.

You might not know it from the sports rivalries between the Gophers and the Badgers, or the Vikings and the Packers, but Wisconsin has long cherished its relationship with its neighbor Minnesota.

Afghans served as translators and other support personnel during America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, the longest war by far in American history. They saved countless American lives during the mission, ultimately successful, to track down Osama bin Laden.

Gone are the days when senators spent decades in the state Legislature.

Brennan recognizes what’s at stake.

Madison takes enough incoming from the hard-right. We don’t need the left to pile on.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel education reporter Kayla Huynh’s February 2 story pulls back the curtain on an issue with adverse consequences on a par with the decades-long forced busing desegregation plan.

Estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy. It’s for anyone who wants to ensure their wishes are honored, their loved ones are protected, and their hard-earned assets go where they are supposed to go.

Over more than four decades, George Austin has steered iconic Madison projects like the Monona Terrace Convention Center and the Overture Center for the Arts. He is doing it again now as the project manager for the forthcoming Wisconsin History Center on Capitol Square.

The question isn’t whether data centers are coming. They are. The question is whether Wisconsin will do the hard work required to capture the benefits, mitigate the downsides and be a leader in the high-tech economy.

Wisconsin, once a bastion of open government, is now dealing with billion- and trillion-dollar entities seeking to plant huge data centers here. And there aren’t enough journalists to shine a light on what’s happening.

Bills aim to strengthen free speech protections, but future is uncertain.