As I write this column, Wisconsin is in the midst of a severe air quality crisis, with alerts due to smoke from distant wildfires that have persisted in the “unhealthy” category.

For those who think only Wisconsin has confronted the corruption of gerrymandered legislative districts, look south across the border.

The small-d democratic logic of an argument made by Texas state Representative Ann Johnson—who, with her Democratic colleagues in the state legislature, has left Texas in order to prevent Republican legislators from carrying out President Trump’s order to radically gerrymander its congressional maps—is beyond debate.

This month, for the first time in 30 years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is without Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. It is also without one of its most consistent advocates for transparency in government.

It’s been a troubling summer for anyone who cares about children, families and the thousands of students who rely on summer and after-school programs across Wisconsin.

The July jobs report released last Friday wasn’t pretty. It showed weaker than anticipated U.S. job growth in July, and there were substantial downward revisions of jobs numbers for May and June as well.

Thirty-five years ago, on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law — a watershed moment for civil rights in this country. For millions, it marked the beginning of a new era: one that promised dignity, access, and equal opportunity.

Someone tell those Texas Democrats fleeing a vote on redistricting that the Clocktower Inn in Rockford has been demolished. Not long after Mark Miller and his gang of 14 sought refuge there from voting on Scott Walker’s Act 10.

The state legislature and executive branch seem oblivious to the outsized impacts that huge data centers will have on state-wide energy demand, availability, and cost

Jim Cullen, an Iowa newspaper editor whose family publishes one of that state’s few periodicals that don’t bow to the MAGA cult, had a little fun the other day with none other than Wisconsin’s 3rd District Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Grothman admitted he knew little about the issue and simply relied on Tiffany, “who’s spent his life Up North”— in deciding to sign on to a recent letterEditSign written to the Canadian Ambassador by Tiffany and also signed by four other Republican members of Congress from other states.

Today, we are seeing the devastating effects of prolonged wildfires in California. While the smoke from the Los Angeles fires may never reach us here in Wisconsin, climate change more than doubles the chances of hot, dry weather, fueling fire seasons into months-long catastrophes.

Her words captured Waterloo’s challenge: hope for scheduled highway upgrades tempered by the reality of local budget constraints that delay other essential road projects.

What do humpback whales, salmon runs, and clean energy projects have in common? They all thrive through balance, collaboration, and resilience—principles that guide both nature and effective leadership. My recent journey through Alaska revealed insights that drive WEI’s mission and my work as an elected official.

A month after his reelection last November, Donovan began paying himself $850 a month from his campaign account for “staff lodging” at his old house. “In all, he paid himself $5,950 in the seven months after the election,” the story reported.

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In the summer of 2024, Democratic Party leaders refused to let even a single Palestinian American speaker address their presidential convention about Israel’s horrific assault on Gaza.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. In October 2023 I unequivocally denounced the Hamas slaughter of about 1,200 Israelis as a war crime. Moreover, it was reprehensible