George Stanley

New UW-Madison major will teach students to bridge partisan divides Young people are flocking to public policy classes at a time when polarization and gridlock can paralyze legislative action. To meet the demand, the La Follette School of Public Affairs will launch…

Hope: Young people are flocking to public policy classes at a time when polarization often paralyzes government. To meet demand, UW's La Follette School of Public Affairs will launch its first undergrad major in fall 2026, with a focus on finding common ground wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Supreme Costs: Wisconsin’s pricey and partisan high court elections Wisconsin Watch examines record spending in state Supreme Court elections, how Wisconsin became a national outlier and what can be done about it.

Wis Supreme Court races are everything they were never meant to be — partisan, astronomically expensive national political battles in which candidates’ ideologies overshadow their qualifications.

Why, and what can we do about it? Read our series Supreme Costs wisconsinwatch.org/supreme-cost...

Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...

Trump hung up on a ProPublica reporter after being asked whether his Florida mortgages were similar to those of others he had accused of fraud. 🤔

Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War

President Donald Trump sends American taxpayers a new $12 billion bill — to cover losses to farmers caused by his tariffs www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...

It means that ANYTHING is possible!

Sick of those state Supreme Court campaign ads, Wisconsin? Here’s how other states avoid them Polls show Wisconsin prefers to elect justices, but the timing, term limits and vetting of candidates could be different.

Sick of those Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign attack ads?
Nonpartisan commissions nominate top judges in 11 states. And 12 states use independent performance reviews by experts to help voters determine judges’ competence. Part 3 @wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Unlimited donations, weak recusal rules led to record Wisconsin Supreme Court spending Democrats seek to revive public financing of Supreme Court elections after previous attempts failed.

In 2025, a U.S. record $144 million was spent on an intensely negative WI Court race, including $30 million in checks from Elon Musk to conservative voters. Yet the history of public financing and attempts to tighten recusal rules offers hope for better ways wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Unlimited donations, weak recusal rules led to record Wisconsin Supreme Court spending Democrats seek to revive public financing of Supreme Court elections after previous attempts failed.

A 2009 public financing law lasted for just one race. The justices had their own chance to protect the court’s reputation, by strengthening rules for when they would step aside from cases involving financial backers. They did the opposite. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Unlimited donations, weak recusal rules led to record Wisconsin Supreme Court spending Democrats seek to revive public financing of Supreme Court elections after previous attempts failed.

In 2007, every WI Supreme Ct Justice, conservative and liberal, asked for public financing of Court elections. They worried a $5 million negative ad campaign had left the impression that justices would be more beholden to their sponsors' interests than the law wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

‘Creating fear and chaos’: ICE officials target Somali neighborhoods, scoop up U.S. citizens in sweep Local activists reported a series of arrests across the Twin Cities, including outside Somali housing areas, malls and at a Latino day labor spot, after a contingent of ICE agents descended on the Twi...

ICE targets Somali neighborhoods in Twin Cities, scooping up up U.S. citizens in sweep Only about 4,200 of the more than 80,000 Somalis living in Minnesota are not U.S. citizens. Many of those 4,200 are green-card holders. @sahanjournal.bsky.social
share.google/zV7W2cI8IKhc...

Wisconsin Supreme Court to weigh sheriffs’ cooperation with ICE The ACLU sued on behalf of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera. The lawsuit challenges detention practices in Brown, Kenosha, Marathon, Sauk and Walworth counties.

Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin sheriffs’ practices of holding immigrants in jail for ICE in Brown, Kenosha, Marathon, Sauk and Walworth counties. @wisconsinwatch.org

wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Anti-data center protesters arrested during public comment period at Port Washington meeting

www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

Wisconsin Supreme Court elections have drawn an ‘obscene’ amount of spending. Here’s why and what can be done about it. Loose campaign finance laws, lax recusal rules, a purple electorate and even the spring election cycle all help explain why high court races have become so expensive.

Wisconsin's Supreme Court races have become everything they were never meant to be — highly partisan, astronomically expensive national political battles in which the candidates’ ideologies overshadow their abilities to “administer justice faithfully & impartially” wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

Just liberated by Trump: “He boasted he would ‘stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses.’” He let El Chapo ship cocaine through Honduras. He orchestrated a vast trafficking conspiracy that raked in millions for cartels while keeping Honduras poor, violent & corrupt www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...

Wisconsin high schools want to offer more college classes. First, teachers must go back to school. School officials statewide want to give more students a jump start on college with dual enrollment classes. But they say they lack qualified teachers, and for busy teachers, grad school is a hard s…

Wisconsin high schools want to offer more college classes to give students a jump start. However, teachers with the qualifications to teach college courses are in short supply. For busy teachers, grad school has been a hard sell, @wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

He Vowed to “Protect the Unborn.” Now He’s Blocking a Bill to Expand Medicaid for Wisconsin’s New Moms. Splitting with anti-abortion members of his own party, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has refused to join 48 other states in ensuring that vulnerable women have access to potentially lifesaving ...

In 48 other states, new moms have access to Medicaid for up to one year after they give birth. Not in Wisconsin.

There, the limit remains two months. And it’s only because of one man: Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

By @megomatz.bsky.social

As living costs soar, tax relief shrinks for low-income Wisconsin residents The homestead credit, a crucial source of property tax relief, has withered due to inflation and legislative inaction.

As living costs soar, tax relief shrinks for low-income Wisconsin residents, @wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisc...

Hegseth, with White House help, tries to distance himself from boat strike fallout As Congress vows accountability, the Trump administration emphasized it was a top military commander — not the defense secretary — who directed the engagement.

Defense Secretary Hegseth, with White House help, tries to pin potential war crime on military leader who folliwed his order. “This is ‘protect Pete’ bulls---,” a military official told The Post. “It’s throwing us, the service members, under the bus.”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...

Lisa Murkowski : Senator Kelly valiantly served our country as an aviator in the U.S. Navy before later completing four space shuttle missions as a NASA astronaut. To accuse him and other lawmakers of treason and sedition for rightfully pointing out that servicemembers can refuse illegal orders is reckless and flat-out wrong. The Department of Defense and FBI surely have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation.

Republican senator now publicly defending Mark Kelly

How a Madison woman’s question sparked a growing statewide civics contest The annual quiz game about government and democracy has doubled in size since the Wisconsin Newspaper Association started it. The brainchild of a retired teacher-turned-reporter, it encourages youn…

Fantastic news! Please urge your high school to join. So many folks can't answer basic questions about how our government works -- how can we stay in charge of it? 'UW System to take on high school Civics Contest' as it outgrows Wisconsin Newspaper Assoc.
wisconsinwatch.org/2025/11/how-...

New nonprofit wants to connect Black and Brown people to nature Urban Nature Connection will bring people to nature via outdoor activities, partnerships and advocacy.

Love this! The closer we get to the natural world, the healthier we become. @milwaukeenns.org
'New nonprofit wants to connect Black and Brown people to nature' milwaukeenns.org/2025/11/24/n...

Hall of Fame football writer Bob McGinn analyzes the game of future Hall of Fame RB Jonathan Taylor, who played for Wisconsin, back when the Badgers were a contender rhttps://www.golongtd.com/p/mcginn-files-jonathan-taylor-the?r=26b8af&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

My favorite part: "This is not the story of a dying industry. It is the story of a country choosing to rebuild its civic life — one newsroom, one community at a time." It's our choice.

Reflections of a localist: Remarks from Sarabeth Berman for the DRK Foundation - American Journalism Project

Wise words: "Our global challenges, our national crises, will ultimately be solved at the local level," @sarabethb.bsky.social "When communities lose their local news, civic engagement drops, corruption goes unchecked, government waste increases & polarization widens www.theajp.org/news-insight...

Something is wrong with Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River Warming water may have an outsized impact on the legendary lake, which has been protected for decades.

Minnesotans have done everything they can to protect this picturesque lake in an ancient woods from which the country’s great river begins. But Lake Itasca’s chemistry, shallow depth and even its shape make it vulnerable to warming temperatures in the north www.startribune.com/lake-itasca-...

A host of challenges face those choosing Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance for 2026. Here is some information that might help folks in Wisconsin who are feeling anxious or overwhelmed @wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org/2025/11/how-...

‘So sudden, so jarring’: Immigration ruling streamlines deportations to countries asylum seekers barely know A Board of Immigration Appeals decision makes it easier for federal officials to toss thousands of asylum cases and send applicants to a “third country” where they have never lived. But the mechani…

ICE arrested a man in Manitowoc seeking asylum from Nicaragua before his Nov. 4 hearing before an immigration court judge. Now he may be deported to a third country: Honduras. A system where rule of law is replaced by "crazy arbitrariness" @wisconsinwatch.org wisconsinwatch.org/2025/11/wisc...

A double legacy: Reflections on my grandfathers’ service and sacrifice The Vietnam War is a reminder that misinformation, when left unchallenged, can alter the course of a nation and define generations.

"Veterans Day is a time to pause & think about what they endured & fought for, not only for their families but for the ideals that define our country. It reminds me how easily those freedoms can fade when we forget the cost of protecting them," Rich Brown @wisconsinwatch.org tinyurl.com/mrxcybsr

YouTube video by Wisconsin Watch Are manufactured or factory-built homes a potential solution to the affordable housing crisis?

Are manufactured or factory-built homes a potential solution to the affordable housing crisis? Habitat for Humanity in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, thinks so. But zoning restrictions based on outdated stigmas often get in the way. Free access to this story:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYoB...