by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 7, 2023 Three appointments to volunteer boards in Kenosha County have sparked uproar in the community with echoes of the unrest that rocked the city on the shore of Lake Michigan more than two years ago after police shot and paralyzed a Black man. On Friday, Kenosha County Executive Samantha […]
Author Archives: Erik Gunn
Posted inGovernment, Local news
What will it take to get GOP lawmakers, Democratic governor to work together?
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerJanuary 25, 2023 Can they all get along? At Tuesday evening’s State of the State address, Republican lawmakers hinted at potential support for a few of the initiatives that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced, but kept mum on the details. Otherwise, they largely hewed to their first-term playbook: writing off and […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
Evers re-elected, voters split tickets in other state races
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerNovember 9, 2022 Democratic Gov. Tony Evers defeated Republican Tim Michels winning a second term Tuesday in an election night that showed Wisconsin to be politically split right down the middle. Michels, the executive of a family-owned construction company, conceded the race at about 20 minutes after midnight Wednesday, as Evers’s […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news
Vos, Assembly cited for contempt after not turning over election review records
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 30, 2022 A Dane County judge cited Assembly Speaker Robin Vos with contempt of court Wednesday for failing to comply with her order five months ago to turn over records from the 2020 election review that Vos commissioned. The failure of Vos and the Wisconsin Assembly to search for and […]
Posted inGovernment
Democrats in Legislature re-launch ‘Economic Justice Bill of Rights’
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 22, 2022 Lawmakers and community activists joined forces Monday to re-energize a year-old campaign for broader economic justice, access and equality in Wisconsin. “True freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence,” said Rep. Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay) at a news conference in the state Assembly chamber to relaunch a […]
Posted inCORONAVIRUS
Public health providers hope testing wastewater will alert them to next COVID-19 spike
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 21, 2022 As COVID-19 cases continue to ease in Wisconsin and public health officials cast a wary eye toward the possibility of a new increase, tracking the virus in wastewater is taking on new importance. “It can kind of give us a kind of an early peek … at what […]
Posted inCORONAVIRUS
DHS: Wastewater shows COVID increase, but significance not yet certain
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 15, 2022 Concentrations of the virus responsible for COVID-19 in wastewater in some Wisconsin cities have been increasing, state health officials confirmed Tuesday, but the significance of that development isn’t clear. Wastewater virus testing “has been shown to be a leading indicator of cases,” according to Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokeswoman […]
Posted inGovernment
Case tests how much local government can do to protect the public
by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin ExaminerMarch 14, 2022 How much power should a local health officer, have to keep a community safe in the middle of a pandemic? That question was at the heart of an hourlong debate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week between lawyers for Dane County’s health department and the rightwing law […]