By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT Proponents of bipartisanship and law enforcement got a big victory last week in the U.S. House of Representatives. A large bipartisan majority voted to approve a bill that will give $60 million over the next five years to law enforcement agencies with fewer than 125 officers to do things […]
Author Archives: Peter Cameron
Posted inLocal news, Politics, Schools
Over a year later, Republican appointees to tech school board still refuse to resign despite expired terms
September 20, 2022 With Wisconsin Supreme Court approval, coordinated norm-breaking across state boards allows GOP to hold control of some and possibly take control of others sooner than usual, experts say By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT Three members of the 13-seat Wisconsin Technical College System board continue to serve in those positions despite their […]
Posted inGovernment, Local news, Police and fire
Total number of police in Wisconsin, already at historic lows, continues to drop
by The Badger Project, The Badger ProjectAugust 29, 2022 By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT The number of law enforcement officers in the state ticked down again in 2022, setting a new record for the lowest statewide total since the Wisconsin Department of Justice started tracking the numbers in 2008. To relieve some of the […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson votes to block bipartisan cap on insulin prices
by The Badger Project, The Badger ProjectAugust 8, 2022 By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT As Senate Democrats were busy squeaking through a large bill on Sunday they say will reduce inflation, fight climate change and reduce drug prices, among other things, Sen. Ron Johnson joined 42 other Republican senators to block an amendment to […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news
Top GOP leaders have no Democratic opposition in 2022, but plenty from their own party, and an ex-president
By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT August 2, 2022 Democrats are not running candidates this year against the two most powerful Republicans in the state. But each (GOP) politician — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMaheiu — is facing challenges from within their own party. It’s a result of the current […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news
REDISTRICTING RECAP: More Republican gerrymandering for now. But hope remains for pro-democracy proponents, Democrats
by The Badger Project, The Badger ProjectApril 29, 2022 While Wisconsin Supreme Court gave Republicans major wins, the 2023 election could reverse them. On the left, the congressional districts from the 2010s, and on the right, the new districts for the next decade. In the recent round of redistricting, Wisconsin’s congressional districts changed only slightly […]
Posted inBusiness
After receiving tens of millions from federal government for internet upgrades, big telecom companies ask state for millions more
by Peter Cameron, The Badger ProjectApril 4, 2022 Local companies and co-ops have done more for rural Wisconsin, experts say A map from the Wisconsin PSC documenting all the requests for broadband expansion grants in the current round. BY PETER CAMERON, The Badger Project Big telecommunications companies including Frontier and AT&T are asking the state […]
Posted inElections, Government
Better ways to do elections are out there, critics say. Other countries use them. Why not here?
March 21, 2022 BY PETER CAMERON, The Badger Project Elections are supposed to be the mechanism voters use to choose their political representatives. But increasingly, it’s the elected leaders who choose the voters. Changes could be made to prevent this. Gerrymandering — the manipulation of political district boundaries by the political party that controls state […]
Posted inLocal news, Police and fire
Nearly 200 Wisconsin officers back on the job after being fired or forced out
By Peter Cameron, For Wisconsin Watch One officer was accused by a supervisor of snoozing in his squad car while on duty. Another had multiple drunken run-ins with police, including after bar fights. A third repeatedly sent lewd photos to a female officer. All of them were fired or forced out. And all of them […]
Posted inLocal news, Police and fire
Total police officers, academy graduates in WI at 10-year low
BY PETER CAMERON, THE BADGER PROJECT The number of law enforcement officers in the state and the number of law enforcement academy graduates here have fallen to their lowest points in at least a decade, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Wisconsin has about 13,600 law enforcement officers at the moment. That’s […]
Posted inGovernment, Local news
Wisconsin state legislators wrote themselves a ‘bizarre’ loophole in the Open Records Law
BY PETER CAMERON, THE BADGER PROJECT If the city of Oshkosh’s streets superintendent gets an email from a citizen complaining about an uneven sidewalk in front of his house, by law that public employee has to hold onto that record should anyone want to see it. State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) But if a state […]
Posted inCORONAVIRUS
As semester ends in Wisconsin, COVID-19 fears shrink — while concerns of academic slide grow
By Peter Cameron For Wisconsin Watch One family reported driving to the community library parking lot, sitting there for hours each day so their children could use the wifi to do homework in the car. Another student reported having to do the same thing in the parking lot of the local McDonald’s. “I’m gaining weight,” […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
TWO MILLION DOLLAR CHECKS: This Year, Out-of-State Liberals Dominated Donations to Wisconsin Political Parties
The ex-wife of a Silicon Valley super-investor. The governor of Illinois. George Soros. Out-of-state millionaires and billionaires are pouring money into the two major Wisconsin political parties in 2020. Huge donations from outside the state are becoming the norm in Wisconsin, where legal changes have allowed for ever-increasing political donations in recent years. Following the […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
The Election is Over. Wisconsin Turns to Redistricting.
The veto is intact. Now that the election is over, it’s time to move on to the next political fight in Wisconsin. The results from that will last longer than a Joe Biden presidency. Like every state in the union, Wisconsin must redraw its political districts. Many experts consider the Dairy State’s to be among […]
Posted inGovernment, Local news
Policing in Wisconsin: ‘Room for improvement,’ but could be a lot worse
More than a month after the death of George Floyd led to protests across the country, calls to reform police have reached the decibel levels of a thunderbolt. State Democrats have released several bills they say will improve policing in Wisconsin. So have some from the GOP. But with the election less than four months […]