Wisconsin Right Now

Jose Ibarra, a suspected member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and in America illegally since 2022 according to immigration officials, has been found guilty on all counts related to the murder of Laken Riley. Judge H. Patrick Haggard gave the ruling on Wednesday morning shortly after testimony and closing arguments had closed. Ibarra's defense attorneys waived the right to a jury trial in opting for a bench trial. Riley, 22, was a former University of Georgia student who had transferred into the Augusta University nursing program on the Athens campus. Her name became synonymous with immigration campaign points by Republicans in this year's election cycle. Prosecutors said, and Haggard agreed, Ibarra killed Riley on the morning of Feb. 22 as she was jogging near her Athens apartment. Haggard said he took two legal pads full of notes during the trial but typically just listened during closing arguments. The judge offered that he wrote down two things, one by pros

This is a column by Nicholas Kelly. He is the president of School Choice Wisconsin Wisconsin pioneered what has become a national movement to expand parent education options. From an initial program serving 341 students at seven schools, this year more than 181,000 Wisconsin students use choices that did not exist before the 1990’s. Across the political spectrum, and in all media markets, Wisconsin voters approve and favor expansion. Opponents are undeterred, especially when it comes to programs that let parents choose private schools. More than 58,000 students are enrolled this year in those Wisconsin programs. For more than three decades, opponents have advanced falsehoods and half-truths to describe these programs. This is illustrated in an error-filled attack in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by the president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. Her false claims include a canard that the paper’s education reporter debunked more than 20 years ago. Here’s a pa

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is urging the Legislature to "rein in DPI’s ability to change accountability standards in education" after the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released new report card data on November 19 in which "the only expectation is mediocrity." WILL Research Director Will Flanders, stated, “DPI has rewritten academic standards so that the only expectation is mediocrity, and Wisconsinites must not stand for it. Continual changes to both the Forward Exam and state report cards have created a ‘Frankenstein’s’ monster of an accountability system that outright hides declining academic achievement. The legislature must act in 2025.” Wisconsin DPI told Fox 6 that "94% of public school districts met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations. The ratings contain five categories: Significantly Exceeds Expectations, E xceeds Expectations (four stars), Meets Expectations (three stars), Meets Few Expectat

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday that his office will oppose President-elect Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his felony conviction in New York. Bragg said that despite plans to oppose Trump's motion, his office would agree to hit pause on the proceedings pending the judge's decision on Trump's motion to dismiss. Bragg also suggested the case could wait until Trump's finishes his term in the White House. "No current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune," Bragg wrote in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan. "Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed 'in a manner that preserves both the independence of the E

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, told lawmakers that she personally approved the firing of an employee who directed FEMA workers to not knock on the doors of those affected by Hurricane Helene if they had Trump signs in their yards. Helene hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane and wreaked havoc from Florida up the Eastern United States, killing more than 100 people in North Carolina alone and causing billions of dollars of damage across several states. In less than two weeks, Hurricane Milton did its own damage in many of the same areas, leaving thousands of Americans needing help. FEMA, however, has taken fire for its handling of the storms as well as its ongoing funding to help illegal immigrants. In particular, The Daily Wire first broke news showing screenshots of text messages from a FEMA employee telling about a dozen workers under her supervision to avoid visiting houses with Trump signs. The text message instructed workers that i

Citing discrimination against nonminorities in farming assistance programs, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiff Robert Holman's litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He's a corn and soybean farmer. The institute is calling on the incoming Trump administration to address the issue among other federal agencies as well. In an amicus brief supporting Holman, the conservative-leaning institute says prioritizing members of races deemed “socially disadvantaged” in taxpayer-funded assistance programs is unconstitutional. “During the Biden administration, race discrimination infected every nook and cranny of the federal government,” Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington of the Institute for Law and Liberty said. “These programs impact Americans and small businesses every day. The new Congress and administration should immediately dismantle each one of these discriminatory programs. Otherwise, we’ll see them in