Wisconsin Right Now

"I'm not running against just one justice. I'm running against all four of them," - Brad Schimel told WRN Former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel announced his campaign for state Supreme Court on Thursday night, promising to lead "not just a campaign. This is a movement to take back our state." Schimel accused the four left-wing justices who form a majority on the court of operating "above the law," and unethically supplanting the Constitution and rule of law with their own opinions. "I'm not running against just one justice. I'm running against all four of them," Schimel told WRN after his speech at a manufacturing plant in Waukesha. He was introduced by former Waukesha County Sheriff Dan Trawicki and current Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson, both of whom offered strong praise for Schimel. The speech drew an enthusiastic crowd. After his speech, Schimel picked up an electric guitar and rocked with his band. ...

Top Republicans warned Thursday that the repeal of Act 10 in Wisconsin would "bankrupt schools and local governments." Act 10 "has saved Wisconsin taxpayers $16.8 BILLION since it was signed into law," the Assembly GOP wrote on X, citing research by the MacIver Institute. "The repeal of Act 10 would bankrupt schools and local governments right after we gave them a historic funding increase," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said. "This is another attempt by liberal special interest groups to undo the law to please their donors now that there’s been a shift in the court." "Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers $16.8 BILLION since it was signed into law," state Sen. Duey Stroobel said. "Now, left-wing activists are engaging in more lawfare because they expect the new liberal-activist majority to legislate from the bench. Democrats are fighting to take our state backward." The comments from them and others came after the Ass...

Currently, our staffing is 14 officers short, and there are 18 officers prepared to retire in 2024 as a direct result of this retiree healthcare issue. - Wauwatosa Police Officers Association The Wauwatosa Police Officers Association says the department is expected to lose another 18 officers in addition to the 14-officer deficit the department is currently experiencing if city officials go ahead with efforts to keep police retiree healthcare language from an already negotiated contract. The city's "attack" on retiree healthcare benefits continues despite a judge's ruling and a recent law signed by Gov. Evers involving a relevant Racine case, a union email to aldermen said. The email puts the blame at the feet of City Administrator James Archambo. Typically during contract negotiations between municipalities and unions, retiree health insurance benefits are included in those talks. The email also raises questions about how much money the city is spending on ...

  Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who helped steer U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam and China, died Wednesday. He was 100. His consulting firm, Kissinger Associates Inc., announced the death. Kissinger, born as Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Germany in 1923, left Nazi Germany for America in 1938. He served in the 84th Army Division from 1943 to 1946 after becoming a U.S. citizen. He was awarded the Bronze Star. He later served in the Counter Intelligence Corps in occupied Germany. President Richard Nixon appointed Kissinger as National Security Adviser in 1969. He went on to serve as Secretary of State under Nixon. When Nixon resigned in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, Kissinger stayed on and served under President Gerald Ford. "Kissinger played central roles in the opening to China, negotiating the end of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, and helping to bring America's role in the Vietnam War to a close. He worked to set the former Rhodesia on the path t...

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers defended using a secret alias email to conduct public business and said he "absolutely" thought it was appropriate to black out the taxpayer-funded address so the public can't find out what it is, saying that his secret email is "not Tony Evers. It's whatever." The rambling statement was Evers' first public comments, outside of those made by a spokesperson, on the alias email controversy that has engulfed his administration, with news coverage all over the state and even nationally. Wisconsin Right Now first broke the story on Sunday that Evers was using the secret taxpayer-funded email account, warren.spahn@wisconsin.gov, and that 17,000 records exist. The governor's office will not release the 17,000 records, saying the request is too broad. Warren Spahn was a deceased Milwaukee Braves baseball legend. His granddaughter has asked the governor for an apology. https://twitter.com/AJBayatpour/status/1729976718637...

Many children in Wisconsin schools have not returned to class since the COVID outbreak. A new report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty looks at the spike in chronic absenteeism, particularly since the start of the 2020 school year. “The first step in the education of a student is them being present to absorb the material. But when a student is regularly not in school, this process breaks down,” Will Flanders wrote in the report. “Getting kids into school on a daily basis is a responsibility shared by school districts and parents. While there is no one change that can magically reverse the downward trend in attendance, it is vital that this issue be at the forefront for policymakers concerned about the education of the next generation.” The report shows truancy rates in Wisconsin public schools have more than doubled since 2012. “About 10% of students were chronically absent in 2012 compared to more than 20% today,” the report notes. The report also shows some...

By: Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans Gen Z voters in Wisconsin voted two to one for Joe Biden in 2020, 33% higher than Democratic turnout in the 2016 Presidential Election. The Wisconsin College Republicans and its chapters across the state support voter turnout among our peers, it is our belief, the increase in 74,000 votes coupled with President Biden’s 61-33 advantage among 18–24-year-old voters was undeniably a contributing factor in Biden’s 20,000 vote win in Wisconsin. As the representatives of the GOP on our campuses, we believe we have a mandate to avoid youth-related political oversights we have seen in previous elections. Fundamentally, GOP Presidential Candidates must utilize all tools available to them to gain support among the college-aged demographic. This is done through communication with this group. Candidates must literally go meet the voters at their own level. This is most effectively done through social media. A recent NPR story titled, Democrats...

A West Bend man claimed his girlfriend was kidnapped by 12 Marines. According to West Bend Police , on Nov 24th, at 1:58 p.m. officers responded to the 1400 block of South 7th Avenue after a man, 46, flagged down a motorist and said his girlfriend had been kidnapped by 12 Marines. Officers located the man, intoxicated, and discovered he had fired a gun from his residence to scare off the “kidnappers”. Officers recovered the gun and confirmed his girlfriend had not been kidnapped. The man was medically cleared and jailed for operating a firearm while intoxicated and endangering safety. https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/12-marines-kidnapped-his-girlfriend/?feed_id=5693&_unique_id=656790cea577a

“Allowing a traditional understanding of Christmas to be usurped and desecrated by an organization/cult is divisive during a time of the year that we come together in unity as a community. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.” -Bishop David L. Ricken The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is strongly objecting to a satanic tree displayed at The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This year, the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay displayed a tree representing the Satanic Temple of Wisconsin in their Festival of Trees display as written about by WRN columnist Stephanie Soucek. In a press release, Bishop David L. Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay said, “Displaying a Christmas tree with bright red lights, inverted crosses, pentagrams and other satanic symbolism, with a snake wrapped around the tree where our savior belongs, is not something families and children should be exposed to at any time, but most especially during this Christmas season. The tree is...

The plan would essentially make Wisconsin’s COVID-era telehealth program permanent. The plan to change Wisconsin’s telehealth rules for mental health treatment is coming together at the State Capitol. The Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families held a hearing Tuesday on Senate Bill 515 which would allow out-of-state mental health providers to take patients in Wisconsin without having to get a license to practice in Wisconsin. “Overall, this breaks down barriers. It allows other providers to provide other services. And it allows people to get the help that they need,” Sen. Rachel Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, said. The plan would essentially make Wisconsin’s COVID-era telehealth program permanent. Supporters say it will also help battle Wisconsin’s “crisis level” shortage of mental health providers. In a press release, IRG Action Fund CEO, CJ Szafir said, “It’s no secret that Wisconsin is facing a mental health crisis which has b...

Introducing legend Warren Spahn to younger generations is the silver lining here. I had an interesting conversation with Warren Spahn’s granddaughter today and from that discussion grew an idea: That the renewed media attention on the Milwaukee Braves’ baseball legend could have a positive result by reintroducing Spahn and his legacy to younger generations. This is an entirely separate question from the open records questions that remain surrounding Gov. Tony Evers’ use of Spahn’s name in a secret email account. Those are questions for other stories , however.  It’s a pretty goofy way we all ended up talking about Warren Spahn again, but it’s good this is who we are talking about. We should talk more about the legacy of the Greatest Generation, and he is a great example. This story is about Spahn himself. “I had the honor of meeting him at a card show back in the 80’s when I was 8 or 9 yrs old,” a woman wrote of Spahn on our social media page, as positive tributes for the ...

The granddaughter of Milwaukee Braves baseball legend Warren Spahn is calling on Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to apologize for using their loved one's name to communicate about state business. She called Evers' actions "absolutely" wrong and "highly inappropriate" and called on him to stop using the email address in Spahn's name. We sent Evers' office an email asking if he will apologize to the Spahn family. "He (Evers) needs to give out an apology for the privacy of the fact that our grandpa has passed away, our dad has passed away," said Morgan Spahn, Warren's granddaughter. "He (Evers) needs to stop and issue an apology to everyone, to our family. It's out of line." Along with her siblings, Morgan is Warren Spahn's closest surviving kin. In a nutshell, Morgan Spahn emphasized that, while Warren Spahn is a historical figure to many, he was a beloved real person with a real, and still grieving, family who live...

  New home sales in the U.S. dropped last month as mortgage rates have soared. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales fell 5.6% in October, more than expected. “The median sales price of new houses sold in October 2023 was $409,300,” the Bureau said in its announcement. “The average sales price was $487,000.” According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the U.S. in October rose to nearly 8% before dipping closer to 7% in November. About this time in 2021, the average rate was around 3%. That interest rate spike has been fueled in large part by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has hiked the federal funds rate about a dozen times since March of last year in an effort to combat elevated inflation. Both inflation and those rates can eventually come down, but it would take time. “With interest rates edging higher in October, it was expected that new home sales would disappoint, however, as mortgage rates inch...

  Roughly 32,000 babies have been born in states that implemented abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, according to a new analysis. In the first six months of 2023, “births rose by an average of 2.3 percent in states enforcing total abortion bans," leading to an estimated 32,000 births that might have otherwise been aborted, according to a new analysis published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics initiated by the Deutsche Post Foundation. “These effects may vary across demographic groups and tend to be larger for younger women and women of color; … vary substantially across ban states, with much larger effects observed in states that are bordered by other ban states and hence have long travel distances to reach facilities that remain open.” Its November 2023 “Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility” report states that the “U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization sparked the most ...

Ahh, the attacks begin. Since former president and now candidate Trump posted my column and analysis on his property values via his Truth Social account, numerous keyboard warriors have weighed in with their opinions. So, let’s have a little fun at their expense - and respond. First, no one put me up to this. I decided to analyze Trump’s property values myself, and I don’t think anyone who knows me would say that I’m some lackey. I was curious, and seeing that things just didn’t add up, I wanted to investigate. And I hate seeing our justice system abused. Second, for those who claimed that Trump’s PFS (personal financial statement for those of you who don’t know industry terminology) values were before his election in 2016 (to counter my argument that properties owned by a president would have higher values), well, I hate to burst your bubble, but the lawsuit covers 2011 thru 2021, so my analysis is relevant. The next argument by some of these people is that the deed restrict...

Wisconsin Gov. Warren Spahn AKA Anthony Evers, if you're hiding nothing in your "alias" emails, prove it. Release the emails. All 17,000 records, according to your own estimate. Because right now you're refusing to, and the rest is just white noise. Distraction. If Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was using a secret "unofficial public" (oxymoron there) email account in Babe Ruth's name, the media would go wild. If U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) was secretly communicating as Robin Yount, the media would jump off a cliff. In fact, they did go wild about former Republican Scott Walker's emails and router (for months and months) but are now trying to bail Evers out by saying, but Walker did it too (their new favorite refrain.) It's hysterical the media are now propping Walker up as a paragon of open government virtue when they trolled him endlessly over it! He used a fake account, so move on, we only care about open government until...

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson is criticizing Tony Evers' use of a secret alias email in the name of a deceased baseball legend, saying he never did such a thing. As "Warren Spahn-gate" raises questions about the practice, Thompson told Wisconsin Right Now that he did not believe it was right. "I never did this and do not think it is right!!" Thompson said. Wisconsin Right Now broke the story that Evers has used a secret alias account in the name of Milwaukee Braves legend Warren Spahn. His office has denied our request to see all emails sent to and from the account, saying there are approximately 17,000 records. We received a handful of emails from Evers' Department of Administration, but the address was blacked out. For some reason, no one else in the news media chose to interview Thompson, who was Wisconsin's governor from January 5, 1987 – February 1, 2001. Email became popularly used in the middle of Thompson's term. Meliss...

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty ( WILL ) released a statement today regarding the revelation by WRN that Governor Tony Evers uses a fictitious email account. Last night, WRN reported that Gov. Tony Evers has been communicating with state workers about public business using a secret government email account in the name of a deceased Milwaukee Braves baseball legend, and over 17,000 emails sent to and from the account exist, Wisconsin Right Now has exclusively documented. Gov. Evers writes various state workers and cabinet secretaries using the account “ warren.spahn@wisconsin.gov, ” a  state email account in the name of the Braves’ legend. In a press release, WILL President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg, stated, “This is an obvious attempt to avoid public scrutiny and evade the state’s open records law. The governor should release every email from this ‘account’ to rectify this violation immediately. His administration should then take an additional step to...