Wisconsin Right Now

Milwaukee’s superintendent could soon be out of a job. The city’s school board will meet late Monday afternoon to discuss Superintendent Keith Posley’s future. The meeting comes after Milwaukee parents' blowback over proposed budget cuts, the state's threat to withhold millions of dollars in school aid, and activists in the city's demand for “accountability.” “These are serious violations that directly call into question MPS’ financial stewardship of taxpayer dollars. We are dismayed, though not surprised, that our concerns have been proven well-founded – and we repeat our calls that Milwaukee cannot afford for business as usual to continue at MPS,” City Forward Collective Executive Director Colleston Morgan Jr. said Friday. Posley has not answered questions about how MPS missed last year’s deadline for two state-required financial reports. Last week, Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction threatened to withhold $15 million in general state and special edu...

Milwaukee’s deputy director at the Election Commission in October 2022 has been found guilty of election fraud. Wednesday’s jury decision involving Kimberly Zapata at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court could be foretelling for another involving a man in Racine. In each case, those charged requested and received ballots using fake information. Sentencing for Zapata – guilty of a single felony count of misconduct in public office, and three misdemeanor counts of election fraud – is scheduled May 2. The penalty could mean five years in jail. Harry Wait, in Racine, could get 13 years of prison time. He awaits trial facing two felony charges of identity theft and two misdemeanor charges of election fraud. He is accused of using the names of legislators and local officials to get absentee ballots this past July. Prosecutors say Zapata used a work-issued laptop when successfully requesting three military absentee ballots. She then sent them to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen t...

The latest plan for Milwaukee’s American Family Field would use tax money to keep the stadium up to date, but those taxes wouldn’t come from the people of Wisconsin. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, on Wednesday, told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber they are looking at a plan to tax ballplayers to pay for the ballpark. “Remember, if a player comes one-time to Wisconsin, they file a Wisconsin income tax return. So, every single player who visits pays Wisconsin income taxes.” Vos explained. “If the Brewers leave, every dollar of that income tax would never be here.” Vos said Republican lawmakers at the Wisconsin Capitol are considering a plan that would find the $400 million that American Family Field needs for maintenance and repairs from those income tax dollars. “We’re focusing on using a sizable chunk of the income taxes that players pay, nothing that you and I pay, and using that to help keep the team here,” Vos added. He hopes to release the details after Labor ...

The judge said Wisconsin’s ban on political activity in local government doesn’t apply to Milwaukee’s mayor. Milwaukee’s get-out-the-vote partnership with a liberal/progressive firm is not technically against the law, so a judge is not going to stop it. Milwaukee County Judge Gwendolyn Connolly on Friday refused to grant the Republican Party of Wisconsin a temporary restraining order against Milwaukee Votes 2022, the city-backed privately funded get-out-the-vote effort with GPS Impact. “In this case, the plaintiffs’ complaint is entirely devoid of any allegations that the defendants engaged in conduct that resulted in the support of any particular candidate or party,” the judge wrote in her ruling . The Republican Party said GPS Impact is a Democratic operation that brags about winning for Democrats in predominantly Republican states. But the judge said Wisconsin’s ban on political activity in local government doesn’t apply to Milwaukee’s mayor. “Unlike the public miscondu...