Wisconsin Right Now

Tate's resignation comes just two days after Wisconsin Right Now asked the Wisconsin Parole Commission for information on two past paroles Tate granted for men convicted in connection with the murders of Milwaukee police officers. John Tate, Gov. Tony Evers' controversial appointee to the Wisconsin Parole Commission who one wanted to release a convicted wife killer into the community, has resigned. Three Republican candidates for governor - Rebecca Kleefisch, Kevin Nicholson and Tim Michels - called for Tate's firing last month. The family of murder victim Johanna Balsewicz had called on Evers or Republicans in the state Senate to fire Tate (both had the authority to do so). Both had also balked at doing so for weeks. Family members confirmed to Wisconsin Right Now that Tate had resigned on Friday, June 10, 2022. Multiple media outlets are reporting that Tate resigned after Evers requested his resignation. Tate's resignation comes just a day after Wisconsin...

Gov. Tony Evers' office promised that the family of the victim of wife killer Douglas would receive a call from Evers himself, but he never called, according to the victim's sisters and other family members. Then, adding insult to injury, Evers' Facebook page sent the victim's family an automated message after they reached out on Facebook to express outrage that his appointee to the Wisconsin Parole Commission is releasing the killer, who stabbed his wife 42 times, from prison. The victim's family wants the governor to take a stand. "I want to know what it is Evers stands by," said Kim Binder Cornils, the sister of victim Johanna Balsewicz. "The rights of the people or more so the rights of murderous felons. Seems we can't get an answer from someone who has the power." Here's what Evers' page sent Amanda Simmons, the niece of victim Johanna Balsewicz. Yes, obviously Evers almost certainly didn't see the message beca...

Gov. Tony Evers, despite being asked about the looming parole of wife-killer Douglas Balsewicz, has refused to condemn the release and won't comment on whether he will remove the Wisconsin Parole Commission chairman who granted it. Wisconsin GOP Candidates are weighing in and blasting Governor Evers and his parole board chairman, John Tate, for Tate's decision to grant parole to Douglas Balsewicz , who in 1997, broke into his estranged wife’s Milwaukee house and stabbed her 42 times in front of the couple’s toddlers, ages 2 and 4. He left the kids behind with their dead mother and went to Taco Bell. A neighbor later discovered the toddlers, covered in their mother's blood, walking down the street holding hands. The Republican candidates for governor - Kevin Nicholson, Tim Michels, and Rebecca Kleefisch - called for the Wisconsin Parole Commission to reverse its decision to release Balsewicz. They also called for Gov. Tony Evers to remove Tate, his appointee, from the P...

By Rebecca Kleefisch On Tax Day, millions of Wisconsinites will again be asked to pay too much by a government that is still too big. While the prices of everyday necessities put our checking accounts in crisis, the heavy hand of government wants to force us to pay for an overgrown bureaucracy we don’t need and can’t afford. Wisconsin has a history of over-taxing – we’re home to the nation’s first progressive income tax. Thankfully, Republicans have also made history by cutting our taxes over the past decade, giving Wisconsin families needed relief. But it’s clear that more needs to be done to let Wisconsinites keep more of their own money during the inflationary times in which we live. Let’s be clear: Tony Evers wants to raise your taxes and make things even less affordable. He doesn’t care that your family’s cost of living is rising. He wants to take more of your money to fund a government he wants to grow. One of his first acts as governor was to veto an income tax cut targe...

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor exercised his veto pen on several Republican plans. Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday vetoed seven pieces of legislation, including what would have been new laws for rioters, an expansion for school choice for younger kids, and a plan that would have changed the make up of some police and fire commissions in the state. Evers said SB 296 , which aimed to allow misdemeanor charges for anyone who attends a protest that becomes a riot and opened the door for felony charges for anyone who participated in the riot, violated free speech rights. “This bill creates ambiguity, inconsistency, and contradictions in practical application that could be used to infringe on rights guaranteed under the First Amendment,” Evers wrote in his veto message. Republicans wrote the proposal following the riots in Kenosha back in 2020. Lawmakers wanted to give prosecutors another way to charge people who flocked to protests and turned them violent. Gov. Evers a...

With homicide exploding to unprecedented levels in his state's largest city, Gov. Tony Evers revealed that he can't remember whether he met in-person with any Milwaukee homicide victims' families. Looking like a proverbial "deer caught in the headlights," Evers blamed his "busy schedule" and then brought up meeting with victims of the Waukesha parade attack. We would state the obvious and note that the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack did not occur in Milwaukee. There have been 33 homicides in 2022 in Milwaukee year-to-date, according to the City’s crime dashboard , compared to 16 in 2021. That’s a 106% increase, and it comes after two-years of historic highs. Furthermore, Evers dodged a question about whether he supports eliminating cash bail, like his Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Ron Johnson. Here's the video of Evers' comments, which occurred under questioning by reporter A.J. Bayatpour, Capi...

Support for educational freedom is strong in Wisconsin and could hurt Gov. Evers at the ballot box, a poll found. Most Wisconsinites favor the Wisconsin School Choice program, with more than half of independents and Republicans supporting it, a new poll shows. The poll also shows that Gov. Tony Evers' opposition to school choice is hurting him with the crucial independent voting base needed to win re-election. The poll shows that 56% of people favor the Wisconsin School Choice program. Only 26% oppose it. Even 36% of Democrats support it. Support is strong among independents, with 54% favoring it and 25% not favoring it. Among Republicans, 77% favor it, and 11% do not. Voters were asked, "As you may know, Governor Evers strongly opposes opening up Wisconsin’s School Choice program to every family in the state. Does this make you more or less likely to vote for Evers for re-election this fall?" In the poll, 46% said it would make them less likely to vote for Ever...

A source tells Wisconsin Right Now that Curtis Schmitt mentioned Evers to authorities after being arrested. Curtis Schmitt, a Tony Evers' appointee, is in the Milwaukee County Jail, records show, and a source tells Wisconsin Right Now he was arrested on an accusation of possessing child pornography. [caption id="attachment_46894" align="alignleft" width="300"] Curtis Schmitt[/caption] Curtis Schmitt was appointed by Evers to the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2019, according to his LinkedIn page , which says he's the chairman. Our source told Wisconsin Right Now that Schmitt brought his association with Evers up to authorities after his arrest, saying he'd met with the governor recently. The state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation was involved in the arrest. A page about the governor appointing Schmitt has been removed from the website of the Wisconsin Veteran...

We reject the notion - adopted by Evers and Republicans in the state Legislature - that police need major reforming. This hoax narrative falsely presumes that there's a systemic problem with our Police Departments. There's not. There have been only 3 fatal police shootings in Wisconsin this year, all of armed people, none black. Meanwhile, there are many black homicide victims, but the governor isn't acting on that. When he signed a raft of window-dressing, do-nothing "police reform" measures this week, Gov. Tony Evers said this: "The people of Wisconsin are demanding systemic changes and reform in our state." Wrong. No, they're not. At least not the kind of "reform" he's talking about. This was an attempt to pander to BLM that will do nothing to improve black lives. If Evers really cared about black lives, he'd focus on the climate that produces black-on-black homicide in the City of Milwaukee and elsewhere, maybe heading...

In his continuing efforts to strip gender out of state documents, Gov. Tony Evers has announced a “gender-neutral” option for birth certificates that will include “parent-parent” in addition to “mother-father.” Other changes to the birth forms include using "parent giving birth." Evers made the announcement this week with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS). The change begins July 1, 2021. “Wisconsin parents will have a new, gender-neutral option for identifying the parents of a child. Birth forms used to generate birth certificates will be updated to include an option for ‘parent-parent,’ in addition to ‘mother-father,’” the press release states. “This change reflects the Administration's commitment to gender-neutral terminology and recognizing that families are diverse and should all be recognized and valued in state systems.” Evers doubled down on his commitment to “gender-neutral terminology.” “This change reflects my and my administration's...

Tony Evers hasn't fixed the problems with unemployment claims, a state rep. says. Rep. Barbara Dittrich (R – Oconomowoc) is calling out what she calls the "ongoing, ineffectual" handling by the Tony Evers' administration of Wisconsin unemployment claims. Dittrich issued a statement about the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) on August 12, saying, “Last year at this time, my staff and I were spending endless hours dealing with the disastrous handling of unemployment claims of Wisconsinites displaced by Gov. Evers’ shut down of our state amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. When the governor finally asked for the resignation of the arrogant, floundering Caleb Frostman as DWD Secretary, I was hopeful that things would finally improve. And backlogs did initially decrease." That wasn't the entire story, she said. “However, it didn’t take long for a new disaster to unfold under Secretary-Designee Amy Pechacek. Because of DWD errors, letters ...