Wisconsin Right Now

There’s a warning about invasive carp in two western Wisconsin rivers. The Department of Natural Resources said silver carp have been found in both the lower Chippewa River and lower Black River. “In July, the DNR began receiving reports from anglers of jumping fish suspected to be invasive carp at the Dells Dam on the lower Chippewa River in Eau Claire. The Dells Dam in Eau Claire prevents further upstream passage of invasive carp in the Chippewa River System,” the DNR said. “On Aug. 1, DNR staff went to the dam and observed jumping fish but were unable to verify the species of fish.” The department said it confirmed silver carp in the lower Black River in September. “The dam in Black River Falls is a barrier to upstream fish migration, and no observations or other detections of invasive carp have been reported in the lower Black River at this time,” the DNR added. Silver carp are an invasive species in the Midwest and have done immense damage to other rivers where they’...

There are new questions about the 2020 election after the latest numbers from the 2022 election. Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, on Tuesday said this year’s military voting numbers show something happened between the two elections. “We have learned that the number of active military members voting in the 2022 election dropped by over 83% since the 2020 election!” Brandtjen said in a statement. Brandtjen is at the center of the story about military ballots in Wisconsin. She received three fake military ballots ahead of Election Day. Those ballots, it turned out, came from a Milwaukee election manager. “When Milwaukee deputy election clerk Kim Zapata created three military members out of thin air and sent requests for legitimate ballots to my home address, the vulnerability of the military ballot process was exposed,” Brandtken added. Military voters in Wisconsin don’t have to actually register, and never have to show voter ID in order to get an absentee ballot in th...

There are new questions about who is running public schools in Wisconsin following the release of emails between Gov. Tony Evers and the state’s largest teachers’ union. Empower Wisconsin on Wednesday broke a story showing the Wisconsin Education Association Council, or WEAC, was in regular contact with Gov. Evers’ office about the plan to reopen schools back in the summer of 2020. “We at WEAC are getting pressure from the Senate Democrats to take a position on these bills from the School Administrators Alliance. We have been told the Senate Dems are working with the Governor’s office on a strategy relating to opening of schools,” wrote WEAC lobbyist Jack O’Meara in an August 21, 2020 email to Evers’ office. The report doesn’t include Evers’ response, but the governor eventually told local schools to make their own decisions about reopening. WEAC encouraged local schools to stay closed in the fall of 2020. Republican candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch on Wednesday ri...