Can't wait for this to be blocked again, pissing away money to all of our surrounding states.

The American flamingos spotted Friday in Port Washington, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee, marked the first sighting of the species in Wisconsin state history, said Mark Korducki, a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

From the article:

The requirement to show a photo ID to vote in Wisconsin would be enshrined in the state Constitution under a proposed amendment Republicans introduced Wednesday, amid fears the new liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court could overturn the current law.

In addition, a Republican bill introduced Thursday proposes withdrawing Wisconsin from a national nonprofit that collects and cross-compares voter registration data to detect possible instances of double voting.

The draft constitutional amendment would require photo IDs in all elections while allowing the Legislature to establish exceptions to the requirement.

“Ensuring the legitimacy of votes in an election is a prerequisite of democratic government,” draft amendment proposal authors Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Schofield, and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said in a memo to legislators introducing the measure.

"This pre-Roe statute says nothing about abortion—there is no such thing as an '1849 Abortion Ban' in Wisconsin," Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schlipper wrote in her July ruling that rejected a motion filed by a county district attorney to dismiss the case.

From the article:

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says former members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are advising him on the potential impeachment of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz.

During a Wednesday morning appearance on WISN’s The Jay Weber Show State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he’s formed a panel of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices to “review and advise what the criteria are for impeachment” of Justice Protasiewicz if she refuses to recuse herself from lawsuits before the court seeking to overturn GOP drawn voting maps. He said he would not name the justices while their review was underway.

Vos and other Republicans claim Protasiewicz has prejudged the redistricting cases because she called GOP voting maps “rigged” on the campaign trail ahead of defeating conservative former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly by 11 points.

His comments came the day after a surprise press conference on Tuesday when Vos announced a Republican bill had been introduced to create an “Iowa-style” nonpartisan redistricting process in Wisconsin. Republicans are fast-tracking the bill, which creates a redistricting process similar to one they had previously opposed.

Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers, quickly voiced opposition to the plan, claiming Vos cannot be trusted. They say legislation could give Republicans a chance to draw their own maps.

Vos told Weber impeachment is the “last thing I want to happen” and would prefer to see Wisconsin’s redistricting rules be changed rather than have the state go through potential court battles over recusal and impeachment.

“But if you have a justice that has predetermined cases and is not going to take themself off the case, I want to know what all of our options are so that we are ready to go if it is required,” Vos said.

State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, told WPR it’s “vitally important” to remember that Vos “created gerrymandered maps” and has been unwilling to consider reforming the state’s redistricting process as Democrats and their supporters have called for in the past.

Agard noted Vos and Republicans are set to vote on the redistricting bill Thursday without offering any opportunity for public comment.

Vos accused Democrats of being “hypocrites” for opposing legislation that is similar to what they introduced in 2021, their plan at that time also based on Iowa’s redistricting process.

“If they are so certain that they have a justice in their pocket, because they don’t even want to take an idea that has been their own for 20 years, it certainly says to me that the process in the Supreme Court is even more rigged than what they say the maps are.”

Agard said there’s no guarantee that Democrats would reintroduce their 2021 redistricting bill but are still interested in changing how maps are drawn.

“The Supreme Court would very likely come up with a solution for right now,” Agard said. “But as we move forward after future censuses, we could find ourselves in the same spot. So we need to come up with a long term solution that prevents us from fighting up in the same place again.”

Without Gov. Evers’ support, the GOP redistricting plan appears doomed. It’s also unclear whether Republicans in the State Senate would support it. WPR emails sent to State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, Tuesday afternoon went unanswered.

From the article:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Senate planned to vote Thursday to override three of Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes, including one that attempted to enshrine school funding increases for 400 years.

Republicans have the necessary two-thirds majority to override the vetoes in the Senate, but they don’t have enough votes in the Assembly. Vetoes must be overridden in both chambers in order to undo the veto.

Two of the votes scheduled Thursday attempt to undo partial vetoes Evers made in July to the state budget passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. One Evers’ veto undid nearly all of a $3.5 billion income tax cut. Another attempted to lock in a school funding increase for 400 years.

Evers’ creative use of his partial veto authority in that case drew widespread attention and criticism.

The Senate was also slated to vote on overriding Evers’ veto of a bill that would prohibit state and local governments from restricting utility service based on the energy source, such as natural gas.

Republican proponents and other backers, including the state chamber of commerce and energy companies, said the measure was needed to prevent any type of ban in Wisconsin like those discussed in other states. But environmentalists said the bill was in search of a problem as no community or the state was contemplating such a ban.

Because roundabout traffic only travels in one direction, the possibilities of head-on collisions and left turn-related crashes are virtually eliminated, Qin said. These are two of the most severe and deadly types of collisions.

Additionally, the circular design of roundabouts is intended to slow drivers to speeds where crashes are far less severe.

Roundabouts don't only offer safety benefits. They're also better for the environment, make traffic more efficient and ultimately cost less to maintain than other intersection types, Qin said.

Roundabouts also cost less to maintain than other intersection types because they do not use traffic lights or electricity.

Milwaukee definitely needs more roundabouts to help combat reckless driving.

Article about her Lake Geneva mansion:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20171207/CRED0701/171209911/wife-of-starz-ceo-tina-trahan-spends-16-million-on-lake-geneva-mansion

In 2017, Trahan bought Stone Manor, the largest estate in Lake Geneva, for $16 million.

From the article:

State lawmakers are advancing a proposal to cut nearly $3 billion in income taxes over two years.

But Democratic Gov. Tony Evers calls the proposal fiscally irresponsible and promises to stop the bill from becoming law.

A recently-introduced Assembly Bill would expand retirement tax breaks for Wisconsinites who are at least 67 years old, to exempt up to $100,000 in retirement income for single filers and up to $150,000 for joint married filers. It would also cut the tax rate for Wisconsin’s third income tax bracket from 5.3 to 4.4 percent starting in the 2023 tax year.

That third bracket covers individuals with between $27,630 and $304,170 in annual taxable income, as well as joint filers who make between $36,840 to $405,550.

Effectively, the proposed changes would bring the tax rate for Wisconsin’s third tax bracket to the same level as what’s currently levied against Wisconsin’s second tax bracket, which covers individuals with $13,810 to $27,630 in annual income.

The median household income in Wisconsin is about $67,000 a year, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Republicans like state Rep. John Macco of Ledgeview say the cuts would make Wisconsin competitive with other states while bringing relief to the middle class.

“100 percent of this money is going to folks that need it the most,” Macco, who chairs Wisconsin’s Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, said of the proposal.

The bill would lead to tax decreases for about 1.7 million filers in 2023, with an average cut of $772, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Evers, however, says the bill would jeopardize “priorities like public schools, child care, public safety, and fixing our roads and bridges.” He promised to veto it if it clears the Republican-controlled state Legislature.

“I’m not going to sign an irresponsible Republican tax cut that jeopardizes our state’s financial stability well into the future and the investments we need to be making today to address the real, pressing challenges facing our state.” Evers posted to social media on Wednesday.

Wisconsin is projected to end the two-year budget cycle with a $4 billion surplus, and Republicans want much of that money to go to tax cuts.

In July, 16-year-old Michael Schuls died of "traumatic asphyxia," according to the local coroner's office, two days after he became trapped on a conveyor for freshly cut stacks of lumber while working at Florence Hardwoods, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. His funeral was attended by "hundreds" of people, according to a GoFundMe that was set up to support his family.

A report from the Florence County Sheriff's Office, obtained by the Press-Gazette, said Schuls had been left alone on the job and was seen on video trying to "straighten out the wood" on the conveyor, where he became trapped. He was discovered 17 minutes later.

From the article:

Waukesha will celebrate finally switching to Lake Michigan drinking water on Thursday, a transition that's been decades in the making.

The city has been warning water users about some temporary issues that may occur when the transition takes place. The new water may initially smell and taste different, and minerals built up in the system could stain clothes.

"This store here, we’ll go through approximately 900 gallons in an hour," said John Albers.

As the owner of Westbrook Express Laundromat, Albers has a unique spin on the city’s upcoming water transition.

"Fourteen years ago, we were paying roughly $6 for a thousand gallons of water," he said. "Now we’re looking at around $13."

All city water users will continue to pay more as Waukesha transitions to Lake Michigan water. According to the city, the average homeowner paying $102 per month now will pay $52 more by 2027.

"You have to do laundry – you have to do it," Albers said.