Filmmaking brothers Anders and Davin Lindwall visited WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to talk about their first feature film, the Wisconsin-based "Green and Gold.”
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An ex-employee is accused of embezzling more than $640,000 from the Goodman Community Center in Madison.
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Days after a White House announcement that a wide range of federal funds would be frozen across the country, Wisconsin nonprofits and agencies that rely on those dollars say they still don’t know where things stand.
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Conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn will not participate in a case challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin Act 10, the 2011 law restricting public employee collective bargaining rights.
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While bitter cold has benefited snowmaking this month, organizers of North America’s largest cross country ski race are crafting contingency plans for another year with below normal snowfall.
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The natural gas plant We Energies plans to build at its Oak Creek power plant campus will produce more than 1.3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, according to a new report from state regulators.
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Farah, an Afghan refugee, moved to Appleton in January 2022 after fleeing unrest in her home country. She had never experienced winter before, and arrived in Wisconsin during what’s traditionally […]
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Dozens of mini pantries have cropped up around the state, providing 24/7 access to food and hygiene supplies.
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For the first screening, director Nathan Deming takes "February" to Stanley, near Chippewa Falls, on Feb. 1.
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(Photo Courtesy of MATC)
Leaders of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) laid out the system’s requests for the 2025-27 state budget to support college operations and students’ education during a Thursday legislative briefing.
Education funding will likely be a major point of debate in the upcoming budget process, with public K-12 schools, the UW System and the technical colleges all requesting increases. The technical college system is made up of 16 colleges across the state serving about 287,000 students each year who pursue associate degrees, technical diplomas or short-term certificates.
The technical college system’s budget for 2024-25 totaled about $1.3 billion, with $592.9 million — or 44% — coming from state aid. About 17% of the remainder comes from tuition and fees and 39% comes from property taxes.
“We are very lean overall in terms of our overall funding picture… we have to be because funding is always limited resources,” said system President Layla Merrifield, who started in the position in September 2024.
The system’s increase would add up to just under $60 million in general purpose revenue, according to a Department of Administration summary.
According to the system, about 70% of the funding would be distributed based on a formula and 30% would be distributed based on outcomes.
WTCS policy advisor Megan Stritchko said the request is about 4% of the current budget and is meant to help expand capacity for the technical colleges to meet employer demand across a wide variety of industries. The funding would then be able to be used by each college to meet its “unique needs,” Stritchko said.
“The colleges are hearing from really all the employers in their district just looking for skilled labor, and so this is to help with capacity to meet that demand,” Stritchko said. “It’s also to help with expanding the pipeline of talent so trying to bring more folks into the technical college system — get them trained up, get them a credential and get them out into the workforce, and then supporting those students while they’re within the colleges and helping ensure that they’re successful.”
Stritchko noted that technical colleges have been facing rising costs, including because of rapidly advancing technology.
The system is requesting $700,000 in general purpose funds for positions in the Technical College System office and for information technology and security to maintain the system’s operations and enable continuous improvement in outcomes. Merrifield said the office helps coordinate the work of the system.
“We are currently funded at the same level we were funded at 20 years ago,” Merrifield said. “Everything that we do is database decision making. We really try to take in all of this great data from our colleges and then turn it into something useful, and give it back to them so that they know how they can improve relative to their fellow colleges. All of that requires resources.”
Part of the request includes $3 million across the biennium to provide grants to colleges for teaching and learning materials that are in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use. The system has said the investment would help to reduce the cost of education as students across the system can access those resources, making it more affordable and accessible.
“These textbooks need to be maintained and they need to be updated regularly, just like when you had books, when you’re in school, there are version one, version two, version three and they all need to be updated,” WTCS policy advisor Brandon Trujillo said, adding that the system has identified nursing and automotive as some programs where students would benefit from available materials.
The system is also seeking $10 million across the biennium to prepare students and educators for the adoption of artificial intelligence in the classroom and the workforce.
The system is also requesting $10.8 million in each year of the biennium to go towards Wisconsin Grants, administered by the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board. The program provides grants to undergraduate Wisconsin residents enrolled at least half-time in degree or certificate programs.
According to the system, for the first time in over 10 years there has been a waitlist for the grants, with about 3,200 students by the end of fiscal year 2023-24. It is projected that the waitlist will grow significantly in FY 2024-25 due to changes in the federal formula for determining a student’s financial need.
“We’re seeing student need increase across our system and it’s going to continue to increase,” Trujillo said.
While Wisconsin’s state agencies have submitted their budget requests, Gov. Tony Evers will deliver his budget address and release his complete budget proposal next month. The budget will be in the hands of state lawmakers.
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Former Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's pick to serve as director of national intelligence, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
WASHINGTON — As Tulsi Gabbard bids to be the next director of national intelligence, the former Hawaii congresswoman took heat from U.S. senators Thursday over her past statements and actions.
Gabbard, seen as President Donald Trump’s most vulnerable Cabinet nominee, has been in the thick of controversy over her views on foreign policy, her meetings with the former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and accusations of promoting Russian propaganda.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced serious concerns about Gabbard’s nomination.
If confirmed, Gabbard would take on a massive role in overseeing 18 agencies and organizations in the intelligence community.
She would also be responsible for a budget of more than $100 billion.
Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, ran an unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential campaign and later joined the Republican Party.
She echoed Trump’s claims of “weaponization” in the federal government, particularly in the intelligence community, while appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a highly anticipated confirmation hearing.
Gabbard said she would “work to end the politicization of the intelligence community,” if confirmed.
Sen. Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence panel, threw his support behind Gabbard ahead of Thursday’s hearing.
The Arkansas Republican took to Gabbard’s defense in his opening remarks, saying he’s “dismayed by the attacks” on “Gabbard’s patriotism and her loyalty to our country.”
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and former North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr also praised Gabbard during their introductions of the nominee, highlighting her military service and congressional record.
Burr, a Republican who previously chaired the Senate Intelligence panel, said Gabbard “fought in war, and yes — she’s tried to stop wars.”
“At the ripe age of 43, Tulsi has the life experiences that match or exceed most members of Congress,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate panel, said he continues to have “significant concerns” regarding Gabbard’s “judgment” and “qualifications to meet the standard set by law.”
“It appears to me, you have repeatedly excused our adversaries’ worst actions — instead, you often blame them on the United States and those very allies,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Throughout the tense hearing, Gabbard refused to call Edward Snowden — a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information regarding surveillance efforts — a traitor.
“Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America? That is not a hard question to answer when the stakes are this high,” said Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who asked her the question several times.
While serving in the House, Gabbard introduced a resolution in 2020 alongside then-Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Government should drop all charges against Edward Snowden.”
Gabbard repeatedly said Snowden “broke the law” and expressed disagreement with “how he chose to release information and the extent of the information intelligence that he released.”
“It’s my focus on the future, and I think we can all agree that we do not want to have another Snowden-type leak, and I’ve laid out specific actions if confirmed as (director of national intelligence) to do that,” Gabbard said.
But when pressed by Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins on whether she would recommend any kind of clemency for Snowden, Gabbard said she would not support a pardon, if confirmed.
Senators also called out Gabbard’s previous views against Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a program that authorizes the federal government to conduct surveillance on foreigners outside of the country.
Gabbard introduced a bill in 2020 with Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky that sought to repeal the program.
However, she reversed course and is now in support of Section 702, which she said “provides a unique security tool and capability that is essential for our national security.”
Gabbard also expanded on her controversial meetings with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017.
“I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator,” Gabbard said in her opening remarks. “I just hate al-Qaida.”
Gabbard said that when she met with Assad, she “asked him tough questions about his own regime’s actions, the use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people.”
She also said Russian President Vladimir Putin “started the war in Ukraine.”
Gabbard previously made comments appearing to blame the United States and NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border,” she wrote in a post on social media in February 2022.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services ,departs after testifying in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s opinions about vaccine safety, both past and present, appeared likely to lead at least a few Senate Republicans to vote against his nomination following a second confirmation hearing Thursday.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said at the end of the three-hour hearing that he agrees with Kennedy that vaccines should be safe and effective, but that the two are far apart in how they went about their research.
“As someone who has discussed immunizations with thousands of people, I understand that mothers want reassurance that the vaccine their child is receiving is necessary, safe and effective. We agree on that point, the two of us,” Cassidy said. “But we’ve approached it differently. And I think I can say that I’ve approached it using the preponderance of evidence to reassure and you’ve approached using selected evidence to cast doubt.”
Throughout the hearing, Cassidy and numerous other senators from both political parties asked Kennedy about previous statements he’s made, including a repeatedly debunked claim that certain vaccines lead to autism.
Kennedy, who has been nominated by President Donald Trump to the hugely influential post of secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said that he would apologize and reassure Americans about the measles and Hepatitis B vaccines, if Cassidy could show him data establishing their safety.
Cassidy discussed the decades of safety data during the hearing and cited peer-reviewed studies, but Kennedy never backed away from his claims.
Kennedy repeated statements he made during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, during his Thursday hearing, including that he just wanted to follow the science, though he added caveats.
“I am not going to go into HHS and impose my pre-ordained opinions on anybody at HHS,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that’s evidence based, that’s replicable, where the raw data is published.”
The Autism Science Foundation writes on its website that Autism Spectrum Disorder is “a brain-based disorder that is characterized by social-communication challenges and restricted and repetitive behaviors, activities and interests.” The nonprofit, which funds research into the causes of autism, notes that “there are many genetic and environmental factors involved with autism.”
“These include both rare and common variants. About 15% of cases of autism can be linked to a specific gene mutation,” the organization says. “Some of the environmental factors that have been studied include medical conditions in parents, age, toxic chemicals, medications taken during pregnancy and before pregnancy, and diet and nutrition.”
Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member on the HELP Committee, said there were areas where he hoped Kennedy succeeded, including reducing obesity and reducing ultra processed foods. But he said that actually improving Americans’ overall health would require much more than that.
“I’m not quite sure how we can move to making America healthy again, unless we have the guts to take on the insurance companies and the drug companies that guarantee healthcare to all people,” Sanders said.
Other policy changes, like paid family and medical leave, are essential to ensuring that people can live healthy lives, he said.
“There are women today who are having babies, then they’re going to go back to work in a week or two because they have no guaranteed paid family and medical leave,” Sanders said. “How do you have a healthy country when women are forced to go back to work? When women and men get fired because they stay home taking care of their sick kids? That’s not making America healthy again.”
Sanders said it’s extremely difficult for people to find time to live healthy lives when they must work extremely long hours, making $13 or $14 an hour, only to still live in poverty.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, another centrist Republican who hasn’t publicly announced whether she’ll support Kennedy’s confirmation, questioned him about how he’d help improve health outcomes in Native American communities.
“When you look at our health statistics, whether it’s Alaska Natives or whether it is American Indians, our health statistics in this country … are not where they need to be,” Murkowski said. “And it’s in all categories. It’s infectious disease, it’s tuberculosis, it’s Hep C, it’s mental health, it’s depression, it’s substance use, it’s sexually transmitted diseases, it’s hypertension, stroke. It is so deep, and it is so challenging and it is so hard.”
Murkowski cited Kennedy’s prior comments where he said he’d triple the amount of federal spending to tribal communities.
Kennedy didn’t commit during the hearing to boosting funding for the Indian Health Service or other programs designed to support Indigenous communities, but said he did hope to hire someone from one of those communities at the assistant secretary level at HHS.
“I’d like to get him actually designated as an assistant secretary … to ensure that all of the decisions that we make in our agency are conscious of their impacts on the First Nations,” Kennedy said.
Murkowski also expressed concern about Kennedy’s statements on vaccine safety, saying that while some things need to be shaken up, there also has to be a “level of confidence” in public health programs.
“We have made some considerable gains in my state of Alaska with vaccinating the many people in very rural areas where one disease outbreak can wipe out an entire village,” Murkowski said. “We saw this in 1918 with the Spanish flu. And that’s why everyone was rattled to the core; villages were shut down entirely, entirely, during COVID because of the fear of transmission.”
Murkowski told Kennedy he was clearly an influencer with a platform he could use to greatly benefit people, if he chooses to.
“I’m asking you to focus on how you can use your position to provide for greater levels of confidence to the public when it comes to these life-saving areas,” Murkowski said.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a centrist who faces a challenging reelection bid next year, told Kennedy she agreed with him that the federal government needs to focus more time, energy and money addressing chronic diseases, like diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
“But it concerns me when I read a quote from you that says, ‘I’m going to say to NIH scientists, God bless you all. Thank you for your public service. We’re going to give infectious diseases a break for about eight years,’” Collins said. “Don’t we need to do both?”
Kennedy said he “absolutely” agreed that researchers should focus their attention on finding solutions to both forms of illness and disease, but argued enough money hasn’t gone to studying both.
Collins, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sought to remind Kennedy that the Constitution gives Congress the ability to spend federal money and direct where that money goes.
Collins mentioned a pediatric nurse in Maine who shared worries about the impact a decrease in childhood vaccinations could have on other children in their communities, especially those who cannot get vaccines because of illnesses or allergies.
“She raised the concern that if people are discouraged from getting their children vaccinated, we will lose the herd immunity in a classroom,” Collins said. “And that means that a child who may be immunosuppressed and cannot get a vaccine are at risk of being in a classroom with an unvaccinated child. And thus at risk of getting the infectious disease because we’ve lost the herd immunity.”
Kennedy said he believed that people have stopped trusting in the safety of vaccines, but pledged to bring in “good science” if confirmed by the Senate.
“I’m going to restore trust and that will restore vaccine uptake,” Kennedy said.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan had one of the most pointed exchanges with Kennedy during the hearing, challenging the statements from some GOP senators who criticized Democrats for asking Kennedy certain questions regarding his past statements on vaccines.
“Now, some of you are new to this committee and new to the Senate, so you may not know that I am the proud mother of a 36-year-old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” Hassan said. “And a day does not go by when I don’t think about, ‘What did I do when I was pregnant with him that might have caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life?’
“So please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is,” she said, adding that many of her friends have children with autism.
“Mr. Kennedy, that first autism study rocked my world. And like every mother, I worried about whether, in fact, the vaccine had done something to my son,” Hassan said. “And you know what? It was a tiny study of about 12 kids. And over time, the scientific community studied and studied and studied and found that it was wrong. And the journal retracted the study because sometimes science is wrong. We make progress. We build on the work and we become more successful. And when you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it impossible for us to move forward. So that’s what the problem is here.”
Emergency response units search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River on Jan. 30, 2025, after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators said Thursday they are investigating the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet carrying 64 people and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia, just outside the District of Columbia.
Meanwhile, with no conclusive evidence on the cause of the worst U.S. air disaster in years yet disclosed, President Donald Trump in a White House press event tied the tragedy to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Department of Transportation.
The president blamed air traffic controller standards and the Biden administration’s “big push to put diversity into the FAA program,” pointing to former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg in particular. Buttigieg released a statement on social media shortly after the press conference criticizing Trump’s comments as “despicable.”
When reporters asked how he knew that diversity among air traffic controllers was a factor in the crash, Trump responded: “Because I have common sense.”
Officials believe there are no survivors from the regional jet or the Black Hawk, which were sent plunging into the frigid Potomac River late Wednesday. The death toll stands at 67, including the three members of the helicopter crew. Officials said 28 bodies had been recovered as a massive operation in the river continued.
Senators expressed their condolences to the families of crash victims and vowed to get answers. J. Todd Inman, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the independent investigative agency will have a preliminary report within 30 days and then a final report.
“It’s a horrifying accident,” said West Virginia GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “Looks like human error.”
The chair of that panel, Sen. Ted Cruz, said that he was briefed by senior leadership from the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB in his office along with members of the committee.
“Obviously, something happened that should not have happened, but I think it is a mistake to speculate until we see what the evidence demonstrates,” the Texas Republican said.
Maj. Gen. Trevor J. Bredenkamp said in a written statement Thursday that the Army’s “top priority is to assist in the recovery efforts, while fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other investigative agencies to determine the cause of this tragic incident.”
“While the investigation is ongoing, we are committed to transparency and will share accurate updates as soon as they become available,” said Bredenkamp, commander of the Joint Task Force for the National Capital Region.
Wednesday’s collision was the deadliest plane crash in the D.C. area since 1982, when an Air Florida flight crashed into the Potomac River and killed 78 people, and it’s the first major disaster of the Trump administration’s second term.
The crash of the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, which occurred around 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, came two days after the Senate confirmed former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy as Trump’s nominee to be Transportation secretary.
In a Thursday morning briefing, Duffy said that he thought the crash was preventable — in line with early social media posts from the president — but deferred further conclusions to the NTSB, which will lead the investigation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that his prayers were with those who lost their lives in the crash and that Congress, in its oversight role, will investigate the incident.
“It’s too early to know why last night’s crash occurred, but we’re going to find out,” the South Dakota Republican said. “And Congress and federal agencies will be closely examining this tragedy to ensure that America’s skies are safe.”
As of Thursday morning there was no acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Trump said during the White House briefing, at approximately 11:20 a.m. Eastern, that he was immediately naming the agency’s deputy administrator, Christopher Rocheleau, to the role of acting FAA administrator.
During the roughly 35-minute press conference, Trump told reporters, “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.”
As he stood before the press less than 24 hours after the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash, Trump said former President Joe Biden had allowed the FAA to hire persons with disabilities. Trump then specifically said those with “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism — all qualify for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country, pouring into a little spot, a little dot on the map, little runway.”
The American Association of People with Disabilities pushed back on Trump’s comments, writing on social media that “FAA employees with disabilities did not cause last night’s tragic plane crash.”
“The investigation into the crash is still ongoing,” AAPD said in a statement. “It is extremely inappropriate for the President to use this tragedy to push an anti-diversity hiring agenda. Doing so makes all Americans less safe.”
Vice President J.D. Vance, along with Duffy and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, echoed Trump’s comments about DEI at the press briefing.
During Trump’s first administration, in April 2019, the FAA announced an initiative to enroll up to 20 persons with disabilities into an Aviation Development Program.
Trump signed an executive order last week directing the FAA “to immediately stop Biden DEI hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring.”
Trump also told reporters he listened to the air traffic controller audio in the seconds leading up to the crash, and “you had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter.”
Traffic controllers can be heard on the audio telling the Sikorsky H-60 helicopter “I need you to land immediately.”
Buttigieg said in his statement that Trump was not telling the truth about the FAA under Biden.
“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, also criticized the president’s news conference.
“Listen, it’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracies, it’s another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It just turns your stomach.”
Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Democratic Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have long criticized the large number of flight slots at DCA and have pushed back on adding new slots to the airport, which is a favorite for lawmakers as it’s close to the U.S. Capitol.
In April, there was a near-miss, when two planes cleared to take off came within 400 feet of crashing.
Last year, Congress in May approved an FAA bill that finalized a five-year, $105 billion plan that added flight slots to an already busy DCA.
Cruz defended the long haul flights he pushed for in the FAA bill, some that included Texas.
“I believe we should wait for the investigation to demonstrate what actually caused the accident, rather than speculating,” he said. “We know it was tragic, and there are families of 67 men and women grieving right now.”
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents aviation professionals, said in a statement that “it would be premature to speculate on the root cause of this accident.”
“We will wait for the National Transportation Safety Board to complete its work and use that information to help guide decisions and changes to enhance and improve aviation safety,” he said.
Joseph McCartin, a Georgetown University professor who has studied the nation’s air traffic controllers, said Trump’s comments attributing the crash to DEI programs are “absurd.”
“The problem is that, if there is a problem at the FAA, it certainly doesn’t stem from DEI. Rather, it stems from consistent and chronic understaffing of air traffic control facilities, which has been happening over years,” said McCartin who published the 2011 book “Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America.”
Among the 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane were U.S. Figure Skating coaches and athletes, along with their families, returning from a national development camp held in concert with the association’s championships in Wichita, the association confirmed Wednesday night.
Six members, including two teen athletes, two parents and two coaches, of the Skating Club of Boston were on board, according to reporting by WBUR and the Rhode Island Current.
Club officials identified the skaters as Jinna Han,13, and Spencer Lane, 16, along with their mothers, Jin Han and Christine Lane. The club’s coaches, among the victims, were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, according to the organization.
Russian state media confirmed Thursday morning that two Russian figure skaters and other Russian citizens were on the plane.
A U.S. Department of State spokesperson told States Newsroom that officials had reached out to the foreign diplomat community and will provide an update once the department receives confirmation from the NTSB of foreign national casualties.
Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said at a press conference Thursday morning that the city had not yet reviewed the passenger manifest, but said one family showed up at the Wichita airport Wednesday night seeking information about the crash.
The direct flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C., had only just begun in January 2024.
Virginia’s Loudoun County School District Superintendent Aaron Spence issued a letter Thursday confirming that one of its students had been on the flight, according to FOX5 Washington, D.C. The letter did not identify the student.
The United Association wrote on social media Thursday that four of its union members from Steamfitters Local 602 were among the plane’s passengers. The union local is based in Landover, Maryland.
The flight crew was based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported.
FOX5 Atlanta reported that one of the plane’s pilots was a 28-year-old named Sam Lilley. The local affiliate cited the pilot’s father Timothy Lilley, who has ties to Georgia.
Emergency response units on Jan. 30, 2025, search the crash site of an American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane collided with a military helicopter the previous night on approach to Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday near Reagan National Airport in Virginia just across from the District of Columbia, plunging both aircraft into the Potomac River.
“Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,” Jack Potter, head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said during a Thursday morning press conference.
American Eagle flight 5342 had originated in Wichita, Kansas. Those aboard included U.S. figure skaters traveling from Kansas as well as from Russia, according to the U.S. Figure Skating association and the Kremlin.
American Airlines confirmed there were 60 passengers on board and four flight crew and that the flight was landing at DCA, the National Airport call letters. The crash occurred around 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
John Donnelly, D.C. fire chief, said about 300 emergency responders were searching the Potomac. Donnelly noted in a Thursday morning press conference at the airport that they were pivoting from rescue operations to recovery.
He said 27 bodies had been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter.
President Donald Trump said at a Thursday morning press briefing from the White House, “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions.”
Minutes later he added, “This has been a terrible very short period of time. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and newly installed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent several minutes during the remarks blaming the crash on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and the administrations of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
When asked by reporters how he knew that diversity among air traffic controllers was a factor in the crash, Trump responded: “Because I have common sense.”
Hegseth earlier said on social media that an investigation by DOD and the Army has “launched immediately.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation of the crash, officials said.
Hegseth posted an email statement from spokesperson Heather Chairez for the U.S. military’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, stating that the helicopter had been on a training flight. The helicopter was operating out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, according to the statement.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said during the airport press conference that “at this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path” of the passenger aircraft.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that she had spoken to Trump administration officials, but not directly with Trump.
Trump overnight posted on social media, seemingly criticizing that the crash occurred, and that it’s a “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” he said. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.”
Secretary of Transportation Duffy said at the airport press conference that he agreed the crash was preventable, that Wednesday night was “a clear night,” and that both aircraft were in a “standard flight pattern.”
“Prior to the collision, the flight paths that were being flown from the military and from American (Airlines), that was not unusual for what happens in the DC airspace,” Duffy said.
He added that “everything was standard in the lead up to the crash.”
“Something went wrong here,” Duffy said.
A separate White House statement noted that the president had been briefed and was monitoring the situation.
Virginia’s Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, who have raised concerns about crowded flight paths at DCA, said they look forward to the independent investigation from NTSB.
“It’s not a time to speculate,” Kaine said. “It’s a time to investigate and get answers to the questions we need, and I have confidence that will be done.”
Bowser said the governors of Maryland and Virginia provided D.C. with personnel to aid in search and rescue operations.
Donnelly noted there were major challenges in the rescue operations, such as water that’s 8 feet deep, freezing temperatures, and the cover of night.
“There is wind, there is pieces of ice out there, so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in, and because there’s not a lot of lights, you’re out there searching every square inch of space to see if you can find anybody,” he said. “The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in.”
Kansas Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall were at an earlier press conference at DCA, hours after the crash.
“We’re we will do everything we can to make certain that we’re supportive of the rescue efforts, and we’ll do everything we can to make certain that our subcommittee and Congress is engaged in what needs to take place following the outcome of this evening and this this month’s kind of investigation,” Moran said.
Moran sits on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He added that he’s talked to the White House, American Airlines and DOD.
At the first press conference hours after the crash, Duffy noted that there would be an investigation.
“So obviously, there’ll be a review of what happened here tonight, and after the FAA studies what happened, we will take appropriate action if necessary to modify flight paths,” Duffy said.
Marshall expressed his sympathies with those on board the flight.
“We wish there was more that we can do,” he said. “I want the folks back home to know that we care and we love them.”
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that several of its team members were on the flight.
“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available,” the organization said in a statement provided to States Newsroom.
Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said during a Thursday morning press conference at 8 a.m. Central that they had not received the flight manifest and do not know whether or how many Kansas residents were on board.
“I am in direct contact with American Airlines to find out the confirmed information to provide to all of you,” Wu said.
The Wichita Airport Authority activated its family incident support team Wednesday night, and Wu said one family came to the airport seeking information about the crash.
The direct flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C., began on Jan. 8, 2024, according to Wichita officials.
“We were very honored to have gotten that flight and continue to advocate for those nonstop flights out of our community,” Wu said. “This is a true tragedy, and one that this (city) council and myself want all of our community members to know that our hearts are heavy, they’re also grieving, and we will provide the support that we can to those who have been affected.”
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes said he was in touch with White House officials through Wednesday night.
“When a tragic incident like this happens, obviously, we want to do the investigation, which will take days and weeks to go through that process, and to make sure that we can prevent accidents like this from happening in the future,” Estes, who represents the Wichita area, said at the press briefing.
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, who represents the Wichita suburb of Andover, released a statement Thursday saying the crash was “unfathomable.”
“Last night, in the skies above our nation’s capital, a military helicopter collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 flying inbound from Wichita to Reagan National Airport. As our leaders seek answers, the Kansas Senate stands united in constant prayer for the passengers and crews, their families and loved ones, and every soul who is impacted by this awful tragedy. Together, we mourn for those who lost their lives and pray for God’s comfort for all,” Masterson said.
American Airlines is publishing updates at news.aa.com, and the company is instructing victims’ family members to call 1-800-679-8215.
Tents in the Street Angels warming room in 2021. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
In Milwaukee, during a spate of freezing winter weather earlier this month, cold-challenged frontline organizations are providing crucial services to hundreds of residents, many of whom are unhoused. Night to night, week to week, the level of need some advocates and outreach groups have witnessed is staggering.
Eric Collins-Dyke, deputy administrator for Milwaukee County Housing Services, said that since early December, the housing division’s outreach teams have encountered between 75 and 100 people on a regular basis. Last Monday, a day center was opened inside the Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center, which serves over 100 people daily. While Collins-Dyke said he was happy to see the center serving so many people, he also saw it as a sign of how many people are in need. The most recent data showed that the county’s warming rooms “had seen 800 unique individuals” since opening in late November, he said.
Pastor James West, executive director of Repairers of the Breach in Milwaukee, also said that the group’s resource center sees up to 140 people each day. “Nothing less than 100,” West told Wisconsin Examiner. Repairers of the Breach provides food, private showers, employment assistance, free health care, telephones, and other services every day except Sunday. Since late November, West’s staff have been on “double duty,” he said. Dozens of people are showing up at night, in addition to those who arrive during the day. Recently, when temperatures across the state dropped below freezing, Repairers of the Breach was open for a 44-hour stint – including on Sunday – due to the cold. Over those days, West saw many people including the elderly, wielding canes or walkers, and struggling with mental illness come in.
While Milwaukee’s unhoused population is made up of a diverse group of people from many backgrounds, a growing number are elderly. “I think of the 800 unique individuals, 248 were over 60 [years old] off the top of my head,” said Collins-Dyke. “That’s an increase that we’ve seen. So unfortunately we’re seeing individuals who are older experiencing unsheltered homelessness.” It’s something that the county is “trying to wrap our arms around,” Collins-Dyke explained, with plans for a new grant focusing on elderly unhoused people in the works.
From Nov. 27 to Dec. 13, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office documented five deaths due to hypothermia. All of the individuals – four male and one female – ranged from 56 to 82 years old. Three of them were logged as “homeless” and were found in the cities of Milwaukee and Oak Creek.
According to Medical Examiner records the oldest victim, 82-year-old Michael Kies, was found dead in November after Meals on Wheels, which provides meals to 2.2 million seniors nationwide, and Kies’ loved ones asked police to conduct a welfare check. Kies was found in his bedroom.
In early December, the Oak Creek Fire Department reported the death of Jehovah Holy Spirit Jesus, 60, who was found seated in a chair behind trash dumpsters outside the business Eder Flag. Jesus “appeared dressed for the weather and was not visible from the roadway,” medical examiner records state. Surveillance footage reportedly captured Jesus walking in a nearby field on Nov. 28. By the time staff returned to work on Dec. 2, Jesus – believed to be unhoused and struggling with mental illness – was found cold and unresponsive behind the business.
Three more elderly residents died from Dec. 11-13, including two unhoused Milwaukeeans who died on the same day. One of them, 64-year-old Carolyn Lovett, was taken to the Aurora Sinai Medical Center by firefighters for hypothermic cardiac arrest. She’d been found unresponsive in a roadway, medical examiner records state. Although friends of Lovett arrived at the hospital later, including a cousin who said that they lived together, records list her as homeless.
That same day, firefighters also found 60-year-old Richard Montgomery in a vacant, fire-damaged house on Milwaukee’s North Side. Montgomery’s family had contacted city departments for a welfare check on Montgomery. One of his neighbors – who believed Montgomery struggled with schizophrenia – had also requested a welfare check. The house was owned by Montgomery’s parents, who’d been deceased for many years, reports state. Although multiple fires had left the home uninhabitable, Montgomery continued living there, according to records.
In the third and fourth weeks of January, arctic cold whipped Wisconsin with 30-35 below zero wind chills. Residents in southern Wisconsin were warned that just 15 minutes of bare skin exposure to the cold could cause frostbite. By the end of January, three more people (ranging from 40-69 years old) had possibly succumbed to the cold. WISN reported that on Jan. 12, a 64-year-old man was found under a bridge. The next day, a 69-year-old man was found in a vehicle that was being used as shelter. Two days later on Jan. 15, a 40-year-old man was found on a heating mechanism near railroad tracks.
The recent deaths spanned from the south of Milwaukee to the north. Although Repairers of the Breach is based in Milwaukee’s King Park neighborhood, the group sees people from as far away as Waukesha and Germantown.
King Park has become a focal point for housing issues in Milwaukee over the years. In 2021, people expressed concerns about a growing tent community made up of dozens of people in the park. Although county officials have worked to find housing and services for those living in King Park, the area has never been entirely free of unhoused people looking for space and privacy.
Last summer, King Park’s unhoused population again began to rise as the Republican National Convention approached. During the convention, out-of-state police officers from Columbus Ohio killed Sam Sharpe, a man who’d been living in the park. Sharpe was known to housing outreach groups like Street Angels, who said after his death that they serve up to 300 unhoused residents a night. Whereas some find quiet spots off to themselves, others group together in encampments, or stick together in nomadic caravans of half-working vehicles.
While county and advocate groups work to get unhoused people supplies and shelter, many living on the street also display a unique kind of resilience. Collins-Dyke told Wisconsin Examiner that “seeing sort of the resilience and the ingenuity of a lot of the people that we serve on the street is pretty incredible, to be able to survive.”
Nevertheless, county teams always encourage even the hardest of folks to come with them and come to a warming site. Collins-Dyke also noted that the county is working with landlords to get people housed more quickly. The county’s housing navigation and outreach teams, Collins-Dyke explained, are currently working to assess people visiting warming sites to get them into housing.
In December 2024, Milwaukee County received federal funding for housing support and other services for elderly residents, and those transitioning out of the Community Reintegration Center (formerly known as the House of Corrections). “Housing is a matter of public health, and housing security is a critical social determinant of health,” County Executive Crowley said at a press conference announcing the funds.
“Our shared vision for Milwaukee County includes expanding equitable access to safe, quality and affordable housing and supportive services for those in need,” Crowley added. “By supporting our aging population and investing in reentry housing services for those seeking a second chance, we are working to improve outcomes for some of our most vulnerable residents and build a stronger Milwaukee County for all.”
“Housing is a key social determinant of health. We want to ensure that older adults and people reentering their communities from the CRC have access to safe and affordable housing,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, Executive Director of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Through these efforts, we are working to empower vulnerable residents to lead full lives.”
Orders by the Trump administration, however, have thrown the grant and other funds into uncertain territory. A two page memo from the Office of Management and Budget announced the sudden freeze of federal program funds to state and local governments. Wisconsin joined other states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit to stop funding from being cut off to local and state governments, and af ederal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration must wait at least a week before pausing funds. On Wednesday, the administration rescinded the memo.
Before the memo was rescinded a Milwaukee County spokesperson said in an email statement to Wisconsin Examiner that County Executive David Crowley “remains concerned” about the memo “and the potential impacts to not only County projects and services, but the overall health and safety of Milwaukee County residents, families, and children who rely on federally-funded programs and services.”
Numerous Milwaukee County departments rely on federal funding including human services and transportation services. “We will continue engaging with local, state, and federal leaders on this evolving matter,” said the spokesperson.
Pastor West also stressed collaboration between the county government and community groups. Beyond receiving government funds, West wonders “why not outsource it to us…Let us service the people in the way that we know how to service that’s been successful.” That would allow different community organizations working on the frontlines of the housing issue to learn from each other, he said. “I will say in the last five years, there’s been more of that,” said West of support from the city and county. “And it’s working.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday that prioritize school choice funding and seek to end what the administration sees as “radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling.”
Trump is carrying through on education-related campaign promises he made as part of his sweeping vision to “save American education.” These efforts mark the latest in a deluge of wide-ranging executive orders the president began signing since he took office last week.
One executive order directs the U.S. Education Department secretary “to issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds” to support K-12 school choice initiatives within the next two months.
Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Education secretary, has yet to sit before a Senate panel for a confirmation hearing.
McMahon — a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive, the prior head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first administration and a wealthy donor — could be pivotal to carrying out Trump’s sweeping education agenda.
The order also directs the Education secretary to “include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”
Trump is also tasking the Department of Health and Human Services with issuing guidance on how states receiving block grants “can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options.”
He is also requiring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to review how any “military-connected families” could use Department of Defense funds to attend a school of their choice and must submit a plan to describe these mechanisms and the steps to implement them.
Trump is asking the same for the Department of the Interior — requiring that the agency’s next leader review how anyone eligible to attend a school within the Bureau of Indian Education can use federal funds to attend a school of their choosing.
Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the department, appears to be on a smooth path to becoming the next Interior secretary.
Meanwhile, Trump signed a sweeping executive order that aims to bar federal funding for schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology,” which the administration describes as “an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations.”
The order also requires the respective secretaries of Education; Defense; and Health and Human Services; to provide Trump with an “ending indoctrination strategy” in the next 90 days.
The plan would include recommendations for “eliminating Federal funding or support for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools.”
Trump also signed another executive order Wednesday that takes additional measures to try to combat antisemitism on college campuses.
This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.
The vast majority of America’s local election administrators would not encourage their children to do the same job, and a shrinking share of them say they would be proud to tell others about their work.
The findings come from a survey conducted every federal election year by the Elections & Voting Information Center, an academic research group. While it contains small bright spots — election administrators largely find the job personally rewarding, for example — the number willing to encourage their children to follow in their footsteps has decreased by nearly half in the past two election cycles. In 2020, 41% said they would do so. In 2024, that number dropped to 22%.
The full survey results will be released next week. The survey was fielded from early August to late October.
The negative outlook on election work continues a trend researchers say they began observing in 2020, when increasing scrutiny, threats and misinformation fanned by supporters of President Donald Trump began reshaping the profession. Public confidence in elections hit new highs after the November 2024 presidential election — which had a clear outcome despite narrow margins — but election administrators are still pessimistic.
“There are still a lot of cracks in the system, and if things had been closer we would have seen a different reaction,” said Paul Manson, EVIC research director and research assistant professor at Portland State University in Oregon. “Job satisfaction hasn’t gone up — underneath the hood, the people who run elections are still nervous.”
Many election administrators and experts believe the public’s increased confidence in elections is fragile and would look different if Trump had lost again, if the election had been closer or if the results had been contested as they were in 2020. After a grueling few years, the survey found, the administrators remain on edge, a finding that could affect whether communities around the country can find qualified candidates for critical election administration positions.
Paul Gronke, EVIC director and professor of political science at Reed College, said the center began conducting the survey in 2018, hoping to learn more about the field and the people in it, rather than just about how Americans were casting ballots. Until that point, said Gronke, surveys treated “administrators as if they were just cogs in a system.”
In 2020, as the pandemic worsened and Trump intensified false rhetoric against election officials, the survey became a valuable window for political scientists and the media into how election administrators experienced that shift, said Gronke.
Gronke and Manson say they’ve uncovered a strikingly complex picture over the years.
While election administrators express confidence in their own abilities and say they personally enjoy the work, they struggle to leave their problems at the office.
“While many of us in election administration view our jobs as incredibly important, and we value the choices we have made in our lives, we look at the wasteland that is our lives and we think, ‘We wouldn’t want this for our kids,’ because election administration is so hard,” Judd Choate, Colorado’s election director, told Votebeat.
Choate — who teaches in the election administration program at the University of Minnesota and has helped craft questions for the survey over the years — said his own 17-year-old daughter has become more interested in elections, but still has no interest in doing the same job.
“I’m perfectly fine with that,” he said. “Please, become a doctor. Become a lawyer. Be a mathematician. Don’t do this. One hundred percent, that is the way I view this job.”
Melissa Kono is the part-time clerk for Burnside, a 500-person town in western Wisconsin. There, clerks are elected members of the town board. It’s a part-time job, paying only $6,000 a year. Kono is also a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches courses on community resource development.
For her, the combination makes sense — her professorship pays the bills, and the two jobs align nicely. As part of her work for the university, she travels around the state training other election administrators. But she understands that for many others, the bad is starting to outweigh the good.
“The pandemic and the volume of absentee ballot requests coupled with unnecessary criticism is what has led to this fatigue — just saying, ‘I’m done with this,’” she told Votebeat. “People who I never thought would give up have left their positions because of the pressure and criticism and dealing with irrational people.”
All of the anxiety and pressure have led some of her training sessions to feel “like group therapy,” she said.
The survey also shows that election officials in small counties and large counties have very different experiences. In less-populated areas, officials are far more likely to focus on elections for only a small part of the year, while large cities and counties typically have full-time staff dedicated only to elections. Rural areas also have less of a problem recruiting poll workers.
Perhaps the most striking difference is the impact of the spread of false information. Only about 20% of administrators in jurisdictions of under 5,000 voters reported that misinformation was a serious problem. In jurisdictions of more than 100,000 voters, nearly half report that it is.
Kono said that because Burnside, Wisconsin, has so few voters, they are provided “white glove” service. She can interact individually with anyone who is experiencing a problem — whether that’s cynicism over election integrity or a missing absentee ballot.
“In a rural area, we have the advantage of knowing our neighbors,” she said.
By contrast, Heider Garcia in Dallas County, Texas, oversees voting for more than 1.4 million people. He is paid well for his job, which focuses entirely on voting and elections. His ability to pay his full-time staff a livable wage also makes it easier for him to attract candidates from other fields, which medium and small jurisdictions struggle to do.
Still, across the board, election administrators say that hiring qualified, full-time staff is difficult. As Gronke and Manson have done follow-up interviews with some of the respondents, they learned that low pay, high stress and intense scrutiny were the barriers.
“We had one election official say they couldn’t compete with In-N-Out Burger on pay,” said Manson. “Administrators want to communicate that this is a long-term job with good benefits, but so are other county jobs. And they do not come with as much scrutiny or criticism.”
Critically, more than 40% of election administrators say that job applicants have little to no experience in elections, and more than a quarter say that applicants lack the practical skills to do the work. That isn’t surprising in such a niche sector.
“Nobody goes to election school. Nobody says, when they are in high school, ‘Oh, when I graduate I want to go here and study to be an election administrator,’” he said. “It’s more about having the right skills, and then the job comes up.”
Garcia said that people who have experience in event planning or who have run a business tend to have transferable skills. In his previous job, in neighboring Tarrant County, his deputy elections administrator was a former Marine.
“You can learn the business if you have the right skills,” he said. The problem, though, is that the number of necessary skills continues to expand. “We joke. Like, you have to be a lawyer, an IT person, a spokesperson, a negotiator, and an event planner.”
In recent years, the availability of training has improved. The University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Policy — where Choate teaches — offers a certificate in election administration, for example. Choate hopes the industry will start proactively reaching out to more people to attract them to these programs and to the field itself.
Choate said the EVIC report (and others like it) “demonstrate the need for an aggressive program to create education opportunities for young people, people in college and people trying to get into a second career … that set them up for success in the world of election administration.”
Manson said one thing that stands out to him every year is the struggle medium-size counties experience. “Small counties don’t have that many ballots, and large counties have far more resources,” said Manson. They can usually muscle through, he said.
But for the medium-size, often suburban counties, “it’s like reverse Goldilocks,” he said. Demands are growing as population grows, but resources aren’t necessarily coming in as fast: The buildings are frequently too small, and there is almost never enough staff.
A few markers have been consistent since EVIC began the survey in 2018. Most notably, the demographics of full-time staff. Eighty-eight percent say that they are white, far higher than in the population at large. This number is consistent across jurisdiction size. Just under 85% of respondents to the survey were women (though this number is significantly smaller — just under 50% — for larger jurisdictions).
Gronke and Manson say the job of clerk has historically been popular among women because it used to be a quiet job that allowed you to balance the demands of family and work. The nature of the work is also viewed through a gendered lens. Kono said she and other clerks are often treated “just as the secretary, or just the person who takes the minutes.”
“Yeah, I wish I just took the minutes,” she said. “That is the easiest part of the job.”
Jessica Huseman is Votebeat’s editorial director and is based in Dallas. Contact Huseman at jhuseman@votebeat.org.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat’s newsletters here.
Job satisfaction among election administrators continues to sink, survey shows is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Most inmates in Wisconsin’s federal prison, and in federal prisons nationally, are U.S. citizens.
Following Trump administration arrests of immigrants suspected or convicted of crimes, Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of western Wisconsin claimed Jan. 27 that over 50% of inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford, Wisconsin, are “illegal aliens.”
Oxford is a low-security prison 60 miles north of Madison that houses 1,100 male offenders.
As of Jan. 25, 59% of Oxford inmates, and 85% of federal inmates nationally, were U.S. citizens. The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not readily have data on what percentage of inmates are unauthorized immigrants.
Nationally:
U.S. citizens constituted two-thirds of recently federally sentenced individuals.
The most serious offense for 76% of noncitizens sentenced for a federal crime in recent years was immigration-related, such as unlawful U.S. entry or smuggling noncitizens (14% were drug-related).
Donald Trump’s administration has called unauthorized immigrants criminals, but being undocumented is a civil violation.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Did most federal prison inmates in Wisconsin and the U.S. enter the country illegally? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
The Puerto Rican artist asked history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo to help write historical “visualizers” about his island to accompany each song on YouTube.
The post Bad Bunny gets help from a Wisconsin professor appeared first on WPR.
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