(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s prison managers say it took them a couple of hours to deal with the Slenderman Stabber’s broken ankle bracelet because they had hundreds of other calls that night.

(The Center Square) – Democrat Joel Brennan, a former Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary, announced Thursday he is running for governor.

Fossils from Qatar have revealed a small, newly identified sea cow species that lived in the Arabian Gulf more than 20 million years ago. The site contains the densest known collection of fossil sea cow bones, showing that these animals once thrived in rich seagrass meadows. Their ecological role mirrors that of modern dugongs, which still reshape the Gulf’s seafloor as they graze. The findings may help researchers understand how seagrass ecosystems respond to long-term environmental change.

Researchers found that eroded lava rubble beneath the South Atlantic can trap enormous amounts of CO2 for tens of millions of years. These porous breccia deposits store far more carbon than previously sampled ocean crust. The discovery reshapes how scientists view the long-term balance of carbon between the ocean, rocks, and atmosphere. It also reveals a hidden mechanism that helps stabilize Earth’s climate over geological timescales.

Long COVID still affects people worldwide with stubborn symptoms like fatigue and cognitive issues. A clinical trial tested whether boosting NAD+ using nicotinamide riboside could help. Although overall group differences were limited, many participants showed encouraging improvements after taking NR for at least 10 weeks. The findings suggest NAD+ enhancement may offer symptom relief for some individuals.

Researchers discovered that nerve injuries can alter the immune system throughout the body, and males and females react very differently. Male mice showed strong inflammatory responses, while females showed none, yet both transmitted pain-inducing signals through their blood. These findings reveal previously unknown pathways driving pain, especially in females. The work points toward new opportunities for personalized chronic pain therapies.

A sudden, unexplained mass die-off is decimating sea urchins around the world, including catastrophic losses in the Canary Islands. Key reef-grazing species are reaching historic lows, and their ability to reproduce has nearly halted in some regions. Scientists suspect a pathogen but haven’t yet confirmed the culprit. The fate of these reefs may hinge on solving this unfolding pandemic.

Rats with naturally high stress levels were far more likely to self-administer cannabis when given access. Behavioral testing showed that baseline stress hormones were the strongest predictor of cannabis-seeking behavior. Lower cognitive flexibility and low endocannabinoid levels also contributed to increased use. The results hint at possible early indicators of vulnerability to drug misuse.

Researchers found that both how often and how much someone drinks significantly shape their cancer risk, even at moderate levels. Vulnerability varies across groups, with genetics, socioeconomic status, obesity, and lifestyle behaviors amplifying harm. The review also uncovered gender differences, beverage-specific risks, and biological pathways that intensify cancer development.

A cutting-edge therapy using base-edited immune cells is offering a major breakthrough for patients with one of the toughest forms of blood cancer, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. By precisely rewriting tiny sections of DNA, scientists at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital created universal CAR T-cells capable of targeting the cancer without harming themselves—a long-standing challenge in T-cell–based therapies. Early trial results show deep, long-lasting remissions, including in patients who had exhausted standard treatment options.

Scientists discovered that the protein RPA plays a critical and previously unconfirmed role in stimulating telomerase to maintain long, healthy telomeres. When RPA malfunctions, telomeres can shorten dangerously, leading to serious diseases.

Scientists tracking young Arizona Bald Eagles found that many migrate north during summer and fall, bucking the traditional southbound pattern of most birds. Their routes rely heavily on historic stopover lakes and rivers, and often extend deep into Canada. As the eagles mature, their flights become more precise, but they also encounter significant dangers like electrocution and poisoning. These discoveries point to the need for targeted conservation of critical travel corridors.

A new economic modeling tool is helping Maine kelp farmers identify cost-saving strategies with remarkable precision. By analyzing farm design, weather, vessel types, and processing methods, it highlights how decisions ripple through overall profitability. When tested, the tool demonstrated that simple redesigns and mechanization could dramatically reduce production costs. Its findings could reshape the future of offshore kelp farming.

Scientists developed a high-performance hydrogen-production catalyst using lignin, a common waste product from paper and biorefinery processes. The nickel–iron oxide nanoparticles embedded in carbon fibers deliver fast kinetics, long-term durability, and low overpotential. Microscopy and modeling show that a tailored nanoscale interface drives the catalyst’s strong activity. The discovery points toward more sustainable and industrially scalable clean-energy materials.

Scientists have uncovered that some atoms in liquids don't move at all—even at extreme temperatures—and these anchored atoms dramatically alter the way materials freeze. Using advanced electron microscopy, researchers watched molten metal droplets solidify and found that stationary atoms can trap liquids in tiny “atomic corrals,” keeping them fluid far below their normal freezing point and giving rise to a strange hybrid state of matter.

Northwestern scientists have created the fastest-ever hepatitis C diagnostic, delivering accurate results in only 15 minutes. The test uses the DASH rapid PCR system, originally developed for COVID, but adapted for whole blood samples. Independent testing showed 100% agreement with existing commercial platforms. Its speed could transform how quickly patients begin treatment.

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The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.

Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.

Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, “there won’t be another chance to act,” before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces.

“Let’s avert a disaster,” Schumer said. “The American people are watching.”

Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled. The health savings accounts in the GOP bill would give money directly to consumers instead of to insurance companies, an idea that has been echoed by President Donald Trump.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said ahead of the vote that a simple extension of the subsidies is “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare’s spiraling health care costs.”

But Democrats immediately rejected the GOP plan, saying that the accounts wouldn’t be enough to cover costs for most consumers.

The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. In September, Republicans tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump’s nominees.

The Senate voted 51-48 not to move forward on the Democratic bill, with four Republicans — Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan — voting with Democrats. The legislation needed 60 votes to proceed, as did the Republican bill, which was also blocked on a 51-48 vote.

No interest in compromise

Some Republicans have pushed their colleagues to extend the credits, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said they should vote for a short-term extension so they can find agreement on the issue next year. “It’s too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left,” Tillis said Wednesday.

But there appeared to be little interest in compromise. Despite the potential for bipartisan agreement, Republicans and Democrats have never engaged in meaningful or high-level negotiations on a solution, even after a small group of centrist Democrats struck a deal with Republicans last month to end the 43-day government shutdown in exchange for a vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Most Democratic lawmakers opposed the move as many Republicans made clear that they wanted the tax credits to expire.

Still, the deal raised hopes for bipartisan compromise on health care. But that quickly faded with a lack of any real bipartisan talks.

An intractable issue

The votes were also the latest failed salvo in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature law that Democrats passed along party lines in 2010 to expand access to insurance coverage.

Republicans have tried unsuccessfully since then to repeal or overhaul the law, arguing that health care is still too expensive. But they have struggled to find an alternative. In the meantime, Democrats have made the policy a central political issue in several elections, betting that the millions of people who buy health care on the government marketplaces want to keep their coverage.

“When people’s monthly payments spike next year, they’ll know it was Republicans that made it happen,” Schumer said in November, while making clear that Democrats would not seek compromise.

Even if they view it as a political win, the failed votes are a loss for Democrats who demanded an extension of the benefits as they forced a government shutdown for six weeks in October and November — and for the millions of people facing premium increases on Jan. 1.

Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the group tried to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended. But, he said, the talks became unproductive when Republicans demanded language adding new limits for abortion coverage that were a “red line” for Democrats. He said Republicans were going to “own these increases.”

A plethora of plans, but little agreement

Republicans have used the looming expiration of the subsidies to renew their longstanding criticisms of the ACA, also called Obamacare, and to try, once more, to agree on what should be done.

Thune announced earlier this week that the GOP conference had decided to vote on the bill led by Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, even as several Republican senators proposed alternate ideas.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus.

Republican moderates in the House who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on health care.

If they fail to act and health care costs go up, the approval rating for Congress “will get even lower,” Kiley said.

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

U.S. Senate rejects health care subsidy extension as costs are set to rise for millions of Americans 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.

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Joel Brennan, former top Cabinet official for Gov. Tony Evers, has joined the Democratic primary for governor, vowing to “stand up to Trump’s dysfunction” and be “laser-focused” on improving people’s lives if elected.

In a campaign launch video released Thursday, Brennan discussed growing up with 10 siblings in Wisconsin in a family that was “long on potential, although sometimes a little short on resources.” Brennan talks about working a variety of jobs to get through college and boasts that his first car didn’t even have working taillights.

Brennan described getting a call from Evers in 2018, asking him to lead the Department of Administration “as his top Cabinet official.” Brennan served in that role from 2019 through 2021. During that time, he said the administration put the state on firmer financial footing and generated a state budget surplus of nearly $4 billion. He also said the administration “stood up to the extremists” and offered assistance to thousands of small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“But today, thanks to Donald Trump’s chaos and incompetence, the numbers just aren’t adding up for Wisconsin families,” Brennan says in the video. “Costs, like everything else, are out of control. And coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like.”

Brennan’s video ends with a nod to the race for the Legislature, where Democrats are hoping to flip Republican majorities for the first time in more than a decade. He said with “fair maps” and a Democratic governor, “we can stay true to our values and deliver change.”

Brennan is currently the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. Prior to joining Evers’ administration, he was CEO of the Discovery World museum for 11 years. He also worked previously for the Redevelopment Authority of Milwaukee and the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau. He was a legislative assistant to Democrat Tom Barrett when Barrett served in Congress.

Brennan joins an already crowded field of Democrats vying for the party’s nomination. Other candidates to announce include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.

Only two Republicans — U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann — are running for the GOP nomination at this point. It’s been reported that former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who lost to Evers in 2022, and former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, who lost to Tammy Baldwin in 2024, are also considering entering the 2026 race for governor.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Joel Brennan, former top Tony Evers aide, enters race for Wisconsin governor 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.

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Click here to read highlights from the story

• Free clinics like Bread of Healing in Milwaukee and Open Arms Free Clinic in Walworth County serve as a final safety net for community members who can’t afford health care.

• They are bracing for higher demand as more residents are expected to forgo insurance as a crucial tax credit is set to expire and premiums spike.

• Clinic staff say they may need more resources to meet demand. 

• The U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected dueling plans related to helping people pay for plans on the federal marketplace.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note the U.S. Senate’s rejection on Thursday of legislation to address the expected rise in health care premiums.

Cars filled the small parking lot outside of Milwaukee’s Cross Lutheran Church on a recent Monday afternoon. The church’s pews sat empty, but downstairs visitors waited around folding tables. Not to hear a sermon, but to see a volunteer physician. 

Staff and volunteers walked patients past a row of dividers used to separate the “waiting room” from the folding tables where doctors and counselors filled out paperwork. 

In front of the free health clinic’s four exam rooms, two phones rang. 

“This is the Bread of Healing Clinic. Can you hold for a moment?” asked Diane Hill Horton, the free health clinic’s assistant.

Across from Hill Horton, another staff member scheduled an appointment in Spanish. 

On a typical Monday, the clinic sees up to 30 patients. Bread of Healing treated 2,400 patients in 2024 across three clinics it runs in Milwaukee. Patients typically lack any health coverage and aren’t asked to pay for their visits.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” Hill Horton said.

But without action from lawmakers in Washington, clinic staff worry that it will become harder to answer every call.

Free clinics like Bread of Healing serve as a final safety net for community members who can’t afford health care. They are bracing for higher demand as more residents are expected to forgo insurance as a crucial tax credit is set to expire and premiums spike.

Affordable Care Act premiums in Wisconsin will increase on average by 17.4% next year, a previous Wisconsin Watch analysis showed, with wide variation depending on age, income, family status and geography. Meanwhile, experts estimate more than 270,000 Wisconsinites rely on the enhanced premium tax credit to make insurance more affordable. It will expire at the end of the month without intervention. 

People without insurance are less likely to get preventative care. Bread of Healing focuses on treating chronic conditions to prevent people from overwhelming emergency rooms, said Executive Director Erica Wright.

“If we don’t try our best to move with that demand, we’re not going to be able to see as many people, and there’s going to be a lot of folks falling through the cracks,” she said.

Wright oversees all three Bread of Healing locations. While the clinics have some room to take on more patients right now, she wants to significantly increase their capacity over the next year — adding money and volunteers to serve a possible “monsoon” of demand.

“We’re never going to be able to serve everybody, we know that,” Wright said. “But I don’t want it to be where our phones are ringing off the hook and we just can’t meet at least a good chunk of the demand.”

Higher premiums and shrinking options

Ashley Bratz paid about $545 a month for a low-deductible marketplace plan this year. That same plan cost over $700 when she went to sign up for 2026.

Even with her job at Open Arms Free Clinic in Walworth County covering a portion of her health care costs, the only option in Bratz’s price range had deductibles higher than what she expects to spend.

 “It’s supposed to be reasonable, and this is not reasonable,” Bratz said.

Bratz, who works as the nurse clinic coordinator, said she did not receive enhanced marketplace subsidies this year. Those who did will face a particular shock as the tax credit expires — while also confronting rising prices and shrinking options.

The income-based tax credits have lowered some marketplace enrollees’ monthly premium payments since they became available in 2014.

In 2021, the federal government expanded those subsidies, further bringing costs down for lower-income enrollees and extending smaller subsidies to people making over four times the  federal poverty level — $62,600 a year for one person in 2025.

Without an extension, monthly premiums are expected to more than double on average nationally for subsidized enrollees, according to KFF, an independent source for health policy research.

A quarter of enrollees surveyed by KFF said they were “very likely” to go without insurance if their premiums doubled.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic plan to extend marketplace subsidies. Republicans, who have long criticized the Affordable Care Act (ACA), have instead called for a broader overhaul. The Senate also rejected a Republican plan that would have expanded access to high-deductible insurance plans and deposit $1,000 to $1,500 in enrollees’ health savings accounts — without renewing enhanced subsidies.

Sara Nichols, Open Arms Clinic executive director, is forging ahead regardless. When Bratz told her about her shrinking affordable coverage options, Nichols started working with an insurance broker to find a new plan for the clinic’s small team of paid staff.

“We cannot have health care workers not have health insurance,” Nichols said.

The move left Bratz relieved. Now she’s preparing to help more clients who can’t afford coverage or just need help navigating the complicated system.

They face challenges beyond lost subsidies and premium hikes. President Donald Trump’s “big” bill-turned law included additional changes to Medicaid funding and the ACA that are expected to increase the number of people without insurance by 10 million over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“We always take what is thrown at us and we figure out how to handle it,” Bratz said. “Do I think we could also use more help? Yes.”

Resources needed to meet demand

Open Arms Free Clinic is already seeing higher demand, Nichols said. 

It operates a dental clinic five days a week, and she’s considering whether further demand would require opening its medical clinic for an additional day.

That would take more volunteers and money. 

While the Legislature sent state dollars to free clinics in its latest budget, private grants and donations have been harder to secure this year, Nichols said. She expects the clinic will have to get even leaner next year.

But she won’t start turning patients away.

The clinic provides dental, medical and behavioral health to low-income people who live and work in Walworth County. Its 250 volunteers help with things like translating, nursing, greeting patients and connecting people to the clinic. They also provide vision and pharmacy services.

“I know that we have enough smart people and kind people that we’re going to come up with a solution to anything that comes up,” Nichols said.

This is far from the first time Wisconsin’s free clinics have faced big changes, said Dennis Skrajewski, the executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. 

Free clinics adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, operating with fewer volunteers and switching to telehealth services and opening vaccine programs, Skrajewski said. Then clinics prepped for increased demand in 2023 after Medicaid unwinding.

“We’re used to waking up and the world changed yesterday, so we’ll adjust,” Skrajewski said.

Wisconsin’s free and charitable clinic association is collaborating with other safety net health providers as part of the Wisconsin Owns Wellbeing initiative, which will host statewide planning meetings to strengthen the state’s safety net services. 

Clinic co-founder: ‘I just wish it weren’t needed’ 

Rick Cesar started working as a parish nurse at Cross Lutheran Church in the 1990s. He took people’s blood pressure at a weekly food pantry and ran an HIV testing site and needle exchange out of the church’s basement.

He helped co-found the Bread of Healing Clinic in 2000, a decade before the ACA passed. 

“There were so many people that had no coverage,” Cesar said.

Demand for free services persisted even after more people enrolled in marketplace plans. The clinic expanded to two other locations and hired paid staff. Cesar retired from nursing in 2019 but still regularly volunteers. He feels proud watching the clinic grow.

“I just wish it weren’t needed,” he said.

The clinic is adaptable, Cesar said, whether it’s responding to a pandemic with vaccine drives or helping clients navigate ACA changes.

“We’re going to be here and do as much as we can,” Cesar said. “But those resources, you never know how long they are going to last when the demand is so great.”

‘We don’t turn anyone away’: Wisconsin’s free clinics fill gaps as thousands expected to go uninsured 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 Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 10 stopped requiring warning labels on a range of hormone therapy treatments for women experiencing menopause and perimenopause symptoms.

The post The latest on care for women in all stages of menopause appeared first on WPR.