Wisconsin’s Open Records Law gives requesters the right to request records from their government. After all, as the law states, “a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate.”
But how to get started? Under the law, “any person” can make a request for records from any Wisconsin state or local government agency or official, verbally or in writing. You don’t have to start from square one: There are many tools available to help you make requests and ensure you get the records you want with minimal fuss.
The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Counsel has long posted a records request template on its website, wisfoic.org. It cites Wisconsin law and uses language to target your request and help you avoid surprise fees.
Many national groups also post letter generators online that can be used to make requests to state and local governments.
For example, the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting student journalists, posts a heavily used letter generator, which is available for free and can be used to make requests.
Christa Westerberg
An organization called MuckRock not only has a letter generator, but also allows users to post responsive records they receive on its website at muckrock.com. Here you can search through records others have received from all over the country.
Other groups post records they have received through their own open records and U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests.
For example, a group called Reclaim the Records posts genealogical and historical records on its website, reclaimtherecords.org. The website governmentattic.org provides a searchable collection of oddball federal government records and reports.
Of course, this is in addition to records the government proactively publishes or posts online itself. A wealth of information is already available on Wisconsin agency and local government websites, or in local libraries.
Federal agencies are even required to follow the “Rule of 3,” or make electronically available records that have been requested three or more times. The website data.gov contains more than 400,000 datasets, from what it describes as the home of the U.S. government’s open data.
In some cases, it may be easiest just to start with a phone call to the state or local agency that has the records you want. It may be able to send you the record on the spot, or help you understand available records to target your request.
If you’re looking to better understand the law, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of Open Government posts numerous resources online, including its Public Records Compliance Guide, which is helpful for requesters and records custodians alike.
A well-drafted records request is useful for everyone: It can help requesters get the records they want, in less time, and at a lower cost. It can also help custodians find records more easily, freeing them up to respond to others’ requests and carry out other duties.
But the most important tip is to not be intimidated by the process: There are no magic words required to trigger your right to get records, and the law must be interpreted broadly in favor of access.
Wisconsin’s Open Records Law, by design, makes it easy to get records, to fulfill its important objective of informing the electorate. Don’t hesitate to exercise your right to use it.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to open government. Christa Westerberg is the group’s vice president and a partner at the law firm Pines Bach LLP.
A Wisconsin court has dismissed Democrats’ efforts to get the state to redraw its congressional maps.
The three-judge circuit court panel said it did not have jurisdiction to decide whether the state’s congressional districts have been gerrymandered along partisan lines, leaving the matter to the state’s Supreme Court.
“This Panel is not endorsing the current congressional map. Rather, we, as circuit court judges, do not have the authority to read into a Wisconsin Supreme Court case an analysis that it does not contain,” the judges wrote.
Wisconsin’s current district lines trace back to the 2011 congressional maps, which attorneys for the Democrats said were gerrymandered by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed Republican-drawn 2021 maps, which then prompted the state Supreme Court to order new maps drawn that made the “least change” to the existing district lines from 2011.
This lawsuit was part of a wave of redistricting suits filed by Democratic-aligned groups across the country, but it’s unlikely to yield new maps before the midterm elections.
Republicans represent six of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts, though statewide partisan elections are often competitive and only won by a slim margin. Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin — a Republican and a Democrat, respectively — won their most recent elections by a percentage point or less. Evers won reelection by more than 3 percentage points in 2022.
Attorneys in the redistricting case may appeal the panel judgment to the state Supreme Court. Another redistricting lawsuit, which argues that Wisconsin’s congressional maps favor incumbents, is pending before its own three-judge circuit court panel.
This story was produced and originally published by Wisconsin Watch and NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute.
For many families across the Midwest, discussing end-of-life planning is about as comfortable as a January blizzard on Highway 175. However, proactive planning is a final act of care that prevents legal headaches and ensures a legacy stays within the family. In Wisconsin, specific statutes — ranging from marital property laws to unique transfer-on-death rules — make it essential to use the right tools. Whether you are a young parent or assisting aging parents, these are the legal and financial cornerstones for a solid plan.
Write a will and consider a living trust
A last will and testament is the traditional bedrock of any plan. In Wisconsin, a will allows you to name an executor (the person who will manage your estate) and a guardian for minor children. Without a will, a state judge — not your family — decides who raises your kids and how your assets are split.
For many Wisconsin families, a revocable living trust is a powerful alternative or supplement.
Benefit: Unlike a will, which must go through the public, often costly probate court process, a trust allows assets to pass privately and immediately to heirs.
Midwest reality: If you own property in multiple states (like a cabin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or a farm in Iowa), a trust can prevent your family from having to open probate cases in every state where you own land.
Assign power of attorney: health care and finances
Control is often lost not at death, but during a period of incapacity. Wisconsin law recognizes two distinct roles:
Financial power of attorney: This grants a “trusted agent” the authority to pay your mortgage, manage your taxes and handle your bank accounts. Under Wisconsin Chapter 244, these are “durable” by default, meaning they remain valid even if you lose mental capacity.
Health care power of attorney: This allows someone to make medical decisions if you cannot. In Wisconsin, your spouse is not automatically authorized to make all medical decisions for you without this document. It requires two witnesses who are not related to you or responsible for your health care costs.
Create an advance directive (living will)
While a health care power of attorney names who makes decisions, an advance directive (often called a “declaration to physicians” in Wisconsin) tells them what those decisions should be. This document outlines your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments, such as ventilators or feeding tubes, specifically if you are in a terminal condition or a persistent vegetative state.
For Wisconsin residents, the Department of Health Services provides standard forms that are legally recognized across all state health systems.
Name beneficiaries for accounts and insurance
One of the most common mistakes is assuming a will covers everything. In reality, beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, 401(k)s and IRAs “trump” what is written in a will. If your will says your estate goes to your children, but your 20-year-old life insurance policy still lists an ex-spouse, that money will likely go to the ex-spouse.
To keep things simple, many Wisconsin banks offer payable-on-death (POD) options for checking and savings accounts, which keeps that cash out of the probate court’s hands.
Transfer-on-death deeds
Wisconsin is one of the states that allow a transfer-on-death (TOD) deed for real estate. This is a game changer for the “family home.”
How it works: You file a TOD deed with your local register of deeds (such as the one in Juneau for Dodge County). It names who inherits your home, but it has no effect while you are alive. You can still sell the house or change your mind at any time.
The catch: Because Wisconsin is a marital property state, if you are married, your spouse generally must sign the TOD deed even if the spouse’s name isn’t on the original title.
Note: For small estates, Wisconsin offers a “transfer by affidavit” process for estates valued under $50,000. This allows heirs to collect assets without a full court proceeding, provided they follow strict notification rules for the state’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program.
This story is published in collaboration with Multi-Media Channels. It originally appeared in Multi-Media Channels’ print “Dignity in Care” publication.
Hi, Wisconsin! Health reporter Addie Costello here.
I spent last Saturday with around 80 attendees of a senior breakfast in Merrill, and it was one of my best-spent weekends so far in 2026.
Northwoods residents packed a banquet hall to eat, talk with neighbors and list the biggest issues they face as older adults.
The Senior Empowerment Project, an organizing group focused on issues impacting older people in rural areas and small towns, organized the event and asked me to give a short presentation about my reporting on long-term care issues. The most exciting part? Once I finished talking, a microphone was passed from table to table as older adults shared the questions and issues they think about the most.
Where can they get transportation on the weekends? How can older adults afford to stay in their homes as property taxes increase? Where can they get nutritious food?
Wall decor is shown at the Northwoods Senior Breakfast at the Eagles Club in Merrill, Wis., March 28, 2026. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch)
I left the event with a long list of questions I plan to answer in a new project. We’re calling it Q&Aging, a series of short stories where I interview experts to answer your questions about getting older in Wisconsin — whether about health care, housing or what comes next.
I reported this as part of our collaboration with several Multi-Media Channels, which cover swaths of northeast and central Wisconsin. Find the full Dignity in Care project here.
Choosing a long-term care provider is an important, expensive decision. Like test-driving a car, unannounced visits can provide helpful insight.
So what should someone do before a “walk-in” visit?
Wisconsin Watch asked two experts to weigh in:
Devon Christianson, director of the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County.
Mike Pochowski, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Assisted Living Association.
Here’s what they recommend:
Start with a scheduled tour. The person giving tours likely has important information about a facility’s care and costs. The state health department provides a guide for comparing assisted living providers, and the federal government has a similar guide for nursing homes. ADRCs can also help people prepare for tours.
Ask about “walk-in” visits. Facility staff might list certain times that are not ideal or explain security concerns, especially in a facility that offers memory care. But if the answer is an absolute no, that is something to consider when comparing providers.
Be transparent. The goal of drop-in visits is not to catch a provider doing something bad. Prospective residents or their family members should tell staff who they are and go through the normal guest registration process.
Be respectful. Nursing and assisted living facilities are people’s homes. Visit at a reasonable time and stay in common areas.
Ask residents and their families if they would be open to talking, Christianson said. Don’t base your decision around one resident’s experience. Use these conversations as a tool to help inform your decision.
This article was inspired by a reader sharing an experience touring facilities for a loved one. Do you have something to share? Please reach out.
Q&Aging
Aging comes with big questions — whether it’s about health care, housing or what comes next.
Wisconsin Watch is working to answer questions and share practical tips about aging in Wisconsin. To ask a question or offer a suggestion, fill out this form or contact reporter Addie Costello via email (acostello@wisconsinwatch.org) or phone (608-616-5239).
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service invites community members to submit opinion pieces of 500-800 words on topics of interest to central city Milwaukee. To send a submission for consideration, please email info@milwaukeenns.org. The views expressed are solely those of the authors.
There is a kind of pain that does not wait its turn. It crashes into your life, rearranges everything you thought you understood about safety, justice and faith, and then expects you to keep going.
This is not just about grief. This is about trauma and grief, intertwined, unfolding in real time in our homes, schools, workplaces and communities.
I know this kind of pain intimately.
My brother Sam
My siblings were my first friends. My brother Sam was my twin in every way that mattered. We shared a bunk bed, childhood routines and milestones. We grew up side by side, experiencing life in sync in a way only siblings that close can understand.
My brother was taken in a violent and publicly misunderstood way. While the investigation unfolded over months, narratives spread in hours. His life was debated in real time. People stepped into the roles of judge, jury and executioner before the facts had even begun to surface.
What I experienced was not just grief, but the added trauma of watching my brother’s humanity be debated and misrepresented in real time.
And then there is the part people do not talk about enough.
Reliving our tragedy
Residents release balloons during a memorial for Sam Sharpe Jr. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Milwaukee. (Edgar Mendez / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
His death was broadcast and circulated repeatedly, forcing our family to relive a moment we were already struggling to survive. And even after the headlines fade, the process continues.
Legal cases, policy discussions, public commentary. Each step pulls you back into the trauma.
It follows you. In the news. In conversations. In the things you used to enjoy.
This is what navigating trauma and grief looks like in real time. It is not a single moment. It is ongoing.
I am a grown woman, well into my 40s, and nothing prepared me for this. And still, in the middle of that devastation, I was expected to show up to work, to function, to perform.
Three days
That is what we give people to grieve.
Three days to process a lifetime of connection. Three days to make arrangements, gather family and return as if something that significant can be contained and concluded.
Three days is not enough for natural loss.
So it is certainly not enough for loss that is sudden, violent or intentional.
And this is not exclusive to murder.
Trauma lives in all loss. Illness. Old age. Accidents. The loss of a child. Some loss we may anticipate, but none of it prepares us.
Yet the expectation remains the same: return to normal.
We have built systems that understand the need to bond with life, but not the need to grieve its loss. We offer time to welcome a child into the world, but minimal time to process losing one.
What kind of system measures productivity with more care than it measures pain?
We earn more time off to rest from work than we are given to recover from loss.
And it forces a deeper question:
How pro-life are we, really?
Because what we see does not reflect a culture that values life in a meaningful way. We see cruelty in comment sections, judgment attached to loss and a detachment that forgets every headline represents a real person and a real family.
Cycle of trauma continues
Residents place candles at the site of Sam Sharpe Jr.’s death during a vigil in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Trauma does not end when the news cycle moves on.
It lives in the people who are still here.
It lives in individuals carrying invisible weight, in people one moment, one word, one interaction away from the edge.
And when that trauma goes unprocessed, we see the consequences.
People snap.
And then we ask children and teenagers to be resilient in environments where even adults are barely holding it together.
We expect them to focus, to behave, to perform, while ignoring a critical truth: Their brains are not fully developed. They do not yet have the tools to process trauma and grief at this level.
So when we see emotional outbursts, withdrawal, defiance or risky behavior, we rush to label it.
But what if what we are witnessing is not defiance but distress?
What if something has gone wrong emotionally, mentally, developmentally, and no one has stopped long enough to ask why?
And it may not always be loss. It could be trauma in all its forms.
When trauma goes unaddressed, it does not disappear. It shows up.
This is not a failure of character. This is the impact of unprocessed trauma and grief.
Hard questions and a simple truth
So we have to ask:
Who decided that three days was enough? Enough for who? Enough for what kind of loss?
Angelique Sharpe and Sam Sharpe Jr. (Courtesy of Angelique Sharpe)
Why are people forced to prove how close they were to someone in order to be granted the space to grieve?
What about chosen family? Do they matter less?
How do we expect people to return to life carrying something that has not even begun to settle?
Have we truly gone so far to the dark side that we no longer have compassion for people who have lost loved ones, regardless of how they left this place?
How do we continue to call ourselves compassionate while enforcing timelines on pain?
Because the truth is simple.
Three days ain’t enough.
Angelique Sharpe, known in the community as “MsLadyInc,” works at the intersection of broken systems and resilient people. She lifts their voice and helps organize solutions. You can visit her website here.
People cannot avoid death, but they often avoid talking about it. That’s why many people don’t receive as much — or any — hospice care they qualify for, experts say.
“There’s a real taboo in society that hospice equals death,” said Alisa Gerke, the board chair of Wisconsin Hospice and Palliative Care Collaborative and executive director at Unity Hospice and Palliative Care, a nonprofit provider that serves 14 northeast Wisconsin counties.
The goal of hospice isn’t to speed up the dying process; it’s to make people more comfortable — treating the symptoms of an illness instead of trying to cure it.
Once families enroll in hospice, Gerke said, they often ask: “How come nobody told us about this sooner?”
When to talk about hospice
Don’t wait for your provider to bring up hospice.
Patients and providers often wait for the other person to bring hospice up, said Angela Novas, an advanced certified hospice and palliative care nurse and consultant at the nonprofit Hospice Foundation of America. Let providers know that’s something you might be interested in.
Patients or their loved ones can also reach out to hospice providers directly and ask for an eligibility assessment, Novas said.
The basic requirements for adults to receive hospice care under Medicare include:
Verification from two physicians that a patient has a life expectancy of six months or less.
A patient’s willingness to pursue treatments to provide comfort instead of treatments aimed at extending life expectancy.
Clearing up misunderstandings about hospice
Some people may have misperceptions about hospice. Here is what it is not:
A place. Instead, it’s a model of care, Gerke said. While some providers may run facilities, hospice care can be provided at home and in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals and other settings.
Constant nursing care. Hospice is meant to supplement care from family or facility caregivers, Novas said. But providers should be readily accessible for questions and concerns.
Stopped if someone lives longer than six months. Instead, providers work to re-certify that someone is still likely to die within the next six months, Gerke said. Patients are no longer eligible for hospice if their life expectancy unexpectedly improves.
Permanent. Patients can decide to stop hospice and try curative treatment. If their outlook doesn’t improve, they can return to hospice, Gerke said. They can also freely switch providers.
So what’s palliative care?
Palliative care is a philosophy and medical speciality focused on alleviating suffering, according to Dr. Sara Johnson, a palliative care physician and University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health professor.
Hospice is a form of palliative care for people at the end of life. But people with a serious illness can access palliative care earlier in their diagnosis and while receiving curative treatments.
Palliative care services are becoming more accessible, Johnson said.
Palliative care specialists add a layer of support for patients and their families, Johnson said.
There is no harm in asking a provider about palliative care options, Johnson said. “If you’re thinking about it, just ask.”
How to find the right provider
Ask local providers for hospice care recommendations, Novas said. But don’t be afraid to shop around. Experts recommend asking these questions before choosing a provider:
How long have you served this area, and where are your staff located?
“Having staff that know that community, live in that community, are a part of that community is huge,” Gerke said.
What is your response time?
A patient’s condition can quickly change, making it important to know how quickly staff will answer calls or arrive in those cases.
What is your relationship with nearby providers?
If you know you want to use a particular nursing home, hospital or physician, it helps to know whether hospice providers have relationships and contracts with them.
What grief support do you offer?
Medicare requires hospice companies to provide families with bereavement services. But the level of those services can range widely.
What is your Medicare rating?
Medicare.gov offers a hospice look-up tool with quality care ratings. The federal agency provides comparative ratings based on family surveys and metrics like nursing visits in patients’ last days before death.
Are you for-profit or nonprofit?
Private equity and publicly traded companies are increasingly taking hold of the hospice industry. Those providers have been associated with lower quality of care, according to a Cornell University study.
For-profits face expectations around financial performance and typically have obligations to shareholders, Gerke said.
But a nonprofit status does not guarantee better care, Novas said. People should prioritize whether a provider fits their specific needs.
What services do your volunteers provide?
Medicare requires hospice providers to have a volunteer program. Do volunteers play games with patients? Provide pet therapy? Read to people? Some volunteer programs are more robust than others, Novas said.
What medications do you not cover?
Not all medications and supplies are covered under the Medicare hospice benefit, Novas said. It’s important to know what you might have to pay for out-of-pocket or with other health coverage.
Aging comes with big questions — whether it’s about health care, housing or what comes next.
Wisconsin Watch is working to answer questions and share practical tips about aging in Wisconsin. To ask a question or offer a suggestion, fill out this form or contact reporter Addie Costello via email (acostello@wisconsinwatch.org) or phone (608-616-5239).
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Gas prices in Wisconsin averaged above $5 a gallon in six southeastern counties in early June 2022.
According to the travel organization AAA’s page for Wisconsin, the statewide average gas price was $4.923 on June 12, 2022 – a record high that hasn’t been seen since.
Still, individual Wisconsin counties and metro areas exceeded $5 a gallon – a different measure than the statewide average.
A web archive of the same AAA page captured on June 16, 2022, showed the average price was above $5 in six counties, including Milwaukee County at $5.144.
Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, the state’s primary way of preserving green space and wetlands from development, is set to expire June 30 — but only after the Republican-controlled Legislature failed to form a consensus after months of negotiations and potential amendments to the initial bill.
Internal drafting documents obtained by Wisconsin Watch show that the Republican reauthorization bill — authored by Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, and Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point — went through at least 10 drafts between fall 2024 and when the bill was released in June 2025.
Despite the contentious negotiations over the program’s future, environmental advocates say there is still widespread popularity for Knowles-Nelson in Wisconsin.
“There is no controversy about the program outside of Capitol politics,” said Charles Carlin, director of strategic initiatives at Gathering Waters, Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts. “That kind of stunning gap between what the conversation about the program is inside the Capitol and what the conversation about the program is across the rest of the state is really startling.”
Kurtz and Testin did not respond to a request for comment.
A program built on compromise, now caught in a political fight
Knowles-Nelson was signed into law in 1989 by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson and has survived both Republican and Democratic administrations, consistently drawing support from both parties. It funds everything from land acquisition by the DNR to grants for nonprofit conservation organizations and local governments.
“Knowles-Nelson is how we conserve land to protect environmentally sensitive areas. It’s how we provide access for hunters and anglers and silent sports recreationists,” Carlin said.
In the latest budget cycle, the bipartisan support unraveled after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down a mechanism that had allowed members of the Joint Finance Committee to anonymously block individual DNR land purchases.
Conservation advocates cheered the ruling, but Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, who has tried to push for a compromise to save the program, warned advocates “they should be careful what they wish for.”
“I thought there was a good chance that that would be the end of the program,” Kitchens said. “So, you know, here we are.”
Why did the bill fall apart?
The Kurtz-Testin bill introduced in June 2024 would have funded the program at $28.25 million per year through 2030.
After failing to take action on Knowles-Nelson through the state budget process, Republicans in the Assembly passed an amended version of that bill funding the program until 2028 hoping to maintain existing land, not fund new projects.
Cody Kamrowski, executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said that his organization supported the initial version of the bill, even though it wasn’t an ideal starting place.
“And then some additional amendments were made. Some more amendments were made, and then it morphed into something that wasn’t Knowles-Nelson,” Kamrowski said. “I mean, Knowles-Nelson stewardship is a land acquisition program, and with all those amendments that were put in, it wasn’t a land acquisition program.”
The Kurtz-Testin bill would have required the full Legislature to specifically authorize any DNR land purchase with a grant award of $1 million or more — effectively meaning every significant land deal would need to pass as its own bill before any money could move.
Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin, D-Whitefish Bay, the author of a competing reauthorization bill, said the timeline alone makes that unworkable. “There is no real estate acquisition in history that could last over two years,” she said. “They’re very time-sensitive.”
Kamrowski emphasized that land acquisition opportunities don’t wait for political windows to reopen. “A lot of times it’s a once-in-a-generation or once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase a key piece of property,” he said.
The Republican bill would also have funded the program at roughly $28 million per year — less than the $33 million it had been receiving since 2021, and far below the $72 million Habush Sinykin proposed or the $100 million in Gov. Tony Evers’ version of the budget.
An angler casts a line near the Echo Lake Dam on Sept. 1, 2022, in Burlington, Wis. The Echo Lake Dam project tentatively received a grant for over $700,000 from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund for development of gathering spaces adjacent to the lake and got a $10 million earmark in the state budget. (Angela Major / WPR)
Funding for Knowles-Nelson has fallen significantly since its peak in 2011. Program spending in 2018 was about a quarter of what it was in 2007, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The Kurtz-Testin bill never came to a vote. In February 2026, Senate Republican leaders pulled the bill from the floor schedule without explanation. When Habush Sinykin introduced an amendment to simply extend the program for one more year at its existing $33 million funding level, it got struck down along party lines.
“All it would have done was give the program one more year at $33.25 million, the exact same level since the 2021 budget,” Habush Sinykin said. “But it was rejected.”
Before the bill was introduced, internal drafting notes show that when Kurtz’s office took over the bill in February 2025, one of the listed priorities was to “shift focus from north to south, green space in urban areas” — removing a restriction that had prevented the program from funding parcels smaller than 10 acres.
Kitchens said the bill has been historically controversial in the northern parts of the state because the high proportion of publicly owned lands don’t contribute to the tax base.
“It’s a program that is viewed very differently in different parts of the state,” he said. “In the Northwoods, where they have less of a tax base, they really don’t like seeing property coming off the tax rolls. There’s always been more of a geographical split than it is really liberal, conservative.”
If the funding expires June 30, the program itself does not disappear from the statute books, but the program will no longer be funded, Carlin said. However, the practical consequences of this mean the planning landscape will be scrambled for land trusts.
The expiration also lands on top of an already strained conservation system. Carlin noted that Wisconsin has accumulated more than $1 billion in deferred maintenance at state properties and faces tens of millions of dollars in habitat management shortfalls. Letting Knowles-Nelson lapse, he said, doesn’t solve those problems.
“I think this is going to have to be a central conversation in the next state budget that can be as simple as appropriating money to the stewardship program in the short term,” Carlin said. “And then there’s a much broader conversation to be had about, how do we again get serious about taking care of our land and water so that our kids and grandkids inherit a better Wisconsin than we do.”
Evers’ office said he remains optimistic that Republicans and Democrats can reach a deal as legislative leadership and the governor’s office negotiate a potential K-12 funding increase from the projected $2.37 billion state surplus.
“The governor has been clear that he expects the Legislature to stay in session until they’ve finished the people’s work,” spokesperson Britt Cudaback said.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the top Republican running for governor in November, said his focus would be “on maintaining the lands we already own for future generations, while being fiscally responsible with the more than $500 million in outstanding debt taxpayers still owe.”
He also said that the stewardship program has helped protect some of our most special places. “Wisconsin’s outdoor traditions are part of who we are,” Tiffany said.
Habush Sinykin, meanwhile, said Democrats are looking to flip enough Senate seats to break the Republican supermajority on the Joint Finance Committee — turning the current 12-4 split to 8-8.
“That’ll make a big difference to allow us to reauthorize the program,” she said.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday signed legislation that would give raises for the first time in a decade to permanently and totally disabled people receiving worker’s compensation.
The bill, which includes other changes to the worker’s comp system, was passed by the Assembly (97-0 vote) in January and by the Senate (32-1) in February. Both chambers are majority Republican.
The bill would help people like 65-year-old Bob Hurley, who suffered a back injury in 1982, at age 22. While helping build a car wash, he fell 15 feet from a forklift and “landed flat on my back in a concrete pit.”
Bob Hurley after his back injury in 1982 and pictured with his nephew, Chad Hurley. (Courtesy of Bob Hurley)
Through four surgeries, Hurley continued working for 17 years before being declared PTD.
Hurley, now living in Minnesota, said he receives $2,900 in monthly worker’s comp benefits. He said his only other income is $2,600 monthly in Social Security benefits. Without cost-of-living adjustments in his PTD payments, “it gets harder and harder every year,” he said.
Wisconsin Watch reported in September that more than 300 permanently and totally disabled recipients haven’t received a raise in their worker’s comp benefits since 2016.
The bill would also make these changes for PTD recipients:
Make an estimated 210 more PTD recipients eligible for raises. Currently, only PTD recipients injured before Jan. 1, 2003, are eligible for raises. The bill would change that date to Jan. 1, 2020.
Raise the maximum weekly benefit for PTD recipients by 57%, from $669 to $1,051.
Give PTD recipients annual raises, with the amounts set shortly before taking effect. The raise amounts would vary based on when the recipients were injured and their earnings at the time.
Jimmy Novy, seen at home on July 29, 2025, in Hillsboro, Wis., is one of more than 300 permanently and totally disabled individuals collecting worker’s comp checks from the state since his injury in his late 20s. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
One example, provided by the state Department of Workforce Development: A PTD recipient injured in 1985 and receiving $535 a week would get a 57% increase to $840. The increase would amount to nearly $16,000 per year.
Bill Watch takes a closer look at what’s notable about legislation grinding its way through the Capitol. Subscribe to our newsletters for more from Wisconsin Watch.
International migration to Wisconsin has dropped sharply since President Donald Trump’s return to office, mirroring a national slowdown as visa issuances and border crossings decline.
New U.S. Census Bureau data shows Wisconsin gained just over 7,200 residents through international migration between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, down from more than 22,000 over the previous year — a 67% decline.
Overall, Wisconsin added about 16,000 new residents in that period, increasing the state’s overall population by roughly 0.2%.
Nearly every Wisconsin county saw net international migration fall by double-digit percentages. Several counties lost more residents to international migration than they gained.
The few Wisconsin counties that saw net increases added only small numbers of new arrivals from outside the U.S. Shawano County, for instance, received 29 international migrants in fiscal year 2025, up from 24 the year before.
Not all international migration is immigration. The Census Bureau counts movements in and out of the country by citizens and noncitizens as international migration. That includes members of the armed forces and people moving between Puerto Rico and the rest of the U.S.
Federal immigration court records show a similar pattern. Only 198 immigrants with Wisconsin addresses made their first appearance in immigration court in February, down from a monthly peak of about 2,400 in March 2024.
Federal immigration courts, run by the U.S. Department of Justice, handle deportation cases and immigrants’ requests for asylum and other forms of relief.
More than 43,000 immigrants who entered the court system over the past decade listed addresses in Wisconsin.Three-quarters still await final rulings. New arrivals and removal cases slowed to a trickle after President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. Many immigrants detained in Wisconsin over the past year first entered the court system before Trump returned to office.
Even so, international migration accounted for nearly half of Wisconsin’s overall population growth between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, and a similar share over the past decade.
Nearly two dozen counties lost population last year, and another seven would have lost population without international migration.
In Milwaukee County, a scenario with no international migration in 2025 would have meant a net loss of more than 2,000 residents. Instead, the county shrunk by just over 100 residents. Natural growth outpaced international migration, but the county lost nearly 5,000 residents to domestic migration.
Even as international migration sharply declines, Republican voters in the state continue to express strong concern about immigration. In aMarquette University Law School poll conducted this month, 77% of Republicans said they were very concerned about illegal immigration and border security, compared with 54% who said the same about inflation and the cost of living — the top issue for Democrats and independents.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
In under two weeks, voters will head to the polls to select a new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice. The winner will likely play a role in how voters cast ballots for the subsequent decade.
That’s because the Wisconsin Supreme Court plays a key role in settling voting disputes, particularly when state government is divided between a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled Legislature.
While the Wisconsin Supreme Court race is officially nonpartisan, candidates have become increasingly willing to embrace partisan views and often campaign on their records as liberals or conservatives. In this race, Appeals Court judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor are squaring off. Taylor is a former Democratic member in the state Assembly, while Lazar is a member of the conservative Federalist Society.
Although there are exceptions, justices’ votes on election cases often align with their ideological backgrounds.
Unlike the past two Wisconsin Supreme Court races, though, this contest won’t determine ideological control of the court. Liberals already hold a 4-3 majority, and the outcome will either preserve the liberal majority or expand it to 5-2 by replacing retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley. As a result, the race has drawn significantly less attention and spending than the last two contests, which decided the court’s ideological balance.
Critically, the winning justice will also be a member of the court for the 2028 presidential election, when voting disputes often intensify and escalate to court challenges.
“There’s a lot of importance just because of the length of the term,” said UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden, who noted that the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the past 10 years has weighed in on absentee voting rules, the legality of postponing elections because of the pandemic and President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Because Wisconsin is a consistent battleground state, Burden said, the court becomes a frequent venue for efforts to change election rules for national races. Some of those potential lawsuits may be hard to predict, he added, because developments in technology and AI in campaigns over the next decade may require new rules or changes to current laws.
Although liberals have a firm hold on the court now, Burden said, they shouldn’t take that for granted. Ten years ago, conservatives had a clear court majority, so much so that liberals didn’t even field a candidate in the 2017 race. Now, liberals have a hold on the court and could extend it with a win.
With Wisconsin politics frequently switching from one side of the aisle to the other, he said, this election may be pivotal for the balance of power down the road.
Candidates’ pasts reveal stark contrast on elections
The candidates’ records — from their rulings, prior public-facing jobs and campaign positions — reveal sharp divides in how they each approach election law.
For example, as an assistant attorney general for the state under GOP Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, Lazar defended Wisconsin’s voter ID law and Republican-drawn legislative maps, which critics have described as among the most gerrymandered in the country.
Taylor took the opposite stances on both issues. During her time in the Legislature, she called for repealing the voter ID law, which has since been enshrined in the Wisconsin Constitution. She also derided the Republican redistricting effort as a means to do “whatever it takes to amass and protect their power.”
More recently, Lazar was involved in an unusual case in which two state appeals courts issued conflicting opinions on the same election issue: In November 2023, one court found that a conservative group wasn’t entitled to obtain information related to people deemed by judges to be incapable of voting. The next month, Lazar joined the majority in a second court that reached the opposite conclusion — despite a Wisconsin Supreme Court precedent stating that only the high court can overturn appellate decisions.
That case is now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Both candidates have also played pivotal roles in more recent election rulings.
In one case involving absentee ballots, Taylor wrote the majority opinion rejecting the Legislature’s argument that an absentee voter’s address must include a street number, name and municipality. Instead, she adopted a more lenient standard for an address, requiring voters to provide enough information for a clerk to reasonably identify where a voter lives.
Only a small fraction of cases heard in circuit and appeals courts ultimately come before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The high court issued just 23 opinions in its 2024-25 term, and it’s hard to predict which cases will be taken up. At present, only one election law case is currently before the court.
That number may remain low following a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling restricting who can file lawsuits over election rules and policies. Writing for the majority, liberal Justice Jill Karofsky said people must be personally “aggrieved” to bring election lawsuits.
In dissent, outgoing conservative justice Bradley wrote that the majority’s ruling “guts the People’s right of access to the courts in election law matters.”
Among the issues likely to reach the court in coming years are challenges to the state’s congressional boundaries, which liberals are trying to redraw ahead of the typical 10-year cycle. One such case is currently slated for a jury trial before a three-judge panel in April 2027.
The court could also be asked to decide whether election officials can be sued for failing to count votes, a central issue in the ongoing lawsuit over whether Madison should be forced to pay out millions for disenfranchising nearly 200 voters whose ballots were misplaced in the 2024 presidential election .
Ultimately, the most consequential case the next justice could face may come in 2028, the next presidential election year. In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court narrowly halted Trump’s attempt to throw out enough Democratic votes to change the outcome of the race. The 2024 election wasn’t extensively litigated in Wisconsin courts, but the potential for court challenges remains in future presidential contests.
Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Shur at ashur@votebeat.org.
Small businesses that paid President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been largely left to fend for themselves as they navigate the administration’s refund system.
In Washington, the lawmakers calling for small businesses to be first in line to receive their share of the $166 billion paid in tariffs say that, for the most part, their hands are tied.
“I’m fighting for that to happen, but most of it’s going to end up playing out in court, but it really matters to our small businesses in particular,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
Baldwin said she met with the owners of a local textile company that laid off staff to afford tariffs on imported fabric — and now they wonder if they’ll get their money back.
In Wisconsin, importers paid $3.5 billion in tariffs from March to December 2025, according to the small business coalition We Pay The Tariffs. More than a dozen Wisconsin companies, including Milwaukee Tool and Kohl’s, have sued the Trump administration for tariff refunds.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is currently updating its duty payment processing system to issue refunds at scale. Officials must review more than 53 million entries filed by importers that include emergency tariff payments.
The development of the CBP system’s new functions to receive, process and refund these duties was mostly complete as of last week, according to court filings.
Once the process is set, it becomes a question of who has the resources and know-how to navigate CBP’s refund system. The Trump administration is requiring business owners to file their own claims.
CBP’s updated system will require importers to file a declaration detailing their payments of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to an affidavit filed in trade court earlier this month.
“It’s incumbent on smaller importers to do what they need to do to get their money,” said Chris Duncan, a former CBP attorney who currently works as a tariffs and customs lawyer.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, said that puts small businesses at a disadvantage.
“Small businesses do not have teams of legal and financial experts to submit their forms. Small businesses do not have the time to navigate this convoluted system,” Markey said in a call with business owners last week. “Small businesses need their refunds, and they need them now.”
Markey and 19 other Democratic senators sent a letter to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott on Friday demanding the agency automatically refund IEEPA tariffs through its existing system rather than the updated one.
“There is no principled reason for the Trump administration to conduct the refund process this way,” reads the letter, reviewed by NOTUS. “CBP already has the payment records it needs to issue refunds.”
Markey — along with Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeanne Shaheen — also introduced a bill that would require CBP to issue full tariff refunds with interest and prioritize returning money to small businesses.
Without buy-in from Republicans, however, Democratic senators say it will be up to the local communities to pressure the federal government.
“What is going to be most helpful is to create enough pressure in communities, particularly small communities,” Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said.
Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat who represents the Madison area, expressed concern about the “dysfunction” that could arise from companies trying to navigate the intricacies of the CBP’s refund system and answer to consumers who shouldered price increases.
“Bottom line is, we never should have done illegal tariffs to begin with. Congress should have stood up, as Democrats had asked for, for our constitutional authority around tariffs, and now we’re going to wind up creating all kinds of dysfunction for businesses and individuals,” Pocan said.
Following the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling striking down his emergency tariffs in February, Trump said he would continue his tariff agenda using alternative legal authorities and imposed a 15% global tariff, which Congress must vote to extend later this year.
Nevertheless, when asked if tariff refunds should be passed on to consumers, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican who represents suburban and rural areas west of Milwaukee, expressed openness to the idea.
“If it’s something that they could actually draw, like a clear line or a bright line. You know, we had a lot of companies where the tariffs had a direct effect on aluminum out of Canada or textiles out of Vietnam, or — you know, it was all part of the manufacturing process,” Fitzgerald said.
“So I’m not sure how that would shake out either, if it was one element of a larger manufacturing versus, like, a straight retailer who was selling some type of consumer goods.”
This story was produced and originally published by Wisconsin Watch and NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute.
A northeast Wisconsin anti-poverty nonprofit plans to close later this year amid serious financial challenges and the loss of a government contract.
For more than 50 years, Newcap has operated in 10 counties. It serves low-income residents and is funded primarily through state and federal grants.
The agency served more than 25,000 people in 2022. Its programs range from employment and job training to educational support, financial coaching, health and food assistance, housing services, home repair and case management, according to an annual report.
Housing advocates say Newcap’s closure could lead to northeast Wisconsin losing more than $2.7 million in federal funding and leave more than 100 households at risk of losing housing.
In a statement, Newcap interim Executive Director Deb Barlament said the organization has faced “significant financial challenges” in recent months and has implemented staffing reductions and other cost-saving measures in response.
“At this time, the organization anticipates closing its doors sometime this year,” Barlament stated. “A more specific timeline will be determined as we work through existing grant obligations and funder requirements.”
Barlament’s statement says the organization hopes to “responsibly wind down operations” and is “actively collaborating with other organizations and funders to help ensure that services continue to be available to the communities we serve.”
It comes after a 2025 financial audit by accounting firm Baker Tilly found the organization had a more than $2 million deficit in 2024. The audit raised “substantial doubt about the Organization’s ability to continue operating,” citing recurring deficits, negative cash flow and reduced liquidity.
The state is conducting “enhanced financial monitoring” of the nonprofit, which includes comprehensive financial and program reviews, as well as reviews of financial documentation.
In a statement, the Wisconsin Department of Administration said the state has been working with Newcap to address its use and repayment of Weatherization Assistance Program funds for the 2025-26 program year. The program provides home weatherization assistance to low-income individuals.
The audit shows that in 2024 Newcap spent about $5.1 million for weatherization programs.
“Approximately 28% and 26% of the Organization’s grants revenue and grants receivable, respectively, were generated by weatherization and emergency furnace programs funded by the Wisconsin Department of Administration,” the audit states.
On March 13, the DOA informed Newcap that it “could not in good faith” renew the nonprofit’s weatherization contract for the next program year “given the current financial situation at Newcap and outstanding funds the agency must repay,” according to the statement.
The statement does not specify why the agency needs to repay the funds, or the specific dollar amount of that repayment.
“Working with our federal partners to administer grant programs requires DOA to assess potential risks of grantees,” the statement read. “Though Newcap has recently taken steps to address overhead costs and operating cash flow, Newcap’s financial viability remains uncertain.”
The Department of Administration says it is working with Wiscap, a statewide network of anti-poverty nonprofits, and other agencies to ensure services continue to be provided in northeast Wisconsin.
Wiscap did not respond to requests for comment about what happens when a Community Action Program, or CAP, agency — like Newcap — closes.
Millions in funding at risk if federal contracts can’t be transferred
Carrie Poser is executive director of the Wisconsin Balance of State Continuum of Care, a nonprofit that coordinates housing and supportive services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness across 69 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
She said Newcap administers four U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, which provide support services to 134 households across its 10-county service area, with 84 of those in Brown County.
Poser said local service groups want to take over those federal housing grants. But she said HUD officials in Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., have told her they are not processing grant transfers.
That puts the 134 households currently using those programs at risk of losing their housing and becoming homeless, she said.
“We have humans that, for no fault of their own, look at returning to homelessness that we can prevent,” she said. “It’s not because we don’t have agencies. It’s not because we don’t have the ability to do the work.”
If those grants aren’t transferred, she said more than $2.7 million — including more than $1.6 million in federal funding to Brown County — could be permanently lost from the 10 counties Newcap serves.
“It will be harder for those communities to ever get new money in this way again,” Poser said. “It’s just harder to get a grant once you’ve lost one by HUD.”
She said Wisconsin Balance of State Continuum of Care plans to move forward with filing paperwork with the federal government necessary to transfer the grants, but she isn’t sure if the effort will be successful.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to questions about the potential loss of federal funding to northeast Wisconsin.
Laurie Styron is executive director of CharityWatch, a Chicago-based independent charity watchdog. She said Newcap serves a large geographic area, so its closure is likely to put more strain on other area nonprofits and agencies that provide similar services.
“Help that someone in need may have received from Newcap could become fragmented and require people who are already struggling to seek out services from different agencies, rather than just one,” she said. “The remaining providers in the area could see longer wait lists and reduced quality of care.”
Newcap is also closing three year-round homeless shelters, two in Green Bay and one in Shawano, by March 31, Barlament said via email.
Tara Prahl is chair of the Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition and director of social services for the nonprofit Ecumenical Partnership for Housing. She said Newcap’s closure, including the loss of two homeless shelters in Green Bay, could have “a significant impact to our community,” especially if the government funding Newcap was receiving doesn’t remain in the area.
“All of our homeless service providers are at capacity,” she said. “This is only going to hit a little bit harder for those that are already feeling this.”
Prahl also said Newcap’s closure makes it more important for the Brown County community to take steps to address homelessness and its housing shortage.
In Shawano, Newcap provided one of only two homeless shelters in the community. Shawano Area Matthew 25, or Sam25, provided the other.
Kendra Brusewitz, executive director of Sam25, said her shelter is only open from mid-October to mid-May as an overnight emergency shelter. She also said Sam25 has often partnered with Newcap.
“They help service the homeless families in our community year-round, so if we were full we could connect with them and get (people) services over there, or vice versa,” Brusewitz said. “Not having that partnership is a concern.”
CEO placed on leave no longer employed by Newcap
Newcap’s announced closure also comes after the organization placed its former CEO Cheryl Detrick on administrative leave in February.
Detrick was placed on leave amid reports from WLUK-TV alleging the organization misused taxpayer dollars.
Two Democratic Green Bay-area state lawmakers issued statements last month calling for an investigation into the organization’s use of taxpayer funds.
In Barlament’s statement, she said Newcap is aware of “questions regarding accountability for what has occurred” at the nonprofit. She said the organization is “committed to doing everything we can to address the situation and move forward responsibly.”
U.S. Reps. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, and Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, sent a letter on March 12 to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development calling for a federal investigation into Newcap.
“Money that should have gone towards helping Wisconsinites find safe and stable housing may have instead padded executive salaries and funded staff outings,” the federal lawmakers wrote.
Poser said she’s contacted Wied and Steil’s offices for help getting HUD funding transferred from Newcap to different nonprofits but has not received a response.
She said she’s reached out to the rest of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation for assistance in persuading HUD to allow for the transfers.
“We absolutely need a nonpartisan show of support around this issue,” she said. “Folks in need are in need regardless of what political party they belong to.”
Changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” are forcing states to expand work requirements for those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
The law did not rewrite the core work requirements for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Instead, it changed who must meet them. In Wisconsin, the changes could put around 36,000 people at risk of losing their food assistance benefits.
Policy consultant David Rubel said federal law allows a third option that could make assistance more accessible for those who are at risk of losing benefits.
Work requirements
The age range for adults required to meet work requirements will increase from 18-54 to 18-64. Parents of children age 14 and older will now also need to meet work requirements.
Federal law allows three primary ways for some adults without dependents to continue receiving FoodShare.
The primary way is employment. People must work at least 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month to keep benefits.
Another way is training or workforce programs. People can participate in state-approved job training programs for 20 hours a week and keep benefits.
The third option, Rubel said, can require significantly fewer hours.
Workfare allows people to work or volunteer in a state-approved program for a number of hours based on the value of that person’s SNAP benefits.
According to federal law, the number of hours required is calculated by dividing a person’s monthly SNAP benefits by the state minimum wage. So, if someone in Wisconsin, where the minimum wage is $7.25, receives $180 in food stamps, they’d have to work or volunteer only about 25 hours monthly to continue receiving benefits.
Rubel said SNAP recipients may not realize that option exists.
“If someone thinks they must volunteer 80 hours a month, they may assume they can’t comply,” he said. “But six hours a week is very different.”
Why you should know
While not directly promoted on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, Elizabeth Goodsitt, a DHS spokesperson, said workfare is available in Wisconsin under the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program.
According to Goodsitt, once a FoodShare member chooses to participate in FSET, a case manager will discuss the situation and background to see if workfare is a good approach for that person.
“Sites that accept FSET participants for workfare are set up by the FSET vendor and structured to offer members the chance to build their work experience, record and references,” she wrote in an email. “If a member does workfare, their case manager works with them to calculate the number of hours that will meet their work requirement, specifically, based on the amount of FoodShare they receive each month.”
Wisconsin is one of four states, including Texas, Vermont and South Dakota, that signed a pledge committing to work opportunities for people at risk of losing SNAP benefits.
Because enforcement has just resumed in many places, states are beginning to notify recipients through recertification letters. Recertification letters are routine notices SNAP participants receive every six months to confirm their eligibility.
But in many states, the public messaging around SNAP work requirements focuses primarily on the 80-hour employment threshold.
“If people only hear about the 80 hours, they may assume they have no choice,” Rubel said. “People should have all the information so they can make an informed decision.”
Nine of Wisconsin’s 72 counties are “maternity care deserts”: no hospitals and birth centers offering obstetric care and no obstetric providers such as obstetricians.
The nine, according to the latest March of Dimes report (2024), are largely rural:
Adams, Douglas, Forest, Kewaunee, Lafayette, Marquette, Oconto, Pepin and Rusk.
Maternal care deserts drive maternal mortality rates, which generally are higher for Black women and women in rural areas, according to a 2025 study by Brown University researchers.
Individuals in states with a high prevalence of maternity care deserts had 34.2% greater risk of maternal mortality and 18.3% greater risk of infant mortality, Yale University researchers found in 2025.
The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recommended extending pregnant women’s Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum, from two months, to improve care and hospital finances.
Gov. Tony Evers recently signed legislation for that extension.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Wisconsin Watch was founded 17 years ago to fill a gap in statewide investigative reporting as newsrooms cut back on that work. Since then, those gaps have only widened — especially in local communities. That’s led us to expand: joining forces with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and now launching our northeast Wisconsin bureau, because the region deserves strong, independent journalism and a newsroom that listens as much as it reports.
This is home.
I started as Wisconsin Watch’s northeast Wisconsin editor in August, joining Jessica Adams, director of partnerships for northeast Wisconsin, and Miranda Dunlap, our northeast Wisconsin pathways to success reporter. Since then, I’ve had the chance to reacquaint myself with my native Door County and the surrounding region.
From big cities like Appleton and Green Bay to small rural communities, people are asking for clearer information about the systems that affect daily life, along with coverage that connects problems to action. We know that because northeast Wisconsin residents have said so in listening sessions and conversations across the region.
Mental health access, housing and homelessness continue to rise to the top, alongside confusion about how local government works and how residents can get involved. Many residents have asked for reporting that explains budgets, decision-making and available programs in plain terms, while also reflecting the experiences of communities that are often overlooked.
There is also strong interest in news that builds connection, corrects misinformation and highlights both accountability and everyday efforts that make a difference.
That’s what we aim to deliver through Northeast News — a newsletter shaped by and for the people who live here. Launched this week, it’s the first product of our regional bureau, built around community connection, accountability and public participation.
Delivered every other week to start, subscribers will get more than headlines. They will receive reporting that explains how local decisions affect daily life, investigates powerful institutions, and highlights the people and ideas moving this region forward. Subscribers also get a direct line to the newsroom — to share questions, tips and story ideas that help guide the work.
More than 110 northeast Wisconsin residents helped name the newsletter. Northeast News prevailed over options that included The NEWsletter, NEWsflash, Northeast Dispatch and NEW Notes.
Residents submitted creative write-ins, too — from The Weekly Cheddar to Northeastern Exposure.
A donation jar sits alongside a coffee maker at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, during a weekly drop-in event for older adults and retirees, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Aside from about 15 people who faithfully attend each Sunday morning service, Dodgeville’s Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ used to sit empty most of the week.
No one filled the rows of wooden pews, gazed at the ornate stained glass windows or found community in the basement fellowship hall and kitchen.
All that empty space reflected a common set of challenges facing communities across America, particularly in rural areas: shrinking church membership, growing loneliness and isolation, and a lack of third spaces to gather.
But in summer 2023, the congregation joined local residents to open Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center aiming to directly address those issues.
How Merrimac and Main began
Rachel Peller and her wife Rebecca Krausert Sykalski had just moved into a housing cooperative east of Dodgeville and were looking for a place with internet access to work remotely. Peller is the director of Wisconsin Partners, a coalition of local and statewide groups collaborating across sectors, perspectives and communities.
She soon met Shirley Barnes, a longtime Dodgeville resident who chaired Plymouth Congregational’s board of trustees. Barnes had been racking her brain on what to do with her church’s history-rich but mostly vacant building, built in 1907, as its congregation aged and dwindled.
Within a month, Peller and Barnes joined about two dozen people in the church basement to brainstorm ways to use the space to serve the community.
“The timing was incredible,” Peller said.
One person suggested a makerspace to foster innovation. Another suggested a program for older adults. After a few more conversations that summer, the group decided on a catchall that enveloped many ideas for the space: a community center.
“There isn’t one in Dodgeville or anywhere nearby where people can come and just be, come and just exist,” Peller said.
Jill Roethe, third from right, laughs while holding Leo, a kitten from the Iowa County Humane Society, during a weekly drop-in event at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Program coordinator Rachel Peller sits in the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ sanctuary where Merrimac and Main hosts its programming, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Henry Wepking, 10, ties a knot in a blanket he’s making for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
By fall 2023, Merrimac and Main’s organizers held an open house to publicly seek feedback and share their vision — maybe a yoga room, a gallery space with art classes, a lecture hall and live music.
Aided by a grant in 2024, Merrimac and Main, an independent nonprofit that rents the church’s space, launched a four-lecture series and pop-up youth classes.
A space for just about everything
Merrimac and Main has since tried a bit of everything: sewing classes, cooking classes, a workshop on starting your own cottage food business.
“Since then, it’s just grown,” Peller said. “It’s been such an amazing project. So many people just show up and they have an idea and they make it happen.”
One of the center’s most successful recurring events, an international potluck, drew a crowd of 75 people who brought dishes representing about 20 countries.
In addition to one-off events open to anyone, the community center hosts a weekly senior program, a youth program and a recovery meeting, alongside a monthly Spanish conversation group.
Jan Helmich, a Dodgeville resident of 21 years, attends the weekly drop-in event for older adults and retirees at Merrimac and Main, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Helmich was part of the original group that came together to discuss the potential of opening Merrimac and Main.
Craft supplies are organized along the wall at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
The 2026 event schedule is posted above a bookshelf at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Jill Roethe holds Leo, a kitten from the Iowa County Humane Society, during a weekly drop-in event at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Independent of the community center, Plymouth Congregational still holds service every Sunday, but the community center is more frequently in the building, Peller said.
“Basically our church was empty except on Sundays,” said Jan Helmich, a longtime congregation member and active participant in Merrimac and Main’s senior program. “There weren’t many places in town where people could rent space for a party or something, so we decided to see what we could do about it.”
Retirees find connection
While the church’s doors have always remained open to anyone on Sundays, Merrimac and Main’s programming has kept people coming through the building throughout the week.
On a Tuesday morning in January, Helmich sat at a table in the church’s basement rec room joined by nearly a dozen fellow retirees.
The day’s event featured a visit from the Iowa County Humane Society, whose volunteers brought in two kittens.
A cross hangs on the wall at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center that shares space with the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Blue hour falls on Merrimac and Main after the end of an after-school youth program, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Tom DeVoss, who previously served as Iowa County sheriff, was on a walk around the neighborhood when he dropped in and found his wife, Kathy, conversing with the group. It’s good to see what’s going on in the community, to stop in and chitchat, Tom DeVoss said. “It’s kind of a come and go place.”
Kathy DeVoss, who has lived in Dodgeville for 21 years but still considers herself a newcomer, mentioned a Merrimac and Main event she attended last April where she learned to graft fruit trees. “It was so much fun,” she said.
Many of the attendees said they enjoyed the new opportunities for socialization.
“I’m not one to sit home,” said Lenore White, a first-time visitor who learned about Merrimac and Main at a local morning exercise class. “I want to get out and meet people.”
After school, a different kind of space
Rebecca Krausert Sykalski, building coordinator, from left, Arlo Lockard, 10, and Henry Wepking, 10, work on making blankets for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
On a Tuesday afternoon in February, excited screams from children in an after-school program filled a room that on other days hosts the more reserved senior program.
Fifth graders Arlo Lockard and Henry Wepking shared a chair in a connecting room playing games on a smartphone. Arlo’s sister and another middle school girl sat at a table in the main room talking to one another.
Krausert Sykalski, Merrimac and Main’s building coordinator and Peller’s wife, rallied the day’s four children to make blankets for the humane society out of donated materials. Eight children usually attend each week, but half that day were instead participating in a school play, Krausert Sykalski said.
Sitting on the checkered floor, Arlo and Henry got to work. They took turns wielding a measuring tape and scissors, deftly cutting a blanket down to size. The friends began attending Merrimac and Main last September as soon as they were old enough for the program. They learned about it at Dodgeville Middle School from a cafeteria television that displays announcements.
Arlo Lockard, left, and Henry Wepking play games on a phone before an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
On a typical day after school, the boys would play video games, participate in seasonal team sports, go fishing, ride their bikes or do chores. Now, they can walk a few blocks from the school to the church for the Tuesday programs.
“We’re not from here and we don’t have the social network that people who grew up here and went to school here, and either left or never did,” Halee Wepking, Henry’s mother, said while picking him up at the end of the program. “It’s really nice to have things like this for our kids.”
Originally from Arizona, Wepking and her husband, who is from southwest Wisconsin, moved to Ridgeway in 2016. There, they founded Meadowlark Organics, a farm and flour mill. Wepking said she learned about Merrimac and Main through her friendship with Peller and Sykalski.
Wepking said while there are traditional channels for socialization like sports that her kids participate in, “to have things that are community-oriented and creative and stuff is a real gift, especially for middle school aged kids.” The Wepkings noticed a gap in activities for middle schoolers in Dodgeville, making Merrimac and Main all the more meaningful.
“I’ve been trying to convince my friends to come, because it would be more fun, and I bet they would enjoy it,” Henry said.
‘It wasn’t just our church’
Helmich, who was working on another volunteer-based project at the nonprofit while the middle schoolers made blankets, reflected on conversations predating Merrimac and Main about selling the church. After some hesitation initially, Helmich said, the congregation acknowledged the community center as good for everybody.
“We got the community involved, it wasn’t just our church,” Helmich said.
Merrimac and Main has only grown since opening its doors. The same Tuesday Wisconsin Watch visited its youth program the nonprofit received a United Fund of Iowa County grant to support the free fruits and vegetables it offers during programs.
Peller and Krausert Sykalski continue to handle center operations, but they attribute much of Merrimac and Main’s success to engaging so many people to contribute in their own way.
How to get involved
Find Merrimac and Main’s calendar of events on its website, and learn more about how to volunteer to lead an activity, host a pop-up event, get the word out or donate.
Eighth graders work on making blankets for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis.
Merrimac and Main organizers shared this advice for others looking to start community centers:
Don’t just send an open invitation; personalize your message by directly asking people for what you need.
Don’t get stuck trying to make everything perfect; treat early, low-risk events as opportunities to gather information and feedback.
Engage people by helping bring their ideas to life.
Lean on partnerships with other community organizations.
This story is part of Public Square, an occasional photography series highlighting how Wisconsin residents connect with their communities. To suggest someone in your community for us to feature, email Joe Timmerman at jtimmerman@wisconsinwatch.org.
A jury convicted a Wisconsin man of election fraud and identity theft for requesting the ballots of Republican state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Democratic Racine Mayor Cory Mason without their consent.
Jurors in Racine County on Tuesday found Harry Wait guilty of two misdemeanor election fraud charges and one felony identity theft charge following a two-day trial. He was acquitted of a second count of identity theft.
Wait leads a group that makes false election claims, including that Wisconsin’s elections are riddled with fraud and that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 by about 21,000 votes.
Wait admitted in 2022 that he requested Vos’ and Mason’s ballots to try to prove that the state’s voter registration system is vulnerable to fraud. Wait told The Associated Press at the time that he wasn’t surprised he was charged.
“You got to expect to pay some costs sometimes when you are trying to work for the public good,” he said.
His efforts drew praise from Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, who called Wait a “white hat hacker.”
After the verdict, Wait told WTMJ that he “would do it again.”
“I tested the system and the system failed,” he said.
A sentencing date has not been set. Wait’s attorney Joe Bugni did not respond to an email Wednesday asking whether he would appeal.
Wait, 71, faces up to six years in prison on the felony conviction and up to a year in jail on each of the misdemeanor convictions.
His conviction comes after a jury in 2024 found a former Milwaukee election official guilty of misconduct in office after she obtained three military absentee ballots using fake names and Social Security numbers in 2022. Like Wait, Kimberly Zapata argued that she was trying to expose vulnerabilities in the state’s election system.
Zapata was fined $3,000 and sentenced to one year probation.
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.
Borrowers who go through microloan programs in Appleton and Madison work with local banks to set up accounts. (Courtesy of unDraw.co)
Click here to read highlights from the story
St. Vincent de Paul-Madison started a microloan program in 2023 and has so far made nearly $100,000 in loans to 50 people.
Word spread about the program, and leaders at St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference in Appleton decided to implement a similar initiative.
People must meet several criteria to be eligible for a low-interest microloan.
The local St. Vincent de Paul chapter financially supports the loan, and borrowers work with a partner bank to establish a bank account, get the funds and go through financial education.
However, the effort is not without risk. The Madison organization has had people default on their microloans, though leaders declined to say how many.
Mary T. had a $2,500 balance on her credit card. It came with a 26.9% interest rate.
“I wanted to be responsible and pay off my loan … but it was so hard to get it paid off,” the Madison resident said.
Then, she heard about St. Vincent de Paul-Madison’s microloan program. If she qualified, the organization would pay the credit card loan and Mary would then pay back St. Vincent de Paul on a loan with a 4.3% interest rate through a local bank.
“It’s July 2027 that I’ll have it paid off,” Mary said. “It was not hard to go through the paperwork, and they were so nice to me throughout the whole process.”
Mary is one of about 50 people helped by St. Vincent de Paul’s microloan program since it started in late 2023. The Madison organization launched its initiative to help people living in poverty manage a one-time bill or pay off high-interest payday loans.
“People get trapped in these loans,” said Julie Bennett, CEO and executive director of St. Vincent de Paul-Madison. “They take out a loan to help with a car repair, for example, and the interest just grows. They then need another loan or need to extend the loan because they can’t pay the interest, and it just spirals.”
Since St. Vincent de Paul-Madison started its microloan program, the organization has made nearly $100,000 in loans, and word has spread. The St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference in Appleton launched its microloan program in February.
“The first microloan we made was for someone who had an auto title loan with a 305% effective interest rate. He had a $1,500 loan, and we were able to get him down to a 5% interest rate,” Bennett said.
Finding an alternative to payday loans
The Madison organization’s leaders learned about microloan programs offered by St. Vincent de Paul conferences in Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas, after attending national events. Members thought it was a great program they could bring back to Wisconsin, which has some of the highest average payday loan interest rates in the nation. A report from The Pew Charitable Trusts found state residents pay an average of $395 in fees and interest when repaying a $500 loan after four months, for an interest rate of 338%.
As the Madison organization’s leaders worked on the 2019-2022 strategic plan, Bennett said creating a microloan program was included on the to-do list. They looked at other microloan programs and struggled at first to understand the complexity of banking. St. Vincent de Paul-Madison created a task force that included financial representatives who helped them understand how the loan process would work. Representatives from local organizations that work with those living in poverty also joined the task force.
While St. Vincent de Paul-Madison provides the money for the loans, its leaders must partner with financial institutions to process the loans and help create a positive lending experience for the borrower’s credit report. The Bank of Sun Prairie signed on as the organization’s first banking partner in 2023, with Lake Ridge Bank joining in 2025.
“We needed a financial partner to take care of all the loan documentation and to make sure the loan was on (the borrower’s) record,” Bennett said. “If they pay off the loan successfully, it looks good on their credit record and gives them something to build on.”
Microloan recipients must meet several requirements to qualify, including being a Dane County resident, having a monthly household income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, being willing to have a bank account and having a monthly debt-to-income ratio under 47%.
As part of the program, loans range from $400 to $2,500. Borrowers receive low-interest rates between 4% and 8% and set up flexible repayment plans over two years through local banks.
“We see the microloans as an alternative to payday loans for people who need money but have no other source to go to,” Bennett said. “We also see the microloans as a way to pay off those payday loans, which cause immediate and long-term harm to borrowers since the interest rates keep going up.”
Borrowers also receive financial education and support to help them avoid similar situations in the future. Bennett said St. Vincent de Paul-Madison wanted to provide that education with a sensitive approach. The University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Financial Education program developed training for the microlending team so they could have sensitive, discreet conversations.
“No one likes talking to strangers about their money, and it’s even harder when their financial condition is precarious,” she said.
The microloan program carries some risk for St. Vincent de Paul-Madison. If borrowers default on their loans, the organization is on the hook for paying them off. Unfortunately, that has happened, though Bennett declined to share how many people have defaulted.
To Mary, being able to get her interest rate to a predictable and manageable number was vital.
“I just know how much I need to pay without the total … going up all the time, with the interest … growing,” she said. “I felt I was never making any progress with the payments. Now, I can see when it’s all going to be paid off, and I know I’m going to get it done.”
An example to others
The Madison team paid their experience forward, and leaders from an Appleton organization took notice.
Karen Rickert, a member of St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference, heard Bennett speak about Madison’s microloan program at an event. In her years as a volunteer, Rickert saw many people caught living paycheck to paycheck. A woman who was hit with a car repair bill and turned to a payday lender stuck with Rickert.
“The repair costs were more than what we could help with. She couldn’t go to work because she didn’t have a working car. She couldn’t take her kids to school because she didn’t have a car. She eventually had to take out one of those terrible payday loans,” Rickert said. “I felt terrible about it, but it sprung me into action.”
Members from the Appleton organization met with Bennett and learned as much as possible about the Madison group’s microloan program. They put their bylaws and plans together.
The next step? Raising $20,000 to serve as security for the loans. Thanks to a grant and donations, they nearly doubled their goal.
Nicolet Bank signed on as the financial institution. Rickert said the organization has several volunteers who used to work in finance and banking. They “walk hand-in-hand with our borrowers through the process to help address any issues before they become a problem,” she said.
For organizations looking to start their own microloan programs, Bennett and Rickert recommended talking to groups with their own initiatives and being prepared to ask a lot of questions. The St. Thomas More Conference learned a lot by talking with the Madison organization and others as they put their microloan program together, Rickert said.
“It was a lot of work and took us a while to get it going, but it was worth it,” she said.
With everything in place, the Appleton organization made its first microloan in February.
“It’s amazing to see this all come together and now we’re able to help people get loans at a reasonable rate and help steer them away from payday loans,” Rickert said. “We’re helping them get a step ahead.”
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