When Katy Dicks’s two children were both in childcare programs, she and her partner would dread sitting down each month to have the hard conversations about which bills would go on their multiple credit cards, the highest with a 20% interest rate, and which they could pay outright. “It’s a constant budgeting game,” Dicks said, although she and her family watch every penny and keep their finances as tight as possible. 

According to Act For Early Years, the global childcare campaign, the major expense that weighed on Katy and her partner each month is what also plagues 70% of American parents: the high cost of childcare. According to Care.com, Katy, 45, and her domestic partner, who live in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, are like parents across the nation for whom care has become an “all-consuming strain.” The same source found that mothers report “significantly higher levels of overwhelm, guilt, and identity loss” than fathers, pressuring many to leave the workforce. In fact, of the 455,000 women who left the workforce in 2025, roughly 42% pointed to caregiving costs as the No. 1 reason. In the past 40 years, cost has been the primary reason for the steepest decline in mothers of young children participating in the workforce. 

Katy, whose children are now ages 7 and 11, works primarily as a Pharmacy Project Coordinator, but she is also a realtor, and a co-owner of a logistics business with her partner. Katy considers herself “blessed” because she found wonderful, regulated childcare nearby for both of her children, and she “felt good with the care my children received.” However, between the full-time home-based care and the preschool for both children, it cost her and her partner between $20,000-$30,000 per year over six years for a total of $167,000. Average annual costs for childcare in Wisconsin range between $13,000 and $18,000. Even working her three jobs, she and her partner still owe $45,000 in credit card debt because of their childcare costs. According to a new study, a two-child family would need to earn $400,000 to make childcare affordable, defined as 7% of income by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an unreachable sum for most families including Katy and her partner.

The reason for the high cost of childcare in the U.S. is primarily due to the fact that early childhood education is not considered a public good. Therefore, with little to no public investment in childcare for everyone, early educators are often entirely reliant upon parents’ private tuition payments to operate their programs. Despite high tuition rates, Wisconsin providers earn, on average, $13.55 per hour, compared to the average hourly wage of $28.44 for Wisconsin workers, with family childcare providers earning $7.46 per hour. 

This changed during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government recognized childcare as essential and distributed funds to states to stabilize the childcare workforce. In Wisconsin, $20 million per month was distributed to approximately 5,000 licensed providers, assisting in the retention of 72,000 professionals, and supporting care for over 417,000 children throughout the state through a program called Child Care Counts. While recent research shows that this program was highly effective, the majority of Republican legislators rejected continued funding for the program. Additionally, even though the 2025-2027 budget for the first time included state funds for childcare, that funding ends in June 2026, leaving providers once again on their own to figure out how to continue, or in many cases simply to close their programs. 

Katy also experienced complications during pregnancy and her maternity leave. During her first pregnancy she developed pre-eclampsia and had to be hospitalized and induced. After just three months of maternity leave at partial pay, she said, “It was the hardest day of my life to go back to work. What I needed was 12 months to heal and bond with my baby.” Nonetheless, she felt fortunate that she had childcare in place, had kept her job, and therefore had health insurance to pay all of her medical bills. 

When Katy returned to work, she went to her infant’s child care program every day to breastfeed her baby on her lunch break, to bond with her baby and also because she wasn’t able to pump enough milk to last through the day. When she tried pumping at work, she felt like her male supervisor was always “breathing down my neck,” and pumping twice a day felt like she was “pushing it.” Not long after, her supervisor gave her a performance improvement plan (PIP) for taking time out to pump breast milk.

With her second child, in a new position, Katy developed pre-eclampsia again, and had to be induced, but at this employer, she felt the pressure to quit working more intensely. After she repeatedly brought up the topic of maternity leave with her male supervisor, the company finally agreed to give her three months of unpaid leave. She made a plea for partial pay during her leave, only to be informed by her supervisor that the company would indeed adopt a partially paid maternity leave, but not until after her maternity leave was over. He also told her that she was the first employee he had who was pregnant and required maternity leave. 

The U.S. is the only wealthy nation on Earth that lacks federally mandated, paid maternity leave, even though about three-quarters of mothers are employed. As of January 2026, only 14 states and the District of Columbia had a mandated, paid maternity leave of eight to 12 weeks. Wisconsin does not have mandated, paid maternity leave. 

Katy’s  experiences ultimately drove her to take a leadership position in the Mother Forward chapter in Wisconsin to push for better policies so that mothers are set up for success.

It’s different in Denmark

When Manal Stulgaitis, an American, moved to Denmark to work for the United Nations, she had no idea how the early childhood education system worked. She visited the country  ahead of her family before the move to check out childcare programs. One morning, when she was out for a jog, she stumbled across an enchanting scene. Peering through a tall fence surrounding a huge residential house, she saw children in snowsuits playing on climbing equipment built into the trees and sitting under a structure whittling sticks around a fire. Teachers stood nearby, observing and supporting the children in their explorations. Manal decided to visit the place right away. She found the administrator and teachers welcoming and they quickly determined that they had space, so she was able to enroll her 3-year-old without delay. The center was part of the public early childhood education system, and she remembers it cost approximately $400 per month, and “was absolutely zero stress.” Meanwhile, her 6-year-old attended public school. 

Manal, 51, whose children are now 10 and 13 years old, like all parents in Denmark, was  entitled to a guaranteed childcare slot regardless of income or geographic location. Indeed, Danish law mandates this and ensures that parents pay no more than 25% of the cost of childcare, unless a family’s income is below a certain threshold, in which case it is free. 

As for maternity leave, although it did not apply to Manal since her children were older, the standard in Denmark is a paid shared parental leave that begins four weeks before a mother gives birth and continues for 24 weeks post birth. Another parent can share up to 10 weeks of the leave, and there is additional flexibility depending on the circumstances for a total of 52 weeks. Recent research shows that Denmark’s childcare and paid parental leave policies combined erase 80% of what’s called “the motherhood penalty” for working mothers, allowing them to pursue their careers and passions. This is certainly the case for Manal, who said, “I don’t think there are words to describe how it impacts you individually or how it impacts our family. To have the essentials like healthcare and childcare and education taken care of by the state – both financially and in terms of the regulatory aspects — gives every single Danish person a huge measure of confidence. We were so lucky to experience that system, which serves children and their parents so well.” 

Policymakers in the U.S. have chosen a hands-off approach to childcare and maternity leave. This has had the effect of normalizing the suffering new mothers and parents experience, pressures mothers to leave the workforce, stalls their careers, and loads parents with debt. Denmark, on the other hand, has chosen to promote equality for mothers by mandating and investing in both paid parental leave and childcare. For Manal, the impact of having her daughter welcomed and supported in a high-quality early childhood education system was “a lifesaver.” She could be a  mother and have a high-powered career that demanded long days and frequent travel. Total confidence in her child’s program meant that she or her husband could “drop the kids off in the morning and not have a second thought about their safety or their wellbeing.” Having a high-quality system freed both her and her husband to focus fully on their work, without all the stress parents in the U.S. feel over their children’s well-being and the toll having a baby takes on their household  finances. Childcare advocates in the U.S. say policymakers here could choose policies that set mothers up for success, rather than test their grit, tolerance for debt, and willingness to endure the pain of worrying whether their children are getting good care. 

Across the country, citizens demanding universal child care in their own  communities are joining the thousands of mothers, child care providers, and advocates gathering on Monday, May 11, 2026 for the 5th annual Day Without Child Care.

Support for this reporting came from the Better Life Lab at New America.

The Atwood Music Hall in Madison was packed Wednesday afternoon, as community members said goodbye to Stuart Dymzarov, the founding principal of Malcolm Shabazz City High School and, for many, many people, a beloved mentor and friend.

Colleagues and former students at Shabazz, the alternative school launched in 1971 with a grant from the Ford Foundation, remembered Stuart’s fierce advocacy for his vision of an open-minded, flexible school. “Education by any means necessary,” was his riff on the famous slogan of the school’s namesake, Malcolm X.

Hearing the eulogies for Stuart, a big bear of a man with a wild beard, radical politics and a radiant warmth, brought back the optimism and high spirits of a generation of Madisonians who protested the war in Vietnam, rejected careerist striving and established their own little cooperative communities in the idealistic belief that they were on the cusp of changing the world for the better. 

One of those starry-eyed idealists was my mother, Dorothy Conniff, who lived in a collective household with Stuart and a dozen other young radicals on Spaight Street on Madison’s East Side. She was in her 20s then and I was just a toddler. “We supported each other’s projects and ideals and had intense discussions about how to change the world,” my mom wrote in the online guest book for Stuart’s memorial. I remember a single check she kept in a scrapbook from the joint household account of those days, with 14 names in the upper lefthand corner — a testament to the trust and cooperation in that happy group. 

Like a lot of young people in the heady 1960s and 1970s in Madison, my mom, Stuart and their whole cohort felt progress over injustice and violence was underway and the world would soon be a brighter place.  “We were optimistic because the antiwar movement had forced Lyndon Johnson out of office,” my mom told me. A lot of former Madison radicals were in the white-haired crowd at the memorial service, including former Mayor Paul Soglin, former Alderman Billy Feitlinger and Jeff Feinblatt, one of the Shabazz teachers who, inspired by Stuart, nurtured and inspired a new generation of young people.

I remember Stuart as a big, benign presence in striped overalls, hoisting the kids in the Spaight Street household on his shoulders and rumbling around the house. Later he became a devoted father to his own three children with his wife of 50 years, Marsha (the two combined their last names, Dym and Zarov) and a beloved uncle, grandfather and father figure to hundreds of Shabazz students. 

Stuart’s nephew Miles Zarov gave a touching tribute to the uncle who used to pick him up along with his sister after school and take them wherever they wanted to go, buying them treats and letting them fritter away his money on plastic trinkets with an easy-going smile.

Stuart’s brother Harvey described how Stuart would spend endless hours hanging out and having conversations with people, and when Harvey quizzed him on what they had said and what he had learned, he shrugged it off. “I like experiencing people,” he told Harvey. That acceptance and enjoyment of people with no particular goal in mind was classic Stuart.

Stuart was always willing to give people rides, day and night, including, according to one of his younger relatives, on a memorable night when he called Stuart from a biker bar where he was having a drug-induced attack of paranoia. Stuart drove across town in the middle of the night, appeared in the doorway of the bar, a looming presence in a khaki jacket and driving cap, wrapped his younger relative in a hug and took him home.

The feeling of safety and love he gave people is the strongest, lasting impression Stuart left.

He was a fighter — against the “fascist” politics he despised in the U.S. government, even before the current era, and on behalf of people he felt were not given a fair shake. His friends remember his ferociousness on the basketball court, his relentlessness in political arguments, and his tireless, aggressive advocacy at school board meetings and the superintendent’s office on behalf of the staff and students at Shabazz.

But mostly, Stuart made people feel cared for, appreciated, heard. It seems to me that quality is exactly what we need right now, to counter the epic cruelty, hatred and greed that is engulfing our nation and the world.

The sunny optimism of the 1960s counterculture seems far away today. But Stuart’s legacy lives on, not just at the still-thriving alternative high school he founded (where the family encourages people to make a donation to the scholarship program in his name), but also in the light he brought into the world by really seeing other people, accepting and loving them. Experiencing that quality in Stuart in small ways, one on one, is what made such a difference for people. More than any grand political program or analysis, it is a powerful antidote to despair. 

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The publisher of the Cap Times said Thursday that the news organization’s management will voluntarily recognize the eight-member newsroom staff’s union. 

The employees formally announced their union campaign in a meeting with Publisher Paul Fanlund and other Cap Times managers a week ago. They have affiliated with the NewsGuild-CWA, which also represents employees at Wisconsin Watch and at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

“The Capital Times Co. has decided to voluntarily recognize the labor union being formed by Capital Times reporters and we hope to work towards an amicable outcome,” Fanlund said in a statement Thursday. “In the meantime, we will continue the excellent reporting and opinion journalism that the community has come to depend upon.”

The Capital Times newspaper was founded in 1917 by William T. Evjue and throughout its history has been known in Madison as a staunch voice for liberal and progressive values, including its support for labor unions.

Since 2008, what was once a daily evening newspaper has published online with a weekly print tabloid edition. While retaining its original name as a business entity, the newspaper adopted its longstanding nickname among readers as its moniker.

In making their case for a union, the employees primarily focused on the paper’s progressive heritage as well as their interest in greater involvement in its operation.

“I’m proud of all the work we put into forming a union,” said Erin Gretzinger, the K-12 reporter at the Cap Times. “Management’s decision to voluntarily recognize us aligns with the Cap Times’ longstanding values, and it is reflective of our value to the newsroom and the broader Madison community. I look forward to the next steps in this process and working collaboratively to ensure a strong future for our newsroom.”

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s trade agenda faced another major setback Thursday when the U.S. Court of International Trade handed a win to two small businesses and the state of Washington after they challenged the president’s 10% global tariffs, imposed after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his previous emergency tariff regime.

In a 2-1 decision, the court granted a permanent injunction to a Florida-based toy manufacturer and a New York-based spice importer that sued the Trump administration in March, alleging the new tariffs would harm their businesses.

The court also granted relief to Washington state, which was among nearly two dozen states that sued over the tariffs. 

Tariff ‘bazooka’

Jay Foreman, CEO of toy company Basic Fun!, said he was “extremely excited” upon learning the decision.

“It takes a lot of guts and chutzpah for small companies like us and Burlap and Barrel to put ourselves out on the line to fight what we feel is injustice and unfair,” he said during a virtual press conference, referring to the other company named in the lawsuit, an online spice retailer.

“Certainly, there’s a place for tariffs on strategic products that make sense to protect in this country …  but in cases across the board, to approach this situation with a bazooka instead of a fine-tooth comb makes no sense, and it hurts companies like ours, hurts companies like Burlap and Barrel, hurts the consumer,” Foreman said Thursday evening. 

Basic Fun! is behind popular toys, including Tonka Trucks and Care Bears.

Foreman said he expects imports that were subject to the tariffs to arrive as soon as tomorrow.

“I’m already emailing my customs broker to make sure they’re on it,” he said.

The ruling only applies to the plaintiffs Basic Fun! and the online spice retailer Burlap and Barrel, and does not give universal relief to all businesses that must pay the blanket 10% tax on imports. 

Jeffrey Schwab, who argued the case on behalf of the clients for the Liberty Justice Center, said the nonprofit advocacy law firm has been “wrestling” with what the decision means for other businesses that are paying the import tax.

“It’s not entirely clear, and probably will depend on what happens now if the government appeals. If the government seeks a stay that could have an effect. Certainly, I think companies will probably want to file (legal challenges), being concerned about making sure that the tariffs stop for them, and possibly ensuring that they get a refund too,” Schwab said.

Win for Washington state

The ruling also applies to Washington state as an importer subject to the tariffs, according to the ruling. 

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown called the ruling “a win for both affordability and the rule of law.”

“It’s American consumers and businesses that have ultimately paid for the president’s illegal tariff campaign,” he said in a statement. “The court’s order will encourage more parties to challenge this illegal executive overreach.”

The judges ruled other states that sued did not have standing because they were “non-importers.” Among them were Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Trump ordered the fresh round of tariffs on Feb. 20, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 opinion, that his initial global tariffs under the 1977 International Economic Emergency Powers Act, or IEEPA, exceeded his presidential authority.

Following the Supreme Court loss, Trump’s alternative tariffs, imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, went into effect on Feb. 24.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now in the legally mandated process of refunding businesses and importers who paid a collective $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

A new report forecasts that changes to Medicaid enacted in 2025 will cut $7 billion from the program in Wisconsin alone over the next 10 years, according to the advocacy group Protect Our Care.

Calculations last year from KFF, a nonprofit, nonpartisan healthcare policy and news organization, indicate that at least 57,000 more people in Wisconsin will become uninsured by 2034.

“Wisconsinites and people everywhere have either lost coverage or they’re living with the ongoing fear of not knowing whether or not they’ll have health coverage in the next month,” said state Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) in a media call conducted Thursday by Protect Our Care.

The organization has issued a new report on the impact on Medicaid across the country from the 2025 tax cut and spending bill that passed with only Republican votes and was signed by President Donald Trump July 4. The legislation’s tax cuts primarily went to the wealthiest Americans, said Protect Our Care’s Joe Zepecki.

“Every single state in the United States is going to see these cuts and it’s going to have all kinds of consequences,” said U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee), who also took part in the call Thursday.

The legislation included new requirements for some Medicaid recipients to prove they are working or are exempt from a work requirement. It also included requirements that those recipients submit paperwork showing they qualify for Medicaid twice a year instead of once a year.

Those requirements will take effect in 2027. The work-reporting requirements, however, have been broadly criticized by healthcare experts.

“We have also consistently seen in our research and everybody’s research that work requirement policies often do not meaningfully increase employment or access to inclusive, competitive employment,” said Kylie McLean, a social work professor, researcher and advocate for people with disabilities.

“Instead, they create paperwork barriers that cause eligible people to lose coverage, not because they are ineligible because but because the system becomes too difficult for them to navigate,” McLean said.

McLean said she has heard from people with disabilities and their families who are concerned that they could lose access to Medicaid for healthcare and personal care in their homes and communities.

“For decades, disability advocates like myself have fought to move away from unnecessary institutionalization and toward community living and inclusion,” she said. “Medicaid is what made that possible.”

Waivers states receive from the federal government cover those home and community based services — referred to as HCBS for short. But while federal law requires Medicaid coverage for people in institutions, it’s optional for home and community-based care, McLean said.

“That means when states face budget pressure or major Medicaid cuts, community services, HCBS services are among the first at risk,” McLean said.

Another call participant, Dr. Chris Ford, said he has seen the consequences on the job as an emergency room specialist in Milwaukee.

“When access to primary care disappears, when those clinics close, and when people lose that insurance, the emergency department becomes a safety net for an entire — albeit collapsing — system,” Ford said. “We are already seeing the warning signs happening now.”

Ford said he’s seen longer wait times in the emergency room, more patients who, lacking insurance, are “delaying care until they’re critically ill.”

“These cuts disproportionately hurt the very people  who already face the greatest barriers to care to begin with,” Ford said. “This is not something that is a potential. This is something that is happening already.”

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All three members of the Public Service Commission criticized the lack of transparency from Meta and Alliant Energy during a meeting Thursday in which the body approved a contract for the social media giant to obtain power for its planned data center in Beaver Dam. 

Meta is in the process of spending more than $1 billion to construct a hyperscale data center campus that, when completed, would use six to eight times more power than the city of Beaver Dam’s current energy load. 

Like similar massive data center projects across the state, Meta’s Beaver Dam project has drawn opposition from local residents. For months, the project was shrouded in secrecy with Meta operating under the name Degas LLC. Opponents have complained about the lack of openness, the massive use of energy and the impact the construction and operation of the center could have on the community. 

PSC Chair Summer Strand said in her opening remarks she didn’t understand “why it needed to be this difficult” to achieve a transparent process. 

“To me, transparency is not a cliche, feel good, bare minimum, check the box concept,” Strand said. “If there’s one takeaway from our discussion and decisions today I want it to be clear that, whether you’re a large load customer coming into Wisconsin for the first time, or regulated entity familiar with our process, transparency — and by that I mean actual and real transparency — is the foundational expectation and a necessity.”

Commissioner Kristy Nieto said in her opening remarks Thursday morning that the case is one of the “most consequential” decisions the PSC has seen. 

“It bears repeating, existing Wisconsin customers should not pay a single cent to subsidize the service of data centers, not now and not decades from now,” Nieto said. “This means these very large customers must bear the full cost of the infrastructure required to serve them — generation, transmission and distribution — and that those costs must be fully and transparently assigned.” 

The three members of the commission lamented the redactions that had initially been made to the documents submitted in the case — which were later removed after objections from outside parties including members of the public, Clean Wisconsin and the Citizens Utility Board. 

The commissioners also decided that moving forward, hyperscale data centers constructed within Alliant’s territory must pay for and receive energy through a standardized tariff, rather than a one-off contract negotiated without public scrutiny. Late last month, the PSC made a similar ruling for large customers in WE Energies territory. 

Under the PSC order, Alliant will have to develop a tariff that applies for any data centers using more than 100 megawatts of energy. The Meta campus is expected to use 220 megawatts. 

“This is not going to be the last data center contract we see from this utility, and I will say Alliant needs standard guidelines and rules for its data center customers,” Nieto said. “A clear public tariff would create consistent, transparent rates and rules for future data centers, instead of handling each one through separate, confidential negotiations.”

While Alliant was ordered to develop a tariff rate for large customers, the PSC on Thursday approved the contract negotiated between Meta and Alliant with some modifications meant to insulate regular customers from bearing the costs of Meta’s energy use and any related infrastructure upgrades by Alliant. Nieto said denying the agreement while the tariff rate is developed would have allowed Meta to operate for up to a year without any guardrails, an outcome she said didn’t think would benefit anyone.

Brett Korte, a staff attorney with Clean Wisconsin, said the PSC putting a halt to the development of a case-by-case patchwork of data center energy deals in Alliant’s territory — which covers parts of more than a dozen Wisconsin counties — will protect Wisconsinites.

“Tariffs create a consistent, transparent framework that helps protect the public interest,” Korte said in a statement. “Without them, Wisconsin risks a patchwork system where costs and responsibilities are unclear and potentially shifted onto other utility customers.”

After the meeting, consumer advocacy and environmental groups were complimentary of the PSC’s actions.

“Today, the Public Service Commission highlighted the importance of transparency and oversight: accountability is a must, and it cannot be bypassed,” Britnie Remer, organizing director of climate advocacy group 350 Wisconsin. “The Commission also recognized that protecting Wisconsinites from subsidizing billion-dollar data centers needs to be front and center when it comes to these massive projects. With more data center proposals inevitable, requiring tariff filings in the future will ensure large energy customers pay for their costs, not our families and small businesses.”

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Republican Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) announced she will not run for reelection this year, creating another open seat in an Assembly district that will be decisive in determining partisan control of the chamber in 2027.

Rodriguez, 48, has represented the 21st Assembly District since 2013 when she was first elected in a special election. She noted in her announcement that her son was 3 years old when she first ran. During her time in office she has served on the powerful Joint Finance Committee, helping shape the state’s two-year budget as well as being an outspoken advocate for school choice.

“Throughout my time in office, I have tried to keep family first. But the truth is, it is difficult to do this job well without it affecting the people who care about you most. My family has given me patience, encouragement, and support through long days, busy weeks, and many moments when this work required more of me than they deserved to lose,” Rodriguez said in a Thursday statement. “After a great deal of reflection and many conversations with my family, I have decided that I will not seek reelection this fall.

Her district changed with the new maps adopted in 2024. It sits in Milwaukee County and includes Oak Creek and a portion of the city of Milwaukee around the Mitchell International Airport, and has a slight Democratic lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis. 

Even under the new maps, Rodriguez won her most recent term in 2024 with 51.3% of the vote against her Democratic challenger. 

Her departure means that Republicans will lose the advantages that come with incumbency in a key district that will determine control of the state Assembly. Republican lawmakers currently hold 54 seats in the Assembly to Democrats’ 45 seats, meaning Democrats need to hold all their seats and win five additional seats in November to win the majority. 

Morgan Hess, the executive director for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, said in a statement that “Rodriguez, like others in the Republican Assembly caucus, sees the writing on the wall.” 

“Rather than serve in the minority, they are calling it quits. Democrats have the momentum to win the majority this fall and today’s announcement brings us one step closer,” Hess said. 

Democrat Dan Bukiewicz, the mayor of Oak Creek, announced his campaign for the seat in January.

Hess said he is a “proven leader in this community and will make an excellent state representative.”

Rodriguez’s announcement adds to the wave of Republicans, including nine Assembly members and six Senate members, deciding not to seek election this fall, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) who was the first Assembly Republican in one of eight key seats to decide against running. 

Donovan running

Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) announced that he will run for a third term to represent Assembly District 61, which covers Greendale and Hales Corner in Milwaukee County. The district has a slight  Republican lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis, but is one of eight districts that Democrats are targeting to flip. 

Donovan, 69, was first elected in 2022. He joins a handful of other Republican lawmakers from swing districts  seeking another term, including Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston), Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) and Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R- De Pere). 

Democrat Ben Brist, a U.S. Army veteran announced he would run for the seat in March. His candidacy could mean Donovan would face someone other than Democrat LuAnn Bird, who he defeated in his first two runs for the Assembly. 

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker said in a statement that Republicans are “abandoning ship.” 

“To those like Bob Donovan and Shannon Zimmerman who have decided to run again, you have 23 days to retire or you will be fired by the voters in November. Your leaders and colleagues know what is coming and it is not the cavalry; it is only defeat,” Remiker said.

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Three weeks after two right-wing groups demanded the repeal of a professional licensing board’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ clients of social workers and other therapists, Gov. Tony Evers sent a sharply worded reply.

In a Tuesday letter to the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Wisconsin Family Action, Evers declared, “my administration has no intention of repealing Wisconsin’s conversion therapy ban.”

Evers asserted that the April 14 demand letter from the two groups was based on “a significant misreading” of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that threw parts of a Colorado ban on conversion therapy into question. 

Evers wrote that it was “disappointing” that the organizations support “a long-disavowed and outdated practice” that extensive research has shown to be ineffective and responsible for harms including depression, suicide, substance misuse, posttraumatic stress and anxiety.

“On the other hand, this should come as no surprise,” Evers wrote. “After all, bullying LGBTQ kids and Wisconsinites seems to be an important goal for Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Wisconsin Family Action.”

Purported to dissuade people from same-sex attractions and from gender dysphoria — which the American Psychiatric Association has defined as  “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity” — conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, has been widely discredited.

Conversion therapy is not limited to talk therapy. “Aversive techniques used in reparative therapies have included electric shock, physical violence, administration of emetics, and personal degradation and humiliation,” the American Academy of Nursing wrote in a 2015 statement opposing the practice.

The Wisconsin Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board published an updated professional code in April 2024 that declared “any intervention or method” used or promoted to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity to be “unprofessional conduct” that could subject a practitioner to professional discipline.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a March 31 ruling, sent a lawsuit challenging a Colorado law against conversion therapy back to lower federal courts. The ruling instructed the lower courts to apply “strict scrutiny” on First Amendment grounds to the Colorado law because it seeks to “regulate speech based on viewpoint.”

In their demand letter, WILL and Wisconsin Family Action called on the Evers administration to repeal the ban in the Wisconsin therapists’ code. The letter declared that it was similar to the Colorado law and claimed that “the Supreme Court held that Colorado’s substantively identical statute was unconstitutional.”

Evers wrote that the demand “relies on a significant misreading of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision” and had “erroneously” characterized its findings. 

“First, the Court intentionally — and specifically — stopped short of striking down any applications of Colorado’s law,” Evers wrote. The high court instead remanded the case to the lower court to apply a “more searching scrutiny” to the law, he added. “Repeal before that occurs would be premature.”

Evers also wrote that the ruling “expressly held that heightened scrutiny applies only to certain applications of Colorado’s law, not the entire provision. Specifically, the case concerned only Colorado’s conversion therapy prohibition as it applied to talk therapy — not to other treatment, such as physical or medication interventions.”

Quoting the Court’s ruling, Evers wrote that the Colorado plaintiff, therapist Kaley Chiles, stated that “the statute has many valid applications. Indeed, [she] did not take issue with Colorado’s effort to ban what she herself calls ‘long-abandoned, aversive’ physical interventions. Instead, Ms. Chiles objected to Colorado’s law only as it applies to her talk therapy, therapy that involves no physical interventions or medications, only the spoken word.”

Wisconsin’s professional rule also covers more than talk therapy, Evers wrote, and the therapy, counseling and social work board “will maintain the rule and continue to enforce its valid applications, in order to protect Wisconsinites from harmful and offensive practices by Board licensees.”

WILL’s initial response Thursday to a request for comment was a two-word email message from WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek: “Lawsuit incoming.”

In a follow up statement, Furdek said that Evers was “resorting to personal, baseless attacks on WILL and its mission.” Contrary to the distinctions Evers made about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the statement reiterated WILL’s characterization that the Court found Colorado’s “substantively identical law amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.”

Making no reference to other conversion therapy tactics, the statement concluded: “Government shouldn’t be deciding which viewpoints are ‘acceptable’ for Christian counselors to express when providing talk therapy to the individuals who voluntarily seek out faith-based counseling.”

In his letter, Evers wrote that because the Colorado case remains active in lower federal courts, the Department of Safety and Professional Services will attach a note to the conversion therapy rule stating that “certain instances of the unprofessional conduct” it refers to “are the subject of ongoing litigation.”

Wisconsin’s conversion therapy ban was enacted after several previous attempts were blocked by the Legislature’s Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules. A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in July 2025 found that state laws the committee’s Republican majority used to review and suspend administrative rules were unconstitutional and encroached on the examining board’s legal authority.

Marc Herstand, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Wisconsin chapter, praised Evers’ letter Thursday. The association was among the groups that urged the counseling board to add conversion therapy to practices considered unprofessional conduct. 

Wisconsin state law “clearly gives professions the authority to establish their own Conduct Code as the social work profession, along with the marriage and family therapy and professional counseling professions,  have done in classifying Conversion Therapy as unprofessional conduct,” Herstand said in an email message. 

“I applaud Governor Evers for his recognition of the severe harm that Conversion Therapy inflicts on LGBTQ children and his commitment to retain the ban on Conversion Therapy [in the professional code] to the maximum extent possible.”

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Tribal governing board members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northwest Wisconsin voted to make May 5 the Tribal Day of Awareness of missing and murdered indigenous women and relatives (MMIW/R) and authorized the creation of the Bad River MMIW/R Task Force on April 22.

All 11 federally recognized Wisconsin tribes participate in the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s MMIW/R Task Force, but Bad River is creating its own tribal task force. On Tuesday, more than 50 members of the Bad River community participated in an annual MMIW/R Awareness walk. They followed a route inside the reservation marked by posters and red dresses (one of the visual symbols of the MMIW/R movement) displayed on hangers hung from garden stakes.

The annual Bad River MMIW/R walk is one of several across North America to raise awareness of the violence, especially murder and disappearance, affecting indigenous people.

Bad River Chair Liz Arbuckle and several members of the task force participated in the Tuesday walk and discussed the newly formed task force.

“When I became chair, this was something I wanted to prioritize,” said Arbuckle. “Violence against our people, particularly women, is catastrophic. It’s a crisis, and we know every tribal community has been affected by it, both on rez and off rez, and so this is a good way for us to educate people about the issue.”

She said the task force has three main goals:

• Education, outreach, and prevention.
• Creating response teams and response plans.
• Preparing for the possibility that the Canadian energy company Enbridge will bring a large workforce for the Line 5 pipeline reroute to the area, creating what has been termed “man camps,” a concentration of male pipeline workers in rural areas, especially tribal areas.

Bad River and environmental groups are challenging the 41-mile Line 5 reroute around the reservation in court, but Arbuckle said the tribe must prepare as if the project will proceed.

“We’ve seen in other communities when there are large groups of men in camps, especially outside of Native reservations, the statistics show that it can be a really dangerous place, because some of these guys have a lot of money and these girls get caught up in that, or people get caught up in that and bad things can happen,” she said, “So we want to make sure we educate people about that and prepare them to make good decisions for themselves.”

A 2021 Guardian article, “Sexual violence along pipeline route follows Indigenous women,” reported that crisis centers noted more than 40 reports of workers on Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement in northern Minnesota were alleged to have harassed and assaulted women and girls. 

In that same article, Michael Barnes, an Enbridge spokesperson, said the corporation has “zero tolerance for illegal behavior by anyone associated with our company or its projects,” and the article also noted the corporation fired two workers charged with sexual/human trafficking.

Another, larger objective of the task force, said Arbuckle, is to create dialogue among local, state and federal agencies to share information and work cooperatively across jurisdiction lines, which is often difficult  when tribal lands are involved.

The task force includes members of social services, legal, public health and law enforcement agencies.

“I thought this is a great group that has different skills and different programs to come after it from different angles,” said Arbuckle.

If there is a crisis or emergency, such as a disappearance, all the preparation and forethought from the task force, said Arbuckle,  will have at least put the tribe in a better position to respond.

“We shouldn’t just start from scratch if someone goes missing,” she said. “We should have a plan. We should know the people. We should have a good relationship with the police or the sheriff.”

Theresa Morris, a community health manager, is a member of the task force, whose goal is to educate members about man camps and encourage members to travel in pairs and to let others know their whereabouts and plans.

Gina Jensen, a health worker who represents the tribe’s police commission, noted one of her motivations for being on the task force is that the murder rate for indigenous women is 10 times the national average.

Aurora Conley, one of the tribal governing board members who voted to approve the task force, said its creation signals the tribe is paying attention and is committed to being proactive and prepared, including networking and working with other tribes, communities and the state.

“I thought it was a beautiful thing, definitely,” Coley said of the task force’s creation, “and to let our community members know that those that have gone missing or murdered in the past have not been forgotten.”

Conley said as a parent of two Indigenous children she feels an obligation to make them aware that they are at higher risk.

“I have a small daughter, and it’s a different sense of awareness that we have to create … it better prepares our children and our communities,” she said.

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The day after the U.S. Supreme Court crippled the federal Voting Rights Act, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson addressed a virtual gathering for the group’s members and supporters where he ranked the landmark decision alongside the court’s most infamous cases.

Dred Scott excluded Black people from American citizenship ahead of the Civil War. Plessy blessed policies of racial segregation in 1896. And now there was Callais. 

The opinion will “probably go down in the history book as one of three of the worst Supreme Court decisions in the history of this nation,” Johnson said.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana vs. Callais on April 29 cleared states to split apart, for political gain, congressional districts where a majority of residents belong to minority groups. The court’s conservative majority said Louisiana lawmakers acted unconstitutionally when they intentionally created the state’s second majority-Black district, which the justices found unnecessary.

A week after its release, the decision is roiling politics across the South as states move at a rapid pace to recast the political landscape that has taken progressives by surprise. 

Republicans, triumphant over their victory at the court, are rushing fresh gerrymanders through Southern statehouses in time for the November midterm elections in an effort to strengthen their party’s control over the region’s U.S. House delegations. They’re acting at lightning speed, over loud protests, and have nullified votes by suspending ongoing elections.

Democrats, especially Black residents, are furious with both the court and GOP politicians, who they believe are poised to wipe away decades of Black political progress in the region. The new maps that seek to oust Black members of Congress and prevent the election of Democrats in the future recall a Jim Crow past of literacy tests and poll taxes, they say.

“We refuse to let you kill us by killing our vote,” Eliza Jane Franklin, a resident of rural Barbour County, Alabama, told a state House hearing Tuesday.

Decision kicked off legislative efforts

The Alabama Legislature is moving to authorize a special primary election using a congressional map currently blocked in federal court, if a district court or, ultimately, the Supreme Court allows the state to move forward. At least one of the state’s two Black members of the U.S. House would be vulnerable.

In Louisiana, the governor has suspended the state’s primary elections for the U.S. House, setting aside some 42,000 votes that were already cast. Republican lawmakers will begin advancing a new gerrymander in a matter of days, aiming to force out at least one of the state’s two Black House members.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new map into law Monday that aims to hand his party up to four additional U.S. House seats. State lawmakers approved the map hours after the Supreme Court’s decision. The map has already drawn multiple legal challenges.

The South Carolina Legislature is weighing whether to redraw maps. And Tennessee lawmakers want to gerrymander a Memphis district currently held by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a white Democrat who represents the state’s only majority-Black district. 

“The Supreme Court has opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be color-blind,” Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, said in a statement Thursday unveiling a plan to divide the Memphis area among three congressional seats.

More states, in the South and elsewhere, are expected to pursue new maps over the next two years. Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ruled out a special session this year, for example, but supports redistricting before the 2028 election. 

The current moment represents an extraordinary time in America, said Rebekah Caruthers, president and CEO of Fair Elections Center, a nonpartisan voting rights group. But she also called it a reversion “back to America.”

Many thought the presence of Black, Hispanic and Asian American elected officials somehow meant racial discrimination no longer existed, she said.

“And unfortunately, that is a misread of American history,” Caruthers said. “And perhaps it is a retelling of American history for those who want to gloss over America’s very sordid past, especially when it comes to voting rights.”

Midterms impact

The scramble by a handful of Southern states to redraw districts comes as Republicans grasp for any scintilla of advantage ahead of the midterm elections in November. 

A U.S. House under Democratic control would spell the end of much of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, produce a wave of investigations into his administration and potentially lead to a vote to impeach him in the House, though the Senate would almost certainly acquit him.

“This is all about Donald Trump wanting to avoid hard questions and oversight hearings about his actions,” Cohen said at a news conference in Memphis.

Seth McKee, a political science professor at Oklahoma State University who has studied Southern politics, said Republicans are attempting to “staunch the bleeding” ahead of unfavorable midterm elections.

“The desperation of this Republican Party, it’s off the charts,” McKee said.

Redistricting push supercharged

Prior to Callais, Trump had already urged Republicans to redraw congressional maps for partisan advantage — a process that typically occurs once a decade after the census. 

Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas enacted more GOP-friendly maps, while Democrats struck back in California and Virginia. In Utah, Republicans want to block a court-ordered map that’s more favorable to Democrats.

Republican primary voters have given their approval to that approach. On Tuesday, five Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates in Indiana defeated GOP incumbents who had defied the president to block a gerrymander in the state last year.

But until now the Voting Rights Act limited how far that gerrymandering push could extend.

For decades, Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act helped protect majority-minority districts from gerrymandering and ensured voters could elect Black candidates to Congress in Southern states following the end of state laws that blocked Black citizens from voting. The Callais opinion guts Section 2 by curtailing the consideration of race when drawing legislative maps.

Republicans have praised the decision and many have been clear that they believe the opinion opens up a path to securing additional GOP seats. Trump has endorsed disregarding primary elections that have already been held so that states can pass new maps — which he predicts can net Republicans an additional 20 seats this fall.

“We cannot allow there to be an Election that is conducted unconstitutionally simply for the ‘convenience’ of State Legislatures,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If they have to vote twice, so be it.”

Calls for GOP seats

Over the past week, some Republicans have cast majority-minority districts previously protected by the Voting Rights Act as racist because they were drawn with attention paid to the racial makeup of the map. U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, wrote on X that there are “no more excuses for keeping racist maps,” for example, and called for their immediate removal.

Other GOP leaders have centered their case for quick action on political power. Like Trump, they have explicitly invoked control of the U.S. House as a reason to gerrymander. While Republicans have the House, their margin of control is razor thin: 217 to 212, with one independent and five vacancies. Even a modest Democratic wave in November will likely sweep away GOP control.

Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger Jr. and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said in a joint statement that the state’s lawmakers have a responsibility to offer Alabama a “fighting chance” to elect seven Republican U.S. representatives. Two of the state’s seven districts are held by Democrats.

“Control of the U.S. House of Representatives could come down to just a handful of seats, and when the dust settles, the people of Alabama will know that their Legislature stood firm, acted decisively, and did everything within its power to fight for fair representation,” Gudger and Ledbetter said.

Alabama Republicans want to use a map passed by lawmakers in 2023 that federal courts blocked from taking effect. Alabama’s current map was drawn by a court-appointed special master.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, asked a federal district court Tuesday for an order that would let the state move forward with the gerrymander.

In Louisiana, Republicans obtained special permission from the Supreme Court to quickly move forward on a new gerrymander after the justices struck down its current map in the Callais decision.

Absentee voting was already underway in Louisiana before Republican Gov. Jeff Landry suspended congressional primary elections set for May 16. Votes already cast for U.S. House candidates won’t count, Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry, no relation, has said.

Louisiana state lawmakers are set to begin work on a new map this month that will likely break apart a New Orleans district held by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Black Democrat who has fought with the governor.

“The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the Supreme Court’s three liberal justices, wrote in a dissent of the decision to quickly finalize Callais.

Court challenges

Still, Democrats and other opponents of the gerrymandering effort across the South are turning to the courts. Lawsuits have also been filed challenging the suspension of Louisiana’s congressional primaries and Florida’s new map also faces court challenges.

A petition filed in Louisiana state court by Elias Law Group, a major Democrat-aligned voting rights litigation firm, alleges the governor’s decision to halt the congressional primary is unlawful and unprecedented. Only the state legislature has the power to set the state’s election schedule, the petition argues.

“Governors do not get to cancel elections by executive fiat, least of all elections that are already underway, with ballots in voters’ hands and votes already cast,” Lali Madduri, a partner at Elias Law Group, said in a statement.

Regardless of how the legal challenges play out, Democrats say the Callais decision and the ongoing fallout from the decision underscore the need for massive voter turnout in the November election. A large Democratic turnout that results in a significant Democratic majority in the U.S. House would serve as a rebuke to Trump’s gerrymandering campaign, they say.

Blue state gerrymanders

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, South Carolina’s sole congressional Democrat, said during the NAACP virtual meeting that a Democratic House could pass voting rights legislation. 

“I would hope we could do that because I really think that’s our only hope legislatively,” Clyburn said.

Democrats have long called for the passage of a bill to restore preclearance, a major element of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court paused in 2013, which required states and local governments with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal permission before making voting changes. 

But the measure would face a certain filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Even if Democrats broke a filibuster, Trump would likely veto it. 

In effect, Democrats’ most realistic opportunity to enact major voting rights legislation relies on regaining control of the White House and Congress and ending the filibuster — a set of conditions that’s out of reach until at least 2029.

In the meantime, more Democrats are calling for aggressive gerrymandering of blue states as a way to punch back. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Joseph Morelle, both New York Democrats, on Monday announced an initiative to encourage their state to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2028 election.

Gerrymandering New York would be an intensive effort, likely requiring voters to repeal or suspend anti-gerrymandering provisions in the state constitution. But voters in California and Virginia have previously endorsed Democratic gerrymanders.

“This is just the beginning,” Jeffries said in a statement. “Across the nation, we will sue, we will redraw and we will win.”

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Stellantis has figured out a new way to squeeze value out of its Leapmotor partnership, and Opel is the brand getting the keys. The German automaker has confirmed plans for a new electric compact SUV built on underpinnings from the Chinese EV maker, validating reports that surfaced earlier this year.

The yet-unnamed crossover is targeted for a 2028 launch, with development running under two years from start to showroom. Styling work is being handled by Opel’s design team in Russelsheim and will lean on the brand’s current visual language. The first teaser shows a sporty SUV with large wheels, tight overhangs, and the now-familiar Opel Vizor face with integrated LED lighting.

More: Opel’s New Corsa GSE Beats Peugeot’s GTI Using Peugeot’s Own Powertrain

According to Opel CEO Florian Huettl, the new SUV will be “developed by international teams located in Germany and China”. It will use “core components of the latest Leapmotor electric architecture and battery technology”, with Opel’s input being limited to design, chassis engineering, lightning and seating technology.

Production of the upcoming EV will take place at the Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza, Spain, starting in 2028. The same facilities are the home of production for the Opel Corsa, Peugeot e-208, Lancia Ypsilon, and Leapmotor B10.

Another Opel SUV?

The new offering will expand Opel’s SUV lineup next to the Mokka, Frontera, and Grandland, targeting the highly competitive C-SUV segment in Europe.

While Stellantis didn’t get into details about its specifications, the new Opel will most likely be based on the Leapmotor B10. The electric SUV measures 4,515 mm (177.8 inches) long, slotting right in between the Frontera and the Grandland in terms of footprint.

More: Stellantis’ Cheapest New EV Is Chinese, Made In Europe, And $15K Under Its Own Peugeot

The Leapmotor B10 is fitted with a single electric motor producing 215 hp (160 kW / 218 PS) and offers two battery sizes of 56.2 kWh and 67.1 kWh, offering a range of up to 434 km (270 miles). It will also be available with a range-extender powertrain offering a total range of up to 900 km (559 miles).

Leapmotor B10

Stellantis has stated that the Leapmotor B10 has been “rigorously tested” at the Balocco proving ground in Italy, meaning there could be differences to the setup of the EU-spec version compared to the model sold in China.

More: Stellantis To Sell Europeans A $10K Chinese SUV For Nearly Triple, And Still Undercut VW

More importantly, the Leapmotor B10 is priced from €29,900 ($35,100) in markets like Germany, France, and Spain, undercutting the rival Skoda Elroq by €4,000 ($4,700). While it is too early to talk about pricing for the Opel version, the company promises it will be an “accessible” electric vehicle, adding that the use of Leapmotor-sourced components would “significantly enhance affordability for European customers”.

The Ugly Truth

Stellantis has recently announced plans of cutting 650 engineering jobs at Opel’s historic headquarters in Russelsheim, reducing the remaining technical staff to around 1,000 people.

The site employed over 7,700 engineers back in 2017, undertaking important R&D projects for the PSA Group. Now, it has narrowed down its scope to areas like AI, software, ADAS, battery tech, and digital lighting systems. While unrelated, with the job cuts, the Leapmotor deal allows Stellantis to significantly reduce R&D expenses and the time needed to bring a new product to the market.

More: Opel And Alfa Romeo’s Next EVs May Be Built Around Chinese Tech, Not German Or Italian

Crucially, the upcoming electric SUV won’t be the only Leapmotor-based product from a Stellantis brand. According to the company “the new vehicle is intended to serve as a blueprint for efficient global collaboration” meaning it could pave the way for other similar projects in the future.

The Story Of The Joint Venture

Stellantis acquired a 21% stake in Leapmotor in October 2023, becoming the largest shareholder of the Chinese brand. The LPMI (Leapmotor International) joint venture is 51% owned by Stellantis, which has the exclusive rights of selling and producing Leapmotor products outside China.

The European rollout has been quite successful, with Leapmotor delivering 40,000 units in 2025 and kicking off 2026 with a first quarter of 24,751 registrations. Besides the Old Continent, the LPMI joint venture has expanded its activities to South America, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

Skoda is gearing up to introduce the all-new Epiq on May 19 and they’re rushing to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. As a result, spy photographers recently caught two prototypes undergoing last minute testing on the Nürburgring.

They were intrigued by the one seen below as they believed it could be a Sportline or RS variant, because it has steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. However, these are common on Skoda EVs as they’re used for regenerative braking. That being said, we wouldn’t necessarily rule out a Sportline version as we can see a sporty steering wheel with a dimpled rim.

More: Skoda’s Smallest EV Has One Big-Car Surprise

The interior image doesn’t reveal much else, but it gives us our first proper glimpse at the crossover’s 13-inch infotainment system. It will be joined by a 5.3-inch digital instrument cluster, slender air vents, and a wireless smartphone charger. Buyers will also find ambient lighting, sustainable materials, and a cargo compartment that can hold up to 47.5 cubic feet (1,344 liters) of gear.

SH Proshots

The front fascia and rear bumper are disguised, making it hard to determine if this is indeed a sporty variant. However, testers might have given us a subtle hint in the form of front fender vent stickers. Of course, we probably shouldn’t read too much into that.

Regardless of what the prototype is hiding, Skoda has already announced three different variants known as the Epiq 35, 45, and 55. The first combines a 38.5 kWh battery pack with a front-mounted motor producing 114 hp (85 kW / 116 PS) and 197 lb-ft (267 Nm) of torque. This enables the crossover to run from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 11 seconds and have a range of 196 miles (315 km).

SH Proshots

The mid-level model pares the aforementioned battery with a beefier 133 hp (99 kW / 135 PS) motor. This lowers the 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time to 9.8 seconds without having an impact on range.

The range-topper sports a larger 55 kWh battery as well as a motor developing 208 hp (155 kW / 211 PS) and 214 lb-ft (290 Nm) of torque. This is the most interesting of the group as it accelerates from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.4 seconds and has a range of up to 267 miles.

While we’re skeptical this is a performance variant, it’s not hard to imagine one on the horizon as Volkswagen has already confirmed plans for an ID. Polo GTI with 223 hp (166 kW / 226 PS) in 2027.

SH Proshots

Less than a year after introducing the FX Super One minivan, Faraday Future is hitting pause. The floundering automaker blamed the move on the vehicle’s 400V architecture, which they deemed uncompetitive.

As for what the future holds, the company isn’t exactly sure. However, they want to pivot to either an 800V architecture or a range-extended powertrain. They said the change would provide “users with stronger product competitiveness and greater value.”

More: Faraday Turned A Chinese Minivan Into A Rolling Mansion With A Talking Grille

The firm added an 800V architecture would deliver “longer range, faster charging speeds, and superior powertrain efficiency.” Likewise, they praised range-extended vehicles for being “well-suited to extreme-cold winter regions such as the U.S. East Coast.”

A number of EVs have made the transition from 400V to 800V architectures recently including the Mercedes EQS, Polestar 3, and Volvo EX90. However, these are established automakers, while Faraday Future is a penny stock that claims to be an “embodied AI ecosystem company.”

While the FX Super One project is now paused, the company hopes to begin mass production of the updated model in the future. However, this appears to be “subject to securing financing from strategic or medium-to-long-term investors.”

Despite needing funding and not knowing which way they’re going to go, Faraday laid out two delivery timelines. The updated 800V FX Super One would reportedly be faster to arrive as the company expects its “first phase of delivery within 6 to 9 months, second phase of delivery within 12 to 15 months, and third phase of delivery within 21 to 24 months.”

The company didn’t elaborate on these different phases, but said going the range-extended route would take longer as the first phase of delivery would be within 9 to 12 months, while the second would be within 21 to 24 months. The third phase would then come within 24 to 28 months, according to their projections – which have been far off in the past.

Despite sounding like a major failure, Faraday Future tried to spin it as a positive as they said the move enables them to concentrate on their new robotics business during its “critical ramp-up period.” The company added they shipped a total of 68 robots through the end of April.

Jaguar’s reboot is about to get a lot more real. After months of teasers, heated debate, and one of the most polarizing relaunches in recent memory, the British brand is reportedly preparing to reveal the actual production name of the EV currently known as the Jaguar Type 00. The wait has been long, and it’s not over anytime soon, as production hasn’t started, but a lot is riding on this nameplate.

Known internally as the X900, the concept and production mules have been all over the planet. It’s a long, low-slung four-door electric grand tourer that is supposed to reset the bar for what a Jaguar is. Now, according to a report from Autocar India, we’ll find out what Jaguar will call it on May 12. Then, in September, the brand will reveal the production-spec version, and if all goes according to plan, deliveries will start sometime in 2027.

More: Jaguar’s 1,000-HP Answer To Bentley Looks Nothing Like The Jaguar You Knew

Underneath the long hood and fastback roofline sits Jaguar’s new dedicated EV platform, dubbed JEA, short for Jaguar Electric Architecture. The company says the car will use a tri-motor setup with one motor up front and two at the rear, producing over 1,000 hp (746 kW) and roughly 959 lb-ft (1,300 Nm) of torque in the launch edition. That would immediately make it the most powerful Jaguar road car ever built.

Jaguar is also targeting around 700 km (435 miles) of WLTP range from a battery pack measuring about 120 kWh. The automaker claims the car can recover approximately 321 km (200 miles) of range in just 15 minutes of fast charging.

Despite the outlandish concept styling, spy shots suggest the production car stays remarkably faithful to the original design previewed by the concept. It keeps the exaggerated proportions, long front end, slab-sided surfacing, and sleek roofline, though the production version swaps the concept’s two-door layout for a more practical four-door GT configuration. Jaguar needs a win here. Hopefully, it has an appropriately grand name for this new grand tourer.

China’s GAC has expanded its EV lineup yet again, this time launching an electric SUV under its premium Hyptec sub-brand. It’s called the S600, and while the name won’t win any creative writing awards, the styling does some talking on its own. The crossover borrows more than a few cues from the Porsche Macan Electric, and pre-orders are already open.

Most modern SUVs trip over each other in the design department, and the S600 isn’t entirely innocent of that either. The upper sections of the headlights bear a clear resemblance to a certain Stuttgart silhouette. That said, the overall execution is genuinely clean.

Read: European Automakers Won’t Like What GAC And Magna Are Doing

GAC’s designers were clearly willing to sacrifice a bit of rear headroom and cargo space for a sleeker coupe-style roofline. The payoff is a particularly sharp tail section, anchored by intricate LED taillights and a configurable light bar that stretches the full width of the body.

Prioritizing Luxury

The new Hyptec model measures 5,015 mm (197.4 inches) long, 1,933 mm (76.1 inches) wide, 1,700 mm (66.9 inches) tall, and rides on a 2,936 mm (115.5-inch) wheelbase. That makes it noticeably larger than something like the Zeekr 7X, which is 4,787 mm (188.4 inches) long with a 2,900 mm (114.1-inch) wheelbase. Unsurprisingly, the S600’s cabin looks ready to swallow a family and all their luggage without much complaint.

A large central touchscreen is found in the center of the dash, while there’s also a separate digital gauge cluster. High-end metallic finishes are visible around the air vents and on the door panels, as well as around the center console, which houses a wireless phone charger. A large head-up display is also featured.

The rear of the cabin looks equally plush, with seatbacks that recline up to 143 degrees and deployable footrests. A 22-speaker audio system also comes standard.

GAC will sell both all-electric and range-extended versions of the S600. The pure electric version will be offered with lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries. While we don’t yet know their capacities, the driving range should range from 410 miles (660 km) to 497 miles (800 km). Power will be supplied to a single 335 hp (250 kW) electric motor.

The range-extended model will also feature a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, increasing total driving range but limiting EV-only range to 143 miles (230 km).

Ford knows its first swing at EVs missed. The Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning sold in respectable numbers but never delivered the volume, margins, or cultural impact the company was chasing, and both have since been overtaken by leaner, cheaper competition. The Blue Oval’s answer is a ground-up reset, and the headline product is a mid-size electric pickup priced at $30,000.

We’ve known about this model for quite some time, developed by Ford’s small skunkworks lab. The brand has now shed new light on the Ford Electric Vehicle Design Center, which houses its ace team of engineers, and provided select members of the automotive press with a quick preview of the new truck.

Read: Ford’s Biggest Product Push In Years Will See 80% Of Its American Lineup Refreshed By 2029

The campus now houses 350 people, including company veterans and new arrivals from startups and the consumer electronics industries. Situated in Long Beach, California, the site is rethinking how Ford should build EVs, making them simpler and cheaper. At the core of this is the new Universal EV Platform.

This platform consists of three large cast elements joined together and then topped by the cab of the pickup, or both body styles, which will follow. While Ford didn’t unveil the electric truck in full, Car and Driver caught a glimpse of a camouflaged mule, noting that it has a traditional pickup truck shape and appears similar in size to the current Maverick, albeit with higher sides on the bed.

In addition, it seems the EV will have a short nose, allowing Ford to expand the cabin size. According to Ford, the truck will have more interior space than a Toyota RAV4.

Easy To Repair

An important aspect of the new platform will be its repairability. After all, there’s no point in selling an affordable car if it has to be scrapped after even the most minor of collisions. According to the chief engineer of Ford’s advanced vehicle structure architecture, the three large platform castings will each include cutlines, where damaged sections can be cut out and replaced with new ones.

48-Volt Tech

Another key area of development is the EV’s wiring. Vehicles using the new platform will rely primarily on 48-volt electrical systems for most components, other than the lights, electric windows, and other parts that will still run at 12 volts. Ford has significantly reduced the amount of wiring used in the vehicle and notes that 48-volt components are also much lighter and smaller.  

In total, the truck will have 20 percent fewer parts and 50 percent fewer cooling hoses and connections than previous Ford EVs, meaning it can be assembled 15 percent faster. Ford says the new pickup will be ready by next year.

The floodgates are creaking open in Canada. Just as Tesla relaunched its Chinese-built Model 3 in the country, several of China’s most aggressive automakers are putting the pieces in place to follow it through the door. Geely, Chery, and BYD are all moving on the Canadian market.

As part of its preparations, Chery has brought two SUVs from its Jaecoo brand to Toronto, equipped with Ontario manufacturer license plates. Autonews Canada identified the vehicles as Jaecoo E5s, an all-electric SUV that starts at about $37,000 in Australia, where the currency is roughly at parity with the Canadian dollar.

While these vehicles are thought to be in Canada only temporarily, their appearance comes shortly after the automaker sent almost two dozen local dealer representatives to the Beijing Auto Show, giving them a firsthand look at the Chinese market.

Read: Americans Pay $37K For The Cheapest Tesla, Canada Got A Chinese One For $29K

It’s not just Chery that’s making important moves in Canada. According to a report from last month, BYD plans to open 20 sales locations this year. The company reportedly intends to work with local partners to establish those stores. It’s also said to be actively considering building its own factory in Canada, or perhaps acquiring one from an established brand.

Zeekr Gears Up

In the not-too-distant future, Canadians could have several new models from the Geely Group to choose from. One of the most exciting brands prepping for a local launch is Zeekr, with confirmation that it recently began hiring for seven senior-level positions in late April, all based in Toronto and including positions in sales, legal, marketing, and aftersales. The hiring push also includes product and network development roles.

Geely is also looking to hire someone to serve as Zeekr’s head of network development, responsible for evaluating dealer business plans and establishing a dealer operations guide.

The rush for Chinese brands to launch in Canada comes just months after the two nations signed an important new trade deal. Through this deal, tariff rates for 49,000 EVs imported from China will be slashed from 100 percent to just 6.1 percent. Importantly, the quota of 49,000 eligible vehicles will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning automakers need to act quickly. Only 24,500 permits will be issued in the first six months of the program.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT was already the apex predator of Zuffenhausen’s electric lineup, but Porsche apparently decided that wasn’t enough. The flagship sedan has just been treated to a new Manthey Kit, layered on top of the existing Weissach Package, and the result is a 6:55.553 lap of the Nürburgring with development driver Lars Kern at the wheel.

That impressive time is 12 seconds quicker than a standard Taycan Turbo GT and more than nine seconds clear of the production-spec Xiaomi SU7 Ultra’s 7:04.957, which means Porsche has clawed back the title of fastest production EV in the executive segment after watching the Chinese newcomer take it last year. It is worth noting that a Xiaomi prototype clocked an even more impressive 6:22:091 in June 2025, although that doesn’t count as a production EV.

More: The Manthey Porsche Just Ran A Near-Perfect Nürburgring Lap. A Mustang Still Beat It

The Manthey Kit is the product of a joint effort between Porsche’s Weissach development center and Manthey’s engineers in Meuspath, with the brief drawn straight from motorsport. The package includes a reworked aero kit, a more potent powertrain, lighter wheels, track-focused tires, and a retuned suspension.

It Looks Like A Race Car

Visually, the Manthey-prepped Taycan Turbo GT goes full track weapon, with an aggressive carbon fiber aero kit doing most of the talking. The nose gets an adjustable splitter flanked by canards and GT3-style gills cut into the fenders.

More: Honda’s Civic Type R Held This Record For 3 Years, VW’s 321 HP Golf Just Took It Back

The profile gains wider fender extensions, deeper side skirts, and lighter 21-inch forged aluminum wheels fitted with carbon aero discs on the rear axle. The new wheels use titanium bolts, cut 6 pounds (2.7 kg) of unsprung mass, and wear wider performance tires. Around back, Porsche added a boxier diffuser and a larger manually adjustable rear wing.

According to Porsche, the Manthey upgrades generate more than three times the downforce of the standard model. At 200 km/h (124 mph), the car produces 310 kg (683 lbs) of downforce, up from 95 kg (209 lbs). That figure climbs to 740 kg (1,631 lbs) at the top speed of 309 km/h (192 mph), which is 5 km/h (3 miles) faster than before.

More Power, More Speed

As for the power boost, the combined output of the electric powertrain rises to 804 hp (600 kW / 815 PS) in standard form and 978 hp (730 kW / 993 PS) in Attack mode. Those figures mark increases of 27 hp and 40 hp respectively over the Taycan Turbo GT.

More: Porsche’s Next Sedan Could Replace Both The Panamera And Taycan

When launch control is activated, total output remains at 1,019 hp (760 kW / 1,033 PS), but maximum torque climbs by 22 lb-ft (30 Nm) to 936 lb-ft (1,269 Nm). Even so, those figures still fall short of the rival Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which produces 1,526 hp (1,138 kW / 1,548 PS) and 1,770 Nm (1,305 lb-ft) of torque.

The added downforce and extra power are paired with a revised setup for the Porsche Active Ride suspension, four-wheel steering, and AWD systems. Braking performance has also been upgraded with 440 mm (17.3 inches) front discs and performance brake pads.

Porsche development driver Lars Kern said the Manthey Kit turns the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package into “the ultimate track tool.” The upgrades allowed him to carry 14 km/h (8.7 mph) more speed through the “Lauda-Lefthander” section of the Nurburgring compared to his previous run.

He was born before the Great Depression, came of age in WWII, and is still making wildlife documentaries. Brits call David Attenborough a national hero, as he celebrates his 100th birthday.