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The massive Interstate 94 construction project in Milwaukee County is expected to wrap up in 2033, according to a timeline on the state Department of Transportation’s project page.

Construction began on the I-94 East-West corridor in late 2025, meaning eight years will pass before utility and roadway construction are estimated to end in 2033.

Parts of the roughly $1.7 billion project will be completed earlier than 2033. The Stadium Interchange reconstruction will take about four years, for example.

The project covers 3 ½ miles of I-94 between 16th and 70th Streets in Milwaukee County and prompted long-term closures of several roads.

Plans include widening the freeway from three to four lanes in each direction, eliminating left-turn ramps, redesigning the Stadium Interchange and reconstructing aging roads. 

Crash rates in the corridor are higher than the statewide average, and 13 bridges do not meet clearance standards, according to the DOT.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Interstate 94 East-West
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's 27th Street Bridge to close long-term for I-94 construction.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who's paying for the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee?
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know as construction starts on the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee County

Is the Milwaukee I-94 construction project expected to take eight years? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Technology companies are pursuing projects that would launch data centers into space — efforts called Starcloud at Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Project Suncatcher at Google.

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the idea is that, instead of consuming land, power and water on Earth, the orbiting data centers would harness the sun’s energy for unlimited power.

The projects are in the early stages of development, according to reporting from National Public Radio, and viability remains in question over the cost of launching servers into space, where the heat from the servers will go, and the logistics of maintaining and upgrading the technology.

While data centers in space are unlikely to happen in the next few years, studies, including one from Southern New Hampshire University, conclude space-based data centers could be a reality in the next decade.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Aldrich K. Wooden Sr.: Space-Based Data Centers: First Principles Deconstruction and Market Ecosystem Analysis Through 2035
• Wall Street Journal: Data centers in space: A pipe dream, or AI’s next big thing?
• National Public Radio: Big tech’s next move is to put data centers in space. Can it work?

Are tech companies working in 2026 to launch data centers into space? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin state government is not spending $2 billion on data centers.

The campaign website of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong stated that Wisconsin is “spending over $2 billion in public money” on data centers “this year.”  

The statement linked to a Wisconsin Watch news article, which is based on a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo.

The article made clear that the $2 billion is forgone revenue, not an expenditure. The LFB estimated the state will forgo $2 billion in revenue over a period of years because data centers are exempt from paying state sales tax.

It’s unclear whether the three artificial intelligence data centers under construction in Wisconsin would have been built without the tax incentive, which most states offer.

Some states are rolling back the exemptions or imposing requirements for receiving them.

Texas’ Republican governor has called for elimination; Ohio’s GOP governor and Arizona’s 2027 budget paused exemptions.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• FrancescaHong.com: Data Centers and AI
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
• Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Sales Tax Exemption for WEDC Certified Data Centers
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Qualified Data Center Exemption
• Texas Tribune: Abbott recommends sweeping data center regulation, including eliminating sales tax exemption
• Ohio Governor's Office: Governor DeWine Announces Pause of Data Center Tax Exemption
• Bloomberg Tax: Arizona Data Center Tax Incentive Pause Signed by Governor Hobbs

Is Wisconsin state government spending $2 billion on data centers? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A 2023-25 budget provision granting a sales tax exemption to data centers was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July 2023. 

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in March that the tax break will cost the state more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue, mostly from massive data centers in Beaver Dam, Port Washington and Mount Pleasant. When the budget was approved in July 2023, hyperscale data centers were so new the fiscal bureau didn’t estimate how much an exemption would affect state tax collections.

While the high cost has drawn scrutiny, the incentive was originally designed to drive economic growth. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states offer tax incentives on data centers.

Wisconsin has about 50 data centers, largely in the Milwaukee and Madison areas.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: 2023-25 Wisconsin State Budget
• Data Center Map: Wisconsin Data Centers
• National Conference of State Legislatures: Subsidizing Servers: How States Are Competing to Attract Data Centers

Was a Wisconsin data centers tax break put in place solely by Gov. Tony Evers?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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If the 2026 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor seems large, 2018 certainly had it beat.

That year, 10 names were on the Democratic primary ballot, plus an 11th write-in candidate, according to results of the 2018 partisan primary kept by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Two Republican candidates and two additional write-ins appeared on the 2018 GOP primary ballot. 

The Aug. 11, 2026, primary ballot includes seven Democrats and two Republicans.

In both years, a few candidates dropped out of the race, but their names remained on the ballot due to approval deadlines. 

As of July 14, that includes Democrats Missy Highes and David Crowley. So, only five of the Democrats on the Aug. 11 ballot are still campaigning.

In 2018, two higher-profile candidates had also dropped out by late June: Andy Gronik and Dana Wachs, though both appeared on the ballot.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Elections Commission: 2018 Fall Partisan Primary Results: Ward by Ward – Governor
• MyVote Wisconsin: What’s On My Ballot
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Commission Meeting June 9, 2026 – Ballot Access
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrat Missy Hughes drops out of Wisconsin governor race
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Exec David Crowley withdraws from governor's race

Did more Democrats run for Wisconsin governor in 2018 than in 2026? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Generally it’s legal in 38 states, including Wisconsin, to record a conversation between two parties if at least one of them consents.

It generally would not be legal for a third party to record a conversation between two people, unless one of the two consented.

There are exceptions, said Wisconsin attorney Maxted Lenz. For example, two people talking loudly on a public bus don’t have an expectation of privacy. If a third party recorded them, it would not violate Wisconsin’s one-party law.

The law is not clear if a person in a one-party state wants to record a call with a person in a two-party state.

The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press says reporters should assume that the two-party state law applies.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Recording Law: One-Party Consent States: Complete 2026 Guide
• Wisconsin State Legislature: Interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communications prohibited
• Wisconsin Bar Association: Wisconsin Formal Ethics Opinion EF-24-01: Recording Others Without Disclosure or Consent
• Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press: Wisconsin Reporter's Recording Guide
• Recording Law: Wisconsin Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Is it legal to record a conversation without the other person knowing in Wisconsin?

In most states, including Wisconsin, is it legal to record a conversation without the other person’s consent? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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By a traditional count, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accounts for about 28.5% of state employees, according to the 2025-27 state budget.

The total number of full-time-equivalent positions in state government is 74,426.

But that includes 38,239 Universities of Wisconsin positions. 

UW employees, who are funded largely by federal funding, tuition and other revenue, typically are excluded from such counts.

Excluding UW employees, the state FTE total is 36,187.

Corrections’ 10,328 positions account for 28.5% of that.

The next-largest departments are Health Services (6,741 positions) and Transportation (3,258).

Wisconsin Watch reported in May that Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high, with women’s prisons 78% over capacity and men’s facilities 30% over capacity.

Wisconsin Watch’s prison tracker shows that as of May 1, the adult prison population was 23,577. The record of 23,826 was set in 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Comparative Summary of Provisions: 2025 Wisconsin Act 15
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high. Track the trend here.
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin prison population tracker

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Two 2025 studies found the majority of calories consumed by U.S. residents comes from ultraprocessed foods.

From August 2021 to August 2023, the mean percentage of total calories consumed from ultraprocessed foods among people age 1 and older was 55%, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Top sources included sandwiches, sweet bakery products, savory snacks and sweetened beverages.

Ultraprocessed foods typically are low in dietary fiber, contain little or no whole foods and have high amounts of additives like salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats, the CDC said.

From 2003 to 2018, over 50% of the calories consumed by adults age 20 and up were from ultraprocessed foods, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

University of Wisconsin-Madison nutritional sciences professor Beth Olson recommends choosing foods lower in added sugars, sodium and saturated fats, and higher in dietary fiber and whole food ingredients.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• National Center for Health Statistics Ultra-processed Food Consumption in Youth and Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023
• The Journal of Nutrition Trends in Adults’ Intake of Un-processed/Minimally Processed, and Ultra-processed foods at Home and Away from Home in the United States from 2003–2018
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Nutritional Sciences Ultra-Processed Foods
• Newswise It May Not Just Be What’s in Ultra-Processed Foods, But How They’re Made
• JAMA Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19 Years, 1999-2018
• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Ultra-processed food consumption among US adults from 2001 to 2018

Do over half of calories consumed by Americans come from ultraprocessed foods? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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We found no authoritative estimate that the number of Ku Klux Klan members in Wisconsin in the 1920s was 40,000.

That’s the current population of Wausau in central Wisconsin.

“No one knows for sure how many Americans joined during the 1920s but the best estimates are around 2 million members, some 15,000 of whom were in Wisconsin,” according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

That’s the size of the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay.

The KKK is a white supremacist hate group originally formed in the South after the Civil War.

Two Wisconsin KKK researchers said the 15,000 estimate is reasonable: Stephen Kantrowitz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of a report on KKK activity on the campus; and Michael Jacobs of UW-Platteville.

As of 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center counted 13 KKK groups in the U.S., mostly in the South and none in Wisconsin.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Britannica: Ku Klux Klan
• University of Wisconsin-Madison history professor Stephen Kantrowitz: Email
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Ad-Hoc Study Group: Report to the Chancellor on the Ku Klux Klan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Platteville history and social sciences professor Michael Jacobs: Email
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Ku Klux Klan

Did Wisconsin have more than 40,000 KKK members in the 1920s?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Federal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” included an estimated $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid spending over the next decade. 

Passed in 2025, the bill included tax cuts and increased spending on immigration enforcement and the military, offset by nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

Provisions included mandating able-bodied adults to work 80 hours per month to qualify for Medicaid benefits, known as BadgerCare in Wisconsin. That’s estimated to reduce spending by $326 billion through reduced enrollment. 

It also freezes provider taxes in states like Wisconsin that have not expanded Medicaid, and it gradually lowers the provider tax rates in expansion states from 6% to 3.5%, saving the federal government $226 billion. States have used taxes on providers such as hospitals to draw federal matching funds.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Congressional Budget Office: Supplemental Cost Estimate
• Congressional Budget Office: Memo to lawmakers
• KFF: A closer look at the work requirement provisions in the 2025 federal budget reconciliation law
• USA Today: Medicaid 'churn': How working Americans could lose coverage under Trump tax bill
• The Commonwealth Fund: How new limits on state provider taxes will affect Medicaid funding

Did Donald Trump’s signature 2025 legislation cut Medicaid spending by $1 trillion over a decade? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus signed a law that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the first of its kind in the country.

David Clarenbach, an LGBTQ activist and Democrat in the state Assembly, spearheaded the bill. Despite conservatives’ last-minute efforts pushing Dreyfus to veto the bill, he approved it in February 1982.

Dreyfus, described as a fiscal conservative and social moderate in a 2008 obituary, cited a right to privacy and support from “a wide-ranging group of religious leaders” when signing the bill.

The law made it illegal for the state or private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations.

No other states adopted a similar law until nine years later, according to a Milwaukee Public Library post.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin State Legislature: 1981 Wisconsin Act 112
• Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project: David E. Clarenbach
• Milwaukee Public Library: First in the Nation – Wisconsin’s Gay Rights Law
• Pioneer Press: Wisconsin’s red-vested former governor, Lee Dreyfus, dies.

Did a Wisconsin Republican governor sign the nation’s first LGBTQ rights law? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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COVID-19 vaccines have not been linked to as many as 3.9 million deaths. 

Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said on May 9, 2026, on “Real America’s Voice” that the 39,000 deaths reported on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System could be low and the real number could be 100 times higher because most people don’t report to the system.

VAERS, run by U.S. health agencies, is an early warning system for vaccine problems, but its data isn’t evidence that vaccines caused deaths.

VAERS says submitting a report does not mean the vaccine caused an adverse event. Reports are not analyzed for accuracy.

A 2022 review found potential links in 38 deaths out of 8 billion doses of vaccine administered. A 2026 analysis from the National Institutes of Health found no evidence COVID vaccines increased sudden cardiac death in healthy young adults. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• CDC Wonder: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: What VAERS Is (And Isn’t)
• Poynter: Claims that millions of people have died from the COVID-19 vaccine are unfounded
• National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine: Scientific literature review
• National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine: Association between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden death in apparently healthy younger individuals: A population-based case-control study
• NBC News: No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says

Have COVID-19 vaccines contributed to as many as 3.9 million deaths?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin once banned the construction of new nuclear power plants, only to lift the rule in 2016 to allow for more energy options. 

Former Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill overturning the moratorium on April 1, 2016, allowing new plants to be built, according to a post from the Wisconsin Energy Institute. 

The previous moratorium was approved in 1983, stipulating that a federally licensed facility for nuclear waste must be available. 

The 2016 bill allowed the state to move forward with new nuclear facilities, but no new facilities have been built as of 2026. Currently, Wisconsin has one nuclear facility in operation, Point Beach, near Two Rivers, according to the Public Service Commission. 

With changing technology and support from the Wisconsin Legislature, companies are working to get approvals for a new facility in the future, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Energy Institute: Governor Walker signs nuclear energy bill into law
• Public Service Commission of Wisconsin: Nuclear Energy
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin and UW-Madison partner to study future of nuclear energy

Did Wisconsin have a ban on building new nuclear power plants before 2016? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A deal between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders to give Wisconsin income tax filers a rebate would have excluded about 30% of filers.

That’s because the deal provided rebates up to $300 for individuals and $600 for married joint filers only to residents who paid state income taxes for 2024.

The deal, which failed to pass in the state Senate, also reduced property taxes, increased funding for schools and ended taxes on tips and some overtime pay.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, about 2.1 million residents would have received the rebates. Based on that and the U.S. Census estimates, 55% of adults would not be eligible for tax rebates based on not having owed taxes or because they did not file a return. Of those who filed, about 26% were not eligible for a rebate, LFB estimated.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau Estimated Distribution of Individual Income Tax Rebate under May 2026 Special Session LRB-6707 and LRB-6710 (“the bill”)
• U.S. Census Age and Sex
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue Individual Income Tax – Filing Requirements

Did a proposed bipartisan Wisconsin tax rebate exclude about 30% of filers? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin’s minimum wage was last updated in July 2009 and remains at $7.25 per hour, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

That’s the same as the federal minimum wage, which was also set in July 2009. State law does not directly tie Wisconsin’s minimum wage to changes in the federal rate, but it matches.

Wisconsin is one of 13 states whose minimum wage is equal to the federal $7.25 rate, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Wisconsin has different rates for tipped workers, golf caddies and camp counselors. Wisconsin’s minimum wage does not adjust automatically for inflation, as it does in some states.

Recent efforts by Democrats to raise the minimum wage have failed in Wisconsin. Business lobbying groups have said Wisconsin employers regularly offer hourly rates above $7.25 to attract workers.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Labor: History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 – 2009
• Wisconsin state statutes: 104.035 Minimum Wage
• Congressional Research Service: State Minimum Wages: An Overview
• U.S. Department of Labor: Consolidated Minimum Wage Table
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What is Wisconsin's minimum wage, and why hasn't it changed when other states' minimum wages have?

Is Wisconsin’s minimum wage in 2026 the same as it was in 2009? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The 2025 total compensation of WEC Energy Group CEO Scott Lauber was $12 million.

That’s down from the $18 million paid in 2020 to WEC’s then-CEO, Kevin Fletcher.

WEC, the largest Wisconsin-based utility company, is the parent company of We Energies and other electric and gas utilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, one Democrat running for governor, said utility “CEO pay” had increased from $4 million to $12 million. His campaign said Barnes was referring to Lauber.

Lauber’s total compensation was $4 million in 2020. But he was senior executive vice president, not CEO.

Nationally, the average total compensation for utility CEOs in 2025 was $12 million, up 47% since 2017. The top earner was the CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power, at $36 million. That $12 million, as a median, was the lowest among all industry sectors.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Energy Policy Institute: Utility Executive Compensation
• Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: CEO Pay Study
• AFL-CIO: Executive Pay Watch
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2021 proxy statement
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2026 proxy statement
• WEC Energy Group: About us

Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Madison had a curfew for at least a decade before repealing it in March 2023, though it’s reentering public discussion after large fights.

Until three years ago, Madison ordinances barred youth under age 17 from streets between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on school nights and 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. on weekend nights. Exceptions included going to and from work and school activities.

The Madison City Council voted 13-5 to repeal the ordinance. At the time, the Madison Police Department had issued just three tickets for curfew violations across several years and said teens usually went home when told about the curfew.

But police are again considering options like a curfew or age restrictions following large fights on State Street after the annual Mifflin Street Block Party. Police recovered two guns after breaking up the fights.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• City of Madison Ordinances: Section 23.11
• City of Madison Legistar: Repeal Curfew for Juveniles
• Fox 47: Parents vocal online about Madison Common Council's decision to remove curfew for teens
• Channel 3000: Madison police discussing ways to curb teen fights
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Six guns recovered, dozens arrested after Mifflin Street Block Party

Did Madison have a curfew for juveniles until 2023? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The 2026 U.S. Farm Bill reclassifies the definition of intoxicating hemp and is expected to lead to the closure of businesses selling delta-9 THC and hemp-derived products as soon as November.

The new rule bans the sale of products that have more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container, excluding virtually all such products. 

Currently, Wisconsin hemp dispensaries can sell products with up to 0.3% of delta-9 THC by weight, under a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill. Current law doesn’t have any restrictions on hemp-derived products, such as delta-8, THCP or delta-10. The 0.4 milligram limit is far stricter.

The new rule goes into effect Nov. 12, 2026.

According to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the hemp industry closure could impact 3,500 jobs and reduce economic input by $700 million. Wisconsin has 470 federally licensed hemp growers.  

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service: Change to Federal Definition of Hemp and Implications for Federal Enforcement
• Gov. Tony Evers: Letter to congressional delegation
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin cannabis businesses have one year to try to overturn federal hemp ban
• Wisconsin Public Radio: The government put me out of business’: Wisconsin hemp growers, sellers brace for new federal hemp law
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Evers says federal hemp law will hurt Wisconsin

Does the US Farm bill ban products sold by Wisconsin THC and hemp businesses? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat running for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, did political consultation for Kirk Bangstad during his bid for Congress in 2016. 

Bangstad, now the owner of Minocqua Brewing Co., ran a short campaign in 2015 against then-U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, currently the secretary of transportation under President Donald Trump.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Bangstad paid Cooke and her consulting company, Cooke Strategy, about $12,300 for her services. 

Cooke listed Bangstad’s campaign on her company’s now-deactivated website, according to the WayBack Machine website.

Cooke recently criticized Bangstad for a social media post promoting the idea of assassinating Trump, by saying his brewery would provide free beer on the day of his death. Bangstad, who said on May 2 he was launching a run for governor, has endorsed Cooke’s Democratic challenger in the race for the 3rd Congressional District, Emily Berge.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wayback Machine: Web archive
• Federal Election Commission: Campaign finance report
• Wausau Daily Herald: Duffy challenger drops out; now what?

Did Rebecca Cooke serve as a political consultant for Kirk Bangstad? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The median price of a Wisconsin home has increased significantly in the past few years, but it has not doubled.

Median means half the sale prices were higher and half were lower.

The latest full-year figures: 

2025: $325,000

2024: $310,000

2023: $285,000

2022: $265,000

The 2025 median was 23% higher than in 2022.

In each of the first three months of 2026, the median price was higher year-over-year compared with 2025.

The last time the median decreased was in 2011.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2022 interest rate spike in 2022 caused homeowners to postpone or cancel plans to sell. The smaller supply pushed prices higher.

Also, construction costs have risen and new home building has not kept pace with population increases.

In 2023, the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers allocated $500 million toward loan programs aimed at creating affordable housing.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Realtors Association: Wisconsin Housing Statistics, as of April 27, 2026
• Wisconsin Policy Forum: Home Prices Outpace Incomes
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin faces a housing affordability crisis. Here’s how lawmakers and candidates for governor plan to address it.
• Kurt Paulsen, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of urban planning Email

Have Wisconsin home prices doubled in the last three years? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.