Fave 5: Reporter Alexander Shur picks his top stories of 2022
My first year at the Wisconsin State Journal gave me — and hopefully our readers — several stories worth looking back on.
(5) updates to this series since Updated
In this story, I examine how Wisconsin's municipal and county clerks have been dealing with unprecedented scrutiny since the 2020 elections.
Bills often moves so fast in the Legislature that the best reporters can do is summarize a wide range of them, but this one was worth looking into.
There may be no person more capable of talking about the nuts and bolts of political polling than Marquette poll director Charles Franklin.
If one thing reshaped politics this year, it was the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
This story isn't fascinating, except that it was my first one on the job. I've since learned a whole lot and look forward to learning more.
"These don't all have to be partisan issues," Vos said.
The two sides are talking more, but on abortion and education funding they remain far apart.
The nonpartisan label for high court races "just doesn't make sense any longer," said Alan Ball, a Marquette University history professor who analyzes the court.
Wisconsin's secretary of veterans affairs, who pushed to increase resources for veterans facing homelessness and addiction, will retire at the start of the new year, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday.
The four declared candidates will face off in a Feb. 21 primary. The two candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the April 4 election.
Republican lawmakers who control the Wisconsin Legislature are moving closer to supporting the legalization of medical marijuana, after years of fighting efforts to loosen the state's laws.
After taking their oaths of office Tuesday, two freshman Assembly members made it their first order of business to revive a socialist caucus that has been dormant since the 1930s.
Bond will become the first LGBTQ person to lead a cabinet agency in Wisconsin.
A bill last year would have permitted medical marijuana for people with conditions including Crohn's disease, glaucoma, cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Eighty-five percent of employers are struggling to hire workers, according to the Wisconsin Employer Survey conducted this summer by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.
Erpenbach, of West Point, didn't seek reelection to the Senate last year after serving his sixth term.
“Shall able-bodied child-less adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?" the question would read.
The measure comes as states across the country reconsider bail laws, often in a move away from cash bail.
“What kind of society do we call ourselves if we are disenfranchising people from the rights that they are over there protecting?” said Willis Gordon, a Navy veteran.
If the Assembly approves the measure Thursday, it will appear on the April 4 ballot, which will also feature a Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
The four candidates will face off in a Feb. 21 primary election, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April 4 election.
The Assembly passed both measures, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers cannot veto, on Thursday.
Evers on Tuesday also unveiled proposals to cut taxes, increase local government funding, spend more than $100 million to deal with PFAS contamination and support child care providers.
The crux of the lawsuit, and another similar pending case, rests with how much of a witness address needs to be present in order for an absentee ballot to count.
Two law professors said liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz didn't violate the judicial code by commenting on her values.
The four candidates will face off Feb. 21, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April 4 general election.
The four candidates will face off Feb. 21, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April 4 general election.
Gov. Tony Evers said he wants to repeal the requirement that all projects north of Highway 64 be subject to legislative review.
The governor's budget also would loosen voter residency requirements, allow clerks to start processing absentee ballots the day before an election, and allocate $400,000 to pay for electronic poll books.
Of the more than 4.2 million licensed drivers in Wisconsin, 770,000 had at least one OWI citation or conviction as of the end of 2021.
Republicans have heaped criticism on the commission after it decided to parole convicted murderer Douglas Balsewicz last May.
Dan Hereth, who took charge of the troubled Department of Safety and Professional Services in August, said processing times average 38 days — half the wait time in 2021.
"We ask that the media and the other campaigns avoid engaging in unfair and misleading attacks," Mitchell and his ex-wife said in a joint statement.
The public can donate money online at go.madison.com/HelpCats.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers previously said he would veto a budget that cuts the University of Wisconsin System's diversity programs.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers previously said he would veto a budget that cuts the University of Wisconsin System's diversity programs.
The income tax cuts Evers signed will provide a $175 million income tax cut, far less than the $3.5 billion cut Republicans proposed.
Republicans say Protasiewicz must recuse herself from the cases challenging the current maps as unconstitutional because she prejudged them.
