24 results for month: 06/2022

Happy Freedom Day

Recap from the Juneteenth celebration in Wausau! Thank you, Mayor Katie, for announcing the proclamation declaring Juneteenth in Wausau Thank you to William for his inspiring remarks about the grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee. As always, we appreciate the wisdom and knowledge from Darryl and his reminder that we are all Americans. I am so incredibly proud of Cara, and Faith and their entire family for sharing the story of Carma and keeping her memory alive. We passed our hundreds of Black history books for kiddos! Thank you to everyone who donated to my fundraiser in February—all the books have new homes. Shoutout to DJ ...

The Pride of Wisconsin’s Fathers

On this Sunday, June 19th, also known as Juneteenth and Father’s Day, it is worth remembering how Wisconsin's fathers played a role in the abolitionist movement, and how the pride of fatherhood and family propelled the progressive and labor movements in our state. As many Wisconsinites know, the Republican Party was formed in 1854 in the small town of Ripon by a bunch of egalitarian Scandinavians who were super angry at how the fugitive slave act allowed southern slave owners and their hired bounty hunters to come into our state and force escaped slaves back into slavery. Similarly, a bunch of Norwegian farmers (fathers) helped ...

Communities United by Water

June 24-26, 202Water Protector Celebration Ashland, WI www.communitiesunitedbywater.org

U.S. healthcare System working to be Part of Global Change

The US Healthcare system is a substantial contributor to climate change, responsible for about 10% of the nation's carbon emissions and 9% of harmful non-greenhouse air pollutants. If the global health sector were a country, it would be the 5th largest emitter on the planet. Fortunately, there are a growing number of cutting-edge Wisconsin and national health care facilities that have made significant progress by voluntarily incorporating sustainability into their work. Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse leads Wisconsin's pioneers. In 2008, then CEO Jeff Thompson, MD recognized "we are the problem," noting that Gundersen was putting 465,000 pounds of ...

Ron Johnson’s Ads Are Ridiculous

I normally do not watch much television but will tune in to CBS Sunday Morning. Most of the time, I am blissfully spared the ridiculous political adverts that are known to cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure; all things I could do without. This last Sunday morning, I tuned in early to watch a bit of fluff known as local news coverage; basically, sports and weather. A lot of people running for office look to buy up time during local news programming, and none are taking up more air than Ron Johnson. It is laughable that he is trying to run as a Washington outsider as he has been in Washington for more than a decade, ...

Wausau is the Kohlrabi Capital of North America

ANNOUNCING: KOHLRABI DAY! The Wisconsin Farmers Union was at the Wausau Farmers Market on June 18 for Kohlrabi Day! There was  a Kohlrabi Cornhole game and recipes galore!  Mid-morning there was a special Proclamation by Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg  proclaiming Wausau as the Kohlrabi capital of North America. June 18 is officially Kohlrabi Day in Wausau.

A Photo Memorial to Our Dear Friend Wayne Olson

October 31, 1938-May 31, 2022 Rest in Power Dear Friend

Supreme Politics

The recent big news story is the Supreme Court's leaked draft of the upcoming decision to overturn Roe vs Wade. This should be no surprise. It has long been expected. Obama was outrageously denied an appointment and Trump made three appointments to the Court. These three judges were deliberately chosen for their opposition to abortion and their extreme positions on other issues. The current Supreme Court is a glaring example of a “packed” court dominated by extreme right wing ideologues. These judges are not impartial arbiters of the law. Jim Hightower devoted the March “Hightower Lowdown” to the Supreme Court (https://hightowerlowdown...

Retirement Issues and WI Candidates: U.S. Senate and WI Treasurer

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2022 POWRS Steering Committee, Philip Anderson, powerswi@gmail.com Retirement Issues and WI Candidates: U.S. Senate and WI Treasurer To better inform Wisconsin voters, Protect Our Wisconsin Retirement Security (POWRS) surveyed the U.S. Senate candidates on retirement, Social Security and Medicare issues. We sent the survey to all the declared Democratic candidates and to the Republican incumbent. We only received replies from four Democratic candidates: Mandela Barnes, Sarah Godlewski, Alex Lasry, and Tom Nelson. POWRS makes no candidate endorsements. Our objective is to inform voters to help in ...

Comparing the U.S. Senate Candidates on Retirement Issues

Wisconsin – and the nation – is facing a retirement security crisis. Many people will have inadequate income for a secure retirement. Many will only have Social Security to live on. Many will not be able to “retire” at all. Over 400,000 seniors in Wisconsin will be living in poverty by 2030. As a result, Wisconsin will need to spend an additional $3.5 billion on public assistance programs. These problems are not self-correcting and won't be fixed by free market “solutions.” Government must act to address the retirement crisis. This includes consolidating and simplifying related laws, better oversight of the investment industry, helping ...