https://middlewisconsin.org Fairness. Respect. Community. Thu, 21 Jan 2021 16:33:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://middlewisconsin.org/saying-goodbye/ Fri, 04 Jan 2019 04:59:52 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=7423 https://middlewisconsin.org/speed-and-secrecythe-last-act/ Mon, 17 Dec 2018 05:49:42 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=7370 https://middlewisconsin.org/what-does-foxconn-mean-to-me/ Sun, 18 Nov 2018 23:38:38 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=7293 https://middlewisconsin.org/farmers-advocate-for-agriculture-and-rural-communities/ Sun, 18 Feb 2018 18:00:13 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=6512 Farmers from several western Wisconsin counties traveled to Madison as part of the annual Ag Day at the Capitol. On the day the Governor delivered his State of the State address, farmers shared with their legislators the state of things in their world. Safety is always on the mind of farmers. For one farmer, farm […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/free-tuition-means-freedom-to-learn/ Fri, 15 Dec 2017 06:11:33 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=6317 “Every Wisconsinite should have access to education or training past high school… To be pursued at whatever point and pace makes sense for individual workers and industries,” wrote researchers at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) eight years ago. Long before the current shortage of skilled workers, COWS anticipated the need for additional training. In […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/speed-and-accuracy-leave-the-public-out-in-the-cold/ Sun, 19 Nov 2017 22:10:57 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=6224 In the past eleven years, I wrote 64 times about the problems of speed and secrecy in the legislative process. However, I never saw a calendar as broad and deep in controversy as the most recent one before the State Senate. For weeks, we heard that the Senate would vote a hodge-podge of highly controversial […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/wedc-admits-they-are-not-following-the-law/ Fri, 17 Nov 2017 22:41:01 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=6232 “We have not been able to verify the jobs,” said Secretary Mark Hogan at a recent public hearing of the Joint Committee on Audit. In this statement, the head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) confirmed what several years of audits repeatedly found: our state awarded hundreds of millions in tax credits and cash […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/wisconsins-long-journey-toward-a-living-wage/ Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:38:55 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=6024 https://middlewisconsin.org/loving-us-powwow-encourages-recovery/ Fri, 01 Sep 2017 21:28:43 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=5999 “I lost my granddaughter to heroin addiction,” Anita told me. “We’ve lost so many people,” Tena added. Recently, former Marine Tena Quackenbush and her friends, including Quincy Garvin, Jasime Funmaker, Lori Pettibone, Cindy Ward hosted a gathering to promote and encourage recovery from addiction, especially the scourge of heroin addiction. Ms. Quackenbush started #StoptheStigma, an […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/conversations-at-the-county-fairs/ Tue, 15 Aug 2017 21:02:07 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=5912 I love county fairs. I love the sights, sounds, smells and the tastes of the fair. Moreover, I love all the people. Adorable little kids wander around with snow cones. Grandparents catch up on family news. Hardworking 4-Hers show cattle, cakes and cookies. I especially love the opportunity for conversations with voters about things of […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/health-care-steps-to-the-future/ Sun, 06 Aug 2017 21:23:17 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=5883 An older man contacted me recently with a problem. A visit to the doctor left him with thousands in unpaid bills. Medicare deemed the tests “routine” and not a “medical necessity.” But the gentleman was told, for his occupation, the tests were absolutely necessary. He was left with a medical bill costing more than his […]]]> https://middlewisconsin.org/celebrating-wisconsins-dairyland/ Sun, 25 Jun 2017 23:48:59 +0000 https://www.middlewisconsin.org/?p=5784 “Do you still milk?” I asked Jim at a recent gathering. “No,” he told me. “My son tells me the most help I can be is to stay out of the way,” he joked. We both agreed that was hard. Dairying gets in your blood. June is dairy month. A time to celebrate all we […]]]>