Friday, May 3, 2013
Wisconsin's drunk driving-related incidents are the highest in the United States and state Legislators have crafted six bills to confront the issue, but they carries a hefty price tag.
Some state Republican Legislators want to toughen the laws for habitual drunk drivers and first-time drunk drivers if they cause an injury or killed someone, but the price tag for those laws could cost taxpayers up to $236 million, according to a story in the Wisconsin State Journal. Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) have introduced six bills to the Senate and House. The bills would: Because of the jail time provisions, the state expects to have to build 17 facilities that would each house 300 people. "A fiscal estimate from the state Department of Corrections put the cost of the bill regarding third and subsequent offenses at between $169 million and $204 million annually. Other agencies also weighed in, …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
But border security should be the priority, the Republican senator and Tea Party favorite said during an interview with Patch, adding immigration reform should be tackled in bite-sized pieces, not on a comprehensive basis.
U.S. Ron Johnson says he is open to the idea of a pathway to citizenship, or some sort of legal status system, so the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country "can come out of the shadows." However, the Tea Party-backed Republican said Thursday that Congress should tackle immigration reform on a piecemeal basis — instead of passing a comprehensive plan. The debate over immigration reform has heated up in recent days, with protests staged Wednesday in cities across the country, including Milwaukee, as part of May Day celebrations. The demonstrations served as a message aimed at Congress, showing there's support for a path to citizenship, according to the New York Times. In an interview with Patch on Thursday in Bayside, Johnson …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The village is considering condemning and purchasing Main Street properties to repair Spring Creek.
Sussex Trustees will decide later this month if it will condemn and purchase Main Street business properties to repair and reroute Spring Creek, reported the Sussex Sun. Last year the Department of Natural Resources awarded Sussex with a $300,000 grant to be spent on various storm water projects, one of which is rerouting Spring Creek, an ongoing problem in Sussex. Alternatives for Spring Creek will be reviewed on May 14 at a Village Board meeting. The village is looking at daylighting the creek due to damage sustained to a parking lot north of Main Street, which contains a 470-foot-long pipe where the creek runs through until it empties on the south end of the road. The pipe is in poor condition and therefore is considered to be adding…
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, former running mate of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, says that with the election behind him, he's happy to "get back to work" and fight for what he believes in.
Despite taking his lumps in the November election, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he has a "moral obligation" to continue fighting for what he believes in. "What do you do when you get knocked down?" he asked "You get back up. You pick yourself up, and go back and fight for what you think is right, what you believe in." Speaking at a town hall meeting in Oak Creek, the former Republican vice presidential candidate joked about the outcome of the race. "Let's just say the election didn't go the way I wanted it to go," he told the crowd of about 180. Still, Ryan said, he will continue to push for immigration reform, a revamp of the tax system, energy legislation and more. In an interview with Patch after the 90-minute listening session…
The village will save $25,000 with the joint agreement.
An joint agreement between Sussex, Slinger and Richfield to share building inspection services will save Sussex $25,000, reported the Sussex Sun. Sussex's share of the cost for the agreement will be about $74,500. Sussex and Slinger will contract with Richfield to provide building inspection services. The agreement is a way for the three communities to reduce costs. The savings of $25,000 a year used to be paid for employee benefits, a vehicle, and other support services.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Documentary "Citizen Koch" and book by Journal Sentinel reporters have differing takes on 2011 battle between unions and Gov. Scott Walker.
As the dust settles on the epic battles over union rights for public workers in Wisconsin, two new major works aim to put these events into perspective. The first is “Citizen Koch,” a documentary by award-winning filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. It aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Wisconsin Film Festival this month. The second is “More Than They Bargained For,” a book by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Both recount how newly elected Gov. Scott Walker in February 2011 “dropped the bomb” (his words) regarding his plan to largely end the collective bargaining rights of most state and local public employees. “Citizen Koch” frames …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
An analysis shows the UW system sitting on nearly half a billion dollars in extra tuition. Officials say they need it for future projects.
The University of Wisconsin system is under fire from both parties in the state Legislature after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed it had $650 million in reserve — including $414 million in tuition reserves — despite annual tuition increases of more than 5 percent. Gov. Scott Walker is now considering a change to the $181 million planned for the UW system in the biennial budget, and whispers of a tuition freeze imposed by the Legislature are percolating. But UW officials say the surplus — about 25 percent of the operating budget — is in line with recommended practices, according to Madison.com, and less than Minnesota and Illinois keep. And the College Board says Wisconsin’s public-school tuition is still lower than Midwestern …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Fear over multimillion dollar lawsuits has prompted many departments to strictly follow requirements in the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act that may or may not apply. And in doing so, they're violating the state's open records law.
A legal battle in Illinois over a $20 parking ticket could potentially cost a Chicago suburb tens of millions of dollars — and fear that the case could have implications here is prompting many Milwaukee-area police departments to drastically clamp down on how much information they’re releasing to the public. In a matter of months, police departments from Caledonia to Port Washington have stopped providing names of people their officers are arresting, ticketing or contacting, and, in some cases, won’t even release details on where a crime occurred because of the pending litigation in Illinois. We could see a closing off of Wisconsin’s open records laws — laws that are considered among the strongest in the country. “There’s the real …
Lisbon voted to welcome resuming discussions over the funding dispute of the Pauline Haass Library with Sussex.
Lisbon has agreed to resume negotiations with Sussex over a long-term joint funding agreement for the Pauline Haass Library after Lisbon rejected a negotiation proposal, reported the Sussex Sun. The Town of Lisbon has been thinking about discontinuing its funding of the library because Lisbon and Sussex cannot reach a funding agreement. Lisbon believes Sussex should pay more because its residents use the library more. Lisbon made a counteroffer but Sussex refused and has also been thinking about fully funding the library themselves. The Lisbon Board will be sending a letter to Sussex about possibly setting up a meeting to continue discussions, reported the Sussex Sun. Lisbon currently funds $335,000, and Sussex funds about $350,000. The …
A lawsuit filed by unions representing Madison teachers and city of Milwaukee employees over the state's collective bargaining law may be headed to the State Supreme Court.
A state appeals court is urging the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to take on an Act 10 lawsuit filed by two unions, which challenged the constitutionality of the collective bargaining limitations Gov. Scot Walker imposed on almost all public unions in 2010. The Supreme Court could take the case without waiting for an Appeals Court decision, but whether is does so is at the high court's discretion. If the Supreme Court doesn’t take the case, then the Appeals Court would need to take it. A certification filed by a panel of three judges from the 4th District Court of Appeals, asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case because “a number of public unions have filed suits against municipalities over Act 10 provisions, which have left …
Lika Phipps
11:12 pm on Saturday, May 18, 2013
Drinking is a privilege. So is driving. If you can't be responsible, they get taken away, because obviously some people aren't responsible enough, so they have to be treated like children. If you want to get trunk off of your tuches, do it at home and stay there. No one wants to deal with obnoxious people who think they're Benny Parsons and end up doing too much damage than what it's worth. more ›