Wisconsin Public Radio

12/16/2024

Wisconsin's federal lawmakers are blaming the other side of the aisle for getting in the way of extending the farm bill.

12/16/2024

It’s Mystery Gift Monday!

Make a donation of $5/mo or more and WPR will send you a surprise gift from the Member Drive vault. This fun thank-you gift is only available today, Monday, Dec. 16 only. Act fast!

Visit https://bit.ly/3ZLDrUL or call 888-202-2552 to request your gift.

12/16/2024

Wisconsin has more county-owned nursing homes than any state but Indiana. But perhaps not for long.

Over more than three decades, residents in 22 Wisconsin counties lost public nursing homes to sales or closures. This year alone, at least five counties — including Lincoln — considered selling, started the sales process or sold.

County leaders say they have only two options while facing financial pressures and staffing shortages: sell or close the homes. Local organizers disagree, arguing counties should continue providing high-quality care for low-income older people and disabled adults.

(In partnership with Wisconsin Watch)

County nursing homes tend to offer better care, but 22 Wisconsin counties have sold or closed them over three decades.

12/16/2024

Mai J. Lo Lee, who serves on the board of the Wisconsin Public Radio Association, is the 2024 Green Bay Packers “Inspire Chance Changemaker.”

The award recognizes local leaders who are making a difference in their community, in alignment with the NFL’s “Inspire Change” initiative. Mai is a lifelong WPR listener who interviewed her sister, Beth Lo, during StoryCorps’ mobile tour stop in Green Bay. The two talked about their lives — and books — in a segment that aired on WPR’s “Wisconsin Life” statewide.

Congratulations Mai, and Go Pack Go!

Beth Lo grew up spending most of her free time immersed in books. Now living with her sister Mai J. Lo Lee of Appleton, Wisconsin, she has come to find that her love for reading has had a positive influence on her family, despite how her parents felt about it. ...

12/15/2024

“I think a lot of the planning that’s going on right now is trying to understand what levers are available and what kind of resources we’re going to need for those who are arrested or who are at risk of deportation, as well as resources and support for their families," Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer told WPR.

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer told WPR that Democrats have been meeting with Gov. Tony Evers and local communities to “do what we can to push back against Trump’s agenda.”

12/15/2024

Hmong American Immersion School Principal MaiKou Heu emphasized to WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” the need for Hmong culture education to be more ubiquitous in American schools.

As Appleton prepares to open a new Hmong American Immersion School next fall, educators and researchers study different responses to Hmong culture fragmentation.

12/15/2024

It’s been a difficult journey at times. He’s often up until midnight or later working on homework.

But he said it’ll all be worth it when he walks across the stage at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena Sunday to receive his diploma nearly 20 years after he dropped out of college.

David Crowley will walk across the stage at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena Sunday to receive his college diploma nearly 20 years after he dropped out of college.

12/15/2024

Full Circle Farm’s efforts to minimize impacts on the natural environment and wildlife won the family the 2024 Leopold Conservation Award from the Sand County Foundation.

12/15/2024

The lawsuit alleges an Eau Claire Area School District gender support plan violates parents' constitutional rights because it doesn’t require them to be notified if a student asks about changing their names and pronouns, using different bathrooms or playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Wisconsin parents challenging the Eau Claire Area School District’s gender support policy.

12/15/2024

Many high schoolers who grew up near Lambeau Field in the 1980s had one thing on their minds: punk rock.

“I wasn’t really a sports guy. I thought (punk rock) was just unusual, especially growing up in Green Bay which is very much Rust Belt, paper mills, factory workers and the Green Bay Packers,” Chris Pretti told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

“It was like a breath of fresh air,” he said.

As a kid, Pretti would listen to old promo records from regional classic rock station WAPL on repeat, bands like the Ramones, The Clash and Black Flag. He said the punk rock scene became a place where misfits found community.

Pretti is a director of a new film about Green Bay’s early punk scene. For Pretti and co-director James Baker, chronicling this history turned into a 12-year passion project. The finished product — a documentary called “Green Blah” — recently premiered in the city.

The documentary includes archival footage and dozens of modern-day interviews with members of the local bands and their fans. But it also shows the negative response some punk rockers received.

Read more: https://www.wpr.org/news/new-film-shows-history-of-green-bays-early-punk-rock-scene

12/14/2024

A coalition of groups are challenging permits issued by state regulators to Canadian energy firm Enbridge for the company’s plan to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around the Bad River tribe’s reservation.

12/14/2024

Cleo Brown, an Appleton native and local restaurateur, opened Cleo’s Brown Beam Tavern on College Avenue in downtown Appleton in 1970. As the legend goes, after putting up Christmas decorations that first December, Brown left them up for several months past the new year — and people noticed.

“The customers — as they are oft to do — gave her a little grief about it, and Cleo decided to double down,” bar manager Alicia Andrews told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

Cleo’s Brown Beam Tavern in downtown Appleton has a unique calling card: all Christmas, all the time.

12/14/2024

The plan to build a new roughly $300 million gas plant in the town of Paris is part of a planned $2 billion investment in natural gas infrastructure by We Energies.

We Energies hopes to build a new natural gas-fired power plant in Kenosha County, the utility arguing the project is critical to meeting increasing demand from industry in southeast Wisconsin.

12/14/2024

A valve failure on an Enbridge Energy oil pipeline in Wisconsin caused a spill that dumped some 69,000 gallons of oil into the ground.

12/14/2024

A committee studying management of the state’s growing sandhill crane population is recommending a bill that would allow hunting the birds and provide aid for corn growers experiencing damage from them.

12/14/2024

The community-made glass tree is at a holiday market at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay. The event opened Dec. 6 and will run again this weekend.

Alongside the tree, which the artists claim is the tallest glass tree in the world, there’s a market with local vendors selling craft gifts, art exhibitions and classes, and a warm tent with food and beverages.

12/14/2024

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved construction of the roughly $2 billion project Thursday.

The Vista Sands Solar Project will be built on more than 6,000 acres in Portage County.

12/13/2024

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin says she feels a “sense of urgency to finish some unfinished business” as the end of this congressional term and a government funding deadline approach.

Congress has until Dec. 20 to strike a funding deal to keep the federal government functioning.