Uppitywis Blogs

Remember back when we were embarrassed every time we met someone outside of the US because we had elected George W. Bush as president?  Good Times, Good Times. This is from the Scottish Sunday Herald TV listings. Click on the image to make it bigger.

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   Two six-graders recently showed me around their classrooms. Desks were not in straight rows. Students were not waiting their turn with raised hands. I looked around the room. There actually were no desks at all, but tables and different types of chairs.   One student was actually writing on a table with a red marker. I must have looked aghast. The table was designed to be written on, teacher Ali McMahon told me. “We use the table as a way to think out complex ideas,” she said. With a white board tabletop everyone sees the ideas and adds to them.   I recently visited

More than 200 attended the health care rally this afternoon in Eau Claire. The rally was organized by the Citizen Action Organizing Co-op of Western Wisconsin. Several people spoke on behalf of maintaining the ACA or an equivalent, including Rep. Dana Wachs. The crowd was spirited and strongly in support of strengthening the ACA rather than eliminating it. This rally was one of many across the nation today in support of affordable and accessible health care for all. I think the current administration will find it difficult to tell their constitutents that they are taking away the benefits of

I highly recommend following James Rowen's web site, The Political Environment. He has been following the continuing saga of the state DNR's changes to their web site, in which they have scrubbed the site of mentions of humans causing climate change. The DNR has stated that their mission is to manage state "adaptation" to climate change, rather than actually researching the cause, or -- you know, doing anything about  stopping or slowing it. Most recently it turns out that a northern WI newspaper is taking credit for the change, because they pressured the DNR to stop taking an "activist" role

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   Wisconsin is number one in hunting! Don’t take it from me. The Department of Natural Resources has studies to back it up.   A new DNR report noted Wisconsin had the number one Boone and Crockett Trophy whitetail entries from 2005-2010 and the number one black beer harvest of all states.   Wisconsinites hunt deer at nearly three times the US rate and fist at twice the US rate. We lead the nation in world record musky caught and are the reigning world record holder of brown trout.   According to the DNR report, which included options to fund wildlife management, Wisconsin

What it is Like to be a New Legislator By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   “Good morning, Senator,” said a Capitol staffer. It took me a moment to realize the man was talking to me. That was ten years ago.   This week fifteen new lawmakers raised their right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution. They celebrated with a day of family, photos and receptions.   I recall how exciting the day was and how that excitement quickly turned to the daunting challenge of adjusting to my new role of Senator.   Following Election Day, the new legislators-elect attend orientation sessions, which provide vital

by

Senator Kathleen Vinehout

 

The turn of the calendar to 2017 brings us hope for better prospects in our public affairs. I am particularly inspired this season for the many who wrote with solutions to problems facing our state.

 

The many letters from readers gives me optimism for a coming bloom of civic mindedness. Certainly your notes and letters bring a fresh approach to lingering problems.

 

I do see signs on the horizon that our state may be stumbling.

 

Deep budget cuts have affected the forward progress of our University of Wisconsin System. Faculty have left UW and taken their research

Apparently Scott Walker has gotten word that the old Obama Grinch is about ready to be replaced by a new, happy, Jolly Old St. Nick - and he's written a letter asking for presents. Lots of presents. Presents for Wisconsin. 

Lots of drug tests for people who need a hand because -- well, okay, I have to admit I just don't understand that one at all, but maybe the new Santa in town does. 

Higher costs for people on Medicaid who "Purposely increase their health risks" - but only if they're really poor. New Santa probably will like this - rich kids are the only ones to get the good presents. It's the

by Senator Kathleen Vinehout   We settled into a deep freeze this past weekend. After a long glorious autumn, the third week of December brought frigid temperatures not usually felt until mid-January.   So I took time out from normal senator and farmer duties to reflect on 2016.   This past year was one of upset and strife in the political world. The insiders haven’t sorted out all that happened this election cycle, but listening to folks in western Wisconsin I can say people are not happy with politics as usual.   I heard many stories of people motivated to vote for the first time. I wanted to learn

This video is a parental response to Leah Vukmir's column in the Journal Sentinel about public schools.

Only a few months after the creation of the state Ethics Commission, one of the commisioners has resigned, expressing serious concerns about transparency in the behavior of the commission and the ability of the commission to actually enforce ethics on state politicians.

Commissioner Rober Kinney resigned, apparenlty partly due to the inabilit of the commission to take action on an ethics complaint filed by the Democrats against the Republican Assembly Campaing Committee for not filing proper accounting of their fundraising and expenditures. Kinney was also unhappy the the commission could not

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   Looking for a homegrown Holiday treat for Christmas Eve? Look no further than your radio for a special holiday performance from Wisconsin’s beautiful west coast.   Big River Radio Wave’s Christmas Show airs on Wisconsin Public Radio across Wisconsin on Christmas Eve. The show comes straight from our valley to your radio.   The show originates at the renovated Big River Theater in Alma, Wisconsin. In fact, the creator and host, Mac Cherry, is my neighbor.   This year’s Holiday show weaves local musicians, storytellers, and comedians with their very special bit of advice

We're quickly falling into that time of year when people start to think about the holidays and stop thinking so much about politics.  Maybe not this year. 

Anyway - I'd like to invite you all to spend a little more time over the next few weeks thinking about your families and those things in life that make you happiest, and to stop thinking about the past election and the upcoming  coronation  err --- inauguration. It's coming no matter what, so you might as well try to have a little peace and joy for a while. The recount in Wisconsin is supposed to end tomorrow and be reported on Tuesday, so

[View the story "Wisconsin Recount 2016" on Storify]

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   Winter came to Buffalo County. The weather turned to snow and then to ice.   In our hilly part of the world, rural people are used to finding new ways out of the valleys during bad weather. However, for residents living in Schoepps Valley (pronounced “Sheps”) the usual way out is not an option.   The story began early August 11, 2016 when torrential rains dumped up to 11 ½ inches in our area. Small creeks became raging rivers. Wild water took out several bridges including the Schoepps Valley Bridge that connects a major road –State Highway 88 – to about 20 homes and

People at the Oceti Sakowin Camp are rejoicing this afternoon as the Army has announced that the Corps of Engineers is denying the easement for the pipeline under Lake Oahe. This essentially halts construction for the time being, and the Army Corps of Engineers is planning for an Environmental Impact Study with public input.

This will put the construction project seriously behind schedule and will almost certainly become a huge expense for the pipeline owners, since they face punitive contract damages if the pipeline is not finished by Dec. 31. The pipeline construction should remain halted

Today Judge James Peterson denied the request filed by two PACs supporting Donald Trump. The request asked fro an immediate temporary halt of the recount in Wisconsin. The judge ruled that allowing the recount to proceed would not hurt anything, and that the recount may proceed while the lawsuit makes its way through the federal court system. 

Judge Peterson has scheduled a hearing for the suit on Dec. 9. This is three days before the recount will need to be completed so that the results may be filed in time for the vote of the Electoral College.

You may or may not have noticed that The Feed disappeared from the site today, and from the top menu. We've run that feature for several years now on the site.  It's a Rebelmouse page, and it has always been kind of a fun and nifty feature. Unfortunately Rebelmouse is changing quite a lot, and they've dropped their free plan,and the new non-free plans are way out of my price range. We were grandfathered in, but although they are doing a whole lot of neat stuff with their paid platform, things are not changing particularly on the free sites. There will be some more new stuff going on here and

Word just in - Jennifer Shilling has been re-confirmed as the winner in the Nov. election against Dan Kapanke. We don't have official numbers yet.

This is probably not a surprising move, but groups supporting Donald Trump have filed suit this morning to stop the recount in Wisconsin. The suit was filed by numerous plaintiffs including The Great America PAC and Stop Hillary PAC. 

The gist of the complaint is that there is not a consistent method for determining the intent of voters on ballots that may not be decisive. They are depending on the Bush v. Gore precedent as a defense of their position. In general the argument is that there is not a standard to ensure that votes will be treated equally in different jurisdictions. There is also