Author: Wisconsin Public Radio

In the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, major businesses across the country spoke out in support of democracy, but those statements don’t always reflect where they donate. That is according to an ongoing scorecard of Fortune 100 businesses released this week by the left-leaning watchdog group Accountable.US. “Two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies are failing to do their part to protect democracy, or unfortunately even making matters worse by supporting those determined to undermine it,” said Lindsey Melki, the group’s director of corporate values and democracy. The project lays out the corporations’ public stances on protecting democracy and compares...

After the pandemic slashed ridership, public transit agencies in the state could recoup lost funds by going electric, but not all agencies can cover the upfront costs. In Milwaukee County, at least 11 new electric buses could start running by next June. The county’s Transit System Director of Maintenance Ronald McCorkel said the initial investment in buses and infrastructure, like chargers, is hefty. Each bus costs over $1 million, but McCorkel said it’s worth the price. “We’re going to end up saving the money on maintenance and everything in the long run, and in the cost of diesel,” he...

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is making a push for the Republican support needed to pass her bill that would codify same-sex marriage before the midterms. But she will do so without Wisconsin’s senior senator, Republican Ron Johnson. In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Baldwin, a Democrat, and Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said they are “work(ing) across party lines to bring the Senate together and build support for the Respect for Marriage Act,” which is designed to protect same-sex and interracial marriages from the risk that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn its decisions legalizing...

In the coming decades, the climate in the U.S. will heat up to potentially disastrous levels. While Wisconsin’s long winters will turn milder, summer temperatures will hit record highs. That assessment is according to a new study from the nonprofit research group First Street Foundation focusing on extreme heat events nationwide. Jeremy Porter, chief research officer of the Foundation, said climate scientists often warn temperatures will rise a few degrees on average in the coming decades, and to many, that doesn’t sound like much. But he said it spells out catastrophic heat. “Today, about 7 million people are at...

Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels donated nearly $200,000 of his own money to anti-abortion groups in Wisconsin and New York in 2020, according to tax documents. Michels and his wife made the donations through their charitable organization, the Timothy and Barbara Michels Family Foundation. In all, that foundation donated $1.66 million that year. Michels and his wife gave $50,000 to Wisconsin Right to Life and $25,000 to Pro-Life Wisconsin in 2020. Pro-Life Wisconsin is opposed not only to abortion, but to all forms of contraception. The Michels foundation also gave $100,000 to Avail NYC, a New York-based crisis...