MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers has signed into law a measure supported by mega-liquor store Total Wine & More that allows for larger quantities of liquor to be sold at a single transaction at certain stores. The measure Evers signed Monday pertains to liquor stores and other places that sell alcohol for consumption off premises, but that also offer larger samples of beer, wine or hard liquor to […]
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's frac sand industry is grappling with several idled mines as the sector faces increased competition in Texas and Oklahoma. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Professor Kent Syverson believes the region's frac sand development boom is over. Superior Silica Sands has idled three sand mines in Wisconsin, while Hi-Crush is halting production at its mine in Augusta. Syverson says that demand remains strong, but energy companies […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is setting up a new marker recognizing the campus as the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk tribe. The university announced Monday that UW-Madison leaders and Ho-Chunk Nation officials dedicated the plaque on Bascom Hill on Thursday. The marker is entitled "Our Shared Future" and acknowledges the campus occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place the tribe called Teejop. The marker notes the tribe was forced […]
A Republican lawmaker from Markesan says a state budget up for approval by the full legislature this week makes historic investments in Wisconsin schools and infrastructure. "The budget achieves our priorities without raising the tax burden on Wisconsin citizens," state representative Joan Ballweg told WFDL news. Ballweg says the budget includes the largest total investment in K-12 education, over $500 million in tax cuts, continues the UW system tuition freeze, increases child and […]
Former Green Bay Packers player and current Marian University Senior Vice President for University Relations Dr. George Koonce has been nominated to join the Packers board of directors. Packers shareholders will vote on new board members during their annual meeting July 24 at Lambeau Field. Koonce was approved by vote of the Board at its quarterly meeting in May. Koonce played linebacker for the Packers from 1992 through 1999. Following his playing career he earned […]
A major street reconstruction project starts this week in Beaver Dam. Starting Monday Stone Street will be closed from South Spring Street to Roedl Court for installation of new water and sewer lines. The city did not give a timetable for completion of the more than $1 million project.
The Ripon School Board has approved creating a play-based charter school. The board last week voted to accept an $800,000 five year grant to create the charter school at Barlow Park Elementary School starting in the fall of 2020. The Ripon School District was one of 11 districts across the state awarded grants by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
VIROQUA, Wis. (AP) — Farmers are questioning whether growing hemp for grain will ever be profitable in Wisconsin, but say there could be a future in hemp fiber and CBD products. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has issued more than 1,300 licenses to grow industrial hemp in 2019. Summer rains last year ruined about 20 Wisconsin farmers' chances of producing salable hemp grain. Viroqua farmer LaVon Felton […]
DETROIT (AP) — Environmental advocates are raising awareness about the dangers of balloons for wildlife in the Great Lakes and elsewhere. Volunteers for the Alliance for the Great Lakes picked up more than 18,000 balloons, balloon pieces or balloon strings along Great Lakes shorelines from 2016 to 2018. Lara O'Brien studies at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability. She says an Australian study found balloons are the highest-risk […]