Wisconsin News and Sports
Disability advocates are applauding a grant that will help job hunters. The Department of Workforce Development announced that Wisconsin has received a $2.5 million federal grant to promote education, training and employment for individuals with disabilities.
Lisa Pugh, Public Policy Coordinator at Disability Rights Wisconsin, says “the recession has hit persons with disabilities especially hard.”
The amount of deaths related to domestic abuse in Wisconsin has gone down slightly but the group behind the study says the number is still remarkably high. The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports 58 lives were lost in these incidents in 2010, including suicides and law enforcement related killings. Of these 39 were murders compared to 47 in 2009.
Miller, Barca, Seidel PHOTO: WRN
Democrats in the Wisconsin legislature were critical Wednesday, in response to the governor’s jobs session. Governor Scott Walker is proposing an ambitious agenda for a “Back to Work Wisconsin” special session of the legislature. “These are all things that businesses, job creators, people who are ultimately going to put middle class workers back to work, have been asking for,” the governor said in Sun Prairie. Walker said the 26 bills on the special session agenda will help spur job creation in the private sector.
But at a press conference where they reacted to the announcement, Democrats were less than impressed. “It’s nearly October, and we are just getting around to even considering any number of bills, including Democratic bills,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller of Monona. “Unfortunately, it seems just like the previous special session with the so-called budget adjustment bill, this session will be just another example of bait and switch.” [Read more...]
Mayor Paul Soglin PHOTO: WRN
Madison’s mayor believes inequities in the state’s shared revenue system need to be addressed. Mayor Paul Soglin said Wednesday that Madison is not getting its fair share in comparison with Milwaukee, even given that city’s much larger population. Milwaukee received more than $228 million in shared revenues from the state in 2010, while Madison received just over $7.5 million, according to figures provided by Soglin’s office.
“We’re not suggesting that the formula be the same for the two cities,” Soglin said during a press conference at his office. “But what’s very clear is that it is inequitable, and something needs to be done. It was made more inequitable this last year with the additional cuts that we saw.” [Read more...]
The Rock County sheriff’s office is investigating major vandalism to a Clinton business. Captain Todd Christiansen said deputies initially responded to a burning utility trailer Saturday morning. When they arrived at the Breezy Hill Nursery, the trailer was completely destroyed by fire. Numerous vehicles were spray-painted, and several were recovered from a pond on the property. Another trailer used as an office was spray painted inside and out. “We haven’t seen anything like this in a while,” said Christianson. “You might get the graffiti here and there, but this is a little more extreme than the normal spray painting cases.” Damage was estimated at $25,000. “It just seems like someone has something personal against the company, but then again it might be just someone randomly doing it,” said Christianson.
Beth Wheelock, WCLO
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