Five Wisconsin school districts will share $30 million, as part of a settlement of federal charges over their purchase of risky investments. The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused the Royal Bank of Canada of misconduct in selling collateralized debt obligations to the Kimberly, Kenosha, Waukesha, Whitefish Bay, and West Allis-West Milwaukee school systems. The schools had invested $200 million to boost their retirement accounts. Those investments later became worthless – and the SEC agreed with the schools that RBC failed to give adequate disclosures about how risky they were. [Read more...]
GOP Young Guns fire off on Facebook
September 27, 2011 By
Three Republican House leaders met in Silicon Valley Monday where they broadcast on a live stream on Facebook. Among them Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan who says job training is too fragmented among 49 different programs in the federal government.
“We don’t track to see whether they work. Whether people are actually getting the education and going back to work.”
Ryan mentions his hometown of Janesville as a place where unemployed [Read more...]
Pushback on anti-cheese billboard
September 27, 2011 By
A billboard bearing an anti-cheese message is getting some dairy state pushback. A non-profit group has paid for the billboard in DePere with a provocative message about the dangers of cheese. But it’s the image of Death wearing a cheesehead hat which got cheesehead maker Ralph Bruno on the phone with his attorney. “We definitely want to make a statement to the general public that Foamation in no way supports this cause,” said Bruno, who wants the image of the cheesehead removed or covered as soon as possible. “Our attorney is in contact with the owner of the billboard to find out what it would take for that to happen.” [Read more...]
Brewers fall to the Pirates
September 27, 2011 By
The Milwaukee Brewers missed an opportunity to extend their lead over Arizona to host a first round playoff series. The Brewers fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 Monday night at Miller Park while Arizona lost to Los Angeles 4-2.
Shaun Marcum struggled in his final regular season start for Milwaukee. Marcum lasted just 4 2/3 innings surrendering 7-runs on 10-hits in a no decision. [Read more...]
A call to restore public financing
September 27, 2011 By
A state lawmaker is calling on Republicans to reinstate a public financing option for candidates running for the state Legislature. The Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund, and the income tax check-off that paid for it, were eliminated in the last state budget.
Even though it was only used by 11 lawmakers in recent elections, Jay Heck with Common Cause in Wisconsin says its existence was important. Heck says every dollar of public financing a candidate has access to means one less dollar of special interest funding they have to accept. [Read more...]
