Evers pledges to appeal rejected FEMA flood aid request (UNDATED)
State and local officials have responded to the decision by Trump administration to deny additional federal funding for Wisconsin to address public infrastructure damage from this summer’s severe flooding. Governor Tony Evers said he’ll appeal the rejection of the additional funds request he made in August. In statement, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that without this federal assistance, Milwaukee County will be left footing the bill to repair and assess $22 million in public infrastructure. Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride said the federal funding would have helped cover approximately $5 million in damage to municipal property and infrastructure, a burden he said will now fall on residents in the form of a property tax increase. Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow said the county had just over $2 million in public infrastructure damage and he supports Evers’ decision to appeal. In September, the Trump administration did grant a request for $29.8 million in FEMA Individual Assistance to households and businesses in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. The denied request for $26.5 million was made by the Evers administration in August for Public Assistance from FEMA for Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
Helping homeless veterans presents complex challenges (MILWAUKEE)
Helping homeless veterans in Wisconsin presents many challenges. Quentin Hatfield, Executive Director of the nonprofit Wisconsin Veterans Network, says the homeless situation has improved slightly with veterans, but is nowhere near eliminated. He says groups serving our veterans are seeing an increasing number of cases and the cases are more complex than in the past. He says vets service groups are collaborating more broadly across the state to resolve issues as quickly as possible. As rents increase around Wisconsin, they’re assisting more veterans who have young children, and more elderly vets on fixed incomes. He cited a “worst case scenario” where WVA assisted a homeless 87-year-old veteran earlier this year, calling that “a red alert” to the plight of older vets. WVA recently received a $25,000 grant from the state Department of Veterans Affairs to continue serving veterans, one of 16 grants to veterans’ nonprofits totaling $550,000.
Proposed legislation to remove DATCP authority raise some fees (MADISON)
State lawmakers propose legislation that would take away the ability of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection to raise fees on animal markets, dealers and truckers. Farmer and State Representative Tranel says DATCP’s proposed fees go up as much as 1700 percent, calling that unreasonable and unsustainable. The Cuba City Republican says feedback has been loud and overwhelming and that all of those fees are going to get passed on to producers. Tranel says putting the current fees into the state statutes would mean unelected bureaucrats could not increase them using administrative rules. He notes the State Supreme Court recently took away the Legislature’s power to oversee agency rules, but the Legislature can take a vote and say whether or not they think this is an appropriate time to increase fees by this astronomical amount. Tranel notes the fees come on top of President Donald Trump’s plan to buy beef from Argentina, which adds more uncertainty to the market. He’s had discussions with Ag Secretary Randy Romanski, and is hopeful a more reasonable solution can be reached.
La Nina weather pattern could mean unpredictable winter weather (UNDATED)
A La Nina climate pattern could mean a return to what feels like a normal Wisconsin winter this year. UW – Madison Professor Jonathan Martin says because we’ve had such mild winters in recent years, that even a mild La Nina might seem like a more severe stretch of winter weather. Martin says the La Nina also has a lot of unpredictability, but we should still expect stretches with very cold temps and more wet weather. Martin says we could experience the effects of the La Nina into March.
WIAA launches new initiative targeting inappropriate behavior (UNDATED)
A new initiative targeting inappropriate behavior at high school athletic events in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has launched the ““Hear It? See It? Report It!” initiative with the hopes of making it easier and more effective to report bad behavior. The WIAA spent the last year listening to concerns from student-athletes, coaches, parents, and officials and learned that reporting such incidents needs to be simpler and faster. If you encounter inappropriate behavior at a game, you can now report it by scanning a QR code at events or filling out an online form. You’re also encouraged to still report it immediately to a coach, official or manager at the event.
DNR encouraging you to help the bats (UNDATED)
Help Wisconsin bats during International Bat Week. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is encouraging you to attend a local educational bat event and find out how you can help the species. Of the eight bat species found in Wisconsin, the big brown bat, little brown bat, northern long-eared bat and tricolored bat are threatened. The decline of bats in Wisconsin is primarily due to white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by a fungus that attacks the bare skin of bats during hibernation each winter. Head to the DNR’s website for more information and to find an event near you.