Rothman concerned about proposed changes to NIH funding (MADISON)
Proposed changes to grant funding by the National Institutes for Health could have serious consequences for the Universities of Wisconsin. A federal judge on Monday blocked the NIH’s announced 15% cap on indirect costs for all new and current grants. In a Monday ‘Newsmakers’ interview with WisconsinEye UW System President Jay Rothman talked about what those grants support. He said at UW Madison alone, the NIH supports research on cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and diabetes. A federal judge on Monday blocked the NIH’s announced 15% cap on indirect costs for all new and current grants. The change would impact UW Madison and UW Milwaukee, both of which receive NIH research funding. In the interview with WisconsinEye, Rothman said the decision from the Trump Administration “was not done in a businesslike fashion” and that “it doesn’t look like there was a whole lot of analysis that went into it.”
Wisconsin AG Kaul joins multistate lawsuit against John Deere (MADISON)
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is joining a lawsuit against John Deere. Wisconsin and four other states accuse Deere of forcing owners of its equipment to only use its own teams to make adjustments or repairs. Deere has been at the center of the ‘right to repair’ movement, with farmers and mechanics accusing the company of disabling any tractor that is repaired by its owner or third parties. Moline, Illinois based Deere is the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment.
Proposed bill would require cell phone ban in schools (MADISON)
A Republican authored bill would require Wisconsin schools to restrict the use of cellphones in class. Sturgeon Bay representative Joel Kitchens says phones are disruptive and have no space during instruction time. Most districts already have cell phone policies in place. Critics of the bill say students may need their phones so parents can contact them during the day.
Life with parole eligibility in 50 years for man who killed pregnant ex-girlfriend (JANESVILLE)
A Janesville man who shot his ex-girlfriend to death after he learned she was pregnant will be elderly when eligible to be released from prison. Rock County Judge Jeffrey Kuglitsch on Tuesday sentenced 23-year-old Logan Barclay to life in prison, telling Barclay he’d be eligible for extended supervision at age 73. Barclay pled guilty in November to first-degree intentional homicide as domestic abuse in the April 2024 death of 22-year-old Kiersten Hansen. She was shot in the stomach and left for dead along the Peace Trail in Janesville last April 16th. She was the mother of a child with Barclay which his parents have custody of.