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News 06.13.17

13 June 2017 News


Badger Boys State is under way for its 76th session in Ripon. The annual week-long program of The American Legion Department of Wisconsin will bring together hundreds of high school seniors from across Wisconsin to create a 51st state known as Badger Boys State. Badger Boys State participants will develop their own party platforms, pass local ordinances and utilize a judicial system to enforce the laws and constitution of the 51st state. Additionally, citizens choose from a series of schools of instruction, including law, peace officer, leadership, public finance, public speaking, parliamentary procedure, and public persuasion and campaign strategies. Badger Boys State citizens also have an opportunity to participate in a variety of team sports that compete throughout the week, a band and choir, and write for the official newspaper of Badger Boys State, the Badger Bugle Citizen. Planned highlights of this year’s session include guest speakers, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and Charles Wiley of the National Press Corps, among others. Badger Boy State citizens are selected by local high schools throughout the state based on their qualifications as good students, exhibiting strong leadership skills and in the top third of their class. Previous Badger Boys State graduates are prominent today as leaders and include Governor Scott Walker (1985), Governor Scott McCallum (1967), Congressman Thomas Petri, jazz singer Al Jarreau, actor Daniel J. Travanti (all 3 in 1957), and former Governor Martin Schreiber (1956).

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Preliminary results of a study on an east Wisconsin county’s groundwater indicate some wells in the area contain fecal microbes that can make people sick. The two-year-long study found that about 380 Kewaunee County residents are at risk of contracting a stomach parasite called cryptosporidiosis (krip-toh-spohr-i-dahy-OH-sis), which can cause diarrhea. U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Mark Borchardt and a team from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh monitored more than 620 wells. Almost 5,000 households in the county depend on private wells. The study found that traces of fecal matter in the wells, which may be from cows, likely entered groundwater through shallow topsoil. Borchardt says the most severe contamination occurs after heavy rain or a fast snow melt. There’s no timeline for when the USDA will finalize the study’s findings.

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One Madison-area health care provider will begin asking patients of all ages about hunger. Starting today, UW Health providers in Madison will start asking all emergency room and hospital patients if they’re worried about having enough food. Patients who are experiencing food insecurity will then be directed to food pantries and other assistance. The hospital will also start providing children with free meals during the summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reimburse the hospital for the food. The meals will be offered daily for pediatric outpatients and siblings or children or inpatients until Aug. 25. According to hunger relief organization Feeding America, about one in nine adults and one in six children in Dane County have food insecurity.

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A review of state data reveals that 36 violent sex offenders who have completed treatment are still waiting in prison for Wisconsin officials to find them somewhere to live. Wisconsin policymakers, like those in many states, have struggled for years to find homes for sex offenders in the face of opposition from local communities and legal restrictions on where they can live. It’s a process that takes months and sometimes years. Wisconsin lawmakers are proposing yet another approach that would give local communities more of a voice in placement decisions while doing away with limitations on how close offenders can live to schools, parks and day care centers.

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Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed sales tax holiday for back-to-school shopping appears to be doomed. Republican members of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee said Friday they want to divert the $17 million cost of the sales tax holiday and instead use it to reduce or potentially eliminate the personal property tax. The sales tax holiday would apply to certain purchases targeted to families, including clothing, computers and school supplies. The personal property tax is primarily paid for by businesses. There are also concerns among Republican lawmakers about the effectiveness of the sales tax holiday. Joint Finance Committee member Sen. Luther Olsen says he has a feeling the sales tax holiday won’t happen. And fellow committee member Sen. Leah Vukmir says she hasn’t seen support for it.

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