Small number of cases shows why election officials say Wisconsin’s disorganized system for tracking those adjudicated ‘incompetent’ to vote needs a legislative fix.
Tag: Dane County
Posted inGovernment
Wisconsin judge dismisses complaint against GOP fake elector
A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday dismissed an open records complaint against a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who served as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump.
Posted inJustice & Safety
Judge orders Wisconsin DOJ agent to stand trial in shooting
A Wisconsin Department of Justice agent who wounded an unarmed Black man during a Madison traffic stop last year must stand trial over whether the shooting was justified.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Dane County, Wisconsin have 88% voter turnout in 2022, tied with the 2018 midterms?
No. Dane County saw 80.3% turnout in the 2022 midterm election, according to unofficial results last updated at 5:12 a.m. on Nov. 9.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Former Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office employee to county leaders — Stop political ‘damage control,’ investigate ‘toxic’ work environment
Kurt Karbusicky, a longtime Dane County death investigator, says the medical examiner’s office is plagued by bullying and mismanagement.
Posted inJustice & Safety
Dane County is home to pilot program that provides lawyers for immigrants
Dane County, Wisconsin, has been selected as one of 13 sites across the country to test a new model: a public-defender-style system aimed at providing a lawyer to every detained, indigent immigrant.
Posted inEconomy, Government, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Most northern counties left behind by Gov. Scott Walker’s jobs agency
While cities like Madison, Waukesha and Green Bay thrive economically, northern Wisconsin counties have been left behind in the state’s economic development efforts. Local economic development leaders share stories of being ineligible for economic development programs brought by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-governmental agency created in 2011 by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Northern counties are also receiving proportionally less help from the WEDC, with many local leaders saying they are ineligible or unable to meet basic requirements for certain programs or incentives.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Experts: Drug choice, not race, fuels disparities in Wisconsin drug courts
According to a recent study by Washington University in St. Louis, 90 percent of heroin users are white, and most are young and live in the suburbs. By contrast, hospital studies show that African-Americans are much more likely than whites to abuse cocaine. And one University of Wisconsin-Madison expert said heroin addicts tend to commit less violent crimes than those on cocaine; many drug courts exclude violent offenders from participating. The result: Some drug courts, such as the one in Dane County, are now full of white heroin users.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin drug courts grow, but racial disparities persist
In 2012, about one-third of those arrested for drug crimes in Dane County were black, according to the state Office of Justice Assistance. But African-Americans made up just 10 percent of those participating in the county’s drug court that year, according to Journey Mental Health, a Madison nonprofit that provides treatment and case management for the program.
Posted inEnvironment, Water Watch Wisconsin
Scientists unveil scenarios for 2070 life in Madison area
The stories are intended to hover at what Center for Limnology director Steve Carpenter calls “the edge of plausibility,” and encourage something people are terrible at: long-term ecological thinking and planning.
Posted inEnvironment, Murky Waters, Water Watch Wisconsin
Lake scientists to Kegonsa: Lower your water quality expectations
All lakes are not created equal. And in the Madison area’s Yahara chain, Lake Kegonsa is the redheaded steplake.
Posted inEnvironment, Murky Waters, Water Watch Wisconsin
Landowners, volunteers unite to clean up ‘impaired’ waters
Efforts to clean up lakes Mendota, Monona, Kegonsa and Waubesa are employing conservation practices that originated in Dane County back in the 1970s — just on steroids.