Tag: Lisa Neff

Climate change could collapse songbird population

Birdwatchers in the Midwest know the Acadian flycatcher’s song goes “peet-sah, peet-sah.” But will birders a century from now know the call?
Massive environmental march a prelude to U.N. meeting

The alarm has sounded for years. Now a draft U.N. report on the environment warns that global warming is here, caused by people, unquestionably dangerous and possibly irreversible.
Saving time: Is time running out on daylight saving time?

Is time running out on daylight saving time? Ask a group of students waiting in the dark for a school bus their opinion of daylight saving time, and some will say, “What’s that?” Others might shrug and reply, “Whatever.” “Meh.”
Change of season for resistance activists

Progressive activists challenging the policies of the Trump administration and the GOP agenda are transitioning from a summer campaign to a fall initiative — and they’re recruiting.
Squirms and laughs: In ‘Mortified’ project, adults share their private middle school angst

Mortified is grass-roots storytelling where adults read their childhood writings to strangers. It brings the era of private diaries and journals to today’s life-sharing era of social media. Words that were meant to be private are now recited before live audiences — and made available by Netflix.
$Liesl Shurtliff writes Li’l Red into her fractured fairy tales$

Liesl Shurtliff writes Li’l Red into her fractured fairy tales

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved to read Grimm’s Fairy Tales and play in the woods. This girl grew up to be a best-selling author who loved to tell variations on classic fairy tales.
Ride on: Public transportation use reaches 57-year high, but not in Wisconsin

Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2013, which is the highest annual public transit ridership number in 57 years. “Americans in growing numbers want to have more public transit services in their communities,” said American Public Transit Association board chair Peter Varga, who also is the CEO of The Rapid transit system…
Wisconsin grows initiative to save seeds

An online store opened in mid-April, in time for vegetable growers to get seeds to plant for a summer or fall harvest. What makes the store unique is that it is an outlet for the Open Source Seed Initiative, a campaign affiliated with UW-Madison and established in 2011 by plant breeders, farmers, sustainable food system…
Lift off: Flying back from edge of extinction

Lift off: Flying back from edge of extinction Operation Migration and the endangered whooping crane Reason to “whoop”: Central Wisconsin is welcoming back “snowbirds” — Nana and Papa are packing up suitcases and closing down condos on Florida’s sunny shores and heading home. But actual snowbirds are flying 1,000-plus miles over the United States to…
Major food truck festival comes to Milwaukee area

Leave the tight jeans at home, Anne Marie Aigner advises. She’s the founder and executive producer of Food Truck Festivals of America, which has organized more than 60 festivals in the United States and will bring a caravan of food trucks to Waukesha May 20. “We’ll have everything from crepes to tacos to barbecue and…
Wisconsin Assembly votes to lift barrier to new nukes

“No nukes now. No nukes probably forever,” says environmental activist Kevin Moore. Moore, in the late 1980s, went to jail as a protester seeking to block the licensing of nuclear power plants. He’s remained active since. And, like many no-nuke demonstrators who committed to the cause in the late 1970s and 1980s, he’s baffled by…
State of the Birds: 230 species face serious threats

In 40 years time, the population of wild passenger pigeons went from 2-3 billion to none. Today, hundreds of species, with their habitats disappearing and their climate changing, face critical threats and need conservation help. This week, 100 years after the extinction of the passenger pigeon, a team of scientists involved with the U.S. Committee…
Frac sand mining threatens health, welfare in Wisconsin

Victoria Trinko hasn’t opened the windows in her Wisconsin farmhouse in two years. And when she goes outdoors on the farm her family has operated in Chippewa County since 1936, she often wears a mask. Trinko lives less than a mile from a frac sand mining operation — and that’s nothing like living less than…
Multiple choice: Third party candidates complete ballot

Casey McDonough is a Goldilocks in the voting booth. She’s not fickle, but she likes a candidate to be just right. Often that means she votes Democratic. Rarely has it meant that the progressive Wisconsinite has voted for a Republican. But occasionally, she finds an independent or a third-party candidate who fits. “I’m not beholden…
Rattling the cage: Court weighs in on personhood for non-humans

Rattling the cage: Court weighs in on personhood for non-humans A New York court will decide this fall whether to apply “legal personhood” to an animal in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed on behalf of Tommy the Chimp. On Oct. 8, a panel of five judges for the New York State Appeals Court heard from attorney…
By the numbers: Before the votes, the polls

By the numbers: Before the votes, the polls More ads. More speeches. More press statements. More fundraising pleas. More PAC involvement. And some high-profile pitches followed the news that the Marquette University Law School Poll in early October showed Scott Walker and Mary Burke tied at 47-47 percent among likely voters in the Wisconsin governor’s…
Communities enact bans on GMO crops

Communities enact bans on GMO crops Two Oregon farmers are defending a local ordinance in federal court in a campaign to protect their harvests and create a zone free of genetically engineered crops. The Center for Food Safety and Our Family Farms Coalition joined the farmers in the defense of the Jackson County ordinance approved…
Color them proud for Pride: Butch Lesbians of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Coloring Book

The Butch Lesbians of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Coloring Book proved so popular a second edition is due just two months after the first print run. The sequel to The Butch Lesbians of the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s Coloring Book contains 40 pages to color, as well as profiles by editors Jon Macy and Avery Cassell of…
Milwaukee surfers making waves with sport, advocacy

Eric Gietzen grew up in Shorewood, close to Lake Michigan, seeing the crashing waves and listening to the lore about famous shipwrecks. “When I woke up in the morning, if there would be big waves, I could hear them,” he recalls. Ryan Bigelow also grew up in the Milwaukee area. Neither of them imagined that…
Little LGBT lessons: A history and activity book for kids

A new LGBT history from Chicago Review Press is kid-friendly and mom-approved — make that two moms. Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights is stocked with stories, quotes, photographs and nearly two dozen activities. LGBT parents will be over-the-rainbow with the book by Jerome Pohlen, a former elementary school…
Activists fight to protect wolves from hunts

The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to strip wolves of federal protections in Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The 242–161 vote was on amending a hunting bill, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act. “This vote by the U.S. House of Representatives is a crack at the very foundation of the Endangered Species Act,…
Superhosts roll out welcome mats as Airbnb builds presence in Wisconsin

Feel summer waning without even a weekend getaway? Airbnb superhosts await guest arrivals at artists’ studios in the Driftless Area, lake cabins in Door County, city apartments across Milwaukee, farmhouses in Dane County — even two yurts on Bayfield County forest land and a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Two Rivers. Renting vacation rental homes…
Hemp happenings: Industry to cultivate support during Hemp History Week in June

More than 250 hemp happenings take place in early June, when Hemp History Week arrives. The campaign — set for June 4–10 — is coordinated by the Hemp Industries Association and Vote Hemp. HIA is a nonprofit trade group representing hemp companies, researchers, farmers and supporters. Vote Hemp is a nonprofit advocacy group. Hemp History…
Study: Trump’s border wall threatens 93 species

President Donald Trump’s planned border wall threatens 93 species, including jaguars, ocelots, Mexican gray wolves and cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, according to a new study by the Center for Biological Diversity. The study also found 25 threatened or endangered species have designated “critical habitat” on the border, including more than 2 million acres within 50 miles of…
Monumental fight waged over national monuments

If a tree falls at the Giant Sequoia National Monument in California, will a friend of Donald Trump get rich? This is the question that circulated on social media in late April, as Trump signed yet another executive order — this time directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review the designations of dozens of national…
The Great American Eclipse of 2017 to produce mass migration, awe

Exterior, the crest of the highway. A farmer leans against her tractor. A family picnics outside their motorhome. A couple of bikers look up at the sky through extra dark shades. Cars, trucks and RVs are bumper to bumper. Over horns and laughter, there’s a battle between stereo systems. “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.”…
Wisconsin walkabout: Take a hike for health, friendship, charity

“Gotta beat Jim. Gotta beat Jim.” Anne Danner mutters this as she logs at least 12,000 steps a day trying to get healthy and happy — and beat her boyfriend in their ongoing fitness challenge. Some days she wins and some days he takes the title. But — after more than a year of challenges…
Rise and resist: The story of the year

The largest single-day protest in U.S. history — the Women’s March on Washington — took place the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. The mass mobilization of demonstrators exceeded the expectations of organizers at the main march in the U.S. capital. The estimated 1 million attendees…
Education Department is flushing transgender students’ complaints

The U.S. Education Department confirmed in February that it is no longer investigating — or taking any action on — complaints from transgender students about school-based discrimination. Specifically, the department overseen by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is not taking action on complaints from transgender kids banned from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.…
Students leading the way forward on gun sanity

The shots fired Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, reverberated across the country. They echoed in classrooms from Miami to Milwaukee as students and educators dealt with fear and anger over at least the 170th school shooting since the killing of 13 at Columbine High School in 1999. In Parkland,…
‘Take Back’ campaign puts meds where they belong

Take back meds to be safe. Take back meds to be green. These are the messages delivered by the environmentalists and addiction specialists collaborating on a pharmaceutical spring-cleaning campaign across Milwaukee County. Take Back My Meds MKE launched March 20, the first day of spring. “Safely disposing of unused medicine during spring cleaning at a…
Poll: On abortion, widening divide between young Americans and seniors

A new PRRI poll on a range of reproductive rights and women’s health issues shows stark generational divisions. On questions of personal beliefs about abortion, access to abortion and availability of abortion services, young and older Americans are deeply divided. A look at the PRRI “Widening Generational Divides on Abortion and Reproductive Rights” survey: About…
On top of the world: Iceland No. 1 on LGBT Global Acceptance Index

As Donald Trump campaigned for the White House in 2016, polls showed 19–25 percent of Americans said they’d consider moving to Canada if he won. Surveys put that percentage even higher among LGBT voters. But perhaps LGBT Americans should have been looking to move to Iceland, the Netherlands or Sweden, places that rank No. 1,…
As Illinois ratifies ERA, what’s next?

In late May — 46 years after Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — Illinois lawmakers voted yes. The state was the only northern state to fail to ratify the ERA before a 1982 congressional deadline. “After 36 years, the Illinois House has finally moved to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment,…
Supreme Court watch: Wedding cake ruling muddies the equality waters, more decisions to come

Civil rights groups emphasized the narrowness of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this month that favored a Colorado baker who refused to serve a gay couple wanting to buy a cake for their wedding reception. But the ruling means more business owners will try to use their religious beliefs to discriminate against people based on…
Reaction as U.S. Supreme Court punts on Wisconsin gerrymandering case

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the partisan gerrymander case out of Wisconsin. The high court June 18 said the plaintiffs failed to show they had standing to challenge the Republican-drawn statewide legislative map. First reports from the press at the Supreme Court described the much-anticipated decision as making a “punt” and…
‘Round up’ of losses for Big Chem as herbicides and pesticides come under scrutiny

A federal appeals court ruled in August that the Environmental Protection Agency must ban a widely used organophosphate pesticide. The appellate court in the 9th Circuit ordered the federal agency to finalize its proposed ban on chlorpyrifos based on findings that the pesticide is unsafe for public health — and particularly harmful to children and…
Pilot project to warn of great waves occurring in the Great Lakes

Researchers are establishing an experimental network of air-pressure sensors around lakes Michigan and Erie to see if they can detect “meteotsunami” waves. Meteotsunamis are storm-driven waves similar in some ways to earthquake-generated tsunamis, though meteotsunamis are far less destructive. On average, about 100 meteotsunamis occur each year on the Great Lakes, though most are a…
Activists take direct action in continued call to stop Line 3

Environmental activists risked arrest Aug. 29 with a demonstration urging Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton to act immediately to stop Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline project. Participants included tribal elders, environmental and indigenous advocates and faith leaders. Some activists gathered in Bemidji to engage in an act of civil disobedience — the occupation of a…
Sweet sorrow

Newspaper people write on deadline for the here and now. I like to think of the staccato-like style of a news story as a beating drum. And I like to think Wisconsin Gazette — a newspaper that strived for accuracy and truth while pursuing a progressive agenda — provided a marching tempo for a movement.…
Democratic AGs form defensive line against Donald Trump

Eight Democratic attorneys general recently filed litigation seeking to block the Trump administration from eliminating long-standing protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The lawsuit, led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, will be considered in the Southern District of New York alongside National Audubon Society v. Department of Interior, a case filed in…
March for Science to protest Trump’s onslaught

A resistance is rising to challenge the flat-Earth mentality governing Washington, D.C., and some state capitols. Efforts by the Trump administration to silence scientists and stifle their research are driving a global protest that will come together on Earth Day as the first-ever March for Science. Scientists will march on Washington April 22 and in…
Hundreds of native bee species headed toward extinction

An analysis of the status of bees native to North America and Hawaii finds many species in decline — and nearly one in four at risk of extinction. “It’s a quiet but staggering crisis unfolding right under our noses,” said Kelsey Kopec, a pollinator researcher with the Center for Biological Diversity and the author of…
In Trump times, a revival of Poor People’s Campaign

Protesters launched a six-week season of nonviolent, direct action May 14, marching in Madison and rallying at the state Capitol. They will return, on Mondays, as part of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. It’s an effort in at least 35 states inspired by the civil rights movement of the 1960s…
Anti-choice laws topple

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 struck down anti-choice legislation in Texas with a decisive 5-3 ruling, imperiling similar measures in other states. By June 28, the high court had ruled against Wisconsin and Mississippi, where Republican leaders sought to appeal lower court rulings on their anti-choice provisions. Also, the Alabama attorney general announced…
Supreme Court deadlocks on immigration case

Karla Cano faces uncertainty. She had expected to qualify for deferred action under the Obama administration’s executive orders on immigration. But a tied decision by the U.S. Supreme Court creates uncertainty for Cano and her family. “All that is unjust about my situation will continue,” said Cano, 21, a senior at Mount Mary University and the…
House Democrats stage sit-in, demand vote on gun control

Democrats staged a 1960s-style sit-in on the U.S. House floor June 22–23, chanting, “No bill. No Break.” The protest was intended to call attention to Republicans’ inaction against gun violence in the wake of the largest mass shooting in modern history at a gay dance club in Orlando. House Speaker Paul Ryan responded by shutting…
Terror in the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’

An act of terror. An act of hate. The world responded with love and compassion, fury and fight. Early on the morning of June 12, a gunman armed with an assault rifle and a handgun went on a rampage at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida. He killed 49 people and wounded more than…
Watershed campaign: Milwaukeeans unite behind water initiative

For some Milwaukeeans, summer begins with a dance in the Summerfest water fountain during PrideFest. For others, it begins with a starry night paddle on the Milwaukee River or the first beach day. Water puts the sparkle in Milwaukee’s summers and helps define the city’s identity. “I live to be on the water,” says Bobby…
Voters go to court over ‘worst partisan gerrymander’

A dozen Wisconsin voters and their attorneys will go to federal court in May to present their case challenging one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in modern American history. They count among their supporters Republican and Democratic politicians, good-government forces, First Amendment advocates, progressive philanthropists and fellow citizens who want their votes to count. To…
Decoding your life, growing family trees with DNA tests

You’re not who you think you are, and now science can prove it. Individuals might have genes from ancestors who practiced discrimination as well as genes from the people against whom they discriminated. As gay poet Walt Whitman wrote in 1855, “I am large. I contain multitudes.” Today, with a little spit and about $200,…
Wise words: Commencement season to begin

Students may be shaking spring-break sand from their flip-flops, but commencement celebrations are just weeks away for colleges and universities. Many Wisconsin colleges and universities — public and private — plan commencement ceremonies in May and are lining up speakers. NFL quarterback Russell Wilson will deliver the spring commencement address on May 14 at the University…
To veg out is in: Activists organize Milwaukee Veg Expo

The moment for Pete Woodward of Milwaukee came when he read the bumper sticker, “Eat plants for the planet.” Something clicked, said the 29-year-old mechanic, and he began the cycle to following a vegetarian diet. For Molly Risser of Madison, the commitment came after an afternoon in a dog park. The 34-year-old office assistant recalled, “A…
Birding for bigger budgets: Wisconsin birdathon benefits conservation programs

Those who venture into the woods on a weekend in May might spot an “Old Coot” or a “Lower Chippewa River Titmouseketeer.” These are not new species to add to the Sibley Guide to Birds, but rather team players in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon, an annual event that brings hundreds of birders outdoors for spring scoping…
Growing hemp, seeding a market for farmers and consumers

“Hemp for victory” once was a rallying cry in the United States, back when Wisconsin dominated the hemp industry. The market for the 12-foot-tall plants was strong a century ago and reached its height during World War II, when Wisconsin led the nation in producing hemp for rope and twine. Growers in Fond du Lac,…
WiG Endorsement: Hillary Clinton for president

Without question, Bernie Sanders is mad as hell. And so are we angry as we struggle with wages that remain unchanged while living expenses rise and the American Dream seems to fade. We bemoan the billions thrown at campaigns to manipulate our minds and lament the popularity of billionaire bigots hurling insults and blame at…
U.S. hunters import 126,000 wildlife ‘trophies’ annually

U.S. hunters import about 126,000 “wildlife trophies” annually and killed about 1.26 million animals between 2005 and 2014, according to the Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States. Trophy hunting is the killing of animals for body parts, such as the head and hide, for display or decor rather than for…
Civil liberties groups challenge StingRay surveillance

A StingRay or cell-site simulator is a surveillance device about the size of a suitcase that acts like a cellphone tower, sending out signals and tricking cellphones in the area into transmitting their locations and other identifying information. The device can round up data, collecting information from a suspect’s cellphone and also phones of others…
Eyes in the sky: Drone growth elevates fun, raises privacy concerns

As many as a million kids and kids-at-heart had their wishes take flight when they unwrapped a drone during the holidays. Consumer technology took a turn in 2015 and propelled domestic drones to new heights in popularity in late 2015 and early 2016. But policymakers and privacy advocates see gray areas as more and more…
Big gulp: GOP advances water privatization

“Aqua America” sounds like a water park on the shore of a great lake. Rather, Aqua America is the second-largest publicly traded water utility company in the United States, and some day the company — or Veolia or Suez — could take control of municipal water systems in Wisconsin. Republican lawmakers fast-tracked AB 554/SB 432,…
WiGWag: Of beauty queens, billionaires and doughnut trails

Doh, Ohio The Butler County Visitors Bureau in Ohio rolled out the Donut Trail earlier in January, announcing the county boasted a doughnut shop for every 20,000 residents — one of the highest numbers of shops per capita in the Midwest, according to someone who’s counting. BCVB director Mark Hecquet said the trail is a…
Proposed hog farm prompts Bayfield County to tighten regs

UPDATED: With a proposed factory farm threatening to foul Wisconsin’s “Crown Jewel,” the citizens of Bayfield County are not turning away from the stink or running from the fight. State law prohibits the local jurisdiction from saying “no” to the proposed “concentrated animal feeding operation” in the town of Eileen, but the county on Jan.…
WiGWag: Palin selling home, Rubio wearing heels, first lady asked to go vegetarian

Leaving Arizona: Sarah Palin’s vacation compound in Maricopa, Arizona, went on the market in early January, listed at $2.499 million. Palin purchased the home in 2011 for $1.695 million, prompting rumors she might run for Jon Kyle’s Senate seat when he retired in 2013 or wait for John McCain’s retirement. The 7,971-square-foot stucco house sits on…
Wisconsin Republicans declare open season against environment

Republicans took target practice in early January after declaring open season on Wisconsin’s environmental resources. The new year began with a bang, bang in the Capitol, where in just two days Republicans presided over a series of hearings on bills aimed at rolling back protections for air, land and water and at the same time…
Island of seduction

The way a kid feels that day before the last day of school before summer vacation? That’s the way Fire Island fans feel before the long Memorial Day weekend. The way a kid feels that day before the first day of the new school year? That’s the way Fire Island fans feel about Labor Day…
Calling Ms. Candidate

Emerge Wisconsin is training runners – female runners who will sprint to a seat on the school board, dash to city hall, finish the marathon to the Capitol. EW is an affiliate of Emerge America, which is dedicated to encouraging and preparing Democratic women to run for elected office and, in the course of that…
Pregnant women shackled, jailed for alleged substance use

A pregnant woman tumbles down a flight of stairs and is arrested for attempted feticide. A pregnant woman about to be released from prison is re-incarcerated when the judge learns she is pregnant and HIV-positive. A pregnant woman informs health care workers that she previously used drugs but kicked her habit and is clean. She’s handcuffed, shackled,…
Climate change imperils major U.S. landmarks

The president marked the centennial of Harriet Tubman’s death a year ago by designating 25,000 acres on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as a new national monument. By 2050, if sea levels in the Chesapeake Bay continue to rise at twice the global rate because of climate change, the monument to the legendary abolitionist could be largely…
Meanwhile in Mecca: an illustrated story of San Francisco

The place “has always been a refuge for anyone to come to, whatever status in society. For people, intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, for lonely people. For every walk of life.” Wendy MacNaughton is referring to the San Francisco Public Library, maybe not a stop on every vacationer’s itinerary, but the population of the library “mirrors the population…
From protest to preservation: | Federal government identifies historic LGBT sites and events

On a warm night in June 1969 outside the Stonewall Inn, rioters rebelled against the continued persecution and harassment by government officials. On a sunny day in late May, government officers — the highest-ranking among them member of the U.S. cabinet — gathered outside the unobtrusive brick building that stands as the symbolic birthplace of…
In the game… WiG’s annual Pride pop quiz

No doubt you know the words to “Go! You Packers! Go” and the name of that guy who wears No. 12 — maybe you know his career passing yards. And probably you know which Major League Baseball team is No. 1 in the National League’s Central Division and how many games are left until the…
Legal limbo

As gay couples in Wisconsin waited in legal limbo in mid-June, equality foes continued working to defend anti-gay amendments in the courts and marched on Washington. But those foes are caught in a losing streak. The march on Washington on June 19 fell flat, and there have been 21 consecutive court rulings for marriage equality…
We can be heroes: In pursuit of equality in the courts

Eight same-sex couples — with a team of lawyers — committed earlier this year to overturn Wisconsin’s constitutional amendment barring gays and lesbians from the freedom to marry in the state. Their fight continues, but already their pursuit of equality has resulted in the marriages of at least 555 same-sex couples in Wisconsin. “These families…
Selfie satisfaction: Today’s selfie is yesterday’s portrait

The morning after Spain lost to Chile in World Cup play, soccer fan Tony Andres snapped a sour selfie and grumbled on Twitter. “The World Cup will produce more selfies than goals,” he tweeted to #WorldCupSelfies. He most certainly is correct. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is taking place in Brazil, where soccer fanatics, players…