Tag: wisconsin

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.
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…
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…
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,…
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,…
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…