WHERE ARE THE CHARTER SCHOOL RECORDS?
National Charter School Week was the first week in May. There are thousands of charter schools in USA. Charter schools are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a special conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
On December 23, 2015, the Dept. of Education issued a statement called “A Commitment to Transparency: Learning More about the Charter School Program.” The Center for Media and Democracy requested records for closed or never-opened charter schools.
The US Department of Education reported that it had funded more than 2600 charter schools that were operational ...
The Game is Rigged: Fighting the CAFO
The Bayfield County Board passed two local ordinances to regulate large factory farming. Some of the provisions exceed state requirements. But citizens opposing the proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) still have the cards stacked against them. The new ordinances may be challenged in court. State law does not allow local governments to prohibit CAFOs. Local regulatory power through local ordinances is limited by state law. Citizen's ability to sue for damages is also limited.
The state regulatory system is largely skewed in favor of the industry. The ...
SACRED WATER, SACRED LAND SATURDAY, MAY 21 IN WISCONSIN RAPIDS
(Enbridge has been sending over a million barrels of crude oil through its Route #66 Pipeline through Wisconsin, from Superior to Janesville.
It plans to add another pipeline to increase the flow. That is triple the amount of Keystone XL.
Walkers are traveling 20 miles a day, in an effort to educate the people on what is happening to our land, water and air. You can read more about it from Barb Heget’s blog.)
https://www.facebook.com/events/246041252410454/
We are walking in roughly 20-mile, daily increments over the course of 33 days. Look at the map of the ...
YOU ARE INVITED TO A FIELD DAY
The Northwest Chapter of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association will hold a field day at the Douglas County Wildlife Area, commonly known as the Bird Sanctuary on Saturday, May 21.
Bob Hanson, a DNR wild-life biologist, will give a presentation on the area known as the Northwest Sands, which runs from the Minoqua Barrens in northeastern Bayfield County, through the Bird Sanctuary down to Grantsburg and on into Minnesota. This is critical sharp-tailed grouse habitat that is slowly disappearing.
Bob will discuss the importance of fire-dependent ecosystems, the role ...
WATSON
“It was an amazing feat when Watson, IBM's "cognitive" -- listening, "thinking" and learning -- computing platform handily beat two Jeopardy grand champions in February 2011” - - Doug Henschen Information Week
Many remember the victory of IBM’s “Watson” computer over the Jeopardy grand champions, but few are aware that Watson is now playing a significant role in the field of medicine. Teaming with such austere institutions as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York and the Cleveland Clinic, Watson is assisting medical professionals in determining ...
BRING VOTER ID TO UNDERSERVED VOTERS…
By Jay Heck, Director of Common Cause/ Wisconsin
Walker and WISDOT never even considered a Mobile Van Program to bring Voter ID to underserved voters. Some former Confederate States make it easier to obtain Voter ID than does Wisconsin.
In June of 2015, Common Cause of Wisconsin and 12 other state and national public interest organizations sent this letter to Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WISDOT) Secretary Mark Gottlieb requesting the establishment of a mobile Division of Motor Vehicles program. The program would have vehicles that visit under-served ...
UNIONS ARE LIKE FAMILIES
When one mentions the word family, the first thing that comes to a person’s mind is the group of people you grew up with-father, mother, siblings and perhaps your grandmother or grandfather. Perhaps your definition of family is your immediate family-yourself, your spouse/significant other and your children. But stop and think about it. We have many more families in our daily lives than what immediately comes to mind. We also have our work family, our church family and our community family just to name a few.
Human beings do not live in isolation. We are very social ...
AUDIT THE PENTAGON
In "A Golden Age for Pentagon Waste" (US News and World Report, 2-3-16), William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, cites examples of Pentagon waste:
*$17 billion spent on private villas and costly facilities that were barely used in Afghanistan.
*$7 billion spent on unneeded equipment by the Defense Logistics Agency.
*Congress inserted 11 additional F-35 combat aircraft into the last defense bill despite dubious value to the military. Over the last decade the F-35 project has cost $1.4 trillion and has yet ...
WEALTH AND MONEY PART X: DEBT – THE ULTIMATE WEAPON OF CONQUEST
“Meet the Campaign to Fix the Debt, the billionaire-funded project that uses Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles as figureheads for a fear mongering campaign to convince Americans that the deficits the United States has run throughout its history have suddenly metastasized into “a cancer that will destroy this country from within.” It is the latest incarnation of Wall Street mogul Pete Peterson’s long campaign to get Congress and the White House to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid while providing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.” ...
SAVE CIVIL SERVICE
To mark Public Service Recognition Week, the Wisconsin Coalition to Save Civil Service is calling for a repeal of Wisconsin Act 150, set to begin implementation on July 1st. Act 150 will eliminate civil service exams and dismantle other key parts of the Wisconsin Civil Service Merit System.
“Wisconsin Civil Service is no less relevant today than it was in 1905 when it was begun. Wisconsin Act 150 will decimate the idea that ‘the best shall serve the state’. Instead, cronies will fill public agencies and will refocus state government to serve corporate special ...
