The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has faced prison overcrowding and staffing shortages for years. Sec.-Designee Kevin Carr discusses these and other challenges the agency hopes to tackle, including plans to close the embattled Lincoln Hills juvenile facility.
The city of Hayward owes its existence to the waters and woods of northern Wisconsin, but the same geography that sparked and sustained the community's growth likewise heralds an emerging menace to its future.
In the American system of checks and balances, the third branch is key. Made up of the supreme, appellate, circuit and municipal courts — the judicial branch — interprets the laws. But how are those interpreters, or justices, put on the bench?
Repeated flood damage is bleeding budgets in northwest Wisconsin. WisContext associate editor Will Cushman discusses the cycle of storm damage and infrastructure repair, and how communities in the region are dealing with it.
The issue of too much water in too short a time is contributing to mounting budgetary and, in some cases, existential crises for communities of all sizes around Wisconsin and the United States.
One of the first environmental scientists in northwest Wisconsin to raise concerns about how prepared the region was for more intense flooding is Randy Lehr.
With northwest Wisconsin facing multiple extreme rainstorms over the past decade, WisContext associate editor Will Cushman discusses to understand what has happened in the region and what it is doing to prepare for the future.
A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate would allow municipalities to make road improvements while spending federal aid to rebuild after a disaster. Bayfield County Highway Commissioner Paul Johanik discusses how counties are looking to get ahead of future flooding events.
While policy debated over climate change and efforts to mitigate flooding continue at the state and federal levels, local residents and officials in Hayward and Sawyer County impacted by washed-out roads and water in their basements are thinking about the next storm.
The issue of transportation funding was at the forefront of Wisconsin's 2019-20 budget cycle. State Department of Transportation Secretary-Designee Craig Thompson discusses local road funding needs and how Wisconsin approaches rebuilding infrastructure after major floods.
