Archives

When Oshkosh Was 'Sin City'

WisContext

Rowdy leisure activities gave late 19th century workers in the Fox Valley a social sphere in which to share ideas about labor organizing and economic justice.

Series: Special Elections And Legislative Vacancies

What Wisconsin's Special Elections Looked Like In 1963

Scott Gordon

WisContext

How vacant state legislative seats get filled seems to have long been a hairy question — that is, when people think much about it at all.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

Wisconsin is in the midst the worst flu season in years, and public health officials are working to stop the spread of the disease. Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene communicable disease division director Peter Shult discusses efforts to track the virus.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

Wisconsin Hospitals Adjust To Unusual Length Of IV Bag Deficit

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Healthcare providers across the United States are longing to get back to a steady drip.

Lake Trout Could Eat Their Way Back To Prominence In Great Lakes

Steven Maier

Great Lakes Echo

Scientists may have settled a debate between anglers and fishery managers over the future of the lake trout in the Great Lakes.

Series: Special Elections And Legislative Vacancies

The History Of Special Elections In Wisconsin

Video:

Frederica Freyberg

PBS Wisconsin

How and when do Wisconsin governors decide to hold special elections to fill legislative vacancies? Scott Gordon of WisContext discusses the potential political and financial reasons for the delay in filling two open seats and the 50 years of precedent related to special elections.

Wisconsin Still Struggles With IV Bag Shortage

Video:

Frederica Freyberg

PBS Wisconsin

Wisconsin's slack supply of IV bags continues months after Hurricane Maria slowed their production in Puerto Rico. Ann Zenk of the Wisconsin Hospitals Association delivers an update on how the state's hospitals are addressing the shortage.

Series: Literacy In Wisconsin

Proposal Would Change Funding Structure For School Libraries

Video:

Marisa Wojcik

PBS Wisconsin

A pair of proposed bills in the Wisconsin Legislature would change the funding formula for the state's public schools, allowing districts to use money that is currently allocated to libraries and move it to educational needs as they see fit.

Series: Known Unknowns

Series: Special Elections And Legislative Vacancies

Making Sense Of Special Elections In Wisconsin

Scott Gordon

WisContext

When debating Gov. Scott Walker's decision to not call special elections to fill two vacancies in the Wisconsin Legislature, state political figures and commentators have argued over the move's implications elections law, public spending and democracy itself. But what about precedent?

Series: Special Elections And Legislative Vacancies

A Tradition Of Special, And Swift, Elections In Wisconsin

Scott Gordon

WisContext

An investigation of 105 special elections in Wisconsin since 1971, as well as 45 legislative vacancies not filled through special elections over the same time period, indicates that it's pretty normal for governors to call them swiftly and without much fuss. But Gov. Scott Walker is challenging that norm with a recent decision.