Policy

The Hidden Costs And Value Of Wisconsin's Search And Rescue Apparatus

WisContext

Search and rescue volunteers tend to be dedicated to their craft. Some spend thousands of dollars and countless hours training for and carrying out searches.

Series: Extreme Precipitation And Wisconsin's Climate

Wisconsin's Aging Dams And The Toll Of Extreme Rainstorms

Jana Rose Schleis

Wisconsin Public Radio

As climate change increases the likelihood of more extreme storms and subsequent floods in coming years, what is the state doing about the potential risks to dams? What does the situation look like at a more local level?

Series: Trauma-Informed Care In Wisconsin

La Crosse's Better Together Teaches Community About The Impact Of Trauma

Audio:

Hope Kirwan

Wisconsin Public Radio

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WPR

Better Together is a program working to improve the mental health of youth in La Crosse County by educating the community about the impacts of trauma.

Series: Challenges To Wisconsin's Rural Schools

Three Lakes, Phelps Teacher-Sharing Plan Points To Rural Districts' Future

Audio:

Rob Mentzer

Wisconsin Public Radio

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WPR

Two rural Northwoods school districts will share a chemistry teacher, and they say the blended online learning program could be a model for districts across the state.

Series: Gerrymandering, Wisconsin And The Courts

What Are The Prospects Of A 'People's Map Commission' For Redistricting?

Video:

Frederica Freyberg

PBS Wisconsin

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PBS Wisconsin

In his 2020 State of the State address, Gov. Tony Evers laid out plans for a nonpartisan redistricting commission for Wisconsin. UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer discusses what a "People's Map Commission" on redistricting can achieve.

Why Volunteers Are Central To Search And Rescue Efforts In Wisconsin

Will Cushman

WisContext

When a hiker goes missing in a forest or a senior with dementia wanders away from a nursing home, who searches for them and under what authority? Or when authorities suspect that a person may have drowned in a lake, how do they go about recovering any remains?

Series: The Varied Forms Of Farm To School

Holmen's Student-Grown Cafeteria Food Defies School Lunch Stereotypes

Audio:

Elizabeth Dohms-Harter

Wisconsin Public Radio

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Wisconsin Life

The only time Holmen High School junior Gracie Kromke is exposed to the stereotypical bad lunch — rubber-roni, slapping food on plates — is when she hears stories about them.

Series: Homelessness Around Wisconsin

HUD: About 4.5K People Were Homeless In Wisconsin In 2019

Audio:

Danielle Kaeding

Wisconsin Public Radio

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WPR

The number of people who were homeless on a single night in 2019 declined in Wisconsin while the nation saw an overall increase, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report.

Rising Inmate Population In Wisconsin Strains Local Jails

Audio:

Rob Mentzer

Wisconsin Public Radio

Keegan Kyle

Wisconsin Public Radio

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WPR

More people are being locked up in Wisconsin, and the increase in inmates in county jails and state prisons is costing taxpayers and straining capacity of corrections facilities in some places.

Series: Disparities And Equity In Wisconsin

Noon Wednesday: Success and Shortcomings In Green Bay Equity

Video:

Marisa Wojcik

PBS Wisconsin

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PBS Wisconsin

The population of people of color in Green Bay is projected to double or triple by 2040. Mohammed Bey, director of diversity and inclusion at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, discusses what diversity and equity efforts looks like in the greater Green Bay area.