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Housing-First Hits Madison Amid Rising Tensions Over Homelessness

WisContext

At the end of July, volunteers will fan out across Wisconsin and attempt to count homeless people in their communities' shelters and streets. The twice-a-year process is known as a "point in time" count. In Madison, the count will happen as Mayor Paul Soglin pushes for a city ordinance limiting when homeless people can sleep on public sidewalks.

Toxoplasma Parasite Opens New Doors For Disease Research

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Biologists define parasitism as a relationship where one organism benefits in the course of taking advantage of another. By understanding how parasites prey on their hosts, medical researchers could develop some novel ways to fight disease.

Series: Civic Science In Wisconsin

Series: Wisconsin's Bats And White-Nose Syndrome

Watching The Bats Of Wisconsin

Karen Faster

WisContext

From loon-watchers to fighters of invasive species, Wisconsin is home to many groups engaged in citizen science. One example of a citizen science effort of this type in the state is the Wisconsin Bat Monitoring Project.

Series: CAFOs, Manure And Water

Bayfield County Confronts Challenges Of Regulating A Potential CAFO

Scott Gordon

WisContext

The debate over a proposed large hog operation in Bayfield County raises questions over how much power Wisconsin's local governments have to regulate farms.

Series: Local Food Science

Seed To Kitchen Collaborative Seeks More Flavors For Local Produce

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

While local food can be viewed as both an eternal and contemporary concept, a basic way-of-life present throughout humanity's history and a fashionable type of grocery purchase, the science behind what it is and means is still taking shape.

A New Wisconsin Prairie Takes Shape At Badger Ammo

Scott Gordon

WisContext

The Badger Army Ammunition Plant, located just south of Devil's Lake State Park in Sauk County, produced smokeless powder, rocket propellant and other explosive materials used in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Now, the site is in the midst of a gradual transition into its next chapter.

From The Medicine Cabinet To Lake Michigan

Scott Gordon

WisContext

As medications and personal care products pile up in people's medicine cabinets, they are also increasingly making their way into water supplies, accumulating over time in tiny increments.

Series: Wisconsin's Rural-Urban Continuum

Rural Wisconsin Counties Continue To Lose Population

Karen Faster

WisContext

Since the Great Recession, more people have been migrating out of Wisconsin than moving into the state — a pattern contrary to Minnesota and Iowa.

Series: Drinking Water Quality

Series: Waukesha And Lake Michigan Water

Waukesha Water Decision Puts Regional Spotlight On Wisconsin's Environmental Enforcement

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Waukesha scored a victory with the historic June 21, 2016 agreement to let the Milwaukee suburb draw 8.2 million gallons per day of drinking water from Lake Michigan. But following a years-long negotiation, both the state of Wisconsin and city of Waukesha had to make some concessions.

Series: Wisconsin's Wolves

Frequent Changes In Management Policy Escalate Wolf Debate

Scott Gordon

WisContext

For Erik Olson, an assistant professor of natural resources at Northland College in Ashland, the biggest weakness in Wisconsin's policy toward wolves hasn’t been any one particular policy decision.