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Conspiracy Theories, Crackpots, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.15.24: Wisconsin Conspiracy Theorists Take Losses

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:02, and sunset is 7:55, for 13h 52m 30s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1944,  Operation Dragoon begins as Allied forces land in southern France.

Sarah Lehr reports Two of Wisconsin’s most vocal election deniers lost their bids for the state Legislature Tuesday, coming up short in Republican primaries:

In suburban Milwaukee, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, lost to state Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, in a race for the recently redrawn 24th Assembly District.

And in eastern Wisconsin’s new 20th Senate District, former state Rep. Timothy Ramthun of Campbellsport was defeated by state Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac.

….

Brandtjen lost despite being endorsed by former President Donald Trump ahead of the primary. Brandtjen has promoted false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and has echoed calls for the results to be overturned in Trump’s favor.

These two defeats are not enough, but they are something. Some days one settles for something.

A Scottish origin for Stonehenge’s mysterious Altar Stone:

Stonehenge, the Neolithic stone circle on Salisbury Plain in southern England, has captivated archaeologists, antiquarians and sightseers for centuries. For decades researchers have tried to find the origins of the stones, with some being sourced to the surrounding landscape and some from the Preseli Hills in Wales. But new geochemical analysis of the Altar Stone, a partially buried slab of sandstone at the center of the stone circle, suggests that this stone originally came from the Orcadian Basin in Scotland, over 700 kilometers away.

City, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.14.24: Proposed Wisconsin Constitutional Amendments Fail

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 6:01, and sunset is 7:56, for 13h 55m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 68.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill sign the Atlantic Charter stating postwar aims.

Two proposed Wisconsin constitutional amendments on the ballot yesterday failed decisively:

Statewide, Question 1 (Prohibit Legislature from Delegating Appropriations) lost 57.4% to 42.6% and Question 2 (Require Legislative Approval for Federal Funds) lost 57.5 to 42.5%.

In Whitewater, the questions had a similar fate (combining totals from Jefferson and Walworth counties):

Question 1 (Prohibit Legislature from Delegating Appropriations) lost 68.8% to 31.2% and Question 2 (Require Legislative Approval for Federal Funds) lost 68.6 to 31.4%.

See also No on Amendment Questions 1 and 2 (“Questions written nebulously, and presented to voters on a month of traditionally lower turnout, deserve rejection. Government, and the questions it presents, are meant to be more than semantic trickery”).

Watch video from space of the moon setting into auroras:

Matthew Dominick, a flight engineer on the International Space Station, shared on Monday (August 12) a captivating timelapse showcasing the moon setting among vibrant red and green auroras.

Daily Bread, Economy, Health, Kulturkampf, Opioids, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.7.24: Opioids Still a Top Wisconsin Concern

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:54, and sunset is 8:08, for 14h 12m 31s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 8.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1947, Thor Heyerdahl‘s balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America

Christine Durrance, a professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, writes Wisconsin’s opioid crisis complicates an already troubled health care system (‘54% of respondents in UW-Madison survey report health care as quite or an extremely big problem for Wisconsin; 69% feel this way about health care being a problem for the country’):

Health care is the third most concerning issue during this presidential election year, according to WisconSays survey data collected as part of this year’s Main Street Agenda, which the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison is using to highlight what matters to Wisconsin throughout 2024.

In this statewide representative survey, 54% of respondents report health care as quite or an extremely big problem for Wisconsin; 69% feel this way about health care being a problem for the country. These sentiments are felt across the state with 58% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans viewing it as quite a problem or an extremely big problem for the state. There is also little divide between urban (54%) and rural (53%) residents.

….

In 2022, more than 80,000 Americans died from opioids. It was the most deaths in a year due to the drug, and roughly four times the number of deaths attributed to opioids just a decade earlier. Nearly 1,500 Wisconsinites lost their lives to opioids in 2022, almost 20% more than just two years prior.  

The effects of the epidemic on our communities and health care system reach far beyond overdose mortality. One understudied aspect of the opioid crisis is its impact on women, infants, and children.

A hundred culture-war issues, pushed relentlessly, have only distracted from, but not alleviated, tens of thousands of yearly tragedies.

See also Society of Actuaries: Economic Cost of the Opioid Crisis.

Firefighters rescue deer on UW-Stevens Point campus:

Around 11 a.m. first responders were called to the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Pointr construction in Lot J.

Crews were able to restrain, secure, and free the deer from its predicament. 

Daily Bread, Harris-Walz, Never Trump, Presidential Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.6.24: Wednesday in Eau Claire, Dueling Rallies

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy and windy with a high of 74. Sunrise is 5:53, and sunset is 8:08, for 14h 14m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 4.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1960, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.

Anya van Wagtendonk reports Democrats and Republicans will have dueling rallies in Eau Claire tomorrow:

Eau Claire will be host to not one, but two presidential campaign stops on the same day this week. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, announced last week she’d visit the western Wisconsin city with her as-yet-unannounced running mate on Wednesday, Aug. 7. [Since this report, the Harris Campaign announced Gov. Tim Walz as V.P. Harris’s running mate.]

On Monday, the Trump campaign announced that Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance , the Republican vice presidential nominee, will hold a rally in Eau Claire that same day.

There’s a false quadrennial complaint that the two major parties are the same. The complaint has never been accurate; it’s never been less accurate than now. Democrats Harris-Walz and Republicans Trump-Vance could not be further apart and yet be in the same society.

If it all seems the same, the problem isn’t with the choice. It’s with the grasp of those who can’t see the differences.

The choice is stark and the imperative clear: Harris-Walz.

Never Trump means never Trump.

Private Cygnus cargo ship captured by space station robotic arm:

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft was captured by the International Space Station’s robotic arm on on Aug. 6, 2024 at 3:11 a.m. (0711 GMT). [Full Story](https://www.space.com/cygnus-ng-21-ar…) According to Space.com. the freighter — named the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee, after the commander of the tragic STS-51-L mission of the space shuttle Challenger — delivered nearly 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of food, scientific gear and other supplies to the ISS.

Carpetbaggers, Daily Bread, U.S. Senate, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.5.24: Baldwin Outraises Hovde 7-1

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 83. Sunrise is 5:52, and sunset is 8:09, for 14h 17m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.0 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board goes into closed session shortly after 6 PM and returns to open session at 7 PM.

On this day in 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.

If Eric Hovde weren’t spending millions of his own money, he’d already be out of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race. Few others are ponying up. Baylor Spears reports Baldwin outraises Hovde nearly seven times over last month:

Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is  running for her third term, outraised her opponent, Republican businessman Eric Hovde nearly 7-1 last month, according to recent Federal Election Commission reports. 

Baldwin reported more than $2.5 million in receipts from July 1-24, according to the FEC pre-primary reports. Almost $2.1 million of that came from individual contributions, and according to WisPolitics, of that, $773, 270 came from individuals who contributed less than $200.

Baldwin reported spending about $3.4 million, and ended the period with $6.3 million on hand.

Meanwhile, Hovde trailed the incumbent significantly, reporting $374,000 in contributions in the same time period. He spent nearly $2.7 million, and ended the period with $3.1 million on hand. He has kept up with Baldwin in part because of the $13 million in personal loans he has put into his campaign since February.

Hovde’s lack of appeal isn’t surprising. It’s what happens when Mitch McConnell creates a carpetbagger in a mad scientist’s laboratory.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.

Missing boaters rescued without injuries amid incoming hurricane:

The rescue happened amid unusually strong winds as Hurricane Debby passed by the area.

Daily Bread, Language, Law, Legislature, State Government, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.4.24: No on Amendment Questions 1 and 2

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:50, and sunset is 8:10, for 14h 19m 39s of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1914,  in response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

Voters will see two questions on the state’s Aug. 13 primary ballot to amend the state constitution, both of which would shift power to direct federal funding from the governor to the Legislature.

Questions written nebulously, and presented to voters on a month of traditionally lower turnout, deserve rejection. Government, and the questions it presents, are meant to be more than semantic trickery.

These are the amendment questions:

QUESTION 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?”

QUESTION 2: “Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”

For more information on the amendments, see Michael Keane, Wisconsin Constitutional Amendments, Wisconsin State Law Library. Keane writes:

If a majority of those voting on the ratification question vote “yes,” then the amendment has been ratified and becomes part of the constitution upon certification of the results by the chairperson of the elections commission, unless another date is specified in the amendment. (Wisconsin Statute 7.70(3)(h)).

The two amendments on the ballot in August, dealing with the expenditure of federal funds, were approved by the legislature on first consideration during the 2021 session (2021 Senate Joint Resolution 84; Enrolled Joint Resolution 14); they were approved on second consideration by the 2023 legislature (2023 Assembly Joint Resolution 6; Enrolled Joint Resolution 14). Two questions must be submitted to the vote because two different constitutional revisions are incorporated in the single joint resolution. The Supreme Court has ruled that in such cases, separate questions must be submitted to the people. (State ex rel. Thomson v. Zimmerman, 264 Wis. 644).

It appears that, for the first time, the people will be asked to approve a constitutional amendment at a primary election. All previous constitutional amendments have been submitted to the voters for approval at the non-partisan general (April) election, or the partisan general (November) election. (Wisconsin Blue Book, p. 509-514).

Signs of Ancient Life on Mars? Here’s What We See in This Intriguing Rock:

NASA’s Perseverance rover has made very compelling observations in a Martian rock that, with further study, could prove that life was present on Mars in the distant past – but how can we determine that from a rock, and what do we need to do to confirm it? Morgan Cable, a scientist on the Perseverance team, takes a closer look.

Carpetbaggers, Daily Bread, Ignorance, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.2.24: Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be increasingly sunny with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:48, and sunset is 8:13, for 14h 24m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 3.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1932,  the positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.

At Urban Milwaukee, Bruce Murphy has telling finds about Eric Hovde’s views of Black men and welfare policy. Murphy writes Hovde Blasted for ‘Bigoted’ Comments on Black Men (GOP US Senate candidate says Black men have lived on ‘handouts’ and ‘welfare checks’):

On the Jay Weber show on WISN on April 5, Hovde declared that “a lot of people in the minority communities, particularly young black men… are moving in the conservative direction” and “no longer want to just live on just getting welfare checks. They want to be part of the American entrepreneurial dream.”

Hovde repeated these kind of statements on other programs, including on Fox News on April 4, where he said that “Young Black men… want to get off of welfare, they don’t want to be stuck with handouts.”

Murphy reminds, as anyone who understands welfare policy would know, that

The old AFDC system of welfare was eliminated in 1996, in favor of the TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] program, and is used by states to provide non-welfare services, including educational services, job training and pregnancy prevention services.

As for the idea that welfare increased the percentage of out-of-wedlock births in the Black community, research has shown “welfare benefits could not have played a major role… because benefits rose sharply in the 1960s and then fell in the 1970s and 1980s, when out-of-wedlock births rose most,” as the Brookings Institution noted. The causes are far more complex and one key factor was the devastating post-1970s decline of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Hovde has a bigot’s view of Black men as check-collecting layabouts, when that’s false because they’re not, and no one of any race or ethnicity could be. TANF and W2 (Wisconsin Works) — as part of TANF do not operate the way out-of-touch Hovde must think they do.

The first rule for a U.S. Senate candidate from Wisconsin (other than living here full-time) should be to understand the federal and state policies that affect this state. Hovde evidently doesn’t.

One would almost think that it’s Hovde who’s a dividend-check-collecting layabout looking for a free ride to the U.S. Senate.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.

One year since wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui:

In August of 2023, the deadliest U.S. wildfires in over a century killed more than 100 people and left the town of Lahaina in Maui in ruin.

City, Daily Bread, University, UW System, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.1.24: Direct Admission for UW-Whitewater and Many Other Public Universities in Wisconsin

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with scattered afternoon thunderstorms and a high of 84. Sunrise is 5:47, and sunset is 8:14, for 14h 26m 32s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 9.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1774,  British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.

After years of discussion, many Wisconsin public universities will begin to offer direct admissions. Henry Redman reports Thousands of Wisconsin high school students to be directly admitted to UW schools for 2025:

Starting next week, tens of thousands of high school students across Wisconsin will be directly admitted to Universities of Wisconsin schools without filing applications. 

The admissions are part of a new program, launched in December, to boost admission on the state’s public university campuses. 

Next week through September, students will start receiving emails letting them know they’ve been admitted. School districts across the state participating in the Direct Admit Wisconsin program shared student grade point averages and course credits with University of Wisconsin administrators for rising seniors. The program identifies if a student qualifies to be directly admitted to any of the 10 participating campuses. 

UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire are not participating. 

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said this week 50,000 students across 330 high schools are eligible under the program. 

This is a sensible policy as it reduces one unnecessary step to entry.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Direct Admission into the UW System Is a Sensible Idea (8.21.22) and supporting A Direct-Admissions Proposal for the UW Schools (12.8.23).

August 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA:

What are some skywatching highlights in August 2024? Mars and Jupiter have a super close meetup, the conditions look good for the Perseid meteors, and how to observe a stellar nursery – the Lagoon Nebula.

City, Daily Bread, Kamala Harris, Presidential Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.31.24: July Is Not Ending As It Began

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 89. Sunrise is 5:45, and sunset is 8:15, for 14h 28m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 15.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Lakes Advisory Committee meets at 4:30 PM.

On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”

Many Wisconsinites know the presidential candidate they support; from a candidate’s perspective, support only matters if it leads to a vote or a contribution. Will those supporters turn out? In deep-blue Dane County, it looks like blue support (never in doubt) will lead to blue voting. Thomas Beaumont reports Harris gives Democrats a jolt in a critical part of swing-state Wisconsin:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — More than 40 people filed into a converted coffee shop on a recent Saturday morning in Madison, Wisconsin, to organize in a west-side neighborhood for Vice President Kamala Harris.

A month ago, fewer than 10 people showed up for a similar event for President Joe Biden. Some told organizers they were no longer willing to knock on doors in Wisconsin’s famously liberal state capital.

The excitement among loyal Democrats lit by Harris replacing Biden has enlivened the party’s base in Wisconsin, particularly in areas where the vice president must run up big margins to carry a swing state that Biden flipped from Republican Donald Trump.

“Kamala Harris is the defibrillator that the Democratic Party needed,” said John Anzalone, who was Biden’s chief campaign pollster in 2020.

Dane County, which includes Madison, is the fastest-growing county in the state, fueled by the combination of the University of Wisconsin and the state capital’s workforce.

A local version of this excitement will present itself among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters in Whitewater.

July is not ending as it began.

Endangered zebra foal is born at Chicago-area zoo:

Daily Bread, Elections, Law, Voting Rights, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.30.24: Another Meritless Challenge to Wisconsin Absentee Voting Dismissed

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 87. Sunrise is 5:45, and sunset is 8:16, for 14h 30m 58s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 24 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1981, as many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, took to the streets in Lodz to protest food ration shortages in Communist Poland.

It’s become a common tactic in Wisconsin (and other states) for a resident to challenge voting rights on narrow procedural grounds. The consequence of this approach is to burden a lawful means of voting until residents are dissuaded from voting by those means. One lawsuit of this kind was dismissed Monday in Circuit Court. Todd Richmond reports Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging absentee voting procedure in battleground Wisconsin:

A Wisconsin judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday that challenged absentee voting procedures, preventing administrative headaches for local election clerks and hundreds of thousands of voters in the politically volatile swing state ahead of fall elections. 

The ruling stems from a lawsuit Thomas Oldenberg, a voter from Amberg, Wisconsin, filed in February. Oldenberg argued that the state Elections Commission hasn’t been following a state law that requires voters who electronically request absentee ballots to place a physical copy of the request in the ballot return envelope. Absentee ballots without the request copy shouldn’t count, he maintained. 

Commission attorneys countered in May that language on the envelope that voters sign indicating they requested the ballot serves as a copy of the request. Making changes now would disrupt long-standing absentee voting procedures on the eve of multiple elections and new envelopes can’t be designed and reprinted in time for the Aug. 13 primary and Nov. 5 general election, the commission maintained.

The case is Oldenburg v. WEC 2024CV43.

Trash-sucking vacuum cleaner robot dog hits Italian beach:

Carpetbaggers, Daily Bread, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.29.24: Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will see scattered thundershowers with a high of 79. Sunrise is 5:44, and sunset is 8:17, for 14h 33m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 33.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1958, President Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

U.S. Senate candidate for Wisconsin, Eric Hovde, is down by eleven points in the latest Fox News poll.

And so, and so, following in the tradition of failed carpetbagger Tim Michels, Hovde spent the weekend emphasizing that Wisconsin is, for him, only a side hustle:

Nothing says Wisconsin like a California banker attending a Nashville Bitcoin conference.

See also It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.

Sunbathers scatter as thousands of dragonflies descend on beach:

Daily Bread, Ethics, Law, Legislature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.28.24: When Wisconsin Public Officials Impede Public Accountability

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will see scattered showers with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:43, and sunset is 8:18, for 14h 35m 15s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 45.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1934, Two killed, 40 hurt in Kohler riot; National Guard occupies town:

On this day, the “model industrial village” of Kohler became an armed camp of National Guard cavalrymen after deadly strike-related rioting. The July 27th violence, which killed two Sheboygan men and injured 40 others, prompted the summoning of 250 Guardsmen to join the 200 special deputy village marshals already present. After striking workers became agitated and began to destroy company property, deputies turned to tear gas, rifles, and shotguns to quell the stone-throwing crowd, resulting in the deaths and injuries.

Owner Walter Kohler blamed Communists and outside agitators for the violence, while union leaders blamed Kohler exclusively. Workers at the Kohler plant were demanding better hours, higher wages, and recognition of the American Federation of Labor as their collective bargaining agent. Not settled until 1941, the strike marked the beginning of what was to become a prolonged struggle between the Kohler Company and organized labor in Wisconsin; a second Kohler strike lasted from 1954 to 1965.

On this day in 1996, the remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.

There is a temerity (lit., excessive confidence or boldness) and a perversity (lit., the quality of being contrary to accepted standards and practices) in public officials who fight public accountability. Anya Van Wagtendonk reports Rep. Janel Brandtjen sues state Ethics Commission after campaign finance investigation (‘The complaint aims to fight charges against Brantdjen connected to an alleged 2022 campaign fundraising scheme’):

Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, has filed suit against the Wisconsin Ethics Commission in an effort to halt an investigation into her campaign finance activities from two years ago.

The complaint, filed Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court, argues the commission violated state separation of powers protections when it recommended felony prosecution of Brandtjen.

“WEC is improperly stepping into the shoes of the District Attorney, and the executive branch, in regard to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion,” the lawsuit reads.

In February, the bipartisan state Ethics Commission found cause for charging Brandtjen and others with campaign finance violations tied to a 2022 primary challenge against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Investigators alleged that Brandtjen coordinated a scheme to bypass donor limits using county GOP offices and a war chest tied to former President Donald Trump’s campaign.

The commission referred the case to local district attorneys, depending on where the alleged violations took place. Brandtjen’s case was referred to the Waukesha County district attorney who, like the other local prosecutors, declined to press charges. The Ethics Commission then referred the charges to Washington County, according to the complaint, where the local DA also did not prosecute.

That opens the door for the commission to refer the charges up to the state Department of Justice.

Brandtjen holds public office while fighting to prevent a public inquiry. Her suit should be dismissed, and the investigation should proceed. She is no private party; an honest public official would welcome public proceedings.

Jasper National Park:

Daily Bread, Housing, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.26.24: Wisconsin Needs More Housing

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:41, and sunset is 8:21, for 14h 39m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 67.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1775, the office that would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania takes office as Postmaster General.

Genevieve Redsten reports Wisconsin isn’t building new housing fast enough, Policy Forum report finds:

Home prices and rents have surged statewide since the pandemic, and relief isn’t coming fast enough.

That’s according to a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which found that despite pushes from lawmakers — and strong demand from homebuyers and renters alike — Wisconsin still isn’t building enough new housing.

Since the Great Recession kneecapped the state’s homebuilding industry, Wisconsin hasn’t added enough new apartments, condos and single-family homes to keep up with demand, which in turn has pushed prices up. And after a surge in construction in the early days of the pandemic, homebuilding has stagnated, the report found.

The soaring cost of housing “is a glaring indicator that the state’s housing inventory remains insufficient to meet demand,” the report said.

The answer to this demand is more supply. All the rest is bad economics and bad public policy.

World’s largest platypus conservation center opens in Australia:

Courts, Daily Bread, Law, Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 7.24.24: A Slight Break in Wiconsin’s Judicial Gridlock

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 79. Sunrise is 5:39, and sunset is 8:23, for 14h 43m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 86.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1935, the Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109 °F (43 °C) in Chicago and 104 °F (40 °C) in Milwaukee.

On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

Wisconsin has had a federal court vacancy for over two years, after Sen. Ron Johnson withdrew his bipartisan support (with Sen. Tammy Baldwin) for a prior nominee, William Pocan (brother of U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan). That time having been lost, Johnson has now agreed to support a new nominee, Byron Conway:

Earlier this month, both Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin turned in what are known as “blue slips,” formalizing their support of President Joe Biden’s appointment of personal injury attorney Byron Conway to U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. That’s significant because two years ago, Johnson blocked Biden’s previous pick from the judgeship from advancing to a hearing.

Conway’s nomination is set to receive a hearing before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee in “coming weeks,” a spokesperson for the committee’s Democratic majority said Monday. The process will not be affected by Biden’s announcement on Sunday, in which he pulled out of the race for another presidential term, the spokesperson said.

Johnson’s office did not respond Monday to a request for comment.

If Conway gets an OK from the judiciary committee, his nomination will then advance to the full Senate, where he’ll need majority approval before he can become a federal judge.

That’s significant because two years ago, Johnson blocked Biden’s previous pick from the judgeship from advancing to a hearing.

Ron Johnson. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / (CC BY-SA)

There never should have been a delay, and Johnson’s claim he withdrew support from the prior nominee because of a lack of Green Bay ties (the judicial office for this judgeship is in Green Bay) is both trivial and false. It’s trivial because one correctly selects for the federal bench based on intellect, knowledge, and experience, not membership in local community groups. It’s false because Johnson’s blue-slip retraction was based not on Pocan’s abilities but on irrelevant, unrelated, or discriminatory considerations.

Judicial vacancies impede the timely administration of justice. The sooner the seat is filled, the better.

A hydrothermal explosion sent visitors running from the boardwalk as hot water and debris rained down in Yellowstone National Park: