Tests show waste from Kewaunee County’s 97,000 head of cattle contaminates majority of wells, especially after rainfall or snowmelt; human waste also a factor.
Tag: Wisconsin Watch
Posted inEnvironment, Failure at the Faucet, Health & Welfare
Bacteria in state’s drinking water is ‘public health crisis’
Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin residents are at risk of illness from waterborne pathogens in private and public drinking water supplies. Contamination by pathogens is of special concern because unlike pollution by metals or chemicals, pathogens can sicken people after just a single exposure.
Posted inCruel and Unusual?, Government, Health & Welfare, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin joins national push to curb solitary confinement
Wisconsin has made a “culture shift” in its use of solitary confinement in prisons, eliminating it as punishment for minor rule infractions and cutting the time inmates spend in isolation for more serious offenses, Department of Corrections officials revealed in an interview granted as part of a legal settlement with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Posted inBlogs, News about Wisconsin Watch, WisWatch Blog
Center takes home seven awards, including best website design, from Milwaukee Press Club
The Center was honored with four gold awards, one silver and two bronze in the club’s Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism, the state’s premiere all-media journalism competition.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare
Wisconsin cuts back on long-term institutional care for the disabled
It’s part of a national trend. But parents and guardians of patients at Central Wisconsin Center, one of the state’s facilities for the developmentally disabled, are worried that the state’s no-new-admissions policy could endanger people who could benefit from the centers’ services. Now a couple have gone to court to keep their child at the center.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare
State’s move toward community care for disabled follows national trend
Wisconsin’s declining reliance on state-run centers for people with intellectual disabilities fits a national pattern.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker’s budget would shake up long-term care programs; disabilities advocates concerned
Gov. Scott Walker is proposing sweeping changes to the state’s long-term care programs for the elderly and disabled, but the lack of detail has advocates concerned.
Posted inEnvironment, Government, Health & Welfare, Water Watch Wisconsin
Bad wells spur Kewaunee County to mull waste-spreading restrictions
A proposal to ban waste spreading in winter and early spring on fields with shallow soil is facing opposition from powerful agricultural interests and questions about its legality.
Posted inEconomy
Cranberry growers struggle for income amid oversupply
With a 57 percent increase in cranberry production nationwide from 2002 to 2013 — and sales that continue to trail demand — U.S. growers such as the VanWychens are struggling to create new markets to absorb a growing oversupply of the tiny tart berries grown in marshes.