The Recombobulation Area

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

Last night, I was back in the host chair at the 620 WTMJ studios at 3rd Street Market Hall to host WTMJ Nights!

You can listen to the full show here as a commercial free podcast.

Guests for the show included:

* Claire Koenig of VISIT Milwaukee, talking about the upcoming Milwaukee Museum Days (Jan. 18-28!), where you can get free or discounted admission to so many of Milwaukee’s wonderful museums

* Charles Franklin of the Marquette University Law School Poll, talking about the results from the Iowa caucus and if Donald Trump is on track to win the Republican nomination

* Justin Garcia of the Bucks Radio Network, talking about our beloved Milwaukee Bucks at the midway point of the regular season

I also took some time to discuss Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ comments on new maps submissions, where he accuses Democrats of a “political gerrymander,” which is quite the instance of the pot calling the kettle black, especially as legislative Republicans’ maps submissions are the only clear outlier of the bunch (per John D. Johnson’s nonpartisan analysis).

You can also listen to the full episode of WTMJ Nights here or on your favorite podcast app. The Apple Podcasts and Spotify links are embedded here.

Also, ICYMI: I was on WTMJ N.O.W. with Steve Scaffidi yesterday for our weekly segment, and you can listen to that here, or in the podcast link embedded below.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Agard has been working to legalize marijuana for many years in Wisconsin. She says Republican leadership is the biggest obstacle to full recreational legalization in the state.

The issue of marijuana legalization has come into focus in Wisconsin as of late, as many of our neighboring states have been implementing new recreational legalization policies. Democrats in Wisconsin have repeatedly proposed legalization efforts, only for them to stall in the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature. 

One of those Democrats who has championed this issue for years is State Senator Melissa Agard of Madison. I interviewed here about the issue for a podcast here at The Recombobulation Area.

“The most dangerous thing about weed in Wisconsin is that it’s illegal,” said Agard. “And by having a thoughtful, comprehensive policy that doesn’t pick winners and losers in our state, we will be more safe, more prosperous, and people’s personal liberties will be honored in a more true way.”

This was a monumental year for Milwaukee, and many of the big achievements we saw this year can be traced back to the leadership of Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley.

The Recombobulation Area had the opportunity to sit down with these two dynamic leaders for an extended interview on the year that was, and so much more.

You can listen to the full audio podcast here, or you can watch the full video interview here.

Find our full coverage of this interview with Johnson and Crowley here at The Recombobulation Area.

Audio recorded and mixed by Podcamp Media.

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This was a monumental year for Milwaukee, and many of the big achievements we saw this year can be traced back to the leadership of Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley.

The Recombobulation Area had the opportunity to sit down with these two dynamic leaders for an extended interview on the year that was, and so much more.

You can watch the interview right here on Substack, or head over here for our full coverage of this interview, where you can watch on YouTube, listen as a podcast, and read several stories featuring quotes from this interview.

Video edited and produced by Katie Shafer. Filmed and recorded by Podcamp Media.

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

In case you missed it, Dan Shafer guest hosted WTMJ Nights on 620 WTMJ on Friday evening.

We had a terrific group of guests who joined the show. They were:

* Evan Goyke, state representative from Milwaukee who is now running for the office of Milwaukee City Attorney, on his campaign and on his 10+ years in the State Assembly

* Dora Drake, state representative from Milwaukee and the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, on the UW System funding deal negotiated with Republican leadership, and the controversy over the university’s DEI programs within those negotiations.

* Jeramey Jannene, president and founder of Urban Milwaukee, on upcoming local elections in Milwaukee.

You can also stream the show on Apple Podcasts…

… and on Spotify.

Thanks for listening!

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

In case you missed it, we hosted WTMJ Nights last night on Newsradio 620 WTMJ!

It was a three-hour show, and we were joined by regular Recombobulation Area contributors Angela Lang (in studio!) and Phil Rocco to discuss their latest columns, and then we were joined by Justin Garcia of the Bucks Radio Network to talk about our beloved Milwaukee Bucks with just one week to go before the start of the regular season.

The full show from last is available commercial-free here, so have a listen!

You can also stream the show at Newsradio 620 WTMJ here.

And listen on Apple Podcasts here.

And on Spotify here.

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

PLUS: More recombobulation on the radio!

Tuesday with Steve Scaffidi on WTMJ N.O.W.

Tuesday with Patti Vasquez on WCPT 820 / Heartland Signal

Tuesday on As Goes Wisconsin

Wednesday on Town Call Wisconsin

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

The Recombobulation Area is a ten-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written, edited and published by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

The issue of Child Care funding is a major one in Wisconsin, and this year, it has taken on an especially partisan tone in Madison. Earlier this year, Republican legislators blocked a proposal to continue funding a program called Child Care Counts, in a 2:30 a.m. vote of the state’s budget writing committee. 

Child Care Counts is a program that has helped stabilize the child care industry during the pandemic, helped raise wages for early care educators, kept costs down for parents and families, and was recently recognized by the Wisconsin Policy Forum with an award for innovation in state government. But the federal dollars that have been funding that program are now running out, putting thousands of child care centers at risk of closing.  

That 2:30 a.m. vote, however, was not the end of the story. Gov. Tony Evers called a special on workforce challenges, and the highlight of that session was more than $350 million to continue the Child Care Counts program in Wisconsin. Oftentimes, these special sessions are met with a gavel-in, gavel-out approach from state Republicans, but this time in the state Senate, at least, the bill is being considered. Yesterday, there was a public hearing on that bill, and many child care providers, parents and experts spoke in favor of the bill and of funding Child Care Counts.

Among those providing testimony in that hearing was Democratic State Senator Kelda Roys, who has been among the most vocal champions of child care funding, and she joined us to talk about these issues.

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-funded publication. To help support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

The “Bird on a Wire” podcast series has reached the end of its 10-episode run, but as a bonus for our loyal listeners, LuAnn Bird and Dan Shafer sat down together for one more episode to recap the series, talk about what we’ve learned and look ahead to what’s next. 

We also want to take a moment to thank all of our wonderful guests who joined us for this series to have these important conversations. We’d also like to thank Christopher Porterfield, who designed the logo for “Bird on a Wire” and provided the music for the series. And of course, we’d like to thank all of you, our listeners and subscribers . This wouldn’t be possible without your support. 

If you missed the earlier episodes of this series, you can listen to them here:

* Episode One with Dan Shafer

* Episode Two with Evan Goyke

* Episode Three with Christopher Porterfield

* Episode Four with Sarah Godlewski

* Episode Five with Dr. Katheryn Hope Wilkinson

* Episode Six with the “Grandma Brigade”

* Episode Seven with The PerSisters

* Episode Eight with change makers in southwestern Milwaukee County

* Episode Nine with Nicole Otto

* Episode Ten with David Crowley

LuAnn will be hosting a live conversation this week with activist Tyler Kelly, who advocates against gun violence and has been doing so since he was at Franklin High School. You can RSVP to the event here.

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

For Episode Ten of “Bird on a Wire”, Lu Ann and I were joined by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

We talked about the county executive’s path to a career in public service after facing certain challenges growing up in Milwaukee. We also spent a lot of time talking about shared revenue and local taxes as the bill reshaping the system and allowing Milwaukee to raise its sales tax makes its way through the state legislature. Crowley has been instrumental in negotiating key aspects of that deal, and he shared a lot of insight and information about the legislation that’s coming together.

For a short clip of that conversation, on a thorny debate on referendum and sales taxes, go here: 

If you missed the earlier episodes of this series, you can listen to them here:

* Episode One with Dan Shafer

* Episode Two with Evan Goyke

* Episode Three with Christopher Porterfield

* Episode Four with Sarah Godlewski

* Episode Five with Dr. Katheryn Hope Wilkinson

* Episode Six with the “Grandma Brigade”

* Episode Seven with The PerSisters

* Episode Eight with change makers in southwestern Milwaukee County

* Episode Nine with Nicole Otto

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

The “Bird on a Wire” podcast series has featured conversations on hope, civility and action, hosted by LuAnn Bird. For Episode Ten of the series, LuAnn and I sat down with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

The full episode will be available shortly, but we’re sharing this six-minute clip from the conversation as part of The Recombobulation Area’s ongoing coverage of the shared revenue and local sales tax bill.

State and local leaders right now have been hammering out a deal about overhauling the state’s shared revenue system, and allowing Milwaukee, both city and county, to raise a local sales tax.

One point of contention within that debate has been on whether that sales tax issue should go to a public referendum or whether it should be voted on by members of the Milwaukee Common Council or Milwaukee County Board.

There’s been disagreement among legislative Republicans on this issue, with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos favoring a public referendum and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu favoring “enabling legislation” that would allow the vote on the sales tax to be taken by Common Council and County Board members, for each respective sales tax.

In our podcast, Crowley said he supports the “enabling legislation.”

“Enabling legislation gives us much more certainty,” he said. “Because if this if it does get voted down, we're going right back to the state to have this conversation.”

Mayor Cavalier Johnson has also expressed support for “enabling legislation” over a public referendum on this issue.

Crowley also explained the precedent in having a vote like this be one conducted by these local legislative bodies, and broke down the changes in the sales tax pitch.

Because if this if it does get voted down, we're going right back to the state to have this conversation.

LuAnn Bird, a resident of Hales Corners, also talked about how a public safety referendum failed to pass by just four votes in that community.

Along with the comments in this six-minute excerpt, Crowley said this of ongoing negotiations:

“It would be unfortunate for us to get rid of a statewide fix because the one thing affecting one community.”

Be sure to subscribe to get the full episode in your inbox.

See more of The Recombobulation Area’s coverage of the shared revenue bill, including the multi-part series analyzing the bill by Marquette Professor Phil Rocco, here.

Learn more about the “Bird on a Wire” podcast series, and listen to the latest episode, here.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagramat @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.