Wisconsin would be the first state in the nation to shift away from the property tax funding model for K-12 schools, in a package of bills state Representative Ryan Clancy released this week. His “Funding Fairness” package would also restore Wisconsin’s estate tax and create a new source of revenue for local municipalities that are struggling to cover costs.

A Democrat from Milwaukee and a member of the Assembly’s Socialist Caucus, Representative Clancy tells our News Producer Faye Parks that it’s time for wealthy Wisconsinites to pay their fair share – and provide some tax relief for the working class.

Image courtesy: Chali Pittman / WORT News.

After years of setbacks, city leaders in police oversight are celebrating a fresh start. They got a preview of the work ahead Wednesday, in their first official meeting with Madison’s new interim independent monitor.

Image courtesy: Brian Standing / WORT News.

Obtaining records can often come at a cost. Custodians are allowed to charge the requester any necessary costs for locating and reproducing records, but these fees are usually rather minor. But sometimes plans go awry, and both requesters and custodians can face much higher costs than expected.

This week on “Transparency Talk”, hosts Bill Lueders and Tom Kamenick discuss two recent cases in St. Croix County in which records costs proved higher than either party bargained for.

But before we turn it over to Tom and Bill, our standard reminder that this conversation is not intended to be specific legal advice but rather a discussion of general legal issues. If you have a particular legal issue, please consult an attorney.

More than 3,800 Starbucks baristas have joined a nationwide strike since mid-November. They’re demanding increased staffing, more predictable hours, and better wages. To talk about the exploitation of service workers like baristas, host Allen Ruff is joined by Annie McClanahan who says that the struggle of Starbucks workers to get a fair contract is very common across low-wage service work and across the board, unions are rare in this sector.

Featured image of Starbucks workers rally and march in 2022 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

12.24.2025 Holiday Music_mixdown by WORT 89.9FM Madison

Queery - Holiday Music 2025 by WORT 89.9FM Madison

Screen grab from College of DuPage https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?parms=continental-conus-08-200-1-100-6&checked=map-mslp&colorbar=undefined

Forecast from Wednesday 12-17-25 by WORT 89.9FM Madison

Federal immigration agents are relying on local law enforcement to advance the Trump regime’s mass deportation agenda. From May to October of this year, nearly two-thirds of ICE arrests in Wisconsin happened in local jails.

That’s according to a new analysis from the Prison Policy Initiative, which found that jails contributed to just a small fraction of Illinois’ immigration arrests in the same period – thanks to a state policy that blocks local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE.

That policy and others like it elsewhere in the country show that state-level resistance makes a difference, spokesperson Wanda Bertram told our News Producer Faye Parks this afternoon.

Image courtesy: Chali Pittman / WORT News.

This week marks the 1-year anniversary of the shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. Meanwhile the search for the Brown University shooter is ongoing. To talk about these events and the ongoing crisis of school shootings across the US, host Ali Muldrow is joined by Dr. David Riedman who tracks these shootings and the online communities that foster gun violence.

Featured image of students from Des Moines Public Schools participating in the National School Walkout to end gun violence in 2018 by Phil Roeder on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).