UP: Ginseng farmers. Gov. Scott Walker announces that on his recent trip to China he helped finalize a 10-year contract between the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin, the Ginseng & Herb Cooperative and a Beijing company that would bring in $150 million to $200 million for Wisconsin producers. Joe Heil, president of the Ginseng Board, tells the Wisconsin State Journal: "It's going to give people a sense that there's a bright future for Wisconsin."
DOWN: Madisonians. The Madison Water Utility discovers the industrial solvent 1,4-dioxane in four city wells. Although officials don't consider the levels dangerous, the utility says it will test all wells for the contaminant. Jeff Lafferty, a public health department environmental epidemiologist, tells The Capital Times that the risk of cancer at the levels detected is "extremely low."
