Wednesday, Dec. 30
The state Supreme Court rules 3-2 that Wisconsin Department of Justice officials did not violate whistleblower laws when they demoted an employee for voicing concern about using state agents to protect the attorney general at a convention, the Associated Press reports. The law protects people disclosing “hard information,” but it doesn’t apply to opinions.
Monday, Jan. 4
Anti-abortion groups Wisconsin Family Action and Pro-Life Wisconsin are pushing lawmakers to vote on a bill that would outlaw the use of fetal tissue in scientific research, Media Trackers reports.
The Madison School District holds an open hearing to discuss the expulsion of Dereian Brown, a sixth-grader who brought a BB gun to Cherokee Heights Middle School last fall. An African American student, Brown has been described as “exemplary,” the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The case reignites discussion of racial disparities in expulsion.
Tuesday, Jan. 5
Gov. Scott Walker, who has vowed to never grant pardons to criminals, remains unswayed by the more than 300,000 people who have signed online petitions in support of freeing Steven Avery, whose 2007 homicide conviction gained national attention after a Netflix documentary examined the case. Only Dean Strang can save him now.
Plans for the Madison Public Market now include a possible redevelopment of the Washington Plaza Shopping Center site on the corner of First Street and East Washington Avenue, the State Journal reports. The city’s Fleet Services building is still the first option, but the shopping center could be a “faster, better and cheaper” option.
