UP: Libraries. The state Department of Public Instruction announces it will use a $4.2 million federal grant to improve Internet speeds at libraries. State Superintendent Tony Evers says: "Many of our libraries are the only public Internet access in their small, rural communities."
DOWN: Natural Areas. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state Department of Natural Resources has drastically reduced grants to preserve natural areas where hunting is restricted or banned. A few years ago, the state subsidized the purchase of thousands of acres of natural areas that had hunting restrictions. But during a two-year period ending in the middle of 2013, the DNR had subsidized the purchase of just 200 such acres.
