Miles Tokheim points his left index figure while facing José Ruiz as both stand on either side of a rolling tool chest, with Oscar Haro Rodriguéz crouching with this right foot on a tire resting on its side while under the bottom of a vehicle with detached tires that is elevated on a car lift, in a room with a concrete floor and other vehicles and equipment in the background.

Education

For Wisconsin high schools to offer more college credit options, more teachers must go to grad school

School officials around Wisconsin want to give more students a jump start on college with dual enrollment classes, but they say they lack qualified teachers — for busy teachers, the return on investing their time and money to attend graduate school is a hard sell.

December 4, 2025

Metal filigree double doors with brass doorknobs and lock mechanisms open into an antechamber with an illuminated overhead light fixture, commercial floor mats and a set of wood double doors with oval glass windows opening into a room with a judicial bench with two sets of seats faced by a low table and multiple rows of wood and leather chairs in a room with marble masonry and a large painting.
Metal filigree double doors with brass doorknobs and lock mechanisms open into an antechamber with an illuminated overhead light fixture, commercial floor mats and a set of wood double doors with oval glass windows opening into a room with a judicial bench with two sets of seats faced by a low table and multiple rows of wood and leather chairs in a room with marble masonry and a large painting.

Courts

Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to hear lawsuit on whether local jails can hold immigrants for ICE

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to take a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, which argues that it is illegal for county jails in the state to hold immigrant detainees for federal authorities.

December 3, 2025

Kevin LeGrow and three out-of-focus people seated to his right sit at a table facing mounted microphones, with a wood podium and other people seated on its far side in the background.
Kevin LeGrow and three out-of-focus people seated to his right sit at a table facing mounted microphones, with a wood podium and other people seated on its far side in the background.

Education

The Wisconsin Civics Games looks to cultivate new generations of public servants

The brainchild of a retired teacher-turned-reporter with a goal of encouraging more young people in the state to become civically engaged, an annual quiz game about government and democracy has doubled in size since it was launched by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

December 3, 2025

Eugene Hasenfus stands in front of a stone wall with multiple lines of letter sign text with names and dates.
Eugene Hasenfus stands in front of a stone wall with multiple lines of letter sign text with names and dates.

History

Eugene Hasenfus, key figure in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, dies at 84

Eugene Hasenfus, a Wisconsin native who played a key role in unraveling the Iran-Contra affair after his CIA-backed supply plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986, has died.

December 3, 2025

A pixelated photo illustration shows a variety of different types of butter, margarine and other dairy products on refrigerated shelves in a grocery store.
A pixelated photo illustration shows a variety of different types of butter, margarine and other dairy products on refrigerated shelves in a grocery store.

Policy

Wisconsin legislators want to tighten the state’s margarine laws

A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers is pushing to strengthen limits on margarine, an effort that's a reminder of a century-and-a-half long squabble over the butter substitute and the state's dairy industry.

December 2, 2025

Mandela Barnes smiles while standing in front of the out-of-focus stripes of a U.S. flag.
Mandela Barnes smiles while standing in front of the out-of-focus stripes of a U.S. flag.

Elections

Mandela Barnes enters 2026 race for Wisconsin governor

Mandela Barnes, who served four years as Wisconsin's lieutenant governor and narrowly lost a 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate, announced his candidacy for governor in a crowded Democratic primary field in 2026.

December 2, 2025

Stacey Murillo Martinez holds a smart phone with a vertical wedding portrait of her and husband Miguel on its screen while sitting at a wood table in a room with wood flooring and with shelves with food containers in the background on one side and another room with chairs, lamps, wall art and other items to the other side.
Stacey Murillo Martinez holds a smart phone with a vertical wedding portrait of her and husband Miguel on its screen while sitting at a wood table in a room with wood flooring and with shelves with food containers in the background on one side and another room with chairs, lamps, wall art and other items to the other side.

Courts

Local courts in Wisconsin are left with loose ends when ICE detains criminal defendants

When defendants sit in ICE custody, their criminal cases generally continue without them, sometimes with no explanation of their absence to the court — cases in Dane and Fond du Lac counties highlight differences in approaches and impacts to local courts in Wisconsin.

December 1, 2025

A group of people sit on the outside of four tables with metal legs and laminate surfaces arranged in a square, with plates of food, beverage containers, phones, papers and paper name plats on their surfaces, in a room with a large monitor mounted on a wall next to a metal and glass door, with a table with food and beverages on its surface in front of a window on an adjacent wall.
A group of people sit on the outside of four tables with metal legs and laminate surfaces arranged in a square, with plates of food, beverage containers, phones, papers and paper name plats on their surfaces, in a room with a large monitor mounted on a wall next to a metal and glass door, with a table with food and beverages on its surface in front of a window on an adjacent wall.

Health

Community Living Room aims to foster connection, fight loneliness in the Fox Valley

Karen Iverson Riggers and Lynn McLaughlin created a space in Appleton staffed with people trained in emotional CPR, and community leaders across Wisconsin want to replicate their approach.

November 26, 2025

A ceiling-mounted brass enclosed letter sign with the words Judge Hannah C. Dugan and the number 615 is overhead in a hallway with fluorescent lighting outside the wood-paneled entrance to a room, with other signs affixed on and next to the door.
A ceiling-mounted brass enclosed letter sign with the words Judge Hannah C. Dugan and the number 615 is overhead in a hallway with fluorescent lighting outside the wood-paneled entrance to a room, with other signs affixed on and next to the door.

Politics

Federal judge says Dugan trial will proceed as planned

A federal judge says a jury trial for Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who faces charges of obstruction and concealment to prevent arrest, will proceed in December despite talk of a plea deal.

November 26, 2025

A carved sign reading Supreme Court and a carving of a scroll with scales stands above a doorway under a pediment.
A carved sign reading Supreme Court and a carving of a scroll with scales stands above a doorway under a pediment.

Courts

Wisconsin Supreme Court sets three-judge panels to hear a pair of congressional redistricting lawsuits

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ordered that a pair of three-judge panels hear a pair of lawsuits seeking to redraw the state's congressional district maps, a court battle that is part of a national fight over redistricting in multiple states before the 2026 midterm elections.

November 26, 2025