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Nathan Denzin
Nathan's Recent Stories
Rebecca Blom on school library book selection and challenges
Elkhorn Area High School library media specialist Rebecca Blom describes how K-12 librarians seek to assemble a broad selection of books for students as the district changes standards for challenges.
Tuesday April 23, 2024
Jason Tadlock on reviewing school library book challenges
Elkhorn Area School District Superintendent Jason Tadlock considers the scale of handling hundreds of book challenges for K-12 libraries with no publishing rating system comparable to movies or TV.
Wednesday April 17, 2024
Monica Treptow on literacy and resources in school libraries
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction school library media consultant Monica Treptow describes how educators serve multiple needs of K-12 students through collections of books and other media.
Tuesday April 16, 2024
Wisconsin school libraries navigate rise in book challenges
Organized campaigns to ban large numbers of books in Wisconsin's school libraries have grown considerably, and the actions of the Elkhorn district reflect how educators are responding to challenges.
Thursday April 11, 2024
Superintendent Jill Underly on book challenges in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly discusses a growing number of campaigns to ban or limit access to books and other media in school libraries around the state.
Wednesday April 10, 2024
What deer and wolf numbers in Bayfield County reveal about Wisconsin wildlife policy debates
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released its 2023 figures for that season's deer hunt harvest, the state's estimated wolf population and depredation payments, illustrating the complex trends central to the politics of regulating a controversial and charismatic animal.
Wednesday March 27, 2024
Keith Mark on hunting and the funding of game management
Hunter Nation President Keith Mark discusses the conservative hunting advocacy group's perspective on how the economics of game management plays a role in wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation.
Wednesday March 13, 2024
Genevieve Adamski on behaviors of wolf packs and livestock
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa wildlife specialist Genevieve Adamski describes the territorial behavior of wolves and how livestock can be observed to react when these predators are present.
Tuesday March 12, 2024
Brad Olson on wolves preying on livestock, deer in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Brad Olson describes concerns about the state's 2023 wolf management plan related to how a growing population of the predator impacts ranching and hunting.
Wednesday March 6, 2024
Sam Jonas on broad goals of Wisconsin’s wolf management plan
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife species section supervisor Sam Jonas describes the legal requirements and population objectives shaping the state's 2023 plan to manage wolves.
Tuesday March 5, 2024
Divisions over wolves shape Wisconsin’s new management plan
Indigenous communities, farmers, hunters and Wisconsinites of all stripes express strong feelings about wolves as their numbers grow in the state and a new management plan for the species is unveiled.
Friday March 1, 2024
Marvin DeFoe on Anishinaabe culture and stories of ma’iingan
Marvin DeFoe, or Shingbinase, a tribal elder with the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, describes the significance of and relationship with wolves, or ma'iingan, in Anishinaabe culture.
Wednesday February 21, 2024
Alder Brienne Brown on impacts of immigration on Whitewater
Whitewater Common Council Alder Brienne Brown discusses communicating with state and federal lawmakers about migrants moving to the community and how immigration has played a role in its history.
Wednesday February 14, 2024
Kay Robers and Kristine Zaballos on offering aid to migrants
The Community Space free store co-founders Kristine Zaballos and Kay Robers describe their efforts to provide food and household goods to migrants arriving in Whitewater from Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Tuesday February 13, 2024
Local officials, advocates seek help for Whitewater migrants
An influx of immigrants to a small southern Wisconsin city over the past two years is straining resources, motivating community members to pursue more public funding and provide direct assistance.
Thursday February 8, 2024
Jorge Islas-Martinez on delays, difficulties migrants face
Whitewater resident and immigrant advocate Jorge Islas-Martinez describes long waits that migrants experience in the immigration system and challenges they encounter when they do not speak English.
Wednesday February 7, 2024
Chief Dan Meyer on growing numbers of migrants in Whitewater
Whitewater Police Chief Dan Meyer describes how a series of law enforcement contacts in early 2022 revealed an increase in migrant families from Nicaragua and Venezuela moving to the college town.
Tuesday February 6, 2024
Migrants from Nicaragua, Venezuela make a home in Whitewater
Upwards of a thousand migrants from two countries in Latin America have made their way to a southern Wisconsin college town, drawn by hopes of safety and facing legal limbo in their search for work.
Friday February 2, 2024
Who are the Wisconsin residents charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 insurrection?
Three years after supporters for former President Donald Trump stormed into the U.S. Capitol as Congress was conducting the Electoral College vote count, there have been 11 Wisconsinites charged with crimes related to their actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
Monday January 8, 2024
Mayor Katie Rosenberg on removing lead pipes in Wausau
Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg describes how the city is prioritizing resources and implementing its campaign to replace lead service lines connecting water mains to buildings over a five-year period.
Wednesday December 20, 2023
Anne Hirekatur on two stages of removing lead pipes to homes
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources section manager Anne Hirekatur describes how utilities and property owners incur separate costs to replace lead service lines from water mains to buildings.
Tuesday December 19, 2023
The race to replace lead pipes across Wisconsin gets a boost
Lead pipes that deliver drinking water to homes remain commonplace in many communities around the state — in Wausau, the city is gearing up efforts to replace all of these lines within five years.
Thursday December 14, 2023
Lilada Gee on generational trauma and the Black experience
Defending Black Girlhood President Lilada Gee considers the long history of racism and injustice visited upon Black people in the United States and the struggle to pursue healing for these traumas.
Thursday November 16, 2023
Hon. Rev. Everett Mitchell on Black communities and church
Christ The Solid Rock Baptist Church pastor Hon. Rev. Everett Mitchell considers the significance and impacts of Black churches and faith to the spiritual lives as people face racism and hatred.
Wednesday November 15, 2023
Racism, cycles of trauma and the importance of mental health
Generational trauma continues to harm the mental health of Black children and adults in Wisconsin, but advocates and religious leaders seek to help communities with empowerment and expressions of joy.
Tuesday November 14, 2023
Reggie Jackson on life expectancy among Black Wisconsinites
Nurturing Diversity Partners lead trainer Reggie Jackson considers levels of health care experiences among Wisconsin's Black residents and the state's persistent racial disparities in life expectancy.
Thursday November 9, 2023
Aaron Perry on obstacles to Black men’s health in Wisconsin
Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association CEO Aaron Perry describes an array of chronic health problems among Black men around Wisconsin and the importance of trust in efforts to help address these issues.
Wednesday November 8, 2023
A mission to expand health access for Black men in Wisconsin
Black men face high levels of chronic disease and may be reluctant to seek treatment, leading one athlete to develop a health care model that expands access via barber shops, clinics and church.
Tuesday November 7, 2023
Dr. Jasmine Zapata on the impacts of having a preterm birth
Wisconsin Department of Health Services state epidemiologist Dr. Jasmine Zapata considers the state's high Black infant and maternal mortality rates given her personal experience with preterm birth.
Thursday November 2, 2023
Tiffany Green on racial inequities in delivering health care
UW-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences professor Tiffany Green describes seeking to recognize how issues of trust and racial biases among medical providers impact pregnant patients.
Wednesday November 1, 2023
Wisconsin’s racial disparities in maternal, infant mortality
Higher levels of deaths among Black infants and their mothers in Wisconsin are shaped by access to and implicit biases in the health care system, but medical providers are working to improve outcomes.
Tuesday October 31, 2023
Kim Neuschel on safety and outcomes for children in school
Former public health nurse Kim Neuschel describes an effort to help elementary students in Madison feel safer by improving lighting and painting a mural in a tunnel on a walking route to a school.
Thursday October 26, 2023
Dr. Tito Izard on tracing racist roots of health disparities
Milwaukee Health Services President and CEO Dr. Tito Izard considers how continuing health disparities and barriers to care in Black communities are an outcome of slavery and racial discrimination.
Wednesday October 25, 2023
The public health crisis faced by Black Wisconsinites
Impacts of racism have left Wisconsin's Black residents suffering disproportionate levels of disease and death shaped by social determinants of health, from income to food access to sense of safety.
Tuesday October 24, 2023
Sabrina Madison on cultivating wealth in Black communities
Progress Center for Black Women CEO Sabrina Madison considers how generating wealth and ownership among Wisconsin's Black residents can expand leadership opportunities and respect for their potential.
Thursday October 19, 2023
Elmer Moore, Jr. on stress, safety and generational outcomes
Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority CEO and Executive Director Elmer Moore, Jr. describes investing in more secure home environments to change trajectories of lives and communities.
Wednesday October 18, 2023
Impacts of housing discrimination on economic opportunity
Historical and current housing discrimination by race in rental and real estate markets have diminished opportunities for Black Wisconsinites to build generational wealth and create new businesses.
Tuesday October 17, 2023
Kurt Paulsen on long-term impacts of racist housing policies
UW-Madison urban planning professor Kurt Paulsen explains how government policy and business practices that discriminated by race continue to affect homeownership rates of Black families in Wisconsin.
Thursday October 12, 2023
Theresa Garrison on witnessing ‘urban renewal’ in Milwaukee
City of Milwaukee Bronzeville Advisory Committee member Theresa Garrison shares memories of growing up in a Black neighborhood that was razed in the 1960s in the course of "urban renewal" projects.
Wednesday October 11, 2023
What ‘urban renewal’ meant for Milwaukee’s Black residents
A series of demolition and construction projects labeled "urban renewal" destroyed Black neighborhoods in Milwaukee, sparking the open housing movement in the 1960s to end housing discrimination.
Tuesday October 10, 2023
Derek Handley on identifying housing discrimination
UW-Milwaukee English professor Derek Handley explains how understanding historical patterns of racist housing discrimination can help spotlight contemporary practices that have similar impacts.
Thursday October 5, 2023
Alexandria Sulainis on manoomin and Native communities
Adaawe Design Collective owner Alexandria Sulainis describes the importance of cultivating manoomin — wild rice — by Native communities in Wisconsin and its role as an essential source of sustenance.
Thursday October 5, 2023
Anne Bonds on how racially restrictive covenants emerged
UW-Milwaukee geography professor Anne Bonds explains how racially restrictive covenants shaped housing segregation by blocking African Americans and other groups from purchasing and renting homes.
Wednesday October 4, 2023
Covenants, redlining and Black homeownership in Wisconsin
Opportunity for Black residents of Wisconsin to purchase a home and build wealth has been limited by racially restrictive covenants and redlining discrimination, creating a segregated housing market.
Tuesday October 3, 2023
Wisconsin’s wild rice harvest and threats of climate change
The cultivation of wild rice — manoomin in Ojibwe — has diminished in scale over centuries across northern Wisconsin, and faces further decline from warmer winters, extreme weather and other threats.
Friday September 29, 2023
Wisconsin’s recent blue-red voting trends solidify in spring 2023 election
A powerhouse turnout by Democratic voters in Dane County and shifting support from Republican voters in Milwaukee's suburbs – both building steam over the past decade — were consequential in the elections for state Supreme Court and Senate District 8.
Thursday April 6, 2023
How a shifting electorate is shaping the 2023 race for Wisconsin’s 8th Senate District
Changing partisan preferences among suburban voters is playing a role in the prominence of a special election between Republican candidate Daniel Knodl and Democratic candidate Jodi Habush Sinykin for an open state Senate seat north of Milwaukee.
Tuesday March 14, 2023
Meet the candidates running in Madison’s 2023 mayoral primary
Challengers Daniel Howell Jr., Scott Kerr, Gloria Reyes and incumbent Satya Rhodes-Conway are running in the Feb. 21 primary, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the 2023 spring election for Madison mayor.
Tuesday February 14, 2023
Dave Miess on living amid Lac du Flambeau’s road closures
Town of Lac du Flambeau resident Dave Miess considers how road closures by the tribal government over lapsed easements affect homeowners who have access blocked and shares hopes for a swift solution.
Tuesday February 14, 2023
Lac du Flambeau tribe blocks roads over lapsed contracts
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa closed four tribal roads after contracts to drive over their land lapsed in 2013, blocking over 50 households from access to their properties.
Friday February 10, 2023
Meet the candidates running in the 2023 Wisconsin Senate District 8 special election
Republican candidates Janel Brandtjen, Dan Knodl and Van Mobley are running in the primary to face Democratic candidate Jodi Habush Sinykin for a state Senate seat in the northern suburbs of Milwaukee.
Tuesday February 7, 2023
Fast Facts: Milwaukee and Green Bay’s declining winter ice
Climate scientists are observing winter temperatures rise faster in two Wisconsin cities, as Lake Michigan's waters freeze later and less reliably, raising risks to costs of lakeside infrastructure.
Tuesday January 31, 2023
Waushara County Judge Guy Dutcher on speedy justice
Waushara County Judge Guy Dutcher discusses how shortages of prosecutors and public defenders in Wisconsin delays the application of the justice system to people facing charges and victims of crime.
Tuesday January 24, 2023
State Public Defender Kelli Thompson on incarceration cycles
Wisconsin State Public Defender Kelli Thompson discusses staffing for attorneys representing clients charged with crimes and the justice system impacting local communities when people are imprisoned.
Wednesday January 18, 2023
Former Dodge County DA Kurt Klomberg on prosecutor stresses
Former Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg discusses job strains and workload demands for prosecutors that contribute to staffing shortages in an interview prior to resigning Jan. 12, 2023.
Wednesday January 18, 2023
Former Dodge County DA Kurt Klomberg on why he resigned
Former Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg shares his concerns about understaffing of prosecuting attorneys in the office and why that led him to resign his position.
Friday January 13, 2023
Why Wisconsin courts need more prosecutors, public defenders
Due to the low pay and high stress of these positions, counties around the state do not have enough attorneys to keep the criminal justice system running at a speedy pace, particularly in rural areas.
Thursday January 12, 2023
Climate change is warming Wisconsin winters faster than other seasons
A wetter atmosphere and slower freezing of the Great Lakes has made wintertime temperature increases in Milwaukee and Green Bay among the highest in the nation as research projects that rises will continue.
Wednesday January 11, 2023
What’s the deal with Brett Favre and the Mississippi welfare scandal?
The Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former Green Bay Packers superstar is at the center of a scandal in his home state in which public funds intended to support social service programs were used for the construction of a volleyball arena at his alma mater.
Thursday December 22, 2022
Students at UW-Platteville Richland navigate its closure
Members of the UW-Platteville Richland student body share their concerns about their future educational opportunities after the UW System announced an end to in-person classes on the campus.
Friday December 16, 2022
Nelsonville’s water woes: How nitrate contamination has consumed the community
Here & Now extra: Residents of a rural village in central Wisconsin are trying to ensure access to clean drinking water sources as they clamor for support from the state to address and mitigate the sources of nutrient pollution.
Thursday December 15, 2022
Jennifer McNelly on nitrate pollution sources in groundwater
Portage County water resource specialist Jennifer McNelly discusses testing well water in Nelsonville to assess how much agricultural and septic system waste contribute to contamination by nitrates.
Tuesday December 13, 2022
Nelsonville’s water woes: A fight over sources of nitrate
Contamination of well waters by a chemical common in manure and septic systems has residents of a rural community in central Wisconsin arguing about its causes and finding appropriate solutions.
Thursday December 8, 2022
Tarion O’Carroll on working to obtain clean drinking water
Nelsonville resident Tarion O'Carroll describes how nitrate contamination in the area compels him to regularly visit an artesian well in another community in order to supply household water needs.
Tuesday December 6, 2022
Nelsonville’s water woes: Finding nitrate pollution in wells
Residents of a central Wisconsin village are finding dangerous levels of a common agricultural pollutant in their drinking water and are left trying to filter their supplies or find new sources.
Thursday December 1, 2022
Disparities persist in Wisconsin special education practices as budget battles loom
Children of color are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with behavioral disabilities in Wisconsin schools than white children, as teachers navigate a complex system and seek more support from the state.
Wednesday November 30, 2022
What’s next for Derrick Van Orden in Congress after winning Wisconsin’s 3rd
Here & Now extra: The winning Republican candidate for a U.S. House seat in western and central swaths of the state is getting ready to serve in the majority while Democratic candidate Brad Pfaff thinks his party can learn from the close margin in this 2022 race.
Thursday November 17, 2022
Wisconsin’s voter turnout in 2022 hasn’t surpassed 2018, with status quo reigning
Unofficial counts show the state's turnout in 2022 was slightly lower compared to 2018, with Dane and Waukesha counties seeing modest increases and Milwaukee County seeing the largest drop at local levels.
Thursday November 10, 2022
Wisconsin’s 2022 voter registrations up from 2018, absentee ballots down from 2020
Compared to the previous midterm election, the number of people registered to vote has grown considerably, but those casting their ballots absentee or early have likewise dropped since the previous presidential election.
Thursday November 3, 2022
Van Orden holds polling, fundraising advantage over Pfaff in Wisconsin’s 3rd District
In a campaign with no debates, the Republican candidate is raising more money and running ahead in the few polls that have been conducted, while the Democratic candidate continues to emphasize the issues of the Jan. 6 insurrection and abortion.
Thursday October 20, 2022
Tony Evers, Tim Michels tout their platforms in one-off 2022 gubernatorial debate
In a rapid-fire exchange of responses, the Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger in the race for Wisconsin's top office made their cases on high-profile and more under-the-radar issues.
Saturday October 15, 2022
How Wisconsin’s voter registrations stood five weeks out from the 2022 election
The number of Wisconsinites registered to vote just over a month out from the midterms is approaching their peak levels, and geographic comparisons to 2018 and 2020 show mixed patterns.
Thursday October 6, 2022
Milwaukee socialists mark a return to prominence in Wisconsin politics
More than a century after socialists first won elections in the state and several decades since any held office in the state Legislature, unopposed 2022 candidates Ryan Clancy and Darrin Madison Jr. are poised to take seats in the Assembly.
Tuesday September 27, 2022
Pfaff, Van Orden and Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District
A Republican promoting national political issues and a Democrat focusing on local economic desires are vying in a high-profile 2022 contest for a U.S. House seat in rural, western swaths of the state.
Friday September 9, 2022
What Wisconsin’s voter registration numbers say about 2022 election turnout
The number of Wisconsinites registered to vote as of Aug. 1 is approaching the state's highest total for this figure as turnout is expected to increase for high-profile, closely contested midterms.
Thursday August 25, 2022
How nationalized politics shape the vote in Wisconisn’s 3rd Congressional District
With the retirement of U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, the race between Democrat Brad Pfaff and Republican Derrick Van Orden is among the most competitive in 2022 as voters in rural, western parts of the state have shifted from blue to red.
Thursday August 11, 2022
How to change your vote if you’ve already voted for a candidate who has dropped out
Wisconsin law allows absentee voters to 'spoil' their ballots twice if the candidate they voted for bows out of the race prior to the election.
Friday July 29, 2022
Fast Facts: Wisconsin employers want more workers
A labor shortage in the state is expected to last for years as thousands of jobs in trucking, maintenance and nursing are not being filled, even as the unemployment rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Wednesday July 27, 2022
What happens when state government wants pandemic unemployment aid back?
Here & Now extra: A "complicated, procedural mess" awaited anyone applying for pandemic unemployment insurance in Wisconsin, and one mistake in filing paperwork could mean the government demanded this money be paid back.
Tuesday July 26, 2022
The pain of inflation for people trying to make ends meet
Consumer prices have jumped considerably over the past year, with the inflation rate hitting a 40-year high in the U.S. – these higher costs are particularly hitting lower-income people around Wisconsin.
Friday July 22, 2022
A history of Wisconsin’s abortion laws
"Here & Now" reporter Nathan Denzin explains how Wisconsin's abortion laws have changed from the 1849 statute prohibiting most abortions up to the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to end constitutional protections.
Friday July 1, 2022
Protesters gather at Wisconsin Capitol after U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade
Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the nation's high court, Wisconsin now bans abortion except when deemed necessary to save a mother's life under an 1849 law.
Saturday June 25, 2022
Wisconsin Republicans approve diluted PFAS limits as regulators urge tougher standards
The new state regulations set "forever chemical" limits in drinking water that are much weaker than those proposed by the state health department and updated EPA guidance.
Wednesday June 15, 2022
Wisconsin DOJ confirms retired Judge John Roemer killed in targeted attack
The suspect in a June 3 shooting in Juneau County has been identified as Douglas K. Uhde, whom Judge John Roemer sentenced to six years in prison in 2005.
Sunday June 5, 2022
Wisconsin DOJ investigating targeted shooting related to judicial system
A Juneau County shooting that left one dead and another hospitalized was a targeted act that the state Attorney General noted was related to court cases.
Friday June 3, 2022
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