Sunday, January 18, 2026
Saturday, January 17, 2026
New U.S. guidance says to consume less alcohol. What does that mean?
Madeline Heim
In the first edition of the U.S. dietary guidelines, published in 1980, the authors wrote: "One or two drinks daily appear to cause no harm in adults. If you drink you should do so in moderation."
Though our scientific understanding of alcohol has sharpened since then, every edition up through 2020 has included such limits: moderate drinking is defined as one standard drink or less per day for women and two or less per day for men.
In the newest edition, however, they're gone. Americans should "consume less alcohol for better overall health," the 2025 guidelines say, adding that pregnant women, people with alcohol use disorder, and those on certain medications should avoid it entirely.
The change is perplexing to health experts nationally and in Wisconsin, which ranks among the worst states for excessive drinking, and where alcohol contributes to more than 3,000 deaths each year. Though drinking less is certainly the right approach, people appreciate clear and specific guidelines about alcohol, said Maureen Busalacchi, director of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
"One of the most visited parts of our website talks about serving sizes ... how much people can drink and what the risk is," she said. "By not putting that out there, that changes things. There's no reason we should back away from the research that has been coming, certainly for the last decade, in terms of health harms from alcohol."
The link between alcohol and health is complex and often cherry-picked for headlines – like the notion that drinking red wine is good for the heart. (Experts say red wine drinkers could have better heart health outcomes for other reasons.)
Excessive alcohol use is linked to a number of health concerns, with liver problems the most well-known among them. In Wisconsin, alcohol-related liver disease deaths escalated dramatically between 2019 and 2023, and liver problems due to alcohol are showing up in younger people.
In recent years, awareness has also grown regarding the link between cancer and alcohol, even at moderate levels. Drinking alcohol raises a person's risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, colon and rectum, and liver cancer, as well as breast cancer in women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In January 2025, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require health warning labels on alcohol products detailing the risk of cancer, saying many Americans were unaware of them. Even women who consumed one drink daily had about a 10% higher breast cancer risk than women who did not drink, according to Murthy's advisory.
Busalacchi said now that more specific criteria about alcohol have been removed from the dietary guidelines, she and other public health entities will need to fill the gap. She said she wants people to understand that a pint of beer or full pour of wine is more than one serving size of alcohol – defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.
Addressing the changes to alcohol guidance in the dietary guidelines, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a press conference that alcohol is a "social lubricant," and while "in the best case scenario, I don't think you should drink alcohol," it can bring people together to bond and socialize. It hit home for some, particularly as the U.S. struggles with a loneliness epidemic.
Busalacchi said she doesn't disagree but did point to the number of events in Wisconsin – from watching sports to weekends at a cabin – that are based around alcohol, "a mindset that's hard to break," she said.
"The challenge is, you don't need that in order to socialize," she said.
She did say she sees a turning tide across the state in terms of residents' relationships with alcohol, particularly this month, when many abstain from alcohol as part of Dry January – and bars and restaurants make efforts to cater to them.
"If you haven't started yet, jump into Dry January," Busalacchi said. "Give yourself a week or two without alcohol, and see if you don't feel better."
Friday, January 16, 2026
Transgender teen athlete in a Supreme Court fight knows the upcoming sports season could be her last
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Microsoft moves on from Caledonia data center following local pushback
Microsoft says it won't go "where people don't want us."
When Caledonia residents voiced their concerns last year about a proposed Microsoft data center, it caused the company to change course – with some local officials hoping for a better location there.
But Caledonia is officially not getting a Microsoft data center.
“I’m not aware of anything we’re looking at in Caledonia,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“It doesn’t make sense to go where people don’t want us," Smith said on Jan. 13. "But I do think it’s our opportunity to have the conversations in a variety of other places about what we would hope to bring to a community.”
Microsoft is finishing a data center in neighboring Mount Pleasant and expanding its campus with a second data center to be completed nearby in the coming years.
Smith called the experience with Caledonia a “important watershed moment for us.”
“It was a message that said we need to communicate differently,” Smith said.
“I understand why we went about what we did in Caledonia the way we did," he said. "It reflected the last 15 years of our industry. People were buying land under non-disclosure agreements because the moment they said who they were, the price skyrocketed. But that will not work for the future.”
For months, Caledonia residents and some elected officials only knew the potential development as “Project Nova.” It wasn’t until later when Microsoft was revealed as the company behind the development.
“The price of that was a cloak that kept us from being transparent with the community and we need to be transparent,” Smith said. “We need to be more transparent, not just when we’re buying land.”
'They thought it'd be a cake walk for them'
Village President Tom Weatherson agreed with Smith that Microsoft should have been more upfront with local residents.
“They brought in a third party; they didn’t come in as Microsoft,” Weatherston said. “To me, that was the very first mistake is they hired another firm out of Waukesha to come in and (Microsoft) wanted to be anonymous. That was a huge mistake on their part. Maybe that’s why Brad is making a change.”
“I could be wrong, but I got that feeling that they thought it’d be a cake walk for them and they were surprised by the resistance,” Weatherston said.
Weatherston said he tried to help the find a new location for Microsoft.
“We have a couple of industrial parks that would have been very welcoming," Weatherston said. And there’s a farm on the southern edge of Caledonia that’s for sale, it would have been perfect for them and at that time I was told that Caledonia, in their business opinion, was completely off the table no matter what."
“The citizens here just didn’t want it," he said.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Teachers Gone Wild:Former Waterford gym teacher sentenced to prison for child sexual assault
Milana Doné
RACINE — A 58-year-old Janesville man was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday related to an alleged sexual assault that occurred when he worked as a gym teacher at St. Thomas Day School in Waterford.
Michael Pipp was charged with one count of first degree child sexual assault with a person under the age of 13 and one count of child enticement.
The charges were filed as repeat offenses because of a 2016 Waukesha County case in which Pipp was convicted of causing mental harm to a child.
Pipp pleaded guilty to the sexual assault count Monday. The second count was dismissed but read into the court record.
He also was ordered to serve eight years of extended supervision.
Pipp originally pleaded not guilty in April 2025.
According to a criminal complaint, the alleged assault occurred during the 2014-15 school year when Pipp was employed at the school.
Pipp reportedly was terminated from the school following the charges in Waukesha County. The school sent a letter informing parents about the termination and the allegations against him.
In 2022, a forensic interview was conducted with the child, during which she reportedly alleged that Pipp sexually assaulted her during gym class.
Former Prairie School employee sentenced in child pornography case
Milana Doné
RACINE — A 55-year-old former school employee was sentenced to three years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
James Broetzmann, who previously worked at the Prairie School, had faced seven counts of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count. The remaining counts were dismissed but read into the court record.
Broetzmann also was ordered to serve three years of extended supervision, and the court imposed a $500 surcharge for the image or copy of the image associated with the crime.
According to previous Journal Times reporting, Mount Pleasant police responded to a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and searched Broetzmann’s house July 23, 2024, reportedly finding multiple devices containing child pornography.
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