Friday, July 11, 2025

The Onion Cultural Standard: Real Housewives of Atlanta

The Onion Cultural Standard: Real Housewives of Atlanta

24 states have legalized recreational marijuana. Is Wisconsin one of them?

From JSOnline:

Cailey Gleeson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Recreational marijuana has been legalized across nearly half the U.S., with efforts currently underway in other states.

But, that's not the case in Wisconsin.

Nearly every neighboring state — minus Iowa — has legalized marijuana, but the Badger State hasn't made much progress on the issue, despite widespread voter support

Some Republicans have voiced their support for a restrictive medical-use program, but legislation hasn't been introduced in the current legislative session.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin called the state an "outlier" for its lack of legalization in a Jan. 17 report, adding that residents "spent $121 million in 2022 on cannabis sales in neighboring Illinois," which added an estimated $36 million to Illinois tax revenue.

Here's what to know about marijuana in Wisconsin:

Has Wisconsin legalized recreational marijuana?

No, recreational marijuana is not legal in Wisconsin.

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Cops Gone Wild: Former Wisconsin police chief connected to ammunition importing scheme, feds say

From JSOnline:

John Diedrich
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


A former small-town Wisconsin police chief is implicated in a scheme by a California gun dealer to illegally import armor-piercing incendiary rounds into the United States from Bosnia, according to federal court records.

Bringing such ammunition into the country is a violation of federal law, but there are exceptions, including if the ammunition is for an American police department.

In 2021, the California gun dealer and his brother enlisted then-police chief James Bushey of the Town of Linn Police Department in Walworth County to sign documents saying his department needed the ammunition, according to a federal search warrant unsealed in late 2024 and other documents.

In exchange, the gun dealer promised to provide money to pay for squad cars and other equipment for the town's police department, the warrant says.

The plan failed when the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives halted the import, asking why a department of a half-dozen officers policing a town of 2,600 people south of Lake Geneva would need more than a million rounds of such specialized ammunition.

The California gun dealer, Darin Dowd, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. regarding the importation of a half-million of the rounds of ammunition.

A plea agreement was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin on July 2. Dowd faces up to five years in prison. No court dates have been set.

Dowd did not return messages for comment.

Dowd's brother, Jacob Dowd, has also been implicated along with others, but to date, only Darin Dowd has been charged.

The former chief, Bushey, 41, did not return calls and messages seeking comment.

James Weiss, chairman of the Linn Town Board, confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 9 that Bushey is no longer employed by the town and added officials have been fully cooperating with federal authorities.

"As confirmed by federal representatives, the Town of Linn and its current administration are not subjects of any prosecutorial inquiry," Weiss said, reading from a prepared statement. "The Town of Linn holds all officials to standards of integrity. Actions that violate those standards are inconsistent with our values."

Weiss declined further comment, citing the ongoing federal probe.

Chief misled Town Board on deal, according to court documents

The search warrant and other documents provided these details:

The scheme played out in 2021 as the Dowd brothers were looking for a police chief to file false paperwork to get the highly sought-after ammunition.

Dowd was part owner of United Forces Enterprises, a federal firearms licensee in Vacaville, California.

Bushey said he was approached by his former roommate, who was acting as a go-between with the Dowds. Bushey said he agreed to sign the paperwork saying 1.5 million of the rounds were needed for his department.

At a meeting with the Town Board in June 2021, Bushey told board members he was entering into a creative deal with a gun dealer to get ammunition, which was in short supply at the time, donated to the department.

But Bushey didn't include the fact that he was falsely claiming to the ATF that all the ammunition was for the town department, or that he would be receiving cash payments in exchange for submitting the paperwork.

Bushey provided a second purchase order of 3 million rounds of 12.7X99 Armor-Piercing Incendiary Brass Case ammunition. This type of ammunition is used in firearms such as the Barrett M82 rifle and M2HB/M2 Browning belt-fed rifle.

"This is a large-caliber weapon and is rarely, if ever, used for law enforcement purposes and even more rare to be an API round," the warrant said.

After the paperwork was submitted, an ATF agent contacted Bushey and, according to Bushey, said it “looked a bit odd that a small department in Wisconsin was buying 1.5 million rounds of belt-fed ammo."

John Diedrich can be reached at jdiedrich@gannett.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2025/07/09/former-wisconsin-town-police-chief-linked-to-ammunition-import-scheme/84526508007/

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

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Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Evers can ban conversion therapy, reins in power of the Legislature

From JSOnline:

Anna KleiberLaura Schulte
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


MADISON - In a blow to the power of the Legislature, the Wisconsin Supreme Court limited a key committee’s ability to block state rules, allowing Gov. Tony Evers to institute a ban on conversion therapy that the Legislature had stopped.

In a 4-3 ruling July 8, the liberal-controlled court ruled that thelgbtq Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional, clearing the way for the state to institute a ban on the discredited practice in which counselors instruct gay patients to change their sexual orientation.

The ruling could have sweeping implications for the interaction between the Legislature and the governor's office, as it determines whether the legislative committee can continue to block rules created by the governor's office, rather than going through the full Legislature to create policy.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Jill Karofsky called the abilities exercised by the Republican-controlled Legislature to halt administrative rules indefinitely unconstitutional and said the committee was exercising its powers without a check.

But, she noted, the Legislature can create rules and laws through the legislative process.

“…the Legislature retains power over the administrative rulemaking process regardless of our determination here,” she said. “The Legislature created the current process. It alone maintains the ability to amend, expand, or limit the breadth of administrative rulemaking in the other branches — as long as it adheres to the constitution.” 

The lawsuit was brought by Evers against the Legislature's Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a powerful Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations — after the committee blocked the provision barring conversion therapy in the state twice.

In a statement, Evers celebrated the victory and said Republicans for years have been allowed to overstep their power and cause gridlock by holding up administrative rules. 

"It’s pretty simple — a handful of Republican lawmakers should not be able to single-handedly and indefinitely obstruct state agencies from doing the people’s work," he said in a news release.

“Wisconsinites want to protect our constitutional checks and balances. Today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision ensures that no small group of lawmakers has the sole power to stymie the work of state government and go unchecked. This is an incredibly important decision that will ensure state government can do our important work efficiently and effectively to serve Wisconsinites across our state."

Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, also championed the decision. 

“This decision will mean a fundamental change — for the better— in how Wisconsin state government works. No longer will a small group of legislators be able to block or suspend common-sense administrative rules indefinitely," he said in a news release. "Instead, rules that protect Wisconsinites will be able to be adopted without being subject to an unconstitutional legislative committee veto.”

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the decision "strips the Legislature of its check and balance powers" and "bestows even more power to the executive branch," criticizing the court for removing oversight.

“For decades, case law has upheld the constitutionality of the legislative rules committee to serve as a legitimate check on the powers of the Governor and the overreach of the bureaucracy. Today’s decision overrules those cases," Vos said in a statement. "As Justice Rebecca Bradley said in her dissent, ‘Progressives like to protest against ‘kings’ – unless it is one of their own making.’”

Justice Brian Hagedorn both concurred and dissented with the opinion of the liberal majority of the court.

While he suggested it was time to “rethink the administrative state,” he said the majority went too far, arguing against a portion of the ruling.

“In my judgment, this cries out for judicial humility and restraint,” he said. “We need not sidestep this issue, but we should proceed with caution, going only as far as we must to decide it correctly.” 

Justice Annette Ziegler, in a dissenting opinion, called the majority’s ruling “a misguided quest to restructure and unbalance our state government.”

She argued that legislative power was being narrowed with the ruling, while giving the executive branch — the governor and agencies — an outsized ability to legislate.

“Now is not the time to unleash a sea change in the law regarding how our state government is structured, and there should never be a time to unequally apply the constitution,” she said.

In her separate dissent, Bradley quoted singer Bruce Springsteen, saying, “A king ain’t satisfied ‘til he rules everything.”

She said that while the majority holds the Legislature to constitutional rules of lawmaking, the executive branch is allowed to exercise its power “unfettered and unchecked.”

“The majority imperils more than the structural separation of powers (if that isn’t bad enough),” she said. “If the courts continue to consent to the redistribution of constitutional powers between the branches, then all constitutional provisions are susceptible to revision by the government, and the governed have lost their ability to govern themselves.”  

The ruling comes as a national battle over LGBTQ+ rights heats up, with the nation's highest court upholding Tennessee's ban on gender affirming care for minors in June.

In Wisconsin, Evers has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender athletes to push back on anti-LGBTQ+ efforts in the state.

While the state's highest court did not say how they would ultimately rule when it heard oral arguments in January, questions from the court's four liberal justices indicated the majority did not agree with the Legislature's decision to give power to a legislative committee to block statewide rules implemented by the executive branch.

"They are acting as the body that was elected," said Justice Rebecca Dallet, who is part of the court's liberal majority, during oral arguments. "This structure is a few people who get all the power to make a decision about what happens to what an agency does with their rulemaking."

Environmental groups also applauded the ruling and suggested its impact is broader than the issue at hand of banning conversion therapy.

Midwest Environmental Advocates, in a news release, pointed to the 2020 decision of the JCRAR committee to weaken monitoring requirements for "forever chemicals" implemented by the Department of Natural Resources.

That decision, the release said, has allowed a company in northeastern Wisconsin to continue to discharge the toxic chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and fertility issues, to the Marinette Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“In the past, small groups of legislators have been able to block the implementation of popular environmental protections passed by the full legislature and signed by the governor,” said Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of MEA. “This process violated basic constitutional principles and was often exploited by polluters and industry groups to effectively repeal environmental laws—outcomes they could never achieve through the normal legislative process.” 

Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/08/wisconsin-supreme-court-rules-ban-on-conversion-therapy-can-be-enacted/84429777007/

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Microsoft says layoffs won't affect Mount Pleasant datacenter

From The Journal Times.com:

Caroline Neal 

A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured April 4 at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash.


MOUNT PLEASANT — After Microsoft announced another round of layoffs, the company and Mount Pleasant officials have said progress on the village’s new datacenter will not be affected.

“We’re fully on track with construction on our datacenter in Mount Pleasant, it’s still expected to go online in 2026, and our $3.3 billion commitment remains intact,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Microsoft has had multiple rounds of layoffs this year. Its largest was in May and affected around 6,000 workers, according to The Associated Press. The most recent announcement will impact 4% of its workforce, or about 9,000 people.

As of June 30, 2024, Microsoft employed 228,000 people worldwide, with 126,000 being based in the United States.

Sean Ryan, the communications director for the Village of Mount Pleasant, said the new datacenter will be the “most technologically advanced in Microsoft’s portfolio,” which currently includes 350 datacenters around the world.

“The data center will also create significant new property value that is expected to surpass the amount Microsoft committed to in its agreement with the Village, and will make Microsoft the largest single property taxpayer in Mount Pleasant,” Ryan said.

According to Mount Pleasant’s 2025 property assessments, the village currently has an estimated total commercial property value of $3 billion, marking an increase from $2.1 billion in 2024.

“With this investment, the Village and Racine County can pay their infrastructure investments in land near Interstate 94 in Tax Incremental District No. 5, using only the property taxes and other revenue generated by this new development,” Ryan said.

The Microsoft spokesperson said the company already has started preliminary work on expansion sites that will include additional infrastructure in Mount Pleasant.

As of July 3, the Microsoft careers page listed seven job openings at the Mount Pleasant site.

“We are committed to our projects to help prepare the workforce and Wisconsin manufacturers for the future,” the spokesperson said.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/business/article_09206ae9-e631-4cc2-b60a-27e30640f802.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

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Park High School to host screening of Ty'Rese West documentary

From The Journal Times.com:

Holly Gilvary 


RACINE — “CYCLE,” the documentary about the 2019 police killing of Ty’Rese West in Mount Pleasant, will be screened at Park High School on Saturday, July 19.

The film, produced by Racine natives William Howell and Laura Dyan Kezman, premiered in May at the Milwaukee Film Festival. It also won Best Feature Documentary at the Brooklyn Film Festival, according to a news release.

Howell and Kezman created the movie over five years, in close collaboration with West’s mother, Monique West.

Ty’Rese West, who was 18 when he was killed by a Mount Pleasant Police Department officer in 2019, attended Park before transferring to Horlick High School.

Kezman said in a statement that “CYCLE” isn’t just a movie, but also “a call to action for my hometown and America.”

“We want audiences to understand how our justice system operates, to see the gap between what’s promised and what’s delivered,” she said. “Our goal is to save lives by telling the truth.”

Howell said that while “rage” about West’s death was “necessary and warranted initially,” love is ultimately an “ingredient for sustaining change.”

Years into the film’s creation, he and Kezman reframed the conversation to be about love and broader understanding.

“The way to break cycles is to break cycles within ourselves,” he said. “We just need to understand each other on a fundamental level. That is the thing that can foster better policy and better structures within our systems.”

Yusuf Buckley, who runs Community Consulting Services in Racine, Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church, In the Dance Cafe and AC Autobody & Repair provided support for the Racine screening, which is scheduled for 1-3:30 p.m. at the John Burns Theater at the school, 1901 12th St. Doors will open at 12:15 p.m.

After the film, Kezman, Howell and local community members will host a special panel discussion.

Tickets are $18.17 (fees already included). To purchase tickets, visit app.promotix.com/events/details/Cycle-Documentary-tickets.

West

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/article_7c1e12fe-ffc5-4d95-bf30-8d953c17be9d.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

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Milwaukee council committee backs regulating chemical cousins to marijuana, including delta-8

From JSOnline:

Alison DirrSophia Tiedge
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It was August 2024 when two kids arrived at Children's Wisconsin, having snacked on newly purchased gummies before the woman caring for them realized what they had eaten was not an innocuous sugary candy.

As the children wandered through a convenience store while the woman shopped, they were munching on what was later described as "THC gummies."

She told police the candy looked just like what they normally got in grocery stores, down to the Trolli branding. When she realized what they were eating, she took them directly to the hospital.

The store clerk told police he gave the candy to the woman after she purchased it, though surveillance video showed the clerk getting the gummies from under the counter and handing them directly to the two children, according to a Milwaukee police report.

Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa was alarmed that police could not issue a citation because there is no age restriction in Wisconsin for hemp products, including on the sale of those that can get users high.

"The truth is that he was within his rights to hand those gummies to a child," Zamarripa said of the clerk on May 20, when the store owners came before the Common Council's Licenses Committee, which she chairs.

Manwinder Singh Bhagat, one of the owners of Rama Foods, 6730 W. Villard Ave., told the committee he believed there was a miscommunication. The employee had been fired, he said, and the store sells such products only to people over 21, as listed on some of the packages.

Now, council members led by Zamarripa and Alderman Peter Burgelis want to see that minimum age become more than optional in Milwaukee.

"There was no violation of city ordinance or state law; it is wholly unregulated," Burgelis said during a July 3 meeting of the council's Public Safety and Health Committee. "This ordinance will fix that and give an age restriction to these products."

Milwaukee council members seeking minimum age for delta-8, other hemp derivatives

Council members have put forward legislation to prohibit selling or providing hemp-derived THC products to anyone under 21 years old.

Those include products with names such as delta-8 and delta-10 — chemical cousins to marijuana. An investigation last year by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Examination and AL.com found the products are causing a sharp rise in reports of children and adults getting sick. Those findings are alarming doctors and public health researchers.

Such products can be traced to Congress' legalization of the sale of hemp and products extracted from it in the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant with low levels of the psychoactive compound that gets people high, known as delta-9 THC.

The city legislation would carry fines of between $400 and $1,000.

It does not apply to "any non-intoxicating cannabinoids," including CBD.

The committee backed the ordinance, which is expected to go to the full Common Council for a vote at its July 15 meeting.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/07/milwaukee-council-committee-backs-regulating-delta-8/84430410007/