We leap right into the last week of February with Monday’s Key Reads. Less of a laser focus on Madison and lawmaking and more of a potpourri today…
But we do begin at the State Capitol, where Governor Evers and the legislature are at odds over what to do about ‘forever chemicals’ that seep into the earth and groundwater. Republicans want to make sure the contamination is cleaned up and the source responsible for the environmental damage is held accountable. Evers wants to punish any landowner found to have these chemicals in the water or soil, and has threatened to veto the Republican’s long-sought after legislation.
Benjamin Yount at The Center Square reports:
PFAS author: Evers wants to unconstitutionally punish land owners over chemicals – The Center Square
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says he wants to “hold polluters accountable” with a new PFAS law, but the Republican senator who wrote the plan the governor is going to veto says Evers has it all wrong.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, told The Center Square on Friday the governor is confusing polluters with people who find PFAS contamination on their land.
“Gov. Evers engages in semantic overload with the term ‘polluter,’ and then laments that SB312 doesn’t ‘hold polluters accountable,’ and ‘limits the DNR authority’ to hold polluters accountable,” Wimberger said. “[My legislation] does not alter the liabilities for point-source-polluters, [who] you would consider in the commonsense definition of a polluter. Instead, it exempts innocent landowners and victims of pollution from draconian enforcement orders if they let the DNR monitor and remediate as requested.”
It’s a matter of focus. Evers has to decide by this week wether or not to sign Wimberger’s legislation.
Meanwhile, the desperate search for a missing Northeast Wisconsin child has now entered it’s second week
Boats, drones, dive teams and K-9s join search for missing 3-year-old Elijah Vue – WISN
Two Rivers police said boats, dive teams, drones and K-9s joined search efforts Saturday and Sunday. Police officers, FBI agents and volunteers continued combing through the wooded area where Elijah was last seen. Ground crews also went door-to-door.
Elijah’s mother, Katrina Baur, and another man, Jessie Vang, are both accused of child neglect.
During the court proceeding Friday, it was revealed that Baur would send the 3-year-old boy to Vang’s home to be disciplined.
Manitowoc County officials set Baur’s bail at $15,000 cash and Vang’s at $20,000 cash. Both are in police custody.
Bless the searchers, including the volunteers. We know the odds here, but until there is resolution, there is hope.
In much more pleasant news, Badger Men’s Hockey Coach Mike Hastings has officially turned the program around in only his first year on the job. It’s great to see the team return to national prominence.
Here’s how Wisconsin men’s hockey can win the 2024 Big Ten championship –Badger Extra
Wisconsin, which has 47 points, needs to win five of the six points in the series to edge out Michigan State for sole possession of its second Big Ten title and earn the first-round playoff bye that comes with being the No. 1 seed.
That means the Badgers have to either win both games in regulation or win one in regulation, with the other being an overtime win or a victory in a shootout after a tie. Regulation wins count for three points and overtime or shootout wins get two. An overtime or shootout loss is worth one point.
And we’ll leave you with this sweet news.
Washington Co. couple wins marriage award – Washington County Insider
Wisconsin’s 2024 longest-married couple is Richard and Beverly Grosskreutz of Whitewater who have been married 75 years. Richard and Beverly were married on January 28, 1949. Richard is a U.S. Army veteran. They had two sons and four grandchildren. They are still able to live independently and enjoy visiting family. Their marriage advice conveys a delightful sense of humor: “The first hundred years are the hardest.”
