The week ends with continued lawlessness in Madison and continued good governance in Washington County.
Let’s get right to it.
It’s graduation weekend at the University of Wisconsin.
All of a sudden, administrators are nervous about the pro-Hamas demonstrators.
They’re threatening sanctions if any disruptions occur. But they’ve already shown the protestors they don’t back their tough talk with consistent enforcement of the rules.
We hope the events are incident free. A great many of those in caps and gowns this weekend graduated from High School in 2020 and were denied a proper ceremony then because of the COVID lockdowns.
Spring 2024 Commencement : UW Madison
The official website for graduation events at UW Madison includes this warning:
Important information: Disruption of university events, including graduation activities, violates state law and will not be tolerated. The University will recommend a minimum of suspension for students (including current graduates) who participate in any disruption and will also place holds on their degrees, registration, and official university records. Students and non-students who engage in disruption also risk arrest, citation, and criminal charges.
From chaos and craziness on campus to sanity in local government in Washington County.
This is a smart and rational approach to election security and integrity.
Washington County to spend $150,000 on 2024 election integrity push | The Center Square
Washington County’s board approved $150,000 for an election integrity reform package that includes changes for early voting and for how some ballots are counted on election night.
“This would pay not only for the immediate cost of the extra poll workers or chief election inspectors but also for some of the clerk’s time,” Washington County Executive Josh Schoeman told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber Thursday. “We’re really trying to take money off the table as an excuse.”
Schoeman said the first change will be an optional expansion for early voting.
“We see the city of Madison, the city of Milwaukee with an incredible amount of hours for convenience of their voters,” Schoeman explained. “Many of our rural communities, even some of our townships, you have to schedule an appointment and that’s the only option you have.”
Schoeman said because this is a county program, each local election clerk will get to decide if they want to expand early voting hours. He said the county cannot mandate anything.
There’s also an option for local election clerks to hand count the results from this year’s race for president and U.S. Senate. Schoeman said Washington County hand-counted the ballots in the 2022 races and found a difference of two votes, but he said the hand count eased questions about election integrity.
Schoeman said the county is also looking to deal with election integrity questions by buying back voting machines and looking to close the central count facilities for West Bend and Germantown.
“We’ve had some really late running elections because central count does not work the way it was designed,” Schoeman added. “So, we’d like to see things go back to the traditional process. Send those in-person absentee ballots, all absentee ballots, back to the polling locations where they’re intended. And we think by buying back these machines gives the municipalities a little bit extra incentive to do exactly that.”
Cyber crime is real and it continues to plague several Wisconsin companies.
Ascension is the latest Wisconsin health system hit with a cyber attack | WPR
A health system with numerous hospitals and clinics in Wisconsin is investigating a cyber attack that interrupted access to some technology systems. But it’s unclear whether hackers gained access to sensitive patient information.
The St. Louis-based Ascension said it detected “unusual activity” on some network systems Wednesday that it believes was caused by a “cyber security event.”
Ascension said it is working to uncover what information may have been affected by the breach. If sensitive information was exposed, Ascension said it will notify people affected.
…Alex Holden is the chief information security officer at Hold Security, a Mequon-based cyber security firm. Based on Ascension’s public statements about the breach, he said it looks like the attack wasn’t a “full intrusion” into their network.
“They’re also encouraging their partners to break technology connections into Ascension for the time being,” he said. “There seems to be either exploitation that came from a certain party into them, or there is a threat that the breach is not fully contained — and it may affect their partners as well.”
Last year, a cyber attack caused a system-wide outage for Hospital Sisters Health System and Prevea. In early 2024, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, a nonprofit managed health care organization, also suffered a cyber attack that resulted in patients’ personal information being released.
Hokey? Sure. But the 2025 Draft in Green Bay is going to be a huge event, so the team may as well take every opportunity to draw attention to it.
2025 NFL Draft borrowing from Packers tradition with bicycle handoff from Michigan to Wisconsin| NFL.com
Green Bay will officially be counting down the days until it hosts the 2025 NFL Draft starting next week with a ceremonial draft handoff, partially delivered via bicycle, from Michigan to Wisconsin set to take place on Tuesday, the Packers announced Thursday.
The ceremony will begin with a themed football arriving in Milwaukee from Detroit via the Lake Express Ferry in Muskegon, Michigan, which will then be carried north to it’s final destination in Green Bay, where a countdown clock to next year’s draft is set to be unveiled at the Lambeau Field Atrium.
The first-of-its-kind event lightly borrows from the Olympics and the Super Bowl customs, with a themed football taking place of a torch or trophy. How the keepsake makes its journey through a state steeped in pro football tradition will also pay homage to a longtime Packers tradition.
A special bike ride aptly named “Pedal to the Draft” will help transport the themed football to Green Bay, paying tribute to the Packers’ training camp tradition in which young fans in attendance offer their bikes for players to ride from the locker room to the practice field — a ritual that began in 1958 and continues to this day. The special journey is also set to emphasize the bikeability of Wisconsin through its trails and roadways, making brief stops at several prominent locations along the way.
“The Green Bay Packers are honored to bring the energy and excitement of the NFL draft to Wisconsin as we step up preparations to host the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay,” said Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy. “Football fans from around the country and world will be making their way to Green Bay to attend the NFL draft and appreciate the history and traditions of the Packers. They’ll also get to experience all that the state of Wisconsin has to offer and the Pedal To The Draft is a fun way to get us started and celebrate both.”
It’s a good weekend to get the landscaping and gardens going. For parts of the state, it will also be a great time to catch the Northern Lights. The Farmers’ markets will be rocking and the golf courses will be packed. We hope you in the real world have a wonderful weekend and that for those in the protective bubbles that are the college campuses, the tent city rabble rousers put a cork in it and let the graduates and their families enjoy the weekend as well.
We’ll be back at it again on Monday.
