One Wisconsin Now and other organizations hosted an event in the State Assembly Parlor, Wednesday, April 30 to commemorate the May 1 fifth-year anniversary of George Bush declaring an end to "major combat operations in Iraq" at the "Mission Accomplished" declaration from the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Participants included, Ryan Nofsinger, Iraq Army Veteran; Jane Jensen, Founder, Military Families for Peace and Military Family Compassion Groups; Robert Kraig, Director of Program, Citizen Action of Wisconsin; and Scot Ross, Executive Director, One Wisconsin Now.

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County Executive Scott Walker and District Attorney John Chisholm addressed the need for a budget repair bill to prevent a crisis in prosecutor staffing levels. The news conference was held in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's office at the County Courthouse in Milwaukee on April 29.

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, Sheldon Lubar spoke at the Rotary Club in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He focused on streamlining Milwaukee government, and suggested ways to re-structure Milwaukee County.

A public forum was held by Common Cause on April 28 in Madison to discuss how Wisconsin is affected by special interest groups' influence on elections, public policy and the state budget process. Panelists included, State Senator Mike Ellis -- (R-Neenah); State Senator Jon Erpenbach -- (D-Middleton); Jay Heck -- Executive Director of Common Cause in Wisconsin; Christian Schneider -- Fellow, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute; Gail Shea -- Former State Elections Board Official, Founder of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and moderator, Ken Mayer, UW-Madison Political Science Professor.

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The Committee for Economic Development, The Buffett Early Childhood Fund, and Partners for Wisconsin's Economic Success hosted the "Economic Summit: Building the Case for Investments in Early Education" at the Crowne Plaza in Madison, Wisconsin April 28, 2008. As the title suggests, the conference focused on early education, particulary pre-kindergarten development. Speakers included Rob Grunewald, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Judy Cameron, Ph.D., National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Elaine Weiss, Partnership for America's Economic Success /Pew Charitable Trusts, Dennis Winters, Chief Economic Advisor, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, and a Business leaders panel representing The Partnership for Wisconsin's Economic Success.

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The Monroe Clinic of Monroe, WI, organized a round table discussion by representatives from state and local government regarding the challenges of affordable and accessible healthcare in our communities. Participants included Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Brett Davis, and representatives for Senators Feingold, Kohl, and Rep. Erpenbach.

The Wisconsin Labor History Society held their annual conference at the Golda Meir Library on the UW-Milwaukee campus on Saturday, April 26. Their presentations covered role of various ethnic groups in Wisconsin’s industrial growth and the development of social and economic justice and the lessons offered for new immigrants.

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Two discussion panels assembled at Manpower Place in Milwaukee Wisconsin as part of a regional forum on health care costs. Sponsored by Better Health Care Together, a coalition of concerned leaders from the business, labor, and public policy sectors, each panelist described health care issues from their points of view. Moderated by Barbara Lawton, Lt. Governor of Wisconsin, the first panel consisted of Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower Inc., Darryl D. Morin, CEO of Advanced Wireless (and Deputy Director of LULAC Wisconsin), Scott T. VanderSaden, President of AT&T Wisconsin and Tom Verkuilen, Representative of Communication Workers of America. The second panel, also moderate by Lt. Governor Lawton, consisted of Charles E.M. Kolb, President of the Committee for Economic Development, Lenny Mendonca, Director, Co-Founder of Public Sector Practice, and Chairman McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Co, and Paul W. Nannis, Health Policy Consultant.

WisconsinEye visited the Museum of Wisconsin Art on April 24, 2008. Assistant Director Graeme Reid spoke about the Museum, it's history, collections, and plans for the future.

Fred Barnes, co-founder and executive editor of The Weekly Standard, was the keynote speaker at Wisconsin Right to Life Gala Dinner and Auction at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee on April 24th. Mr. Barnes appears regularly on FOX’s Special Report with Brit Hume. From 1988 to 1998, he was a regular guest panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Milwaukee radio host and author, Charlie Sykes, served as Master of Ceremonies for the annual event.

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On April 24th, the Armenian National Committee of Wisconsin, with State Representatives Mark Honadel, Cory Mason, Jeff Stone, Robert Turner, Robin Vos and State Senators Mary Lazich, John Lehman, and Jeff Plale held a commemoration of the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  This event was held in the Assembly Parlor of the State Capitol.

In conjunction with Earth Week, a public forum titled Whose Lawn Is More "Green?" was held at the Portage Public Library. The forum focused on lawn care and yard stewardship. Sponsored by Columbia County Master Gardener Association, each speaker provided information on greening up residential lawns without endangering the environment.

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The Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison sponsored an lecture as part of their Aldo Leopold Lecture Series in Natural Resources. The lecture was presented by Curt Meine on April 22, 2008, and titled Deep Roots of Ecosystem Management: Aldo Leopold and Germany's Dauerwald, 1935. Dr. Meine's talk provided a slightly different focus on Aldo Leopold's conservation philosophy by discussing how Leopold's visit to German forests in 1935 helped shape his ideas about ecosystem management.

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On April 22, 2008, Steve Walters interviewed Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson at the WisconsinEye studios. Topics included how the Supreme Court works, the latest Supreme Court Justice election, and her upcoming campaign for her re-election in 2009.

A press conference was held in the Assembly Parlor on April 22, 2008 to commemorate Equal Pay Day. Participants included Sen. Dave Hansen and Rep. Christine Sinicki, authors of Equal Pay Bill (SB 165); Christine Lidbury, Executive Director, Wisconsin Women's Council; and Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton. The event was sponsored by the WI Federation of Business & Professional Women.

John Powell interviewed Asst Professor Matthew F. Herndon regarding the various projects occurring at the UW-Madison Department of Physics. Also they discussed the Large Hadron Collider that is being built outside Geneva at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), which critics claim “could produce a black hole that will eat the earth or something equally catastrophic.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, welcomed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment to Green Bay, Wis. on April 18, 2008 for a field hearing on the health of the Great Lakes. Representatives from the State of Wisconsin, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the International Joint Commission, the Port of Green Bay, and the Lake Carriers’ Association testify at the hearing.

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On April 17, 2008, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen hosted a public ceremony in the capitol rotunda to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The ceremony honored victims of crime and also paid special tribute to members of the Wisconsin Crime Victims’ Rights Board—the state’s victims’ rights enforcement board. This year marks the 10th year since the enactment of the legislation that created the Board. Speakers included, the attorney general and Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz, the chair of the Crime Victims’ Rights Board.

DNR/Wisconsin Conservation Congress public meetings were held in all 72 counties on Monday, April 14. This program is coverage of the Dane County event at the Alliant Energy Center. Topics included proposed changes to state fishing, hunting, and trapping regulations.

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The Human Resources Law Practice Group of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C, was host to their annual Human Resources Seminar at the Monona Terrace in Madison Wisconsin. The focus of the seminar was on the topics of employment law, employee benefits, diversity, recruitment strategies and immigration law. As part of the seminar, Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Aaron Olver, gave a keynote address titled, Wisconsin’s Evolving Economy. In his address he spoke of Wisconsin’s changing demographics in human resources, as well as strategies in which employers might stay on top of trends and recruit future employees.

We the People: Project Citizen is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy.
 
WisconsinEye spent time with a class at the DeForest Middle school in DeForest Wisconsin as they identified a public policy problem in their community. Join us as we learn about their issue, a proposed public smoking ban, and hear what they have to say on what makes a good citizen.

On April 16, Susan M. Allen, associate director and Chief librarian of the Getty Research Institute in LA, appeared at the Wisconsin Historical Society to address the rapidly changing environment for research libraries as they move into the digital age.

The Second Annual Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference focused on sustaining Wisconsin's environment and economy in response to global climate change. The conference opened with remarks by Governor Jim Doyle and the daughter of Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, Tia Nelson.

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Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn held an open community meeting at Bay View High School in Milwaukee on Tuesday April 15, 2008. After a brief speech by Flynn, the meeting was opened up to questions from the audience.

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University Archives Director David Null discussed the project to digitize the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives' complete collection of materials from Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold with WisconsinEye on April 15, 2008. The collection consists of a collection of early diaries, notebooks and journals with a folio of loose drawings and U.S. Forest Service diaries covering 1899-1933, Leopold's hunting journals spanning 1917-1945, and Leopold's Portage-area "shack" journals covering 1935-1948. Null discussed the Leopold papers and other parts of the University’s online collection. Null was interviewed by WisconsinEye Public Policy Producer Craig Sauer in the station’s Madison Studio.

State Representative Polly Williams and School Board Director Michael Bonds are hosting a town hall meeting to discuss a proposal to reduce "forced" busing in Milwaukee on April 15, 5:30 to 7: 30 p.m. at Parklawn Assembly of God Church, 3725 North Sherman Boulevard.

The Department of Justice held a presentation on Sexual Predators and the Internet in Germantown, WI. Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Suzanne Jeskewitz encouraged parents and educators to attend the event which was held in their districts to better understand the dangers young children can face while being on the Internet unsupervised.

Secretary of the Department of Administration Michael Morgan discussed his successes and frustrations in state government with Madison Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Steve Walters on April 14, 2008. The interview was part of WisconsinEye's Faces of Government series, which focuses on the people behind many of the decisions that affect the lives of the state's citizens.

Common Ground is a new broad-based organization in the Milwaukee area. Leaders and members from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, cultural and political backgrounds share what they have in common to achieve positive changes in the four counties in and around Milwaukee. The development of Common Ground began in 2004, when a group of 38 religious, civic and business leaders raised $700,000 in seed money to launch our grassroots organization, then known as Greater Milwaukee Sponsors. The seed money came from the congregations and religious groups affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), Presbyterian, Episcopal and United Church of Christ (UCC). Foundations, individuals and unions have also contributed. The April 13th convention will serve as the official launch of Common Ground. Over 2,000 people came together to formally constitute the new organization, declare member units, adopt a dues-based budget and proclaim an issue agenda.

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The long running game show Jeopardy! held a brain buster audition at UW-Madison to find a student who will represent the school in this years Jeopardy! College Championship. Jeopardy! then took over the Kohl Center for the filming of two weeks of shows which include the chosen student from UW-Madison.

Madison Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Steve Walters interviewed retiring legislator, Sen. Carol Roessler, R-Oshkosh from her Capitol office on April 10, 2008.

Best-selling author and journalist Michelle Weldon discussed her new book, "Everyman News: the Changing American Front Page," before the Milwaukee Press Club and the UW-Milwaukee Chapter of the Society Of Professional Journalists April 10 at the Newsroom Pub, 137 E. Wells St., in downtown Milwaukee.

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Governor Doyle proclaimed Jeopardy! Day at the Kohl Center and met with game show host, Alex Trebek. Jeopardy! will shoot their Collegiate Contestants shows on Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, 2008 at the Kohl Center for national broadcasts in May.

John Powell interviews Daniel Diliberti, Milwaukee County Treasurer, regarding his report, Potential Impact on Local Governments of Subprime Collapse. The interview took place in Mr. Diliberti's office in Milwaukee on April 9, 2008.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz presented his State of the City Address at the Madison Rotary Club at the Inn on the Park in Madison on April 9, 2008.

Bob Gleeson, M.D., author of "What Healthy People Know and the 7 Things They Do to Stay Healthy and Live Longer" presented in Milwaukee on April 9, 2008. As Vice President and Medical Director of Northwestern Mutual, Gleeson has studied health behavior and life expectancy for more than 25 years. Dr. Gleeson is also president and chief medical director of Health Now, LLC - a workplace wellness consulting firm. Dr. Gleeson's medical specialty is internal medicine. The Well Workplace/Well City USA initiative challenges local business communities to work together toward building healthier communities, starting in the workplace. Achieving Well City USA designation requires that 20% of a community's working population must be employed by Well Workplace Award-winning companies/organizations.

DATCP Secretary Nilsestuen discussed the slowing of the loss of working farmland with local farmers at the Cozy Nook Farm in the town of Delafield.

Governor Doyle and DNR Secretary Frank visited the Sourhtern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. The Scuppernong Habitat area in Eagle is the largest native lowland prairie east of the Mississippi River.

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David Umhoefer discussed winning the Pulitzer Prize, journalism's top award, for local reporting on the Milwaukee County pension scandal in this interview filmed on April 9. Umhoefer's report revealed how hundreds of county workers boosted their pensions and violated county ordinances and IRS rules in the process. Umhoefer, a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was interviewed by WisconsinEye Public Policy Producer Craig Sauer from the Sentinel's offices in Milwaukee. The Pulitzer Prizes area administered by Columbia University and awarded every April.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum curatorial staff showcased four rarely viewed Civil War regimental flags at the museum on April 8, 2008.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster addressed the 2008 Wisconsin Indian Education Association Conference at the Concourse Hotel in Madison Wisconsin April 8, 2008.

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Secretary of the Department of Commerce Jack Fischer discussed his successes and frustrations in state government with WisconsinEye Public Policy Producer Craig Sauer on April 7, 2008. In addition to talking about the agency's mission, Fischer also made comments on the department's priorities in the future. The interview was part of WisconsinEye's Faces of Government series, which focuses on the people behind many of the decisions that affect the lives of the state's citizens.

The fourth annual Future Wisconsin conference was held on Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at Bluemound Gardens Conference Center in Wauwatosa, WI. WISN Radio talk show host, Jay Weber was the master of ceremonies for the conference and featured speakers included, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, Congressman Paul Ryan, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, Tim Michels, Sue Armacost (Wisconsin Right to Life), Todd Berry (Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance), Kayne Robinson (NRA) and more.

To minimize vehicular traffic on campus, Ripon College, located in Ripon Wisconsin has been moving campus parking to the exterior of their campus in an effort to make car travel less convenient. As a continuation of this theme, the Ripon Velorution Project was born.
 
Stemming from the word “vélo” which is French for bicycle, velorution is an anagram of the word revolution. The velorution is a global social movement wherein the bicycle is part of the solution to problems of obesity, traffic congestion, fuel consumption, pollution and the erosion of communities to urban sprawl.

Ripon College is joining this velorution by providing a new bicycle to each first-year student who signs a pledge that he/she will not bring a vehicle to campus through the duration of the 2008-09 school year. WisconsinEye spent some time with Ric Damm, Director of Publications and Institutional Image and David Joyce, President of Ripon College to learn more.

On April 4, 2008, Wisconsin Eye visited the Wisconsin Veterans Museum for the Shiloh Cannon Dedication. In 2007, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum became home to a cannon that previously resided at the GAR Memorial Park at Camp Randall. Hear the story of the cannon, captured by the 14th Wisconsin at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, how the cannon was installed here at the museum, and a brief history of the 14th Wisconsin and its role in the Civil War.

Ripon College was host to an Ethics in Health Care Conference on Friday, April 4th. Ripon College is a four-year, private, residential, liberal arts and sciences college located in Ripon, Wisconsin. Prior to the conference start, WisEye interviewed Dr. David C. Joyce, President of Ripon College and David Seligman, Executive Director of the Ethical Leadership Program. Each was able to describe their roles in producing the conference as well tell us a bit about Ripon College. As part of the conference, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General under the Clinton administration, made an appearance by phone. Her address, tiled “Differential Health Care in African-American Communities”, described where our health care system is lacking and a philosophy on how to make it better. After the Elders address, the conference then shifted into a panel discussion titled “Costs, Coverage and Community: Diverse Communities”. Moderated by Jacqueline Clark, Associate Professor of Sociology at Ripon College, she introduced members of the panel which included Jerry Waukau, Director of Health Services for the Menominee Indian Nation, Donna Friedsam, Associate Director for Health Policy, Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin, and Robert A. Peterson Jr., founder and Executive Director of ABC for Health, Inc., a nonprofit public-interest law firm in Madison.

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The Economic Outlook Conference 2008 was held at the Fluno Center for Executive Education at the University of Wisconsin Madison on April 4, 2008. The conference featured four keynote speakers, David Hale, Global Economist, Ken Mayland PH.D., President of Clearview Economics LLC, Elizabeth Stephenson, Associate Principal of McKinsey & Company, and Donald Nichols PH.D., Professor Emeritus of Economics and Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

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Filling in for host Steve Walters, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Stacy Forster, led a panel of reporters in a discussion of the week's major news stories in state politics. This week’s program focused on the State Supreme Court race. Featured guests included WisPolitics.com's JR Ross, WISC-TV's Jessica Arp, Shawn Johnson of Wisconsin Public Radio and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

After 12 years in the Assembly, Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, said that he would not run for re-election in November of 2008. In this interview with WisconsinEye Public Policy Producer Craig Sauer, Wieckert reflected on his successes and frustrations in office, his reasons for first running for public office, and his political future. The interview took place from Wieckert’s office in the Capitol on April 3.

Justice Louis Butler addressed supporters and the press Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to speak on the Supreme Court race election results. Butler stated how honored he feels to have served Wisconsin as a Supreme Court Justice, and that he acknowledges that the voters have now made a new choice to sit on the court.

WisconsinEye contributor John Powell discussed the April 1, 2008 voting results with Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, and Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, on April 2, 2008. Carpenter and Harsdorf were cosponsors of a measure, which was voted on April 1, meant to restrict the Governor's partial veto powers. It passed.

As part of WisconsinEye's "Media at Work" series, videographer Paul Schmidt visited the "Native Wisconsin" show at WOJB Radio in the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation. The show covers Native American issues and music, and on April 1, 2008, other employees of WOJB joined the show to promote their pledge drive and talk about the role of WOJB in the community.

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UW-Madison professor of Landscape Architecture, Arnold Alanen, gave a presentation at the University Club in Madison, WI, on Wisconsin's cultural landscapes, both current and historical. Alanen spoke on the cultural uses of these landscapes and how some of them came to be.

The Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies co-hosted its 2008 Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies and International Education Conference. The Conference offered a series of workshops and keynote presentations that focused on teaching social studies and international and global education. To open this series, WisEye interviewed Melissa Collum, President Elect of the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies. She describes the objectives of the conference and tells us bit about the organization and it’s goals.

As a continuation of 2008 Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies and International Education Conference, WisconsinEye recorded a keynote presentation by Harvey Kaye titled "Paine and the American Democratic Tradition”. Kaye, UW – Green Bay’s Rosenberg Professor of Social Change and Development, is the author of a the book Thomas Paine and the promise of America.

After Kaye’s keynote address, WisconsinEye had the chance to sit down with Kaye to talk about Thomas Paine, Kaye’s book, and the political climate in Wisconsin and the nation.

Justice Louis Butler's Campaign for re-election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court held an election night results party at Riverfront Pizzeria in Milwaukee on Tuesday night, April 1, 2008. Supporters enjoyed pizza while watching results come in on several televisions placed throughout the party. Butler made a short statement thanking his supporters while results were pouring in. The party ended before official final results were reported.

Michael Gableman's campaign gathered in Milwaukee to watch the polls on election night, April 1, 2008, for the Supreme Court Justice seat. Gableman is declared the winner moments before midnight.

Director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Endangered Resources Program, Signe Holtz, discussed the program's relevance with WisconsinEye contributor John Powell on April 1, 2008. In addition to Holtz, numerous DNR experts discussed the various impacts the program has had on the state over the years. The program works to conserve Wisconsin's biodiversity for present and future generations. Its goals are to identify, protect and manage native plants, animals and natural communities from the very common to critically endangered. The program also works to promote knowledge, appreciation and stewardship of Wisconsin's native species and ecosystems.

Madison Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Steve Walters interviewed Wisconsin’s First Lady Jessica Doyle as part of WisconsinEye’s Newsmaker interview series. Doyle discussed her passion for education, life with her husband Gov. Jim Doyle before they entered politics, and the different programs that she works on as the First Lady in this interview filmed in the Governor’s Mansion on April 1, 2008.