Wisconsin
Wisconsin military historian says situation in Los Angeles could ‘absolutely’ happen here
On Sunday, President Donald Trump activated the California National Guard without the consent of the state’s governor and deployed 700 Marines to the area.
Protests over the moves have broken out across the nation, including in Milwaukee. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a letter speaking out against the deployment, calling it an alarming abuse of power and stressing the importance of a state’s ability to manage its National Guard.
And California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a warning to state governors on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
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“Regardless of your political stripe, this is a preview of things to come,” he said.
John Hall is a military historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” the deployment of the state National Guard could “absolutely” happen here.
“[The president] has made clear that his definition of what constitutes unlawful combinations, in terms of protests, is relatively low,” Hall said. “So where protests emerge, he has threatened he will take similar measures to respond to those protests.”
“Moreover, he seems to be suggesting that states and municipalities that, in his judgment, are interfering with ICE’s mass deportation efforts right now are themselves obstructing the laws of the United States,” Hall continued.
As protests are expected around the country Saturday, including in Wisconsin cities, Hall talked with “Wisconsin Today” about the historic role of the National Guard and why the type of deployment seen in Los Angeles is so rare.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: Are there standards for when a president can deploy the National Guard despite objections from the governor? What are the steps that are usually taken in a situation like this?
John Hall: It’s helpful to keep in mind the original context in which Congress decided to make this delegation of authority to the president. It was an era in which Congress would go into recess and be days or weeks away from the national capital.
The idea was the president cannot sit on his hands if a foreign force invades the United States, waiting for Congress to come back to New York or Philadelphia and eventually Washington to authorize him to do this. So it really was almost a response to technological incapacity of that era.
But generally speaking, the one that the president has teased he is considering invoking is the so-called Insurrection Act. It generally speaks to the same sort of conditions of invasions or rebellions, unlawful combinations, things that prevent the execution of the laws of the state or the federal government.
RF: It seems like in American history, we’ve been more reluctant to use active duty military for law enforcement and security purposes.
JH: Absolutely and with very good reason. So the nation was founded with a congenital fear of what they then called standing armies. That is the idea that regular army soldiers kept under arms and in uniform and under military discipline in times of peace, historically, had shown themselves to be the tools of tyrants, and so the founding generation did not want such an army.
A lot of the debate that’s going on right now about the current deployment sort of hints around the concerns of this historically, but the one thing that it misses is that the regular forces of the United States have wanted to stay far clear of these kinds of deployments throughout history.
Past cases in which they have been deployed in this manner have really put them in the crosshairs of acrimonious political debates where they do not like to be. Particularly post-Vietnam, it took the military a generation to rebuild public trust and they are very, very wary of squandering that public trust by being thrust into circumstances like this.
RF: The National Guard might help with voting during the pandemic or for civil disturbances. They might deploy overseas. They have some training relevant to this. But active duty troops like the Marines, do they have training when it comes to handling protests?
Not generally. It would be specialized training in preparation for a particular contingency or mission.
The National Guard is sort of a Swiss Army knife. It’s another one of the reasons why it is the force of first resort when the local capacity of law enforcement has been exceeded, and you need to enhance that capacity, or you need additional capabilities.
The National Guard is very well integrated with other state agencies. And the troops of the National Guard, depending upon their specific specialty, may be trained in how to respond to riots as a matter of course.
Not to say that they are beyond criticism. Two of the most regrettable events in the history of the National Guard were in 1970 with deadly shootings at Kent State and Jackson State.
But that notwithstanding, the National Guard is generally more competent in the measured use of force to respond to these kinds of emergencies.
Whereas within the Army or Marine Corps forces, that’s not generally what they train to do on a day-to-day basis if they get orders.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
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