Wisconsin
Wisconsin Democrats gather for state convention following fatal shooting of Minnesota lawmaker
Wisconsin Democrats gathered for their annual state convention in the Wisconsin Dells on a tumultuous Saturday that saw millions protest President Donald Trump, a military parade in the nation’s capitol and the fatal shooting of a Democratic state lawmaker in neighboring Minnesota.
On the first night of the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s convention, speakers mourned what they painted as a political assassination across the border amid a noticeable police presence outside the gathering.
Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home early Saturday. Minnesota Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured at their home about about 9 miles away.
A source involved with planning Wisconsin’s Democratic convention told WPR the state party “already had a robust security plan in place,” but took “additional cautionary measures in light of the horrific events that unfolded in Minnesota earlier today.”
The hallways and conference rooms of the Chula Vista Resort were warm as Democratic activists met and trained on how to counter the Trump administration. They also talked about maintaining momentum in a state where Democrats chipped away at Republican control of the state Legislature and cemented a liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
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Outgoing state Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler opened the convention on a somber note, calling the politically motivated murders of fellow Democrats in Minnesota a moment of “shock and grief.” He then called on attendees currently serving or running for elected office to stand if they felt comfortable doing so. As they did, the room erupted with cheers and applause.
“We’re here to support you, and we honor your service to all of us,” Wikler said. “You should not have to fear for your life to serve in public office in this country or anywhere.”
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, urged the audience to take a “deep breath and remember our brothers and sisters in Minnesota.”
“I’ve checked in with all of our counterparts in Minnesota in Congress, and they’re doing well,” Moore said. “But you know what? Y’all, this will not prevail. We’re gonna win!”
During a two-way conversation on stage with Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wikler asked the senator to address the Minnesota tragedy.
In her answer, Baldwin referenced an incident Thursday where officers pinned California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla to the ground and handcuffed him after he tried to criticize the Trump administration’s immigration raids during a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“What we’re seeing,” Baldwin said. “What we saw with my colleague, Alex Padilla, is an effort to silence, and we will not be silenced.”
Wisconsin Democrats celebrate recent victories, look toward ‘trifecta’ in 2026
Throughout the evening’s speeches, Wisconsin Democrats spent as much time touting their recent victories as they did condemning Trump’s administration and Republican lawmakers who support him.
After taking the stage to a standing ovation, Gov. Tony Evers lauded his fellow Democrats for being “really good at getting things done.” He touted expansions of broadband access in Wisconsin, said Democrats are “fixing the damn roads” and claimed people switched from calling him “two or three term Tony.”
“And now, they just call me 400-year Tony,” Evers said, referencing a school funding veto he made in 2023. “Because I used my constitutional veto power to provide a $325 increase per-student every year for the next four centuries!”
Evers, like several other Democrats who spoke, celebrated the resounding victory of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-elect Susan Crawford over conservative Judge Brad Schimel. He painted Crawford’s 10 percentage point win as Democrats “taking on the richest man on the planet,” Elon Musk, who spent heavily on Wisconsin’s race.
“And guess what?” Evers said. “We’re undefeated, Wisconsin. Dems, one. Elon Musk, zip.”
Multiple speakers at the convention talked about a building “blue wave” in November 2026. They said they could see Democrats keep the governor’s office and flip both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature, resulting in what’s known as a “trifecta.”
Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said future Democratic majorities would fund education and health care while repealing Act 10, former Gov. Scott Walker’s landmark law that restricts collective bargaining rights for most public sector union workers.
“We will also legalize cannabis,” Hesselbein said as the convention hall erupted in cheers.
The convention was set to resume Sunday with the election of a new party chair to replace Wikler, who announced earlier this year he would not seek another term.
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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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