Wisconsin
Cicadas making historical appearance in Wisconsin
APPLETON, Wis. (WBAY) – Rare cicadas are starting to emerge across the country. You have a chance to check out this historical moment with two periodic broods coming out at the same time — but it won’t be easy.
Scientists report billions of cicadas will emerge. Some are calling it “Cicada-geddon” or “cicada-palooza.”
“It’s a strange phenomenon,” UW-Green Bay Professor Michael Draney explained. “There’s three thousand species of cicadas on the planet but there’s only seven of these periodic cicadas that live in Eastern North America.”
Bad news for bug lovers in Northeast Wisconsin. You have to travel to the very southern part of our state — south of Milwaukee and Madison — to see what’s called the Northern Illinois brood.
The Northern Illinois brood only comes out every 17 years. For the Great Southern brood, it emerges every 13 years.
“The clock ticks and they’re like, ‘Hey, it’s time to become an adult!’ They crawl out at sunset. They climb out of their baby shell. Their wings inflate. The next day you see cicadas!” Professor Draney said.
Both are popping out at the same time for the first time since 1803. For perspective, Thomas Jefferson was president; that’s the year he purchased the Louisiana Territory.
Draney said cicadas are basically trying to avoid predators by coming out all at once.
“The adults are kind of helpless against predators… if they just kind of came out every year they’d probably just get eaten but when they all come out all at once every 13 years it takes the predators by surprise and some of them survive.”
In our neighborhoods, Draney told Action 2 News it’s going to seem like a usual cicada summer.
“We do have cicadas in this area but they mostly actually emerge later in the summer. As you know, in August is when you hear the noise but it’s a different genus, different species, and it’s not happening here for us,” Draney said.
If you’re really interested, there are a few sweet locations around Illinois where both periodic cicadas are coming out at the same time.
“If it’s a good spot you can get thousands and thousands of these coming out in your backyard. Millions per acre. It can be really dramatic. It can make the roads slippery. It can be a real thing. Still, it’s very spotty.”
Just keep the pets at home.
“You have to actually be careful. Pet dogs can get a taste for cicadas, and they can get very sick because the shells of the cicadas — the exoskeletons — can cause a blockage if they eat way too many of them,” Draney explained.
Draney said the peak is likely the middle of this month into June, so the clock is ticking if you want to make the trek to check out this rare cicada emergence.
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Wisconsin
President Trump endorses Tom Tiffany for Wisconsin governor
President Donald Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in his bid to be the next governor of Wisconsin.
Trump announced the endorsement Tuesday night, writing on his social media platform Truth Social that Tiffany had his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“He will fight to advance Common Sense Values, and put WISCONSIN, AND AMERICA, FIRST,” Trump wrote.
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The endorsement puts to bed the questions of whether — and when — Trump would weigh in on the GOP primary for governor.
Tiffany, who has represented northern Wisconsin’s 7th District in Congress since 2020, was considered an early favorite to clinch the Republican nomination against Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, but recent fundraising numbers suggested Schoemann could put up a fight.
The backing from Trump has proven critical in Republican primaries across the country, and it’s almost certain to give Tiffany a boost. Four years ago, Trump’s endorsement helped propel businessman Tim Michels over former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in the 2022 GOP primary for governor.
But whether the president’s nod is a help or a hindrance in the general election is an open question, especially in a cycle that polling suggests could favor Democrats. Four years ago, Michels lost to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the general election. And almost immediately after Trump’s endorsement Tuesday, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin looked to seize on the president’s support of Tiffany as a condemnation.
“We agree with Donald Trump—Tom Tiffany has been by his side for all of it: ICE murdering Americans in the streets, the Big Ugly Bill, ending funding for the Affordable Care Act, invading Greenland, and raising every day costs,” read a statement from state Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker. “Donald Trump just made Tom Tiffany the general election nominee, and we will stop him from bringing his chaotic and dangerous agenda in November.”
At least seven candidates are running in the Democratic primary for governor, where many of them have made attacking Trump central to their campaigns. The winner of the general election will replace Evers, who is not seeking a third term.
Trump’s announcement came as part of a slate of endorsements posted to his Truth Social platform late Tuesday evening. He also endorsed Michael Alfonso, who is running for Tiffany’s soon-to-be-vacant seat in Congress.
Alfonso is the 25-year-old son-in-law of U.S. Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy, who represented the 7th District before Tiffany. He’s one of four Republicans running to replace Tiffany.
Trump called Alfonso “a young ‘STAR’.”
In a post on X, Alfonso wrote that it is his “greatest honor to accept this endorsement from President Donald J. Trump,” and pledged “to be a steadfast MAGA warrior.”
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Wisconsin
Polaris to lay off 200 Wisconsin workers, close facility in Osceola
The move comes after Polaris announced it was separating from Indian Motorcycle.
Powersports company Polaris has announced it plans to wind down the operations at its facility in Osceola which specializes in manufacturing Indian Motorcycle.
The move impacts roughly 200 Wisconsin workers at the facility.
On Jan. 27, during a fourth quarter and full year earnings call for 2025, Polaris said the company expects to sell Indian Motorcycle by the end of the first quarter of 2026 to Carolwood, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles. However the company plans to maintain some stake in the company.
Polaris officials said called the sale of Indian Motorcycle was a “difficult decision” and added it was a “move that we believe is best for Polaris and Indian Motorcycle.”
In a post on X, Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin said:
“We have seen this story in Wisconsin too many times – a private equity firm buys a company, hollows it out, & fires its workers, all to pad their profits. It’s simply wrong.”
Wisconsin
Prison ordered in western Wisconsin child porn case
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