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Federal funding freeze on hold, Wisconsin joins lawsuit

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Federal funding freeze on hold, Wisconsin joins lawsuit


Wisconsin filed a lawsuit with 21 other states and Washington D.C. to fight the federal funding freeze, which a federal judge temporarily blocked on Tuesday. 

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Freeze on hold

What they’re saying:

That funding freeze was supposed to go into effect Tuesday evening, Jan. 28. But a judge’s ruling puts a hold on that freeze – which means federal funds can go out. 

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“I think this is a very responsible measure. Again, the past four years, we’ve seen the Biden administration spend money like drunken sailors. It’s a big reason we’ve had inflation crisis in this country, and it’s incumbent upon this administration to make sure, again, that every penny is being accounted for honestly,” said Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary.

Federal money touches all of our lives – from roads to the people on them. From nursing homes and research of diseases at universities to the Head Start program for kids to Meals on Wheels for seniors. 

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On Tuesday, the White House press secretary said the pause would not apply to payments to people – like food stamps, Medicare and social security. 

“If you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that,” Leavitt said. “However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That is something that President Trump campaigned on.”

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The Education Department said it would not apply to people – like the 40 million getting federal student loans and 7 million with Pell grants. 

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The Trump administration said the planned temporary freeze was to give it time to review funding for “DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.” It was set to go into effect at 4 p.m. central time. 

“It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs. It means no more funding for the green new scam that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies,” said Leavitt.

Wisconsin Democrats

Local perspective:

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Gov. Tony Evers wrote President Trump a letter opposing the federal aid pause. The state estimates it’s set to receive $28 billion in federal funds in a two-year budget, and the governor said the pause could have disastrous effects. 

“These are dollars that has been debated. They’ve been debated. They’ve passed both the House and the Senate. This is the this is the responsibility. The power of the purse starts in the House of Representatives, of which I’m a member, and this is law,” said U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee).

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, for the city, it means tens of millions of dollars in the city’s budget is now on hold.

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“I don’t know if Americans voted for not having the seniors not having access to Meals on Wheels,” he said. “I don’t know if Americans voted for not replacing lead service lines so that we have better public health and better public safety. I don’t know if Americans voted for potentially having a reduction in aid to community development block grant areas that helped to uplift neighborhoods that are hard hit.”

The Source: The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.

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Wisconsin

Joann plans to close 16 Wisconsin stores, a change from what the retailer said in January

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Joann plans to close 16 Wisconsin stores, a change from what the retailer said in January


Almost 70% of the Joann fabrics and craft stores in Wisconsin are now set to close, a stark change to a month ago, when the company, which recently filed for bankruptcy, made no mention of store closings in the state.

After filing for bankruptcy in January, the national retail chain has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to authorize the closure of about 500 stores across the U.S., including 16 in Wisconsin, according to a statement from Joann on Wednesday.

The company first filed for bankruptcy in March 2024 but was able to keep its stores open by going private, despite owing $1 billion in debt at the time. However, the 82-year-old company still owes more than $600 million in debt and has faced lagging sales and inventory issues, according to CNN.

The January announcement from the company had initially excluded any mention of closing Joann stores in Wisconsin, but Wednesday’s announcement changes that.

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Which Joann stores in Wisconsin are closing?

A total of 16 Joann stores are closing in Wisconsin, including four in the Milwaukee area, according to the announcement.

  • Fond du Lac: 806 W. Johnson St.
  • Janesville: 2700 N. Pontiac Drive
  • Madison: 2021 Zeier Road
  • Pewaukee: 2020 Silvernail Road
  • Cudahy: 5656 S. Packard Ave.
  • Brookfield: 16800 W. Bluemound Road
  • Menomonee Falls: N78 W14531 Appleton Ave.
  • Watertown: 401 Bernard St.
  • Plover: 1150 Meridian Drive
  • Lake Geneva: 600 N. Edwards Blvd.
  • Beaver Dam: 1645 N. Spring St.
  • Marshfield: 1919 N. Central Ave.
  • Marinette: 2400 Roosevelt Road
  • Oshkosh: 1226 S. Koeller St.
  • Racine: 2629 S. Green Bay Road
  • Sheboygan Falls: 4079 Highway 28

Which Joann stores in Wisconsin will remain open?

The company has a total of 23 locations in Wisconsin. The following will remain open:

  • Greenfield: 4950 S. 74th St.
  • Appleton: 720 N. Casaloma Drive
  • Green Bay: 2777 S. Oneida St.
  • Onalaska: 1220 Crossing Meadows Drive
  • Wausau: 226830 Rib Mountain Drive
  • Eau Claire: 4045 Commonwealth Ave.
  • Wisconsin Dells: 121 Commerce St.

A full list of Wisconsin locations can be found on the company’s website.

How many Joann stores are closing? How many are staying open?

The closure of 500 stores will represent an almost 60% reduction in the craft retailer’s brick and mortar spaces, of which there are currently 850, according to its website.

In its Feb. 12 statement, the chain wrote that the closures would contribute to “right-sizing our store footprint” and ensuring the best path forward for the company.

“This was a very difficult decision to make, given the major impact we know it will have on our Team Members, our customers and all of the communities we serve,” Joann said in the statement. “A careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit for the Company determined which stores should remain operating as usual at this time.”

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When will my Joann store close?

Information on when the Joann stores will close was not included in the announcement.

Maia Pandey contributed to this report.

Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.





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Marquette-Wisconsin volleyball match is coming back to Fiserv Forum on Sept. 17

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Marquette-Wisconsin volleyball match is coming back to Fiserv Forum on Sept. 17


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Big-time college volleyball is coming back to Fiserv Forum.

Marquette will play host to Wisconsin in the arena on Sept. 17, the schools announced on Tuesday.

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The teams faced each other at Fiserv in Sept. 2023 in front of 17,037 fans, the largest crowd to see an in indoor NCAA volleyball match.

UW was the nation’s No. 1 team at the time and earned a 28-26, 20-25, 26-24, 25-18 victory over the Golden Eagles.

Fiserv Forum also played host to the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase, which included UW and several other highly ranked teams.

UW has dominated the series with MU, winning 24 of 25 matches. The Golden Eagles’ lone victory came in 2019.



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How has Wisconsin’s poultry been impacted by bird flu, hardest hit counties and more answers

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How has Wisconsin’s poultry been impacted by bird flu, hardest hit counties and more answers


Dozens of Wisconsin poultry flocks, both commercial and backyard, have felt the effects of the lethal bird flu outbreak since its ignition three years ago.

As of the end of 2024, Wisconsin lost 3.67 million birds — laying hens, turkeys and upland game birds — across 19 commercial flocks since the current strain was first detected in wild birds in the U.S. in January 2022.

Today, the outbreak among poultry has been found in all 50 states, impacting, birds, growers, workers and consumers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 156.25 million birds in 1,531 flocks have been killed. Nearly half of those flocks were raised in commercial operations.

The disease was first detected in dairy cows in Kansas and Texas dairy herds in March 2024. However, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) bird flu has not been detected in any of the state’s dairy herds.

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As of Feb. 5, 2025, bird flu was confirmed in 959 dairy herds in 16 states. Of those herds infected, 753 are from the state of California. In the last 30 days, 34 news cases have been detected in just two states: California and Nevada.

How has Wisconsin’s poultry been impacted by bird flu?

While dairy cows infected by bird flu typically recover over time, the disease is lethal to poultry and wild birds.

The death of millions of laying hens has caused a table egg shortage in many parts of the country, which has driven prices up to record levels.

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To date, 3.67 million birds from 19 Wisconsin commercial poultry flocks across eight counties — Barron, Burnett, Dunn, Jefferson, Polk, Racine, Trempealeau and Washburn — have been depopulated.

Among those deaths were 722,200 meat turkeys, 13,200 breeder turkey hens, 2.75 million laying hens, 187,900 upland game birds and 10,000 meat ducks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS). DATCP reported a loss of 1,424 birds from backyard flocks.

On Dec. 18, 2024, Wisconsin health officials reported the first human case of bird flu in the state when a worker at a commercial turkey farm in Barron County tested positive after experiencing mild symptoms. Health officials reported that the worker had been exposed to infected poultry at the operation.

How much have egg prices increased?

Egg prices have risen nationwide by about 38% in the past year, bringing the average cost of one dozen up to $3.65 in November vs. $3.37 in October and $2.14 in November 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen even more since fall.

Of course, $3.65 is just an average. Data from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service demonstrates the variation in egg carton prices.

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As of Jan. 10, it shows that the wholesale price for a carton of large eggs in the New York market rose to $6.25 a dozen. The Midwest region saw prices around $5.91 and California as high as $8.97.

In other cases, eggs are absent from shelves.

What counties have been hit hardest by bird flu?

Jefferson County suffered the largest losses in March 2022 when 2.75 million laying hens at Cold Spring Egg Farms, owned by S&R Egg Company had to be depopulated by the disease.

Barron County reported several outbreaks in 2022, 2023 and 2024 where 293,600 birds were infected.

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Trempealeau County reported three bird flu outbreaks at turkey farms, killing 123,500 birds.

What year was the most deadly for bird flu outbreaks?

The first year of the outbreak was the deadliest for state poultry with 3.3 million birds affected in 29 outbreaks in 2022.

Over 307,000 birds died in 2023 in six outbreaks, while 73,169 birds were depopulated in 4 outbreaks in 2024.

Wisconsin has not confirmed a new bird flu outbreak in a poultry flock since Dec. 26, 2024.

National bird flu statistics paint a grim picture of bird flu devastation

In the last 30 days, USDA/APHIS reported 127 flocks with confirmed cases of bird flu impacting 21.54 million birds nationally.

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The deadliest month for bird flu across the U.S. was January, when 85 commercial flocks lost 23.25 million birds.

What states have been the hardest hit across the U.S.?

According to USDA/APHIS, the top 4 hardest hit states in the U.S. include:

  • California, 104 commercial (broiler/table eggs) flocks, 38 backyard flocks, 23.48 million birds;
  • Minnesota, 141 commercial flocks (mostly turkeys), 43 backyard flocks, 9.14 million birds;
  • Ohio, 56 commercial (table egg) flocks, 11 backyard flocks, 19.71 million birds; and
  • South Dakota, 114 flocks (mostly turkey and upland game), 25 backyard flocks, 6.1 million birds.

Claire Reid and Mary Walrath-Holdridge contributed to this article.

Contact Colleen Kottke at 920-517-2653 or ckottke@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @ColleenKottke.





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