Wisconsin
Government openness celebrated at 10th annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards | Wisconsin Newspaper Association
![Government openness celebrated at 10th annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards | Wisconsin Newspaper Association Government openness celebrated at 10th annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards | Wisconsin Newspaper Association](https://wnanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/John_Diedrich_feature.jpg)
As he acquired his award as a Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog on Thursday, Matthew DeFour tossed his go well with jacket to the ground, revealing rolled up shirt sleeves. He tugged on his tie to loosen it. This, DeFour stated, was how his first editor, John Russell, arrived every day on the Aurora Beacon-Information in Illinois the place DeFour labored proper out of faculty.
DeFour was amongst greater than half a dozen Wisconsin journalists and open-government advocates honored on the tenth annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards earlier than a crowd of 100 folks on the Madison Membership.
Presently the state politics editor for the Wisconsin State Journal, DeFour was honored for his dogged reporting of Ok-12 training, Dane County authorities and Wisconsin state authorities, breaking tales and sparking constructive change on each beat he coated. He devoted his 2020 honor to that first editor, whom he described affectionately as an “ill-tempered, foul-mouthed Irishman.”
“However he additionally thought deeply about society’s issues,” DeFour recalled. “John Russell turned a journalist as a result of he wished to save lots of the world. He stated, ‘Give the folks all the knowledge you may — and that’s the way you save the world.’ ”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter John Diedrich was awarded the Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog prize for 2022. Due to the pandemic, no award winner was named in 2021, and no ceremonies had been held in 2020 or 2021.
“The power right here tonight is exhilarating — much more so than normal, as a result of you’ve gotten persevered, by way of this pandemic, to point out up for our first main in-person occasion since 2019,” Wisconsin Watch Govt Director Andy Corridor stated. “It’s an absolute honor to hitch forces with all of you to battle for the folks’s proper to know and for our democracy.”
Diedrich was nominated by Journal Sentinel Deputy Editor Greg Borowski for his work exposing a wide range of threats to common folks, starting from harmful barrel recycling corporations that expose staff and neighbors to poisonous and flammable chemical compounds to federal brokers who took benefit of a mentally challenged younger man in a botched gun-buying sting operation.
Borowski recounted the story of “the day John and I didn’t get crushed up.” The 2 males had met within the newspaper’s foyer with the indignant brother of a girl, Tiffany Tate, who was turned away from one in every of Wisconsin’s prime stroke facilities simply 350 yards away from the place she had suffered a stroke. Tate was transported to a different hospital farther away, the place she died.
Diedrich’s 2019 investigation, Turned Away, discovered this harmful coverage of ambulance diversion was getting used throughout the nation with generally lethal outcomes. Diedrich defined the story to Tate’s brother, and patiently listened as the person poured out his grief and anger.
“And over the course of almost an hour, he turned David Tate’s angle and his coronary heart round,” Borowski recalled. “And by the tip, David declared, standing up, that John was an angel despatched by his sister to assist the world know the story of what occurred, and what needs to be executed to repair it.”
The annual award is introduced collectively by the Wisconsin Heart for Investigative Journalism, the Wisconsin Freedom of Data Council, the Madison Professional Chapter of the Society of Skilled Journalists, the Wisconsin Newspaper Affiliation, Wisconsin Broadcasters Affiliation and College of Madison-Wisconsin Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Seven different recipients had been honored Thursday with Opee Awards for his or her contributions to open authorities in 2022 — and two public officers had been shamed for participating in secrecy. They embrace:
Citizen Openness Award (“Copee”): Christine Brennan
Brennan requested information to research how a beloved park was focused for redevelopment by the town of Fond du Lac. When the town requested her for $6,888 on prime of the $1,000 she had already paid to find these information, Brennan balked. Her expertise helped elevate public consciousness of abusive location price prices. In accepting the award, Brennan stated the information made all of the distinction in convincing the Metropolis Council to show in opposition to the mission.
Political Openness Award (“Popee”): Winnebago County District Legal professional’s Workplace
Deputy District Legal professional Eric Sparr accepted the award for taking the weird step of prosecuting the City of Omro for alleged open information regulation violations. In accepting the award, Sparr stated the motion was so uncommon that the Winnebago County Circuit Court docket wasn’t precisely certain the way to deal with it. The case was ultimately settled out of courtroom.
Honorable point out: Tony Evers
Wisconsin’s governor was honored for vetoing a invoice that unanimously handed each homes of the Legislature to create a brand new legislative human assets workplace with built-in secrecy provisions. He additionally proposed in his finances to lift the brink for when information custodians can tack on location prices from $50 to $100.
Media Openness Award (“Mopee”): Isiah Holmes, Wisconsin Examiner
Holmes and this on-line information outlet unearthed surprising details about Wauwatosa’s police division, which deemed Mayor Dennis McBride a “goal” and maintained a watchlist of protesters itemizing Holmes himself for having coated the protests as a journalist. In accepting the award, Holmes stated, “This second is a reminder for all of us — each within the energy of open information regulation and the way at occasions forces are likely to work in opposition to it.”
Open Information Scoop of the Yr (“Scoopee”): The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Diedrich additionally shared on this honor, together with Raquel Rutledge and Daphne Chen, for Wires and Fires, which uncovered how harmful electrical wiring has for years brought about fires and claimed victims in Milwaukee rental items. The collection spurred metropolis officers to hunt higher methods to forestall such fires.
Whistleblower of the Yr: Douglas Oitzinger
An alderperson within the metropolis of Marinette, Oitzinger stood as much as his fellow council members when he filed go well with in December alleging that they’d improperly gone into closed session to debate choices to switch the town’s PFAS-contaminated ingesting water. In accepting the award, Oitzinger stated in small communities with out strong watchdog establishments, atypical residents should take up the function. “We are going to solely have open authorities and clear authorities,” he stated, “if we stick our necks out and demand that our legal guidelines be adopted.”
No Pal of Openness (“Nopee”): Particular Counsel Michael Gableman and Meeting Speaker Robin Vos
Wisconsin Freedom of Data Council President Invoice Lueders awarded this ignominious honor to Gableman and Vos in absentia, saying each “smugly reject the very thought of accountability.” The 2 have been cited by judges for withholding and destroying information associated to Gableman’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 election. Lueders tossed the award in a close-by trash can, declaring, “Wisconsin’s custom of open authorities is maybe extra fragile than we thought. We have to guard it zealously and rejoice it deeply.”
The nonprofit Wisconsin Heart for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Tv, different information media and the UW-Madison Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, revealed, posted or disseminated by the Heart don’t essentially mirror the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its associates.
This text first appeared on WisconsinWatch.org and is republished right here below a Artistic Commons license.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better?
![Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better? Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better?](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/31101058/USATSI_24117504-scaled.jpg)
MADISON, Wis. — In an ideal world for Wisconsin football, the Badgers would have built a multi-score lead early during their season opener and never relented, cruising to the type of victory that said one thing to ease an uncertain fan base searching for more: Hey, this is progress.
That’s not exactly what transpired during Wisconsin’s 28-14 victory against Western Michigan on Friday night. Yes, the Badgers did end up winning by multiple touchdowns. They also trailed by a point as late as four minutes into the fourth quarter and needed a fortuitous bounce on a muffed punt just to end up in scoring position for the go-ahead touchdown.
It was a performance that, while able to avert calamity, left plenty of questions on the table about whether this team — and especially this offense — will take the necessary steps forward in Luke Fickell’s second season after a 7-6 debut.
“I’ve been in these games before, and sometimes they’re not the most fun,” Fickell said. “But what it comes down to is you’ve got to find a way and you got to make some adjustments that maybe you didn’t envision you’d have to make, you didn’t want to make in game one. But you have to make some of those adjustments. And we did.”
Relive last night’s win 🦡 pic.twitter.com/10af1WvGuQ
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 31, 2024
Fickell acknowledged earlier in the week that “we know as little as we ever have known” about an opponent entering the first game of the season, and the chess match that ensued has to be factored into the equation. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor hired a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator during the offseason. As a result, Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said he spent the week watching clips of Louisiana Tech, where Broncos defensive coordinator Scott Power previously worked.
“They didn’t show any of what they did there,” Van Dyke said. “They were trying to keep everything in front of them, playing a lot of Cover 3 and not letting us take any of the deep shots, really.”
Even if the opener provided unexpected challenges, this was still a game against a MAC team coming off a 4-8 season that Wisconsin had hoped to dominate. The Badgers were, after all, 24-point betting favorites. As Wisconsin readies for Week 2 foe South Dakota — ranked fifth in the FCS Top 25 — with Alabama looming the following week, we’re left to wonder exactly what the result means.
Tyler Van Dyke went 21-of-36 for 192 yards in his Badgers debut. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
A year ago, Wisconsin opened the Fickell era with a 38-17 victory against MAC opponent Buffalo that foreshadowed the team’s uneven offensive performances because the Badgers led by just four points in the third quarter. Wisconsin then averaged just 23.5 points per game, its fewest in 19 years. Is this group in for more of the same?
There were at least some encouraging signs. Wisconsin’s 1-2 running back combination of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker ran with tenacity and power. Both players scored on touchdown runs that featured them knocking back defenders on the way to the end zone. Fickell said the primary objective was to run the ball and establish a physical identity, even if it meant sacrificing on some deep passes.
Wisconsin’s top two slot receivers, Will Pauling and Trech Kekahuna, are dynamic and should be among Van Dyke’s favorite targets all season. The offensive line allowed just one sack when Van Dyke remained in the pocket too long and didn’t throw the ball away. Van Dyke himself produced some decent moments, looking at ease on quick throws over the middle and showing a willingness as a ball carrier on read options. Wisconsin’s first four drives went for 16 plays, 16 plays, 14 plays and 14 plays — the type of possession control reminiscent of previous Badgers regimes.
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2024/08/25165705/0826_BillCallahan-1024x512.png)
GO DEEPER
‘We’re gonna change this crap’: Bill Callahan and Wisconsin, origin stories intertwined
But within all those positives were enough concerns to keep the coaching staff busy. For one, those four 14-plus-play drives yielded just one touchdown despite the Badgers reaching the red zone each time. Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo can spread defenses out with his version of the Air Raid, but that becomes trickier in a more condensed part of the field. The Badgers ranked 63rd nationally in red zone offense last season and scored a touchdown just 63 percent of the time.
Fickell said the lack of red zone efficiency was glaring in the opener. Van Dyke’s decision-making was a part of that process. He threw a couple of passes that could have been intercepted, including one in the end zone before Wisconsin settled for a field goal to take a 13-7 third-quarter lead. Van Dyke also lost a fumble when he scrambled out of the pocket and kept the ball too loose in one hand as he was being pursued.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect for the offense was the lack of explosive plays. Mellusi averaged 3.9 yards per carry and Walker 4.4 yards. Wisconsin produced 11 pass plays of at least 10 yards but none of at least 20 yards, with Van Dyke often finding his pass catchers on shorter throws. Van Dyke’s longest pass play came on a third-and-6 early in the third quarter when he tossed a quick completion to Pauling, who turned upfield and did the rest of the work on a 17-yard gain. Rarely did the Badgers even attempt anything down the field. Of Van Dyke’s 36 attempts, only three were thrown with 15-plus air yards, per TruMedia. None were completed.
Mellusi attributed the overall performance to “some first-game jitters.”
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Mellusi said. “But watching film all week, their goal was to stop the run. Not to say we weren’t expecting to break a big one. Of course you want to break a big one all the time. But you’ve got to be OK with the 4- or 5-yarders, and eventually you’re going to bust one.”
Former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez used to cite a theory he gleaned from Lou Holtz that a great team needed five great players and no glaring weaknesses. Fickell was asked whether he believed a lack of playmakers on this team was an issue.
“It’s hard to say whether there’s not enough playmakers on the field,” Fickell said. “If you’ve been here long enough, you know that there’s going to be days — I don’t want to make excuses — days like this. But games like this, that all of a sudden become that slow, methodical. I would think around here, you’ve seen a few of those. It’s not what maybe you envision every single day. It’s not maybe what we envision going into this thing, but I give our guys a lot of credit for their ability to adjust and adapt.”
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2024/08/31003421/GettyImages-2169523623-1024x683.jpg)
GO DEEPER
Badgers survive scare against Western Michigan: Wisconsin football opener instant takeaways
Wisconsin does indeed deserve at least some credit for how it finished because the outcome could have been much worse. Western Michigan took a 14-13 lead on Jalen Buckley’s 1-yard touchdown run with 14:15 remaining in the fourth quarter — a potentially backbreaking moment for the Badgers after the Broncos converted a fake field goal into a 26-yard run and a first down to the 4-yard line.
Wisconsin took advantage of a Western Michigan’s muffed punt by scoring the go-ahead touchdown in just three plays, on Walker’s 6-yard run. The defense then stopped Western Michigan on a fourth-and-1 at midfield, which led to the Badgers scoring on Van Dyke’s 6-yard keeper to account for the final margin.
“We all rallied together,” Badgers inside linebacker Jake Chaney said. “Nobody really flinched. There’s a lot of work to be done, but that was a good team win and I don’t think that should be overlooked.”
Returning players and coaches said all offseason that the second year under Fickell and Longo felt different and that things were operating more smoothly. There were signs of momentum during spring and preseason practices, though it always comes with a caveat until it translates to the games.
Based on Wisconsin’s season-opening performance, there is substantial room for growth. And while progress means different things for different teams, the Badgers will need much more of it to have any chance of moving the needle this season.
(Top photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
Wisconsin
Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness
![Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/08/31/PMJS/75024162007-mjs-uwgrid-30-3.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4641,2612,x0,y41&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Here are some of the reasons why quarterback Tyler Van Dyke came to Wisconsin
Here are some of the reasons why quarterback Tyler Van Dyke came to Wisconsin
The Wisconsin football team faces some challenging teams in 2024, with three of its opponents (Alabama, Oregon and Penn State) in the preseason top 10.
Western Michigan wasn’t supposed to be among the biggest tests. They were predicted to be seventh in the Mid-American Conference.
But the Broncos gave the Badgers all they could handle for much of the season opener on Friday at Camp Randall Stadium and even led Wisconsin briefly in the fourth quarter before Luke Fickell’s squad finally rallied for the 28-14 win.
There were some notable performances like Chez Mellusi’s impressive comeback — it was his first game since fracturing his fibula nearly a year ago — the important fourth-down stand in the fourth quarter that led to the Badgers’ final score and the incredible interception late in the game by true freshman Xavier Lucas.
But the Badgers, despite controlling the time of possession, also left the game with mistakes to clean up.
It began with a missed field goal, it continued when they couldn’t finish long drives for a large chunk of the game and it didn’t look good after they allowed a fake field goal that turned into Western Michigan’s go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
And taking into account the frustrating 2023 season, the showing for three-plus quarters led fans on social media to feel very uneasy about the prospects for the rest of the year.
5 takeaways: In Wisconsin football’s 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener
The Badgers should again be heavy favorites next week —they were favored by 24 points on Friday — against FCS opponent South Dakota, but national title contender Alabama comes to town in a couple weeks.
Here’s how social media reacted to Wisconsin’s Week 1 game.
Wisconsin defeats Western Michigan, 28-14
Ricardo Hallman is a reigning All-American for a reason
Xavier Lucas makes incredible interception late in the game with the Badgers ahead 28-14
Wisconsin football fans weren’t feeling too good about the showing for much of the game
Western Michigan took a 14-13 lead with 14:15 left in the fourth quarter after Jalen Buckley ran it in from 1-yard out. The Broncos’ TD came six plays after they recovered a fumble from Badgers quarterback Tyler Van Dyke at their own 34-yard line late in the third quarter.
The Badgers would regain the lead, 21-14, at the 10:35 mark after Walker scored from 6 yards out and Van Dyke connected with Trech Kekahuna in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion.
The TD was set up thanks to a gift from Western Michigan. Wisconsin’s special teams recovered a live ball on a punt after it hit a retrieving Bronco on his back as he was running down the field.
The Badgers held the lead the rest of the way but that likely didn’t change a lot of fans’ perceptions.
Wisconsin
West Nile virus in Wisconsin, Labor Day weekend mosquito awareness
![West Nile virus in Wisconsin, Labor Day weekend mosquito awareness West Nile virus in Wisconsin, Labor Day weekend mosquito awareness](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox6now.com/www.fox6now.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1280/720/4P-MOSQITO-PROTECTION-VO_00.00.03.08.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Labor Day weekend mosquito awareness
Health officials in Wisconsin are urging the public not to let their guard down when it comes to mosquitoes this Labor Day weekend. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services confirmed two people have died and another was hospitalized this year because of West Nile virus.
MILWAUKEE – Health officials in Wisconsin are urging the public not to let their guard down when it comes to mosquitoes this Labor Day weekend.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services confirmed two people have died and another was hospitalized this year because of West Nile virus.
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Individuals who become infected with West Nile Virus might feel body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, headache and rash. Lindsey Page, director of the Milwaukee Health Department’s infectious disease program, said roughly one-in-five people experience those symptoms – but most people don’t.
“Most people recover completely from West Nile virus,” Page said.
A more severe neuroinvasive form of the virus can develop that causes meningitis, which is swelling of the brain or spinal cord.
“We have long sleeves,” said Priya Jacobs. “Try to pack as many clothes as we can, or shoes, hiking gear, making sure that we got all the stuff that we need just to be outside.”
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