On Dec. 11, the Journal Sentinel published “23 states to boost minimum wage in 2025.”

It’s laudable for full-time workers to receive a living wage. However, I’m not convinced that boosting minimum wage is a long-term solution to economic inequity. A more effective approach might be to decrease the earnings gap between company owners and their employees. I am not anti-CEO. People who run successful companies take great risks and expend much energy and worry. Moreover, for a product to remain successful there must be ongoing research.

Opinion: We interviewed men who left the workforce. Their reasons don’t fit narrative.

Letters to the Editor: Overturning Act 10 just the first step. Other worker rights need protecting.

I am not advocating that government enforce a ceiling for maximum earnings. In the best of circumstances, management and workers would negotiate together a working wage necessary for a healthy life where the workers live. In the best of worlds, a priority agenda item at shareholders’ meetings would be the well-being of company employees.

Many will scoff at “the best of worlds.” My response is that the only way we can have the best — or, for starters, the better — is if we step forward and make it happen.

Sheryl Slocum, Milwaukee

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MADISON – Saige Damrow is headed to Nebraska but not the Cornhuskers.

The former defensive specialist/libero for the Wisconsin volleyball team announced Saturday her commitment to Creighton, the undefeated Big East champion that calls Omaha home.

The Bluejays (32-3) reached the Elite 8 this season before falling to eventual national champion Penn State in five sets.

That team was led by three senior All-Americans that included libero Maddy Bilinovic. Damrow, a native of Howards Grove, will be in the hunt to replace her.

Damrow announced her commitment on Instagram.

A leg injury sidelined Damrow for all but three matches of her freshman season. This year Damrow ranked fourth on the Badgers with 2.24 digs per set and played in 19 of 33 matches. That included a five-match run at libero at the end of the regular season when freshman Lola Schumacher, the starter, was out due to injury.

Damrow has three years of eligibility remaining.

More: Former Wisconsin volleyball defensive specialist Gulce Guctekin joins SEC program

The year 2024 wasn’t necessarily a banner one for Wisconsin sports fans. Which of these will most stick with you in 2025 and beyond? What’s the biggest disappointment in 2024?

Vote for your pick below.

Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers football team

Year 2 of the Luke Fickell Era was supposed to push the program a step forward from the 2023-24 team that barely qualified for a bowl game.

Instead, against a tougher schedule and after the loss of starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the Wisconsin Badgers took a step backward, finishing 5-7 and missing a bowl game for the first time since 2001.

Fickell fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo, but with another brutal schedule ahead and no clear-cut top option at quarterback, the 2024-25 season looks bleak.

Giannis gets hurt and the Bucks stumble in the playoffs

A late-season calf injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo kept the Milwaukee Bucks star from the playoffs, and Milwaukee was dismissed in six games by the Indiana Pacers in the first round, a second consecutive first-round playoff loss.

Damian Lillard also missed two games in the series and was limited when he played. Though Khris Middleton did what he could, a strange season (featuring a mid-season coaching switch from Adrian Griffin to Doc Rivers) ended in disappointment.

Mets stun the Brewers in the playoffs

A fielding miscue opened the door for a New York Mets win in Game 1 of the National League wild-card series, and after a thrilling rally in Game 2, the Milwaukee Brewers lost Game 3 in the biggest gut-punch imaginable.

With one out in the ninth, Pete Alonso’s three-run homer turned a 2-0 lead to a 3-2 deficit, and the Mets went on to win, 4-2, on their way to the NLCS.

The Brewers haven’t advanced out of the first playoff round since 2018.

Packers drop a heartbreaker to 49ers

The 2023 Green Bay Packers season finished as a success, but there’s the pain of wondering what else could have been.

In the divisional round of the playoffs, Green Bay had a 21-17 lead on San Francisco until the final 2 minutes, when Christian McCaffrey scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:07 remaining in the 24-21 loss.

Wisconsin, Marquette lose to double-digit seeds in NCAA Tournament

Marquette has to get credit for reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013, registering an 81-77 victory over Colorado in the second round. But upstart 11th seed NC State, a team that only made the tournament thanks to five wins in five days to claim the ACC Tournament, dispatched second-seeded Marquette at that point, 67-58, en route to a Final Four berth.

Wisconsin had it much worse, garnering a No. 5 seed and losing pretty convincingly in the opening round to 12th-seeded James Madison, 72-61; JMU lost by 38 points in the next game against Duke.