Wisconsin
Wisconsin lawmakers debate ban on data center secrecy deals
See inside the future Microsoft AI data center in Mount Pleasant
Go inside the Microsoft AI data center in Mount Pleasant.
MADISON – Data center developers and government leaders would be barred from concealing key information about their projects from Wisconsin residents under legislation moving through the state Capitol this week.
State lawmakers on Tuesday heard public testimony on a slate of bills aimed at governing the boom of data center construction in the state. One bill would ban developers and government officials from entering into non-disclosure agreements aimed at keeping details of the project secret as negotiations are underway.
Reviews of data center proposals by NBC News and Wisconsin Watch revealed local officials across the country and in the state are entering into such secrecy agreements, especially when it comes to large-scale projects.
The Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism held a public hearing Tuesday on the bill, which drew several supporters, including Wisconsin-centric comedian Charlie Berens.
“I think it is an imperative we implement stronger guardrails to protect people and not greedy data centers that only care about their own profit and not of the best interest of the community,” Erin Pintar of Milwaukee said.
The Wisconsin Data Center Coalition and the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce organizations registered against the bill, which is authored by Republican lawmakers.
Prescott Balch, a retired tech executive and candidate for Caledonia trustee, said lawmakers also should address the timeline for public input, arguing a typical timespan of less than two months is not enough for a community to understand a proposal and advocate for itself. He suggested a “cooling off period” of at least four months.
“An eager village board and staff coupled with a well-funded, marketing-savvy tech company makes it nearly impossible for the community to have a chance at making their voices heard,” Balch testified. “Give us four months as a community to organize. … Just level the playing field.”
The bill would prohibit developers of data centers from entering into a nondisclosure agreement or any similar arrangement with the “purpose or effect of concealing the details of the development of the data center with, or preventing the public review of, a (political subdivision) or person selling property to the data center.”
The bill would also prevent a local government from approving a data center development project if the operator had entered into such an agreement.
Lawmakers could take up the bill yet this session, which is slated to end by March.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
A 9-year-old child died Tuesday evening after drowning in a western Wisconsin water park.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says first responders were called to the Campfire Cove Aqua Park in Rural Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, around 8:15 p.m.
Though they attempted lifesaving measures, the child died at the scene.
The incident is under investigation, the sheriff’s office says.
A missing Wisconsin teen was found safe after mysteriously vanishing from home four years ago as her family had believed she was “lured away.”
Joniah Walker, 19, was safely discovered on May 25, the Milwaukee Police Department told WISN on Tuesday.
Police officials didn’t disclose where Walker was found or provide any further information on the case, including whether the teen was with someone else.
Walker, then 15, had disappeared from her Milwaukee home on June 23, 2022.
Walker’s mother, Tanesha Howard, said she last saw her daughter lying in bed when she left for work the morning of her disappearance, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
“Joniah was lying in bed because she had just finished school. I went in to give her a hug before leaving for work,” Howard told the organization.
The mother and daughter duo had talked on the phone several times throughout the day before Walker “suddenly stopped responding.”
Walker was supposed to meet her father to apply for a summer work permit but failed to arrive at the designated time.
“He called me and said that Joniah wasn’t picking up her phone,” Howard said. “That is when I immediately knew something was wrong. I left work right away.”
A nearby ring camera captured Walker leaving the apartment complex at around 2:30 p.m. in the Brewer’s Hill neighborhood, a mile-and-a-half north of Downtown Milwaukee.
Video footage showed the teen carrying a large green backpack.
It was the last known sighting of Walker until she was reportedly found last month.
Howard believed her daughter had met someone online after she deleted her digital footprint and never returned.
“Somebody stole her…that was my first instinct,” Howard said. “But when I saw that she left with a big backpack that I had never seen, that’s when I knew. I was like, someone lured her away.”
The protective mother issued multiple pleas for her daughter to come home, begging Walker to “call me,” WISN reported in July 2022.
“She is my youngest daughter, so I always call her by ‘baby girl’ because that is exactly who she is, my baby girl,” she said. “She is what I would describe as a perfect daughter. She is angelic, soft spoken and very intelligent.”
Walker was one of the faces of a legislative push by Wisconsin State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) seeking to pass a bill to create a Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Task Force, according to Fox6 Now.
Stubbs says she believed Walker was still alive, telling Howard to hold out hope for her daughter’s return.
“I believed Joniah was still living, and I said that to her – I don’t believe Joniah is dead, it’s only a matter of time,” Stubbs told the outlet.
“I think right now, the family needs their privacy,” Stubbs added. “I know there are so many questions, but I think as time goes by when they are ready to tell their story, they will tell it.”
Wisconsin’s sports teams will have a fitting jersey patch on their uniforms this year.
The Badgers unveiled a Culver’s uniform patch in a new video on Tuesday.
The fast food restaurant, known for its ButterBurgers and Frozen Custard, was founded in Wisconsin and is beloved by those in the state. Now, Culver’s has partnered up with the state’s flagship university.
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