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Wisconsin Supreme Court changes course, will allow expanded use of ballot drop boxes this fall

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Wisconsin Supreme Court changes course, will allow expanded use of ballot drop boxes this fall


Madison, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state.

The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that they could be placed only in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person.

Conservatives controlled the court at that time, but Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023 flipped the court to liberal control. Seeing an opening, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, asked the court in February to revisit the decision.

At least 29 other states allow for absentee ballot drop boxes, according to the U.S. Vote Foundation, and expanded use in Wisconsin could have major implications in the presidential race.

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Wisconsin again figures to be a crucial swing state after President Joe Biden barely won it in 2020 and Donald Trump narrowly took it in 2016. Democrats believe that making it easier to vote absentee will boost turnout for their side.

The justices announced in March they would review the ban on drop boxes but wouldn’t consider any other parts of the case. The move drew the ire of the court’s conservatives, who accused the liberals of trying to give Democrats an advantage this fall. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in April urged the court to again allow drop boxes.

The court ruled 4-3 on Friday that drop boxes can be utilized in any location.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s four liberal justices, wrote for the majority that placing a ballot in a drop box set up and maintained by a local election clerk is no different than giving the ballot to the clerk, regardless of the box’s location. Local clerks have great discretion in how they administer elections and that extends to using and locating drop boxes, she added.

“Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes,” Bradley wrote. “It merely acknowledges what (state law) has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion.”

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All three conservative justices dissented. Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote that the liberals are simply trying to advance their political agenda and criticized them for ignoring the precedent set by the 2022 ruling.

“The majority in this case overrules (the 2022 decision) not because it is legally erroneous, but because the majority finds it politically inconvenient,” Bradley wrote. “The majority’s activism marks another triumph of political power over legal principle in this court.”

The popularity of absentee voting exploded during the pandemic in 2020, with more than 40% of all voters casting mail ballots, a record high. At least 500 drop boxes were set up in more than 430 communities for the election that year, including more than a dozen each in Madison and Milwaukee — the state’s two most heavily Democratic cities.

Trump and Republicans have alleged that drop boxes facilitated cheating, even though they offered no evidence. Democrats, election officials and some Republicans argued the boxes are secure and an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results in 2020.

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature intervened in the case, arguing that the justices should leave the 2022 ruling alone. Their attorney, Misha Tseytlin, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.

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Matt Fisher, a spokesperson for the state Republican Party, called the decision a “setback.”

“This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters,” he said in a statement.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who administers elections in the state’s most Democratic county, called drop boxes a “common sense tool.” He said they make the election process more convenient and easier for rural and disabled voters and help reduce that number of ballots that arrive after election day too late to be counted.

“Having drop boxes in place for the 2024 elections in August and November will encourage civic participation in our democracy,” McDonell said in a statement.



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Wisconsin chef shares tips to ensure your apples don’t go to waste

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Wisconsin chef shares tips to ensure your apples don’t go to waste


Laurel Burleson, a Dane County chef, thinks ugly apples make the best dishes. 

One of her goals as a chef and restaurant owner is to save usable produce from the waste bin.

“I know how hard (Wisconsin farmers) work every day, making these products that are delicious and nutritious and for anything to get thrown away just because it’s not aesthetically perfect is just outrageous,” said Burleson, owner of Ugly Apple Cafe. 

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The latest fruit monitoring report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows many parts of  the state having great harvests, although northeastern Wisconsin orchards suffered from a cool spring. But most apple orchards are busy with the fall harvest. So what do you do with that abundance of apples? 

Burleson shared some recipes and her philosophy on cooking with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

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Rob Ferrett: What do you like to do with apples apart from just eating them?

Laurel Burleson: One that I really like to do is making apple marmalade. That is shredding apples and preserving them in sugar so that they keep their structure. It’s kind of the opposite of making applesauce. 

But we also make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. That’s a good way to use a lot of apples all at once.

RF: What goes into making apple butter?

LB: Very basically you make applesauce, so just cook down your apples and blend them up. Then you take that applesauce and cook it extremely slowly, either in a slow cooker or in the oven. Cook it down until it’s dark and rich and more closely resembling a peanut butter than applesauce. 

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From there, you can put in whatever spices you want: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf. You just have to be careful because whatever you start with in the big batch will get super concentrated and reduced in your end product.

RF: With applesauce or apple butter, do we have to be fussy about the type of apples? Or can we mix and match?

LB: I like to mix and match, especially because the apple season starts really early. Some years you can get the first season apples in July. 

They don’t hold very long and they’re very juicy, so they break down really easily, but they are very tart. I like to get some of those early season apples and make them into applesauce and freeze them and then when I have other sweeter varieties later I mix them and then reduce that all down into butter.

RF: You shared a savory recipe with us for pork chops with apple bacon cabbage. Tell us a little bit about this recipe.

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LB: It’s really fun for the fall and even into the winter. You can kind of use any kind of variety of apple that’s a little bit tart and it’s OK if it breaks down and blends in because the cabbage is going to maintain its structure. 

If the onions and apples melt away into a delicious sauce it’s just fine. But also, if you end up with some apple pieces, then it’s a nice little surprise like a little sweetness. 

The Ugly Apple Cafe operates cafes inside the Dane County Courthouse and the City County Building in Madison and sells its products at the Monona Farmers Market. 



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Former Wisconsin transfer scores 43-yard touchdown in Indiana’s big win over Illinois

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Former Wisconsin transfer scores 43-yard touchdown in Indiana’s big win over Illinois


While the Wisconsin Badgers struggle on the football field, sitting at a disappointing 2-2 through four weeks, some of the program’s former transfers continue to find success.

One of those players is tight end Riley Nowakowski, who transferred to Indiana this offseason after five years with the Badgers. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native originally walked on to the program as an unranked outside linebacker. After playing sparingly during his first few seasons with the Badgers, he flipped over to fullback in 2022, then out to tight end after Phil Longo arrived in 2023. Nowakowski totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown from 2023-24; his two years as a primary offensive contributor.

The former Badger is already making significant progress toward those totals, now just four games into his Indiana career. He has four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, plus one carry for a one-yard score. The versatile fullback/tight end delivered the highlight play of his career during Indiana’s blowout win over Illinois on Saturday, taking a 1st-down screen pass 43 yards to the house.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has received solid contributions from Montana State transfer tight end Lance Mason. The veteran has 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns to date, leading the team in each of those respective categories.

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While Mason has been one of the Badgers’ few bright spots through four weeks, it’s hard to ignore Nowakowski’s emergence as one of Indiana’s dependable offensive playmakers.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion





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Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead

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Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead


Get ready for an overall warmer stretch of weather as we head into this upcoming workweek. After some fog lifts this morning, we’ll have plenty of sunshine today with highs in the mid to upper 70s along the lake and low 80s inland.

Tonight will be dry with lows in the low 60s lakeside and upper 50s inland.

Monday through Wednesday should be very similar, with upper 70s to near 80 near the lake and low to mid 80s inland with plenty of sun.

We’ll start to bring in chances of showers or a T’storm starting Thursday right on into the weekend.

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WATCH: Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead

Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead

TODAY: Any fog lifting through the morning, then becoming mostly sunny.
High: 77 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: E 5-10 MPH.

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TONIGHT: Mostly clear.
Low: 62.
Wind: ESE 3-8 MPH.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny.
Highs: 78 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: ESE 5-10 MPH.

TUES: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 80 lakefront… 84 inland.

WEDS: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 81 lakefront… 85 inland.

THUR: Partly cloudy with a chance of a shower
or T’storm.
High: 80.

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Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.





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