Wisconsin
Wisconsin Supreme Court says an order against an anti-abortion protester violated First Amendment
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an order barring an anti-abortion protester from coming close to a Planned Parenthood nurse violated his First Amendment free speech rights and must be overturned.
The court, controlled 4-3 by liberals, ruled unanimously in ordering that the injunction be dismissed.
A Trempealeu County judge in 2020 barred Brian Aish from being near nurse Nancy Kindschy who sometimes worked in a small family planning clinic in the western Wisconsin city of Blair. Kindschy said Aish threatened her by saying bad things would happen to her or her family if she didn’t quit her job.
Aish had argued that his comments, made from a public sidewalk, were protected free speech under the First Amendment. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed.
Aish regularly protested between 2014 and 2019 at the clinic, primarily holding up signs quoting Bible verses and preaching his Christian and anti-abortion beliefs, according to the court ruling. But starting in 2019, Aish began directing his comments toward Kindschy, targeting her with messages that she argued were threatening.
In October 2019, Aish said that Kindschy had time to repent and “it won’t be long before bad things will happen to you and your family” and that “you could get killed by a drunk driver tonight,” according to the court.
The Trempealeu County judge issued a four-year injunction barring Aish from being near Kindschy. Aish appealed. A state appeals court upheld the injunction against Aish in 2022, but the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that it be dismissed.
While the Wisconsin case was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2023 that made it more difficult to convict a person of making a violent threat. That case involved a Colorado man who was convicted of stalking a musician.
In that case, the nation’s highest court said prosecutors must show that “the defendant had some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements” and that “the defendant consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court cited that ruling in its order Thursday, saying the lower court had failed to find that Aish “consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
“Aish’s statements could not be true threats of violence because he disclaimed any desire for violence to befall Kindschy,” Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in a separate opinion, concurring with the majority one written by Justice Rebecca Dallet.
Attorneys for Aish and Kindschy did not return messages.
Kindschy has since retired and the clinic where she worked is now closed.
Wisconsin
His Wisconsin ‘ohana’: Badger receiver Trech Kekahuna proudly embraces Hawaiian heritage on the field
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Wisconsin
How much did it rain in Milwaukee, Madison and elsewhere in Wisconsin overnight?
Many Wisconsinites looked outside Saturday morning to find that it rained overnight. But where did it rain and how much?
Milwaukee, New Berlin and Madison took the lead with cities that got the most rain, each with at least two inches overnight, according to the National Weather Service volunteer monitoring service.
How much did it rain in the Milwaukee area?
Milwaukee: 1.59-2 inches
Whitefish Bay: 0.98-1 inches
Wauwatosa: 1.12-1.19 inches
West Allis: 1.63 inches
Cudahy: 1.26 inches
Greendale: 1.24-1.6 inches
New Berlin: 1.42-2.2 inches
Muskego: 0.76-0.77 inches
Waukesha: 1.33-1.75 inches
Oconomowoc: 1.3-1.53 inches
Hartland: 1.25 inches
Menomonee Falls: 0.9-1.13 inches
Mequon: 1 inch
Cedarburg: 0.75 inches
How much did it rain in Madison, Green Bay, Racine, and other parts of Wisconsin?
Madison: 1.21-2.1 inches
Sun Prairie: 1.09 inches
Watertown: 1.21-1.66 inches
Janesville: 0.62-0.81 inches
Beloit: 0.53-0.62 inches
Portage: 0.46-0.54 inches
La Crosse: 0.74 inches
Eau Claire: 0.06-0.25 inches
Wausau: 0.51-0.74 inches
Plover: 0.34-0.45 inches
Fond du Lac: 0.51-0.83 inches
Oshkosh: 0.7-0.9 inches
Sheboygan: 0.52-0.95 inches
Manitowoc: 0.35-0.5 inches
Appleton: 0.35-1.01 inches
Green Bay: 0.4 inches
Sister Bay: 0.74 inches
Racine: 0.55-0.84 inches
Kenosha: 0.34-0.41 inches
Wisconsin
‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran talks about her time at UW-Madison, from Badger games to working at Eno Vino
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Engaged “Bachelor” couple Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson tell USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa about navigating challenges in their relationship.
Years before upcoming “Bachelorette” and former “Bachelor” contestant Jenn Tran was looking for love on TV, there was something else she was trying to find:
A college with “a lot of school spirit.”
She’d find it — in Wisconsin.
“Madison just seemed like the best college town — and it definitely was,” she told the Journal Sentinel in a Zoom interview earlier this week.
Ahead of the premiere of Tran’s season of “The Bachelorette” on ABC — it’s just over a week away! — we took a trip down memory lane with her to her time as a Badger.
From Tran’s favorite hangouts to whether she plans on ever coming back, here’s what she had to say about her former college town:
Badger games, the Terrace and her favorite Madison restaurants
Tran transferred in the middle of her sophomore year to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied molecular biology.
“I really just wanted a school with a lot of school spirit,” she said. “I’m just someone who loves a big community and loves a really good college town.”
With Madison having a “really good sports culture,” Tran tried to make it to as many football and basketball games as she could. And, she was an athlete in her own right, playing club lacrosse.
She reminisced about sitting on the Memorial Union Terrace with a beer, brat or cheese curds. And, taking her paddleboard out on the lake.
“I love to just have a good time,” she said. “There were so many good restaurants there.”
Tran went to Eno Vino Wine Bar and Bistro “all the time,” she said, and worked at its downtown location as a server in 2018. The downtown location, 1 N. Webster St., is on the 10th Floor of the AC Hotel and features breathtaking Capitol views.
Dana Thiel, Tran’s manager at Eno Vino, had never tuned into “The Bachelor” before last season. But, with her former colleague on it, she got into it.
Tran would end up making it into “Bachelor” Joey Graziadei’s top six.
“I felt like (Jenn) was very herself, as in really friendly, just genuinely a nice person,” said Thiel, now the restaurant’s GM. “It was definitely exciting to see that.”
During “The Bachelor” season finale, when it was announced that Tran would be the next “Bachelorette,” Thiel was “super-excited.”
“I definitely hope she finds her person, finds love,” Thiel said.
So, what was Tran like as an employee? No tea here. According to Thiel, she was memorable, reliable, friendly, really outgoing and brought great energy.
“Definitely how she was on the show, where she definitely just brings that positive energy,” Thiel said.
Another one of Tran’s Madison go-tos was The Coopers Tavern, 20 W. Mifflin St. She recalled going there after finals to treat herself to some sliders, cheese curds and crème brûlée.
Being in May 2020, the spring commencement Tran’s senior year was virtual. After moving to Boston, Tran and her gal pals would return to Madison in September 2021 for their in-person graduation celebration.
“It was so much fun to be able to finally graduate and celebrate,” Tran said. “We went to The KK (The Kollege Klub) after and had a really good time.”
A look at what ‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran has been up to since her UW-Madison days
Tran has been working toward becoming a physician assistant, but is taking a “little break” from PA school, which is in south Miami. In the words of her favorite artist Taylor Swift, Tran has “a lot going on at the moment.”
“I want to be able to really focus on PA school the best that I can because the end goal is to be a good provider,” Tran said. “I’m just pushing it off until I have a lot more time to dedicate to it.”
Tran is “The Bachelorette’s” first Asian American lead. She was born in New Jersey after her parents and brother immigrated to the United States from Vietnam.
“I never would’ve dreamed of becoming the role model I once needed when I was a kid,” Tran said. “It’s really quite full-circle and surreal.”
Does ‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran plan to ever return to Wisconsin?
Yes — just not during the winter.
While she “loves summers in Madison,” she called the winters “brutal.”
Tran wants to make it back sometime during a summer and also for a UW football game.
“It’s in the works,” she said. “It’s definitely in the plans.”
How to watch UW-Madison grad Jenn Tran on ‘The Bachelorette’
“The Bachelorette” Season 21 premiere is at 7 p.m. CT July 8 on ABC. It streams on Hulu the next day.
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