Wisconsin
Wisconsin Supreme Court takes up Evers lawsuit against Legislature over blocked UW pay raises, conservation projects
A lawsuit filed by Gov. Tony Evers against Republican lawmakers who blocked pay raises for university employees and funding for conservation projects has been accepted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
An order granting Evers’ request that the court take up the lawsuit was issued by the court’s liberal justices in a 4-3 decision Friday afternoon. The governor sued Republican leaders in the state Assembly and Senate in October because committees they chair withheld money that was contained in the state budget, which passed in July with bipartisan support.
Evers argued the leaders, through their committees, were “unconstitutionally and unlawfully obstructing basic government functions” by blocking money that was already approved.
The money was slated to go toward cost-of-living raises to around 34,000 employees at the Universities of Wisconsin and conservation projects via the state’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
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The pay raises were scheduled to go into effect July 1, but were held up by state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employee Relations. Vos vowed to withhold the money until state universities eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion staff and programs, known as DEI.
A compromise was struck between Vos and the UW System Board of Regents. Under the deal, lawmakers agreed to release around $800 million for the raises and approve building projects, including a UW-Madison engineering building rejected by Republicans earlier that year.
Evers’ lawsuit also took issue with other committee votes.
In April, the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee blocked $4 million in the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program fund from going toward the purchase of 70,000 acres east of Rhinelander to conserve the Pelican River Forest in northern Wisconsin. In late January, Evers secured $4 million in federal grant funding to support the Pelican River project, which allowed it to move forward despite Republican objections.
The court’s liberal majority agreed to immediately take up Evers’ claim that the committee blockades amounted to “legislative vetoes” violate the the separation of powers in the Wisconsin Constitution by allowing the legislative branch to alter “the scope of the executive branch’s discretion.”
The majority held off on taking up two other claims raised by Evers’ lawsuit, with the caveat they could decide those at a later date.
In a statement issued after the court’s announcement, state Attorney General Josh Kaul called the state Constitution’s separation of powers principle “foundational to our system of government.”
“That principle, which guards against the concentration of governmental power, is inconsistent with permitting legislative committees to exercise a veto over executive branch actions like DNR’s awarding of funds for conservation projects,” Kaul said. “We look forward to working to vindicate that principle before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
The court’s conservatives dissented, accusing their liberal colleagues of practicing politics from the bench.
Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote that the “new majority has destroyed the integrity of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to advance its partisan agenda.”
“When the majority’s political allies say jump, the new majority responds: ‘How high?’” she wrote.
Bradley said the Joint Finance Committee “has reviewed gubernatorial appropriations under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program for more than 15 years.”
“The Governor suddenly asserts this legislative oversight of appropriations under the Program violates the separation of powers doctrine and urgently warrants this court invoking its original jurisdiction,” Bradley said. “The timing is no coincidence; the Governor knows he has a friendly foursome standing by to do his bidding.”
In a separate dissent, conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn said Evers’ lawsuit “raises substantial questions about the proper roles of the executive and legislative branches” under the state constitution.
“A decision in this case could occasion a historic shift—both in the operation of state government, and in how this court interprets the boundary lines between the branches of government,” Hagedorn said.
He said courts should exercise “judicial humility” and play a “modest role” in the constitutional order. Hagedorn said the Supreme Court taking the case before it goes through lower courts doesn’t allow it to “mature through the normal process.”
“The court today … does not see the prudence of patience and humility,” Hagedorn said. “Instead, it charges onward, intent on deciding this case before the term’s end.”
The order from the court’s majority gives parties in the lawsuit, which now include the Legislature and six Republican committee chairs, 20 days to file legal briefs. Oral arguments have been scheduled for April 17.
Editors note: Wisconsin Public Radio staff are employees of University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
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A Wisconsin man has been arrested in Colorado in connection with a fatal north suburban hit-and-run earlier this year that left a 50-year-old woman killed.
According to the Winthrop Harbor Police Department, Travis Kern, 35, of Pleasant Prairie, turned himself into police in Lakewood Colorado on an arrest warrant. Kern was charged with two felonies, police said, and remains in custody in Colorado pending extradition proceedings.
About 11:10 p.m. on February 26, a pedestrian was struck in the 1400 block of Sheridan Road in Winthrop Harbor by a driver of a vehicle heading northbound. The vehicle then fled the scene, police said.
The pedestrian, later identified as Shanna White, 50, of Waukegan, was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to court documents, Kern’s next scheduled court date is set for July 22.
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