Sarah Lehr

Madison

Reporter covering Wisconsin politics + state agencies + Greater Madison @WPR. RTs ≠ endorsements. Likes = bookmarks. News tips ➡️ [email protected]. On Signal.

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Articles

Bill Exempting Gun Safes From Sales Tax Advances

1 week ago | urbanmilwaukee.com | Sarah Lehr

Bipartisan sponsors of a Wisconsin bill hope that a tax break will encourage safe gun storage. The proposal would exempt gun safes and other “firearm safety devices” from sales and use tax in Wisconsin. During a public hearing Tuesday, state Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, the bill’s author, said his goal was to make it “more affordable” for Wisconsinites to store guns.
Wisconsin proposal to exempt gun safes from sales tax advances with bipartisan support

1 week ago | wpr.org | Sarah Lehr

Bipartisan sponsors of a Wisconsin bill hope that a tax break will encourage safe gun storage. The proposal would exempt gun safes and other "firearm safety devices" from sales and use tax in Wisconsin. During a public hearing Tuesday, state Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, the bill's author, said his goal was to make it "more affordable" for Wisconsinites to store guns.
Madison clerk resigns after being placed on leave over uncounted ballots

1 week ago | apg-wi.com | Sarah Lehr

Madison’s city clerk has resigned after being placed on leave over absentee ballots that went uncounted in November. The mayor’s office announced the resignation of Maribeth Witzel-Behl in a news release Monday, April 14. kAm{2DE >@?E9[ |2J@C $2EJ2 #9@56D\r@?H2J A=2465 (:EK6=\q69= @? A2:5 25>:?:DEC2E:G6 =62G6 2>:5 2? :?G6DE:82E:@? 3J E96 4:EJ’D wF>2? #6D@FC46D s6A2CE>6?E :?E@ 96C ;@3 A6C7@C>2?46] %92E :?4=F565 =@@<:?8 :?E@ 9@H `hb 23D6?E66 32==@ED H6?E F?\E2==:65 :?
Madison clerk resigns after being placed on leave over uncounted ballots

1 week ago | wpr.org | Sarah Lehr

Madison's city clerk has resigned after being placed on leave over absentee ballots that went uncounted in November. The mayor's office announced the resignation of Maribeth Witzel-Behl in a news release Monday. Last month, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway placed Witzel-Behl on paid administrative leave amid an investigation by the city's Human Resources Department into her job performance. That included looking into how 193 absentee ballots went un-tallied in November's general election.
With Federal Support Dwindling, AG Kaul Asks State For Funding Increase

1 week ago | urbanmilwaukee.com | Sarah Lehr

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is asking for state money in the next budget to help offset dwindling federal funds for victim service providers. In 1984, the federal Victim of Crimes Act, or VOCA, created a fund that distributed money to public and private agencies that support support crime victims. Money in that fund comes from fines and fees paid out by people convicted of federal charges.
As federal funds for crime victims dwindle, Wisconsin AG asks state to fill gap

1 week ago | wpr.org | Sarah Lehr

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is asking for state money in the next budget to help offset dwindling federal funds for victim service providers. In 1984, the federal Victim of Crimes Act, or VOCA, created a fund that distributed money to public and private agencies that support support crime victims. Money in that fund comes from fines and fees paid out by people convicted of federal charges.
Refugee resettlement faces uncertain future in Wisconsin amid federal freeze

2 weeks ago | wpr.org | Sarah Lehr

Rev. Rebecca Borke had started moving in some furniture - a sofa, a dresser, a desk and some tables and lamps - to a house she owns in Wausau. Borke, a Methodist pastor, has used that home to host recently-arrived refugees. In early February, an Afghani family was scheduled to move in. "I had heard that the husband is a physician and he and his wife have, I believe, a 2-year-old child," Borke recalled. But that changed just weeks before the family's planned arrival.
Wisconsin Humanities Programs in Peril After Trump Axes Funding

2 weeks ago | urbanmilwaukee.com | Sarah Lehr

Grants to libraries, museums and nonprofits throughout Wisconsin are in peril after the Trump administration said it’s immediately cutting off funding to affiliates of the National Endowment of the Humanities. One of those affiliates is Wisconsin Humanities, which funds educational and cultural programming throughout the state. That includes a myriad of large- and small-scale projects like podcasts, oral history collections, book discussion programs and exhibits.
Humanities programs across Wisconsin are in peril after Trump axes funding

2 weeks ago | wpr.org | Sarah Lehr

Grants to libraries, museums and nonprofits throughout Wisconsin are in peril after the Trump administration said it's immediately cutting off funding to affiliates of the National Endowment of the Humanities. One of those affiliates is Wisconsin Humanities, which funds educational and cultural programming throughout the state. That includes a myriad of large- and small-scale projects like podcasts, oral history collections, book discussion programs and exhibits.
Supreme Court Hears Case on Legislature’s Power

2 weeks ago | urbanmilwaukee.com | Sarah Lehr

Wisconsin justices are weighing where the attorney general’s power ends and the Legislature’s begins in a dispute over who has the authority to resolve lawsuits. The state’s Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case brought by Democratic AG Josh Kaul. At issue is a six-year-old state law that gives the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance the final say about whether to approve settlements in civil lawsuits prosecuted by the state’s attorney general.