Rob Mentzer

Somali residents in Wisconsin uneasy following Trump comments, federal raids Federal immigration "strike teams" are in Minnesota looking for undocumented Somali immigrants, after President Trump referred to them as "garbage" and said he doesn't want them in the U.S.

WPR spoke to Somali Wisconsinites about being called “garbage” by the president of the United States. www.wpr.org/news/somali-...

Wisconsinites protest Trump administration at 'No Kings' rallies — with signs and unicorn suits The protests were held in cities and rural communities in all parts of Wisconsin. Protesters said they hoped to bring attention to what they call an authoritarian power grab by President Donald Trump.

WPR's dispatch from No Kings rallies around Wisconsin. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Okay another great one:

Group sends Twain an invitation to speak at an event, but the mail gets delayed and when it arrives, the day of the event has passed.

Twain: “I am very, very sorry, but all last week’s dates are full. I will gladly come week before last, if that will answer.”

Former state lawmaker, charged with fraud, left nearly 2.7M pounds of hazardous waste In 2020, a grand jury issued a 10-count indictment against Kevin Shibilski, chief executive officer of 5R Processors.

This guy, a former state lawmaker and tourism secretary, left behind millions of pounds of hazardous waste including 60 pounds of elemental mercury that was not properly stored.

The state spent $4.6 million to clean it up. www.wpr.org/news/former-...

Wisconsin health department continues to urge new COVID-19 vaccine for anyone over 6 months old The state's health department put out a standing order for the COVID vaccine. The goal is to ensure that Wisconsinites can get the jab at pharmacies across the state even without a prescription.

“In the past several months, leaders at federal agencies have made policy decisions and issued recommendations that aren’t supported by or directly contradict scientific consensus.” www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Wisconsin foundry worker who came to the US seeking asylum now faces deportation Josue Rodriguez’s story reflects a broader conflict playing out nationally in the wake of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.

Guy works in a field with a serious worker shortage. Good worker, model employee. Marries a U.S. citizen. Travels from Manitowoc to Milwaukee for asylum hearing. Judge doesn't get to him, and he can't get transportation to rescheduled hearing.

Now he's being deported.

www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Wisconsin biologist is among those fired by EPA after signing dissent letter A Wisconsin man is among employees fired by the Environmental Protection Agency in recent days after signing a letter opposing the Trump administration’s policies.

“I signed that letter because it warned that the EPA is no longer using scientific findings to create and revoke regulation, and by doing so, it was placing American health in danger,” Cole said. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Bernie Sanders will join Rebecca Cooke in pitch to rural voters of 3rd Congressional District Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will campaign in Wisconsin Saturday for Rebecca Cooke in the 3rd Congressional District.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to Wisconsin this weekend for a rally with Dem congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke. He spoke with WPR ahead of the visit. www.wpr.org/news/bernie-...

Wisconsin dairy workers strike to protest changes that could affect immigrants Dozens of workers at a Wisconsin dairy facility have been on strike for a week after new ownership changed internal policy in a way that workers say will put immigrants out of work.

Workers at a cheesemaking plant in Monroe have walked off the job to protest the new owner’s use of E-Verify to check immigration status, which they say will push out workers with decades of service. www.wpr.org/news/dairy-w...

A mining company is drilling for metals in Wisconsin. Opponents are on edge. Exploration for metallic mines is fairly rare. But, in Taylor County, mining company Green Light Wisconsin is drilling for copper and gold. Such metals haven’t been mined in Wisconsin for almost 30 ye...

A mining company is drilling for metals in Wisconsin. Opponents are on edge. www.wpr.org/news/green-l...

Republican DA Toney will oversee investigation into Wausau ballot drop box removal Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney has been appointed to oversee the investigation of Wausau Mayor Doug Diny's removal of a ballot drop box ahead of the 2024 election. Toney, a well known Republ...

The new special prosecutor investigating the Wausau mayor's removal of an empty ballot dropbox outside of city hall publicly hailed the state Supreme Court's 2022 decision banning ballot dropboxes. www.wpr.org/news/republi...

A 'beautifully blended family’: Sandhill cranes take goose under their wing Madison resident and wildlife photographer Alan Ginsberg has been chronicling a sandhill crane family that's adopted a goose as one of its own to the delight of neighbors and a growing fan base.

Wait so these parents stole another family’s house and kidnapped the baby inside it… and you people are APPLAUDING them? www.wpr.org/news/blended...

Tony Evers won't seek reelection, setting up wide-open race for Wisconsin governor Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has announced he won't seek reelection, a bombshell decision that shakes up Wisconsin politics ahead of the 2026 election.

Wisconsin is in for a wild 2026 primary. www.wpr.org/news/tony-ev...

Decline of whitefish in Lake Michigan sparks fears that the fish might disappear State regulators say the commercial harvest of lake whitefish in Lake Michigan has reached its lowest level since 1990, and some fisheries biologists fear the species might largely disappear in parts ...

Commercial harvest of lake whitefish, a fish fry favorite, from Lake Michigan has declined nearly 90 percent in the last quarter-century. They are the victims of warming temperatures and invasive mussels, and they really could disappear. www.wpr.org/news/decline...

A Wisconsin bald eagle nearly died. A skin graft from a fish saved its life. A bald eagle that nearly died from a leg injury took flight this summer in northwestern Wisconsin, after it was rehabilitated for nearly a year using a first-of-its-kind cod fish skin graft treatment ...

A Wisconsin bald eagle nearly died. A skin graft from a fish saved its life. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Listening to the new Mark Twain biography by Ron Chernow and there are a lot of great Twain jokes from notebooks, letters and newspaper stories. He just wrote that French literature was “confined to the two great branches of modern French thought: science and adultery.”

Justice Rebecca Bradley is up for election. But will she be on the ballot? Wisconsinites have grown accustomed to multimillion dollar, record-shattering, nationally scrutinized state Supreme Court races.

Is conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley running for reelection? She has said yes, but she's raised $0 so far. That's unusual! www.wpr.org/news/justice...

EPA workers in Duluth placed on leave after signing letter criticizing Trump policies Federal workers living in Wisconsin and Minnesota are among those who have been placed on administrative leave by the Environmental Protection Agency after voicing concerns about politicization of the...

EPA workers in Wisconsin and Minnesota are among those the Trump administration has placed on leave after they signed a letter against what they called the politicization of their scientific work. www.wpr.org/news/epa-wor...

Have you seen more fireflies this year? People in southern Wisconsin could be seeing more fireflies this summer as lifting drought conditions improve habitat for the insects, according to a UW-Madison entomology professor.

Yes, you are seeing more fireflies in Wisconsin this year. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Related personal news: My family is moving to the Madison area at the end of this month! We have lived in Wausau for 18 years and raised my son Forrest here for 14 of those.

I will miss my friends and my woodpile, but I am also very excited to start a new chapter.

I have some news I have not shared on this platform yet. I am very proud and excited to have accepted a job as managing editor of news for @WPR. I will oversee our news team’s editors and reporters around the state. It is a great team!!

one of my all-time favorite movies and this is ESSENTIAL advice for enjoying it

This is the fourth of five Charles Portis novels I have read. I am a Charles Portis Bro now fyi.

Wisconsin Medicaid director: New federal requirements would affect ‘the whole health care economy’ In Wisconsin almost 1.3 million children and adults are enrolled in Medicaid, and more than 700,000 receive FoodShare. Wisconsin’s Medicaid Director Bill Hanna says under the new legislation, many of ...

Wisconsin's Medicaid director told WPR about 63,000 people would lose coverage if the House budget bill becomes law. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Wisconsin Road Trip Get in, let’s go! WPR reporters are making pit stops across the state to showcase some of the people, places and things that make Wisconsin summers special. If you’re looking […]

This is the first story in WPR's summer series WISCONSIN ROAD TRIP, which is something I think is going to be a lot of fun. You can click around on the series landing page now at wpr.org/roadtrip -- and that site will be populated with new featured stops through August!

Viroqua's Driftless Books & Music is part of Wisconsin's growing indie bookstore scene Books are more available than ever before thanks to the internet. But during the era of two-day shipping and audiobooks, many independent booksellers are finding that readers still want the connection...

I am sure a lot of people know about Driftless Books & Music, but I learned about it from this story and now I am definitely taking a road trip there.

Wisconsin bill would crack down on fake service dogs A Republican-authored bill hopes to crack down on Wisconsinites who misrepresent their pets as service animals.

I have a feeling this bill proposing to crack down on people falsely claiming their pets are service animals will be politically popular. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

Antigo school's first-in-the-nation training sawmill readies students for lumber industry A newly opened commercial-scale sawmill in Antigo is the only training sawmill of its kind in the U.S.

I got to tour the new sawmill at Northcentral Technical College's Antigo campus, the first professional-grade training sawmill in the nation. They are working on cool, cutting-edge stuff in wood. www.wpr.org/news/antigo-...

This showed up on one of those spammy facebook accounts and I instantly remembered a great line by Zadie Smith, but I haven’t been able to track it down and may be misquoting. She quoted this from DFW and added “Perhaps the joke loses something in the telling.” Good joke!

Lying to Congress is a crime, so perhaps he will correct the record.