skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Wisconsin Democrats: Bill Would Make Spring Flooding Worse

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 28, 2018   

MADISON, Wis. — As February comes to a close, 12 Wisconsin counties are now or have recently been under flood warnings, an unusually high number for this time of year.

Wisconsin Democrats are opposed to a bill working its way through the state Legislature. They say AB 547 would make spring flooding even worse in the Badger State because it would make it easier for developers to pave over wetlands, which provide natural protection against flooding.

Democrat Janet Bewley, a senator from Ashland, recalls the catastrophic flooding in her part of the state.

"It's been 16 months since deadly floods caused enormous damage across northwestern Wisconsin," she says. "We spent months detouring around washed-out roads as crews did heroic work helping our communities recover and start rebuilding. It will be years before we're back to where we started."

Bewley says AB 547 is "almost guaranteed to make things worse." She says the whole world saw what happened in Houston with the catastrophic flooding following Hurricane Harvey.

Republican supporters of the bill say the fear talk is overblown and that the bill is only an update to a law they say needlessly thwarts economic development.

Bewley says wetlands not only provide critical protection for our water by filtering out pollution, they also are our best natural defense against flooding. She says we need to ensure that any changes made to wetland protection don't result in increased flooding in Wisconsin.

"It's not just a question of having to spend more time with our shop-vacs in our basements, it's a question of where are we going to find the resources to rebuild whole communities that have been devastated by flooding," she explains.

She says she understands the need to update laws but cautions that we shouldn't go too far and create more problems.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021