The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism today announced the successful completion of a two-year effort to raise $75,000 from new revenue sources. By reaching that level, the Center receives a matching grant from the Challenge Fund for Journalism — a consortium of the Ford, McCormick, and Ethics and Excellence in Journalism foundations.

As Wisconsin braces for a new round of recalls, including what will likely be the costliest race for governor in state history, it’s worth remembering that what matters most is not the money but the message. Money is really just the means for delivering messages. And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s messaging machine is already revved up, especially on the critical issue of education.

The United States this year has deported more than 250 Haitians, half of whom were jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks. Some Haitians faced lengthy confinement in U.S. immigration facilities before the deportations. An investigation by the nonprofit Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found evidence that the Obama administration has not followed its own policy of seeking alternatives to deportation when there are serious medical and humanitarian concerns.

In four critical Wisconsin state Senate races last year, groups making independent campaign expenditures actually spent more than the candidates themselves.

On Feb. 2, 2011, the Legislature voted to exempt a little patch of land, less than a mile down the road from the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field, from the state’s wetlands rules, once called “the strongest wetland protections in the country.” The bill, passed on World Wetlands Day, will let up to three acres of the so-called Bergstrom wetland be filled with no additional permits or process.

Dairyland and other Wisconsin coal-fired plants have begun lowering emissions, but not necessarily in response to demands by pollution regulators. Many of the changes have resulted from pressure and lawsuits brought by the nonprofit Sierra Club, which has campaigned for a decade to cut emissions from coal combustion. But enforcement is inconsistent, and some residents living in the shadow of coal plants are concerned their health may be affected.

Public libraries offer a wealth of information in their physical book and reference collections. Besides the in-house resources, most public libraries in Wisconsin also offer a variety of online information through their respective web sites.

As the Democratic state Assembly rep from Madison sees it, money has infiltrated every nook and cranny of politics. It keeps good people from seeking office, and it drives the agenda of those who are there.