What one frac-sand mining company is doing to help protect Wisconsin’s endangered Karner blue butterfly.

Overview of permits required to operate a frac-sand mine.

Resources to learn more.

There’s a new wrinkle in Wisconsin’s fast-growing frac sand mining: It turns out that an endangered butterfly, the Karner blue, lives in the same region. And some companies may be failing to check for the butterfly as they move ahead with mining operations.

Gov. Walker talks with Center reporter Bill Lueders about his regrets over the past year, his approach to conflict, his thoughts on out-of-state money that has flooded Wisconsin’s politics, and how he got the yearbook nickname “Desperado.”

Almost as if it were a holiday present to us, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board updated the campaign finance database with receipts from anti-Walker forces late last month. So as promised, I made a new interactive graphic to pair with my Dec. 20 visualization of Gov. Scott Walker’s support in 2011.

Nearly half of Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 campaign contributions so far have come from outside Wisconsin. And, as he’s facing a potential recall, the normal individual limits do not apply. Explore where the money’s coming in from with our interactive map.

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