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.

Gov. Scott Walker has hired private legal counsel to represent a county district attorney being sued for allegedly violating a state open government law — a move made necessary because the DA has sued the state for allegedly violating another open government statute.

Wisconsin’s new law, which allows citizens to carry concealed weapons, has been hailed by the NRA as “one of the nation’s strongest.”

Beginning this fall, taxpayer money will help children move from public to private schools in Racine. But according to a nonpartisan group, expanding vouchers to Racine will add nearly $3 million to the state’s costs over the next two school years. Part three of three in a series.

Dozens of Wisconsin political players have received millions of dollars from individuals and interest groups committed to promoting alternatives to public schools. Part two of three in a series.

A vast and interconnected array of school choice proponents — including the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune — is changing the face of education in Wisconsin. Part one of three in a series.

School choice proponents argue that private vouchers give students in troubled school districts the opportunity for a better education. But the numbers don’t always back them up.