steinbring

From the article:

Microsoft is planning to expand its development of a data center in Mount Pleasant, with plans to purchase another thousand acres in the village and to invest “billions of dollars” at the site over the next decade.

Gov. Tony Evers announced the plan Friday.

Microsoft announced in March that it planned to invest $1 billion to build a data center on 315 acres once set aside for the Foxconn development in Racine County. The company broke ground on the center in September.

Now, Microsoft plans to construct additional data centers on land initially meant for Foxconn, with plans to purchase 1,030 additional acres in a tax incremental district created for the Taiwan-based company, according to a joint release from Mount Pleasant, Racine County and Milwaukee 7.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that the terms of the deal between the village and Microsoft says

the company will guarantee an additional property value of $1.4 billion by 2028. The deal is slated to be presented to the village board on Monday.

From the article:

WEC Energy Group expects to stop using coal as a power source by 2032, three years earlier than previously expected.

During an earnings call on Tuesday, WEC Energy Group executives presented the utility's plan to become coal-free in eight years, beginning with the shutdown next year of a pair of coal-powered generating units at its We Energies subsidiary's Oak Creek Power Plant.

Other coal-fired units will be retired between 2025 and 2031, resulting in the elimination of more than 1,700 megawatts of generating capacity, equal to the consumption of more than 1 million homes. To help make up for that, the company unveiled plans for an additional $1.4 billion in spending on new sources of renewable energy that, combined with $5.4 billion previously announced, is expected to bring an additional 3,800 megawatts of wind, solar and battery power online over the next five years.

That includes large solar farms that are under construction in Kenosha, Walworth and Iowa counties as well as new developments that have not been publicly announced.

Meanwhile, the company will invest in "enhancing fuel flexibility" at newer generating units in Oak Creek and at the Weston Power Plant in Marathon County that will burn a mix of natural gas and coal. With those improvements, WEC expects to be using coal as a backup fuel only by the end of 2030 and to fully phase out its use two years later.

From the article:

The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday named Wisconsin as one of 31 regional tech hubs, making the state eligible for millions of dollars in federal funding to help advance personalized medicine and biohealth technology.

The Biden administration chose Wisconsin for the status among 370 applicants. It was also one of 29 awarded a $350,000 grant to further develop the state’s strategy in driving innovation.

Wisconsin will now progress to the next round of the competition, in which at least five tech hubs will win up to $75 million each under the CHIPS and Science Act passed last year. The competition is designed to spread innovation beyond traditional tech hubs like Boston, Seattle and cities in California.

The money would be a boon for Wisconsin’s growing innovation industry, bolstering the state’s economy, increasing its workforce and expanding development of technology in health care.

“Wisconsin’s designation as a regional tech hub is a testament to the strength of our state’s biohealth and personalized medicine industry,” said Gov. Tony Evers in a statement. “As this sector continues to grow, it will mean more high-paying jobs and economic growth for our state, as well as innovations that will transform the future of medical care for people in Wisconsin and around the world.”

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation gathered a consortium of 15 state colleges, nonprofits and health companies to submit the tech hub bid on behalf of the state. The organizations involved are some of the state’s leading players in higher education, technology and health care, including the University of Wisconsin System, UW-Madison, Madison College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, BioForward Wisconsin and Exact Sciences, among others.

“(The tech hub status) will help ensure that we continue to push forward innovation, economic growth and transformative advancements in healthcare,” said UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin in a statement.

In the first phase, the federal economic administration selected the 31 regions for tech hub designation based on their potential for “rapid technology-led economic growth.” Of those regions, at least five will be chosen in the second round for further “implementation” funding totaling nearly $500 million.

Wisconsin’s consortium has proposed using the money to improve personalized medicine, an emerging medical approach that tailors health care based on each patient’s genes. The technique uses genomics, imaging technology, artificial intelligence and bioscience, which could help patients heal faster and reduce medical costs, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

The money would also go toward the state’s development of theranostics — a combination of the words therapy and diagnostics — which uses biotechnology to simultaneously diagnose and treat certain medical conditions, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to innovation in health care, the grant could be used toward workforce training as well as efforts to expand housing and transportation policies, Missy Hughes told the Cap Times in August. Hughes serves as secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

In a letter to the Economic Development Administration endorsing the state’s bid, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin made the case for Wisconsin as an ideal tech hub because of its already booming innovation economy.

She referenced a 2019 report from the Brookings Institution, which identified mid-size cities across the nation with the most technological growth potential.

The report ranked Madison as No. 1 and Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis as No. 17 based on the share of the population with bachelor’s degrees or higher, the rate of those with science, technology, engineering and math doctoral degrees granted by local universities and those schools’ spending on STEM research.

The other regional tech hubs range from Montana and Virginia to Illinois and Puerto Rico. In addition to biotechnology, some of the focus areas include automation, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, critical minerals and quantum computing.

The federal economic administration is expected to announce the chosen winners for further funding next year.

From the article:

A Republican-controlled committee approved 6% wage increases for all state employees on Tuesday morning except for the University of Wisconsin’s over 36,000 full-time employees.

State employees, except for those in the University System, will receive a 4% pay raise in 2024 and 2% for 2025. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), who co-chair the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER), have refused to schedule a vote on the UW System raises.

The decision is a continuation of Republicans’ targeting of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the state. Republicans lawmakers cut the UW System budget by $32 million during the budget writing process, and would have cut 188 DEI positions if not for a line-item veto by Gov. Tony Evers. Vos has since threatened to cut the raises for UW employees until universities eliminate DEI programs.

The lack of action on Tuesday brought criticism from Democratic lawmakers and one Republican on the committee.

Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), who co-chairs the budget writing committee and has UW-Platteville in his district, said he was disappointed the raises for University of Wisconsin employees were not scheduled for a vote.

“The local employees on our campuses should not be penalized for policy decisions made by leaders of the university system,” Marklein said. “The custodians, executive assistants, food service providers and local faculty at UW Platteville have very little to do with the politics of the university system.”

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) said the committee was only doing half of its job on Tuesday. She noted at the committee meeting that university employees make up around half of the state’s public employees.

Agard said lawmakers were denying pay raises to those employees because of “one person’s resistance to initiatives to increase inclusion on our campuses.”

“This is a sad moment for our state when the majority party of our state is actively holding our workers hostage because they cannot fathom the ability to focus on equity and diversity in the state of Wisconsin,” Agard said.

Vos said during the committee executive session that taxpayers “do not want an ideological agenda even more on the campus than it already is.”

Vos said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that he has met with UW leaders over half a dozen times to discuss possible ways forward.

“I have tried very hard to say, perhaps it’s not possible — because they are so dug in — to eliminate all of the DEI positions that are on campus,” Vos said. “That’s what I think should happen.”

Vos said he proposed a “middle ground,” allowing the Legislature future oversight of UW’s hiring. He said that he couldn’t imagine lawmakers ever approving a DEI position, but would approve other potential faculty positions. He said UW leaders seem to have rejected that offer, but that he plans to meet with leaders again soon.

From the article:

The owner of a Northwoods brewpub is challenging the legality of Wisconsin’s private voucher school program, calling it "devastating" to public schools.

Minocqua Brewery owner Kirk Bangstad regularly mixes his business operations with fights for liberal causes. He funded the lawsuit on behalf of Wisconsin parents, grandparents and "concerned citizens." Bangstad said the current school financing system fails to equitably distribute resources and threatens the financial stability of public education in Wisconsin.

Last year, Wisconsin taxpayers spent about $568.5 million on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, the Special Needs Scholarship Program, and the Independent Charter School Program, according to Department of Public Instruction records.

Next year, that amount will increase. The state budget included the largest financial expansion to private school choice in the program’s history.

Funding for kindergarten through 8th grade private choice schools increased from about $8,400 per student to $9,500 per student. Funding for private choice high schools will go from $9,045 to $12,000 per student.

"The revenue limit and funding schemes for voucher school programs and independent charter schools violate the Wisconsin Constitution's Public-Purpose Requirement and the Uniform Taxation Clause," said Brian Potts, an attorney on the case. "This parasitic funding system is pushing public school districts into an ever-worsening financial crisis, which is leading to what can only be described as a funding death spiral for public education."

But voucher school advocates say if the lawsuit is successful, low-income children will suffer because they are the beneficiaries of private school education through the voucher system.

Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg said the conservative law firm is preparing to file a motion to intervene in the case to defend the parents, students and teachers who participate in choice schools across the state. Esenberg called the lawsuit "incomplete, misleading and misinformed."

"Wisconsin’s choice program serves over 52,000 students and plays a vital role in Wisconsin’s education system," Esenberg said in a statement. "Unfortunately, far-left interest groups are uniting behind a Super PAC, to take education options away from low- and middle-income kids and families across the state."

State Superintendent Jill Underly released a statement, saying she welcomes any opportunity that would strengthen public education.

"Education represents an incredible opportunity to learn, grow, and strengthen our state, but public education represents even more than that. Public education is a constitutional right," Underly’s statement said. "Wisconsin needs to fulfill its responsibility to effectively, equitably, and robustly fund our public education system. I welcome any opportunity to move Wisconsin in that direction."

The lawsuit is being funded by the Minocqua Brewing Company's SuperPAC, which Bangstad has used since 2021 to fund liberal political causes.

The group has purchased billboard ads attacking Republican politicians and marketed beers named after Democratic politicians including an Evers Ale for Gov. Tony Evers and Tammy Shandy for U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Bangstad first announced his efforts to end Wisconsin’s private school voucher system in August on social media.

From the article:

The bill would give owners of transmission lines the right of first refusal to build new lines connecting to their existing infrastructure, which could prevent out-of-state competition.

It comes after the Midcontinent Independent System Operator last year approved $10.3 billion in new transmission projects across the Midwest to help th the transition to renewable energy.

Supporters of the bill say it boosts grid reliability and protects the role of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in deciding who owns and operates transmission infrastructure rather than giving control to out-of-state regulators. But critics say it would lead to higher prices for customers by eliminating competition.

I have been following @milwaukee and @wisconsin from kbin.social and I noticed that starting around a week ago or so, I can post to the communities but new posts and comments don't make it from midwest.social to kbin.social. Is there a federation issue? Was something recently broken?

#kbinMeta

From the article:

The University of Wisconsin System will rebrand itself over the coming months to “Universities of Wisconsin” as it looks to strengthen the “UW” reputation across all 13 schools, not just UW-Madison.

“University of Wisconsin System” will remain the legal name for the institution, but officials will start referring to the 13 universities by the revised “Universities of Wisconsin” name, an announcement from UW said. By early 2024, UW will transition its webpages and written materials to reflect the new identity.

In addition to dropping “System” from its preferred name, it will ditch the maroon “University of Wisconsin System” logo for one that simply shows “UW” inside the outline of the state with teal accents. A secondary logo draws the universities’ locations out like a constellation.

The rebranding also comes with a new motto: “Future Ready. For All.” It comes as UW President Jay Rothman has consistently talked about UW’s need to educate more students in the coming years to meet current and future employer demand.

Xcel Energy is proposing a new $500 million transmission line through parts of western Wisconsin. The utility says it's necessary to maintain grid reliability as coal-fired power plants are phased out in favor of renewable energy sources.

From the article:

As false information about the rapidly changing war between Gaza Strip militants and Israel proliferated on the social media platform X over the weekend, owner Elon Musk personally recommended that users follow accounts notorious for promoting lies.

“For following the war in real-time, @WarMonitors & @sentdefender are good,” Musk posted on the platform formerly called Twitter on Sunday morning to 150 million follower accounts. That post was viewed 11 million times in three hours, drawing thanks from those two accounts, before Musk deleted it.

Both were among the most important early spreaders of a false claim in May that there had been an explosion near the White House. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index briefly dropped 85 points before that story was debunked.

Emerson T. Brooking, a researcher at the Atlantic Council Digital Forensics Research Lab, posted that @sentdefender is an “absolutely poisonous account. regularly posting wrong and unverifiable things … inserting random editorialization and trying to juice its paid subscriber count.”

The War Monitor account has argued with others over Israel and religion, posting a year ago that “the overwhelming majority of people in the media and banks are zionists” and telling a correspondent in June to “go worship a jew lil bro.”

Information researchers said that the new conflict was an early test of how the revamped X conveys accurate data during a major crisis, and that the immediate impression was poor.

“Anecdotal evidence that X is failing this stress test is plentiful,” said Mike Caulfield, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. “Go on the platform, do a search on Israel or Gaza — you don’t have to scroll very far to find dubious or debunked information.”

Musk left up his replies to the two accounts he had promoted, each of which have more than 600,000 followers, boosting their visibility. He also continued to fault “mainstream media,” telling users to trust X instead.

Other accounts on X drew engagement with photos or videos of unrelated attacks from years earlier and false claims that Iran or others had entered the conflict.

An account imitating the Jerusalem Post falsely reported that the Israeli prime minister had been taken to the hospital, collecting more than 700,000 views.

Numerous accounts promoted a faked document saying that the White House had approved $8 billion in aid to Israel. Others posted video of buildings collapsing in Syria in the past and said they were in Gaza.

Spokespeople for X did not return emails seeking comment.

X and other real-time sources of information are especially subject to rumors, false claims and propaganda during major events.

Researchers have said that X has gotten much less reliable since Musk took control nearly a year ago. He ended the practice of awarding “verified” checks to established media accounts, stopped labeling some accounts as government-affiliated and began sending money to accounts drawing heavy engagement, rewarding views instead of accuracy.

A recent study published by the European Commission concluded that Russian propaganda about its war in Ukraine has reached more people on X this year than it did last year.

“People who have paid for blue checks have a financial incentive to LARP [live action role-play] as war reporters by dredging up old stories or fake footage,” Brooking wrote. “Elon Musk enables this.”

Last week, Musk said he would change the way articles are shared by removing the headlines and promoting only pictures, which experts said would decrease traffic to news sites.

Musk also has been contributing to a broader legal and political campaign that has succeeded in quieting some academics and research groups who track misinformation by accusing them of fostering unconstitutional censorship. He has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League over its reports showing a rise in antisemitic posts on X since Musk bought it last October.

Biden administration officials did not respond immediately to questions about whether it was working with social media companies to identify misinformation. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is among the government agencies being targeted by Musk and some Republicans, referred questions to the State Department, which monitors foreign disinformation.

Officials there did not respond to a query. The White House also did not respond to emails.

Longtime owner Lee Burgess announced last week that he is retiring and putting the drive-in movie theater east of Madison up for sale.

From the article:

Google has finally released a version of Gmail for Wear OS to accompany the launch of the Pixel Watch 2, as originally spotted by 9to5Google. The company teased this feature back in May at I/O, but we were left wondering when it would actually launch. Well, here it is, giving you prime wrist access to your emails.

This has been a long-awaited option for Wear OS users, as Google hasn’t offered a direct way to access Gmail with its smartwatches, outside of notifications, until now. Being as how Gmail is one of the company’s tentpole offerings, it’s a mystery as to why it took this long. Still, better late than never.

The app seems robust, with options to refresh your inbox, scroll through emails and even switch between multiple accounts on the fly. You can also adjust the overall settings so new email notifications pop up on the watch’s face as you go about your day. The app works with 2021’s Wear OS 3 and the just-released Wear OS 4, so those with slightly older smartwatches can also read an endless barrage of campaign donation emails. Gmail for Wear OS is available now via the Google Play Store.

Back at I/O, Google also announced that the company’s Calendar app was coming to Wear OS, but that has yet to materialize. Calendar for Wear OS is expected to allow users to check schedules, RSVP to invites, update tasks and to-do lists and more. Additionally, Google’s smart home ecosystem will soon get improved Wear OS integration, letting you answer your Nest doorbell from your wrist.

However, as Wear OS 3 and Wear OS 4 continue to gain new features, the company’s older smartwatch operating systems are losing features. Google recently announced that its proprietary voice assistant would no longer work on watches running anything before Wear OS 3.