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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 16h

After court ruling, the state is notifying some 13,000 disabled Wisconsin workers that they may be eligible for backpay for discriminatory unemployment claim denials. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/afte...

After court ruling, some 13,000 disabled Wisconsin workers notified they may be eligible for backpay

Wisconsin residents who were previously denied unemployment benefits while receiving Social Security Disability Insurance could be eligible for financial compensation for past benefits. Here’s what…

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 23h

Worried about private equity ownership, residents of mobile home parks are exploring purchasing them and running them as cooperatives.

But Wisconsin doesn’t make it easy, @addiecostello.bsky.social reports. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc...

Residents consider a cooperative future as manufactured housing parks go up for sale

Worried about private equity ownership, residents explore purchasing parks and running them as cooperatives. Wisconsin doesn’t make it easy.

wisconsinwatch.org

Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 23h

Long wait for a dental appointment? Wisconsin tech colleges are working to fix that, @mirandadunlap.bsky.social reports.

A $20 million boost from the Legislature is expanding oral health training programs, aiming to ease a dental worker shortage. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc...

Long wait for a dental appointment? Wisconsin tech colleges are working to fix that

A $20 million boost from the Legislature is expanding oral health training programs, aiming to ease a dental worker shortage.

wisconsinwatch.org

Reposted by Jim Malewitz

George Stanley @georgestanley.bsky.social · 8d

No matter what problem you aim to address in our democracy, you’ll need honest reporters to inform the public, to show how the problem is affecting real people and to highlight better ways. We need local news that nurtures community and keeps the people in charge wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc...

Rebuilding civic life requires truthful, independent journalism

Our democratic republic, more than other forms of government, relies on trust and truth. But people are increasingly receiving bitter and dividing information.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Reposted by Jim Malewitz

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 8d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 9d

Increased use of compassionate release in prisons could ease costs and crowding with minimal risks to public safety, experts say. But it remains off limits to many prisoners. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc... (via @wisconsinwatch.org)

Wisconsin rarely grants compassionate release as aging, ailing prisoners stress systems

Increased use of compassionate release could ease costs and crowding with minimal risks to public safety, experts say. But it remains off limits to many prisoners.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 10d

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans:  

Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans

Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jim Malewitz

George Stanley @georgestanley.bsky.social · 11d

A Manitowoc County dairy worker arrived for her shift early on a Thursday morning & waited for a text from her husband. It’s their routine: rise early, commute to jobs at separate dairies & check in by phone. “But when I called him, he didn’t answer.”
wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/rapi...

Rapid deportation push leaves immigrant families in the dark

The pace of the Trump administration’s crackdown and lack of transparency have disoriented affected families and overwhelmed immigration attorneys.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 12d

The rapid pace of Trump's immigration crackdown and its lack of transparency leave affected families disoriented and attorneys overwhelmed.

Just 1/3 of immigrants from Wisconsin with upcoming hearings in immigration court have legal representation.
wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/rapi...

Rapid deportation efforts leave immigrant families in the dark

The pace of the Trump administration’s crackdown and lack of transparency have disoriented affected families and overwhelmed immigration attorneys.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 13d

Twelve years after the Kewaunee Power Station shuttered, wounding the local economy, owner EnergySolutions is seeking government approval to build a new nuclear plant — and is trying to buy hundreds of acres of farmland around it. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc... (@mirandadunlap.bsky.social)

Nuclear power could return to Kewaunee County. Some locals have reservations.

A decade after the Kewaunee Power Station closed, its owner wants to build a new nuclear plant on the site. Residents hope a new plant could bring economic growth, but some are concerned by the com…

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 13d

A Ukrainian family that had settled in Wisconsin decided to move back to Ukraine, despite the war. "Their home country supports its citizens with more housing affordability, health care and social services than the United States does."
captimes.com/news/communi...

(via @erinmcgroarty.bsky.social)

Despite concern from other Ukrainian immigrants that the Trump administration would begin targeting families for deportation after dissolving the humanitarian parole program, Yevko said she and her husband did not return to Ukraine for that reason. Their home country supports its citizens with more housing affordability, health care and social services than the United States does.

Her oldest son, Maksym, has special needs and requires neurological care that would be costly in the U.S. He was diagnosed with ADHD and global development delay, a neurological condition that occurs when a child younger than 5 does not meet certain developmental milestones. The condition can affect functions such as motor skills, social and emotional development or speech and language skills.

“For such children, early therapy is very important. But we didn’t receive it,” Yevko said. “(In Ukraine) there is access to comprehensive therapy and support for a much lower cost.”

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 14d

UW-Madison is changing its financial aid process. Here's what to know. (@wisconsinwatch.org / @captimes.com)

wisconsinwatch.org/2025/10/wisc...

UW-Madison is changing its financial aid process. Here’s what to know.

In addition to the FAFSA, applicants seeking financial aid will now complete the CSS Profile, including questions about home value and 401(k) balances.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 15d

Sometimes lovely writing sneaks up on you. For example:

@merriam-webster.com’s “Some Notes On 'Asshat'”

www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/som...

As asshat steadied itself and found its legs, it took on a slightly elongated form: asshattery (extremely provisional definition: “the condition and practices of an asshat”). This word appears to have begun being used in the early 2000s, initially only in online writing. It also may now be found in a wide range of locations, linguistic registers, and media.

If we have been calling people assheads for almost 500 years now, why did it take so long for ass and hat to get together in similarly pejorative fashion? One reason may be that while ass lends itself well to the beginning of an opprobrious compound, hat leaves something to be desired in terms of mordant wit (the etymological note we have describes the linking of ass and hat as “seemingly nonsensical”).

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 15d

Wisconsin’s government is failing to enforce basic protections for owners of manufactured homes at a time when private equity firms are buying up parks to maximize profits.

wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisc... @addiecostello.bsky.social)

‘They are squeezing everybody in this park to death’: Owners of manufactured homes get little protection as private equity moves in

Wisconsin regulators rarely inspect parks and allow many to go unlicensed — all while frustrations simmer with unresponsive landlords.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 16d

I learned a lot while editing this piece for @wisconsinwatch.org. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/a-de...

A decade of immigration in Wisconsin in 9 charts

Immigration hearing and arrest data illustrate where new immigrants to Wisconsin originated, where they settled and how they’ve fared in immigration court.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 19d

"...referee in a state Office of Lawyer Regulation case found that Gableman committed 10 lawyer misconduct violations in his probe of the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin."
via @tomkertschernews.bsky.social
wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/supr...

Supreme Court should suspend Michael Gableman’s law license for 3 years, referee says

The punishment would be for the former Supreme Court justice’s conduct in investigating the 2020 election

wisconsinwatch.org

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Reposted by Jim Malewitz

Till Eckert @tilleckert.com · 20d

1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.

Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.

Thread 👇

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 22d

“I don’t give a shit about getting my head kicked in by both sides.”

GOP Rep. Scott Krug hopes to quiet conspiracy theories and rebuild public faith in elections — even if his proposals don’t make it.

Great profile from @alexandershur.bsky.social wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisc...

State Rep. Scott Krug emerges as GOP’s voice of pragmatism on Wisconsin election policy

Veteran lawmaker hopes to quiet the conspiracy theories and rebuild public faith — even if his proposals don’t make it.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 22d

“It's not the first time a poop-smelling spray dispensed at a school has led to criminal charges.” abcnews.go.com/US/assistant...

Assistant teacher arrested for allegedly stinking up his school with fart spray

A 32-year-old South Carolina assistant teacher has been arrested on charges he spraying his school with a substance that smells like poop.

abcnews.go.com

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · 28d

Can't stop thinking about this heartbreaking, but beautifully reported and written story.

“The field is our bond and place to be us. It’s therapy.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...

Tucked in a Vineyard, a Field of Dreams Where Immigration Fears Fade Away

www.nytimes.com

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · Sep 16

The Trump admin announced last week it’s ending grant programs that help fund minority-serving colleges, including more than 600 Hispanic-serving institutions. Wisconsin colleges say they’ll keep up the work regardless of the cuts. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisc... (via @wisconsinwatch.org)

Wisconsin colleges vow to keep supporting Hispanic students despite federal funding cuts

The U.S. Department of Education announced last week that it’s ending grant programs that help fund minority-serving colleges, including more than 600 Hispanic-serving institutions. Wisconsin colle…

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · Sep 12

“Several international organizations…had offered to buy or accept a donation of the contraceptives. The government would have incurred no costs or might have even been able to recoup taxpayer funds under those scenarios.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...

$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · Sep 9

Juneau County, Wisconsin keeps its healthy food program alive despite Trump admin cuts, @bennetgoldstein.bsky.social reports.

Businesses are backfilling costs of a smaller program. Residents hope donations will sustain it in a community with few grocery stores. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisc...

Wisconsin county keeps healthy food program alive despite federal cuts

Juneau County businesses are backfilling costs of a smaller Local Food Purchase Assistance program, feeding kinship and cupboards. Residents and farmers hope donations will sustain the program in a…

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · Sep 8

Three years and more than 10,000 lawyer calls after being charged, this Wisconsin mother still doesn’t have a defense attorney wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisc... via @wisconsinwatch.org

Three years and more than 10,000 lawyer calls after being charged, this Wisconsin mother still doesn’t have a defense attorney

Wisconsin has a shortage of public defenders, and felony cases are taking longer to resolve.

wisconsinwatch.org

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Jim Malewitz @jmalewitz.bsky.social · Sep 6

“Undoubtedly, I’ll receive emails asking why the men were living under a bridge as well as other comments about their life choices. What's important now is that they are human, and they are missing.”
www.jsonline.com/story/opinio...

Three men remain missing after Milwaukee floods. The city's response is shameful | Opinion

Three men remain missing weeks afte 1,000 year flood swept through Milwaukee. City leaders ought to do more to search for the apparent flood victims.

www.jsonline.com

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