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The Pope and Barack Obama agree on something. Pope Leo just warned that AI without guardrails will widen inequality and fragment our communities. Obama’s been quietly working on the same problem. The people who *don’t* want guardrails? Billionaires. Pete and Greg get into it on Nite Lite — including the night Pete’s kid had a conversation with an AI assistant that he described as straight-up creepy. Wisconsin families deserve a seat at this table before the rules get written without us.

Wisconsin has 53 data centers already. 🔌 The tech isn’t the scary part. The motives are. On Daybreak, Jamie and Brian break down who’s really behind the buildout, what it means for our power grid and water, and why “jobs” doesn’t tell the whole story once a facility goes live. A tool is only as good as the hands holding it. Let’s be realistic about whose hands those are. 💬 What’s a data center doing in your corner of Wisconsin? Tell us.

Wisconsin’s Rep. Brian Steil chairs the House subcommittee that writes the rules on cryptocurrency. The crypto industry has spent $750K+ boosting him. It’s not just Steil. It’s not just one party. Democrats. Republicans. Using committee knowledge for personal gain. Same problem. That’s why they all leave office as millionaires.

Tax the rich is a great bumper sticker — but how do you actually do it? State Rep. Francesca Hong joined Brian on Daybreak to spell it out: a new top bracket on multi-millionaires and billionaires, plus rolling back corporate tax breaks she calls “corporate welfare” — the data center sales tax exemption and the manufacturing & ag tax credit. Her estimate: $400M+ a year that could be redirected to special education funding indexed to inflation, healthy school meals, and public schools instead of private vouchers. “Tax the rich is wildly popular,” Hong said. What would you want that money to fund in your community?

What ideas are we afraid to let a high school kid hear? The Watertown school board voted 7–1 to pull an instrumental from the high school spring concert. No lyrics. No words. Just a piece named for Marsha P. Johnson. Brian Noonan, a former teacher, on Daybreak: “The school board is way out of line.” #Wisconsin #Watertown #FreeExpression #Daybreak #CivicMedia

“You’re basically subsidizing their salary.” Food journalist Adam Reiner stopped by Nite Lite this week and walked Pete & Greg through the math most diners never see: the federal base wage for tipped workers is **$2.13 an hour**, and your tip is what closes the gap to minimum wage. Reiner notes some West Coast states have pushed their tipped minimum to $15–17. Most of the country still runs on the old math. His ask: sit at the bar on a Monday at 5. Buy the gift card. The local restaurants sponsoring little league teams won’t be there forever if we don’t show up.

A ballroom we’ll never dance in. A childcare bill we can’t escape. Brian Noonan on Daybreak: “Those kids who aren’t getting the money for childcare — they’re going to be your neighbors someday. They’re going to be the people waiting on you.” The president says he doesn’t think about American families’ finances “one little bit.” Wisconsin parents are already doing the math at the kitchen table — a grand, two grand a month, just to go to work. Working families deserve a country that invests in the kids who’ll keep it running. Tell us — what’s childcare costing your family?

Local reaction to possible data center in Wisconsin Rapids.

Microsoft. Meta. Oracle. OpenAI. Our farmland, our water, our power grid — and a $1.5B–$2B tax break on your dime. But the towns didn’t take a vacation: → Manitowoc County: 18-month moratorium, *unanimous* → Port Washington: nation’s first anti-data-center referendum, 2-to-1 → Sheboygan, Cassville, Wisconsin Rapids, Wrightstown, Delavan — all in the fight 70% of Wisconsin voters — left, right, and independent — say the costs outweigh the benefits. Organized people beat absent power. Every time. #Wisconsin #DataCenters #WIpolitics

Governor Tony Evers and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos struck a $1.8 billion bipartisan deal — paid out of Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion surplus, with the rainy day fund left alone. Brian Noonan on Daybreak: “Compromise is never perfect. That’s how compromise works.” The deal also kills state tax on cash tips and reverses the overtime tax veto. Tell us — does $300 change your month?

A Wisconsin worker. A serious head injury. A $5.5 million verdict against Menards in their own hometown of Eau Claire. Attorney Chris MacGillis joined Brian on Daybreak to explain how it happened — and what every working person in Wisconsin should know about their rights on the job. The short version from MacGillis: training matters. Supervision matters. And if something goes wrong, you have to have the courage to speak up. #Wisconsin #Daybreak #CivicMedia #WorkerSafety #EauClaire

Wisconsinites, brace yourselves. 🧀 The Cheese Queen of Wisconsin says the yellow curds are dyed. The white ones are the original. Pete and Greg are not okay.

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