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This is your WGBW Daily News Roundup for the Talk of Green Bay, 97.9 FM and 1590 AM.
For 97.9 WGBW News, I'm Lisa Hale.
Following the state of the state address Wednesday, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers visited
Ashkosh to meet with local leaders and community members. It was there that he told reporters he
doesn't know how he would respond to actions that might be brought to the state
by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE Agency.
What he does know is that immigrants are an important part of the state's economy and culture.
All I can say is that the people of Wisconsin are concerned about the fact that we have people,
immigrants working, and all sorts of industries in the state. We love those people who are doing
good work, whether they're milk and cows or doing processing of meats across the state.
You name it. They're their major part of our economy. We can't afford to have them scared away
and leave our state. Evers also visited Rhinelander and Milwaukee yesterday to meet with local leaders
and community members and discuss how to support local communities in this year of the kid.
58% of third through eighth graders in Wisconsin are not proficient in English language arts.
That's according to the 2023 forward exam and overhaul of the state's reading curriculum was
coming, but Republican lawmakers haven't released the funds for it yet. In this week's state
of the state's speech, Governor Tony Evers asked them to give the schools the money they were promised.
Savannah Tomay Olsen reports. Reading reform is on the way for Wisconsin kids, at least it was
supposed to be. In 2023, lawmakers passed a bill to overhaul how the state teaches reading in
public schools. The new system is commonly referred to as the science of reading. It's backed by
research and focuses more on phonics. It includes new curriculum and materials and hiring literacy
coaches for school districts to use when they need to. Schools started this shift for students in
4k through third grade in the fall, but they're doing it without the money they were expecting from
the legislature. When it was passed, Act 20 included $50 million to switch to this new method,
but lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee have not released that money. The legislature need
not wait until I introduce my budget to get to work. Republican lawmakers can start today by
releasing the $50 million we approved with bipartisan support nearly two years ago. These funds
were already approved. They are available now and they should not still be sitting in Madison.
Now it's complicated, but the Evers Administration and the Joint Finance Committee have been
fighting out the issue in court. If the $50 million for the new reading materials isn't released
by June 30, it'll go into the state surplus, which is already massive at $4 billion. For civic
media news, I'm Savannah Tome Olsen. Mental health and suicide prevention was a major focus of
Wednesday's state-of-the-state address. Governor Tony Evers named 2025 the year of the kid and
highlighted many initiatives aimed at improving the lives of children not just in school,
but during the 80% of the time that they're not in school as well. He said in his upcoming
biennial budget proposal, he'll ask for $300 million to provide mental health services in
schools statewide. Let's start treating our state's mental health crisis with the urgency it
requires. Yes, for everyone of every age, but especially for our kids. The state of our kids' mental
health continues to be concerning for me as governor and also as a grandfather. A kid in crisis
may be distracted or disengaged, may not be able to focus on their studies if they are
able to get to school at all. The $300 million would also fund expanded mental health training
and peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs. In his last biennial budget, the governor asked for
a similar amount, but the legislature only approved $30 million. A new proposal with bipartisan
support in the Wisconsin State Legislature would make all gun safes exempt from state sales tax.
Lawmakers say they're hoping the legislation will encourage more residents who own firearms
to keep them stored securely in their homes, reducing the risk of accidental injury or that
children will be able to gain access to the firearms. Governor Tony Evers told reporters Thursday
in Oshkosh that this is the type of legislation he can get behind. We do it in a nanosecond.
That's a good example. There are things there that aren't threatened to the second amendment,
so let's do them. This legislation comes as Governor Evers announced his plans to include
comprehensive gun safety measures in his biennial budget proposal that will be released in February.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has announced it is pausing hiring and out-of-state
travel amid budget constraints. In a memo sent to staff Friday, the agency announced it would freeze
hiring for all jobs except two critical positions through the end of June. They also announced
a pause on out-of-state travel and that it would consider voluntary reductions in paid working
hours if requested by individual employees. Officials cited a $2.3 million reduction in state funding
as a major factor in the decision to reduce spending. Republican lawmakers are introducing
legislation that would reverse new Department of Public Instruction state testing benchmarks.
Those changes announced last fall included lowering the threshold for what's considered proficient
and changing terms used to describe student performance. DPI started using meeting expectations
rather than calling students proficient while dropping the use of basic and below basic.
State Superintendent Jill Underley has said that the new standards illustrate what students
should know at a given grade level. The Republican bill would reset report card standards to the
level set in 2019 and 2020. It would align grades three through eight with national standards and
restore high school testing standards to level set in 2021 and 2022 school year. It would also
require DPI to use the terms below basic, basic, proficient and advanced for pupil performance
assessments. I'm Lisa Hale, 97.9 WGBW News. For news anytime, log on to wgbw.fm.
The Bucks trounce the heat. I'm Mike Clevans with sports. The Bucks beat the Miami Heat 125 to 96
at five Sir Form. The wind despite some challenges getting back to Milwaukee from New Orleans where the
Bucks were stuck in a hotel during a record-breaking snowstorm. The start time to last night's game had
to be pushed back in our Bucks head coach Doc Rivers. Showing up for game two hours before the game
off of airplane. My guess is that our science team would probably say not the healthiest thing to do
on the plane. We showed the guys their matchups. I told them to be prepared. NFL, the Buffalo Bills face
the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game. Sunday at five thirty from Arrowhead. Do the
referees give the Chiefs a break when calling penalties? I don't feel that way. I mean,
I just try to play football at the end of the day. The referees are doing their best to call the
game as a spare and as proper as they possibly can. And all you can do is go out there and play the
game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results. And so that's what we preach here in
Kansas City. That's Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with sports on Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Peach Wabba. Oscar nominations came out yesterday.
Ten movies were nominated for best picture. But in the best supporting actor category,
there were five nominees, including Yura Borisov for Anora and were Norton for his role opposite
Timothy Chalamet in the Bob Dylan Biopic, a complete unknown. Guy Pierce was nominated for his
role in the brutalist. Kieran Culkin for the comedy drama A Real Pain and his succession
co-star Jeremy Strong drew a nomination for his part in the apprentice, a complete unknown,
the brutalist and Anora all drew best picture nominations as well. In the best supporting actress
category, it was more good news for a complete unknown as Monica Barbaro was nominated to know and
surprise. Ariana Grande got a nod for her role in the blockbuster Wicked. Felicity Jones for
the brutalist Isabella Russellini is up for her role in Conclave and after showing her musical
side, the Academy recognized Zoe Saldana for her role in Amelia Perez. Every film these actresses
were in was also nominated for best picture. Nice job girls. We are hitting the height of award
season buzz. The granddaddy of them all, the Academy Awards are right around the corner and the
nominations are officially out. Let's start off in the category everyone is on pins and needles
about best sound. Just kidding. There's pretty much something for everyone as 10 films from several
genres have been recognized in the best picture category. Leading the nominations this year is
the foreign film Amelia Perez with 13 nominations. The musical tells the story of a drug kingpin struggling
with gender affirming issues. Close behind Amelia were the brutalist and wicked with 10 nominations
of peace. Conclave and a complete unknown also made an impressive showing with 8 nom's each.
Rounding out the nominees and the best picture category were independent films Nickelboys,
Anora, The Substance, I'm Still Here, and the blockbuster Dune 2. There is your list of movies
to check out before March 2. You have six weeks. Academy Award nominations were announced
yesterday after a brief delay due to the LA fires. Here are your Oscar nominees for best actor
to no one's surprise Adrian Brody was nominated for his role in the brutalist. Timothy
Chalamet pulled a nomination for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in a complete unknown. If there are
heavy favorites it's probably those two. Rounding out the category are Coleman Domingo for his role
in Singsing, Refine's for Conclave and Sebastian Stan for the Apprentice. It's anybody's game.
Speaking of Thespians, the nominations and the best actress category are also in
and include Demi Moore who makes her comeback so to speak in the horror film The Substance.
Cynthia Rivo for Wicked which was not a huge surprise. Harlas Ophia Gascon for Amelia Perez,
a film also nominated in 12 other categories. Mikey Madison for the Comedy Anora and Fernand
Torres for I'm Still Here. Good luck all. From our show it's fun. Tune in to Nightlight with me,
Peach Wabo. Weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Fox Valley forecast on Corey Hartman, mostly cloudy today, highs near 19. It will be breezy
out of the West for tonight. Chance of snow or flurries will see a low around 15 for Saturday
partly sunny breezy a high near 31 Sunday sunny 26 Monday partly sunny mid 30s right now three degrees.
That's your WGBW Daily News Roundup from Civic Media. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify,
Apple, or wherever you find your podcasts. Find more news at WGBW.fm.
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