Unlike many places in Wisconsin, there is no housing crisis in the Village of Hobart because its leaders have done something developers say is exceedingly rare — making it as easy and predictable as possible for them to do business there.

With approximately 11,000 residents, Hobart is one of the fastest growing communities in one of the fastest growing counties, Brown, in the state.

The overall equalized value of the village adjacent to and west of Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport was $1.7 billion in 2024, and more than three-quarters of it is in residential property. Coming out of COVID in 2021, the valuation was a little more than $1.1 billion. Twenty years ago, it was just more than $500 million.

The village has the feel of a boom town, albeit a genteel one. “Build where business is booming,” the village website says, touting “More resources. Less red tape.”

Years after we first reported on daily calls to police from MPS high schools, the Milwaukee Public Schools finally obeyed a judge’s order and placed cops back in the hallways this week. Twenty-five officers are back in 11 schools.

The only remaining question is what took so long. 

It was way back in June 2023 that Milwaukee leaders reached a deal with legislators allowing both the city and the county to raise sales taxes in exchange for putting officers back in crime-ridden Milwaukee public schools by Jan. 1, 2024.

Wisconsin imports over 10 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy per year from out-of-state sources, figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show, or nearly 15% of the electricity Wisconsinites use.

In 2023, for example, Wisconsin produced 62.5 million MWh internally while importing 10.9 million MWh. The share of Wisconsin’s electricity that is imported has stayed fairly constant since 2008, ranging from 14% to 18% in most years.

Wisconsin’s State Senate convened Wednesday. The following Badger-backed initiatives were passed by majority vote.

Regarding spent fuel: “It’s safe, notes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Standing next to the cask for a year gives you less radiation that a round-trip flight to Hong Kong, and the cylinders can endure jetliner impacts.” — Federal government inaction leaves uranium alongside Lake Michigan

Regarding FoodShare benefits for high-sugar items: “Sixty to 70 percent of SNAP recipients between the ages of 50 and 64 have had a diet-related disease such as diabetes or heart disease or hypertension — higher numbers than are found among similarly aged non-recipients.” — Wisconsin should prohibit purchase of candy and soft drinks with FoodShare

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