Sen. Cory Tomczyk, a Republican from Mosinee, says he fully expects to take criticism from his own party for helping author a bill that would allow Milwaukee police to use cameras to ticket drivers going at least 15 mph over the speed limit or blowing through red lights.

After all, similar bills in the past have gotten scant support from conservatives who are worried about ever-growing government surveillance and about the modern camera culture that seems to document everywhere we drive, eat, drink and sleep.

“As a conservative, having more cameras watching our every move is not ideal,” he told his fellow senators at a recent public hearing on SB375 in Milwaukee. “But, unfortunately, in this modern world, cameras are everywhere. That train has left the station.”

Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine, a former cop who, like Tomczyk, is a member of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Local Government that held the public hearing earlier this month, argued what the city really needs is more police, not cameras.

Vague Wisconsin laws have allowed teachers who are sexual predators to groom children without fearing either appropriately severe criminal penalties or sufficient scrutiny of their teaching licenses, according to testimony Thursday from law enforcement and education administrators.

The testimony was given during a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency held in the wake of stories in a Madison news outlet, the Capital Times, critical of the Department of Public Instruction’s handling of hundreds of teacher misconduct allegations.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) was harshly critical of DPI Superintendent Jill Underly, who did not show up for the hearing and instead sent underlings to answer questions from incredulous legislators.

More of Wisconsin’s electricity now comes from solar panels than from wind turbines, but both produce a small amount of power compared to the state’s now-leading source, natural gas, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show.

The second-largest source of power is coal — the leading source until recently. The third-largest source, nuclear power, maintained its share.

On a week when Milwaukee’s streetcar suspended service after a cement truck struck its overhead transit wires, Alderman Scott Spiker is calling on the city to defund the project entirely. 

We stand in firm agreement with the councilman — and have since the Hop’s inception.

In addition to the $128 million initial cost, the City of Milwaukee is using its transportation fund’s money to plug a $4 million annual hole in the Hop’s operating budget.

City leaders have never even tried to charge riders — few would ride it at all if they did — and those annual operating costs are not going away. Expenses could easily run into the tens of millions of dollars in the years to come.

Based on measurements and calculations related to the body’s volume, Lake Michigan is estimated to hold approximately 1.3 quadrillion gallons of fresh water.

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