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The Wisconsin Dept. of Administration recently released the 2007 Wisconsin Great Lakes Chronicle. View it here.
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At the end of World War II, there were 44 workers paying Social Security taxes for every retiree collecting from the program. Now the ratio is just three workers for every one retiree. And soon there will be more retirees than workers.
Source: ABC World News |
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 The first public meeting of The Wisconsin Way effort was held Wednesday, October 10th in La Crosse with over 350 people attending the two hour discussion on the future of Wisconsin. Attendees represented all walks of life from business owners, farmers, teachers, realtors, local government officials and state officials.
"The incredibly successful first meeting of The Wisconsin Way effort tells me that citizens care a great deal about the future of our state. The ideas raised were creative and indicated a desire to explore innovative solutions to our challenges," said Mark D. O'Connell, Wisconsin Counties Association Executive Director. O'Connell spoke briefly at the event welcoming attendees and explaining the need to develop public policy which considers where Wisconsin will be or wishes to be in ten, twenty and fifty years. |
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To read an article from the LaCrosse Tribune on The Wisconsin Way public meeting held October 10th, click here. |
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 At last week's WCA Annual Conference in Sauk County, a press conference was held with county officials from around the state urging the legislature to pass a budget that takes into account the funding needs of sources of key county programs. One of the media outlet in attendance was Wisconsin Public Television, which ran on a story on the October 11 edition of "In Wisconsin."
To view the comprehensive story, which features WCA Executive Director Mark O'Connell, Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway and Jackson County Board Chairman Steve Dickinsen, click here. |
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The Wisconsin Radio Network ran a story statewide on Thursday, October 11 regarding the state budget and counties. An excerpt from WRN appears below and to read more and listen to the interview, click here.
County governments around the state are getting impatient with lawmakers. Much of the focus on the budget impasse has been its impact on school districts, but Mark O'Connell with the Wisconsin Counties Association says his members are concerned, too. Still, they want the budget done right. "The legislature could pass a budget that could be very detrimental to the quality of life in our state and the programs that counties deliver," O'Connell says. "We're not interested in a budget simply getting done."
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 This week Kathleen Casey Kirschling became the first Baby Boomer to sign up for Social Security benefits. She is the first of an expected 80 million Boomers to become eligible for the benefits over the next 20 years.
To read more about this story, including how the current system is expected to pay out more than it takes in in a decade and is expected to go bankrupt in 35 years, click here for the ABC News story.
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Now is the time to decide where to spray for gypsy moths. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has added to their website some step-by-step information for counties and their residents .
The DNR offers a Suppression Spray Program to counties suffering from outbreak populations of the invasive pest gypsy moth. This is a safe, effective and dependable aerial spray program to prevent defoliation from gypsy moth outbreaks. This program provides safety features not typically available from a private applicator and advantages in public notification and legal protections of special value to residential areas. Full Story... |
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 The Environmental Protection Agency is offering a series of free webcasts designed for local, regional and state governments to learn the basics of conducting a greenhouse gas inventory. There are two upcoming webcasts planned for this series, with the first that occurred on October 11, 2007. Read on for session and registration information.
Full Story... |
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The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin will hold their 2007 Dairy Policy Summit, "Discovering Dairy's New Role, Balancing Energy and Food Production," October 30-31, 2007 at the Madison Marriott West.
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