MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin legislators and tribal leaders are talking about collaboration and common ground going into this month’s State of the Tribes address, but deep divides over iron mining, hunting rights and school mascots still lurk under the pleasant rhetoric.
The Lac Courte Oreilles chairman slammed Republican legislators and state officials in last year’s speech, causing one lawmaker to walk out, and the stage could be set for more conflict when Menominee Nation Chairman Craig Corn delivers the address on Feb. 13. Corn has been lobbying Republican Gov. Scott Walker to approve his tribe’s plans for an off-reservation casino in Kenosha despite two other tribes’ opposition.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the relationship between the state and the Indian nations here so tense,” said Patty Loew, a Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa member and a University of Wisconsin-Madison communications professor who specializes in American Indian culture.
Corn and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, issued a statement calling the speech an opportunity to highlight common interests and address problems - and they have plenty of those.
The state’s six Chippewa tribes are still angry over Republican legislation clearing the path for a possible iron mine they fear will pollute water and destroy wild rice beds near the Bad River’s Ashland County reservation. The state’s new wolf also has offended the Chippewa; the bands consider the animal a spiritual brother.
The tribes authorized their hunters to kill an elk a month before the first wolf hunt. Later in 2012, they approved night deer hunting for their members. The DNR has been struggling to reintroduce elk to the state for years and has long prohibited night deer hunting out of safety concerns.
Gordon Thayer, then the Lac Courte Oreilles chairman, laid into Republican legislators and state officials in last year’s speech, accusing them of spreading misinformation about the tribes’ spearfishing goals and their effect on walleye populations. He complained about the mining legislation and criticized Walker for not speaking more about the tribes more in his state of the state address.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said Sunday she would support raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage up to as much as $10.10 an hour, putting her at direct odds with Gov. Scott Walker.
Burke made the comments in an interview that aired on the Wisconsin newsmagazine show “UpFront with Mike Gousha.”
“I think increasing the minimum wage leads to people being able to support themselves and their families, and we can do it in a way that’s not going to hurt job creation,” Burke said.
The state’s minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour.
Walker, a Republican, has spoken out against legislation that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage, calling the proposals “political grandstanding.” The bills are in committees in both chambers, which are controlled by Republicans.
Burke had earlier said she favored a smaller increase of about 35 cents an hour. But on Sunday she endorsed the Democrats plan to raise the minimum wage in three increments, up to $10.10 an hour in two years.
Burke said: “The research shows in states that have raised the minimum wage above the federal wage that it has absolutely no impact on unemployment rates.”
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MILWAUKEE (AP) - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing adding 192 waterways to a list of those that don’t meet water quality standards.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported (https://bit.ly/1k0kQe6https://bit.ly/1k0kQe6 ) most of the new additions have excessive levels of phosphorus, which spurs weed and algae growth.
State officials list impaired lakes, rivers and streams every two years as part of the federal Clean Water Act, which requires states to prioritize problem waterways and create plans to get them into compliance.
There are already more than 700 waters listed as impaired in Wisconsin, including many sections of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers. DNR officials say about 75 percent of the waters it monitors have shown trends of improving over the long term.
Still, it can be hard for a polluted river to improve enough to get removed from the list. This year, the proposed list includes 17 waters the DNR wants removed, including the KK Road Beach on Lake Michigan in Sheboygan County for E. coli and three Madison beaches, including in James Madison Park on Lake Mendota, also for bacteria pollution.
Seven bodies of water, including most of the Gile Flowage in Iron County, were removed because of declining levels of mercury.
The list now goes to the public for input, and it must be reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Two years ago, the EPA told the DNR to add more than 100 waters after concluding the state wasn’t following its own standards.
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