Homes keep selling in Wisconsin but prices and the cost to get a mortgage are keeping some from being able to afford a new home.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association is out with its latest look at the state’s housing market.
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President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill Wednesday, ending a months-long trudge through Congress.
“It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace,” Biden said to kick off his remarks after the signing.
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An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and five other former aides to former President Donald Trump on felony charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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Another local prosecutor declined to bring charges against a Republican state lawmaker in a campaign funding raising case.
Waukesha County’s District Attorney Sue Opper said she would not file charges against state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. But Opper said she is not clearing Brandtjen in the case.
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A Jewish Yale student was reportedly stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag during a pro-Hamas protest on campus over the weekend, the latest incident highlighting the ongoing tensions on college campuses since the Hamas terror group attacked Israel Oct. 7 and ignited an ongoing war.
Amidst ongoing calls for violence, lawmakers have ramped up calls for accountability for the taxpayer-funded universities as well as groups supporting Hamas, which the State Department has officially labeled a terrorist organization.
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The federal government loses up to $521 billion a year to fraud, according to a first-of-its-kind estimate from a Congressional watchdog.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, which serves as the research arm of Congress, estimated annual fraud losses cost taxpayers between $233 billion and $521 billion annually, according to a new report published Tuesday. The fraud estimate’s range represents 3% to 7% of average federal obligations.
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The U.S. military’s ongoing embrace of the far-left culture war has drawn increased attention and ire from lawmakers.
Despite Pentagon officials waving off concerns, a steady stream of evidence has shown that the most progressive ideas on race, gender and sexuality have become the norm, in particular within the administrative parts of the U.S. military.
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The International Monetary Fund warned the United States that government spending and increasing national debt are not sustainable and could hurt the global economy.
The Washington, D.C.-based group that represents 190 member countries also called the U.S. economy “overheated.” The debt warning follows several other high-profile calls to address growing U.S. debt.
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Another inspector general report has found that the federal agency responsible for caring for unaccompanied minors (UACs) brought into the United States is continuing to fail to vet sponsors and protect the children’s safety and well-being.
A Texas advocacy group is again renewing its call for state lawmakers to investigate and implement oversight measures since the majority of UACs are being housed in Texas.
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President Joe Biden and his administration have taken over 200 actions against the U.S. oil and natural gas industry as energy prices have gone up, according to a new report.
“President Biden and Democrats have a plan for American energy: make it harder to produce and more expensive to purchase,” the Institute for Energy Research states in a new report. “Since Mr. Biden took office, his administration and its allies have taken over 200 actions deliberately designed to make it harder to produce energy here in America.”
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The U.S. House is expected to vote on funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan this weekend, a controversial climax to months of battling in both chambers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has arranged the vote for this weekend, likely on Saturday, despite calls from many in his own party to abandon funding for Ukraine, which is set to receive about $60 billion in foreign aid in its war against Russia’s invasion if the measure passes this weekend.
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A man set himself ablaze outside of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Friday in New York City.
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A new report says Wisconsin is in its best fiscal position in decades.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its latest report this week. It looks at the state’s debt, budget health, general fund reserves and what the future may hold for the state.
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There is now a legal challenge to Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.
The WMC Litigation Center on Monday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the governor’s summer veto that increased per-pupil funding for the next four centuries.
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Within 20 minutes of convening to hold an impeachment trial of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Democrats in the Senate steamrolled through motions and voted to dismiss the first article of impeachment brought against him.
Shortly thereafter, they dismissed the second article as well, without ever hearing evidence or conducting a trial.
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The majority of American voters polled believe the U.S. is being invaded at the southern border.
The findings come after Texas counties have led the national conversation on invasion, introducing the term and making the case for Texas’ constitutional right to self-defense.
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Federal legislation has been proposed, led in part by a North Carolina congressman, to increase the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, known by the acronym COLA Act, could go into effect as soon as Dec. 1, with adjustment parallel to the annual COLA adjustment to Social Security benefits, as determined by the Social Security Administration.
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A record number of students are skipping school, propelling chronic absenteeism to a national crisis, according to an analysis of public-school attendance data.
The analysis comes as public school districts nationwide are laying off teachers, citing high inflationary costs, budget deficits, and spending decisions related to federal COVID-era funding, which is running out after schools received windfalls in federal subsidies for three years.
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A Republican-led Congressional committee says a scientist and top advisor to Anthony Fauci used his personal email to hide evidence related to the origins of COVID-19.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the National Emerging Infectious Disease Institute asking for more information about these communications.
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States with lower tax rates, lower debt and fewer government restrictions generally have stronger economic outlooks, according to the latest report that ranks states from best to worst based on how friendly their policies are to economic growth.
The American Legislative Exchange Council released its “Rich States Poor States” report Tuesday. The report ranks states based on “economic outlook” using 15 factors.
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Gas prices are steadily rising around the U.S. again, leaving many cash-strapped Americans struggling to keep up.
According to AAA, the current average price for a gallon of regular-grade gas nationally is $3.63. That is a sharp increase from $3.39 just one month ago. Crude oil prices have risen steadily over the last 30 days, from about $77 per barrel to $85 per barrel.
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The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security will be holding a hearing next Tuesday to examine the Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal 2025 budget request.
It will hear testimony from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is scheduled to testify for the first time since he was impeached in February. The committee’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., led the charge to impeach Mayorkas on two counts, making him the first sitting cabinet member to be impeached in U.S. history.
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The federal officials tasked with tracking down widespread fraud during and after the COVID-19 pandemic want more time and more money to finish the job.
The Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, made up of nearly 30 federal agencies, released its 2024 report on Tuesday. The report details the efforts of the task force in response to fraud involving COVID-19 relief programs.
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The U.S. federal government has borrowed about $6 billion per day so far this fiscal year with little indication of slowing down.
The U.S. Treasury Department released its figures for the month of March showing it borrowed $236 billion in March alone, bringing the total to $1.1 trillion for this fiscal year, which runs from October to September.
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A coalition of states has filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s latest executive effort to forgive a portion of Americans’ student loan debt.
The lawsuit comes after Biden on Monday announced the plan, which the states in question say is an overreach of executive authority. The White House claims that Biden has so far canceled at least some of the debt for 4 million Americans, totalling $146 billion so far.
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A project housed under the Wisconsin Department of Education is using federal special education funds to pay speakers to provide instruction to teachers on race, equity and Black queer feminist methodology.
Wisconsin’s Educational Equity Network’s virtual events feature presentations from authors and activists, including notable and controversial writers such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, about racism, inequity and marginalized gender or sexual identities.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at El Paso area ports of entry seized a large amount of drugs being smuggled into the country in novel ways. One female was caught hiding fentanyl inside her body, another in a hamburger.
In the past two weeks, CBP El Paso POE agents seized more than 62 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 25 pounds of fentanyl, and more than 158 pounds of marijuana.
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More cities have hit the $1 million mark amid rising home prices, especially in California.
A year ago, real estate marketplace Zillow found 491 cities where the typical home value was $1 million or more. That number grew to 550 cities this year, according to Zillow.
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School districts across the country are laying off teachers, citing high inflationary costs, budget deficits, and federal COVID-era funding running out after receiving windfalls in federal subsidies for three years.
The federal COVID-era subsidies were funded through ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grants administered by state education agencies. Financed through the CARES Act and supplemental appropriations, the grant funding expires Sept. 30.
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The federal government reported hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in improper payments last fiscal year and trillions over the last two decades.
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023. The true number, though, is actually much higher, but federal reporting is often lacking.
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Requiring publicly traded companies to make climate-related disclosures has voluntarily been put on hold by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC’s move came before a decision was reached by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. John Rady, counsel for the SEC in the case, notified the court in a letter.
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People living in states with more Republican voters were more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine side effects than those in states that lean blue.
That’s according to a new study that looked at 620,456 COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports from adults reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The study was published in JAMA.
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The State Bar of Wisconsin isn’t ending its diversity clerkship that faced a federal discrimination lawsuit, instead it is changing the definition of diversity.
The State Bar agreed to tweak the program and make it about the diversity of ideas and experiences, rather than base the clerkship on race and gender.
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Former President Donald Trump called for special counsel Jack Smith to be sanctioned or censured for “attacking” the judge in Trump’s classified documents case.
Trump’s comments on Thursday come after Smith and his team of prosecutors made it clear they think Judge Aileen Cannon’s latest ruling was based on “an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise.” Prosecutors objected to Cannon’s order to produce proposed jury instructions under two different legal scenarios. Smith said both legal scenarios were flawed.
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The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. – primarily single, military age men – has skyrocketed under the Biden administration.
Of the more than 140,000 Chinese who’ve illegally entered the country since fiscal 2021, one recently was apprehended at a Marine Corps base at the southwest border.
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Agents arrested 23 people in relation to a cartel-linked drug operation in Texas that dealt in cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and meth.
The arrests came after a five-year investigation that started in 2019. Prosecutors said the drug ring operated in the Houston and Galveston areas and was under the control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
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Nearly two-thirds of voters think parents should be informed if a student wants to change their name or pronoun at school.
According to The Center Square Voter’s Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, the majority of likely voters say they disagree with allowing schools to affirm a student’s gender change without notifying parents.
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Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday afternoon signed into law a controversial bill meant to allow Puget Sound Energy to start planning how to move away from natural gas.
“This bill creates the roadmap and tools for our state’s largest utility to get out of the fossil fuel business and achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” Inslee said of Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1589 during the bill-signing event from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46 in Kent.
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Three people have filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service for refusing to take cash for park entrance fees alleging its NPS Cashless program violates federal law.
The complaint, filed in federal court earlier this month, seeks to have a judge declare NPS Cashless unlawful. The suit alleges that three visitors were denied entrance to national parks in Arizona, New York and Georgia. The complaint further alleges that the “National Park Service no longer accepts American money at approximately twenty-nine national parks, national historic sites, national monuments, and national historic parks around the country.”
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The vast majority of people think schools should focus on traditional subjects like math, reading and science, and a majority also say critical race theory should not be taught, a new poll shows.
According to The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive, most surveyed said they want schools to focus on core subjects instead of hot-button topics like critical race theory.
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed an unprecedented 10 million immigration cases in fiscal 2023, reducing its backlog for the first time in over a decade, according to a newly released end of fiscal year 2023 report.
“We’ve completed a record number of cases, responded to emerging crises around the globe with essential humanitarian relief, and applied innovative solutions to improve customer experience and reduce backlogs,” USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou said of the milestone.
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More than 100 sheriffs in Texas expressed support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security effort, Operation Lone Star. They also are calling for the border crisis to be declared a “United States constitutional crisis and crimes against humanity.”
In a letter to the governor, the sheriffs “respectfully request that our Texas border be immediately secured by any lawful means.”
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Wisconsin tax collections were down more than $51 million year over year in February after being roughly even in January.
The numbers come despite one more day this February than the year before.
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Likely voters are focused on inflation and price increases, illegal immigration and the economy as incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump prepared for a rematch of 2020 in November.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, found that given a range of options to identify their top concerns, likely voters said inflation/price increases (45 percent), illegal immigration (44 percent) and the economy/jobs (24 percent) were the issues that matter most to them.
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According to U.S. Customs and Border protection data, 9.4 million foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. in fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023 and through the end of February 2024.
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The Center Square Voter’s Voice poll released Wednesday asked voters, “When it comes to President Joe Biden, do you approve or disapprove of how he’s handling his job?”
The survey found that most voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing, with 55% saying so and only 45% saying they approve of the president’s work.
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The number of illegal border crossers has increased significantly since Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas implemented a range of policies he said were designed to reduce “irregular migration” and create a “legal pathway” for foreign nationals to come to the U.S.
February of this year broke a record of 256,094 total illegal border crossings nationwide, the highest for the month in U.S. history.
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Mexican cartels for decades have devised creative ways to smuggle narcotics and other contraband across the southern U.S., including using produce, law enforcement officials say. This month, in one week, thousands of pounds of meth were seized hidden in shipments of peppers, tomatillos and carrots.
At the Otay Mesa, California, cargo facility this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized large quantities of methamphetamine (meth) hidden under packages of the vegetables.
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Existing home sales increased 9.5% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million, marking the largest monthly increase since February 2023, but overall sales declined 3.3% from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Total existing home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 9.5% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million in February. Year-over-year, sales slid 3.3% (down from 4.53 million in February 2023).
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Milwaukee’s deputy director at the Election Commission in October 2022 has been found guilty of election fraud.
Wednesday’s jury decision involving Kimberly Zapata at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court could be foretelling for another involving a man in Racine. In each case, those charged requested and received ballots using fake information.
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