Just how much ultraprocessed foods do Americans eat? A Fact Brief from @wisconsinwatch.org and @gigafactproject.bsky.social based on comments by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wisconsin radio.

Fact-checking a social media claim on the size of the Ku Klux Klan was in Wisconsin in the 1920s.

With @gigafactproject.bsky.social, my @wisconsinwatch.org fact-check on high-level legal protection in the states to hunt and fish.

In rural Wisconsin, "maternity care deserts."

Love small-venue interaction. Kelly Ogden, lead singer of punk-pop band The Dollyrots, asked me to find her a sharpie to sign merch with after their Milwaukee show 3/13/26. I did, and then she had me sign the left shoulder of her black leather jacket. Look for “Kerch MKE” if you see them on tour.

Wisconsin is nearly alone in not treating first-offense drunken driving as a crime. #factbriefs

As Congress considers the SAVE Act on voter ID and requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, @wisconsinwatch.org looks at support for requiring a photo ID to cast a ballot.

We took a look at the question of whether most immigrants arrested by ICE are criminals. Here's what the data show on criminal convictions.

@wisconsinwatch.org checks on how much Americans use social media for health information, and what they think of the quality of that information.

I see that Chicago Bears fans have embraced their answer to the cheeseheads of Green Bay Packers fans. I guess no rivalry is truly epic until each side tries to look more goofy than the other.

Fact-checking a Wisconsin Reddit thread: Just putting your absentee ballot in the mail does not mean your ballot will be postmarked the same day. That could be crucial, if you live in a state that requires a postmark by Election Day.

@wisconsinwatch.org explains how a phenomenon most Wisconsinites have never heard of, stranded assets, has left them with a $1 billion debt.

wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/homo...

@wisconsinwatch.org fact-checks U.S. Rep. @markpocan.bsky.social on how many countries make homosexual acts illegal.

The latest from Wisconsin Watch: Yes, state funding of the DNR has dropped by $100 million; No, the state can't hire only Americans for state jobs.

@wisconsinwatch.org checks just how much state funding of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been reduced.

The passion Samantha Fish brought 12/6/25 to the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wis., made me want to ask her: What are you going through? Or: What you are getting rid of? Whatever the emotions behind her playing, it seemed a healthy expression.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a candidate for Wisconsin governor, said he would ensure state government jobs go to Americans. @wisconsinwatch.org looks at whether that's possible.

"I really do believe that anxiety and joy can coexist. That’s kind of the hope I’m clinging to."--Julia Steiner of Chicago's @ratboysband.bsky.social, 11/17/25 @radiomilwaukee.bsky.social. I asked her afterward if she could elaborate. She said it was spontaneous and suggested we both think about it.

.@rebeccafinlay.bsky.social of @partnershipai.bsky.social to me on training AI systems: “If someone is developing a system and not attending to the data and the biases that sit within that data, that’s where it can move to potential harms.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders said premiums will double for 20 million Obamacare recipients. Sen. Ron Johnson said Sanders is wrong. We sort it out.

Our look at which constitutional rights are extended to all persons, including unauthorized immigrants.

There’s extra juice in the room when a new band plays its second-ever show, as Howl Owl Howl (Hootie’s Darius Rucker, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman) did 11/4/25 at Metro Chicago.

Wisconsin is one of 9 states that does not have a law on whether minors can get birth control without parental consent. Here's how that works in practice.

Yes, using a benchmark, Obamacare premiums have increased 3 times the rate of inflation since coverage began in 2014. Newer premium subsidies are due to expire Dec. 31.

Are more than 18% of Americans atheists, as U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman said? No. But he's close, according to one poll, on the percentage of Americans who don't believe in God, @wisconsinwatch.org finds.

A legal fight is underway in swing-state Wisconsin on citizenship and voting. @wisconsinwatch.org looks at one question on proving citizenship.

Fact-checking U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson: Fraud has occurred in Affordable Care Act coverage. But No, there isn't documentation that 6 million people got Obamacare coverage unknowingly, @wisconsinwatch.org finds.

New from @wisconsinwatch.org: Courts approve 11% of petitions for compassionate release from prison. Some inmates must first present evidence indicating they will die within a year, then get a committee's unanimous recommendation.