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• Eau Claire entrepreneurs share health insurance story with Congress; state briefs

EAU CLAIRE -- A delegation of small business owners traveled to Washington D.C. Tuesday to share their health insurance experiences. An Eau Claire couple was to be among those from 24 states making the trip.

Terri Stanley uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis. She works as a legal assistant in the law office of her partner, John Hibbard who also has pre-existing medical conditions. She says Hibbard is getting health care at the VA and no one will insure her.

Stanley finally got on a Medicare disability plan. She says it's unfair for insurance companies to punish those with pre-existing conditions. Stanley says there aren't effective drugs that work for the type of MS she has, so it would probably cost less to insure her than other people.

For those like Stanley who qualify for disability income - there's a two year wait for health care benefits. John Hibbard was on the state's high risk insurance plan for 8 years after his insurance company dropped him. Hibbard and Terri Stanley will explain to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius and other member of Congress what it's like for small business owners.

The two join owners of 100 small businesses around the country who'll make their case in the nation's capital where health insurance reform is in the legislative meat-grinder.

-- Mary Jo Wagner, WHWC/WVSS-Menomonie/Eau Claire

School boards oppose teacher evaluation bill

MADISON -- A bill that would lift Wisconsin's ban on using test scores to evaluate teachers is racing through the state legislature. And while it has the backing of the state's teacher's union, school boards say it's too weak.

Wisconsin has to lift this ban if it wants to qualify for a share of more than four billion dollars in federal "race to the top" stimulus money. It's one of only a handful of states that prohibits using test scores to evaluate teachers right now.

Mary Bell is President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, or WEAC. She told a state assembly panel that her union supports ending the ban, and that teachers are behind the goals of "Race to the Top". Bell says instruction will be more directed at student learning and what happens in the classroom than it is currently.

But the Wisconsin Association of School Boards opposes the plan. Lobbyist Sheri Krause says that while it lets school districts look at test results, they still can't use them to fire, suspend or discipline a teacher who gets poor results. She says it goes too far in protecting teachers and would make it hard to fire or discipline a teacher.

The plan has already cleared a Senate committee and could clear the full legislature this week. Among other proposals lawmakers are considering is one that would give the State Superintendent more power to intervene in the Milwaukee Public School system, although that plan is not essential to getting race to the top funds.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

Former NRC member says nuclear power not the answer to global warming

A former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the numbers don't add up over a proposal that suggests building new nuclear reactors as a possible low-cost solution to climate change.

Republicans have claimed that nuclear power could be the answer to solve global warming. However, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford says the economics of building 100 new reactors does more harm than good. He says one study that's reviewed the cost of 100 new reactors shows that over the life of those reactors, people would pay between $1.9 and $4.4 trillion more than they would by making the least expensive choices.

Bradford says estimates peg the cost of new nuclear power around 12 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour. He says that's four times more than wholesale electricity generated today. Bradford supports a cap and trade type program. He says that will allow a clearer picture of which sources provide the greatest savings at the lowest cost.

Bradford says energy efficiency, wind energy, and natural gas are likely sources that will provide those savings. However, backers of nuclear power say it would create jobs, lower utility bills, and avoid expensive cap-and-trade mandates. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Wisconsin maintains two nuclear power plants that provide over a fifth of the state's electricity.

Bradford will speak more on the subject at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Tuesday (11/3) evening at 7 p.m., and follow up with other appearances in Milwaukee and Madison later this week.

-- Danielle Kaeding, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

Gov. candidate Walker would cut state employee costs to eliminate recent tax increases

MILWAUKEE -- Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker says he'll get rid of recently-passed tax increases on investors, wealthy residents and multi-state corporations if he's elected Governor.

And to help pay for it, Walker says he'd cut pay and benefits for state employees.

Walker says it's too early to say what kind of concessions he'd seek from public workers. But he says their pay is out of step with the private sector. Walker says no level of government can look at its future and be sustainable "unless they get wage and benefits for public sector employees under some degree of control."

State workers were ordered to take eight unpaid furlough days in each of the next two years to help balance the current state budget. That amounted to a three-percent pay cut.

Walker faces former Congressman Mark Neumann in the Republican primary. Democrats are still searching for a candidate.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

Milwaukee could use water as a carrot for new businesses

MILWAUKEE -- The idea of helping businesses pay less for water, if they locate in blighted areas, is being floated in Milwaukee. Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett says discussions have begun with the state Public Service Commission about giving companies free or low-cost water, if they create jobs in economically distressed parts of the city. Barrett says it would be similar to the breaks firms get if they locate in tax incremental financing districts.

Barrett says the PSC has been included in the talks because the commission has oversight over the Milwaukee water utility. PSC spokesman Tim Lemonds confirms that a Milwaukee business group known as the Water Council recently met with PSC Chairman Eric Callisto and his executive assistant. Lemonds says the PSC noted that water rates for Wisconsin businesses are lower than in many other states.

Mayor Barrett says the water rate idea may also need a change in state law. He says he hopes the idea becomes a reality in the next year or two.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WHAD-Delafield/Milwaukee

Federal money helps restore Lake Superior lighthouses

SUPERIOR -- Congress is sending a second multi-million dollar package to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to restore its 19th century lighthouses.

One-hundred and fifty years worth of the wrath of Lake Superior can take its toll on the eight light towers standing as sentinels among the Apostle Islands. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Planning Chief Jim Nepstad says the towers have needed work for a long time, and with $5 million dollars allocated this summer and now, an additional $2 million passed by Congress last week, their time has come. Nepstad says the weather is hard on the lighthouses, "they're exposed to the full brunt of Lake Superior's fury" in the fall and winter.

Islands historian Bob Mackreth of Washburn says preserving these light stations, some which date back to before the Civil War, preserves the region's history. He says the diversity of styles of lighthouses is among the best in the country. They are made of wood, stone, brick, cast iron and steel.

Even as plans are being drawn up for lighthouse restoration, the $7 million awarded this year may not cover half of the total restoration costs.

-- Mike Simonson, KUWS-Superior

H1N1 fears on the rise

MADISON -- A lot of people with flu-like symptoms are jamming phone lines and cramming health facilities with concerns about H1N1. Health providers in Dane County say they've been "beseiged" by those calling about the availability of vaccine. And nurse Brenda Klahn (clane) of

Madison's Dean Care says many are showing up in person at the doctor's office or emergency room with flu-like symptoms, when they may not need to. She says many people are leaving with medical advice for rest and fluids.

Supplies of both H1N1 and seasonal vaccines are nearly depleted in Dane County. Until more shipments arrive, vaccine is reserved for five vulnerable groups, one of which the Centers for Disease Control recently changed. Now Klahn says the age range for older children and younger adults runs from 5 until 18, rather than 24, and they must have underlying health conditions.

Health care providers are sharing information and each facility has its own plans on how to best administer waning supplies of high demand vaccine.

Additional information can be found online at pandemic.wisconsin.gov

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison