Wisconsin Right Now

(The Center Square) – The teacher and student who were shot and killed on Monday at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian were identified as 42-year-old teacher Erin West and 14-year-old student Rubi Vergara by the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Vergara was a freshman at the school. The two were determined to have died due to “homicidal firearm related trauma” from another student shot, who died from self-inflicted wounds.

Two students who were injured in the shooting remain in the hospital with life-threatening injuries while three students and a teacher who were also injured have been released from area hospitals.

Police determined the freshman shooter opened fire in a mixed grade study hall classroom on Monday. Two guns were found at the school but only one – a handgun - was used in the shooting, according to Madison Police.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced the weapons but police are not releasing the results of that search at this point.

“Detectives are still working to determine a motive,” Madison Police said in a statement. “As in any investigation, they are reviewing the shooter's social media activity and evidence collected at her home. They are aware of the documents and photos circulating around the internet and are working to verify their authenticity.”

After the shooting, officers went to the shooter’s home and entered the residence without a warrant due to concerns of the physical well-being of anyone inside. Officers later received consent to search the residence.

The Teamsters Union announced an Amazon workers strike beginning at 6 a.m. Thursday as Amazon is in overdrive in shipping and delivery for Christmas.

The Teamsters say they have 10,000 workers in their ranks, though Amazon boasts about 1.5 million employees in the U.S. They say Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline to respond to their demand for “higher wages, better benefits, and safer conditions at work.”

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said. “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

Amazon has reportedly said they do not expect delays.

“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers,’” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement to media outlets. “They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative.”

The Teamsters said workers in Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco, Southern California and Slokie, Illinois, will join the strike and that “other facilities are prepared to join them.”

The union said local Teamsters unions are also setting picket lines at hundreds of shipping sites around the country.

“These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price,” O’Brien said. “This strike is on them.”

The decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from an election interference case involving President-elect Donald Trump "puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States," Trump's lead attorney on the case said.

The court said in a 2-1 decision on Thursday that "no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings." Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the man she appointed as lead prosecutor on the case.

A Fulton County judge ruled that Willis could continue on the case as long as Wade stepped down, which he did. The appeals court reversed that ruling but did not dismiss the indictment.

"The Georgia Court of Appeals in a well-reasoned and just decision has held that DA Fani Willis’ misconduct in the case against President Trump requires the disqualification of Willis and her office," Steve Sadow, Trump's lead attorney, said in a text message to The Center Square. "The court highlighted that Willis’ misconduct created an 'odor of mendacity' and an appearance of impropriety that could only be cured by the disqualification of her and her entire office. As the court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence."

The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Willis' office before publication.

Trump and others are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Michael Roman, one of the co-defendants in the case, discovered the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade.

Willis was first elected as district attorney in 2020. She was reelected in November defeating Republican Courtney Kramer after having staved off a challenge in the Democratic primary from Christian Wise Smith.

Police are investigating a shooting that led to five dead, including the juvenile shooter was a student, at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison.

Seven people were taken to the hospital, including two who died, with injuries from the shooting at 10:57 a.m. local time on Monday. The injuries range from minor to life-threatening.

“Today is a sad, sad day,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference shortly after noon. “Not only for Madison but our entire country.”

Barnes said he was dismayed at what occurred, especially near Christmas. Barnes said the Madison Police train for school shootings quarterly, most recently two weeks ago.

Police did not fire their weapons and the injuries to the shooter were believed to be self-inflicted, Barnes said.

“This is something that we all prepare for but hope we never have to do,” Barnes said.

Barnes added that the Madison Police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine the origin of the shooter's gun.

Barnes said that he believes every person in the building is now a victim and will be a victim forever.

"I am closely monitoring the incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison," Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote on social media. "We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond."

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin will need to find an additional funding source for road repairs and transportation spending or the quality of the state’s road system will decline, according to a new report.

Gas tax collections, which fund transportation spending, have progressively declined while the cost of road repair has increased significantly, according to Wisconsin Policy Forum.

“Either the state will have to forego spending and sacrifice road quality over time, or it will have to tap one of a few available funding sources such as the gas tax, vehicle fees, general tax dollars, mileage fees or local taxes and fees” the report finds.

The gas tax stopped being increased along with inflation after a 2005 law change and since then the state has used $2.6 billion of general funds between fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2025 on road work including $749.7 million in the 2023-25 biennial state budget.

Wisconsin has spent $821 per person in state and local funds over the most recent three years with data on road work compared to a national average of $811.

“While little of the analysis or warnings about the condition of our transportation funding system are new, we are reaching an inflection point–fiscally, technologically and demographically–that makes the stakes of ignoring long-term reforms to fund our roads, bridges and highways even higher than ever,” Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association (WTBA) Executive Director Steve Baas said in a statement regarding the report.

The cost of construction has gone up 56.8% nationally and 26.6% in Wisconsin since 2020.

The report suggests that some options to fix the funding gap include increasing the state general fund transfers, increasing the gas tax and vehicle registration fees, switching to a mileage-based fee used in pilot programs in several states or begin collecting tolls.

“Our economy stands on manufacturing, agriculture and tourism – all are incredibly dependent on roads and transportation,” Baas said. “If we are going to grow the state’s economy, creating a sustainable sufficient funding model to support smart asset management is an imperative. “The cost of doing nothing is prohibitive for Wisconsin communities and the Wisconsin economy.”

Mileage-based pilots have occurred in Oregon, Utah and Virginia with other states considering them for the same reasons.

“These little-used programs show mileage-based fees are technologically feasible, but remain relatively untested nationally and seemingly unpopular with motorists,” the report said.