Monthly Archives: April, 2022

(The Center Square) – A Texas National Guardsman has died after attempting to save people from drowning in the Rio Grande River who were illegally entering Texas from Mexico. They were later identified as drug smugglers, investigators with the Texas Rangers said.

The guardsman, Specialist Bishop E. Evans, 22, from Arlington, Texas, went missing Friday morning. His body was found Monday.

“The missing Texas Army National Guard Soldier, Specialist Bishop E. Evans, assigned to Operation Lone Star, has been found deceased following an exhaustive interagency search,” the Texas Military Department said in a statement issued Monday. “SPC Evans went missing while trying to selflessly help migrants who appeared to be drowning as they tried to cross the river from Mexico into the U.S, on Friday April 22, 2022.”

“We are devastated by the loss of a member of our Guard family,” Maj. Gen. Tom Suelzer, Adjutant General for Texas, said. “We recognize the selflessness of this heroic Soldier who put his life above others in service to our state and national security. The Texas Military Department sends our deepest condolences to the family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.”

Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a photo of Guardsman Evans Sunday saying he was “a hero who risked his life in service to Texas and America.”

On Monday, he issued a statement, saying, "Our National Guard soldiers risk their lives every day to serve and protect others and we are eternally grateful for the way SPC Evans heroically served his state and country. I thank the members of the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Border Patrol, and local law enforcement for working around the clock to locate this soldier. The Texas Military Department will continue to provide more updates to the public as they become available. I ask that Texans join Cecilia and me in praying for the family and friends of SPC Evans as they grieve this heartbreaking loss."

Evans was presumed to have drowned in the Rio Grande River after jumping in to save other. Initial reports of his death were refuted by the Texas Military Department, which issued two statements on Friday confirming that a solider was missing and his death couldn’t be confirmed. While an extensive search was underway, an investigation began into the incident, led by the Texas Rangers. By Friday evening, the strength of the river’s current forced search and rescue efforts to stop for the night.

On Saturday, the Texas Military Department released the soldier’s name and more information about the incident. It reported the SPC Evans “selflessly attempted to help two migrants who appeared to be drowning as they illegally crossed the river from Mexico to the United States.

“Initial reports from the Texas Rangers have determined that the two migrants were involved in illicit transnational narcotics trafficking. They remain in the custody of US Customs and Border Patrol.”

Dive teams continued their search for SPC Evans on Saturday but were again forced to halt them by Saturday evening due to strong river currents. Search and rescue operations began again early Sunday morning, with an additional three airboats from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Evans was a field artilleryman who was assigned to A Battery, 4-133 Field Artillery Regiment in New Braunfels. He joined the Texas Army National Guard in May 2019. He returned in fall 2020 from mobilization to Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait. During this mobilization, “his dedication, talents, and tactical prowess led his leadership to regularly assign him to operations in Iraq in support of Special Operations Forces for short periods of time, while then rotating back into Kuwait,” the Texas Military Department reported.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a vocal critic of the Biden administration who’s called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, went to Eagle Pass with a group of Republican lawmakers.

Upon learning of SPC Evans’ death, he said, “If we just secured the border we wouldn’t have that loss of life. We wouldn’t have a little girl getting sold into the sex trafficking trade on Friday in an arrest of a deported migrant who’d been deported 15 times. Let’s stop the madness. We can do it. This administration refuses to. Our job is to hold them accountable.”

(The Center Square) – Tesla CEO Elon Musk reached an agreement Monday to buy social media giant Twitter for about $44 billion.

Musk, the world's wealthiest person, has criticized the social media giant's practice of censoring content.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement after Monday's agreement was reached. "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

Musk will pay $54.20 per share in the deal, which was unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors.

Twitter has been mired in accusations of censorship for years, earning particular scorn from conservatives for banning President Donald Trump from the platform.

The company went public in 2013, but will go private under Musk.

Leading up to Monday's deal, the Tesla CEO had been buying Twitter shares since the end of January, according to an SEC filing. According to the filing, Musk owned 9.1% of Twitter before he offered to by all of it. Musk initially faced resistance from some members of Twitter's board.

In his SEC filing, Musk included a letter to Bret Taylor, chairman of the board of Twitter, stating, “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.

“However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools is jumping to the defense of teachers and schools in the debate over race, gender and sex in the state’s classrooms.

Superintendent Jill Underly wrote an op-ed Wednesday that defends what she calls “welcoming spaces.”

“The way we – as leaders, as community members, as adults – talk about race, or about respecting pronouns, or about including books in libraries that address racism or those with LGBTQ+ characters, have an impact. When the adults in charge – those who make policy, or run for office, or serve on boards – speak negatively and encourage harassment of students with disabilities, or of students because of their gender, immigration status, race, sexuality or gender identity, it makes life harder for students,” Underly wrote. “These are children! And when adults sit passively without calling out these harmful behaviors, they are no different than the bystander who does nothing or says nothing when someone is being bullied or harmed.”

Underly didn’t mention any specific policies or specific adults that she thinks are harming children.

But her op-ed comes just days after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the Parents Bill of Rights that would have allowed parents to see just what is being taught in their kids’ classrooms, and remove their children from classes that they object to.

Underly’s message also comes as schools in Madison and Eau Claire continue to defend their policies of keeping student gender at school secret from parents.

Underly framed her “welcoming spaces” approach as a life and death issue for students.

“We know that the higher the number of supportive staff members at a school or family members at home, the safer LGBTQ+ students feel and the greater sense of belonging they report. Affirmation matters, and fostering a sense of belonging saves lives,” she wrote.

Underly’s op-ed is 572 words long. She doesn’t use the word "parent" once. She concludes her essay: “This is a moment of reckoning. Our students need affirmation and to be connected to their schools and their communities – in our classrooms and in our state,” she wrote. “I believe we have the collective will to support them the way they need to be supported: with welcome and with belonging.”

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Interior announced it is making only 20% of eligible acreage for oil and natural gas production available for leasing on federal lands to comply with a federal court order.

In his first week in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters to be halted by the Interior Department. The agency was also tasked to review existing permits for fossil fuel development.

The administration was sued and last June, a federal judge in Louisiana struck down the executive order. Issuing lease sales, the agency said, was “in compliance with an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana.”

The sales would focus on the “highest and best use of America’s public lands, reflecting an 80 percent reduction from nominated acreage” and “reflects the balanced approach to energy development and management of our nation’s public lands,” the agency said in a news release.

On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management posted notices for significantly reformed onshore lease sales that address “deficiencies in the federal oil and gas leasing program.”

“While we’re glad to see BLM is finally going to announce a sale, the extreme reduction of acreage by 80%, after a year and a quarter without a single sale, is unwarranted and does nothing to show that the administration takes high energy prices seriously,” Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said.

The group, which represents 200 member companies engaged in oil and natural gas exploration and production in the West, sued the Biden administration last year for violating federal law by halting lease sales.

On Monday, the BLM issued final environmental assessments and sale notices for the upcoming oil and gas lease sales. It also increased the royalty rate to 18.75% to “ensure fair return for the American taxpayer and on par with rates charged by states and private landowners.”

House Committee on Natural Resources Chair, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said increasing the royalty rate was a good move.

"If we're going to let the fossil fuel industry pocket more of our public lands for drilling, we should at least make sure they're paying a decent price to do it," he said in a statement.

But there’s nothing fair about this for the taxpayer, others argue. The policy will only further depress American production, keep gasoline prices high, and hurt independent oil and gas producers and small businesses, like those represented by Western Energy Alliance.

Small mom and pop companies in the West have been hit hard by the Biden administration’s energy policies, and taxing them after halting lease sales for over a year only adds insult to injury, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said.

The agency’s argument is also flawed because producing on federal lands already costs more than producing on nonfederal lands, critics of the policy argue.

“Raising the royalty rate 50 percent increases the costs of production on federal lands, which already carry a higher cost than nonfederal lands,” Sgamma said. “This increased tax will have the effect of any other tax increase – you get less of what’s taxed, in this case, federal oil and natural gas. At a time when the administration should be increasing production, it continues to introduce new policies that further depress American production and keep gasoline prices high.”

Power The Future Communications Director Larry Behrens said the announcement was a political ploy to “escape blame for soaring gas prices. When these policy peanuts offered by Washington don’t turn around massive gas prices or 40-year high inflation, the President will again try to blame energy workers for not producing enough. You don’t reclaim American energy independence by giving only 20 percent and America’s struggling families will continue to pay the price for Biden’s latest political stunt."

The eligible acreage assessed by the BLM was in Alabama, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming, according to the Department of Interior’s announcement.

It analyzed 646 parcels on roughly 733,000 acres previously nominated for leasing by energy companies. The final sale notices only offer approximately 173 parcels on roughly 144,000 acres, an 80 percent reduction from the acreage originally nominated. Those being offered were already fully analyzed by the BLM at the end of the Trump administration.

Numerous environmental groups have criticized the decision, also pointing out that Biden pledged to halt oil and gas production on federal lands.

"Candidate Biden promised to end new oil and gas leasing on public lands, but President Biden is prioritizing oil executive profits over future generations," Nicole Ghio, with Friends of the Earth, said in a statement.

At a town hall in New Hampshire in 2020, Biden famously said, "no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period."

The White House has said it intends to fight the litigation in court and remains “committed to addressing the climate crisis.”

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice has appealed a federal judge’s ruling overturning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) mask mandate on planes, trains and in airports.

In her ruling to overturn the mandate, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle called the CDC mandate “unlawful,” saying the Biden administration did not follow proper procedures and went beyond its authority in making the rule.

"But the mandate exceeded the CDC's statutory authority, improperly invoked the good cause exception to notice and comment rulemaking, and failed to adequately explain its decisions," she wrote in her ruling.

The Biden administration challenge comes after the CDC called on the DOJ to file the appeal.

“To protect CDC’s public health authority beyond the ongoing assessment announced last week, CDC has asked DOJ to proceed with an appeal in Health Freedom Defense Fund, Inc., et al., v. Biden, et al,” the CDC said Wednesday. “It is CDC’s continuing assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.

“CDC believes this is a lawful order, well within CDC’s legal authority to protect public health,” the agency said.

The mask mandate has been an ongoing point of controversy. While state and local governments around the country have largely lifted their mask requirements, the federal transit mandate remained in place.

The CDC’s comments about its desire to protect its own “public health authority” drew scrutiny as well.

“And yet, in the last two years of masking on planes the CDC has not run a research study to prove (or disprove) masking on planes lessens transmission and improves clinical outcomes,” author and physician Nicole Saphier said. “They are insisting the mask mandates continue ‘just because’ and ‘to maintain their authority.’”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki emphasized the need to protect the federal health agency's authority at a White House Press briefing, saying “for current and future public health crises, we want to preserve that authority for the CDC to have in the future.”

Mizelle, though, said in her ruling the agency never had the authority in the first place. She likened this case to other recent cases where judges ruled that the CDC went too far with its COVID-19 rules.

“Within the past two years, the CDC has found … the authority to shut down the cruise ship industry, stop landlords from evicting tenants who have not paid their rent, and requiring that persons using public conveyances wear masks,” she wrote. “Courts have concluded that the first two of these measures exceeded the CDC’s statutory authority…

“No court has yet ruled on the legality of the third,” she said, adding that “after rigorous statutory analysis” the law “does not authorize the CDC to issue the mask mandate.”

(The Center Square) – No one is going to be completely happy with whatever Wisconsin’s new medical marijuana legislation looks like.

Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, the woman driving the new push for medical pot made that promise on Wednesday as she asked marijuana supporters to be patient with lawmakers.

“We’re going to get what we can get. We’re going to pass what we can pass. We’re going to help those we can help,” Felzkowski explained during a hearing at the statehouse. “And then we’ll come back to the drawing table and we’ll move it again.”

Many marijuana supporters in Wisconsin, including a number of Democratic lawmakers, have expressed dissatisfaction with Felzkowski’s proposal.

Her legislation creates a medical marijuana program in the state, but requires a prescription from a doctor, limits the number of conditions for which people can get a medical marijuana prescription, and does not allow people to use marijuana plants for their treatment. Instead the legislation defines medical marijuana as “a liquid, oil, pill, or tincture or in a form that is applied topically.”

“When the medical marijuana bill comes out, it’s not going to be what you want,” Felzkowski told advocates on Wednesday. “It’s not going to be what some other people want. It’s going to go too far for some, and it’s not going to go far enough for others. But it’s what is possible.”

Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, offered the same advice to marijuana supporters, many who want full legalization.

“[The process] doesn’t work the way you think it works,” Taylor added. “How it should be, and how it is are very different.”

But the plea for patience fell on deaf ears with other senators.

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, who is one of Wisconsin’s strongest marijuana supporters, went on the record opposing Felzkowski’s legislation.

“This bill does not do nearly far enough for cannabis reform or adequately address the harms of cannabis prohibition in Wisconsin,” Agard said. “We cannot settle for half-baked, insufficient legislation that is nothing more than a political ploy to give folks false hope on the prospects of cannabis legalization here in Wisconsin. We must put our efforts behind full cannabis legalization.”

The legislation is not going anywhere, the legislature has adjourned for the year. But Felzkowski is promising a full effort on the plan when lawmakers return to the Capitol next year.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s attorney general said his investigation into clergy sex abuse across the state has resulted in 1,000 calls to his tipline, 204 reports, and one criminal case. But there are some questions the AG is not answering.

Kaul launched his investigation into the Catholic Church in Wisconsin one year ago. On Tuesday, he provided an update on his progress.

“As of April 18, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Clergy and Faith Leader Initiative has received a total of 204 completed reports to the toll-free tip line and the online reporting tool accusing more than 150 individuals of abuse. Over 1,000 calls have been made to or from the tip line, including repeat calls from survivors who remember additional information or are looking for follow up information,” Kaul said in a statement.

Kaul said his office also received what he calls a “significant number of reports from those who had not previously reported to anyone.” But he is not saying just how many reports are included in that “significant number.”

Kaul is also not saying when, where, or who is involved in the complaints.

Kaul’s investigation has been under question since the beginning because of those missing answers.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee last year refused to cooperate with Kaul’s investigation because the investigation focused solely on Catholitc church abuse cases, many of them dating back decades. And many of which were addressed in a 2015 settlement.

"It seems like the Church could be a model for others to follow and the Attorney General could be investigating ongoing crimes from today, not from decades past," Archbishop Jerome Listecki wrote in an email last June.

Kaul’s Tuesday announcement makes no mention of whether he accused are alive or dead, and he didn’t say which churches are at the center of the complaints.

The only case where charges have been filed is from Waushara County, and dates back to 2009. A man, 33-year-old Remington Jon Nystrom, has been charged with one count of first-degree sexual contact with a child under 13. He was a counselor at a Mount Morris camp at the time. Prosecutors say he improperly touched a sleeping 10-year-old boy. Prosecutors filed those charges back in February. The case has yet to go to trial.

Kaul is not saying what the end-goal of his investigation is. Criminal cases could be hampered by Wisconsin’s law that sets the statue of limitation for victims to ask for charges. In criminal cases victims have to come forward by the time they are 45-years-old. Wisconsin law cuts off the opportunity to sue in a civil case at age 35.

Kaul said his sexual abuse tip line will remain open, and is asking other victims to come forward.

(The Center Square) – Republican lawmakers and conservative groups in Wisconsin are once again upset, but not surprised, at another wave of vetoes from Gov. Tony Evers.

Evers on Friday vetoed 28 pieces of legislation from the Republican-controlled legislature.

That legislation included plans to overhaul Milwaukee Public Schools, expand school choice in the state, make changes to Wisconsin’s unemployment system, and change how election fraud cases in the state are prosecuted.

Evers vetoed all 28 in their entirety.

Republican lawmakers and conservative groups in the state say the governor scuttled some much-needed reforms with this latest round of vetoes.

“I am disappointed that Governor Tony Evers decided to turn his back on businesses in Wisconsin by vetoing a package of bills designed to help people re-enter the workforce, root out Medicaid fraud, and eliminate government barriers to work,” Rep. William Penterman, R-Columbus, said on Friday.

Penterman’s plan would have required people on unemployment to look for work and accept jobs in order to keep their benefits.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, who wrote the plan to break-up Milwaukee Public Schools said Evers chose the status quo of failing schools over the chance to improve the lives of thousands of kids in Milwaukee.

“I’m not surprised by the governor’s action,” Darling said, “In an election year, he can’t afford to face the failure he helped create as DPI Secretary and now as governor.”

Evers also vetoed an expansion of the state’s school choice program.

“Because of Governor Evers, the future for children in Wisconsin is less bright today,” said Chris Reader, executive vice president of IRG Action. “Instead of standing with kids and families, he stood with the failed status quo and the education establishment. Now Wisconsin families will not have additional options on where their children go to school, students will not have access to new exceptional courses and materials, and the status quo will continue to perpetuate the failing Milwaukee Public School District.”

The vetoes came one week after Gov. Evers vetoed 43 other pieces of legislation from the Republican-controlled legislature.

Those vetoes covered education and election reforms.

To date, Gov. Evers has vetoed 126 pieces of legislation from Republicans in the past two years alone, more than any other governor in Wisconsin history.

(The Center Square) – Scratch another Wisconsin Republican off the list of possible candidates for governor.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson on Monday announced he is not running for governor.

“This is a very difficult conclusion,” Thompson said in a statement. “After a full life of service and leading and growing businesses, I know I have the vision, drive and vitality to serve another term as governor. Wisconsin needs strong leadership to bridge political divides, care for our most vulnerable, set our economy on a path to succeed in the 21st-century, and again make us the shining star of the nation. I would have brought those qualities and commitment as governor.”

Thompson served four terms as governor in Wisconsin, he was first elected in 1986. He left the governor’s mansion to serve in the George W. Bush Administration in 2002.

Thompson last ran for office in 2012, when he lost a bid for U.S. Senate.

Thompson most recently was the interim president of the University of Wisconsin System. He left that job earlier this year.

"I am open and will continue to investigate how I may otherwise serve," Thompson added in his announcement.

Thompson is the latest Republican to pass on a run for governor. Madison businessman Eric Hovde declined to get into the race last week, and former northwoods Congressman Sean Duffy opted-out back in January.

Thompson’s decision leaves three Republicans in the race. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch is the frontrunner in the polls, followed by veteran and candidate Kevin Nicholson. State Rep. Tim Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, is running on the idea of reversing the 2020 election in the state. He is in a distant third.

The three are headed for a face-off in the primary in August.