Ride With The Wheelmen, Malaysia Airlines Jet Downed, State News Round-Up

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From voter ID to a health care gap, it’s been a big week for Wisconsin news. WPR’s assistant news director joins Rob Ferrett and Gene Purcell with a look at the top state stories of the week. Rob and Gene also discuss the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet and its implications for Russia-Ukraine tensions, and learn about a revival of antique, high-wheeled bikes…and the people who ride them.

Featured in this Show

  • Weekly News Roundup: Walker Wants Legislature To Repeal Common Core

    Here’s a rundown of some of the top news stories from Wisconsin this week:

    • Walker Asks Legislature To Repeal Common Core:

      In something of a surprise, Gov. Scott Walker issued a one-sentence statement Thursday urging the Legislature to repeal the Common Core Standards when it convenes in January. He wants to replace the education standards with what he called “standards set by people in Wisconsin.”

      His office did help craft legislation earlier this year that would have led to the repeal of Common Core, which was adopted in 2010 with very little debate.

    • New Data Show Less Than One-Third Of Former BadgerCare Recipients Moved To Private Insurance:

      More than a year ago, the Walker administration decided to change BadgerCare eligibility in a way that expanded coverage to those with very low income, but kicked people off who earn a little more money. The state hoped that people eliminated from the program would buy private insurance on the online health exchange during the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) rollout.

      This week, the state Department of Health Services released data that looks at how many people made the transition from BadgerCare to private insurance. According to the data, 19,000 of the nearly 63,000 people formerly on BadgerCare Plus made the transition to private insurance — less than what the Walker administration had expected. DHS officials say these individuals either got insurance through their spouse, obtained employer-sponsored insurance or decided to be uninsured and therefore subject to the financial penalty established under the ACA.

      On the other hand, the numbers show that of the people who were made eligible for BadgerCare, around 97,000 signed up. The Walker administration sees this as a success, as it means that the overall number of uninsured people in the state has gone down.

    • Hail Covers Door County, Poses Threat To Crops:

      Door County saw around 3.5 inches of hail earlier this week. The timing poses problems for some farmers in the region, as the hail storm came just a week or two before the cherry harvest. According to farmers, at least 20 percent of the county’s cherry crop was damaged, as was much of its apple crop. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Peninsular Agricultural Research Station reports that it lost all of its crops and will take a financial loss.

  • Old World Wisconsin Event Celebrates Antique High-Wheel Bicycles

    On Saturday Old World Wisconsin will host a 10-mile ride with The Wheelmen, a group of antique high-wheel bicycle enthusiasts. The Associate Director of Programs and Historical Resources discusses the event and the related exhibit at Old World Wisconsin, and one of The Wheelmen discusses his love to riding antique high-wheel bicycles.

  • Downed Malaysia Airlines Jet: Implications For Russia-Ukriane Relations

    A Malaysian Airlines plane traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board was shot down yesterday in Eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. How will this incident affect Russia-Ukriane relations?

  • State News Round-Up For July 18th, 2014

    WPR’s assistant news director joins us for a review of the week’s Wisconsin news.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Cynthia Schuster Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Marika Suval Producer
  • Noah Ovshinsky Guest
  • Jennifer Van Haaften Guest
  • Carey Williams Guest
  • William Pomeranz Guest