The Milwaukee County executive narrowly defeated Madison Rep. Francesca Hong after dropping out of the race and mounting a late comeback.
Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch
Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.
Posted inEconomic Development
The public demanded data center news, and Wisconsin Watch is delivering
For the past six months we’ve produced multiple stories to inform the public debate about this hot topic.
Posted inEconomic Development
In a Wisconsin land rush, data centers made them millionaires
Some sellers whose properties fetched several times the fair market value are dissatisfied, and their former neighbors aren’t happy either.
Posted inEconomic Development
Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
Designed to lure data centers, the sales tax break is now drawing scrutiny. But some say the development boom will boost other types of revenue.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Get the latest Wisconsin data center news you might have missed
Wisconsin Watch offers brief reports on data center development across the state exclusively in their free Monday newsletter Forward.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Big raise on its way for permanently and totally disabled workers as Tony Evers signs worker’s comp bill
More than 300 permanently and totally disabled recipients haven’t received a raise in their worker’s comp benefits since 2016.
Posted inEconomic Development
Local data center critics praise Microsoft’s pledge to stop using NDAs, but remain skeptical
‘Companies typically don’t make announcements about building community trust unless those communities are already pushing back pretty hard,’ one environmental group says.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
More than NDAs. Wisconsin communities face scrutiny over data center secrecy.
The town of Beloit is the fifth Wisconsin community with an NDA for a possible data center.
Posted inEconomic Development
Data centers fuel $1 billion in Wisconsin business growth, but some question long-term impact
Wisconsin companies are doing big business in data centers even though none of the hyperscale facilities are yet operating in the state. But the long-term impact remains unclear.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
At least four Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers
Massive data center proposals are often developed in secret. Wisconsin has now joined several states with legislative proposals to make the process more transparent.