That's the way the Globe usually leaves me feeling.
"Wis. judge freezes law on unions for now; Court considers legal challenge" April 01, 2011|By Todd Richmond and Scott Bauer, Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge succeeded yesterday on what thousands of prounion protesters and boycotting Democratic lawmakers could not, forcing Republican Governor Scott Walker to halt plans to implement a law that would limit collective bargaining rights for most public workers and cut their pay.
Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi, who had issued an order intended to block implementation of the law while she considered a challenge to its legitimacy and warned of sanctions for noncompliance, amended her order yesterday to clarify that the law had not taken effect, as Republican leaders argued it had.
The governor’s top aide, Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, later issued a statement saying Walker would comply with Sumi’s order and halt preparations to begin deducting money from most public workers’ paychecks. Huebsch, however, added that the governor’s administration still believes the law took effect after a state office published it online....
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Also see: Without drama, fugitive Wis. Democrats return to Senate
Are you tired of the show yet?
Related: Wis. election tied to labor rights battle
Angry Wisconsin voters show up for the fight
Don't worry; Diebold will defeat them:
"Incumbent takes lead in Wis. court vote" April 08, 2011|Associated Press
WAUKESHA, Wis. — A conservative-leaning Wisconsin county corrected its count yesterday, giving an unofficial 7,500-vote lead to the incumbent in the hotly contested state Supreme Court race seen as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker’s divisive union-rights law.
Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said the votes weren’t reported Tuesday because of “human error.’’
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"A former prosecutor who sent racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim will not face criminal charges over misconduct and sexual assault accusations levied by more than a dozen women, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced yesterday."
Related: Wisconsin Wild Man
Effects felt elsewhere:
"N.H. House passes stingy budget as demonstrators rally outside" April 01, 2011|By Norma Love, Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. — Amid chants from the gallery and thousands of demonstrators in the State House plaza, the New Hampshire House approved a $10.2 billion budget yesterday that deeply cuts social programs and strips public unions of much of their bargaining power.
The House debated the budget for five hours before Republicans pushed it through, 243-124. Early in the debate, chants of “Shame On You!’’ rained down from a crowd in the gallery, which was temporarily cleared but reopened before the final vote. Outside the State House, thousands more gathered to voice opposition.
House Speaker William O’Brien, a Republican, called it a historic achievement to send a spending plan to the Senate that raises no taxes or fees and does not borrow for operating costs.
Referring to yesterday’s vocal opposition, he told reporters, “The voices that speak to me are the taxpayers who say [the spending is] too much.’’
An estimated crowd of 2,500 rallied outside while the House debated. The demonstrators were public employees, their supporters, and opponents of deep cuts to social service programs.
“Are we going to give everyone the opportunity to live free, or are we going to sit back, pass a state budget like this, and just let people suffer until they die?’’ Jesse Welch, 16, a recovering drug addict, told the crowd....
I think that is the plan, yeah.
What didn't make the web version:
Manchester police Officer Steven Maloney, who was in the gallery, said he felt labor groups had been respectful, but he lost patience and yelled at the lawmakers as they debated the budget.
"These people have to understand what they're doing to the middle class," he said. "We're going to try to vote these people out."
They just got voted in.
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"Mine workers rally in Pa. for rights of public employees" April 02, 2011|Associated Press
WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Thousands of union coal miners and supporters from several states rallied in southwestern Pennsylvania yesterday, proclaiming themselves ready to mobilize for the war they say is being waged on organized labor in the United States....
On Wednesday, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that was in some ways tougher than Wisconsin’s, extending restrictions to police officers and firefighters as well as teachers, nurses, and a host of other government personnel....
Related: Ohio House panel OK’s public worker union bill
Ohio OKs bill to curb unions
Ohio voters will have to cover school gear
Efforts to limit union powers are also under way in Florida, Iowa, Tennessee, Indiana, and more states with Republicans in charge.
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Also see: N.J. governor assails teachers union
