“Those people” are all around us. You know, “those people,” the undesirable castoffs of society. “Those people,” the ones who are addicts and alcoholics. The ones whose mental health issues and past trauma manifests in cycles of physical and mental abuse. The ones who can’t seem to keep a job or get it together. At Monday night’s city of Medford planning commission meeting,

Faced with challenges in filling positions and escalating personnel costs, Taylor County should look at maximizing their current workforce as much as possible. As noted by Patrick Glynn of Carlson Dettmann Consulting, the county’s default 35-hour work week for some positions is a barrier to attracting staff. The standard for work weeks is 40 hours, which translates into 2,080 hours per

Every session, state legislators propose and consider a number of mandates (requirements enforced by state law) on our local schools. These almost always deal with worthy topics and, considered by themselves, might not seem like that big of a deal for schools to implement. The problem comes when you consider that there are only so many hours of instruction in a school day, and there are new instructional

Rural Wisconsin has a population problem. Generations of outmigration, the growing number of retirees leaving the workforce and the reduction in average family size has led to a demographic ticking time bomb. These demographic trends have made it challenging for all employers to fill positions. These challenges increase exponentially when it comes to filling high-skill and high demand licensed

Wisconsin’s overall economy is booming. Statewide unemployment has been at historic lows for months. Real wages are climbing locally and around the state as employers compete for quality workers. Sales of durable goods and real estate remain strong with demand routinely exceeding supply. While inflation and supply chain issues must be addressed, by any historical measure the state’s economy

In recent years, the news business in Wisconsin has seen a lot of bad news. Dozens of newspapers have closed. Revenues are way down. Staffs are being trimmed. And “vulture” hedge funds are circling, threatening to pick clean the bones of this once robust industry. But there is at least one piece of good news: A bipartisan bill working its way through the Wisconsin Legislature would help local

Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk), along with Representative Patrick Snyder (R- Schofield) and several other Republican colleagues, introduced legislation to legalize and create the framework for medical marijuana use in Wisconsin: “A large part of my policy focus this session has been health care access. To me, a conversation on health care access leads directly to a conversation about medical

A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. For a partnership to succeed, whether in business or in a marriage, the work and rewards each party receives must be balanced. Decades ago Taylor County leaders recognized the need to provide emergency medical services to county residents. Whether it is the trauma of an accident scene or a medical

Rolling back a Scott Walker-era rule change to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) will bring relief to local government employers while saving local taxpayers money. Public employers in Wisconsin are facing a staffing crisis. In many ways this is the same crisis that has been hitting private sector employers for more than a year as demographics and job growth collide. Wisconsin’s workforce