☀️ Good morning!

It’s Sunday, November 23, 2025

Note: We will not publish a newsletter next Sunday. You might be served an extra helping of politics with your Thanksgiving dinner companions, so we’re taking a week off and we’ll be back on Dec. 7.

I want to call your attention to stories done by Up North News’ very own reporter Salina Heller, who spent time in a combine with Phil Verges—a lifelong farmer in Pierce County—harvesting this year’s soybeans.

“I had a love of farming at an early age, and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do and have had the opportunity and privilege to be able to do that.”

But this year’s crop might end up in storage because of President Trump’s trade wars.

“It creates a situation where we become an unreliable trading partner,” he said. “Our allies can’t even trust us anymore.”

Now in his early 60s, Verges sometimes thinks farming might not be worth it anymore. He wants to hang on until he qualifies for Medicare, but he’s watching his health insurance premiums skyrocket as Republicans in Congress reject pleas for relief. 

“I think our congressmen, they need to start thinking about the impacts that their decisions are having on everyday hardworking Americans,” he said. “The cost of health care and so many other things has gotten to be almost a luxury sadly, and it just isn’t right.”

Head to our social media sites to see more of Salina’s coverage. And as always, we invite you to stay up to date with our social media posts and morning radio show, too.

Have a great day!

⏮️ Last Week: What about your friends?

Do you have a close friend who is your political opposite?

60% said 🄰  I do have a close friend who’s definitely part of the opposite party. 

40% said 🄱  I don’t have any close friends who are part of the opposite party.

Sharon said A) “We generally don’t talk politics. When we do, we listen to each other’s views and discuss why we disagree. If it gets heated, we just agree to disagree. We can’t have a relationship if we can’t talk about it. The relationships need to endure past the administration.”

George said B) “No. I feel that it would get exhausting to have to hide from topics to not incite a heated conversation all the time.”

⏭️ This Week: Is AI a friend or foe?

Ready or not, artificial intelligence computing is here and expanding faster than Tribbles on Star Trek. (#nerdreference) There’s a lot to discuss about the ways it can be helpful or hurtful, but we want to know how you feel about AI right now when it comes to its impact on your life and work. Which statement is closest to your way of thinking?

🄰  – Mostly optimistic. While AI will lead to some job loss, it also has great potential to improve our lives. There will be adequate safeguards. My job will probably be safe, maybe even made easier.

🄱  – Glass half-full. I’ll be okay, but I think there will be some bumps: job loss, deep fakes, false information.

🄲  – Glass half-empty. AI will be seen to cause more harm than good — not catastrophic, but some work will be needed later to address problems we weren’t prepared for.

🄳  – Pessimistic. I foresee major harms: job loss, hacking, misinformation with dangerous consequences. Future generations will wonder why we didn’t put more safeguards in place.

To answer this week’s question, hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on our radio show.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) could teach President Donald Trump a thing or two about stopping most of your party members from doing something good when you don’t want them to.

While Trump couldn’t stop House Republicans from voting almost unanimously this week to release files about Trump’s former friend, sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, Vos on the other hand, found a way to block a bill supported by about 75% of all Assembly members including about 30 Republicans.

During this week’s final floor session of 2025, Vos was able to prevent a vote on a bill that would expand health insurance coverage to new moms whose Medicaid benefits run out 60 days postpartum. In 48 other states, coverage has been extended to 12 months after giving birth. Vos refers to the healthcare coverage for these women as “welfare” and has consistently refused to allow a vote on this idea that has overwhelming support in and outside of the Capitol.

Among the bill’s many Republican co-sponsors, Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) noted earlier this year that the bill would help women “battling postpartum depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart complications, and more at a time when the focus should be on healing and caring for a newborn.”

But during the session, neither James nor any other Republican co-sponsor made an effort to fight Vos and stand up for the women they claimed they wanted to help.

1️⃣ There had been hope that the fall session would include a measure allowing local election clerks to be able to process absentee ballots the day before Election Day — a step used in many other states to speed up ballot counts and reporting results. Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) was among Republicans professing to support the proposal. But a bill to allow the move wasn’t brought up by GOP leadership, and when they shot down a Democratic amendment to allow early processing through a different bill, Krug told WisPolitics it was because fellow Republicans in the Senate were opposed.

“I’m smart enough to know, I’ve been married twice and I have six kids … I don’t always get everything that I want,” Krug said.

2️⃣ There were plenty of other bills that also didn’t pass in the fall legislative session, including a proposal that would have allowed online sports gambling through Wisconsin’s tribal casinos and a request by “wedding barn” venues for relief from strict liquor licensing changes put in place last year. 

3️⃣  Assembly Republicans did pass a bill that would provide incentives for rural school districts to merge or consolidate services. Democrats blasted the measure as offering one more attack on public school districts while vouchers for private schools get increased funding.

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🏁 Thanks for reading our update.

Have a great week!