☀️ Good morning!

It’s Sunday, September 14, 2025

It’s another beautiful weekend in Wisconsin — and with the Packers already putting a win in their back pockets on Thursday, there’s no reason not to get out of the house and wrap up the weekend with something fun, productive, or relaxing. Or all of the above!

Have you met Ellie, yet? You probably have if you’re a subscriber to our weekday newsletter. But if you haven’t opened up an issue lately or need to resubscribe, go check out her work. An Oconomowoc native, Ellie is already telling and sharing great stories about Wisconsin. 

Ellie is only our fourth newsletter editor since I sent out our first issue in January 2020. I’ve truly appreciated everyone on our team who, over the years, has turned our flagship product into something informative, easy to read, and an unwavering example of why we’ve always called ourselves “Unabashedly Wisconsin.” 

Savor your day. And stay up to date with our weekday newsletter, our social media posts, and our morning radio show.

We have placed a story at the bottom of today’s newsletter that includes extensive profanities. This warning gives you the option to stop reading after the “Question of the Week” and “3 Things to Know.”

The story is about US Rep. Derrick Van Orden and a stream of profane social media posts made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. We are publishing screenshots of some of his tweets because we feel it is important that our readers have access to an unvarnished view of his mindset and his choice of language: rhetoric riddled with insults, attacks, threats, and an embrace of political violence.

Also, we are publishing it in this newsletter because, quite frankly, we cannot post it on our social media sites. Most users would rightly face discipline for using such vile language, but it is more likely that we would be the ones getting penalized — simply for posting the uncensored words that were published by a member of Congress on the very same platform.

⏮️ Last Week:  The overwhelming response to last week’s question is that President Trump is blocking the release of files about sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein in order to protect himself. (Option A) Only a small number of people said they think he wasn’t necessarily involved in criminal sexual assault himself but is either protecting others (B) or blackmailing others named in the files (C). Nobody chose Option D: It’s all a hoax.

Maureen S. sees the president through a general, opportunist lens: “Trump is trying to use ANY situation for his personal benefit!”

Brian J.: “I like C this time just because Trump will use just about anything to pressure or blackmail anyone.”

Cheryl S. gave a representative response for Option A: “The amount of cover up and effort made to stop release of records and investigations convinces me that he was involved. I don’t believe that he was trying to be an FBI informant.  He’s been such a sleaze to women that he wouldn’t do anything to protect them.”

⏭️ This Week: One of the most prolific conspiracy theory spreaders in Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson, used last week’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to again make unfounded claims under the guise of “just asking questions.”

If you could get Sen. Ron Johnson to stop talking forever about just one of these conspiracies, which would it be?

🄰  The COVID vaccine is dangerous and ivermectin isn’t getting used enough — because of a conspiracy.

🄱  Claims about Russian involvement in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf (whether Trump knew about it or not) are part of a conspiracy.

🄲  The 2020 election results are faulty because of some conspiracy. (Johnson actually had a potential role in Trump’s attempted coup.)

🄳  The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center involved more than two airplanes and a conspiracy is preventing us from learning more.

👉🏼 You know the drill. To answer this week’s question or to suggest a different answer, hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on our radio show.

1️⃣  Flood relief with a side order of “Big Lie” – President Trump has approved nearly $30 million in disaster relief for victims of flash flooding last month in southeast Wisconsin. But in announcing the funds on a social media post, Trump again claimed he won an election that he lost. “We had Huge Victories in Wisconsin in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and it is my Honor to deliver BIG for Wisconsinites!” Trump wrote. But Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 to President Joe Biden. 

2️⃣  Saving ACA premium support – Sen. Tammy Baldwin says there are signs that some Republicans may support a measure that protects the subsidies that make health insurance more affordable for millions around the country and more than 250,000 in Wisconsin, according to coverage from the Wisconsin Examiner. The Affordable Care Act has always been based on providing support that lowers premium costs to buy insurance on the private market. The support was enhanced in 2022 during the Biden administration and scheduled to expire at the end of this year — which will result in premiums rising by an estimated 75%, Baldwin told a news conference. Baldwin has a standalone bill to make the lower premiums permanent, but she hopes to attach the provision to one of the upcoming budget bills.

3️⃣  Buddy, can you spare a billion? – The new Forbes 400 has a surprise in Wisconsin: a change at the top, as John Menard falls to being the second-richest person in the state. The Eau Claire-based home improvement store chain founder is worth $13 billion, but he’s been surpassed by Diane Hendricks, owner of construction materials wholesaler ABC Supply of Beloit. Hendricks now has a net worth of $22 billion. The top 3 list is rounded out by Judith Faulkner, founder of Epic Systems, the Verona-based electronic medical records firm, worth nearly $8 billion.

Less than 24 hours after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Congressman Derrick Van Orden posted more than 80 times to X (formerly Twitter), often tossing out obscenities and employing threatening language that goes against the work leaders are doing from both parties to tone down violent rhetoric. 

The Prairie du Chien Republican, with a deep history of online and personal confrontations, also threatened cuts to federal funding to organizations and called for the firing of people if he disliked their reactions to the shooting. 

Keep in mind, Van Orden directed his fury at Democrats and even directly at reporters long before anyone knew the suspect arrested Friday would actually look nothing like the caricature being drawn by Kirk’s supporters. 

Update: From 6:37am to 9:00pm on Friday, Van Orden posted 161 more tweets, nearly all of them containing personal insults, demands that someone be fired, or a vow to withhold federal funding. It would give the congressman far less time to tweet — or do his actual job — if he spent all of that time looking up individual spending items and trying to have them removed.

Screenshot of x.com/derrickvanorden

⚠️ We apologize to anyone offended to see this kind of language in our newsletter. However, we feel strongly that there are a number of Van Orden’s constituents who might feel he has been mischaracterized in media reports. Only by sharing his actual posts can we be sure readers are getting a full picture of his actions, his use of time, and his character.

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🏁 Thanks for reading our update.

Have a great week!