🌞Top o’ the Morning to Ye! ☘️

Like the greeting? We’re practicing for tomorrow: Irish greetings, jokes about green beer—and noting again this year that I never seem to buy anything green for my closet, unless it’s related to a certain green and gold football team. 

But wait! The NFL’s hottest rumor is that the Green Bay Packers will soon be named as the “visiting” team when the Pittsburgh Steelers play a “home” game in Ireland this fall. So I guess we all have appropriately Irish attire for St. Paddy’s Day after all.

❤️ Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our first-ever live event a rousing success. We had a great crowd in Madison for “Protecting Justice For All,” a two-hour series of panel discussions on the significance of the April 1 state Supreme Court race. 

➡️ And pardon us for tooting our own horns, but based on comments we heard after the event, it’s clear we did what we said we’d do: We focused on the impact that a state Supreme Court can have on your life and on our Wisconsin communities. Watching all the TV ads, you’d think state supreme courts took action on nothing other than heinous crimes. That’s only a small part of the actual job. We thank all the experts who helped make things more real for Wisconsin voters. So yes, we will definitely do this kind of event again.

You can watch our full event here.

📚 We appreciate those of you who took the time to respond to our open-ended question about your thoughts on book clubs. 

👎🏻 “Golf Granny” spoke for one side of the question: “I don’t want to read a book that someone else chooses for me. I don’t need to discuss a book with someone else. I think it would be hard for me to get a group to read a book of my choosing. I will just enjoy the books I want to read and leave the book clubs to others!”

👍🏻 Karen has a different view from Vilas County: “I belong to the Phelps Library book club and enjoy the experience. We all participate in choosing the books to read. I’ve read books that I would either have not found on my own or not have chosen on my own and am richer in knowledge for that.” 

☑️ Bonus points to Mary for suggesting a book club for “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. It sure seems to have modern-day relevance in its criticisms not only of monarchical power but also aristocratic tyranny—those who rule without responsibility and, Paine writes, “contribute nothing toward the freedom of the state.”

📉 This Week’s Question: President Trump has been making the case lately that Americans will have to endure some economic hardship as his agenda takes shape. That’s not what he said while campaigning. He consistently said, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” With growing signs of a looming recession, what’s your prescription for our economic ailments?

A)  Optimistic: Trump is 100% on the right track and this slump is temporary.

B)  Hopeful: Give it time. This might be what’s needed to get to better days.

C)  Skeptical: He’s already doing more damage than is necessary. This isn’t what he promised.

D)  Pessimistic: We are toast. The only question is how long it will take a new president to fix things.

Hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on UpNorthNews Radio. 

(Photo: Pat Kreitlow)

Consider some of the key takeaways from our “Protecting Justice For All” forum and you’ll see this election is about more than Judges Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel as individuals. With ideological control of the court at stake, this race is also…

1️⃣ – A Referendum on Elon Musk. When the world’s richest man brought his checkbook to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, it also invited voters to critique his attacks on our federal government. “These will be the first ballots cast in the country where American citizens get to stand up and say, ‘Enough,’” said panelist Joe Zepecki. “People did not vote for a trade war that is tanking the markets [or] tens of thousands of veterans to be thrown out of work.” 

2️⃣ –  A Referendum on Tax Dollars to Private Schools. Depending on the April 1 winner, the new state Supreme Court may either give a green light to a voucher schools program that could cost $1 billion in tax dollars every year — or question its very constitutionality, now that the program has grown far beyond its original intent as a small, experimental program in Milwaukee.

3️⃣ –  A Referendum on a Total Ban on Abortion Care. Dr. Eliza Bennett, an obstetrician-gynecologist, recalled the recent period when an 1849 Wisconsin law was considered a total abortion ban and left her unable to care for patients. “I had to look at people and say, ‘I can’t take care of you,” she said.  Watch her interview with Salina Heller. 

And watch Judge Crawford during last week’s debate as she talked about the importance of protecting women’s healthcare rights.

4️⃣ – A Referendum on Fair Maps. This was probably the most surprising point of the event and it was brought up repeatedly. If conservatives (with a Schimel victory) retake the court, it could mean a return to gerrymandered legislative maps and a Legislature well out of step with the values of a majority of Wisconsin voters.

🥰 If you like what we’re sharing, we hope you’ll share, too. Let a friend know about us. 

📻 We talk about all of these stories and more every weekday morning on UpNorthNews Radio, 6-8 a.m. on seven Civic Media stations across Wisconsin, and on our YouTube and Facebook pages. 

📱 And, of course, you can stay up to date every day through our social media feed—pick your favorite platform: Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok.

👉🏼 2026 Candidates in the works – Congressman Derrick Van Orden is only eight weeks into his second term and there are already at least two Democrats thinking about challenging him next year in the 3rd District. Rebecca Cooke told us this week she wants a rematch of their 2024 contest. And Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge told us she’s seriously considering a run and will make a final decision after the state Supreme Court election.

👉🏼Brittany Kinser interview – There is also an April 1 election for state Superintendent of Public Instruction. We talked to incumbent Jill Underly last month on UpNorthNews Radio. Challenger Brittany Kinser joined our show on Friday. Watch our conversation here.

(Rep. Derrick Van Orden Facebook via MSNBC)

Elon Musk’s wrecking crew, nicknamed DOGE, has cost more than 100,000 Americans their jobs, many of them vital to security, health, and economic stability. But don’t try telling that to Congressman Derrick Van Orden. He’ll tell you DOGE hasn’t fired anyone.

“It had nothing to do with DOGE,” he said with a straight face during a tele-town hall. “All the people that you’ve heard about being released from different agencies, that was on the agency itself.”

Oh. 

And yet, for those who were fired by their agency (and totally not DOGE 😉) and who felt their termination was unjustified, Van Orden was quick to offer advice on who to call for help.

DOGE, of course!

“Get ahold of the DOGE folks directly or through us,” he said, “and we’ll help try to rectify that.”

Who knew a junior congressman from western Wisconsin had Elon Musk’s personal phone number. 

Perhaps he’ll bring that phone number to a future town hall to be held in person—if he ever holds a town hall in person. In the meantime, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is coming to Van Orden’s district this Tuesday to hold a town hall in Eau Claire.

🍀 Let’s close with an Irish blessing: May your troubles be less and your blessings be more.

Have a great week!