It takes the average Latina, 12 extra months to earn what the average White, non-Hispanic man earns. That is because Latinas are only paid .55 cents to the dollar of […]

The post Yo Quiero Dinero! Storytelling with Midwest Mujeres appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

There was once a time in the US when public banks were the norm; but now the financial landscape is dominated by large retail and commercial for-profit banks. On today’s show, guest host Zoe Sullivan is in conversation with Don Morgan and Oscar Perry Abello about the benefits of public banking for local communities and small and medium-sized businesses, especially when it comes to supporting communities that have historically been discriminated against and that may not have much collateral or credit history.

Morgan describes the services that the Bank of North Dakota provides, including novel ways of responding to natural disasters and other crises. For instance, they have a Farm Financial Stability Program for row-crop farmers who have been struggling due to extreme flooding, high input costs, and low commodity prices.

Abello discusses how public banks support housing initiatives. He says that so much of construction lending is done by local and regional banks who are the institutions that people turn to when they want to build affordable housing or build on vacant lots. However, access to community banks is limited. Abello says there are 4,000 community banks out there, but only 3% of those banks are run by Black, Latinx, or Native American owners.

They also talk about how public banks would respond to a national banking crisis, crypto currency, address community needs quickly and nimbly, how they’re different from postal banking. Morgan says that “behind strong communities are strong community banks.” And Abello adds that “banking is too important to leave to the bankers.”

Don Morgan is the CEO of the Bank of North Dakota.

Oscar Perry Abello is a journalist covering alternative economic models and policies across the United States and the author of The Banks We Deserve. He is currently the senior economic justice correspondent for Next City, an independent, not-for-profit, online publication covering cities from the lens of social, racial, and environmental justice.

Featured image of a piggy bank.

The post Banking Is Too Important to Leave to the Bankers appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Earlier this week, the Atlanta City Council approved an addition $31 million dollars for the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. This was after more than 16 hours […]

The post Cop City Explained with George Chidi appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today’s show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with District Attorney Ismael Ozanne about his office and the new community court that will help reduce racial disparities and recidivism in Dane County.

DA Ozanne has a long history in Madison, from playing soccer at UW-Madison to overseeing the report on racial disparities commissioned by Governor Doyle. He says that in a city with a growing population and growing law enforcement, there aren’t enough public defenders to represent the community. His office has 30 total prosecutors, but there should be 1 prosecutor for every 10,000 residents.

Many of these positions are funded by the state, but others like the Victim Witness Program and Crime Response Program are funded by the county. DA Ozanne discusses how these offices work together and how they will connect to a new initiative out of the Community Justice Council (CJC). The CJC was created in 2008 and now works to take criminal justice decisions out of the criminal courts.

The CJC is composed of major criminal justice leaders and aims to make evidence-based improvements and expand restorative courts with the goal of slashing recidivism rates, like similar programs in New York City and Chicago did. However, laws in Wisconsin mean that community courts have to take place in a courthouse, not in a more relaxed community setting. The new community court will be led by Circuit Judge Nia Trammell.

District Attorney Ismael Ozanne is a lifelong resident of Madison, Wisconsin. He received his law degree from the UW Madison Law School in 1998 and was appointed as the Executive Assistant for the Department of Corrections (DOC), the largest cabinet agency in the state, by Governor Doyle in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed by Gov. Doyle to Dane County District Attorney and is the first African American District Attorney in Wisconsin’s history.

Featured image of District Attorney Ismael Ozanne.

The post A New Community Court is Coming to Dane County appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

“The Philippines is under a new administration, but still the government’s case against de Lima hobbles along, a symbol of the country’s degradation from the Duterte years of violent populism […]

The post Timothy McLaughlin on Leila de Lima and the cost of criticism in The P... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The Spring Primary election is two short weeks away and on today’s show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Madison Metropolitan School District School Board Seat 6 Candidates, challenger Daniella Molle and incumbent Blair Mosner Feltham. They speak about their priorities for the school district, how they would address opportunity gaps, safe learning environments, public funding for schools, student enrollment in the district, and more.

School Board Seat 6 Candidate: Daniella Molle

Danielle Molle’s educational journey began in public schools in Bulgaria before she attended public universities in the US. She has worked as an education researcher for 15 years with an emphasis on the needs of multilingual students. For the past five years, she has worked as a research partner to districts across the country that are changing their systems to advance equity in schools.

Molle says there hasn’t been someone on the School Board with a background in language development; and in a district where a quarter of the students are bilingual, the School Board needs to understand their experience. She is concerned about the adoption of new math and literacy curriculums and how they would address opportunity gaps. She also discusses her perspective on restorative justice practices and ballot referenda.

Daniella Molle is an education researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has two children in the Madison schools, one at Hamilton Middle School and one at West High School. She volunteers weekly in a math classroom at Cherokee High School, and is a parent representative on the district’s Advanced Learning Advisory Committee. Professionally, she worked with Madison teachers for a decade as a researcher and as a teacher supervisor.

Featured image of Daniella Molle.

School Board Seat 6 Candidate: Blair Mosner Feltham

Blair Mosner Feltham has been a teacher since 2010 and says you can’t produce curriculum unless you’ve been in the classroom. She wants to keep her seat on the School Board so she can see her vision of a stable future for the district in practice. She is the first Board member to run for reelection to Seat 6 in more than 10 years.

Mosner Feltham says the district needs collaboration with political leadership to address opportunity gaps. The school district provides transportation and food banks, but she wants to think bigger about how affordable housing and healthcare are other barriers that affect students’ opportunities. Recently, she worked with the School Board to pass a resolution to advance safe firearm storage. She also discusses student cell phone use and state funding formulas.

Blair Mosner Feltham is a classroom teacher, a mom to two MMSD students, and has been serving on the MMSD Board of Education since 2023. She is the only serving Board member and the only candidate who is a public school teacher. Over the last 15 years, she has taught in public schools in 4 districts and two states, including for 7 years in MMSD, mostly at West High School, where she also served as a union rep for many years.

Featured image of Blair Mosner Feltham.

The post Madison School Board Seat 6 Candidates: Daniella Molle and Blair Mosne... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Sold in headshops and on the grey market, “spice” or K2 is a way to get high while avoiding showing up on a drug test. Whether or not they’re legal […]

The post Synthetic Cannabinoids, the Analogue Act, and an Unprecedented Prosecu... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

With so much carnage in the news cycle, it’s easy to overlook the wellbeing of the world’s rainforests like the Amazon, the “lungs of the planet.” On today’s show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with Laurel Sutherlin of the Rainforest Action Network about the importance of protecting this precious resource from deforestation caused by industrial agriculture.

Sutherlin says that the world’s rainforests are integral to global climate and the products that are being consumed in the US are destroying them. He wants more people to understand that deforestation is the second leading cause of the climate crisis and that’s being driven by industrial agriculture like palm oil plantations. This is also a human rights story, says Sutherlin, as rainforests around the world are home to Indigenous peoples.

The Rainforest Action Network works to hold the companies extracting resources and violating the human rights of Indigenous peoples accountable. Sutherlin says that the countries driving deforestation will often set up shell companies to shield themselves from accountability.

From March 21-18, the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement is calling for a boycott of Chevron. Sutherlin says that Chevron is a “poster corporation” for the destruction of the rainforests. In Ecuador they left hundreds of open pit oil pools throughout the rainforest, polluting drinking water and food sources.

They also talk about the link between war and climate change, the shining examples of Indigenous leadership and climate activism, National Oreo Day in opposition to the Mondelēz International corporation, and the health of rainforests from Sumatra, to Borneo and the Congo.

Laurel Sutherlin is the Director of Strategic Communications at Rainforest Action Network, where he has worked on international conservation and human rights campaigns for over 15 years. Laurel also sits on the board of Directors of a bioregional, forest protection group in Oregon called the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KSWild). He is a lifelong birder, naturalist and outdoor educator. He currently lives in Kingston, in the Hudson Valley of New York State, where he hosts a weekly live radio talk show program called Nature Nuggets.

Featured image of a palm oil plantation in Indonesia.

The post Deforestation Won’t End Because of Good Corporate Hearts appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.