In Wisconsin, @tomkertschernews.bsky.social of @wisconsinwatch.org has been reporting on how developers have been using non-disclosure agreements to keep information about proposed data centers under wraps. Check out our conversation: youtu.be/xgmXCmOdYuM

What Data Center Developers Don't Want Wisconsin To Know | Freshwater People

YouTube video by Great Lakes Now

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Even though it rejected an artificial intelligence data center, one Wisconsin village showed that communities have leverage when a data center is proposed. The negotiated benefits can range far beyond tax revenue and be worth tens of millions of dollars. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/08/wisc...

Guaranteed tax revenue, river funding, affordable housing: What DeForest negotiated before a data center deal collapsed

DeForest shot down a $12 billion data center, but created a model for what other communities could demand.

wisconsinwatch.org

My extended conversation with Detroit PBS' @greatlakesnow.bsky.social about nondisclosure agreements that communities sign with data center developers. www.greatlakesnow.org/2026/07/29/w...

What Data Center Developers Don't Want Wisconsin To Know | Freshwater People - Great Lakes Now

Across the country, cities and towns are having tough conversations about whether or not they want data centers in their communities. In Wisconsin, Tom Kertscher of Wisconsin Watch has been […]

greatlakesnow.org

The latest @wisconsinwatch.org Fact Briefs are on data centers: No, the state isn't spending $2 billion on them this year; and No, a data centers tax break didn't come from Gov. Tony Evers alone. wisconsinwatch.org/series/fact-...

Wisconsin Watch Fact Briefs

Wisconsin Watch is partnering with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

wisconsinwatch.org

What we know from six months of @wisconsinwatch.org reporting on Wisconsin data centers. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisc...

The public demanded data center news, and Wisconsin Watch is delivering

For the past six months we’ve produced multiple stories to inform the public debate about this hot topic.

wisconsinwatch.org

Here's the video version of our @wisconsinwatch.org story on how a data center made millionaires in Port Washington, but left some property sellers unsatisfied. youtube.com/shorts/VMK1w...

Port Washington resident speaks out after selling home to data center project

YouTube video by Wisconsin Watch

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Our latest Fact Briefs: In Wisconsin, Yes you can record a conversation you have with another person without that person's consent; and Yes, about one-fourth of state employees work in the Corrections Department. wisconsinwatch.org/series/fact-...

Fact Briefs - Wisconsin Watch

Wisconsin Watch is partnering with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

wisconsinwatch.org

@wisconsinwatch.org checks a social media post: Legally, when can one person record a two-party conversation? When can a third party record a conversation between two other people? wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisc...

In most states, including Wisconsin, is it legal to record a conversation without the other person’s consent?

Yes. In 38 states people can record a conversation between themselves and another person without notifying the other person.

wisconsinwatch.org

@wisconsinwatch.org took a look at one impact of data centers: People who happened to be in the right place at the right time becoming millionaires. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisc...

In a Wisconsin land rush, data centers made them millionaires

Some sellers whose properties fetched several times the fair market value are dissatisfied, and their former neighbors aren’t happy either.

wisconsinwatch.org

A statement made by Joel Brennan, one of the Democratic candidates for governor, led us to look at how large the Department of Corrections is in terms of state employees. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisc...

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department?

Yes. About 28.5% of state employees, excluding the UW System, work in the state prison system.

wisconsinwatch.org

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department? Yes. By a traditional count, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accounts for about 28.5% of state employees. Read more from @tomkertschernews.bsky.social here: wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisc...

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department?

Yes. About 28.5% of state employees, excluding the UW System, work in the state prison system.

wisconsinwatch.org

Here's the video version of our @wisconsinwatch.org story on how a billion-dollar data center proposal in Wisconsin burst on the scene, gained momentum and then just faded away. www.youtube.com/shorts/xl6O3...

A behind-the-scenes look at a Wisconsin data center proposal

YouTube video by Wisconsin Watch

youtube.com

Going back several years, an article I did examined a claim about how many men depicted in the painting "Declaration of Independence" were slaveholders. www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...

Yes, most men in Declaration painting owned slaves

As the nation observes the 400th anniversary of slavery, a Chicago documentary filmmaker tweeted about the painting Decl

politifact.com

How well do you know the facts? Take the @wisconsinwatch.org and @gigafactproject.bsky.social Fact Briefs quiz.

Wisconsin Watch Quiz - Gigafact

gigafact.org

Just how much ultraprocessed foods do Americans eat? A Fact Brief from @wisconsinwatch.org and @gigafactproject.bsky.social based on comments by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wisconsin radio.

The story behind how a $2 billion data center proposal in Wisconsin emerged, gained momentum and now is all but dead. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/06/a-2-...

A $2 billion proposal, then silence: How a Driftless Area data center deal fell apart

Developers pitched a 500-acre project for rural Grant County but, as opposition mounted, they ‘ghosted’ the county’s point person. The potential deal appears to be dead.

wisconsinwatch.org

Fact-checking a social media claim on the size of the Ku Klux Klan was in Wisconsin in the 1920s.

We're preparing to publish another in-depth article about data centers. In the meantime, keep up with data center developments, and other news around the state, by subscribing to Forward, the every-Monday newsletter from @wisconsinwatch.org. wisconsinwatch.org/subscribe/

Our free weekly newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to stay informed without feeling overwhelmed. Ours go out on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Find out more and sign up below. Want to understand the levers o…

wisconsinwatch.org

New(ish) to me: Sounds and words to consider from Widowspeak, Death Cab for Cutie, Beck and Caroline Rose. substack.com/@tomkertsche...

Tom Kertscher | Substack

Milwaukee journalist. Writing about new and new-to-me songs and performances that get my attention.

substack.com

The impact of data centers on Wisconsin businesses (billions of dollars) was the subject of a conversation that I and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Dijo Alexander had June 11 with Kate Archer Kent of Wisconsin Public Radio (17:30 of the recording). www.wpr.org/shows/wiscon...

Wisconsin Today

“Wisconsin Today” explores the people, places and ideas shaping life in Wisconsin. Join hosts Rob Ferrett and Kate Archer Kent for news and in-depth conversations that you can’t find anywhere else. Do...

wpr.org

Data center moratoriums in Wisconsin: They're being considered in at least 6 counties and at least 5 cities, towns and villages. They've been adopted in at least 3 counties and 1 city. More details in today's @wisconsinwatch.org Forward newsletter. Subscribe to get data center news each Monday.

To help news consumers discern, @wisconsinwatch.org publishes in partnership with @gigafactproject.bsky.social 150-word Fact Briefs. Here's our latest. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/05/wisc...

Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million?

No. A claim from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes compared the CEO’s pay with his compensation when he was a vice president.

wisconsinwatch.org

The anniversary of Liberace's birth is this week. I was never a Liberace fan, but the level of fame he reached as a performer is undeniable. Yet you'd pretty much have no idea of that in his suburban Milwaukee hometown. So, I tried to find out why. www.milwaukeemag.com/does-west-al...

Does West Allis Have Any Love for Liberace?

Despite being its most famous son (by a rhinestone-paved mile), West Allis has no tribute to the flamboyant showman. What gives?

milwaukeemag.com

A dozen awards for staffers of @wisconsinwatch.org and @milwaukeenns.org in the Wisconsin journalism contest sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club. milwaukeepressclub.org/contest-winn...

With the candidacy of @francescahongwi.bsky.social for governor gaining attention, a look back at a deep dive in @milwaukeemag.bsky.social on a leading Milwaukee socialist, @ryanclancywi.bsky.social. www.milwaukeemag.com/ryan-clancy-...

Meet Ryan Clancy: The Socialist Next Door

Five years ago, Ryan Clancy became the first Socialist elected to public office in Milwaukee in 64 years. Is he a rising political star, a quirky anomaly or a little of both?

milwaukeemag.com

Fact-checking a social media claim on just how much Wisconsin home prices have increased, why, and where they're headed so far this year. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisc...

Have Wisconsin home prices doubled in the last three years?

No. The median price of a Wisconsin home has increased significantly in the past few years, but it has not doubled.

wisconsinwatch.org

Here's some of the data center news in today's Forward newsletter from @wisconsinwatch.org: A decision on DCs' power use could protect electricity ratepayers from more "stranded assets"; a moratorium blocking a Driftless Area DC; a new DC proposed in central Wisconsin; and more.

Wisconsin in 2023 exempted data centers from the sales tax. A new estimate finds that means the state is missing out on more than $2 billion in revenue from massive data centers under construction.

Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion

Designed to lure data centers, the sales tax break is now drawing scrutiny. But some say the development boom will boost other types of revenue.

wisconsinwatch.org

Our look at how much Wisconsin’s data centers tax break is worth. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisc...

Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion

Designed to lure data centers, the sales tax break is now drawing scrutiny. But some say the development boom will boost other types of revenue.

wisconsinwatch.org