>> The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original
production. >> Beagles from the
embattled Wisconsin dog breeder had out of state
for medical care and adoption and missing and
murdered indigenous people are remembered as the
capital is wrapped in red. [MUSIC]
I'm Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on "Here& Now".
Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin on Iran.
[MUSIC] The special prosecutor's
deal on research beagles, a rally for missing and
murdered indigenous people. And we hear about the roots
and future of Wisconsin's Black culture as envisioned
in a new gathering spot. It's "Here& Now" for May
8th. >> Funding for Here and Now
is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin. >> This week, there have
been dizzying developments in the war with Iran.
Midweek, the U.S. called the war concluded, moving
instead to Project Freedom to open the Strait of
Hormuz. But President Trump quickly quit Project
Freedom. Now both sides are considering a peace plan in
the midst of an uneasy cease fire. How to make
sense of this? Even as the price of oil goes up and
down with mixed messaging, while the price at the pump
stays high. Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is
here. And thanks very much for being here.
>> Thank you for having me. >> So with all that's
happening, what in your mind is the best outcome?
>> The best outcome would be for the war to come to a
quick end and to use diplomacy to settle the
issues. I always have to remind folks that in 2015,
there was an international agreement that would have
prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
There were intrusive inspections, and Donald
Trump, in his first term as president, ripped it up. I
think we may end up in this conflict with a deal that's
less robust than the one that was agreed to in 2015.
Look, diplomacy is the answer. And instead, Donald
Trump has brought us into a war of choice. And I
emphasize that point because we were not under
attack from Iran, we were not under imminent threat
of attack. And in those circumstances, the
president needs to come to Congress to authorize use
of military force. He didn't. So now we have 13
service members dead. We have hundreds more injured,
some very seriously. And we see these price shocks with
gasoline, with fertilizer for our farmers that are
just getting ready to plant. I've been a part of an
effort with a number of colleagues to force votes
on war powers resolutions, and we are gaining support
over time from our Republican colleagues. But
that's what we need to do is bring this to a quick
end and use diplomacy to achieve our goals.
>> Do you feel as though the administration is
skirting the War Powers Resolution by declaring
this war concluded, terminated over?
>> I heard just a week ago the Secretary of defense
say, well, you can't toll the days that we've been in
a cease fire. Those don't count as part of the 60
days that the War Powers Act. References. But
regardless, they are. We are currently in
hostilities. We are clearly in a war, and it is an
unmitigated disaster for the U.S. and the global
economy. >> Because you were just
describing the best case outcome. What would be the
worst? >> The worst is that we end
up far less secure. And as an economy as well as as a
nation, because of this war of choice, this illegal war
of choice. You know, and while it's not tangible,
the damage it's doing to the rule of law in this
country is worth noting. >> What are your
constituents saying about what it means for them here
at home? >> Well, I'm hearing mostly
about the costs. We have had the highest costs
really ever, on average for gasoline at $4.50 on
average across the state. Farmers are really reaching
out to describe the shortage of fertilizer as
well as the high price. If they can source it. This
will affect what they're able to plant this year.
And, you know, that's all on top of the president's
previous trade wars that have cut off markets for
our farmers and have really up the cost of inputs. So I
would say overwhelming opposition to the war, but
mostly articulated by folks who are just feeling the
squeeze. And they were already feeling the lack of
affordability prior to the war beginning. This has
just doubled down on that. >> So we were just talking
about agriculture and fertilizer and input inputs
for farmers. The U.S. Senate is poised to take up
the farm bill after the House passed the $390
billion version of it. What are your priorities for the
farm bill for Wisconsin? >> Yeah, well, looking at
the bill that was passed by the House, I realized that
it doesn't really respond to the enormous headwinds
our farmers are facing. One of the things that makes
the House passed Bill, really a nonstarter in the
Senate is the refusal to restore the $186 billion
that was cut out of the Snap program. And that is
something that brings folks together in terms of farm
policy. But the House passed. Bill does not
include my healthy H2O act, which helps folks in rural
areas check their water for PFAs and other contaminants,
things that they really can't afford to do without
some help. And also the Farmers First Act farmers,
because of the stresses, financial and otherwise
that they face, have high rates of suicide. And so
this is a mental health program that helps reduce
that stress and helps make sure that there are support
groups locally for them to turn to.
>> All right. Senator Tammy Baldwin, thanks very much.
>> Thank you. >> The Wisconsin Beagle
Breeding and Research Facility that was
infiltrated by animal activists has shined a
spotlight on biomedical research conducted on
animals, as well as the laws meant to protect
animal welfare. Following last week's announcement
that 1500 beagles from Ridglan Farms were
purchased by Big Dog Ranch Rescue. The undertaking of
where they will go next began in one group. Around
60 dogs arrived at the Janesville airport, where
the ones most in need of medical attention were
loaded onto a plane and flown to a facility in new
Jersey. The rest went by ground to New York and
Virginia. The fate of these beagles is very different
from the majority of animals used for research.
The current farm bill includes a measure
prioritizing animals no longer needed for research
to be given up for adoption instead of euthanized.
Euthanasia was one consideration for the
special prosecutor assigned to investigate Ridglan
Farms in 2025. La Crosse County D.A. Tim Gruenke
found enough evidence to charge the facility with
one felony over the mistreatment of animals. In
a report summarizing the case, he states, quote,
Ridglan Farms made clear they would argue that
because they conduct research and all of the
dogs being bred would also be for research purposes.
The Wisconsin statutes do not apply to them. Okay. In
the end, Ridglan Farms agreed to end its breeding
for sale operations by July in exchange for the state
not filing charges. La Crosse County District
Attorney Tim Gruenke joins us now. And thanks very
much for being here. >> No problem.
>> So why did you seek this resolution with Ridglan
Farms? >> Well, the conclusion I
came to was that I could charge one of the types of
things that I was referred to by the judge in Dane
County, and I was going to charge that. But charging
that would only have started a process that
probably would have taken six months to a year to get
to trial. There were some issues that could have been
appealed. So charging it would have just been the
start of a process of. When the farm offered to close
down in exchange of charging. I thought that
was a good outcome because even if I had charged and
convicted them, I still had no authority to close them
down and the fines that they had been charged with
as well, they could have just paid and kept on
running. So I thought them ending the business is what
most people wanted, and it's more than I could do
by charging, and it would happen much quicker than me
charging. So I thought that was a good resolution to
have them agree to end their business in exchange
for not charging a crime. >> So the resolution
effectively closes down the operation, because I
thought that under the deal, they'd still be able to
maintain their own research on remaining animals.
>> Correct. There's two parts to the business. The
part where they do their own research. I was never
part of. I had no authority over them. The judge didn't
involve that in the appointment of my special
prosecution. The only control I had was on the
breeding part, which is the part they agreed to shut
down. So they did anything after that, they'd be doing
it without a license and could be prosecuted. The
federal law and the state law exempt research
facilities and research on animals from the animal
cruelty law. So if they are doing research on dogs
under the federal grant of authority under the USDA,
the state statutes exempt that from prosecution. So
that's why I never had any authority over them and
wouldn't in the future if they continued testing on
animals. >> You did find that you
could support charging on one procedure conducted on
these beagles. Can you describe what that was?
>> It's called a Chiari I procedure. It's basically
an eye gland that is swollen or prolapsed that
has to be removed. If you were doing it with a pet,
it would be an expensive procedure and you'd want to
have a licensed veterinarian doing it. They
were doing it the way they'd been doing it in
decades past, which is kind of outdated, which was
removing the gland without general anesthesia and
without having a licensed veterinarian do it.
Honestly, if they had found that it did not fall below
the veterinary standards, I'm not sure I would have
had a legal authority to go forward. But basically,
they were performing a surgery without proper
veterinary methods required by the state of Wisconsin.
>> One thing that you talked about in your
charging decision was the prospect of euthanasia of
the beagles. Why did you consider that?
>> Being familiar with a lot of farmers growing up
and farmers in La Crosse area that I talked to, you
know, and they have animals that are injured or need
some help. They have the right to euthanize them as
long as it's done humanely. And if you had a dairy farm
or a pig farm where an animal had some injuries,
if it costs more than the cost that animal is to you,
most farmers would would put it down. And so that
was a factor in my charging decision that it's not a
place that was breeding dogs for sale for pets.
It's a farm like a turkey farm or pig farm, or
bringing them for food or for, in this case, testing.
So it's not looked at the same under the veterinary
standards or under the law. And so that just reality of
the economics of farms that are doing business.
>> Did it pull on your heartstrings to pour over
evidence in this case, especially as we know that
you are a beagle owner and a fan of beagles, actually
have a painting of one in your office.
>> It's heartbreaking to see them in cages and
heartbreaking to see them, you know, not being
socialized properly, not being able to run free and
do what dogs do. But the law allows for this
behavior on a farm. So as long as you're following
the USDA regulations and the regulations, the fact
that I don't like it or we don't like it doesn't mean
that we could charge a crime. So I was relying
mostly on the state regulators, inspectors that
are experts in this area and going by their advice
on what they normally see on farms, dog breeders. And
that's why one of the reasons I came to the
decision I came to about this behavior.
>> We leave it there. Xia Tim Gruenke, thanks very
much. >> Thank you.
>> Indigenous advocates want the state to provide
better tracking of victims and a special office inside
the Capitol to address missing and murdered
indigenous people, both on and off the reservations.
Here and now. And I see t reporter Erica Ayisi
traveled to Menominee Nation hearing one family's
story of tragedy and why they were saying her name
at this week's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's
Rally in Madison. >> She was so cool, down to
earth, kind, loving. >> Rachel Fernandez is
holding a picture of her late sister in law, Linda
Amy Dickinson. She was a day care worker who gave
nicknames to her preschoolers.
and she loved the children. >> Fernandez remembers her
as a patient listener, committed to family.
>> She treated my kids like her own, you know? And she
just had that caring personality.
>> Dickinson and Fernandez, both of the Menominee
Indian Tribe, spent time together as friends and
family on the rural reservation north of green
Bay. >> She always had me
cracking up. She always had a joke. She's very witty.
>> Dickinson eventually relocated from the
reservation to green Bay with her new partner.
Fernandez says Dickinson's life with him was private,
but the impact of their ten year relationship was
public. >> She would show up to
work with with Black eyes. >> Where did she say she
got these Black eyes from? >> From him. From him. And
she would. She wouldn't really talk about it.
>> According to Fernandez, when Dickinson didn't show
up for work at the daycare on the morning of February
24th, 2014, her colleagues requested a police welfare
check to her home, finding the unthinkable by the door.
>> She was shot through her left cheek in the corner.
Told them that she had died in seconds.
>> Her partner was found dead in the bedroom.
>> He shot himself. So it was a murder suicide.
>> Leaving Dickinson's three children, Vanessa,
Kenny and Warren, motherless.
>> It's tragic all around because he has kids, too.
>> Fernandez says news of the double tragedy spread
quickly throughout the tight knit Menominee
community. reservation. They're both
tribal members. >> She says many indigenous
people follow a code of silence in violence and
abuse stemming from historical trauma during
the federal Indian boarding school era.
>> Because our children were taken from their homes
and they were taught in these boarding schools not
to talk about what happened to them.
>> Fernandez says she's also a victim of abuse and
trafficking, but she's been able to work through her
challenges and support other indigenous people
through intergenerational suffering.
>> I'm okay to accept forgiveness of myself and
so that really birthed the activist and the advocate
in me. >> This empty lot behind me
is where Linda Amy Dickinson lived here in
Neopit on the Menominee Reservation with her
children before moving to green Bay. She lived in a
trailer that's gone now, but Fernandez says her
memory is alive forever, and she will say her name.
At the Missing and murdered Indigenous Women's Rally at
the Capitol in Madison. >> Linda Amy Dickinson.
>> Fernandez, says the Wrap the Capitol Red rally is
about breaking the code of silence within indigenous
communities. >> You know who was
involved in someone being missing? You know, why
aren't you saying anything? >> Relatives of victims of
homicide shared their loved ones names.
>> I want to speak today on behalf of my cousin J.C.
Vijoo, who succumbed to domestic violence.
>> Bad River Ojibwe, Wisconsin. Angeline
Whitebird Sweet murdered February 1989. Susan
Poupart Lac du Flambeau murder, 1992. Children
unsolved. >> Mentioning family
members who never came home. >> Charlene Couture Bad
River missing 2009. >> Including indigenous men.
>> Levon Frank Lac du Flambeau 1997.
>> Braxton Lee Phillips say his name.
>> And a plea for more justice.
>> My lawmakers here. Are you listening?
>> Attorney general Josh Kaul says the missing and
murdered. Task force recommends a permanent
office inside the Capitol and a report indicating
tribal data tracking. >> That, unfortunately, was
not included in the last state budget. But hopefully
we'll see some progress on these ideas once the report
is out. >> He says the state is
investing in violence prevention and
collaborative efforts between tribal, state and
federal law enforcement to effectively respond to
incidents. More than 100 advocates, survivors and
families held hands to wrap the Capitol red.
>> No more stolen sisters. No more stolen brothers. No
more violence. >> In solidarity that their
testimonies will be heard. >> We demand justice for
our relatives. For those that cannot speak.
>> Reporting from Madison. I'm Eric Ayisi for Here and
Now and ICT. >> In brighter news,
thousands are celebrating the completion of a new
space in Madison that honors and cultivates
African American culture. >> We're almost open.
>> Surrounded by community leaders, the founder of the
center for Black Excellence and Culture, Alex G.
Proudly led the ribbon cutting, which marks the
completion of the 3700 zero square foot space on
Madison's south side, with a place for meetings,
lectures and social events. G says the center
unapologetically celebrates Black history and people
"Here& Now". Reporter Murv Seymour talked to him about
building the $31 million space.
>> Alex Gee, good to see you again.
>> It's good to see you too. >> Murv by the time this
airs, we know that little clock on your website will
have been ticking, ticking, ticking. And it will hit
zero. >> What has it been like
and how long has that clock been ticking to make all
this happen? >> Oh man, this clock has
been ticking my whole life in some ways. Murv more
specifically, probably the thinking about putting
campaign team, we had to slow things down because of
Covid. So we started fundraising in 2021. So
it's been five years plus countdown in terms of, of
seriously being able to see the finish line.
>> Yeah. And I hate to do the old what does it feel
like that that reporter a great question, but what
does it feel like Alex, after all this?
>> Oh, it feels like a dream that's come true.
It's one of those things that's been in the back of
my mind for probably most of my life. It's why I
chose to stay in Madison, because I had my sights on
doing something in South Madison, where we grew up,
where we spent time in a community that's given so
much to me. But to be here and to realize that I stand
on the shoulders of so many people who rub my head and
pinch, pinch my cheeks and said, you're going to do
something, young man. You know, keep going to school,
you know, give back to the community, you know, keep
your faith to stand on their shoulders and to
realize that they saw something in me, and they
encouraged me to stay here and make the community
better if I could. And so I feel really honored to be
chosen to, to do this and pull our community together
the way I've been able to. >> Yeah. And as I was
looking at your website, I saw a line there. It says,
this is going to be a sanctuary for healing, a
catalyst for growth, where we bring Black culture,
creativity, leadership, research, innovation, all
under the same roof. That's right. How the heck do we
do that, Alex? >> Oh, with lots of
partners and lots of thought. You know, when we
talk about health and health disparities with
African Americans, typically the the
assumption is many of us don't have health care. We
don't take advantage of the health care that we want.
But research through schools of medicine and
public policy are showing that many of our
degenerative diseases are stress related. And so I
can pick up a magazine and read 15 different ways you
and I die more readily than our white counterparts. But
what you don't read is how do you mitigate that? So if
stress is the culprit, what do we do to reduce it? And
so in our community, historically, it's dance is
swag. It's food, it's hanging out. It's playing
the dozens, it's intergenerational
programing, it's checkers, it's watching TV, it's
watching old 70s movies, but it's spending time
together where we don't have to code, switch or
feel that we have to be someone other than who we
really are. And so the role here is to use all of those
things that you have said to reduce the stress. But
the benefit of this, my my great desire is that Black
people live longer and healthier lives. I haven't
raised all this money. So Black people can have fancy
places to have dances. >> And when you say all
this money, people should know 31 million, probably.
>> 32, sir, 32 million. >> I don't want to cut.
>> You short. Who's counting.
>> Right? You're right. For a debt free facility for
completely debt free facility.
paint a picture, Alex, of just like, what really is
going to go on here? I mean, yeah, we talked about, you
know, the kind of a mission statement kind of thing
there, but like, give paint a picture for us.
>> Sure. Well, some of the like we're sitting right
here in our senior space. So this is one of the
programs that's ready to go because so many of our
seniors, once they've retired, they just seem to
disappear. We don't we don't see them anymore. So
we want them to come out and have a place to hang
out right next door to our children's library, where
they can help young, young readers. We have a program
that's for entrepreneurs, innovators, and and folks
that are ready to start their own businesses. We're
going to work on leadership development, business
strategy, development, helping to raise money to
launch those businesses, and then helping to
introduce people into our social network so that you
don't have a business that's ready to go and no
place to carry it out. We have two films that will be
showing real soon in our in our theater. We're doing a
couple of weddings here, graduation parties. But the
special thing that I want people to know, Murv, is
that we're only designing about 25 to 30% of the of
the programs here because we want the community to
come in and say, you know what we need. Like someone
came in here the other day who's, who's newer to their
job, and they said, we need an NABJ like National
Association of Black Journalists. There's one in
Milwaukee. I'm sure you're familiar with it, but
because there's a space to host it, someone said we
ought to do a Madison version. That's the beauty
of this space. Like, that's not my job to do that. A
journalist came in here and said that others have come
in and said, you know, we need a doula program. Can
we can we do that here? We need self-defense programs
for Black women and moms. Do we have can we do that
here? So for me, the beauty the program is when we have
space to come in together and say, let's create an
association or let's do something to bring all the
Greek organizations together, the sororities
and fraternities together so that we can create a
regional office of working together. The beauty of
this is I built it, I've worked to fund it, but the
community is going to help to fill it.
>> Yeah. And we thank you for that, Alex. And there's
a lot more to talk about. So this will be continued.
And we appreciate your. I appreciate appreciate you
Thank you. >> For more on this and
other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our
website at PBS wisconsin.org and then
click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg.
Have a good weekend.
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and friends of PBS Wisconsin.