Author: Wisconsin Watch

Since 2009, Khalil Audi of Cudahy, Wisconsin, has cashed in lottery tickets 33 times to the tune of about $80,000. His $10,000 win from Badger Cash Blowout? A one-in-72,000 chance. When he bought a $30 Super Millions scratch-off ticket, he had a one-in-200,000 shot of winning $5,000 — the same odds as giving birth to conjoined twins. But that ticket cashed, too. With wins as recent as 2017, Audi’s luck has not run out. Along the way, he has won Pick 4 a handful of times. Audi’s wins are surprising, but he is not even the luckiest person in...

Doctor of ‘Concussion’ movie fame and former Badger, NFL player Chris Borland, agree: It is time to get honest about the dangers of brain injury in sports. It was a freak hit — a blow to the back of University of Wisconsin fullback Austin Ramesh’s helmet by an opposing Illinois player. Ramesh described being “a little dazed” as he walked off the field. He had suffered a concussion in Wisconsin’s Oct. 28 matchup against Illinois and ended up missing a week of practice and the next game against Indiana. Ramesh, a senior who had gotten used to violent collisions...

The subject of the 2015 movie “Concussion,” Dr. Bennet Omalu’s discovery of a degenerative brain disease in former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster and others has spurred a national debate about the safety of high contact sports including football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, rugby, lacrosse and soccer. In 2002, Omalu identified chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a crippling neurodegenerative disease found in football players, including Webster. He went from Hall of Fame inductee and Super Bowl champion to homeless. Webster’s erratic behavior included tasing himself into unconsciousness in order to sleep. Omalu likens the American obsession with football...

As an administrative law judge hearing worker’s compensation cases in Wisconsin for three decades, Joe Schaeve said he often knew how certain doctors hired by employers and insurance companies would rule even before opening their reports. “It winds up with the doctor saying ‘Not work related’ or ‘It’s all in his mind,’ ” said Schaeve, who retired in May. “You can almost sense it coming when you spend 30 years reading these reports.” Schaeve said a few of the experts’ opinions were so predictable that “it’s almost a waste of time to read the report because you know what...

The contentious 2016 presidential election raised religious and racial tensions, but experts say the fears fueling hate and bias incidents began years earlier. The reports came in at an alarming pace. A student at a middle school near Milwaukee drew a stick figure with a swastika on its face. The image held a gun pointed at another stick figure, which had the name of the student’s Jewish teacher on it. A voicemail left on the phone of a leader of a local Jewish organization said, “Pack up your bags with all of your other kikes and get the f***...

A memorial near the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madison’s James Madison Park was spray-painted with swastikas and a pro-President Donald Trump message in large red letters on September 20, hours before the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah. A memorial near the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madison’s James Madison Park was spray-painted with swastikas and a pro-President Donald Trump message in large red letters hours before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is the latest in what a top Wisconsin Jewish leader says is an increase in anti-Semitic incidents over the past few years. Madison Police...