I've heard about the cuts,” the Buffalo County man said. “But this budget spends more. Who’s getting more money?” Folks are concerned about big cuts to the UW; cuts to local schools; scaling back of health programs for the disabled; public radio and TV losing state support. But the new budget spends $3 billion more than the last. Where is that money going?

One place to look is the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Despite its name, WEDC is a part of state government; in fiscal year 2012-13 it received over $62 million from the budget (including about $4 million in federal funds) and the agency can authorize potentially millions more in tax credits. The Governor’s flagship program turned troubled when auditors found procedures weren’t written down, loans were lost and Wisconsin was penalized. Three Chief Financial Officers left – one after only a day on the job.

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The Governor creates a new board. He kicks off the board the legislators who ask too many questions. The new board will only be private sector folks chosen by the Governor. The budget adds more money into the mix: $55 million in a revolving loan fund and almost another $10 million in tax credits. Governor Walker then proposes taking existing business tax credits and converting them into refundable tax credits. What does that mean?

Think about the refund you might receive when you file your taxes. The refund comes because you paid in more than you owed. It’s your money coming back. What if the rules were changed so you didn’t owe any taxes? You still filed your tax return but you owed nothing. A refundable tax credit would still give you a refund check signed by the people of Wisconsin. That’s what’s going on.

Madison — When White House hopeful Scott Walker talks to potential voters, he hawks himself as a leader who tells people what he will do and then does it. But the line has a snag. As a candidate for governor, Walker didn't spell out or even mention some of the measures that would become key achievements in office.

Most notably, Walker never told voters beforehand about what would become his signature accomplishment — repealing most collective bargaining for most public workers. During the uproar over that unexpected legislation known as Act 10 and the recall and re-election campaigns that followed, Walker said he wouldn't let legislation affecting private-sector workers reach his desk. Now he says he'll sign it.

During his 2014 race to secure a second term, Walker didn't campaign on some of the most sweeping changes in his current budget proposal: freezing a stewardship program for state lands; borrowing $1.3 billion for transportation; and cutting state universities by $300 million in exchange for unhooking them from many state laws.

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During the 2012 recall election pushed by public employee unions, Democrats repeatedly said that Walker would eventually take on private-sector unions as well. The governor dismissed that talk about right-to-work legislation as political spin. "It's not going to get to my desk," Walker said in May 2012. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it isn't there because my focal point (is) private-sector unions have overwhelmingly come to the table to be my partner in economic development."

Bill Gates: "If GM had dept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

Snowy owls are rock stars of the animal kingdom. They are handsome. They are relatively rare. They are impressive hunters. They eat rodents. They are a little mysterious. "When it comes to charismatic wildlife, they are right at the top," said David Brinker, a Racine native and owl researcher who now lives and works in Maryland.

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The owls breed in treeless expanses of the Arctic. Come fall, some of the birds journey south in search of prey. The birds are naturally drawn to open landscapes including farms, prairies, frozen lakefronts and, unfortunately, airfields. Snowy owls have been documented at big-city airports like New York's LaGuardia and Boston's Logan, but also at scores of smaller facilities, including Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee. Aviation and wildlife officials are keen to keep the big birds out of harm's way, both in the interest of public safety and for the sake of the animals.

At the intersection of these mutual interests is a conservation opportunity. Project SNOWstorm researchers and volunteers have seized on the chance to capture birds at airports, fit the owls with transmitters, relocate them in suitable habitat well away from the airfields and release them back to the wild.

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The technology used for Project SNOWstorm represents a significant advance in wildlife research. Location data is collected and stored by the transmitters until it can be sent via a cell phone signal. Five birds tagged last winter flew to the Arctic last summer and returned to the U.S. this winter. When they re-entered cell range, Brinker said the data dump was "spectacular." The information allows researchers to see which locations and habitats the birds rely on throughout the year.

"It wasn't just the protesters who engaged in such shameful rhetoric," (Walker) added, citing comments by Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) comparing him to Hitler and then-Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) calling his plan to scale back collective bargaining for public workers "legalized slavery."