CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - The final legal maneuvers before Hannah Dugan is sentenced will play out in the next two weeks. She's the Milwaukee County judge who was found guilty of helping an illegal immigrant avoid being arrested by ICE. She showed him and his lawyer to a side door that led from her courtroom to the st...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - When most Americans think of the good ole days, we are probably thinking back to the period just after World War II. The war was fought "over there" - or somewhere else. Our nation was not battle scarred. While the cities of Europe and Asia were in ruins, we emerged as the world's o...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - 90 years is a long time. Most historians believe that the Gospel of John was written 90 years after Jesus walked the earth. Many of Jesus' followers would have presumed that he would have come back by then. How soon Jesus would return was a confusing issue for the early church. Considering ho...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Reid DaLew knew exactly what he was going. He's the director of the Watertown High School wind ensemble. There's no other reason why he would have sent a note home with his students last October about 'Mother of a Revolution.' It's an instrumental piece dedicated to the memory of one of the ...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - World War I isn't taught properly in our history classes. We lack proper perspective. Back then, America was naive. We had a very small standing army, about 10,000 men. Our top general John Pershing was sent to France before we joined the fighting. He watched trench warfare through a telescop...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Could Governor Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders try again? What are the chances that they might try to negotiate a new deal, to build on the proposal that was rejected in the state senate. It's doubtful. Would just changing the numbers work? I'd said before that a $300 tax rebate...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Over the weekend there was endless talk about the just concluded summit between the United States and China. Who won? Donald Trump or Xi Jing Ping? Did Trump give away too much? Did he mishandle Taiwan? Was it wrong not to get the Chinese involved in ending the war with Iran? Here is the most...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Each morning observant Jews pray before they get our of bed. They believe that when they sleep, their soul is with God in heaven. It is returned to them each morning as they awaken. "Dear God, thank you for seeing me through the night to another morning, and for setting this day before m...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - We think of retreats as a way to get away from the everyday hustle and bustle. That perhaps people of different backgrounds and different opinions might form bonds that let them work better together if they spend a weekend at a cabin on a lake somewhere. My church's board of elders might bene...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Did you know that Wisconsin has an Office of Environmental Justice? It's hard to find. It has no web site. It has no line item in the state budget. The office is run as part of the Governor's Department of Administration. It was originally funded by COVID grants; that money has since run out....

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - $1.8-billion of the state's $2.5-billion surplus was spent yesterday. If you pay income tax in Wisconsin, you'll get a $300 rebate. It'll be $600 if you're married and file jointly. To me, that's too small a check to see the state's surplus evaporate. A deal between Governor Tony Evers and R...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - University of Wisconsin system president Jay Rothman was fired last month. He said he was blindsided by the board of regents. He'd also said before the April 7th meeting where he was scalped that he wouldn't resign without being given specific reasons. After his termination, some regents sai...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - My church did something wonderful last weekend. A group of volunteers did yard work for people who needed help. Members of The Cross mowed and raked. And at last Sunday's service, I thanked our colunteers. And then I asked a pointed question. "So, do you think you are raking your way int...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Suppose you run an auto repair shop. You have an opening for a mechanic. As luck would have it, an incredible job applicant walks in. He used to be a NASCAR pit boss. Before that he worked as a factory technician for General Motors. If anything, he's overqualified. But he now lives in the are...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - I rarely side with animal rights groups. They're too extreme. And they were true to form in their protests last month a Ridglan Farms in Dane County. No, you cannot ram your pick-up truck through the front gate. No, you cannot try to force your way inside the facility and free as many dogs as...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - The would-be Trump assassin Cole Allen got an apology from the judge overseeing his case yesterday. It's outrageous. Administrative Judge Zia Faruqui apologized to Allen because he was under suicide watch and in an isolation cell while being held in jail. Allen said while being questioned aft...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - I wonder if Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, was scared for just a moment. The FBI said they were aware of him, and his post suggesting that Donald Trump should be assassinated. Oh, he didn't actually say it. His social media posts says people in the resistance need to be bet...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Have you ever thought about a statement of faith? Sometimes an independent church, or a Christian charity or a Christian business finds a statement of faith to be appropriate. Have you considered your personal statement of faith? It may be difficult to put into words. I've tried to write my ...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - I'm glad that King Charles has visited the United States to observe the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. At age 77 I find him charming, a thoughtful speaker, and funny. He is also alert and energetic for a man who is undergoing cancer treatment. Britain is not the dynasty...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - The five liberal justices on the state Supreme Court, clowns in robes, must have rolled their eyes yesterday. For a second time, a panel of lower court judges refused to redraw Wisconsin's congressional maps. Both panels of judges ruled that the maps are properly drawn as-is, and that, withou...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Tonight's Wausau City Council meeting is worth following. It will give us an idea of how city government will be during the next two years. We'll learn a lot about the lay of the land. After this year's spring elections, Mayor Doug Diny proposed changes to the city's committee structure. He'd...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - Money is an imperfect tool after an earthquake. Most of the 75 houses that were damaged in Ringle were insured. Claims will be filed. Homes will be rebuilt. But there are other things that were lost that money can't replace. Wedding photographs. Gifts from your children's arts and crafts proj...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - There's a very heartfelt letter in today's Wausau Pilot and Review. A former drug addict says his program, Adult and Teen Challenge, will soon open a 15-bed treatment facility in Central Wisconsin. The full details were not shared in his letter. But this is the type of program that is badly n...

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - If you've never been inside the Greentuck Turner fieldhouse at D.C. Everest, you should. It is - huge. It has a big, tall ceiling. Four athletic fields with artificial turf. It has locker rooms, conference rooms, simulator rooms (the golf simulator is particularly popular this time of year.)....

CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) - The community owes the Bridge Street Mission a debt of thanks. As of this week, they are the new site of Wausau's year-round homeless shelter. After months of construction, they opened on Monday. It's thought that Wausau has about 250 chronically homeless people. They are difficult to count. ...