Wednesday, February 19, 2025
When will the sun start setting after 6 p.m. in Wisconsin?
Cailey Gleeson
Days are slowly getting longer in Milwaukee, giving residents slightly more sun as they push through the once again frigid temperatures.
As it stands, the sun is currently setting just before 5:30 p.m. in the Cream City. However, the arrival of daylight saving time in just a few weeks will push sunsets past 6 p.m.
More:Here's what two different forecast models predict for spring 2025 in Wisconsin
Here's what to know:
When will the sun start setting after 6 p.m. in Milwaukee?
Milwaukee's first sunset after 6 p.m. will be on Sunday, March 9, when the sun sets at 6:51 p.m., according to timeanddate.com.
The sun will rise at 7:13 a.m., giving Milwaukeeans a whopping 11 hours and 37 minutes of daylight.
When does daylight saving time begin in 2025?
Daylight saving time will resume on Sunday, March 9, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Clocks will spring forward one hour between 2 and 3 a.m.
More:When do the clocks spring forward in Wisconsin, and why does Trump want to end it?
When will the sun start setting after 7 p.m. in Milwaukee?
With daylight savings, the jump from 6 to 7 p.m. sunsets isn't as long as you may think.
The first sunset after 7 p.m. in Milwaukee will be on St. Patrick's Day, which falls on Monday, March 17, per timeanddate.com.
CLOSE CALL: Racine mom sounding alarm after possible child abduction attempt
Wisconsin's top 10 consumer complaints in 2024 included landlords, identity theft. Here's the full list
Claire Reid
Every year, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection helps thousands of residents resolve conflicts with landlords, telemarketers, health care businesses, telecom providers and more.
Last year, DATCP responded to 11,374 written consumer complaints, according to a news release from the agency, returning over $23 million to Wisconsin consumers. In 2023, DATCP fielded over 10,000 consumer complaints, and the agency worked to resolve more than 11,000 complaints in 2022.
Here are the top 10 reasons why people filed consumer complaints with DATCP in 2024:
1. Landlord-tenant issues
As in 2022 and 2023, landlord-tenant issues were DATCP's top consumer complaint category. In 2024, 2,525 complaints fit this category. Common issues reported include failure to maintain the premises, security deposit returns, unauthorized entry, mold and infestation, inadequate disclosures and unsatisfactory service.
In addition to landlord-tenant issues, DATCP received other housing-related complaints, including 45 complaints about manufactured housing and manufactured housing community concerns.
DATCP has a free landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities guide online at LandlordTenant.wi.gov.
2. Telemarketing
DATCP received 1,513 telemarketing complaints in 2024. Complaints included phishing and spoofing, imposter scams, robocalls, harassment and violations of Wisconsin's Do Not Call Registry.
3. Home improvement
Last year, 664 consumer complaints were filed in the home improvement category. Concerns included quality of work, delays in performance, failure to provide services and materials, failure to honor warranties, deceptive and misleading representations, and failure to disclose lien rights.
4. Identity theft
DATCP received 618 identity theft complaints last year, which the agency said was an increase over the previous year. The top issue in this category remained takeovers of online accounts, including Facebook and other social media accounts. Other concerns included fraud, data breaches and compromised identification documents.
5. Telecommunications
DATCP received 527 complaints about telecommunications services. Consumers reported issues about billing disputes, customer dissatisfaction, agreed-upon terms not being followed, deceptive and misleading representations, refund and adjustment policies, and denial of cancellation requests.
6. Medical services
Last year, 439 were filed relating to medical services. The top issue was medical billing disputes; others included unsatisfactory service and misleading representations.
7. Motor vehicle repair
There were 341 motor vehicle repair complaints filed with DATCP in 2024. Common issues reported were unsatisfactory quality of work, damage and loss of property, failure to honor agreements or perform work, performance delays and charges for work not permitted by the vehicle owner.
8. Motor vehicle sales
Complaints concerning sales of new and used vehicles accounted for 297 of the complaints received by DATCP in 2024. The agency says it works closely with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on these complaints. The most common issues in this category were inadequate disclosures, prize notice mailers, and untrue, deceptive and misleading representations.
9. Travel
Travel complaints ― which cover issues with airlines, hotels and lodging, auto rentals, travel service bundles and more ― accounted for 244 of those DATCP received in 2024. Common concerns included billing disputes, refund and adjustment policies, failure to provide services, failure to return deposits and unsatisfactory service.
10. Motor vehicle accessories
The 10th-most common complaint last year involved motor vehicle accessories. DATCP received 141 complaints in this category, including concerns about refunds, failure to deliver products, and deceptive and misleading representations.
Other common consumer complaints
Following closely behind DATCP's top 10 consumer complaints in 2024 were complaints regarding:
- Entertainment and recreation
- Warranties and extended warranties
- Major appliances
- Timeshares and timeshare resellers
- Furniture and home furnishings
- Medical devices
How to contact DATCP
For more information and consumer protection resources, or to file a complaint, visit DATCP's Consumer Protection webpage at ConsumerProtection.wi.gov.
You can also contact DATCP's Consumer Protection Hotline can be contacted at (800) 422-7128 or DATCPHotline@wisconsin.gov.
More:You ask, we answer: What to do if you get overcharged at the grocery store in Wisconsin
Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
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Racine resident uses controversial strategy to sue Anodyne, Koss over ADA issues
Tamia Fowlkes
Last month alone, more than 400 lawsuits were filed against businesses across the country alleging that their websites are not accessible to people with visual impairments and other disabilities.
And a growing number of those cases are filed by Racine resident Melissa McCabe.
A search of the federal courts system shows that McCabe, who is blind, has filed over 30 lawsuits over the past two years, including several against Wisconsin-based companies like Anodyne Coffee and Koss Corporation. She alleges that the businesses' websites were incompatible with screen readers when she tried to purchase items like roast coffee, shoes, a violin, headphones, car tires, and more.
She's one of more than 100 plaintiffs with visual impairments who are using "tester lawsuits" to push businesses to evaluate their websites for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But while disability advocates say that making websites accessible should be a priority for all businesses, critics argue that the lawsuits are largely profit-motivated. In many cases, the plaintiffs have no intention to purchase products or conduct business with the companies they are suing, they say.
Benjamin Sweet, McCabe's attorney, declined Public Investigator's request for comment on the ongoing legal cases.
"While our client would love to say more it is our policy not to comment on pending litigation," he wrote in an email.
Most of the lawsuits are nearly identical, with small changes made to highlight certain accessibility challenges on the companies' websites.
In the Anodyne lawsuit, McCabe alleges that "when a user selects the ‘Tickets’ button on the ‘Concerts & Events’ page, a popup appears which displays information regarding upcoming events. However, the popup is not accessible to screen-reader users."
In the Koss case, among other concerns, McCabe's attorneys state that the product manuals for items like headphones and speakers are not accessible to users relying on screen readers.
The two companies did not respond to requests for comment.
In October, a month after McCabe filed suit, Anodyne Coffee updated its website with a statement detailing the company's investment in a "significant amount of resources to help ensure that its website is made easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities."
The rise of 'serial plaintiff' accessibility lawsuits
When the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, there were no clauses addressing website accessibility.
Though the World Wide Web was launched just three years later, the federal government never established detailed standards for applying the ADA to the websites of private businesses.
Robert Thorpe, an attorney for Washington, D.C.-based law firm Barclay Damon, has defended several companies against digital accessibility lawsuits. He said many of the cases introduced in the past three years "simply aren't plausible."
Thorpe began tracking such lawsuits in 2020 after a small bed-and-breakfast in upstate New York was sued over its online reservation service. Since then, Thorpe's law firm has identified over 100 plaintiffs who have filed hundreds of lawsuits over the accessibility of businesses' websites.
One plaintiff that Thorpe's law firm has tracked since 2015 filed over 500 lawsuits
"It is rare to see this level of litigation by one plaintiff over and over again," Thorpe said.
Experts say the surge in lawsuits coincided with growing awareness about services like UsableNet, a company that uses AI and human experts to quickly evaluate accessibility issues on websites and offers summary reports in minutes.
In the lawsuits, the attorneys representing McCabe argue that inaccessible websites unfairly force blind or visually impaired individuals to exert additional time and effort to "overcome communication barriers sighted users do not confront."
These attorneys cite March 2022 guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division that states the ADA applies "to all the goods, services, privileges, or activities" offered by businesses open to the public, "including those offered on the web.”
However, Thorpe finds it unlikely that plaintiffs like McCabe are legitimately seeking services or products from the hundreds of companies they are suing. He said it is more likely they are taking advantage of the law for financial gain.
"Settlements range between as low as $1,000 to as high as $25,000," Thorpe said.
Denise Jess, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired, said seeking legal action against companies would likely be a last-case scenario for most people with disabilities.
Disability advocates usually try to lead with education, push for legislation, and then, if necessary, resort to litigation, she said.
"We want business owners to do the right thing because they would value us as participants in their business," Jess said. "We want them to do it because they see the value of including a diverse population rather than being afraid that they're going to get sued."
In recent years, Jess said, these "serial plaintiff" lawsuits have caused business owners to respond defensively to calls from customers with disabilities asking for assistance. As a result, some customers encountering challenges choose not to raise the issue at all.
"The blowback of these lawsuits is that it just raises everybody's anxiety," Jess said.
Thorpe said most businesses already have an incentive to ensure their products are available to as many customers as possible, including those with disabilities. In the cases he's handled, the companies usually respond by hiring a web developer to improve the functionality of their sites.
"It would be great if these plaintiffs were reaching out to the businesses in advance of filing a lawsuit, putting them on notice of the issues, and giving the chance to fix whatever is a problem," Thorpe said. "But the vast majority of these cases, that's not happening. Instead, we're just getting lawsuit after lawsuit."
How can businesses check if their websites are ADA accessible?
- Check your site on third-party accessibility testing widgets such as UsableNet, Power Mapper and AudioEye
- Hire a reputable company to do an accessibility audit and find out how accessible your website is
- Establish a path of communication for individuals to flag and resolve accessibility issues
- Work with a website developer to test the site's compatibility with screen readers and add features like alternative text
- When contracting with a web developer, ask them to explain their familiarity with building for accessibility
- Recognize that usability and accessibility are two different standards. Ensure that web designers have the ability to test for bugs in the system that might alter the screen reading process.
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Friday, February 14, 2025
DNR confirms bird flu in duck found on Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee County
The Department of Natural Resources confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, was found in a merganser recovered in early February on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Milwaukee County.
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| A hen red-breasted merganser feeds on a crayfish Feb. 9 in the Milwaukee harbor. Paul A. Smith |
A wild duck found in January along the Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee County tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, according to a Friday announcement by the Department of Natural Resources.
The bird, a red-breasted merganser, was among 21 birds taken in by the Wisconsin Humane Society's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee between Jan. 2 and Feb. 10.
All were dead or so severely ill they were euthanized, said Mary Landry, WHS wildlife rehabilitator.
Bird flu was suspected in all the birds the center received. The merganser was submitted for confirmatory testing at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
The virus, which has circulated in wild and domestic birds in North America since late 2021, has caused the largest loss of poultry in the U.S. in at least 50 years and has killed untold numbers of wild birds.
As of Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 157.7 million poultry have been lost due to HPAI in the current outbreak. The toll on wild birds is much more difficult to estimate; 11,966 wild birds have tested positive for the disease so far, according to a USDA report. Experts say that number is a small fraction of the number of wild birds affected.
In 2022 Sumner Matteson of the DNR and other scientists documented the loss of at least 1,000 Caspian terns to bird flu on islands along the Door Peninsula in northeastern Wisconsin. That same year the virus was documented in dead adult and hatchling bald eagles in southeastern Wisconsin.
Internationally, many thousands of cranes have died during bird flu outbreaks in recent years at sites in Israel and Japan, according to the International Crane Foundation.
In recent regional events in wild birds, bird flu was found in a die-off of hundreds of waterfowl along the Lake Michigan shore in Chicago. From 200 to 300 dead birds, mostly red-breasted mergansers, were reported by observers in Illinois. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has also reported 300 dead birds, mostly Canada geese, suspected with bird flu in five Michigan counties since Jan. 1.
The disease also has shown effects, but more limited, in wild birds in the Milwaukee area in recent weeks.
Since Jan. 2 the WHS wildlife staff received 21 birds suspected of having bird flu, Landry said. The total included nine red-breasted mergansers, three Canada geese, three Herring gulls, two red-tailed hawks and one each American crow, great-horned howl, mallard and ring-billed gull.
Birds that gather in flocks and breeding colonies are particularly affected by H5N1, as are raptors that scavenge on sick or dead birds infected with the virus.
Ducks, geese, swans, eagles, hawks, pelicans, cranes, gulls and terns are among the types of birds found dead and have tested positive for bird flu during the current outbreak.
The virus has also affected mammals, including dairy cows, domestic cats, red fox, otter, bobcat and fisher in Wisconsin. Human cases of bird flu, including one in Wisconsin, have been documented but the virus poses a low risk to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The most common type of HPAI seen in wild and domestic birds is H5N1. Sequencing results are pending on samples from the merganser obtained in Milwaukee. Scientists are monitoring the virus for potential changes.
Since mid-December, the DNR said HPAI has been detected in wild birds in six Wisconsin counties: Brown, Dane, Milwaukee, Racine, St. Croix and Wood. The majority of mortality reports have been for waterfowl, including various duck species, tundra and trumpeter swans and Canada geese.
"It is important to remember that avian influenza is still present in Wisconsin, and we are seeing it affect birds in isolated areas around the state," said Jasmine Batten, DNR Wildlife Health Supervisor. "However, this winter's HPAI detections in wild birds have remained relatively low. The best advice we can give is to remain aware and avoid handling wild birds as much as possible."
According to public health officials, the risk to the human health from avian influenza remains low. However health officials recommend people avoid handling sick or dead wildlife and, when possible, prevent their pets from coming into contact with sick or dead wildlife.
If you must touch a dead bird, the DNR recommends you follow guidance provided on the the agency's Avian Influenza webpage. More information on HPAI and public health can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services' Avian Influenza A Virus webpage.
The DNR is interested in groups of five or more sick or dead wild birds. Depending on the specifics of the case, DNR staff will decide whether to collect a sample.
The public can report sick or dead wild birds through the DNR’s Sick or Dead Bird Reporting Form or by contacting the Wildlife Switchboard at DNRWildlifeSwitchboard@wisconsin.gov or 608-267-0866.
More information on avian influenza viruses and the ongoing response to this HPAI strain is available on the DNR’s Avian Influenza webpage. The DNR will continue to update the webpage with any future HPAI findings in wild Wisconsin birds.
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