4/10/2026

N. WISCONSIN - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced its plan to invest millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds for the year. This year, the state is set to receive $16.5 million, on top of the $14.5 million received last year. The plan for this funding includes $6.5 million for room and board for Medicaid members seeking residential substance use disorder treatment. It also allocates $2 million in law enforcement grants and another $2 million for pregnant and parenting women who need substance use treatment.  In total, Wisconsin will see $794 million through 2038 from the settlement.

4/10/2026

UPPER MICHIGAN - Michigan officials are exploring the use of artificial intelligence to flag potential fraud in the state’s food assistance program, but legal experts say the technology could misidentify people who actually qualify. They caution that many payment issues are not fraud at all. Michelle Gilman is a legal expert on public benefits law, and she says many cases labeled as fraud are actually overpayments.

                    0:14  "Overpayment and underpayment, which are also a problem – but one we don't hear much about – are usually the result of innocent errors, given the complexity of these very complicated programs."

A 2024 report from the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center pointed to the risks of using A-I to determine eligibility for SNAP benefits. One of them is the biases of the humans training the machines. The Michigan League for Public Policy reported that as of July 2025, over a million Michiganders participated in SNAP.

4/10/2026

N. WISCONSIN - Periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected from tomorrow night through the middle of next week. A couple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms, especially to our south in parts of Northern Wisconsin could occur during the early to middle part of the week, with the best chance occurring Monday evening. Elevated water levels will continue along many rivers, with minor flooding at a few locations throughout the weekend. Runoff from heavy rainfall and rapid snow melting in the Upper Peninsula could cause river flooding to become more widespread and significant during the early to mid-part of next week.