my state is going crazy
I'm astonished that my boring home state has caused such a commotion. In short, what's happened is as follows.
Wisconsin's new governor presented a 'budget repair bill' (summarized here) last Friday to address the state deficit. The bill requires greater contributions from public sector worker for things like insurance and pensions.
But that's not all. The bill also considerably restricts the public unions' collective bargaining power (see above article). As a result, opponents of the bill have been protesting all week. Madison schools have been / will be closed Wedesday, Thursday, and Friday because so many teachers are out sick or just not showing up for work.
The bill was supposed to go to a vote Thursday, but the Democratic members of the state senate left the state to deprive the Republican majority of the quorum they needed. (article)
This summary is based on articles from the Wisconsin State Journal. The paper is pretty clearly opposed to the bill.