Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s path to the White House is being created out of his experience as a community organizer in Chicago, a nontraditional route to power that harnesses the grassroots, empowers individuals to find their strengths and builds communities around attainable goals.

Women’s Council report which stated that “the number of women elect ed to the Wisconsin state Legislature is at its lowest in two decades” spurred a large gathering at the Women’s Choice and Progressive Majority fund-raiser for five female Democratic candidates...

Late last month Epic Systems announced that it would try to avoid working with vendors that support the leadership of the state business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). Epic Systems contractor J.P. Cullen & Sons promptly dropped its membership with WMC and the company’s CEO left his position on the WMC board. Earlier this year, another WMC board member, TDS Telecom CEO David A. Wittwer, stepped down from the position. Although Wittwer didn’t cite a specific reason for leaving, his resignation occurred on the cusp of WMC’s political attack on Wisconsin’s first African-American Supreme Court justice, Louis Butler.

That figure could turn into a budget-bust ing $350 million as state corporations ask for tax rebates. State taxpayers will have to pick up the tab. The ruling represents a triumph for WMC, which was instrumental in electing Ziegler to the state Supreme Court and Van Hollen to the position of state attorney general.

Here’s hoping you’ve worked up an appetite, because it’s cream-puff eating time. The Wisconsin State Fair kicks off its 2008 run today. In true state-fair fashion, REO Speedwagon will be headlining the event’s main stage tonight at 8 p.m. Although the group’s classic lineup dissolved years ago, the band’s current roster . . .

Gov. Jim Doyle is following John McCain’s lead into a nuclear future, the Republican Party of Wisconsin crowed last week. Nuclear supporters claimed that Doyle, who’s seeking to become a green governor, wants to end the 25-year-old moratorium on building nuclear power plants in Wisconsin.

For years, when students graduated from film school, true north seemed to lie west, in Los Angeles. The digital age, however, has freed filmmakers from relying on any one city to make their projects come alive. A group of UW-Milwaukee film school graduates pooled their resources and made their first feature film right here in Wisconsin.

The Labor Day weekend offers a host of opportunities to appreciate Wisconsin's vibrant art scene. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center presents "Civil Liberties" in Sheboygan. Most intriguing is the "Vested Interest" component (through Sept. 6), where national artists display garments that demonstrate cultural and political issues. The exhibit features They Are All One, a staggering installation by Cuban-born team Guerra de la Paz. Michele Pred's "(Dis)possessions" (through Oct. 12) features confiscated objects from 9/11 . . .