How does a bill become a law? The answer to that is in the Wisconsin Blue Book and the stuff of fourth (I think this is when we all learned it) grade classrooms. But boy that lesson has been turned on its head in the past several weeks in Wisconsin! Now I'm not taking sides here, but the budget repair bill – has so many lawyers attached to it in the courts right now that one veteran reporter (not me) compared this week's hearing over a restraining order to "a five-headed hydra." [Definition of HYDRA:: a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology] So, court resumes tomorrow (with all the attorneys) to determine whether the judge will issue a "preliminary injunction" against the bill over an alleged violation of the opening meetings laws. That injunction is more lasting than the temporary restraining order (3rd) now in place. Oh, and the Supreme Court is also deciding whether to take the case (more lawyers). Stay tuned.

As the We the People Wisconsin partnership readies for its State Supreme Court debate tonight here at the station, I'm reminded of the Margaret Thatcher line about events like this. "I love argument, I love debate," she said. "I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job."

Too often, people forget disagreement is human. Disagreeing without being disagreeable however has become a challenge in today's election environment, but that's what we'll aspire to foster during tonight's one-hour session.

There was a 60 Minutes piece in the not-too-distant past that explored the relationship between U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg in which these two legal lions with dramatically different views discussed how much they enjoyed each other's company. They even have vacationed together with their respective spouses.

It may sound Pollyanic to yearn for such collegiality in a world where there has to be a winner and a loser. What may be more realistic is to hope that by the end of the hour we have with Justice David Prosser and his challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, you have learned more about them as people and as professionals than you knew before.

That's what I'll be watching for tonight at 7pm and if the candidates and media are doing their jobs, as the former British Prime Minister Thatcher would say, you'll see the differences between the two very clearly.

Then maybe, you'll love these types of events as much as I do.

Some of you may have seen Wisconsin Public Television's coverage of Governor Walker's State of the Budget Address on Tuesday. Behind the scenes it was anything but business as usual. The extremely tight security at the Wisconsin State Capitol presented extra challenges for the production crew trying to bring cameras, lighting equipment and other gear into the second floor Assembly Parlor where we set up our mini studio. Each entry required passing through 2-3 checkpoints of security.

30 minutes before the Governor's speech thousands of noisy, angry protesters converged on the police barricade just outside the Assembly windows. That is also the exact spot where our director, producer and technical support team are working to bring you the live broadcast from our production truck.

In one ear we heard chants of "This is what democracy looks like" in the other ear "standby in 3, 2, 1. The viewers at home only saw the quality production they are accustomed to getting from Wisconsin Public Television... despite that it was one of the more bizarre, challenging – and perhaps memorable live productions we may ever encounter.

***in the category of full disclosure the employees of Wisconsin Public Television are state employees.

As I write this, high school students are marching past our building on their way to the capitol as part of the budget repair bill protests. Madison is a city famous for protests, but the likes of this haven't been seen in years.

National attention is being paid and it's always interesting to see how your community is seen. Many anchors on the cable news networks mention how the protesters have come out in the cold, not knowing we are in the midst of a thaw with temps in the forties.

Into the fray, our newest colleague Adam Schrager started work this week. Quite a time to start as a capitol reporter, but Adam has hit the ground running, already appearing on the PBS Newshour to tell a national audience what's happening here.

I'm sure Adam will always remember these last few days, and the way things are shaping up, we all will as well.

Another busy week in the world of news and public affairs! Governor Scott Walker delivered his State of the State address. We're looking to the Budget Address for more specifics on spending cuts that get at the state budget deficit.

This week on "Here & Now" we talk with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan who has just released his spending cut plan as chair of the House Budget Committee. We hear from Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen about his reaction to a federal judge's ruling this week that invalidated the Obama health care law and we hear the opposing viewpoint.

Also, we continue our interviews with candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This week, we talk with Joel Winnig. Finally, our singing commentator, Peter Leidy, puts the Super Bowl to song. "Here & Now," Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television.

This week on "Here & Now," we talk with Governor Scott Walker about his special session of the legislature where his bills designed to boost the business climate in Wisconsin are sailing through. We also interview U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy from Washington on the heels of his vote to repeal the healthcare reform law. And this week, we hear from a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Marla Stephens, director of the appellate division for the state public defender's office.

I invite you to join me for "Here and Now" Friday at 7:30p on Wisconsin Public Television.

Wisconsin Public Television produced live coverage of Governor Scott Walker's inauguration this week. It's quite a spectacular! We trucked HD cameras down to the capitol, strung 100's of feet of cable, wired the place for sound, placed two broadcast anchors above the podium (myself and Shawn Johnson from WPR)and directed the camera shots of the action out of our HD remote truck. This event is among the many WPT produces from the capitol, including the Governor's State of the State address, which is coming up on January 25, the Governor's budget address, State of the Tribes and Martin Luther King day celebrations. When you see it from behind the scenes it's basically a feat of engineering. When you see it on TV it just looks and sounds like you're there with the best seats in the house.

Tuesday night was likely a late one for anyone who follows elections. I was at work into the wee hours updating our Wisconsin Vote site with election returns. A long night, but well worth it as we had record setting usage of the joint Wisconsin Public Radio and Television voting resource.

More than 70,000 visits to the site were recorded on election day, coming close to doubling our previous record day, the February 2008 presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Another 40,000 came to the site the day after Tuesday's election to check on results.

It was a good election season for us at Wisconsin Vote. We'll update it with this week's recap from Here & Now and then let it rest until this spring, when a seat on the state supreme court is up for an April election.

This Friday, "Here & Now" will be replaced with a special We the People presentation – an hour long statewide debate between the candidates for governor, Democrat Tom Barrett and Republican Scott Walker. The debate will include a live studio audience here in Madison, as well as in La Crosse and Wausau. Tune in on Friday, October 29, starting at 7pm.