Thursday, June 12, 2025
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Thursday, June 12, 2025

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Former Pewaukee Chief Raising Money for New Tombstone Honoring George Schmidling, 1st Waukesha Officer Killed in Line of Duty

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If you want to help Gary Bach with the monument’s costs, you can email him at [email protected]. We’ve known Gary Bach for years, back when he was a Pewaukee police chief, and we can vouch for him.

To retired Pewaukee Chief Gary Bach, slain Waukesha police Detective George Schmidling is more than a name on a gravestone. Schmidling was Bach’s uncle.

Schmidling, a Navy veteran and married father of three, was shot to death in 1961 when Bach was 12, becoming the first Waukesha police officer killed in the line of duty. Bach, who was himself a police officer for 28 years, retiring as Pewaukee’s chief, retains memories of Schmidling that burns strong today.

“George was probably one of the greatest individuals I’ll ever remember,” Bach says. “He was a great dad, a great husband. He was an entertainer.”

George schmidling
George schmidling

Today Bach has made it his mission to better honor Schmidling where he rests; the officer is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Pewaukee, but his tombstone is aging badly, almost unreadable, and it doesn’t make his ultimate sacrifice clear. Bach is trying to raise $3,800 to give Schmidling a proper memorial monument at the cemetery. The monument would say, “City of Waukesha Police Detective George Schmidling, killed in the line of duty,” and it would include his picture and a “spiritual note,” said Bach, replacing the more simple and deteriorating stone that is there now.

We learned about Bach’s effort when he made a comment about it on our Facebook page. We contacted him and asked if we could do a story, which he appreciated.

George schmidling
Gary bach

The recognition for Schmidling at the cemetery is currently “terrible,” said Bach. “It’s a little flat stone. There is no information on it in terms of him being a police officer. I want to make it right. That’s what I am doing now. This is the least I can do.”

It has bothered Bach for years that Schmidling’s current stone does not make his sacrifice clear. It is not a proper way to honor him, he believes. Schmidling is one of only two City of Waukesha Police Officers to die in the line of duty; the other was Capt. James Lutz in 1994. (There are several other Waukesha County law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty as well.)

“It’s mattered to me ever since I went up and looked at the stone, which was many years ago,” Bach told Wisconsin Right Now in an interview. “I always said I need to do something to make this right.”

At the end of the day, Bach said, “Every police officer who dies didn’t expect to die. They did it through the drive to do the right thing in their job and unfortunately suffered the consequences of that. Your life is always at risk, and, when that happens, society needs to pay you back in some form. You deserve that.”

George schmidling
Det. Schmidling’s grave

Bach also wants Schmidling’s kids, great-grandkids, and grandkids to see a new monument.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Bach.

Bach said a ceremony will be held when the new monument is obtained. The City of Waukesha and probably the Village of Pewaukee will have honor guards and all who donate will be invited.

After Schmidling’s death, his widow and three children went through great struggles, said Bach. The kids now live down south.

Bach says law enforcement was a “family tradition.” His father worked for the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, and other relatives became officers as well.

“We would go to his house, and I remember laughing all the time,” Bach says of Schmidling. “He would take us out roller skating. When he would come to our house, he was always full of energy.”

He said Schmidling was an officer who showed great empathy. For a period of time, he said, Schmidling was “one of the old Waukesha motorcycle cops,” riding a three-wheeler cycle.

George schmidling

According to Bach, Schmidling was slain when he thought he was stopping a robbery in progress at an old Waukesha restaurant. He was shot five times and then run over. He managed to shoot and kill one of the assailants.

The City of Waukesha does have a public safety memorial in that city that also honors first responders who died in the line of duty. However, Bach believes Schmidling also deserves to be properly memorialized in the spot where he rests.

In addition to Schmidling and Capt. Lutz, the other names on the memorial are firefighters:

“George was the first City of Waukesha police officer killed in the line of duty,” said Bach. “He left behind three small kids.”

The City’s website gives this information about Schmidling’s heroism:

“Detective Schmidling located three subjects from a burglary that he was investigating in a downtown Waukesha restaurant. As they left the restaurant, he confronted them and requested that they go with him to the Waukesha Police Department.

He patted the three down and got into the front passenger seat of their car. One of the two suspects in the backseat drew a handgun that he had hidden in between the seat cushions and pointed it at Schmidling.

Schmidling grabbed the barrel of the gun but was shot once in the chest and once in the shoulder. Detective Schmidling returned fire from his duty revolver fatally wounding the shooter and then mortally wounding the driver who was attempting to draw a gun.

Detective Schmidling then opened the passenger door to escape and rolled out of the vehicle onto the roadway. Detective Schmidling served the Waukesha Police Department for six years and in the United States Navy before that. He was survived by his wife and three children.”

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Wisconsin Budget Negotiations Reach Impasse Between Evers, Legislature

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin budget negotiations have reached an impasse with both sides pointing fingers at the other in Wednesday afternoon statements.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Republican Legislative leaders backed out of negotiations after he agreed to “an income tax cut targeting Wisconsin’s middle-class and working families and eliminating income taxes for certain retirees.” He said Republican leaders would not agree to “meaningful increased investments in child care, K-12 schools, and the University of Wisconsin System.”

Republican Assembly leaders said the two sides were "far apart. Senate leaders say Evers’ desires “extend beyond what taxpayers can afford.”

“The Joint Committee on Finance will continue using our long-established practices of crafting a state budget that contains meaningful tax relief and responsible spending levels with the goal of finishing on time,” said a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Assembly Finance Co-Chairman Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.

Evers said that there were meetings between the sides every day this week before the impasse.

“I told Republicans I’d support their half of the deal and their top tax priorities – even though they’re very similar to bills I previously vetoed – because I believe that’s how compromise is supposed to work, and I was ready to make that concession in order to get important things done for Wisconsin’s kids,” Evers said.

Senate Republican leadership said that good faith negotiations have occurred since April on a budget compromise.

“Both sides of these negotiations worked to find compromise and do what is best for the state of Wisconsin,” said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Senate Joint Finance Co-Chairman Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green.

In early May, the Joint Committee on Finance took 612 items out of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal, including Medicaid expansion in the state, department creations and tax exemptions.

Born previously estimated that Evers’ budget proposal would lead to $3 billion in tax increases over the two-year span.

Wisconsin Policy Forum estimated that the proposal would spend down more than $4 billion of the state’s expected $4.3 billion surplus if it is enacted.

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DOJ Begins California Title IX Investigation Over ‘Trans’ Boys Dominating Girls’ Sports

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it is investigating California for violating Title IX by allowing males to participate in female student sports.

“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights. “It is perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies.”

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning males from participating in female student sports, and he has threatened to block California's federal funding for continuing to defy his order. With California facing deficits in the tens of billions of dollars each year, it's unclear how the state would offset any losses or pauses in federal funding.

Notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom hosted conservative pundit Charlie Kirk on his podcast and told Kirk that he thinks it’s “deeply unfair” that boys are participating in girls’ sports.

When asked later at a press conference what this means for state policy, Newsom demurred, painting the matter as a marginal, non-issue not worth his time.

“You're talking about a very small number of people, a very small number of athletes, and my responsibility is to address the pressing issues of our time,” said Newsom.

The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs student sports in California, has since responded to Trump’s threat by announcing a new pilot program to allow girls who otherwise would have qualified for sports finals had the finalist spots in girls’ sports not been taken by transgender-identifying boys to participate in said finals.

Title IX was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972 to ensure that schools could not discriminate against female students. It requires they be provided with equal opportunities to engage in athletics, extracurriculars and education.

DOJ’s letter of interest says it is investigating whether California’s Assembly Bill 1266, which requires transgender-identifying students to be allowed to participate in sports consistent with their gender identities, violates Title IX.

“As a result of CIF’s policy, California’s top-ranked girls’ triple jumper, and second-ranked girls’ long-jumper, is a boy,” wrote the DOJ. “As recently as May 17, this male athlete was allowed to take winning titles that rightfully belong to female athletes in both events.”

“This male athlete will now be allowed to compete against those female athletes again for a state title in long, triple, and high jump,” continued the DOJ. “Other high school female athletes have alleged that they were likewise robbed of podium positions and spots on their teams after they were forced to compete against males.”

Should the DOJ find California is in violation of Title IX, it says it will “take appropriate action to eliminate that discrimination, including seeking injunctive relief.”

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Should Feds Require ‘Intellectual Diversity’ Among University Faculties?

Through more than 140 executive orders, President Donald Trump in his first 100-plus days in office has used his signing pen like a battering ram to undo sometimes decades-old policies and practices that have shaped the federal government, including in public and higher education.

On day one, the administration banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs from federal agencies and institutions receiving federal funding, targeting schools like Harvard University that refuse to comply with his policies. But Trump also is attempting to move schools away from such practices by requiring them to hire for “viewpoint” or “intellectual” diversity – a move that has been met with varying degrees of skepticism and support.

The administration included such terms in both its list of demands to Harvard and in an executive order on reforming accreditation in higher education.

Among the 10 demands outlined in a letter from the administration to Harvard in April, it directed the university to facilitate an audit of the “student body, faculty, staff and leadership” for “viewpoint diversity” and to submit that audit to the federal government.

“Each department, field, or teaching unit must be individually viewpoint diverse,” the letter reads.

The university is to hire or admit for viewpoint diversity until a “critical mass” is reached in each arena.

Within a handful of recent executive orders on education was one meant to hold accreditors accountable for “unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives.”

“A group of higher education accreditors are the gatekeepers that decide which colleges and universities American students can spend the more than $100 billion in Federal student loans and Pell Grants dispersed each year,” the order reads.

The order accuses accreditors of prioritizing “discriminatory ideology” in accreditation standards over strong graduation rates, return on investment and other important criteria. As an antidote, the order commissions the secretary of education with devising new accreditation standards, including one that requires institutions to “prioritize intellectual diversity among faculty in order to advance academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and student learning.”

Heather Mac Donald, a scholar at The Manhattan Institute who’s written on a number of topics over the years, including higher education, is supportive of the goal but thinks the means are “problematic.” Mac Donald authored "The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture" in 2018.

“I agree with the substantive critique entirely. I think universities are the enemy of Western civilization,” Mac Donald told The Center Square. “They are perpetuating an ideology of hatred and of ignorance. They are betraying their fundamental obligation, which is the pursuit of truth, by embracing a one-sided, ignorant understanding of the West’s contributions and its relative position regarding other civilizations.”

In addition, Mac Donald believes universities have discriminated against certain racial groups for years.

“The universities have been blatantly discriminating against whites, white males, Asians, Asian males. They’ve introduced grotesque double standards for admissions and hiring,” she said.

Despite her numerous and serious critiques of contemporary American universities, she thinks a mandate from the federal government for intellectual diversity represents bureaucratic overreach. The administration’s demands to Harvard were provided mostly on the basis that the university has violated discrimination laws through expressions of and responses to anti-semitism on campus, she said.

“We are a government of limited powers. It’s true that the government does oversee civil rights violations under Title VI, but it’s a stretch to say that what’s going on with the left-wing bias in academia constitutes a civil rights violation that the Trump administration has the authority to correct by withholding funds,” she said.

“As necessary as it is to make a course correction, I don’t think that we should be doing so in a way that will justify further left-wing incursions,” she added.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has also been critical of how the administration has gone after Harvard, saying it has flouted the lawful procedure for resolving such issues, despite also being critical of Harvard at times. But Tyler Coward, the foundation’s lead counsel on government affairs, isn’t as quick to oppose the administration’s mandate in the executive order on accreditation.

“We’re still thinking of what it looks like in practice for accreditors to have some sort of mandate for institutions to show ideological diversity. We at FIRE think that ideological diversity is a good thing. In its best form, it helps foster a true learning environment, a true marketplace of ideas that we expect our universities to be,” Coward told The Center Square.

While the executive order may appear heavy-handed, Coward said the government’s relationship with accrediting institutions has already occupied a kind of gray space for a long time.

“The government is the one empowering these accreditors in the first place. The reason these accreditors exist is because the government licenses them to exist. So it’s this weird thing where the government is involved sort of but not really, and so what is the appropriate response from the government if things aren’t going well. These are age-old tensions,” Coward said.

Scott Yenor, a scholar with California-based think tank The Claremont Institute, thinks, like Mac Donald, that American universities have strayed far from their original purpose and need correcting.

“This is a classical liberal solution with kind of non-classical liberal means,” Yenor told The Center Square.

Yenor agrees that universities need to be a marketplace of ideas but believes most no longer are, and he thinks the administration’s attempt at requiring it might be a step in the right direction.

“I don’t know that there’s any other way of actually achieving intellectual diversity besides a demand that you achieve it,” Yenor said. “The government has been doing that when it comes to racial diversity, and always with the justification that increasing racial diversity will actually increase the intellectual diversity on campus.”

“What the Trump administration is doing is what has been done for a long time already, which is making explicit demands for ideological diversity but more direct than the indirect way it’s been done on racial stuff.”