Here & Now; 207

August 15, 2003

Here and Now, black out and energy, Blackout which knocked out power for 50-million people from New York City to Detroit - and north into Canada - created a side effect in Wisconsin. One unit at Alliant Energy's Sheboygan Power plant sensed a shift in frequency as the Eastern power grid went haywire around four-fifteen yesterday afternoon. An Alliant spokesperson says the plant shut itself down as a protective measure. It was back on line within the hour. While the exact cause of the East coast blackout is still not yet pinpointed, State of Wisconsin energy officials are looking for lessons which can be applied here. east coast black out, Middleton company knew there was a serious electrical grid problem even before people in the northeast knew because Soft Switching Technologies developed and tracks a kind of 'early detection' power monitoring system. These monitors are used by utility companies and are in place throughout the northeast and midwest. veto override, State Senate attempted to try to override Governor Jim Doyle's veto of the property tax freeze. Reporter Art Hackett was there for the day's - and night's - events, and gathered these sights and sounds of our elected representatives at work, veto override, Freeze that was part of the budget is dead. The freeze that the Assembly passed is headed for an uncertain fate. Assembly leaders are also mulling over introducing a freeze as a constitutional amendment. The Governor does not have the power to veto a proposed amendment. Joining us now to analyze the political fallout from this week's events, mars close to earth, Mars burned especially bright because the red planet is closer to Earth than it has been for more than 50-thousand years.