Local News (archives)
"Iron County is accepting bids for the former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources building located just west of downtown Upson, county board chairman Dennis DeRosso told the board Tuesday."
Flowages
to see new bag limits "A limit of three walleyes for sports anglers will be in effect on Iron County's Gile and Turtle-Flambeau Flowages when fishing season opens next Saturday. The limit is five walleyes on lakes throughout much of Wisconsin, and many anglers here aren't pleased with the three-fish limit that's a result of tribal fish spearing."
Hurley students take
part in STARS program"Students from the Hurley School District who participate in the STARS program took part in a field trip to the Wisconsin Visitors Center in Hurley. During their visit the students were informed of area landmarks and attractions."
Suspect
firewood lingered at stores"The recall order came April 13, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Menards was given 24 hours to get the job done. But more than a week later, government inspectors found contraband wood still for sale at two stores in southern Wisconsin..."
"State forestry officials scrambled Sunday to contain more than 60 wildfires that broke out as low humidity, high temperatures and high winds converged to create the most dangerous fire conditions Wisconsin had seen in the last several years."
Wisconsin
promises 8th-graders a path to higher education"The state's 75,000 eighth-graders -- of all incomes, in public schools and private -- will be able to sign the Wisconsin Covenant agreement starting May 10. They'll promise to earn a B average in high school, take courses to prepare for college, stay out of trouble and perform community service work. In exchange, the state will guarantee them a spot in one of its public or private universities or technical colleges. Low-income students will be promised a mix of work study, loans and grants to help them pay their way."
"Nearly four months after Cha Vang, a 30-year-old Hmong immigrant from Green Bay, was killed, many Hmong question why James Nichols of Peshtigo -- a 28-year-old white man accused of murdering Vang while both were squirrel hunting -- hasn't been charged with a hate crime."
"Between 80 and 90 acres of trees and grass burned, about half of which lie inside the park boundary, LaValley said. It likely will be a few days before all hot spots and burning embers are extinguished and the DNR declares the fire to be out, LaValley said. A downed power line is suspected to be the cause of the fire."
"A fire of undetermined origin has claimed over 200 acres of national forest and private late and forced the evacuation of four residences in the Crystal Lake area of southern Bayfield County."
Rep
D. Obey"The President is still standing in the way of the change the American people called for in the last election. We have to put enough pressure on the president's Republican allies to leave him. That's not going to happen overnight."
"Rep. David Obey, the committee's chairman, said in an interview he expects requests to number in the "thousands and thousands — just like last year. It's going to take a long time to sort through them all." But the Wausau Democrat has no plans to publicly release the requests or the ones he's personally made. "
Gov.
Doyle“My proposal will help provide the care and support that children across our state living with autism need and deserve, and help take the squeeze off the families that support them."
“If we want renewable fuels in the marketplace, we have to produce the fuel here in Wisconsin. If an oilfield in Mideast is competing against a farm field from the Midwest, that’s a very good thing for the environment, for our economy, and for the state,”
"While Constella says it has internal controls to prevent conflicts of interest between its government duties and its work for drug and health companies, the government doesn't require corporate contractors to disclose their private-sector clients."
Biskupic
known as prosecutor, not as pol"Several of Biskupic's corruption prosecutions have been trumpeted by Republicans seeking political gain. Because some of the cases later met with rebukes from the courts, there has been speculation that Biskupic avoided being fired by succumbing to Bush administration pressure."
Wineke:
This bishop picks rules over charity"Burke is well-known in Wisconsin, where he was Bishop of La Crosse before being assigned to St. Louis in 2004. As a bishop here, he wrote two state officials and Rep. David Obey asking them to refrain from taking communion because they weren't doing enough to outlaw abortion. Burke said he cannot endorse Crow's appearance because she has been an outspoken proponent of embryonic stem-cell research and of women's abortion rights."
"A fire is currently burning in Council Grounds State Park south of Forest Drive in northwest of Merrill... The Lincoln County Department of Natural Resources is on the scene, using bulldozers to cut a fire line, and Wisconsin Public Service is also on scene."
Obey:
Pull out not in vain"The president is saying because he screwed up and because (former Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld screwed up we're supposed to hold our military hostage forever more," Obey said, adding the military doesn't have the capacity to force political change in Iraq."
"The state was hit with 1,459 Lyme disease cases in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available. That was more than double the number in 2001, when there were fewer than 600 cases in the state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
ATV
trails possible in largest state forest"Development of as many as 38 miles of all-terrain-vehicle trails is being considered for the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest, which covers parts of Vilas, Oneida and Iron counties."
Sen
R. Feingold"The Administration should not legitimise this election as doing so would undermine our commitment to good governance and transparency, and to building strong democracies,.
“What could have been an historic election in Nigeria was instead a disappointing repeat of the past. Nigerian polls were marred by widespread reports of fraud, irregularities, intimidation, and violence."
Sen
H. Kohl“We protested Kohl because he postulates himself as an antiwar candidate, but he continues to vote for funding the war,” said CAN member Kate Losey. “We want and demand something more from our politicians.”
Attorney
General Awards"In September, Coughlin was honored for his work on fraud and white collar crime. By the following April, he was out because of his alleged connections to the one of the largest white collar crime investigations in DOJ's history. Only in the Gonzales Justice Department."
Private
plans would gain in SeniorCare lapse"The end of the SeniorCare program this year would mean a small windfall for the 23 companies that sell Medicare prescription drug plans in Wisconsin. The windfall would be the roughly 101,600 potential customers now in the state's popular prescription drug program. They could generate more than $100 million in additional revenue for the Medicare prescription drug plans."
"Your grandpa slathered it on prime rib. Your "bubbe" put it on the Passover Seder plate. And for all you know, there's a bottle of the lumpy white heat stashed in the back of your refrigerator. We're talking horseradish."
"Tim Counts, a spokesman for ICE, also declined to identify any of the six men arrested in Madison. He said agency policy is not to identify anyone against whom no criminal charges are pending. Three of those arrested were fugitives who previously had been ordered out of the country. The other three were encountered during the fugitive operation, Counts said."
Editorial:
Feingold's listening"Yes, by comparison with most members of Congress, Feingold is brave. But his bravery stems not from some inner reservoir of strength so much as it does from the people of Wisconsin."
UW
must give up filesharers"A U.S. district court judge said Wednesday the University of Wisconsin System must release the names and contact information of 53 students accused of illegal file sharing on UW networks."
"The reporting and collection of dead birds, starting Tuesday, will help researchers understand how the virus is spread and what types of birds are most susceptible to virus-carrying mosquitoes. "It's always going to be here in Wisconsin now," said Dr. Jennifer Meece of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. "While we never want people to not enjoy the out of doors, we always encourage them to be cognizant (West Nile virus) could be a problem." "
Risk
for wildfire expected to increase this weekend"One of the fires from last weekend was caused when someone was burning in a barrel and the fire just got away from them because it was too windy," Bonack said. "Another one started a couple of days after people had been burning. They hadn't fully put the fire out and [the embers] got up and started burning again."
County
to sue over Lake of the Falls parcel ""The Fisher Lake property is controlled by the Department of Natural Resources. Edelstein refuses to discuss anything with us. We haven't had any correspondence from them," DeRosso said."
""We're living within our means. We're looking at possible over-staffing. No individual or department in the county is exempt," county board chairman Dennis DeRosso told the board Tuesday."
Hurley
moves forward with water, sewer project "The easement obtained from Richard Soetebier allowed the council to award the main construction bid to A-1 Excavating of Bloomer. The easement is for property in the Florian Street area, where some lines will be rerouted."
VFW
Ladies Auxiliary elects officers"The inaugural luncheon will be held at the Liberty Bell Chalet on Wednesday, May 9, at noon. All members are invited to attend."
No
budging in budget votes"The committee is weeks away from votes on the most controversial recommendations of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle - proposed tax increases on hospitals, cigarettes and oil company profits, and a $20 increase in the $55 annual fee to register vehicles."
"This Court, not the Ethics Board, has the exclusive power and the responsibility in matters of ethical supervision and maintaining standards for the judiciary."
"The University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman has a big bedroom, a private fitness room and even the availability of a personal trainer at her home at the University House Statesider, 505 N. Frances St."
Pet
food recall hits bay area "Judy Erickson of Ashland recently felt the high cost of buying bargain pet food, after her mother's cat Shadow ate Special Kitty — a Wal-Mart brand affected by the nationwide pet food recall — and went into kidney failure. "
Sen
R. Feingold"Senate Republicans today blocked an effort by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Rules and Administration Committee, to pass common sense legislation that would require Senate campaign finance reports to be filed electronically."
Sen
H. Kohl"The decision has angered Wisconsin seniors and politicians, who say SeniorCare is easier to navigate and produces more savings than Medicare. Democrats don't have enough votes to override Bush's expected veto, which will bring them back to the drawing board."
Rep
D. Obey"Democrats marked Thursday's passage with a news conference during which they repeatedly urged Bush to reconsider his veto threat. "This bill for the first time gives the president of the United States an exit strategy" from Iraq, said Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin."
Club
proud of its work at Saxon Harbor ""We have the nicest facility on the south shore," Grace Hines from the Saxon Harbor Boating Club told Iron County Board members Tuesday, thanking them for allowing the boating club to manage the newly renovated harbor."
""It goes without saying, Mr. Laguna, that should the state ever be able to demonstrate that the complaining witness's unavailability here today was procured by you, you would be in other legal jeopardy," Vilas County Circuit Court Judge Neal Nielsen III told Laguna."
Court
commissioner to hold sessions"Court commissioner Sam Filippo will be on hand to provide procedural help and guidance, but not legal advice, for self-represented individuals on the following dates and times:"
Two
wolf killings now resolved"Two men who shot wolves on the same day last fall in different Upper Peninsula counties have both been sentenced, solving two of about a half-dozen illegal killings that have occurred in the past few years."
"The state Department of Natural Resources will gauge Wisconsin's opinions on chronic wasting disease this year with the aid of a newly formed stakeholder group of 30 to 40 people, as well as by taking in opinions by phone and e-mail."
Gift
to GOP group smells like gratitude"Sounds like the Janesville Republican leaned pretty hard on the feds to get the application moving. Then, three weeks after that meeting, Troha dropped $25,000 into the kitty of the National Republican Congressional Committee, a fund GOP House leaders use for key races."
Campaign
finance case hinges on Alito's vote"FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life challenges the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act's restriction on some television advertising. More commonly known as the McCain-Feingold law, it was enacted in 2002, targeting "soft money" contributions."
"Circuit Judge Rick Stout, noting that Overstreet had spent many months in jail over a carbonated beverage, said he hoped the soda was good. Overstreet responded: “I should've had a V-8.”"
Wood
sold in Minn., Wis., may have ash borer"The three states learned that thousands of bundles of the Taylors firewood came from trees cut in Illinois — which is under a federal quarantine intended to keep any infested trees or wood from leaving Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and southeastern Ontario."
WEAUEau Claire
War
Spending Bill"Among Wisconsin’s Representatives, Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Steve Kagen, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Dave Obey voted for the legislation. Republicans Tom Petri, Paul Ryan and James Sensenbrenner voted against it."
[Keep in mind that this bill included $100+ Billion for troops in Iraq. - Bob]
Sen
R. Feingold“Today the Senate took another important step toward ending our open-ended military involvement in Iraq. The President should quickly sign the supplemental bill, which passed with bipartisan support, and begin developing a more comprehensive strategy for combating terrorism."
Gov.
Doyle
EXECUTIVE
ORDER #195The Governor has ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff beginning on April 26, 2007 and ending at sundown on that date as a Mark of Respect for Staff Sergeant Robert Basham of the Wisconsin Army National Guard Who Lost His Life During Operation Iraqi Freedom
“Best of all, at least 98 percent of our citizens will have access to health care coverage – more than any other state in the nation.”
Iron
County approves 911 plan""This is not the answer to the problem. It is only a band-aid fix," said board member Bob Lambert, who is also the chairman of the law enforcement committee."
Vietnam
Veterans' steak feed Saturday "Vietnam Veterans of American Chapter 529 will hold its 17th Annual Steak Feed on Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. at the Iron County Memorial Building in Hurley."
"Although the $2,313,831 Saxon Harbor project completed last fall is partially to blame because of settling, the low water level of Lake Superior, which is about 30 inches short of the standard operating depth (based on the COE design of the harbor), is a more significant cause of the problem, Challis said."
Hurley
council to again consider water, sewer project easement "The council met last Thursday in special session to consider the easement from Richard Soetebier, but didn't approve it. At that time, the council was prepared to pay $5,000 to Soetebier as part of the deal for the Florian Street area easement."
"After discovering the dock in deep waters, with just an orange post showing, workers pulled it back to the shoreline later in the day. "We'll have to anchor it better this time," Walta said. "
"Athletic director Dean Kolpin said he was notified Friday that the Guard would be in the area with the wall. He jumped at the chance to get the wall in Hurley when it was offered here through Tuesday."
Mercer
hopes to replace Vaughn with part-time administrator, principal"The board is proposing to hire a K-12 principal at entry level ($60,000), and a part-time administrator for about $25,000 to take over Vaughn's full-time administrator duties."
"The state Assembly on Tuesday tentatively approved a bill that would require state officials - instead of local governments - to issue cable TV and video broadcast franchises and investigate consumers' complaints."
"The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank based in Thiensville, contends that a provision in the proposal aimed at keeping the tax from being passed on t o consumers will be overturned in court, as has happened in other states."
Oil
tax to raise costs, study says"Doyle has proposed taxing oil companies an estimated $272 million over two years and pledged he'll keep the costs from being passed on to Wisconsin consumers by fining or even jailing oil company executives who try to do so."
"But opponents note that the bill does not guarantee competition, or competitive pricing, and large telecommunications companies are unlikely to set up shop in more sparsely populated parts of the state."
"The 40-year-old machinist told Bild newspaper he had had "a few beers" with a friend in Wiesenburg, southwest of Berlin, and decided to hit the hay in the bank on his way home. Confronted with the lack of a hitching-post, he brought the 6-year-old horse, named Sammy, in with him."
"It is a rite of spring as predictable but certainly less welcome than the arrival of the first robin. Fire season has come to northern Wisconsin."
Sen
R. FeingoldFeingold,
Graham Introduce State-Based Health Care Approach"The State-Based Health Care Reform Act would launch pilot programs in several states to achieve coverage in the best way they see fit. States could use health savings accounts, single payer systems, expansion of current programs, or adopt completely new ideas in their efforts to cover the uninsured."
Sen
H. Kohl"U.S. Senator Herb Kohl has introduced legislation to overturn a nearly 30-year ban on the interstate shipment of state-inspected meat and poultry products. Wisconsin is home to more state-inspected plants than any other state in the nation."
Rep
D. Obey"But Rep. David Obey predicted Tuesday the two extensions could be removed from the spending bill after President Bush vetoes the package, as he has promised to do, and another version is negotiated with the White House. "I don't want people to get their hopes up because it's hard to see if anything decent survives when we go to a second bill," said Obey, D-Wausau."
Gov.
Doyle“Wisconsin’s future is rooted in manufacturing and in order to move our economy forward, we must have a strong, growing and innovative manufacturing sector.”
"Bob said his cousin Lester Stowel was a young student in the Bath School on May 18, 1927, when it was blown up by school board member and school handyman, Andrew Kehoe. The blast killed 45 people including Kehoe, the Superintendent of Schools, teachers, and 28 students from age 7 to 12."
"The search warrant says Schrader offered a Bushmaster .223-caliber receiver to an ATF informant for $200 on Oct. 14 at a gun show in Fond du Lac. The informant, who is not named in the warrant, was wired to record the conversation of the deal. Schrader told him the receiver would operate as a machine gun, the warrant states. The receiver was tested by ATF and confirmed to be fully automatic. The informant later bought a tool from Schrader designed to make a semi-automatic gun fully automatic, according to the warrant."
Line-item
veto bill renewed"The measure would allow the president to strike spending items attached to broader bills, but would send those items back to Congress before any of the vetoes would stand."
Trash
talk: Code of conduct wanted for writers in the blogosphere"A subtext of both sets of rules is that bloggers are responsible for everything that appears on their own pages, including comments left by visitors. They say that bloggers should also have the right to delete such comments if they find them profane or abusive."
Tree
pollens reach high level"If your allergy symptoms seem particularly nasty today, it’s not just you. Tree pollen levels are high in the area, according to staff at the Marshfield Clinic Wausau Center."
'That
used to be under water'
"Near-historic lows in Lake Superior, along with years of drought inland,
are turning the Kakagon Sloughs, the largest coastal wetland in the Great
Lakes, into dry land... But particularly vulnerable in the sloughs of Bad
River is the harvest from one of the largest wild rice beds in the world.
Dry stalks at this point in the growing season could kill off large portions
of the beds, possibly forcing some tribal members to go off the reservation
for wild rice, O'Claire said."
Sen
R. Feingold"U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will hold a press conference tomorrow to unveil a major health care reform proposal."
“By successfully including this extension in the supplemental, we are giving the administration another chance to preserve this model program,” said Chairman Kohl. “Programs like SeniorCare, which provides better coverage and costs the federal government less, should be preserved, not abolished.”
Sen
H. Kohl
Chippewa Herald - Chippewa Falls,WI
"Kohl's amendment would extend SeniorCare _ which the Bush administration is trying to end _ until Dec. 31, 2009. President Bush has vowed to veto the bill because it sets a deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq."
Rep
D. Obey"In the Congress Daily report, Mr. Obey did not state a reason for considering extending the no-pork diet. He said only that “I can’t tell you if we’re going to have earmarks or not until I see what the hell they look like, until I see what mood the House is in, what mood the Senate is in.”"
911
fix could be approved Tuesday"In the event this system is no longer needed, "Gogebic County agrees to allow Iron County to purchase the system for fair market value, taking into consideration the length of time Iron County has provided services for fielding and transferring the calls," the agreement noted."
Hurley
administrator testifies at state hearing"The revenue limit formula has done the job of keeping a cap on spending. Unfortunately, it has not provided a school district like ours the opportunity to meet daily fixed increases to our budget,"
Area
veteran honored on his 90th birthday "Guido's birthday had a patriotic element as well. He received a commemorative medallion given by the Northern Mariana Islands to U.S. troops who fought in the World War II Pacific Theater battles of Saipan and Tinian."
"More than 110 Wisconsin high school students attended the two-day conference designed to help high school students gain a better understanding of the role and operation of cooperatives, develop leadership skills, discover a problem-solving process they can use, and teen issues."
"The server, according to the affidavit, was offering 2,751 files constituting 1.22 gigabytes in 34 directories. The server's stats showed that it had been visited by people from 26 countries who made 13,659 downloads in exchange for 4,212 uploads."
"The aim is to foster a Midwest Biobelt, which will be the heart of the nation's efforts to develop homegrown, renewable fuels that are better for the economy, the environment and national security than imported petroleum-based fuels."
"The pesky mosquito, Wisconsin's unofficial state "bird," is ready to take a bite out of friend and fowl alike. Just as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano every spring, the advent of warmer, wetter weather in Wisconsin signals the start of mosquito season, made more harrowing the past six years because of the deadly West Nile virus."
John
Nichols: Feingold's service to Wisconsin, America"During the darkest days of the Bush interregnum, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., was a lonely advocate of oversight in particular and checks and balances in general."
Benefits
plan out of budget“These are policy items — major shifts in state policy — that don’t need to be tucked along in the budget,” Suder said. “These are policies that should receive their own public hearing.”
Bay
Area celebrates Earth Day "It was fitting to turn over a little dirt in the garden named for Earth Day's founder, the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson. Outside the headquarters of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, several volunteers gathered to dig up the soil and throw down some fresh mulch on the Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, which was started last year."
Sen
R. Feingold"The pair will introduce legislation in the House and Senate early this week that would enable the President to single out egregious earmarks in bills that arrive on his desk for signature and send these specific items back to Congress for expedited votes on whether to rescind, or cancel, funding for these provisions."
"While the Administration tries to talk up its troop escalation in Iraq, it has little to say about the threat posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates worldwide."
Rep
D. Obey"As Rep. David Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House's powerful Appropriations Committee, prepared to gavel the hearing to a close, Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) spoke up and threatened Congressional Democrats with more fights in the future. "There are more to come...they're all going to be tough," Domenici said. "
Gov.
Doyle“We have a special and sacred obligation to all the children of our state. This proposal will help provide the care and support that children across our state living with autism need and deserve."
Ironwood
pair now facing home invation [sp]-related charges in Iron County"Many household items, including televisions and furniture believed to have been taken in recent breaking and enterings in both the City of Ironwood and Iron County, were recovered in the search conducted by Ironwood Public Safety Department officers, with assistance from the Iron County Sheriff's Department."
Portions
of Iron County trails 2, 17 now open"The Iron County Forestry Department has opened Trail 2 from Hurley to the intersection of Trail 2a and 77, west of Hurley, and Trail 17 from Hurley south to Chuck's Bar. This corridor is the only trail opened at this time."
Ban
ocean vessels in lakes? Some are floating the idea"Frustrated with ocean freighters dumping invasive species that are ravaging native fisheries, despoiling prized beaches and costing water-dependent industries billions of dollars, the conservation group Great Lakes United proposed an overseas-freighter ban in late March, the day before the St. Lawrence Seaway was rousted from its winter slumber for its 49th season."
UW
has systems for depressed students"UW-Madison, like most universities, has a (mental health care) system where they can do crisis situations and they can meet with someone over a short period of time to try and get them back on track," Crim said. "For someone who maybe has a slight depression, that's fine. But with someone who has mental health issues ... and needs a full-time, long-term care provider, there's maybe some gaps in the system."
GOP
Troubles May Hurt Bid To Retake Congress in 2008"Ethics troubles loomed large last year in the Democrats' sweep of Congress. Republicans lost seats in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina and Montana, where ethical lapses were decisive. And Democrats will use the new ethics charges to remind voters why they pushed out the Republicans, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."
"There is not so much as a whiff of a kickback or any similar impropriety," Easterbrook wrote, joined by judges Diane Wood and William Bauer."
Lawmakers
retain limit on teachers' pay raises"Since 1993, the provision has said that school districts can avoid going to mediation in contract talks if they offer teachers a package of pay and fringe-benefit increases that total 3.8%. The limit was added to control property taxes."
AirTran
chief can't convince Kohl""My position hasn't changed. I hopeSen H. Kohl (Midwest Air) remains independent," said Kohl, who's expressed concerns about whether AirTran would maintain the same level of service that Midwest provides from Milwaukee, its main hub."
Court
tells why it freed Thompson"The prosecution never showed that Thompson clearly gained by her actions or even knew that her superiors favored Adelman Travel Group of Milwaukee for any improper reasons, the judges found. Prosecutors never eliminated the possibility that Thompson pushed for Adelman because of more innocent factors like cost or its status as a Wisconsin firm competing against an out-of- state company."
"An ethics complaint filed against Supreme Court Justice-elect Annette Ziegler that could result in her removal from the bench will be investigated by the state Judicial Commission, her attorney said Friday."
"A wild boar trapped in the middle of a major highway halted traffic for about 15 minutes outside Barcelona on Thursday, police said. "The animal was disoriented and did not know how to leave from where it was," said Sonia Gonzalez of the Catalonia Traffic Service."
National
Forest, DNR close roads to protect elk herd"Radio telemetry studies have shown that vehicle use within these sensitive areas has displaced elk, potentially affecting calf survival. Great Divide District Ranger Connie Chaney says, “We are really hoping to minimize disturbances during calving time for the elk — these are primary elk areas — and we all want elk calving to be as successful as possible.”
Sen
R. Feingold
"Our friends at Sunlight have been closely following S.223, a bill which would require senators to file their campaign finance reports in electronic form (as House members already do). The bill, sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), currently has 34 cosponsors (19 Dem., 13 Rep., and 2 Ind.). Despite this bipartisan support, it is currently being blocked from coming to the floor for a vote by one anonymous senator who has placed a “hold” on it."
Sen
H. Kohl“The report illustrates that the tools to reduce accidents involving older drivers exist, but that states are hesitant to implement practices which have not been proven successful,” said Senator Kohl. "
"Last week, Durbin and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) held a special hearing on the pet food recall. The hearing pitted FDA representatives and pet food lobbyists against the bipartisan Appropriations Subcommittee."
Wash.
Post noted Biskupic's overturned prosecution, but not judge's denunciation
of the case - Media Matters for America"But the article did not mention that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit took the highly unusual action of ordering Thompson released immediately due to lack of evidence. Indeed, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, Judge Diane Wood told prosecutors: "I have to say it strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin. ... I'm not sure what your actual theory in this case is."
Newly
minted undersheriff on the job "Kohegyi graduated from Northern Michigan University in December with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. She then went through 13-weeks of basic training at the basic recruit school in Eau Claire. She graduated from the Mercer High School in 2002."
"She is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Adams has more than 30 years of experience with fruit, vegetable and flower gardening and is a master gardener."
No
action at special meeting"The City of Hurley has an agreement for an easement to make its summer street infrastructure a go. The city council met in special session with the intent of acting on it and approving a bid for the project."
Mercer's
Majewski earns West Point appointment "Andrew Majewski of Mercer has been accepted at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Majewski, a senior at Mercer K-12 School, will begin six weeks of basic training in July. He will be a member of the Class of 2011 at the elite Army officer training university."
"A fire Jan. 20 destroyed the contents of the resale and craft shop operated by students at Mercer School."
"ederal firearms officials said Thursday they are investigating whether Cho Seung-Hui's mental health history should have prohibited him from purchasing the handguns used in the Virginia Tech slayings - including one from a Green Bay-based online gun shop."
Voters
not told of ethics inquiry"Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler knew she was under investigation by the state Ethics Board before she was elected April 3 as a Supreme Court justice, but she never disclosed that fact to voters."
Appeals Court questions federal prosecutor's moves in politically-charged
corruption case"An error — even a deliberate one, in which the employee winks at the rules in order to help out someone...is a civil rather than a criminal transgression," the opinion reads. "Likewise the sin is civil (if it is wrong at all) when a public employee manipulates the rules, as Thompson did, to save the state money or favor a home-state producer that supports elected officials."
"I think (this organization) allows us to leverage the capacity of what is going to be called the biobelt," said Nilsestuen, who was named the organization's president. "Wisconsin is going to be a major player (in the biofuel industry) but we're not the only player."
"Wisconsin has major untapped biomass reserves," said report author Brett Hulsey, president of Better Environmental Solutions. "While the state may not be able to match Silicon Valley as a high tech leader, it could be the Cellulose Prairie and Forest for biopower and biofuels."
Editorial:
Information boom hasn't ignited blast of knowledge"The best-informed group also took its news from the Internet, especially newspaper Web sites, PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," National Public Radio and Rush Limbaugh's radio program. The less-informed audiences favored network morning news, local TV news, the Fox News Channel and online blogs."
"The last agreement, signed in 1995, allowed 126,600 lake trout to be harvested between both tribal and non-tribal citizens. That number was bumped up to 150,500 under the new deal."
Sen
R. FeingoldOn
Earth Day"“This weekend the world will celebrate Earth Day, a celebration founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, the great Wisconsin senator and environmental leader. On this day, by celebrating our environment, we also celebrate Senator Nelson’s outstanding legacy."
"Sen. Feingold (D-WI) had one of the clearest and most damning exchanges with AG Gonzales earlier this morning."
[Includes link to video of the exchange. - Bob]
Gov.
Doyle
O'Reilly claimed WI
paper tried to "hurt" Thompson - Media Matters"But contrary to the assertions that the Journal Sentinel does not "like" Thompson because he is a "moderate," the newspaper actually endorsed Thompson during his final re-election campaign for governor in 1998."
[How is it that in such an overwhelmingly Democratic area, the only talk radio is this "truth challenged" blatherer. - Bob]
"The Iron County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday, April 24th,
2007 at 7:00 PM at the Courthouse in Hurley, Wisconsin."
"The Iron County Finance Committee will meet on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 4:00 PM at the Iron County Courthouse, Hurley, Wisconsin."
Economy
has many loggers 'up a tree'""You're dealing with global issues," he said. "You're dealing with pulp being shipped in from South America to the United States." The weather the last 1.5 years has hurt the market, he said. That's because it has been so good for logging, it's created more production."
"Ethics Board Chairman Jim Morgan said that Ziegler improperly decided those five cases, even though her family did not benefit financially from them. "A government official shouldn't be acting on a matter that affects a business of which the official or official's spouse is an officer or a director," Morgan said in a statement."
State,
U.S. meet over SeniorCare"The secretary expressed he understood what a difficult logistical problem that the ending of SeniorCare has created and that we need time to be sure people get the help that they need,"
Ruling's
effect on state abortion law is in doubt"But they said it was unclear if the decision would allow district attorneys to begin enforcing the stayed state ban that mandates life in prison for any physician performing such an abortion."
War
protesters leave Sen. Kohl's office here after threat of arrest"At about 9:30 a.m., police told about 35 protesters in the office to leave and later arrested a lone member of the group who refused the request."
"“It’s the customer’s responsibility to let us know where they want the gun shipped because typically the receiving dealer has to do some paperwork,” Thompson said. Once the required paperwork was completed, the gun was mailed from Green Bay to Virginia on Feb. 5, Thompson said. Records show it arrived Feb. 8, and Dowdy said Cho picked it up Feb. 9 at the store located just off the Virginia Tech campus."
Kohl,
Feingold question AG Gonzales"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales denied today that the public corruption charges against a Wisconsin state employee last year by a federal prosecutor were politically motivated. Both Wisconsin senators questioned Gonzales about that case during a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee into the circumstances surrounding his firing last year of eight federal prosecutors."
"A woman arrested following two car crashes last week registered a .47 blood-alcohol content on a breath test — nearly six times the legal intoxication threshold and possibly a state record."
Wolf
numbers are estimated to be up"Adrian Wydeven, a wolf ecologist for the agency, attributed the rise in the population reported by the agency Tuesday to several factors. They include an abundance of public land, a teeming deer population and wolves’ own population dynamics through which it has grown steadily ‘‘and then just seems to have taken off.’’"
Sen
R. Feingold"I didn't ask you and I'm not alleging that there were political considerations here