WSJY News Headlines

Wednesday February 22nd:


Judges in the trial to determine whether the state's new election maps are constitutional will decide today whether an attorney for Wisconsin lawmakers can be ousted. Jim Troupis' name surfaced in emails linked to the voter-map issue, but he says his communications are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Sheboygan voters have removed Mayor Bob Ryan from office in the city's first-ever mayoral recall election. Unofficial results in yesterday's election showed former state Representative Terry Van Akkeren beat Ryan 53 percent to 46 percent with all precincts reporting. The election largely resulted from Ryan's admitted problems with alcohol.　

Wisconsin is one step away from relaxing its restrictions in building on wetlands. The Assembly passed the G-O-P measure on a voice vote last night and sent it to Governor Scott Walker, who said he looks forward to signing it. Walker said it would balance the need for economic growth with the need to quote, "protect Wisconsin's pristine natural resources." The measure requires developers to sign mitigation agreements to build specialized projects on wetlands, which help preserve flood control and provide habitat for wildlife.

Wisconsin lawmakers have passed a resolution naming a day for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The resolution designates December 12, 2012, as Aaron Rodgers Day. Rodgers, who wears No. 12, led the Packers to a Super Bowl win last year.

The Philadelphia Eagles have restructured the contract of defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, who had signed a five-year deal prior to the start of the 2011 season. In 16 games last year, Jenkins had 40 tackles and 5 1/2 sacks. The Central Michigan product played his first five seasons for the Packers and helped Green Bay to a Super Bowl title after the 2010 campaign.

Tuesday February 21st:


Two passengers killed in a traffic crash in Jefferson County were identified yesterday as 81-year-old Gordon Gehring of Hartford and 80-year-old Genevieve Matenaer of West Bend. Authorities said they were in a car that failed to yield to a pick-up truck as it turned onto Highway 16 in Ixonia late Sunday afternoon. Both drivers were hurt, along with another passenger in the auto.

Voters in several Jefferson County communities will be going to the polls on today to vote in primary elections. Primaries are set in the City of Lake Mills, where five candidates are seeking one city council seat; the Town of Koshkonong, where four people are vying for a supervisory position; and Jefferson County's District 25, where three names are on the ballot for the board of supervisor post. Additional primaries include a race in the School District of Edgerton for three seats on the board of education and for a municipal judge who serves portions of municipalities in Waukesha, Washington and Jefferson counties. In each race, the roster will be trimmed to two candidates advancing to the April general election.

Opening arguments are set to begin in Milwaukee in a federal case that could affect potential recall elections in Wisconsin. The case involves redistricting, where lawmakers draw new maps for voting districts every 10 years to account for population changes. The latest Wisconsin maps were drawn and approved last year by Republicans who control the Legislature. But several Democrats and an immigrant-rights group have sued over the GOP-friendly maps.

The state Assembly is set to take up a bill that would extend no-call prohibitions to text messages. Right now, telephone solicitors are banned from calling numbers people place on Wisconsin's no-call list. The ban doesn't include nonprofit organizations, calls made in response to a request for solicitation or to a solicitor's current customers.

The state Assembly is poised to name a day after Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The chamber is scheduled to consider a bipartisan proposal designating Dec. 12, 2012, as Aaron Rodgers Day on Tuesday.

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 16 rebounds last night as the Orland Magic narrowly beat the Milwaukee Bucks 93-90. Jameer Nelson added 15 points as the Magic beat Milwaukee for the third time in ten days. Brandon Jennings scored 22 points and Mike Dunleavy added 18 for the Bucks.　

Kentucky and Syracuse remained the top two teams in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll. The Wildcats are the top team in the nation for a fifth straight week and for the seventh week overall. Syracuse is second followed by Missouri, Kansas and Duke Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Georgetown and Marquette complete this week's top 10.

Monday February 20th:


One person was killed and three hurt in a two vehicle accident that occurred Sunday evening in the Town of Ixonia. A Jefferson County Sheriff Department spokesman said late Sunday that investigators were still at the scene of the accident, which occurred near North Street and Highway 16. According to the report, a pickup truck heading west on Highway 16 collided with a Buick when the car pulled away from a stop sign and into the truck's path.

Edgerton police are investigating an apparent hoax emergency phone call that sent several officers to a residence on the city’s west side Sunday night. Multiple Edgerton police officers and Rock County Sheriff’s deputies had gathered at a residence at the 1000 block of West Hain Road after authorities received an emergency phone call shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday from a person who claimed that multiple people had been killed at the residencer. Police later learned the call was an apparent hoax, and that no one at the residence was injured.

One person has died and five others were rescued when their snowmobiles broke through ice on Beaver Dam Lake and plunged into the water Saturday evening. The Dodge County Sheriff's Department hasn't release the victims' names. The victims are all from the Beaver Dam area and ranged in age from teens to 40.

A driver has been arrested on charges of homicide by drunken driving after a rollover crash in Fitchburg that killed three people and left a fourth critically injured. Fitchburg police say that more charges are expected in the crash that happened around 5 p.m. Saturday. Authorities say the driver was arrested a few blocks away after fleeing the scene.

Municipal and county clerks around Wisconsin say they're ready for the state's new voter identification law when it takes effect this Tuesday. Officials say because of possible confusion with the voter ID law and new boundaries for local races, the usually low turnout spring primary will be a good dry run for the higher turnout presidential primary on April 3rd.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he is considering a gun for governor if Wisconsin holds a recall election. Barrett’s comments came in a televised interview running in Milwaukee Sunday. Barrett says he has respect for other Democrats who plan to run, but he thinks Governor Scott Walker has done so much damage to the state he needs to be replaced. He is running for re-election to the non-partisan office of Milwaukee mayor next April. He lost to Walker in the 2010 campaign for governor

Josh Gasser scored 15 points yesterday as No. 15 Wisconsin topped Penn State 65-55. Jared Berggren added 13 points, and Ryan Evans and Jordan Taylor scored 11 points apiece for the Badgers. With the win, Wisconsin maintained their hold on fourth place in the Big Ten.

Ersan Ilyasova had career highs of 29 points and 25 rebounds in the Milwaukee Bucks' 92-85 win over the New Jersey Nets last night. Brandon Jennings added 17 points for the Bucks, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Guard Deron Williams had a team-high 26 points for the Nets.

Friday February 17th:


 Assembly Republicans have refused to take up a bill that would limit Wisconsin's hotly contested school voucher program after Democrats tried to force a vote. The voucher program subsidizes private education for students in struggling districts. Democrats in the minority tried to bring up the bill for a vote yesterday, but Republicans rejected the attempt.

A new judge has been assigned to the alleged embezzling case of a former aide to Governor Scott Walker. Forty-eight-year-old Timothy Russell is accused of stealing more than $21,000 from a nonprofit organization for veterans that Walker asked him to lead. The case will now be heard by Judge David Hansher, with an arraignment set for February 24th at 1:30 p.m.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged the stepbrother of a severely malnourished Wisconsin teen with repeatedly sexually assaulting her beginning around her 10th birthday, in the same year she claims her father and stepmother began confining her to the basement. Dane County prosecutors also charged the girl’s 40 year old father and 42 year old stepmother with child abuse and first-degree reckless endangerment, which are felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of neglecting a child. The couple and the girl’s 18 year old stepbrother appeared in a Madison courtroom Thursday for an initial hearing.

Draymond Green and Keith Appling had 20 points each last night in No. 7 Michigan State's 69-55 win over No. 15 Wisconsin. The victory moves the Spartans back into a first-place tie with No. 6 Ohio State in the Big Ten standings.

The Wisconsin high school basketball tournaments are apparently moving to Green Bay, after being played for decades on the U-W Madison campus. The W-I-A-A’s Board of Control has voted to accept an offer from P-M-I Entertainment to hold both the boys-and-girls basketball tournaments at Green Bay’s Resch Center as early as next year.

Monday, September 5th


BARABOO - Two people have dead after a house fire in Baraboo. Authorities in Sauk County say they are still investigating the cause of Saturday night's fire. The victims have not been identified.

MADISON - Officials have identified the body of a man found in Monona Bay in Madison. The Dane County Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday that 29-year-old Alexander Kwiek-Rysavy's appears to have drowned. Kwiek-Rysavy's body was found on Friday.

MILWAUKEE - The father of a local September 11th victim will speak at Marquette University this week. Gordon Haberman's 25-year-old daughter Andrea was on the 92nd floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center when a hijacked plane slammed into the building on September 11th, 2001. Gordon Haberman will be a guest for "On the Issues with Mike Gousha (GOO'-shay)" on Tuesday in Eckstein Hall.

SAUCIER, Miss - The weather system that had been Tropical Storm Lee could be even more of a threat as it moves to the northeast into the rugged Appalachians. Forecasters say Lee's slow-moving rain clouds pose a serious flash flooding threat to inland areas with hills or mountains.

SPORTS

HOUSTON - Shaun Marcum allowed just one hit over seven innings yesterday as the Milwaukee Brewers shut out the Houston Astros 4-0. Ryan Braun finished with three hits including a solo homer and an RBI single. Francisco Rodriguez and Takashi Saito each gave up a hit in one inning of relief to finish the three-hitter.
 
GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers are looking to ignore the fanfare heading into the regular season opener. Coach Mike McCarthy told his players yesterday to forget about the hoopla surrounding the NFL's first game of 2011 and concentrate on game preparations. The reigning Super Bowl champs take on the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field on Thursday.
 
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will have to wait until at least Tuesday to run the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway due to poor weather conditions associated with Tropical Storm Lee. The 500-mile race was scheduled to start Sunday at 7:30 p.m., but rain began falling on the 1.54-mile track late in the afternoon. There was a window of clear weather during the evening hours and track-drying efforts had nearly concluded when another shower passed through the area, forcing NASCAR to postpone the event. According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for the Atlanta area on Monday calls for a 100 percent chance of precipitation. 
 
Madison golfer Jerry Kelly is one of five competitors tied for second place going into today's final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Kelly shot a three under par 68 Sunday to go to 10 under par for the first three rounds. He's one shot behind leader Bubba Watson. Pewaukee native Mark Wilson is seven shots back and tied for 39th on the course near Houston. Steve Stricker is tied for 55 and is nine shots back. 

Monday June 27th:


ASHWAUBENON (AP) - Governor Scott Walker has signed his first budget, which plugs the state's $3 billion shortfall. Walker signed the fiercely contested bill Sunday afternoon at a private ceremony inside a Green Bay manufacturing company. About 200 people protested in front of Fox Valley Metal-Tech in Ashwaubenon when the governor arrived yesterday.

MADISON (AP) - Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Ann Bradley says Justice David Prosser choked her during an argument in her office this month - a charge Prosser denies. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Bradley's charge late Saturday night. Prosser issued a statement yesterday saying the allegations "will be proven false".

HOLMEN (AP) - Authorities say one woman is dead, four people are injured and a suspected drunken driver is in custody after a crash in western Wisconsin. The La Crosse County Sheriff's Department says a pickup truck rear-ended a car on Highway 35 just after 4 p.m. Saturday. Twenty-three-year-old Theresa Kroes died at the scene. Four of her passengers are hospitalized.

An investigation continues into a Saturday crash in south central Wisconsin that killed a 42-year-old Orfordville man. Rock County authorities said Kevin Mills was speeding on a rural road when his car went out of control and into a ditch. Mills flew through the car’s windshield. Officials said he died from head-and-neck injuries. Investigators said speed was a factor, along with the driver’s failure to wear a seat belt.

Congress is starting to put together the next five-year Farm Bill. The package of federal farm-related programs and policies is due to take effect in 2012. And freshman House Republican Reid Ribble of De Pere will help write it as a member of the House Agriculture Committee. He said long-standing programs would get a hard look to see if they're still relevant. Ribble said agriculture needs to be seen, quote, "through the lens of a 21st century economy." The president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, Darin Von Ruden, is concerned that funding for conservation programs be maintained. He said farmers need incentives to conserve, or else some won't be as motivated to be good stewards of the land.