Wisconsin

Police: Beloit Elementary Student Brought Handgun to School

BELOIT, Wis. (AP) – Police in the City of Beloit say an elementary school student brought a loaded handgun to school Tuesday. A teacher at Todd Elementary School saw the gun in a backpack, confiscated the backpack and took steps to make sure other students in the classroom were safe. Police were called to the school around 8:45 a.m. Because…

Whooping Cough Confirmed in Superior School District

SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Superior School District is notifying parents that their children may have been exposed to pertussis, also known as whooping cough earlier this week. The notice was sent out to families after the district was notified by health officials that at least one student had a confirmed case of pertussis. Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial…

Cross: UW Regents Will Seek Tuition Increase in Next Budget

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says regents are planning to ask legislators to increase tuition in the next state budget. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Cross told the state Senate’s universities committee Wednesday that the regent’s biennial budget request will include a tuition increase roughly in keeping with inflation. Republicans have kept tuition…

Brewers Home Ballpark to be Renamed American Family Field

(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers home ballpark will have a new name next year after a 20-year deal with Miller comes to an end. American Family Insurance announced Tuesday evening that Miller Park will become American Family Field next Jan. 1. A new logo and other branding elements will be revealed later. The Brewers a year…

Senate to Vote on Funding for UW Missing Soldiers Project

(courtesy: www.biotech.wisc.edu) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate is set to vote on a bill that would allow the University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to request hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover missing Wisconsin soldiers’ remains. The bill would allow the UW-Madison Missing-In-Action Recovery and Identification Project to ask the state to release $360,000 over the next two fiscal…

Wisconsin Senate to Legalize Taking Selfies With Ballot

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin voters could legally take selfies with their marked election ballots under a proposal up for approval in the state Senate. Supporters of the measure call the current ban archaic, especially in an era in which voters are increasingly posting pictures of themselves with their marked ballots on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. But…

Regulators OK Natural Gas Power Plant in Northern Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – State regulators have approved plans for a $700 million power plant in far northwestern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state Public Service Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to approve a permit for Dairyland Power Cooperative to build the plant in Superior. The Nemadji Trail Energy Center will produce 625 megawatts of power using…

Student Shot During Attack on School Officer to Face Trial

OSHKOSH, Wis. – A Wisconsin teenager shot and wounded during an attack on a school resource officer has been ordered to stand trial. Seventeen-year-old Grant Fuhrman is charged as an adult with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the Dec. 3 attack at Oshkosh West High School. Resource Officer Mike Wissink was stabbed multiple times with a barbecue fork and fired…

Wisconsin Choice Schools Win Lawsuit Over Virtual Learning

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has ruled that Wisconsin’s education department is illegally treating private choice schools differently to public schools by not allowing them to count online classes toward instructional time. The ruling on Tuesday from Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren is a win for School Choice Wisconsin Action. The group includes private schools in the state’s…

Wisconsin Appeals Court Puts Voter Rolls Purge on Hold

(Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court on Tuesday put on hold an order to immediately remove up to 209,000 names from the state’s voter registration rolls. The appeals court sided with the bipartisan state elections commission in putting the brakes on removing any voters while the court fight continues. It also put on…

Train Cars Derail in Dunn County

(courtesy: Fox 9) MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) – Officials say a train derailment in western Wisconsin has closed roads in the area. The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office says the Union Pacific train was traveling east of the village of Knapp when some cars jumped the track Sunday. No one was hurt and no hazardous materials spilled. The Menomonie Fire Department says…

Social Media Threat Against Superior Middle School Resolved By Police

School Will Begin Monday As Normal

SUPERIOR, Wis. –  The following statements were released by the Superior School District and the Superior Police Department after a video surfaced on social media with someone saying they planned to shoot up the middle school on Monday.   That threat has since been investigated and dealt with by the Superior Police Department.  School will go on as usual on Monday…

Legal Fight Over Estate of Man Deprived of Water in Jail

MILWAUKEE – A legal battle has developed over the division of the multimillion-dollar estate of a man who died after guards at the Milwaukee County Jail deprived him of water. Seven people have come forward as children of Terrill Thomas. Milwaukee County and the company that provided health care services to the jail, Armor Correctional Health Services, paid $6.7 million…

Wisconsin Taxes Consumed Smaller Percentage of Income Again in 2019

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new report shows that state and local taxes ate up a smaller percentage of Wisconsin residents’ income for the eighth straight year. The Wisconsin Policy Forum released data Wednesday that shows residents paid 10.3% of their income in state and local taxes in 2019, down from 10.4% in 2018. The share of income consumed by…

Milwaukee Driver Shoots Children Who Threw Snowballs at Car

Police Are Looking for the Driver of a White Toyota

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee police say a driver shot and wounded two children who threw snowballs at a car. Police say the shooting happened Saturday night. Officers who responded to a shooting report found the injured children and gave them first aid until they were taken to a hospital. The children are a 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. Police…

Waukesha County Courthouse Closed Due to Bomb Threat

All Monday Court Proceedings Have Been Canceled

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – The Waukesha County Courthouse and Administration Building are closed because of a bomb threat. County Executive Paul Farrow posted on Facebook Monday that all morning court proceedings are canceled and will be rescheduled. The status of afternoon court appearances has yet to be determined. Sheriff’s officials or Farrow did not immediately provide details of the threat,…

Snowmobilers Who Died on Oneida County Lake Identified

RHINELANDER, Wis. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials have identified the snowmobilers who died in an Oneida County lake. Two snowmobilers died and a third survived after their sleds hit open water on Lake Nokomis about 3 a.m. Sunday. Sheriff Grady Hartman said Monday the men were on separate snowmobiles when they hit thin ice and then plunged into the water. Thirty-one-year-old…

Drummond Man Killed in Bayfield County Crash

Photo courtesy: Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office GRAND VIEW, Wis. – A Drummond man was killed in a vehicle crash Friday in Bayfield County. The crash happened at about 4:40 p.m. on U.S. Highway 63, a mile northeast of South Sweden Road in the Town of Grand View. According to the Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office, preliminary investigations revealed a passenger car…

Wisconsin Elevated to High Flu Category After Spike in Cases

MILWAUKEE – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has elevated Wisconsin to a high flu category after a dramatic increase of cases at the state’s Children’s Hospital. Wisconsin had been in the low flu category but the CDC made the change Thursday. Children’s Wisconsin Hospital said 829 pediatric flu cases were reported in December. That’s an increase of nearly…

NYC Official Arrested in Wisconsin, Accused of Facilitating Child Sex Crime

NEENAH, Wis. (AP) – A New York City education official has been arrested in Wisconsin for allegedly using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. Police in Neenah say David Hay was arrested Sunday at the airport in Milwaukee County following an ongoing undercover investigation. Police said in a statement that the 39-year-old Brooklyn, New York, man was booked…

Wisconsin City Mulls Dumping Old Ban on Throwing Snowballs

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) – For decades, those who have participated in snowball fights in one Wisconsin city have risked getting in trouble with the law. But that may be about to change. A 1962 ban on throwing projectiles in Wausau lumps snowballs into the same category as rocks and other items that can cause serious harm. The City Council president…