MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Elections Commission has decided to offer municipalities electronic poll books. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to have its staff develop the software. The project is expected to cost about $124,865 in staff time. Municipalities that choose to use the software would have to purchase hardware such as laptops and printers at a rate of $475 to $970 per check-in station at the polls. According […]
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A jury in Milwaukee has wrapped up its first partial day of deliberations without a verdict in the trial of a former police officer charged in the death of a black man. Dominique Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith last August as the man was fleeing. Prosecutors say Smith was defenseless when Heaggan-Brown fired the shot that killed him. Lawyers for the former policeman […]
The director of a government watchdog group says he’s hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will rule that redistricting maps drawn by Republicans are unconstitutional. The court this week agreed to hear the case in a landmark legal fight over Wisconsin’s gerrymandered political map. Common Cause in Wisconsin director Jay Heck says the lawsuit before the court uses a formula called the “efficiency gap” to calculate how many votes are […]
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Training camp starts a little earlier this year for the Green Bay Packers because the first preseason game, Aug. 10, at Lambeau Field is on a Thursday instead of Saturday. The Packers open training camp July 27 at Ray Nitschke Field with five morning practices through Aug. 1. The team has evening practices Aug. 3-4 followed by Family Night on Aug. 5. And just like […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin state park has canceled its summer bat watch program due to a fungal disease decimating the park's bat population. The disease known as white-nose syndrome has spread among the brown bat population in Devil's Lake State Park. The disease causes white fungus to form on the muzzle, wings, ears and other parts of infected bats. Park naturalist Sue Johansen says in one year the […]
The former Mayville police chief has been charged. Christopher MacNeill is scheduled to make his initial Dodge County Circuit court appearance June 26th on charges of misconduct in office and obstructing. MacNeill is accused of falsifying arrest records in 2011 to help the son a fellow officer get into the army after he was caught giving prescription medication to another student at Mayville High School. MacNeill resigned in March.
ERIN, Wis. (AP) — The elderly golf fan who died while attending the U.S. Open in Wisconsin had lost his wife of 68 years earlier in the week. Ninety-four-year-old Marshall "Chick" Jacobs died Friday in the arms of his son, Bill, after becoming unresponsive at the 6th green. Just three days earlier, Lucille Jacobs, died after experiencing complications from a broken hip. Bill Jacobs recalled that when his father made […]
A federal appellate panel has dismissed state officials' efforts to obtain federal funding to expand a highway between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan. Wisconsin officials have been trying to secure federal funding to widen a 19-mile stretch of State Highway 23. The project was estimated to cost about $168 million as of early 2015. A group called 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin that works for sustainable land use filed a […]
BEAVER DAM, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says thousands of fish have died in Beaver Dam as a result of a culvert project. Officials lowered the water level in the Beaver Dam River last week so construction work could be done near the river. Beaver Dam Mayor Becky Glewen says the city followed DNR protocol by shutting water levels to the minimum level, but did not […]