Month: July 2017

A majority of Wisconsin voters remain supportive of the current national health care law, despite efforts by the Republican-controlled Congress to scrap the law.  Results of the latest Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday are almost identical from March, which also showed majority support for the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare."  Poll director Charles Franklin says the latest poll shows 54 percent favored keeping the law and improving it while 6 percent keep […]

A Fond du Lac man has been charged in connection with a robbery of a Fond du Lac business.  David Haefner made his initial Fond du Lac court appearance Thursday on charges of theft from a financial institution and bail jumping.    Police Chief Bill Lamb says Haefner is accused of robbing Heights Finance on Rickmeyer Drive last Friday.  Lamb says a sheriff’s deputy later spotted the vehicle on West Johnson […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker's spokesman won't confirm that the governor intends to seek 10-times the normal amount of money from the federal government to help solve a state budget impasse.  Tom Evenson on Thursday says the exact amount to be requested will be a part of "ongoing discussions we have with the Legislature."   A memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says Walker's administration may ask […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin System regents have approved the system's $6.2 billion budget for 2017-18.  The regents approved the spending plan on a 16-1 vote Thursday afternoon. The budget keeps undergraduate resident tuition flat as per a legislative mandate but raises student fees and campus housing costs by 2.6 percent on average across the system's four-year schools.  The budget also restores $25 million that legislators didn't […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin System regents plan to vote on a resolution affirming their commitment to free speech as legislators consider a bill that would punish UW students who disrupt campus speakers.  The Republican bill would require the regents to suspend or expel students if they receive complaints about their conduct during a speech or presentation. The regents also would be required to adopt a policy […]

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys for one of two teens accused of stabbing a girl 19 times to impress a fictional online character called "Slender Man" want jurors sequestered during trial.  The lawyers for 14-year-old Morgan Geyser argue a sequestered jury is needed because publicity surrounding the case makes it difficult for jurors not to hear about the case.  The lawyers filed the request this week. A hearing on the […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court says a law that declares killing someone while knowingly driving after license revocation is either a misdemeanor or a felony is constitutional.  Statutes say the crime can be charged as a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail or a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.  Ernesto Villamil argued the law is ambiguous and unconstitutional after he was sentenced […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is questioning whether some so-called sanctuary cities are responding honestly when asked whether they follow the law on sharing the immigration status of residents.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the department is reviewing responses from 10 jurisdictions that are facing the loss of some federal grant money if they can't prove they cooperate with federal immigration authorities.  The cities include New York, Chicago, New […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A vaccine developed in Wisconsin has been shown to protect prairie dogs from plague, a bacterial disease that has sickened three people in New Mexico this year.  Researchers reported that prairie dogs that ingested vaccine baits were twice as likely to survive outbreaks of plague as prairie dogs that didn't get the vaccine.  The vaccine was developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U.S. Geological […]