Month: June 2020

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — More than two dozen Wisconsin appellate court judges, including two sitting justices on the state Supreme Court, are calling for combating racism and increasing diversity in the legal profession. The open letter released Friday follows similar pleas by state Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges in other states in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police and the protests that followed calling for […]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — An attorney who spat on a high school student during an anti-racism rally and march in a Milwaukee suburb has been charged with a hate crime. Lawyer Stephanie Rapkin, who is white, showed up at the protest last Saturday in Shorewood and parked her car in the street, blocking the march. When protesters approached her to urge her to move her car, video shows Rapkin spitting on […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin State Patrol says four people were killed and seven people were injured in a series of crashes in Columbia County. The first crash about 3:30 a.m. Friday involved two semis on Interstate 90/94/39 at state Highway 60 near Lodi, the patrol said. Shortly after 5 a.m., a straight truck piled into the first crash scene, injuring two state troopers and a highway worker. The […]

Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says federal reform is needed to improve police training and practices in the wake of the death of George Floyd  in Minneapolis.    Senator Baldwin joined other Democratic lawmakers this week in introducing the Justice in Policing Act.   Baldwin says the Act is designed to hold police accountable and change the culture of law enforcement through transparency and accountability. Baldwin says police need  alternatives  to arresting people with mental health […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Hunters killed nearly 17% more turkeys during Wisconsin's spring season than last year. That's according to data from the state Department of Natural Resources. Preliminary totals show hunters registered 44,963 birds, up from 38,576 registered in 2019. The 2020 youth season yielded 2,880 kills, up 47% from 1,953 in 2019. The DNR issued 224,452 permits, up 5% from 2019. The department noted that a warmer spring […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democrats are uniting virtually for an abbreviated, online state convention with a primary goal in mind: defeating President Donald Trump. They had originally planned for a weekend meeting at a Wisconsin Dells convention center, situated in the self-proclaimed “water park capital of the world,” to serve as a rallying cry and set-up for the national convention in Milwaukee later this summer. While Democrats are still […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The lone finalist for the job as president of the University of Wisconsin System has withdrawn his name from consideration. University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen was the only finalist to emerge from a monthslong search. Other would-be finalists withdrew from the running out of concern about being publicly named as a finalist during the coronavirus pandemic. The University of Alaska System issued a statement […]