MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new report says Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan to eliminate about 30 Department of Natural Resources scientists and educators could cost the agency dozens more positions. A memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau produced on Tuesday notes that if the DNR creates layoff groups consisting of scientists and educators, state law would require the agency to eliminate all limited-term and positions in those classifications […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin may be the first state in the country to certify teachers who don't have bachelor's degrees under a provision put in the state budget last week. An analysis of the proposal by an attorney for the Legislature released Thursday shows that preliminary research found no other state allows teachers without a degree in the classroom, except for career and technical education. The proposal added to […]
OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — An Oshkosh zoo had to euthanize a wolf after the animal bit a child. Ray Maurer, the city's parks director, says the wolf "nipped" a child last Friday when the child entered a non-public area of the Menominee Park Zoo and put fingers through a fence. He declined to disclose the child's age or gender, citing federal privacy laws. The child was transported to a local […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Assembly Labor Committee has approved a measure that would eliminate Wisconsin's prevailing wage law. The committee voted Wednesday 5-4 with Republicans in favor advancing the bill. Representative John Spiros, a Marshfield Republican, joined Democrats in voting against the measure. Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday said he would sign a repeal of the law. The proposal would do away with a law that requires construction workers […]
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A farmer in Beaver Dam is being accused of defrauding a crop insurance company. The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that a federal grand jury indicted 37-year-old Jeffrey Lewke on nine counts of crop insurance fraud. The indictment accuses Lewke of defrauding a company insured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., which provides insurance to farmers for unavoidable crop losses. According to the indictment, the fraud went […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin lawmakers have tweaked Gov. Scott Walker's plan to expand the state's Family Care program and wrap the IRIS program into it. The governor's budget calls for seeking a federal waiver to allow expanding Family Care, helps people stay out of nursing homes, statewide by Jan. 1, 2017. The budget also calls for eliminating IRIS, a related long-term care program that provides self-directed assistance with bathing, […]
The Dodge County Sheriff says an informed community is a safer community. Sheriff Dale Schmidt says that was the purpose of a community notification meeting Wednesday night to inform the public of a court order that two convicted child sex offenders are being released from prison and will be living in Dodge County. Schmidt says Jonathon Miller and Robert Larson served time in prison for child sex offenses and now […]
Fond du Lac County officials are reacting with shock and anger over a federal court judge’s ruling halting the Highway 23 expansion project between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan. A judge ruled Friday that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation used unsupported, inflated traffic forecasts to justify the project cutting off federal funding for the project. Republican State Senator Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac says the news is disheartening. "This […]
Construction is getting underway on a major expansion project at Fond du Lac’s Mercury Marine. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Wednesday morning on a new 45,000 square foot EDP plant expansion. Merc president John Pfeifer says the expansion is part of the company’s investment in the main campus in Fond du Lac. "EDP coatings is what gives us the anti-corrosive nature of our product which of course is critical for a marine propulsion […]