Local News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — U.S. Senator Ron Johnson says he has subpoenaed the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General for information on an embattled medical center in Tomah.  Johnson said in a statement Thursday he sent for the documents on behalf of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as it investigates reports of opiate overprescribing and retaliatory behavior at the hospital.  The facility is at the […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin district attorney says the Department of Veterans Affairs has moved too slowly in its investigation of interstate drug distribution.  Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco in a letter Thursday said a California VA facility lagged in its probe of a veteran who dealt VA-prescribed opiates through the U.S. Postal Service.  DeCecco said the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Division of Criminal investigation launched […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Newly released emails show Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack cast the deciding vote for herself to replace longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.  The emails exchanged between the justices were released Thursday to The Associated Press by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in response to an open records request.  They show that Justice Michael Gableman made the motion to make Roggensack chief justice during a closed meeting […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans are moving a bill through the Wisconsin Legislature that would prohibit drivers from using cellphones in construction zones.  The measure would ban drivers from using phones that require the use of their hands in construction zones when workers are present. Violators would face forfeitures ranging from $20 to $40 for a first offense and $50 to $100 for a second or subsequent offense within a […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Senate's transportation committee has approved a bill that would clear the way for a 70 mph speed limit.  Under the bill, the state Department of Transportation would decide where to raise the limit from 65 mph to 70 mph. Republicans amended the measure this week to prohibit the agency from raising the limit on four-lane roads with at-grade access.  The committee approved the proposal […]

Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt visited Fond du Lac’s STEM Academy and STEM Institute charter schools, Wednesday, to learn about the schools’ student-lead education initiatives.  After a tour of the Mercury Marine facility, the pair traveled to the STEM Charter Schools, located at 401 S. Military Road, to get a first-hand look at how Mercury Marine’s investment in the schools is impacting students and the community. […]

Dozens of firefighters helped fight an out of control brush fire off Highway 45 north of the Lakeside Park west entrance Thursday morning.  Fond du Lac fire chief Pete O’Leary says the fire in Supple’s Marsh was reported around 8am.  The fire burned several acres and was out by 9:30am.  O’Leary says firefighters were working to prevent the fire from jumping over the highway and spreading to the west.   […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Supreme Court justices have moved quickly to replace longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson with Justice Patience Roggensack.  The move Wednesday came after results of a constitutional amendment removing seniority as the sole determinant of who is chief were certified and as a federal lawsuit seeking to delay implementation is pending.  Abrahamson's attorney Robert Peck says in a letter filed in a federal court that Abrahamson […]

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — A man accused of causing the death of his fiancee's 4-year-old son will stand trial in Sheboygan County. Armando Aguirre says he was playing with the boy and swinging him around by the legs when his head hit the carpet. But prosecutors say the child's injuries aren't consistent with Aguirre's explanation. A sheriff's detective testified yesterday that Aguirre initially said the child sustained a "glancing blow," […]