MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Justice says it doesn't have any records of how many hours it spent defending Wisconsin's gay marriage ban, making the full cost of fighting the case impossible to determine. A group of gay couples filed a lawsuit last year challenging the marriage ban. They ultimately won the case this past fall when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to the DOJ's request to […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — One of the judges on the Wisconsin board that oversees elections, campaign finance and ethics laws tells the Speaker of the state Assembly that criticisms he made of the board were "just not true." Government Accountability Board Chairman Gerald Nichol sent the letter to Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos last week. The GAB released the letter publicly on Monday. A spokeswoman for Vos says he was […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Sen. Tammy Baldwin says she is accepting responsibility for not calling for an investigation sooner amid allegations that a Tomah VA medical center overprescribed opiates. In a column published in newspapers across the state Sunday, the Democrat says she should have listened and communicated better with the constituent who first brought the issues to her attention in March. Baldwin says she accepts responsibility for mistakes made […]
A Ripon College political science professor says all signs are pointing to an announcement that Governor Scott Walker is running for president. Walker spoke in Iowa over the weekend and plans to visit New Hampshire in March. Ripon College political science professor Marty Farrell says the fact that there is no clear frontrunner at this point among potential Republican candidates is in Walker’s favor. "He has won three elections in […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The punk rock band Dropkick Murphys is asking Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to stop playing one of their songs, saying on Twitter that "We literally hate you." Walker took the stage Saturday at the Iowa Freedom Summit to its song "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." The band then tweeted at Walker's official and personal accounts, "please stop using our music in any way...we literally hate you […]
CABLE, Wis. (AP) — Supporters of North America's largest cross country ski race want to raise $2.3 million to renovate the trails where it's held in northern Wisconsin. The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation has raised more than half of the $650,000 needed for the first of three phrases. Projects in the next five years would include construction of a trail bridge in Hayward, a permanent starting area, and an outdoor […]
The director of the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership says the Wisconsin Main Street program has paid off for Fond du Lac. Amy Hansen says since Fond du Lac was certified as a Wisconsin Main Street Community ijn 2004 there has been $87 million in private reinvestment, with a 38 percent increase in assessed value of the downtown district. Hansen says the DFP has awarded $192,000 in grant assistance for […]
The Dodge County District Attorney says there’s a crisis facing prosecutors around the state. DA Kurt Klomberg joined members of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association at the State Capitol last week to meet with legislators about the high turnover rate among assistant District attorneys. Klomberg says pay progression legislation approved last year has helped reduce an 18.4 percent turnover rate among ADAs, but says DA offices are still understaffed. Klomberg […]
The Wisconsin Consumer Protection department says operators and employees of small businesses statewide should be aware of a recent phone scam that targeted a number of gas stations in the Fox Valley area. Division Administrator Sandy Chalmers says station employees received a phone call from a scammer claiming to be a district manager for the company. The “district manager” instructed the employees to take $500 from the registers to a […]