Month: May 2015

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature don't have deals yet on financing a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks or highway funding.  Both of those items have been removed from consideration by the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee on Friday. Committee co-chair Rep. John Nygren says there is no agreement on either issue.  The panel plans to meet again Tuesday to take up issues related to the […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Supreme Court members are continuing to disagree over how to run the chambers.  State Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack has hired a temporary administrator to fill a job that has been vacant for nearly a year. Roggensack announced yesterday that J. Denis Moran, who served as court director for more than two decades, will begin next week. But Justices Ann Walsh Bradley and N. […]

Two area legislators are trying to get the state to change the location of where two convicted child sex offenders are placed when they are released from prison next week.  State  Sen. Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and Rep. Mark Born of Beaver Dam issued a joint statement Thursday stating that allowing two Chapter 980 individuals to be placed next to the residence of two young children is simply unacceptable.  Fitzgerald and Born said […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says a Republican-approved expansion of the private-school voucher program could divert up to $800 million from public schools over the next decade.  The estimate was prepared at the request of Assembly Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca who released it publicly on Thursday.  The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee last week voted to lift a 1,000-student enrollment cap on […]

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 […]

The Fond du Lac school superintendent says he has concerns about a measure inserted into the state budget that would allow private, home-schooled and online charter students to participate in public school district sports and activities.  Superintendent Dr. Jim Sebert says he’s concerned a public school student could potentially lose an opportunity granted to a student who doesn’t attend the school.  "I didn't anticipate it getting jammed into the Jt. […]

The author of a provision inserted into the budget says it will give Waupun residents more time to become educated about new technology that will ultimately replace tower guards working overnight at the Waupun Correctional Institution.  State senator Rick Gudex the Waupun prison is unique because it is located near the downtown, in the middle of the city.  "There's a lot at stake when you start talking about residential housing […]

Kewaskum authorities believe a medical condition was the cause of a one vehicle traffic accident in which the driver subsequently died. On Sunday night, emergency personnel were dispatched to the Kewaskum Citgo on Fond du Lac Ave, for a traffic accident where a vehicle left the roadway and struck the sign of the business. Upon arrival, the driver of the vehicle, a 22 year old Kewaskum woman, was unresponsive.   […]