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Spending in Wis. Supreme Court race reaches $1.7M

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:28:16 +0000

     MILWAUKEE (AP) – A public-policy group says spending on
Wisconsin’s upcoming Supreme Court election has reached $1.7
million.
     The figure was released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for
Justice at New York University’s law school. It says most of the
money came from outside groups.
     The race is between incumbent Justice David Prosser, who’s
generally considered conservative, and challenger JoAnne
Kloppenburg, who’s seen as more liberal.
     The Brennan Center says the liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee
has spent about $769,000 in the last two weeks on ads attacking
Prosser.
     The biggest spenders on the other side are Wisconsin Club for
Growth and an arm of Wisconsin Manufacturer & Commerce. The
conservative groups have combined to spend about $648,000 against
Kloppenburg.
     Those numbers are expected to increase dramatically heading into
Tuesday’s election.

Wis. GOP pressing ahead with anti-union law

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:27:43 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s Republican leaders appear to be
taking the same confident and bullish approach to implementing
their divisive collective bargaining law that they took to passing
it.
     They are suggesting they may ignore a judge’s warning that there
would be consequences to moving ahead while challenges to the law
are pending.
     Gov. Scott Walker and his allies in the Republican-controlled
Legislature believe they are on solid legal ground as they push
forth with their efforts to implement a law that would strip most
public workers of collective bargaining rights and force them to
contribute more to their pension and health plans.
     Legal experts say GOP lawmakers and state officials risk being
found in contempt of court if they defy a judge’s orders, however
imprecise the orders were.

Republicans break with Walker on SeniorCare

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:27:12 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The co-chair of the Legislature’s
budget-writing committee and a fellow Republican member of the
panel are breaking with Gov. Scott Walker on his proposal to change
the SeniorCare program.
     Co-chair Sen. Alberta Darling and Sen. Randy Hopper said
Wednesday that they oppose Walker’s proposal to require
participants in the popular senior citizen prescription drug
program to first enroll in Medicare Part D.
     They are the latest Republicans to break with Walker on portions
of his two-year budget plan. Both Darling and Hopper are also
targets of recall efforts following their support of Walker’s plan
to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from public
workers.
     They say in a joint statement that they will fight to preserve
SeniorCare and not require Medicare Part D enrollment as Walker
wants.

Chicago company suspends plans for Wis. wind farms

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:26:39 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Chicago-based wind energy company has
suspended development plans in Wisconsin.
     Midwest Wind Energy’s president, Stefan Noe, says the company
was working on a 98-megawatt farm in Calumet County and another
project it hadn’t announced publicly. But he says Wisconsin’s
regulatory climate has grown too unstable.
     Republican legislators are trying to pull back from the state’s
current wind turbine siting standards. They say the rules allow
developers to build turbines too close to neighbors’ property,
driving down land values and increasing the risk of injury.
     The Legislature’s rules committee introduced a bill on Tuesday
directing state regulators to draft new standards.
     The rules committee’s two GOP co-chairs didn’t immediately
return messages seeking comment on the company’s move.

Walker re-introduces debt restructuring plan

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:26:06 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has re-introduced his
plan to refinance state debt and make other changes to balance the
state’s budget projected to be $137 million short by the end of the
fiscal year in June.
     Walker had previously proposed steps to balance the budget as
part of the collective bargaining law that were removed before that
measure passed earlier this month.
     The biggest piece of the proposal Walker introduced Wednesday is
debt refinancing that would save $165 million.
     Walker says in a statement that those savings will allow the
state to address shortfalls in the Department of Corrections and
Medicaid programs.
     The Legislature is expected to vote on the plan Tuesday.
     The future of the collective bargaining law remains in limbo
given ongoing legal challenges.

Unemployment rises in nearly every Wis. county

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:25:40 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Nearly every Wisconsin county saw its
unemployment rate rise slightly last month.
     Kenosha County was the only county whose seasonally adjusted
rate remained the same, at 10.1 percent. Every other county saw
increases in February unemployment compared to January’s rates.
     The figures were released Wednesday by the state Department of
Workforce Development.
     Door County had the highest rate last month, at 13.9 percent.
Dane County’s unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, the lowest in the
state.
     The department said last week the unemployment rate statewide
was 7.4 percent, better than the nationwide rate of 8.9 percent.
     The department says it’s not unusual for an unemployment rate to
increase in February as more jobseekers resume their job searches.
Unemployment figures don’t count people who have stopped looking
for work.

Study: UW-Madison chips in $12B to Wis. economy

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:25:13 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new study commissioned by the University
of Wisconsin-Madison says the campus contributes more than $12
billion to the state economy annually.
     The NorthStar Economics study released Wednesday also credits
the university for creating, directly or indirectly, some 128,000
jobs across the state.
     UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin says the school has seen
major financial growth thanks to UW-related startups, out-of-state
funds and federal research grants.
     The report comes as the university continues its pitch to split
from the UW System. Gov. Scott Walker has proposed spinning
UW-Madison into a separate public authority to increase autonomy
and flexibility. Martin says the changes are necessary, especially
to compete for future research grants.
     UW System officials say the split would hurt other system
schools and could lead to a rise in tuition.

Feds find safety issues at Wis. Tyson facility

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:24:45 +0000

     MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Federal labor officials have issued 10
safety citations at Tyson Foods’ plant in Jefferson.
     The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the
citations resulted from an inspection conducted in October.
     The agency says nine of the citations resulted from violations
that could lead to death or serious injury. Those violations
included a lack of fall protection, shortcomings in the plant’s
respiratory program and a lack of maintenance on industrial trucks.
     Tyson faces up to $45,000 in penalties. The company has 15 days
to respond. Company spokesman Gary Mickelson says in a statement
the company hasn’t had a chance to analyze the citations but they
don’t involve any actual injuries or illnesses.
     He says the company will review the citations and weigh its
options.

Wis. park where Fla. girl was injured will reopen

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:15:09 +0000

     LAKE DELTON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin amusement park where a
Florida girl fell 100 feet from a ride will reopen with new owners.
     The Wisconsin State Journal reports Sylvia Reyna and Orlando
Pedvoza bought Extreme World in Lake Delton last week and will
reopen it but the Terminal Velocity ride will remain closed.
     Teagan Marti was visiting from Parkland, Fla., last summer when nets and airbags that were supposed to catch her were not raised and she hit the ground. Doctors have said she had brain, spine, pelvis and internal injuries.
     State officials say the operator of the Terminal Velocity did
not follow protocol.
     Reyna and Pedvoza own the Alligator Alley attraction next to
Extreme World, which had been in foreclosure before the park was
shut down after the accident.

     (The State Journal report can be found at: http://bit.ly/eaw28o)

Snowflakes as Brewers-Reds ready to open

WRJC — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:13:07 +0000

     CINCINNATI (AP) – Opening day is arriving with a little extra
fanfare for the Cincinnati Reds this year. They’ve got a division
title and an MVP to celebrate.
     And they start the season against one of the teams that’s in
position to take it away.
     The Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers worked out at Great American
Ball Park on Wednesday with snow in the air – a numbing reminder
that the cold reality of the regular season was one day away. The
forecast for Thursday’s opener is dry with temperatures in the 40s.
     Reds right-hander Edinson Volquez will face Milwaukee’s Yovani
Gallardo. The Reds plan to honor National League MVP Joey Votto
before the game.