State News

ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) – A state appeals court has revived a lawsuit brought by a group protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill at the Capitol in 2011. Six people who were issued citations for carrying signs sued state officials, saying their free speech rights were violated. The tickets were later dismissed by the Dane More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Attendance was up this year at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison. Officials say despite rain and thunderstorms last weekend attendance hit nearly 55,000 people at the three-day fair, an increase of 2 percent over 2013. According to the fair, the event’s estimated economic impact on the Madison area was $8.4 million, which More >

OCONTO, Wis. (AP) – A fire at Oconto High School has caused an estimated $5 million in smoke damage to the school. Students have been out of school since Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in a boys’ bathroom. Classes are also canceled Thursday and Friday is a scheduled day off. WLUK-TV (http://bit.ly/1gEtmJY ) reports when More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Justice Department has released the names of two investigators who lost their jobs after they let child pornography cases languish for months. Agency officials identified the investigators on Wednesday as Milwaukee Special Agent-In-Charge Willie Brantley and former Milwaukee Special Agent Anna King. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said they More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker disagrees with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s decision not to revoke the license of a teacher who viewed pornographic emails at work. Andrew Harris was fired in 2010 from his job as a teacher at a Middleton middle school after being accused of receiving and sharing explicit emails More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A 76-year-old Milwaukee County man has told investigators he shot his blind wife of 56 years because she’d been nagging him for three weeks. Prosecutors charged Jack Lang of Oak Creek with first-degree intentional homicide Thursday. Authorities say Lang called 911 on Wednesday to say he’d just shot his wife in the face. Police More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of clergy sexual abuse are arguing over what creditors will be told before they vote on the archdiocese’s bankruptcy reorganization plan. The plan the archdiocese filed in February would provide about $4 million to compensate nearly 130 victims, but it would exclude hundreds of others. Bankruptcy More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will not revoke the license of a teacher who viewed pornographic emails at work, despite Gov. Scott Walker’s request that swift action be taken to revoke the license. Andrew Harris was fired in 2010 from his job as a teacher at a Middleton middle school after More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has declared another propane emergency. Midwestern states have been grappling with a propane shortage spurred by the cold winter, a temporary pipeline closure and heavy propane demand for drying grain last fall. Walker declared an energy emergency in October that lifted hour restrictions on propane delivery drivers. In January he More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s unemployment is down to 5.9 percent, its lowest level since November 2008. The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that the unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in March, down from 6.1 percent in February. During that time the state added 6,400 private sector jobs. The national unemployment rate last month was More >