State News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld as constitutional a 2009 law creating a domestic partner registry that provides limited benefits to same-sex couples. Thursday’s ruling keeps the registry active but is likely to be overshadowed by a pending gay marriage case. A federal judge declared Wisconsin’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a requirement that voters show photo identification at the polls, but the law remains blocked in federal court. Thursday’s ruling has no immediate impact given that the law was struck down in April by a federal judge in Milwaukee. His ruling is under appeal, and More >

LANCASTER, Wis. (AP) – A Prairie du Chien man is charged in Grant County with 33 counts of sex crimes involving very young children and child pornography. A criminal complaint says 32-year-old Aaron Bouzek told investigators he sexually assaulted a 2-year-old child beginning in 2007 until last April. Bouzek is also charged with assaulting a 1-year-old More >

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) – Oshkosh authorities say a small plane crash has left two people injured. The Oshkosh Fire Department says the homebuilt plane crashed Wednesday when it lost power as it was attempting to land. The pilot and passenger are brothers from Kentucky. Fire officials say the men had to be removed from the wreckage. More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A new Wisconsin system will send alerts when an at-risk adult has gone missing. The Silver Alert program starts Friday and will operate similar to the nationwide Amber Alert system for missing children. It will use the state’s pre-existing Crime Alert Network to quickly get out information about missing adults who may be More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to rule on the 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers, sparked massive protests and led to Gov. Scott Walker’s recall election. The court was scheduled to release its decision Thursday in a case challenging the constitutionality of the law. It More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court plans to rule on whether a 2009 law creating a domestic registry that provides limited benefits to same-sex couples is constitutional. The court was to issue its decision Thursday. It comes even as a challenge to the constitutional ban on same-sex marriages continues in federal court. A judge More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to rule on a 2011 law requiring that voters show photo identification at the polls. The law has already been ruled unconstitutional in April by a federal court judge in Milwaukee. That decision is being appealed. For the law to take effect, both the state Supreme Court More >

MARIENNET, Wis. (AP) – A Marinette domestic abuse shelter is being renamed after a counselor who was murdered by her boyfriend. WLUK-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1ABkUrm ) the Rainbow House will now bear the name of 45-year-old Patricia Waschbisch. Friends gathered at the shelter Wednesday to pay tribute and unveil a memorial plaque. Waschbisch was stabbed to death in More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Jurors are set to begin deliberating in the federal trial of a Colorado woman accused of kidnapping her newborn nephew in Wisconsin and abandoning him in freezing temperatures. The testimony phase finished Wednesday. The prosecution and defense will give closing statements Thursday, and jurors will begin considering a kidnapping charge against 31-year-old More >