State News

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The sheriff of Milwaukee County is asking citizens to be particularly vigilant about activities around local religious sites due to hostilities in the Middle East. Sheriff David Clarke says there’s a potential for agitators to attack or vandalize synagogues, temples and mosques in protest. Clarke says if citizens see any suspicious activity, More >

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin’s natural history museum is installing a new mural to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the passenger pigeon’s extinction. Stevens Point Journal Media reports (http://mnhne.ws/1plLgrA ) the museum features the painting by local wildlife artist Mary Bratz. A preserved passenger pigeon is mounted in front of the mural. More >

MINOCQUA, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say the man who drowned in Oneida County over the weekend was from West Bend. Police in Minocqua say 56-year-old Russell Steiner drowned in Lake Shishebogama Saturday about 11 p.m. The man’s family tried to rescue him after he began struggling in the water and brought him to shore. WAOW-TV More >

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) – Aviation enthusiasts from as many as 70 countries are gathering in Oshkosh this week for the annual Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture. The convention draws about a half million people to the weeklong event at near Wittman Regional Airport. Thousands of planes have already landed at the airport. On Monday, NASA representatives More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Colorado woman accused of kidnapping her newborn nephew in Wisconsin and abandoning him in freezing temperatures is about to go to trial. Kristen Smith faces one count of kidnapping in federal court. Her trial is scheduled to begin Monday in Madison. She could face life if convicted. Prosecutors believe Smith kidnapped days-old More >

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Rapids police say an elderly woman has died after being hit by a train. A police lieutenant says the woman was pronounced dead at the scene in Wood County on Sunday. He says the woman attempted to cross the tracks while walking west and was struck by a southbound Canadian More >

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say a 65-year-old southern Wisconsin woman has died after a riding lawn mower accident. Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden says deputies were called to a home Saturday afternoon in the town of Janesville, where they found a woman partially trapped under a small riding lawn mower that was tipped upside down. More >

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) – Friends and family are mourning the death of an Illinois woman who drowned while rescuing a 9-year-old boy in a Wisconsin lake. The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1rCMLDF ) 47-year-old Karen Wessel of Arlington Heights died Tuesday. The Vilas County Sheriff’s Department says she went under the water in Star More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A federal appeals court has revived a lead paint lawsuit in Wisconsin, which could also reactivate more than 170 other lead poisoning cases. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a ruling by a federal judge in Wisconsin’s Eastern District who in 2010 threw out a case involving a Milwaukee boy who More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin continues to lead the nation in the production of mink pelts, accounting for one in three U.S. pelts last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Wisconsin produced 1.13 million mink pelts last year. That was up almost 8 percent from in 2011, the last year for which figures were More >