State News

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A conservation effort involving an ultralight plane leading endangered whooping cranes South for the winter has been forced to stop short of its Florida destination.      Officials decided Thursday to stay in Alabama.      The nine young cranes and the crew involved in Operation Migration have been in northern Alabama since before More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin National Guard is planning a pair of send-off ceremonies this weekend for about 200 soldiers headed overseas.      The first ceremony is scheduled for Saturday morning at an Experimental Aircraft Association hangar in Oshkosh. The proceeding will honor about 130 members of the 1157th Transportation Company. The troops have More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – One of the 20th century’s most famous performers who spent his childhood in Appleton will be the subject of an exhibit at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.      The show about magician and escape artist Harry Houdini is the first major art museum exhibition to examine his life, legend and More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The city of Milwaukee has received a federal grant worth $1.2 million to expand a community center that will provide employment and education services.      The money will be used to build the Milwaukee i-Center.      The center’s purpose is to offer introductory and advanced computer courses to help residents learn more More >

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) – As Facebook announces plans for going public with a stock offering, an Oshkosh woman is charged with selling fake shares of the Internet social networking company.      Marianne Oleson is charged with 33 felony charges in Winnebago County Circuit Court. Prosecutors say the 46-year-old woman claimed to own Facebook stock and More >

 MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Oregon School District is facing a lawsuit after denying enrollment to a student who was expelled from a Janesville school.      Documents say the middle school student was expelled after serving suspensions for allegations of sexual assault and possessing tobacco. The complaint says the student denies the charges.      Disability More >

 SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (AP) – Sun Prairie’s version of Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil is predicting an early spring.      Jimmy the Groundhog did not see his shadow Thursday morning in Sun Prairie. And, according to legend, that means that there will be an early spring this year. WISC-TV (http://bit.ly/zmG83Q ) says the annual Groundhog Day event More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic state Sen. Tim Cullen is bowing out of the governor’s race, saying he can’t raise the money to compete with better-known opponents. Cullen had been saying for months that he would run for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Scott Walker if a recall election is called. His decision leaves More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – State environmental officials say they won’t write new air regulations for sand mines.      A group of citizens asked the Department of Natural Resources in November to draft new rules governing dust particles that rise from the mines.      DNR Deputy Secretary Matt Moroney wrote in a letter Monday that existing More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Two former legislators and a veteran state representative say they’ll challenge a trio of Republican state senators in possible recall elections later this year.      Democrats angry over Republican support for Gov. Scott Walker’s contentious collective bargaining bill have mounted recall attempts against Sens. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls, Pam Galloway More >