State News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The vice chairman of the state Building Commission has decided to let a Wisconsin Chippewa tribe keep a $250,000 grant to help build a cultural center.  Rep. Dean Kaufert, a Neenah Republican, wanted to rescind the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s grant after the state’s Chippewa bands raised walleye More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Unemployment rates improved in nearly all 72 Wisconsin counties last month.  The state Department of Workforce Development said Wednesday that unemployment got worse in April in Calumet, Menominee and Price counties, and stayed the same in Iron and Langlade counties. Unemployment rates improved in the other 67 counties.  The highest unemployment rate was More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has announced a nearly $13 million effort to boost walleye production.  The plan calls for $8.2 million in borrowing authority to expand hatcheries, $1.8 million for operating expenses over the next two fiscal years and $2 million for grants for private organizations to expand walleye production. The plan More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Two Republican state senators want the Legislature’s finance committee to delete wording in Gov. Scott Walker’s executive budget that would exempt rent-to-own businesses from Wisconsin’s consumer protection laws.  Sens. Mike Ellis and Rob Cowles sent a letter Wednesday to committee co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren saying the plan More >

SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) – Police say a 30-year-old man has been killed at a wood shingle manufacturer in Superior.  First responders were called to White Cedar Shingles and Lumber Company at about 7 p.m. Tuesday in a building south of the coal piles off St. Louis Bay. They found David Clink unresponsive with his arm or More >

MARSHFIELD, Wis. (AP) – There may soon be a time when utility meter readers aren’t needed anymore.   Marshfield Utilities says it will begin replacing old electric and water meters with new wireless ones in June.  Assistant utility manager Bob Trussoni says the new meters will transmit data documenting energy and water use to the utility company’s More >

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) – A man is facing his 8th drunken driving charge in Wisconsin.  Twenty-nine-year-old Cole Knapp is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Marathon County. He’s accused of driving while intoxicated, operating while revoked and obstructing an officer.  A criminal complaint says a Rothschild officer tried to pull Knapp over for a traffic More >

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The number of poor is growing faster in the communities around Green Bay than in the city itself.  Press-Gazette Media reports that this reflects a national trend of poverty growing more rapidly in suburbs than in urban areas. The trend was documented in a new study by the Brookings Institution.  The Green More >

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Ministry Health Care plans to lay off several hundred employees, citing a drop in the number of patients and cuts in federal reimbursement levels.  Ministry operates 15 hospitals and 47 clinics across Wisconsin. The facilities include Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield and Saint Michael’s Hospital in Stevens Point.  Ministry spokesman Geoffrey Huys says about More >

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A bill that would prohibit law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin from using drones unless they have a search warrant or legitimate reason is up for a Capitol hearing next Wednesday.  The bipartisan proposal from Rep. Tyler August would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before using unmanned aircraft equipped with video More >