A second federal lawsuit has been filed challenging Wisconsin?s new law restricting collective bargaining rights. The lawsuit by two Madison-based labor unions was filed in U.S. District Court in Madison on Wednesday. The unions represent about 2,700 public workers in Madison and Dane County, including school teachers, city public workers employees and others.
Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for three men who were allegedly involved in a fight at the Mifflin Street Block Party that left another man with life-threatening stab wounds and his friend with a broken jaw.
Niles S. Schley, age 92, passed away on Saturday, July 2, 2011, at his home in Fitchburg. He worked as a master plumber for the University of Wisconsin for more than 25 years.
In University Theatre?s summer musical, four friends will play four friends who played … themselves.
“[title of show]” is a 2005 musical about making a musical with nothing more than four chairs, a piano and a goofy idea. In an early song, Hunter Bell asks Jeff Bowen: “What if the first scene was just us talking about what to write? We could put this exact conversation in the show.” And they do.
Keeping Hmong food traditions alive in Wisconsin is among the missions of UW-Extension nutrition educator Kazoua Moua. Her pioneering work with Hmong families recently resulted in her being honored as an “Outstanding Woman of Color in Education” by the University of Wisconsin System.
A longtime friend who now lives in Washington, D.C., called the other day.
?What the hell is going on in our state?? he demanded. ?People are making jokes about Wisconsin all over the place.? He?s right, of course. Our once proud state that long had the reputation for being on the cutting edge of everything from social justice to clean, honest government has become a laughingstock to many outsiders.
Just because Russell Wilson was a successful quarterback at North Carolina State the last three years doesn?t guarantee he will put up the same numbers with the University of Wisconsin this season. In fact, after crunching some numbers, ESPN Insider KC Joyner predicts Wilson will be a disappointment for the Badgers.
Have an idea for a new way to fly? AeroInnovate is looking for early-stage inventions to show off at the AeroInnovate Technology Showcase. The new event will be held at the Experimental Aircraft Association?s annual AirVenture gathering, July 25-31, in Oshkosh.
Heather Bowe?s dream was to play basketball at the Kohl Center. It?s a dream she realized in March when she led her Eau Claire Regis team to the WIAA Division 4 state title. But her home court in college will be somewhere other than the Kohl Center.
Bowe, who committed to former University of Wisconsin women?s basketball coach Lisa Stone following her freshman season at Regis, was told by new coach Bobbie Kelsey that the scholarship offer had been withdrawn.
The University of Wisconsin football team had to fight a lot of perceptions in the successful recruitment of former North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson. One of the biggest was summed up by veteran college football writer Stewart Mandel of SI.com in an interview last week.
?He?s so not the traditional Wisconsin quarterback,? Mandel said after Wilson announced he was transferring to UW.
Those who follow Wisconsin?s economic development scene know the state suffers from a lack of investment dollars to help new companies get off the ground. One figure often cited is that Wisconsin is home to 1.84 percent of the U.S. population and receives 2.15 percent of the nation?s academic research spending but attracts just 0.11 percent of the available venture capital.
For more than 25 years, John Neis has been working to change that.
Got a cause to promote? A political axe to grind? It soon may be easier to have your say if the city of Madison changes its ordinances to facilitate, rather than restrict, the distribution of literature on city streets.
GLENDALE, Wis. — Johnson Controls Inc. is providing research support to two University of Wisconsin campuses toward the study of batteries and other forms of energy storage. The Milwaukee-based company said Thursday it will provide faculty and laboratory space at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. Company officials said the move will help educate more energy researchers and also ensure that Wisconsin remains a center of energy expertise.
With hopes of moving forward, UW System officials decided to turn back the clock in looking for leadership to guide UW-Madison. David Ward, who was chancellor at Wisconsin?s flagship institution of higher education from 1993 to 2000, was introduced as the university?s interim chancellor by UW System President Kevin Reilly at a press conference Wednesday at Bascom Hall.
“David, it?s no exaggeration at all to say, is one of the most admired American university leaders at home and abroad,” says Reilly.
After the excitable crowds on the Memorial Union Terrace marvel at Madison?s annual Rhythm & Booms fireworks display taking place across the lake at Warner Park on Saturday, July 2, they?ll be greeted by an unlikely sight in Bill Callahan. The introspective singer-songwriter is not the first performer who comes to mind when one thinks of who should headline a day-long party capped by thunderous fireworks.
Many in Madison have long perceived the city to be a youthful place based in part, I suppose, on the annual infusion of University of Wisconsin freshmen. Well, the facts are indicating otherwise. A report by The Brookings Institute has Madison 6th in the nation for the rate of growth of pre-seniors, people ages 55 to 64, between 2000 and 2010. It is hard to generalize, but it feels like all those Vietnam-era Baby Boomers at UW who chose to stay are still around.
UW System President Kevin Reilly and Board of Regents President Michael Spector held a news briefing Wednesday at Bascom Hall to announce the interim chancellor. Reilly made the hiring decision after consulting with Board of Regents leadership and key UW-Madison stakeholders such as administrators, faculty, staff, alumni and donors.
David Ward, who led UW-Madison from 1993 to 2000, will be introduced as the university?s interim chancellor at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, sources have told The Capital Times.
William “Bill” Hilsenhoff passed away on Thursday, June 16, 2011, in Middleton. Bill had a distinguished career as a professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in association with numerous professional societies and committees.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is turning to a familiar face to become its next vice provost for lifelong learning and dean of the university?s Division of Continuing Studies.
The most progressive legislative session in Wisconsin history took place precisely 100 years ago, when a coalition of rural Republicans and Milwaukee Socialists united to enact reforms that broke the grip of the robber barons and finally put state government on the side of working Wisconsinites, small-business owners and farmers.
….Wisconsin established the standard by which other states were measured. It was the most innovative, the most humane, the most responsible and, above all, the most politically progressive state in the nation. And the ideas that came from Wisconsin formed the underpinning for the labor, farm, civil rights and social justice movements that would eventually come to the fore two decades later, as Franklin Roosevelt imported University of Wisconsin professors and veterans of the state?s legislative and political battles to forge a ?New Deal? for America.
Dear Editors: Walker?s catastrophe is helping Americans wise up to the results of ?trickle-up? economics. From decades of college teaching, I?d like to describe one scenario of the wealth advantage.
From Green Bay to Fond du Lac, Oshkosh and beyond, those involved in the movement to remove their legislators who sided with Walker say it is their constitutional right to take action, and while they may not be hoisting signs and walking around the Capitol, they are working to change the makeup of those who serve within it.
Quoted: Dennis Dresang, UW-Madison professor emeritus of political science
They are supposed to be sober, adult and dispassionate. But recent events have legal and political experts wondering what the heck is wrong with the state Supreme Court.
Quoted: Donald Downs, a UW-Madison professor of law and political science, and Mordecai Lee, a UW-Milwaukee political science professor and former Democrat state lawmaker.
Pool at Vitale?s, then dancing at Purlie?s, then winding down at Mr. P?s. For a generation, the three taverns within a mile of each other gave blacks on the South Side places in their neighborhood to mingle after dark ….However, since the three bars closed in the late 1990s, taverns that cater to blacks have assumed another pattern.
“We call them grand opening grand closings,” said Dwayne Williams, a UW-Madison budget analyst who has a side business as a music and events promoter.
Following a string of burglaries Saturday morning at downtown apartments, Madison police are urging residents to make sure their doors and windows are secure to prevent becoming the next victim. The close to half-dozen burglaries had common threads: unlocked doors for entry, and laptop computers the target items.
Dear Editor: I am a former city worker and a union supporter, but Madison Metro has way too much attitude. Service gets worse every year. Both management and drivers are at fault, so fire them all. Close Metro down!
UW System will no longer deduct membership fees from the paychecks of employees who are part of membership organizations such as the UW-Madison faculty group PROFS, or the academic staff group ASPRO. Some UW-Madison faculty said they were surprised by UW System?s decision to end the longtime practice.
MADISON (WKOW) — Russell Wilson has committed to Wisconsin and plans to play football for the Badgers and attend graduate school at UW beginning this fall, head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday. The UW Athletic Department released the following statement on Wilson.
“Russell will come in and compete for the starting quarterback position,” Bielema said. “This is an unusual situation, especially for a program that prides itself on developing players throughout their careers, as we do here at Wisconsin. However, this is a special situation and Russell is the type of player and person that fits very well with our team.”
MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin law professor said that bickering among the state?s Supreme Court justices has made the court a “laughingstock.” His comments come after a liberal justice accused a conservative court member of choking her during an argument earlier this month.
University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Howard Schweber said infighting has made the court a laughingstock and the justices have become fodder for late-night comics.
Russell Wilson will play his final season of college football at the University of Wisconsin. The sought-after quarterback had been weighing offers from the Badgers and Auburn against a continued career in minor league baseball.
“Russell will come in and compete for the starting quarterback position,” UW coach Bret Bielema said in a statement Monday.
Dear Editor: There are over 100,000 homeless veterans in this country today. But here in Madison we are debating whether it is legal or right for scientists to incite mice to fight. It?s good to know that we live in a country that has its priorities straight.
University of Wisconsin men?s hockey coach Mike Eaves dispelled two East Coast newspaper reports that he was being considered for the NHL opening at New Jersey. Eaves said Monday he?s had no contact with the Devils or any other NHL team about leaving his alma mater, where he?s coached since 2002.
Scratch another of the 2012 recruits for the University of Wisconsin women?s basketball team. At least for the moment. Whitney Tinjum, a 6-foot-1 wing player from Chisago Lakes Area High School in Minnesota, has decommitted from the UW program to open up her recruiting heading into the July evaluation period.
There are many valid reasons behind the Big Ten Conference?s decision to form a six-team men?s hockey league that will start in 2013-14. With traditionally strong programs at Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State and the University of Wisconsin, the conference should become a hockey power. The name recognition of those schools along with Ohio State and hockey newcomer Penn State could raise the profile of hockey nationally and give it a stronger voice in the NCAA. Finally, it will provide much-needed live programming for the Big Ten Network. Nationally, however, the perception of the conference is a bit different.
Heather Crispen died on June 6, 2011, after a courageous battle with cancer. Heather?s love of science took her to the Harlow Primate Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She started as a student worker in 1982, and after receiving her B.S. in psychology in 1983, she continued to work there until her illness prevented it. Her passion for science and monkeys continued through her career as she worked her way to becoming a research program manager. Recently Heather was awarded emerita status by the University of Wisconsin after a long and committed career cut short by her illness.
Maureen Ellen Grant, age 58, of New Glarus, passed away on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. She was a librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 26 years. An informal gathering to celebrate her life and to visit with her family will be held at a later date in New Glarus.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser allegedly grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck in an argument in her chambers earlier this month, according to three knowledgeable sources. But a different account of the incident emerged Saturday, and Prosser said the allegation “will be proven false.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted sources saying Prosser made contact with Bradley to defend himself after she charged toward him. Details of the incident, investigated jointly by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, remain sketchy. The sources spoke on the condition they not be named, citing a need to preserve professional relationships.
(The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism also collaborates with Wisconsin Public Television, the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication and other news media.)
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Steve Jacobson traces the philosophy that guides his business to this day, after 28 years in the mortgage-finance industry, to his time playing college basketball at UW-Madison. Jacobson, 50, was a guard under Coach Bill Cofield in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but it was what then-assistant and now head Badgers coach Bo Ryan used to say about the “precious present” that stuck with him most.
Geoff Herbach sensed a lack of smart literature aimed at teen boys. So he wrote a book called ?Stupid Fast.? Herbach, a Platteville native and UW-Madison grad who now teaches creative writing at Minnesota State University in Mankato, created a protagonist, Felton Reinstein, whose infectious energy nearly leaps off the page.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker left the state budget largely intact, using his powerful veto pen to issue only 50 changes before signing it into law Sunday. The lack of changes indicate Republicans who control the Legislature handed the governor most of what he wanted as they revised the two-year, $66 billion budget.
It means the 51-unit Pres House Apartments will remain tax exempt, sparing it an annual cost of about $200,000.
“We?re thrilled,” said the Rev. Mark Elsdon, executive director of the Pres House ministry. “We take it as an affirmation of the work we?re doing and the value of it.”
MADISON (WKOW) — The health of Braveheart, the dog who was left to die in a Kentucky dumpster, is greatly improving. Braveheart’s remarkable recovery will be on display on UW-Madison Day at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis on Wednesday, Aug. 10.
MADISON – Back in March, when the doctors and technicians at UW Veterinary Care first met Braveheart, he was an unknown, previously unloved and basically forgotten dog. He was found in a dumpster in Kentucky, where he was left to die. Braveheart was severely malnourished, full of worms and infested with parasites. His hair was spotty at best and open sores covered much of his skin. Fast forward to today and Braveheart is a well-known and loved dog.
Channel3000.com
Protecting the dogs who help protect us, that?s the idea behind the Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog organization that has made a very special donation to the University of Wisconsin Police Department K9 Unit on Thursday. The bullet resistant and stab resistant vest will go to the newest member of the unit, Odin.
The Wisconsin Alumni Association unveiled the secret ingredients of Babcock Hall Dairy?s new flavor, Mad Grad Medley, at a birthday party to commemorate its 150th anniversary. Bucky Badger and football great Ron Dayne delivered the first tastes of Mad Grad Medley — a Door County cherry-infused vanilla ice cream whipped with chocolate chips and topped with chocolate flakes — to the June 23 party on Alumni Pier, just east of the Memorial Union Terrace.
Dear Editor: On the night of Wednesday, June 8, something sickening happened in our neighborhood ? something we cannot get out of our minds, no matter what we do. Students living in the Badger House on Langdon Street, near where we live, made the poor decision of hanging a black nylon dummy from a noose, attaching it to their balcony.
Women, queer folks and people of color oftentimes do not feel safe walking down Langdon Street the way it is. To know that there was what is tantamount to a mock lynching (regardless of the intent) more than bothers those minorities living in the neighborhood. It is both terrifying and infuriating. The response from the UW has been minimal at best.
Progressives have found precious little to like in the 2011-2013 budget Gov. Scott Walker will sign into law Sunday at a ceremony in Green Bay. But perhaps the most regressive item is a new tax loophole ? disguised as an economic development tool ? that is projected to cost the state hundreds of millions in lost revenue over the next decade.
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, UW-Madison professor of public affairs and applied economics
With assistance from his curious mother, Michael Mersch has scanned his share of scouting evaluations that assess his strengths and weaknesses heading into the NHL Entry Draft that begins Friday.
ST. FRANCIS ? Jon Leuer smiled Tuesday afternoon when he was asked if he thought the Milwaukee Bucks were interested in drafting him.
“I hope so,” the 6-foot-11 forward responded enthusiastically. He got his wish. The Bucks used their second-round pick ? and 40th overall ? to select the former University of Wisconsin men?s basketball standout Thursday night in the NBA draft.
A long-time UW-Madison library system employee, Maureen E. Grant, 58, of New Glarus, was identified Thursday as the pedestrian killed when struck by a bus on campus Wednesday morning. An email sent to employees of the library system Wednesday alerted co-workers of the death. Grant is listed as an employee of the Central Technical Services department in the general library division of the university, working at Memorial Library.
Marquette University officials acknowledged Wednesday that the university made mistakes in how it handled student reports of sexual assaults and said they?ve worked out a way to improve how they report sexual assaults to city police. Previously, officials with Marquette?s public safety department left it up to the student who reported a sexual assault whether to report that assault to the Milwaukee Police Department. But that was against Wisconsin law, which mandates that a private security firm that believes a crime has been committed has to promptly notify police. Now students will be told the incident will be reported, but they have a choice of whether to talk to police.
Construction equipment and materials litter the section of road known as “old” University Avenue, while crews and sandwich-board type signs direct motorists who venture down this stretch that parallels Campus Drive to area businesses ? some of which are hurting for customers.
MADISON, Wis. — A woman has died after being struck by a Madison Metro bus on Wednesday morning in downtown Madison. The incident apparently occurred at about 8:54 a.m. when a woman was walking in a cross walk northbound on University Avenue. She was in the crosswalk and had a walk light when she was hit by the bus, which was turning left onto University Avenue from Lake Street, according to Madison police.
Authorities with the aid of hydraulic emergency equipment removed an injured female pedestrian from beneath a Madison Metro Transit bus at University Avenue and Lake Street at about 9 a.m., Madison Fire Department officials confirmed. The injured woman was taken to the UW Hospital and traffic was snarled Downtown while the rescue operation was underway.
The impressive start to the University of Wisconsin football team?s 2012 recruiting class has yet to make a big splash on the national scene. Blame that on its consistent success over the years, despite recruiting classes that rarely finish in the top 25 nationally.
“I don?t really care how Wisconsin is recruiting ? is the easiest way I can put it,” said Scott Kennedy, the national director of scouting for Scout.com. They?re going to be good.
Liz was known for her passion for the out-of-doors, for music, her cats, for her beloved husband, Jeff, and for her commitment to positive social change. As a producer for Wisconsin Public TV, she was ideally suited to the research and storytelling required for the job, working tirelessly to make sense of the world and pass that understanding onto others. Many of her Tribe met Liz through her work producing gardening shows (“she was an elegant gardener”), documentaries (“one of our best educators”), concerts (“a musician and director”), social issues (“sorting out the important things in life”), and environmental concerns.
MADISON (WKOW) – Wisconsin championship women?s hockey team is losing assistant coach Tracey DeKeyser, head coach Mark Johnson announced today. DeKeyser has been with the program since it started in 1998-99, and has done everything from recruit to serve as coach during Johnson?s one-year sabbatical to coach the 2010 U.S. women?s Olympic team.
People know me as: Samantha Crownover, executive director of Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. It?s my mainstay and I?ve been at it for 13 seasons. BDDS is celebrating its 20th season and that is very exciting for a chamber music festival in Madison.
I also do some art consulting, ranging from projects such as the Art Enterprise Initiative at UW-Madison to helping clients select and hang visual art in their home or business. I also manage a historic building downtown, the Baskerville Condominiums, because the level of detail and craftsmanship in many of our older buildings is so beautiful and worth caring for.
After a successful 10-year run, “In Wisconsin” has been cancelled by Wisconsin Public Television. Patty Loew, a professor at UW-Madison and the show?s host, said she was disappointed by the cancellation of the news and documentary program, but has fond memories of her time with the show.
“It was a program that reached into communities all over the state and I worked with some really talented people,” she said. The show?s cancellation comes after a large number of staff retirements and turnover, according to Kathy Bissen, director of production at WPT.
