Category: State news

MADISON, Wis. — Authorities have identified the three people killed in crash with a man suspected of drunken driving on Interstate 39/90 near Madison on Thursday.

The victims were identified as Marcus S. Johnson, 19, of Milwaukee, Elysia M. Rapp, 20, of Racine, and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico. Two of the victims were identified as University of Minnesota students.

University of Minnesota spokesman Daniel Wolter said the two students were with the university’s Spirit Squad, a cheerleading squad. Wolter said the group was driving from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee when the crash happened.

MADISON (WKOW)– Three University of Minnesota students are dead following a crash that happened early Thursday morning on Interstate 39 near Madison.

….University spokesman Ryan Maus tells the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that two of the students were cheerleaders with the university?s Spirit Squad. Maus says the students were driving home from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee when the crash happened.

Senator Russ Feingold made a pitch for support from students on the UW Madison campus Wednesday.

Where have all the candidates gone? According to a report published Tuesday by Politico, many candidates are doing just about anything to avoid spending too much time in the public eye during the weeks leading up to the election.” The article, titled “Year of the missing candidate,” includes a shout-out to Wisconsin?s Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Ron Johnson, saying Johnson?s campaign has refused to share his daily schedule with the press As for U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, his staff members have said they notify reporters once public appearances are scheduled. For example, he?ll be at UW-Madison?s Library Mall on Wednesday afternoon to encourage early voting.

Graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School won?t be forced to sit for the state bar examination anytime soon.

Graduates of Wisconsin?s two law schools still won?t have to take the bar exam to practice in the Badger state. Wisconsin Supreme Court justices on Monday decided to keep Wisconsin?s so-called diploma privilege in tact.

The nation?s political spotlight was shining on Wisconsin this week. Don?t believe us? Just ask the approximately 26,500 people (including 17,200 packed into Library Mall plus the overflow crowd) who gathered to hear President Barack Obama fire up Madtown. The president chose UW-Madison for the first of a series of rallies aimed at re-inspiring his supporters and getting them out to vote for Democrats in the Nov. 2 election.

As of Thursday, any remnant that some 17,000 people had crammed into Library Mall Tuesday night waving “Badgers for Obama” signs, eating paper-wrapped brats and screaming wildly, was nearly gone. All that is left is settling the bill. The Democratic National Committee, which organized President Barack Obama?s rally, agreed to pay UW-Madison $10,500 for renting the space. That included 11 police officers, electricians, mechanics and groundskeepers, a green room and six VIP parking passes. But the university is still tallying any additional, reimbursable costs.

Enrollment at two-year campuses in the University of Wisconsin System is at an all-time high this year, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth.

That old political saying goes something like this: If you?re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you?re not a conservative at 40, you have no brain. No wonder then that President Barack Obama chose Madison ? a town rife with 20-somethings ? to kick off a series of rallies aimed at getting an increasingly down-hearted Democratic base to the polls this November.

Teachers and staff at La Follette High School used words like ?surreal? to describe the detour the presidential motorcade made Tuesday en route to a late-afternoon rally on the UW-Madison campus.

Obama addressed concerns, and more, during his two-day, four-state tour that ended Wednesday in Richmond. In the middle, he drew raucous cheers at a college rally in Wisconsin. “I know times are tough,” he told thousands of students at the University of Wisconsin on Tuesday. In 2008, he said, “the feeling was, well, this is just exciting. You got those nice ?Hope? posters.”

Embattled Democratic candidates in Wisconsin joined President Barack Obama at a rally Tuesday, urging the 17,000 college students in attendance to get energized to ensure Republicans don?t have an enthusiasm gap in the midterm election. “We can?t sit this one out,” Obama told the crowd packed onto an outdoor mall in the middle of the University of Wisconsin?s campus. Another 9,000 people showed up but couldn?t fit into the mall, according to university police.

The usual sight of students meandering leisurely in flip-flops and shorts mixed Tuesday with those of heavily armed police, barricaded streets and snipers atop the campus library, adding an intensity to the toasty fall day as UW-Madison welcomed its first sitting U.S. President in 60 years.

Obama got laughs from the crowd on Library Mall as he reminisced about his early days in Chicago, when he used to visit friends going to school in Madison. “I had some fun times in Madison,” he said. “I can?t give you all the details, but I have good memories here.”

Welcome to the State Journal?s live blog of President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall. Follow along as our reporters and photographers provide dispatches from the scene, or submit your own observations or questions.

Clearly frustrated by Republicans? energy _ and his own party?s lack of enthusiasm _ President Barack Obama scolded fellow Democrats even as he rallied them Tuesday in an effort to save the party from big GOP gains in the crucial midterm elections. At an outdoor rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the president urged thousands of students to stay as inspired and involved in this election as they were two years ago.

President Barack Obama served as the closing act Tuesday for a rock-n-roll, fire-up-the-troops extravaganza on the UW-Madison campus ? a giant rally meant to recapture the excitement of the campaign trail and bridge the so-called “enthusiasm gap” among younger, Democratic voters. Obama took the stage at Library Mall to a raucous crowd, following a performance by musician Ben Harper and a series of speeches by the state?s major Democratic candidates. From the outset, the president made it clear why he was in Madison, and on campus, at this moment.

President Barack Obama plans a University of Wisconsin rally complete with rock bands to ask young voters who helped propel him to the White House to re-engage and save fellow Democrats from political disaster this November. Crammed into an outdoor mall at the Madison campus, Tuesday?s visit carries a decidedly different political atmosphere than the one that surrounded the then-candidate in 2008, when a boisterous overflow crowd of more than 17,000 people greeted Obama at a basketball arena. His popularity has since dipped amid the nationwide recession, and many Democrats face tough challenges in the Nov. 2 midterm election. During a Monday conference call with college journalists, Obama acknowledged excitement has waned in the last two years. But he said he hoped the Madison rally would re-emphasize the importance of the midterm to advancing his agenda.

Signs and posters are among the rather lengthy list of items not allowed at President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall Tuesday, which is sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. This bothered local marijuana activist and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Ben Masel, who said it infringes on his right to speak freely in a public space.

Library Mall buzzed with activity Monday in preparation for President Barack Obama?s visit Tuesday, a rally intended to excite Democrats for the November election. On an autumn day bright with sunshine, workers put up risers, lights and a sound system at the site of the UW-Madison rally, wedged between Memorial Library, the Wisconsin Historical Society and State Street. Many UW-Madison students cited the historic opportunity to see a sitting president, even if they aren?t his biggest fan.

Rock band the National along with singer-songwriter Ben Harper are serving as opening acts to President Barack Obama?s political rally on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Tuesday. Thousands of students and others are expected to converge on campus for the outdoor rally, the first of four such events Obama has planned before the election.

With five weeks left to Election Day, President Barack Obama is trying to rekindle some of his 2008 campaign magic on college campuses while also devoting more time to a relatively new format of backyard visits that give him time to explain his policies in cozy, unhurried settings. The two-step strategy, which will play out in four states Tuesday and Wednesday, confronts Democrats? two biggest needs: to pump enthusiasm into young supporters who may stay at home this fall, and to persuade undecided voters that Republican alternatives are unacceptable. On Tuesday night, Obama will headline a rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he hopes to replicate the raucous, youthful, big-stage events for which he became famous in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Gov. Jim Doyle will not be around next week to welcome President Barack Obama to Wisconsin.Doyle?s office Friday announced the governor would be away on an “industry and trade” trip to China from Friday through Oct. 1. The president will be in Madison on Sept. 28, holding a rally on the UW-Madison campus.

With President Barack Obama?s visit to UW-Madison just a couple of days away, Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker visited campus on Sunday and told students he?s ready to fight for their votes.

“I?m not conceding any votes anywhere in the state of Wisconsin,” he told the crowd of about 40 students gathered inside a small room at the Memorial Union.

Just steps from Memorial Union and State Street, Library Mall is an idyllic backdrop for President Barack Obama?s campus rally on Tuesday. But it could also pose logistical and security challenges.With some campus streets already closed due to construction, including Observatory Drive, and more closed for the event, expect gridlock in the UW-Madison area on Tuesday. The program is scheduled to begin at rush hour, 4:45 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.

Gov. Jim Doyle said two national organizations would give $12 million in financial grants to help students throughout Wisconsin pay for higher education Thursday.