Home

Lawyers for a transgender woman are suing the state of Wisconsin because she cannot legally change her name.  Karen Krebs cannot legally change her name, she was born Kenneth, because she’s a sex offender.  Wisconsin law does not allow sex offenders to change their names.  Krebs’ lawyer this week said that law is unfair and causes her a number of problems.  Lawyers filed a similar lawsuit this week in Illinois over a similar name-change law there.  

The city of Milwaukee is going to have to get busy if it’s going to expand the Hop before next summer.  City leaders yesterday said they want to expand the streetcar service to reach Fiserv Forum ahead of the Democratic National Convention.  Mayor Tom Barrett also wants to take the Hop to Wisconsin Avenue, and south into Walker’s Point.  There’s no price tag for the full expansion, but the mayor says he wants to use TIF dollars to pay for it all. 

Senator Ron Johnson is holding a public forum in Hudson to talk about the removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list.  The meeting is at the Hudson House Grand Hotel on Friday from 10 a.m. until noon.  Representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will present information about the proposed rule to remove the wolves from the list in the lower 48 states.  Wildlife officials from Wisconsin and Minnesota will also be on hand. 

Attorney General Josh Kaul is pushing for Congress to fund Legal Services Corporation [[ LSC ]].  Kaul is joining 41 other Attorneys General saying Legal Services provides critical assistance to underserved populations in the states and the federal government needs to continue funding it.  LSC was established in 1974 by Congress to promote equal access to justice for all Americans.  

With the help of sponsors, volunteer organizations and U.S. Postal Service employees in 10,000 communities nationwide, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its 27th annual Stamp Out Hunger FoodDrive on Saturday, May 11. Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Last year’s drive resulted in carriers collecting 71.6 million pounds of food from local communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. The food drive has become

Residents of 16 western Wisconsin counties can expect to see and hear loud, low-flying planes as early as sunrise starting in early-mid May. Small, yellow planes will be treating for invasive gypsy moth caterpillars. These non-native pests defoliate many kinds of trees and plants during their caterpillar stage, causing stress and potentially tree death. Treatment efforts are focused in western Wisconsin where gypsy moth populations are low or beginning to build, in an attempt to slow their spread. DATCP will

A Wisconsin case involving police taking a blood-alcohol test while a person was unconscious will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Current state law states a person must consent to a blood-alcohol test if police have probable cause they’re driving impaired.  The case involves an officer that took a blood sample from a man he suspected was driving drunk while he was unconscious.  The suspect’s lawyer claims he should have had the right to withdraw consent.  A Supreme Court

Menomonie police are looking for suspects in three stolen car cases.  Police say two cars were recently stolen from Johnson Motors and one of them has been found.  Another was recently stolen from Keys Chevrolet.  Police say a couple people were seen on surveillance during the Keys theft but the suspects haven’t been identified.

Police are on the lookout for a man who escaped from the Rusk County Jail.  The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office says David Dvorak was released from the jail for a dentist appointment in Ladysmith yesterday morning but he never came back.  The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has since issued a warrant for his arrest.

Wisconsin house sales are down from this time last year.  According to the Wisconsin Realtor’s Association, statewide home sales dropped 14 percent this March from last March.  In Chippewa County the dip was a little smaller, just over a ten percent decrease.  The realtor’s association says 114 homes have been sold in the county so far this year at an average price of 155-thousand dollars.