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The University of Oregon has found its new president, on campus at UW-Madison.  John Karl Scholz announced yesterday that he is leaving Wisconsin to take over in Oregon.  Scholz is officially an economics professor at UW-Madison, but he has served as provost in Madison as well. He was one of the finalists for the chancellor’s job last year, but didn’t get that.  Scholz will be making 725-thousand dollars a year as Oregon’s new university president.

Most of the people in Madison’s guaranteed income program went shopping or went out to eat with their free 500 dollars-a-month. The city started paying some families 500 dollars a-month in September.  Yesterday, the city released a breakdown of where that money went.  Nearly 60-percent was spent on shopping and/or food.  About 20-percent of the money went to a car or other transportation needs, and about 10-percent went to paying bills or rent.  Just over four percent of the money

Six people are in jail in Black River Falls as the sheriff in Jackson County is investigating a death.  There aren’t many answers about the case, but investigators say it began last week with a report of a missing person.  On Friday, deputies learned the missing person was actually dead.  They found the body, and then arrested six people.  None of them, however, are facing any kind of homicide or accidental death charges.  They are all either facing drug charges

Eau Claire continues to inch toward a new wheel tax.  City engineer Dave Solberg yesterday said the 30 dollar per-year tax is better for the city than trying to raise money with a referendum.  Solberg says the cost of asphalt, curb, gutter, and sidewalk materials have all doubled over the past decade or so.  He says Eau Claire needs the one-and-a-half million-dollars per-year the tax would take in order to keep up.  Eau Claire’s city council is set to vote

There’s a bit more information about the baby found dead in a field in Whitewater.  Authorities yesterday said the baby was a boy, and was less than 48-hours-old.  Whitewater Police found the little boy in a bag, inside a cardboard box in a field on Whitewater’s north side on March 4th.  There is still no word about the baby’s parents, or how he died.  Investigators say the case is open and they are looking for tips.

There will be no shortage of money to close-out Wisconsin’s race for the Supreme Court.   Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said over the weekend that he expects more money to flow into conservative candidate Dan Kelly’s campaign in the final three weeks.  Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wickler said they will meet and beat whatever money Republicans find.  The race for the court is already the most expensive in US history, with 15 million-dollars spent so far.  Voters will make their decision on

Plans to get tougher on reckless driving in Wisconsin are taking the next step forward at the Capitol today. A Senate panel will hear three different proposals to either increase the fines or jail time for people accused of driving recklessly. The third plan would make it easier for cities to take cars from reckless drivers.  The three pieces of legislation are part of a wave of tough-on-crime packages from Republicans, though the reckless driving proposals could be signed into law.

Milwaukee County is offering Narcan and fentanyl test strips in a vending machine.  The county’s health manager, Dr. Ben Weston, says the idea is to try and help cut down on the number of accidental overdoses.  Weston calls them “harm reduction machines.”  Milwaukee County saw nearly 500 people die from drug overdoses last year, and saw another five-thousand people OD but survive.  The new machine is at the Coggs Human Services Center downtown.  Weston hopes to eventually have a machine

Police are releasing new information about a baby that was found dead in a field in southern Wisconsin earlier this month.  They say the the unidentified boy was found inside a plastic bag in a cardboard box in Whitewater on March 4th.  They now say he had been there for less than two days before being found.  No arrests have been made in the case.  Anyone with information on the boy is asked to call police.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is investigating fake text messages sent to FoodShare members.  The department says it’s getting complaints about FoodShare members getting texts telling them to call a phone number and confirm their pin to avoid getting locked out of their accounts.  The department says it’s immediately replacing all QUEST cards compromised by the scam, and says not to share personal information over the phone.