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Could Sheets be the jump-start the Brewers needed?

August 30, 2007 By

There's three things in life you can usually count on.  Death, taxes and Ben Sheets getting hurt and missing a stretch of the baseball season.

But last night, Sheets returned from the disabled list and jump-started a Brewers team in great need of a lifeline.  Sheets went six innings, allowing a run on six hits, to lead the Brewers to a 6-1 win over the Cubs.  The win evened the series at a game apiece and gave the Brewers just their 4th win in the last 15 games.  It also pulled the Brewers back to within 1 1/2 games of the division leading Cubs, ending a 5-game losing streak.

The Brewers were in a major need of a boost.  That boost came in the form of the Brewers ace Ben Sheets last night.

Now the million dollar question!  Will this effort be wasted, or will the Brewers turn things around with roughly one month of the baseball season left?

The only way we'll be able to answer that question is to wait and see.  The Brewers have a difficult finish in the final part of the schedule.  So if they're going to make some hay, the time is now.  

Ben Sheets supplied the start, his teammates now have to take it from there. 

 

Listen / Download – Ned Yost says the Brewers are OK. :21

Filed Under: Brewers

Madison hospital worker contracts TB

August 30, 2007 By

A woman who cares for patients at UW Hospital and Veterans Hospital in Madison has tuberculosis.

Doctor Dennis Maki, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital, says it's a potentially deadly lung disease, which spreads through close contact.

The woman's co-workers are now being tested along with a hundred patients who she may have attended at both hospitals. But the doctor believes the risk of others becoming infected is low.

 Dr. Maki says the woman didn't have the symptoms typical of TB, so it's not clear whether she was ever actually contagious.  He says she likely caught the disease from a patient whose T-B hadn't yet been diagnosed.  She is now on antibiotics and recovering well at home.

AUDIO: Dr. Dennis Maki ( :37 MP3 )

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Budget impasse threatens college financial aid

August 30, 2007 By

Roughly six thousand college students are paying close attention to what's going on with the state budget.

The longer the budget is at an impasse the longer those students will have to wait to find out if they get financial aid in the form of a state grant. Classes start next week and tuition bills are due.

The UW System's David Giroux says these students have tough choices to make. Take out more loans to cover tuition, start classes and hope the budget is far enough a long to unfreeze grants in time or worst case scenario not show up for college at all.

That in the long run, Giroux says is not in the best economic interest of the state. Wisconsin, he says, needs more students graduating from college not less.

AUDIO: Jim Dick reports ( 1:10 MP3 )

Filed Under: Budget, Education, Legislature, Top Story

Poverty hurts kids

August 30, 2007 By

Poverty levels in our state increased in the past year to 11-percent, and for children, it's even worse.

581-thousand Wisconsin residents didn't make enough money last year to live on, according to the US Census Bureau, and that includes 192,000 children. Charity Eleson with Wisconsin Council on Children and Families points out that 14.9-percent of children live in poverty, up one-percent from the year before.

Eleson's group is taking action to reduce and end childhood poverty in Wisconsin by 2020. (Vision 2020)

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:41 MP3)

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Labor Day weekend – last blast of summer

August 30, 2007 By

Watertubing (Photo: Wisconsin Tourism) This upcoming weekend could be the last good one for a while.

Among other things, Labor Day weekend means many people will be spending as much time as they can with their family and friends outdoors before summer unofficial ends.

"The 'last blast of summer' is always a good way to put it. With the later school starting date that means the families get one more chance to go out and have some fun. The weather looks great, the gas prices seem reasonable. So we're geared for one last big push."

Jerry Huffman with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism says so far as they can tell, the Tourism industry did well for the summer season and Wisconsin will maintain its status as a premier travel destination. As for Labor Day weekend, Huffman says it has a big impact on tourism dollars.

"Economically it's hard to put a number on what this weekend per se means, but without a doubt it is absolutely one of the biggest of the year."

A few years ago, lawmakers changed state law so kids don't have to go back to school until after Labor Day weekend, giving families one last blast of summer together. Some of the hot spots in Wisconsin? … Well, Huffman says that depends on the weather.

"If the forecast is as mild and hopefully the rain is finally done for a while, it's gonna be a big weekend. Anything you can do outside, just sort of … summer's almost over … it's golfing, it's hiking, it's fishing, it's biking. It really is sort of an open invite to get outdoors and enjoy one last great Wisconsin weekend."

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:33 MP3)

Filed Under: Labor, Recreation & Entertainment, Top Story
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