Wisconsin News and Sports
One postitive of the Marquette Golden Eagles loss to Missouri on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament was that senior point guard Dominic James was able to see some action on the floor.
It was thought that James' Marquette career was over when he broke his foot agaist UConn late in the season. Doctors cleared him to play over the weekend and he got in the game but did not score.
Golden Eagle Head Coach Buzz Williams is glad that James saw his college career end in uniform and not injured.
Both Wisconsin and Marquette's women's basketball teams will take the floor in the WNIT tonight.
The Badgers (19-14) will host St. Bonaventure (22-10) at the Kohl Center tonight. The tip is set for 7pm in Madison.
Marquette (17-15) hits to road to Normal, Illinois for a 3rd round matchup with Illinois State (25-7). Illinois State was the regular season Missouri Valley Champs.
A public hearing on the state budget in West Allis draws a crowd of hundreds.
State Senator Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) says nearly 400 hundred members of the public and special interest groups turned out to testify Wednesday, during a budget hearing at State Fair Park. Sullivan says lawmakers heard testimony on a wide variety of issues, but he sensed an overwhelming concern of many was what the budget will do to protect jobs. The Wauwatosa Democrat says people are very anxious right now and there's a tremendous sense of unease.
The hearing was the second of six being hosted by the Legislature's Finance Committee. While the opinions presented vary widely, Sullivan says lawmakers pay close attention to the issues raised by the public and they can impact what ends up in the final version of the budget that's passed on to the full Legislature.
Several of those who testified Wednesday called on lawmakers to protect funding for state programs, while others want tax hikes removed from the budget. Sullivan says it can be hard to balance those demands.
The statewide tour of budget hearings will continue Friday in Eau Claire.
The Wisconsin Lottery is getting a leadership award from an unlikely organization; the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling.
Council Director Rose Gruber says they have partnered with the lottery for several years, to get the word out about problem gambling. She says those efforts include putting the hotline number on the backs of tickets and in promotional materials, and running ad campaigns to promote help for gambling addictions.
Gruber says the lottery isn't a big contributing cause of problem gambling. However, sometimes people call the gambling help line number of the back of a lottery ticket, thinking it's connecting them to the lottery. She says that's resulted in more than a few people asking for help when they realize the resource is available to them.
AUDIO: Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling Director Rose Gruber (MP3 :23)
The Secretary of the Department of Revenue says adding more auditors to collect delinquent taxes may not be the right move.
The state is owed nearly $1 billion in delinquent tax payments, and some lawmakers think adding more auditors could help collect that money. During a hearing at the Capitol Wednesday, Revenue Secretary Roger Ervin said he's unsure if that would actually help get the money though.
Instead of adding staff, Ervin says DOR is trying to consolidate its operations right now and look for other ways to make the agency more efficient. He told lawmakers it would be irresponsible to add staff, when it's unclear what function they would fill right now.
After evaluating the agency, Ervin says they may have a clearer picture of whether more staff would help collect delinquent tax payments or if there's another solution. He says new technology or tax law changes could end up being more effective than adding positions at the agency.
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