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Up north, dry and dangerous

July 13, 2009 By

high.jpg Conditions are tinder dry across much of Wisconsin's north woods. There's been a longterm drought in parts of northern Wisconsin. Trent Marty, DNR chief of forest protection, says people should know some areas in the northwest near Spooner and Hayward are down 30 inches of precipitation since 2004.

“It's important for folks to realize that if they do start a forest fire, they are responsible for the suppression costs, and the damage that they do cause with that fire,” says Marty.

There's been only scatted rainfall in recent weeks. “If we don't get rain this week, we will probably put in emergency burning restrictions, in parts of the state, especially in the northwest,” Marty adds. Marty says residents and visitors “up north” should be mindful of vehicle exhausts, machinery, campfires, cigarettes and fireworks.  

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:55 MP3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Top Story

WI Senators help open Sotomayor hearings

July 13, 2009 By

Wisconsin's two US Senators were among the first to give remarks to the Supreme Court nominee. During the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senator Herb Kohl emphasized the court's decisions affect key issues that Americans care about including public safety.

"As crime plagues our communities we navigate the balance between individual rights and the duty of law enforcement to maintain order," said Kohl.

Kohl also told Sonia Sotomayor not to answer upcoming questions in "generalities". The Wisconsin Democrat urged the nominee to share her thoughts on major legal areas like civil liberties, property rights, and privacy.

Senator Russ Feingold emphasized the Supreme Court has been such an important part of the checks and balances during the Bush administration. Feingold had a laundry list of what he considered attempts at violating the rule of law in the past 8 years, which includes the high court saying "no" to setting up a "law free zone at Guatanamo Bay" or holding a US citizen in custody with contact and rights to a lawyer.

Feingold also fired back at ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (R-Ala) who earlier in the morning suggest the nominee has engaged in "judicial activism." The Democratic Feingold says people should be wary of that term, particular when so many of the rulings of the conservative members of the court can be considered "activist" in their disregard for precedent or to override the intent of Congress.

Feingold and Kohl both voted Sotomayor to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998.

AUDIO: Brian Moon reports (MP3 :55)

Filed Under: Politics & Government, Top Story

County official wants to give his money back

July 13, 2009 By

A county supervisor representing an area with the highest rate of unemployment wants his colleagues to return a portion of the pay they receive for attending meetings.

Rock County Board Member Alan Sweeney, who represents rural areas in the northern part of the county, says the move would be symbolic since it doesn't represent a significant amount of the county's budget. At fifty dollars a meeting, he says it would be fair to give back one hundred dollars to the county to let voters know the board is feeling their economic pain.

He says supervisors would have to pay the tax on the per diem but it's a chance to "lead by example." He says he's received a positive response from his colleagues on the board.

AUDIO: Alan Sweeney (MP3 :22)

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Braun hitting cleanup for NL on Tuesday night

July 13, 2009 By

Ryan Braun The lineups are out for Tuesday's Major League Baseball all-star game in St. Louis.  Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has been penciled into the cleanup spot for the National League. 

Braun plays left field for the Brewers, but will start in right field tomorrow night.

Here are the lineups:

NL
SS  Hanley Ramirez
2B  Chase Utley
1B  Albert Pujols
RF  Ryan Braun
LF  Raul Ibanez
3B  David Wright
CF  Shane Victorino
 C  Yadier Molina
 P  Tim Lincecum

AL
RF  Ichiro Suzuki
SS  Derek Jeter
  C  Joe Mauer
1B  Mark Teixeira
LF  Jason Bay
CF  Josh Hamilton
3B  Evan Longoria
2B  Aaron Hill
  P  Roy Halladay

 

 

Filed Under: Brewers, Top Story

Mixed grades for county websites

July 13, 2009 By

An open government advocacy group gives Wisconsin counties mixed grades for the amount of information they post online.

Sunshine Review managing editor Kristin McMurray says Wisconsin ranks 10th for counties with the most transparent websites. However, she says there's still a lot of room for improvement.

McMurray led the evaluation of all county web sites. She says most sites were very good about posting contact information for local government and elected officials. However, most fell short when it came to posting detailed information about issues such as contracts and audits.

McMurray says some government officials wrongly think people don't want access to key documents online. She says they've found people want more information; it's just that governments have not posted it yet.

Sunshine Review publishes it evaluations on a searchable Wikipedia-like Web site. McMurray says the evaluations are ongoing and people can make changes.

She says they will soon look at web usability in their evaluations as well. Those criteria included accessibility, layout, and how easy they are to search for specific information.

Among Wisconsin counties, Brown, Dane, Outagamie and Ozaukee received the highest grades. Jackson, Green, Florence and Lafayette were the worst.

AUDIO: Matt Lehman reports (MP3 :38)

Filed Under: Politics & Government
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