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Bucks sign first round draft pick

July 28, 2009 By

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed their top draft pick, Brandon Jennings to a multi-year contract.  Jennings was the 10th overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Jennings played in the 2009 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with the Bucks.  He led the entire league in assists (tied, 8.2) and steals (3.6), and was Milwaukee's third-leading scorer (14.6 ppg).  Jennings shot 42.9% from 3-point range in helping the Bucks to a 4-1 record during Summer League play.

Jennings comes to Milwaukee after spending a season with Lottomatica Virtus Roma in Italy.  He averaged 5.5 points, 2.3 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 17 minutes per game in 27 Italian League games last season.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Favre says he'll stay retired!

July 28, 2009 By

After months of speculation on Brett Favre's future, the former Packers and Jets quarterback has decided to remain retired from the NFL, instead of taking the starting quarterback job in Minnesota with the Vikings.

Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder said the decision was extremely difficult and indicated that this will be it, he won't likely consider play again in the NFL.

Favre didn't think that his health could be trusted for an entire 16-game season.  That pain wasn't necessarily in his arm or shoulder, but in his knees and ankles. 

Favre had several Vikings players calling and texting him, trying to convince the future Hall of Famer to play with the Vikings.  Instead, Favre will pass on the previously negotiated 1-year, $10-million contract. 

Favre told Werder, “I had to be careful not to commit for the wrong reasons.”  He said, “They were telling me, 'You went through all this, you had the surgery and you've got to finish it off.'  But I havelegitimate reasons for my decision.  I'm 39 with a lot of sacks to my name.”

Favre's decision leaves the Vikings with Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson to compete for the starters job in Minnesota.  That means coach Brad Childress has some damage control to do with both, who were expected to compete for the job before the courting of Favre began.

The Vikings are scheduled to report to training camp on Thursday and start practicing on Friday.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

State ranks 10th for well being of kids

July 28, 2009 By

Wisconsin ranks number 10 nationally in a new state-by-state study on the well-being of America's children.

The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation reveals that since 2000, Wisconsin  improved on six of the 10 measures affecting child well-being. Yet on four other measures, conditions worsened for Wisconsin's kids.

In 2007, Wisconsin's child poverty rate stood at 14 percent, up from 12 percent in 2000. Despite ranking 12th nationally, the percentage of Wisconsin children living in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment increased from 27 percent in 2000 to 29 percent in 2007; an increase of 13,558 children.

Wisconsin's infant mortality rate fell from 6.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 births in 2006. During the same six-year period, the state's child death rate decreased from 20 to 15 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 14. And the teen death rate dropped from 66 deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15 to 19 in 2000 to 59 deaths per 100,000 in 2006.

Wisconsin ranks third nationally on two indicators-percent high school dropouts and percent of teens ages 16 to 19 not in school and not working. The state ranks eighth among the 50 states on two other measures: percent low-birthweight babies and child death rate.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Choosing who heads the DNR

July 28, 2009 By

Legislation aimed at taking the politics out of the Department of Natural Resources receive a hearing at the Capitol Tuesday.

State Representative Spencer Black (D-Madison) says the bill would restore a system for naming the DNR secretary that was in place until 1995, where a citizen's board decides who will head the agency.

The governor currently has the power to appoint the secretary, which supporters of the bill say allow politics to influence environmental decisions.

Current DNR Secretary Matt Frank disagrees with those who think the change will keep politics from influencing the agency. He says the need for policy to pass the Legislature would also have to be removed to make sure the agency is completely independent.

Frank also defended the need to keep the DNR as a cabinet-level agency. He says having the governor's backing makes it much easier to pass important environmental protections, such as ballast water regulations and the Great Lakes Compact.

However, Black says the current way of selecting the secretary means the governor controls the priorities of the DNR. He says that can result in policies that do irreversible harm to the environment every time a new governor is sworn in. The Madison Democrat says Mother Nature doesn't wait for political time tables, and damage that's done can be difficult to fix.

The bill is being considered by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (MP3 1:22)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Texting ban vote could come this session

July 28, 2009 By

A state lawmaker is hoping the legislature will ban sending text messages while behind the wheel. Recent news that the federal government suppressed a study showing the hazards of cell phoning and driving has state Senator Alan Lasee more optimistic over his bill ( SB 103 ) banning texting behind the wheel. The DePere Republican says texting is even more risky. "There is a difference between using a cell phone and texting," says Lasee. "Texting requires you to really take your eyes off the road, read the message, and then take your eyes off the road, and using one or two hands, send a message back."

Lasee says he's had conversations on the dangers of texting and driving with his own grandchildren – and he had an eye opening encounter with a texting driver while riding his motorcycle recently near Portage. "I looked over, and she had both hands off the wheel on the phone, texting. She was five, six feet away from me, doing 80 miles an hour."

Lasee's bill has been approved by the Senate Transportation Committee and is available to be scheduled for a floor vote. "I think the chances of passing some sort of restriction on texting and driving are probably imminent," says Lasee "My attitude is, because it's so serious, and the act of texting is different than talking on the phone, I think we need to highlight it, and it should really be taught for the young drivers who are trying to get a driving permit."

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government
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