Wisconsin News and Sports
The state Assembly has approved a ban on texting for anyone behind the wheel of a car.
During debate in the Assembly on Tuesday, state Representative Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) argued that existing rules against inattentive driving should be sufficient. He says the bill just sends the message that this is dangerous, but it will be very difficult to actually enforce. [Read more...]
Now that most soldiers from the 32nd Brigade of the Wisconsin Army National Guard are home, it’s time for them to get back to work stateside. However, because of the slumping economy, some are finding their jobs are gone.
Federal law requires businesses to give returning soldiers their jobs back with the same benefits as when they left for active duty. However, Wayne Short with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve says that can’t happen if the business has shut down. [Read more...]
The Wisconsin Senate has passed a bill that requires disclosure on political issue ads. They blanket the airwaves during election season: ads paid for by undisclosed special interest groups. “There are groups out there . . . who tend to come in, on both sides of the isle, Democrat and Republican groups doing the same thing, raising a tremendous amount of money in a short period of time and then coming in and bombarding the airwaves and them leaving, just as quickly as they come,” said the bill’s author, state Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee).
State Senator Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) said up to sixty percent of expenditures on campaigns in Wisconsin are now raised by those third parties, and candidates are losing control of their own elections. “It’s a sad commentary on our democracy when the candidate isn’t even held accountable for his or her election, but the third parties are driving it,” said Ellis. “And most of the third parties are driven by special interest groups.”
But Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said those third parties have become preeminent because the legislature in the past has restricted how much can be contributed to individual campaign committees. “When you over regulate anything that thing shrinks, and we have over regulated what individual campaign committees can do, and as a result we have forced money into independent groups,” said Grothmann.
Ellis’ argument carried the day as the Senate passed the measure 26-to-6. The bill (SB-43) requires full disclosure on ads running within sixty days of an election. The bill still needs to pass the Assembly before going to Governor Jim Doyle, who’s expected to sign it.
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:12 MP3) AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:12 MP3)
University Ridge Golf Course has been selected as the site of the 2015 Wisconsin Professional Golf Association (WPGA) State Open.
University Ridge is the official home of the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s golf teams. It opened in 1991 with a championship distance of 6,888 yards and has been lengthened to 7,259 yards to accommodate the longer hitting players and to attract some major tournaments including NCAA national and regional tournaments.
Past champions of the Wisconsin State Open are current PGA members Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, as well as past Badger champions Ben Walter, Jon Turcutt, Dan Woltman, Mario Tiziani and David Roesch. Current Badger head golf coach Jim Schuman won the tournament in 1996 and 1999.
A Middleton developer has officially announced his plans to unseat US Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin). Terrence Wall believes lower taxes and fewer government regulations on business are the key to turning around unemployment, tight credit and real estate woes.
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