February 11, 2012

Praise for Asian Carp appointment

A veteran Wisconsin conservationist has praise for the White House’s new Asian Carp Czar. He’s John Goss, the former head of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. George Meyer with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federationis a former Wisconsin DNR Secretary who’s known Goss for years. “John has a way of getting people to work together,” says Meyer. “He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to pound on the table, but he will get people together and express the urgency of getting this problem solved. He has really good knowledge of the problem, and more importantly, he knows all the agencies and people in the agencies that have responsibility to deal with the problem.”

The White House announced the appointment of Goss as Chairman of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee on Thursday. Goss described himself as a fisherman who is very concerned about the possible spread of the voracious fish in to the lakes. “Ultimately there has to be a fool proof breaking of the connection between the Lake Michigan watershed and the Mississippi River watershed,” said Meyer.

President Obama to rally in Madison

The Democratic National Committee has released a schedule of stops for the President as he tries to drum up support for Democratic candidates. Obama will be in Madison on September 28th. The national party says it will be a major rally. Other stops also planned include Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Obama has been in Wisconsin quite a bit lately, but usually near the Milwaukee area. drumming up support for that city’s mayor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett.

Robin Colbert, WIBA

No Call List hits new high

Wisconsin’s Do Not Call list reaches another milestone. When the list is updated next month it will contain a record amount of phone numbers that are off-limits to telemarketers, with 2.28 million now registered.

Brock Bergey with the state Division of Consumer Protection says that’s the highest count since the program began in 2003. Part of the reason for higher number is linked to cell phone registrations, which made up almost 48-percent of new numbers added during the summer sign-up period. [Read more...]

Woodson gets extension with the Packers

According to an ESPN.com report, Green Bay Packers defensive back and

Charles Woodson

defending NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Charles Woodson, has agreed to a 2-year contract extension today (Thursday).

Woodson has three years remaining on his current contract which means Woodson is under contract for the next five seasons now in Green Bay. 

Woodson tied for the league lead in interceptions in 2009 with nine.  Three of those nine were returned for touchdowns. 

Woodson and the Packers are getting ready for Sunday’s season opener at Philadelphia.

Feds pull license from Shawano gun dealer

A gun dealer in Shawano has been ordered to stop selling weapons while it appeals an order from three years ago to revoke its federal license. The U-S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives had allowed Shawano Gun-and-Loan to stay in business as the revocation appeal continues. But a court filing this week in Milwaukee shows that the agency has changed its mind, and told the store to stop selling weapons on September 18th.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently reported on how laws passed by Congress interfere with the ATF’s ability to crack down on problem gun dealers – and it mentioned the Shawano Gun case. Federal authorities say the store has not kept accurate records of gun sales as required by the law. And the ATF said it found evidence that guns were sold to so-called “straw buyers” – those without criminal records who buy weapons for felons and others not otherwise allowed to buy them. [Read more...]