Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Johnny Jolly's felony drug trial has been pushed back again, this time to June 26th, on the agreement of both parties.
The Packers will conclude their offseason workout program one day earlier, June 25th.
Wisconsin News and Sports
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Johnny Jolly's felony drug trial has been pushed back again, this time to June 26th, on the agreement of both parties.
The Packers will conclude their offseason workout program one day earlier, June 25th.
Former Wisconsin Badger assistant and Green Bay Phoenix standout Tony Bennett is leaving his job as head coach at Washington State and has been hired to try and turn around the Virginia basketball program.
Bennett replaces Dave Leitao, who resigned after four seasons, coming off a 10-18 season, their worst mark in 41 years.
Bennett posted a 68-30 record in three seasons with the Cougars. His first two teams made the NCAA Tournament, but this years team was eliminated in the first round of the NIT. Bennett was named the AP college coach of the year in 2007.
Bennett was an assistant for four seasons at Wisconsin before joining his father, Dick Bennett, at Washington State . Tony Bennett also played for his father at UW-Green Bay. He still ranks as the NCAA's all-time leader in three-point percentage (.497).
Marquette 's Jerel McNeal was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press on Monday.
McNeal, who was also named first-team all-Big East earlier in the month, averaged 19.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game for Marquette, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before finishing 25-10 overall.
McNeal leaves the school as the all time leader in scoring (1,985 points), steals (287), field goals (726), field goal attempts (1,649) and games played (130).
McNeal will soon begin working out in preparation for the June NBA draft.
A late season slide has done some serious damage to the Milwaukee Bucks playoff chances, but the Bucks kept those slim playoff hopes alive with a 107-78 win over the New Jersey Nets in New Jersey.
The Bucks wrapped up the final game of their 4-game road trip by ending a 5-game losing streak and a 7-game road losing streak. They scored the final 18 points of the first quarter to go up by 19 after one and never looked back.
Richard Jefferson poured in 29 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against his old team. Charlie Villanueva added 20 points and first round draft pick Joe Alexander added a career high 16 points.
Scott Skiles hadn't been happy with his teams selfish play, feeling his team wasn't sharing the ball and playing well together. They improved in that area last night. The Bucks had 17 assists on 21 baskets in the first half alone.
The Bucks have seven games left in the regular season, starting Wednesday night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Listen / Download – Richard Jefferson remains optimistic about playoff chances. :14
Religion meets politics for “Catholics at the Capitol” lobby day.
Approximately 350 Catholics from around the state will be in the capitol city to talk with their legislators about current issues in the state budget as well as issues of ethical and moral implications.
“Catholics understand that this is a tight economy and that the people are stressed and those are the issues we’re talking about.”
Wisconsin Catholic Conference Executive Director John Huebscher (pronounce) says folks from Wisconsin’s parishes, hospitals, schools and catholic charities will talk about issues with a message of hope, which is needed in these poor economic times.
“Protect the poor and vulnerable. Don’t cut the programs that poor people need to get by — things like Medicaid, BadgerCare, Wisconsin Works, the Parental Choice Program.”
Huebscher says there’s a theme of affirming the life and dignity of the human being. He says Catholics want support for women facing pregnancies, health care reform, and regulating the pay-day lending industry. President Barack Obama recently announced federal funding for stem cell research. Huebscher says that subject will be discussed within a broader theme of human life.
“Part of our message in affirming human life is ethical research on embryos and any other human beings, and in our issue brief on human life issues. Certainly the funding of research that destroys embryos would be part of that.”
Former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan has become somewhat of a superstar, but is New York-bound and won’t be making an appearance at the Monona Terrace Conference Center on Tuesday.
NOTE: Bishop Paul Swain of South Dakota, formerly of Madison, will speak at the event.
Governor Jim Doyle's handling of an economic crisis is prompting a recall effort.
Vince Schmuki of Wisconsinites Interests Now says members of the group are worried about the burden the Governor's budget will place on taxpayers. He says they've been looking at the budget, and think many of the proposals included in it are "just insane."
The group plans to file the paperwork needed to create a recall exploratory committee Tuesday at the Government Accountability Board offices in Madison. The move will allow them to recruit volunteers and raise the funds needed for a statewide petition to recall the governor. Once underway, WIN will have 60 days to collect 540,000 signatures from around the state.
Schmuki admits it's a monumental task, but he believes the group is up to the challenge.
Governor Doyle is up for re-election in 2010 and is expected to seek a third term in office. However, Schmuki says the state can't afford to wait for a challenger to defeat him. He says the budget being considered right now is too damaging to the state, and someone needs to put up a fight to prevent it from being passed.
The governor's office declined to comment on the recall effort.
Wisconsin realtors are cheering the news of increasing home sales. Nationally, they increased 4.7-percent last month.
John Deininger of the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin says it's a good sign that the market is improving. However, he notes that the largest increases were in areas such as California, Florida, and Nevada. He says those markets saw some of the largest declines in home values and foreclosures when the real estate market dropped.
The increase was not as dramatic in Wisconsin, because the housing slump didn't hit us as hard as other parts of the country. However, Deininger says the news is still better than it has been in the housing market for some time.
A attempt to draw attention to drunken driving is delayed at the state Capitol. Classmates and the parents of a Schofield teen killed by a drunken driver in January had planned to meet with Governor Jim Doyle Monday to present a petition of more than 15,000 signatures calling for the creation of Lacey's Law.
The proposed law, named after 14-year-old Lacey Meinel, would impose a 30-day jail sentence on first-time drunken drivers, a six-month sentence for second offenders and harsher penalties for repeat offenders. But the meeting was called off because of scheduling conflicts. A spokesman for the governor says the issue is a top priority and they will reschedule the meeting in a couple of weeks.
A 23-year-old Fond du Lac man is charged with killing Lacey and injuring her mother while driving the wrong way down Highway 45 in Winnebago County.
Members of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee have indicated they want to restore tax credits for film makers who do movies in Wisconsin, even though Governor Doyle eliminated them in his budget proposal.
Doyle says the state shouldn't be spending the money to boost salaries of wealthy movie producers and stylists. He says the $4 million expenditure would be better spent on trying to create long term jobs for the state.
Doyle calls the Hollywood tax credits "basically flawed."
If the Hollywood credit is restored by legislative budget writers, it could face a veto from the governor.
Support for creation of Regional Transit Authorities was expressed by speakers at Monday's Joint Finance Committee state budget hearing at Racine's J.I. Case High School.
"A fully functional regional transit authority, complete with commuter rail, is necessary to stimulate the economy and create jobs in this region," said Racine Mayor Tom Friedel. "Without an RTA we will remain disconnected from the opportunities in Chicago and Milwaukee. Without and RTA we will miss out nn the economic development that is sure to occur in this area after this low point in our national economy, Friedel called the RTA provision the "most promising part of the budget"
"We've labored long and hard over the last eight years to see RTA language created in this budget," said Roger Caron, Executive Director of Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce. "We support it. We think it's important for the long term regional health of our area. The idea of regional cooperation between Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha is shared with many others."
Flanked by the heads of several of Racine's largest employers, Mike Battan, Chairman and CEO of Twin Disc, said work must begin for the longer term future and growth of the region. "We understand that a tax increase is not one that sits well with many," said Battan. "But on the other hand, we think in the long run for our community, which has lost over 10,000 manufacturing jobs in the last three decades, we are going to have to do something."
A letter in support of the RTA has also been sent to Governor Jim Doyle, signed by heads of many of the heavy hitters in Racine's business community, including SC Johnson and Johnson financial, Wispark, Kranz, Ruud Lighting, In-sink-erator, Merchant's Moving and Storage and Wheaton Fransciscan-All Saints.