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Gronik steps out of governor’s race

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One of Wisconsin’s ten Democrat candidates for governor is dropping out of the race.

In a statement posted to his website, Andy Gronik says he’s stepping aside to make the large field a little less crowded.

“This journey has been the greatest of my life,” Gronik said.

The Marquette Law School poll released on Wednesday showed Gronik in the middle of the pack of the Democrats, far behind Tony Evers. “It’s time for me to step down and give someone a legitimate chance to win in November,” Gronik said. “There are lots of people sitting on the bench, confused by the large field of candidates and waiting to see what happens in the primary. I don’t think that’s a winning strategy.”

He’s calling on his supporters to root for other Democrats in order to help defeat Governor Scott Walker in November.

State agencies working to assess Northwoods flood damage

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As flood waters recede in northwest Wisconsin, state workers are out in force assessing damage and planning rebuilding efforts.

Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas and Iron Counties all remain in a state of emergency while damage assessments take place.

Wisconsin Emergency Management spokesman Andrew Beckett says many of the affected areas are very rural, meaning it’s going to take time for assessments to happen. “We have a lot of areas where there are roads that aren’t traveled frequently. So it may take time for somebody to even realize there was damage done to that route.”

That doesn’t mean summer vacations need to go on hold. People should still plan to come north, Beckett says, but just make sure you can get where you want to go.

“They should make sure that the route is safe and go. But it does take time to make sure that all areas are safe again.”

Many roads are closed due to flooding, washout and damage. If you come across a blocked road, please follow the detour.

You can check http://511wi.gov for updated road information.

Prosecutors want maximum sentence for Alec Cook

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State prosecutors want the maximum sentence for a sexually violent former University of Wisconsin student.  Calling him “a dangerous man,” they’re recommending 19 1/2 years in prison for 22-year-old Alec Cook, who pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual assault, strangulation and stalking.

Eleven women were alleged victims of sexual assault or harassment by Cook, and Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke can consider that at his sentencing, set for Thursday.

Prosecutors also want 20 years extended supervision and lifetime placement on the sexual offenders registry for Cook. His parents in Minnesota say they believe the women, but ask for “redemption” for their son.

Sterling Brown files suit over tasering, arrest

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The Milwaukee Bucks Sterling Brown is suing the city of Milwaukee and its police department, over his arrest and tasering. Attorney Mark Thomsen says Brown was “set up, circled and attacked” by MPD officers, after illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens on Januay 26.

“Twelve minutes he was left sitting or laying on the ground, after being abused. This kind of conduct must stop.”

Thomsen says Brown, who was also tased, hopes the city will take action. “And that when he hits the floor this next season, in our new stadium, that we celebrate and that Milwaukee is an example to the country of what a city can do to turn itself around.”

According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, one of the eight officers involved later took to Twitter to mock Brown. Three officers were disciplined, with suspensions ranging from two to 15 days. Eight other officers were ordered to undergo remedial training. Police Chief Alfonso Morales apologized to Brown after body cam video of the arrest was released last month.

Unregistered voters to get special postcard reminders in June

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State elections officials are making sure people register to vote ahead of the midterm primaries by sending out postcard reminders.

Those reminders are going to all eligible voters in the state who aren’t currently on voter rolls.  Wisconsin Elections Commission Spokesman Reid Magney says the cards are different from political mailings you might be getting this time of year. “It’s official. We’re not trying to scam anyone. We’re really just trying to make sure you’re able to exercise your right to vote and trying to make it easy for you.”

Sending out those postcards is part of the commission’s requirement to maintain voter rolls, according to Magney. “We also have a responsibility now to reach out to people who may be eligible to vote but haven’t registered and let them know here’s how you can do it.”

He says the state makes it very easy to register to vote. “You can do it online, you can do it at your clerk’s office, you can send something in by mail, or at the polling place on election day.”

You can register online at http://MyVote.WI.gov.

The Partisan Primary election is August 14 and the General Election is set for November 6.

US Supreme Court sends redistricting case back to lower courts

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The US Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to Wisconsin’s elections map, but not for good. 

In a 7 – 2 decision, the US Supreme Court has sent the case back to the federal district courts.

Writing for the Majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said this was not a ruling on the merits of the case.

Instead, he says that Wisconsin Democrats lacked standing to bring a lawsuit when it came to the entire state’s voters as a whole, and that they needed to prove that individual voters in a district were harmed by having their votes cast in uneven districts.

John Marshall Law School professor Steven Schwinn says the Justices decided that the case couldn’t rule on Wisconsin’s entire voting map at once. “They said, look this has been our prior practice. We’ve allowed these kinds of challenges on a district by district basis, when a voter can show harm as a voter in their district.”

UW Law School professor Robert Yablon says we’re likely to see a refining of the plaintiff’s case when it comes back to the federal court level. “You now are likely to have a situation in which the case goes back to the trial court and more individual plaintiffs who live in districts across the state are added as plaintiffs, and maybe the Democratic Party itself becomes a plaintiff.”

Democrat Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning responded today, saying that her party won’t be giving up that easily. “Regardless of today’s ruling, Democrats in Wisconsin will continue to compete everywhere possible in 2018. We will continue to mobilize, and we will continue to build the infrastructure necessary for more victories for the people of Wisconsin.”

Attorney General Brad Schimel issued the following statement in response. “I am pleased that the highest court in the land has unanimously reversed the trial court’s erroneous decision invalidating Wisconsin’s Assembly map. Today is win for the rule of law in Wisconsin, and a testament to the talented attorneys at the Wisconsin Department of Justice.”

We will continue to update this story throughout the day.

Joint Finance Committee votes in favor of I-94 spending

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State Republicans will be spending federal road grants to complete repairs on I-94 near Milwaukee.

A vote in the state’s joint finance committee on Thursday will send around $22 million in grants to fund the I-94 expansion project.

Assembly minority leader Katrina Shankland says those funds would be better used elsewhere in the state. “Potholes are not economic development. This is not a real solution. Giving more money to one part of the state will not help the rest of the state’s local roads.”

Democrats had proposed adding the funds Governor Walker wanted for the project to a statewide fund to repair roads.  

Republican senator Alberta Darling says this funding benefits the entire state. “This is not a Foxconn road, this is I-94 North South. And as long as I’ve been around in Wisconsin that road is the entrance from Illinois into the state of Wisconsin.”

Under the plan, $22 million will be spent to refund the construction project, now slated for completion in 2021. The rest of the funds will be spent to replace bridges across Wisconsin and for the state’s highway resurfacing projects.

No cause found for fatal Beaver Dam apartment fire

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Police in Beaver Dam are no closer to finding out what cause a fatal apartment fire in April.  

Recent tests on evidence came back inconclusive, and the department will be letting an insurance agency do their own investigation.

Detective Daniel Kuhnz says that they’re not ending their own investigation. “I just want them to all know that we are working to try to get to the bottom of what happened.”

The building has been turned back over to the landlord, and Kuhnz says he’s not sure what’s going to happen now. “I do know they’ve contracted a local excavator to go in and do some work there, but I don’t know what the short and long terms are there with the structure itself.”

Two people died in a that fire, and another 5 were injured.

Feds charge Wisconsin mom with aiding ISIS

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A mother of two in Cudahy is accused of helping terrorists.

The FBI says 54 year-old Waheba Isa Dais hacked into Facebook and Twitter to recruit for ISIS, and encourage acts of terrorism.

Facebook contacted authorities when she posted instructions on how to make an explosive bomb vest.

Dias is originally from Israel, and came to the U.S. in 1992. The FBI says she’s been working on behalf of ISIS since January.

Police arrest credit card skimmers in Fond du Lac

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Two men are facing charges after being caught skimming credit cards in Fond du Lac.

Police say the men are Romanian immigrants, and that they may be part of a larger criminal group that engages in widespread credit card fraud.

The men were arrested on Sunday with nearly 140 phony credit cards and around 75-hundred dollars of cash in their car. Fond du Lac and Oshkosh police, along with the Secret Service, had been working a larger investigation into skimmers since Memorial Day weekend.

They’re now awaiting formal charges in the Fond du Lac County jail.