(MILWAUKEE) Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says an anti-gang partnership with the federal Department of Justice that started a year ago has led to the deportation of more than 200 criminal gang members.

Van Hollen says the Community Shield program targets gang activity with an emphasis on offenders who are in the country illegally. He says in the last year, law enforcement has removed in excess of 250 criminal illegal immigrants from the country.

Speaking to law enforcement officers in Milwaukee this week, Van Hollen said while the debate over immigration reform continues, it's still up to law enforcement to use current laws to deport undocumented workers who break the law. He says some people are not positive contributors to society, including illegal immigrants and others who are gang members and drug dealers.

Van Hollen says the federal-state partnership on illegal immigrant gang members has been effective in reducing gang activity in the state.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association -- which governs high school sports in Wisconsin -- is fighting efforts to make it subject to the state's open government laws.

The WIAA has registered as a lobbying group to, among other things, defeat a bill in the State Assembly to make it subject to the same kind of transparency as local governments.

Representative Tony Staskunas is a Democrat from West Allis. He introduced the bill because he says it's wrong for the WIAA to take money from public member schools, and then make private decisions. Staskunas says the WIAA is funded by state and local tax dollars, but acts as a private organization.

The WIAA counters that it makes its annual board of directors' meetings, and meeting minutes available to the public. But there are times when hot-button decisions need to be made behind closed doors. WIAA president Dave Anderson says the organization addresses many sensitive issues in the 700 student waiver requests it deals with each year, and helps schools process code of conduct violations or terminate a popular coach.

Anderson says Staskunas is wrong when he says the organization is publicly funded. He says 90 percent of its operating budget comes from state tournament ticket sales, and most of any money collected form schools, public or private, are returned to the schools.

(STATEWIDE) Wisconsin’s virtual schools say enrollment this year is the highest it's ever been.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction says 3,635 students are on the state’s open enrollment roster for virtual schools. Julie Thompson of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual Families says that’s up 46 percent from last year’s total of 2,487 students.

Thompson says one factor was a new enrollment cap of 5,250 enacted by the legislature last year. Many families opted to sign on quickly rather than risk being put on the wait list. Thompson says virtual schools were short of the enrollment cap this year, but if enrollment increases like it did this year, virtual schools will be over the cap for the 2010-11 school year.

Thompson says open enrollment did exceed the cap early on, but then many families switched back to brick-and-mortar schools rather than wait all summer to know if their child got in. She adds publicity over the battle to legalize virtual schools likely drew large numbers of curious parents to explore them as well.

The harsh economy may have also played a part in the increase. Rick Nettesheim is principal of iQ Academy, which has 200 more students this year than last. He says iQ Academy saw an increase in former private school students who saw them as a more affordable option.

Nettesheim says last spring’s H1N1 scare didn’t play a role in this fall’s enrollment increase because open enrollment was over before the virus was detected in Wisconsin.

Reaction to Wisconsin's plan to require tougher ballast water treatment for Great Lakes ships continues to flow in.

The Department of Natural Resources says if oceangoing ships and those that just travel the Great Lakes want to dock at Wisconsin ports, they will have to adopt best management practices for the ballast water sediment or seawater that might bring in invasive species. Furthermore, oceangoing ships known as “salties” would have up to five years to adopt ballast water treatment standards that are 100 times tougher than those of the International Maritime Organization, or IMO. Marc Smith of the National Wildlife Federation says the Wisconsin permit is a good start.

An oceangoing shipping firm also gives thumbs up to the state plan but worries about tougher ballast water technology being ready in time. An association representing lake-only vessels says it’s appropriate that lakers won't have to meet the standard 100 times tougher than the IMO standard.

(STATEWIDE) The number of Wisconsin residents using food-stamps is at an all-time high for 2009. Currently there are about 644,000 people enrolled in the state’s FoodShare program.

Stephanie Smiley with the Department of Health Services says they’ve seen a 37 percent increase in enrollees since this time last year. She expects the number of new cases will continue to rise in the coming months. Smiley says more people enroll in the FoodShare program when there’s greater unemployment or when food costs increase.

Smiley says the FoodShare program sees the effects of the bad economy pretty quickly. That's because food is an immediate need and people usually don’t put-off signing up for help, as they might for healthcare or other assistance.

FoodShare is federally funded. To qualify, a person must be at 100 percent of the federal poverty limit.

Misconceptions about contracting the H1N1 virus -- or "Swine Flu" -- from eating pork products has hurt that industry. In Wisconsin, agricultural officials are predicting a slow recovery for the state's more than 700 pork producers.

On average, pork producers in Wisconsin have lost about 60 percent of their equity from this time last year. Jeff Swenson is a livestock specialist with the state Department of Agriculture. He says local pork producers are now dropping $23 per hog. Swenson says producers are still losing money and there are going to be fewer hog farmers in a year.

At a recent Rotary Club lunch meeting in DeForest, Swenson urged people to go out and buy 'the other white meat.' He jokingly told the crowd that pork is still a good by at the grocery store and that people shouldn’t be afraid to buy it.

All kidding aside, Swenson says the pork industry is seriously hurting. He says pork producers weren’t operating at a profit before H1N1, after the flu hit, consumers stopped buying pork because of the name associated with the flu strain, and then 27 countries stopped importing U.S. pork.

Of those 27 countries, only China has yet to lift its ban on U.S. pork. And Swenson cites a National Pork Board poll that shows 93 percent of consumers know they can’t get H1N1 from eating pork products. But that myth has damaged the industry enough that economists say producers shouldn't expect a boost in sales until this time next year.

After being pretty much kept out of the fields during a wet October, Wisconsin farmers are trying to get the harvest in before winter hits.

The Wisconsin Agriculture Statistics Service says this is the latest harvest season for corn and soybeans in over 25 years. Corn growers are still hurrying to wrap up their business. The Ag Statistics Service says over 40 percent of the crop is in. Bob Oleson, the executive director of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, says farmers are adapting to the colder than usual temperatures.

Oleson says because of the wet harvest season, corn producers are dealing with more quality issues. These include mold and wetter than usual corn that they need to dry before they can market or store it.

(SPARTA) Monroe County is conducting a feasibility study to see if they can convert landfill gas and waste into electrical energy. Their efforts are being boosted by a $10,000 grant from a Wisconsin environmental advocacy group.

Monroe County Solid Waste Manager Gail Frie says they received the grant from Focus on Energy to help pay for the study. The county’s landfill gives off 95 cubic feet of methane gas per minute. Frie says they're currently capturing and destroying the gas with a flare system. He says it makes more sense to try to recover the gas and convert it to energy. Frie says since the Monroe County landfill is smaller, they are considering adding an anaerobic digester that would burn manure and food waste to help generate electricity.

Frie says they're looking to possibly use food waste from Fort McCoy and manure from a slaughterhouse in Norwalk to turn into electricity, which would then be sold to Alliant Energy. Mary Eiler-Radl is a strategic account manager with Alliant Energy. She says they’re working on a study with Focus on Energy. Eiler-Radl says the feasibility study will measure the cost and how much energy the landfill will generate.

Eiler-Radl says the more energy the Monroe County landfill is able to produce, the more grant money the county may be able to receive from Alliant Energy to get the project going. Frie says they will wrap up the financial analysis of the study in the next couple weeks.

(MADISON) Today people from all around Wisconsin will gather at the UW-Madison to show off high-tech mapping skills that tell communities everything from the location of fire hydrants to crime patterns.

As someone who works with geographic information systems for the UW- Madison, Karen Tuerk, says she never had a job she could easily describe to her mother. She says very simply, GIS is a way to make maps, but “it’s a lot more than that.”

The most familiar type of geographic information systems is Google Maps or a vehicle navigation device. However Tuerk says that's just the tip of the ice burg. For instance, in the Dane County city of Sun Prairie, GIS coordinator Andrew Swartz says this high-tech mapping is used for street locations, to analyze crime patterns and take care of trees. With trees, Swartz says Sun Prairie manages a lot of different date including size, condition and species of the tree in its common form and Latin. There are 860 different map layers in Sun Prairie’s system.

GIS provides all the information of an ordinary map, but adds the element of time. Users can enter a range of times which they want to see results from. Despite all its capabilities, UW's Tuerk says paper maps are here to stay. She says people love opening paper maps and finding out where they are. She doubts paper maps will ever go away.

Examples of GIS, will be on exhibit at the UW-Madison campus through most of today.

(MILWAUKEE) Two of the three main candidates for Wisconsin governor have nearly wrapped up their local budget fights for the year. The debate has begun over what the battles mean for the governor's race.

Yesterday, the Milwaukee County Board overrode 21 of the 34 budget vetoes from County Executive Scott Walker, a Republican candidate for governor. They shot down Walker's controversial plan to install parking meters along part of Milwaukee's lakefront, but couldn't muster enough votes to save dozens of county jobs that will be privatized.

Milwaukee County board chairman Lee Holloway says people watching Walker's gubernatorial campaign should take note. He predicts some of the laid-off county workers will have to turn to taxpayer-funded health insurance programs like the state's BadgerCare initiative.

Milwaukee County's tax levy will go up about 2 percent, but because of new construction in the county, the county's portion of property taxes on a $150,000 thousand home in the city of Milwaukee will actually go down about $2.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett issued one veto for the City of Milwaukee budget Wednesday. As things stand now, the city's property tax levy will go up 4 percent, but Mayor Barrett says 350 city jobs have been eliminated and the city will meet its pension obligations without borrowing.

Wisconsin Democrat Dave Obey is defending the stimulus bill that he helped write, even as he attacks a government website designed to track its success.

Obey is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He issued a rare rebuke to the Obama administration this week when its recovery website showed stimulus jobs in congressional districts that didn't exist. He says when ludicrous mistakes are made, “I’ve got an obligation to raise hell about them.”

Obey says the inaccuracies provided ammunition for critics of his stimulus bill. Among them is one of Obey's political opponents, Republican congressional candidate Sean Duffy. Duffy is glad Obey called out the White House on “stupid spending”. But he says Obey should also admit the $787 billion stimulus bill he helped write has been an “utter failure” because of continuing high unemployment nationwide and layoffs in Obey's own district. Duffy says if you go to Greenheck Fan, Kolbe and Kolbe, or Wausau Homes and ask what the stimulus package has done for job creation and retention, they’ll say it’s been a failure.

Obey says asking if the stimulus package has been a failure is a silly question that isn’t worth a response, because the federal government is trying to ease the worst economy in 70 years. He says unemployment would be much worse without the stimulus, which he credits for saving jobs across the country and in his district. Obey adds there have been 20 road construction projects in the northern half of Wisconsin, sewer and water projects and hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs preserved across the country.

Obey says the White House has assured him that it will correct the errors on the recovery website.

(STATE CAPITOL) People would no longer be allowed to dispose of household trash in their backyards under a bill state lawmakers are considering.

The way state law is written right now is pretty specific. Property owners are not allowed to open up their back yards to dump or bury other peoples' trash, and they can't bring home garbage from work and dump it on their private property. But when it comes to trash they generate in their own home, Anne Coakley with the Department of Natural Resources says there's really no restriction on what people are allowed to dump. She says any garbage a household generates can be buried now

That can include everything from batteries, to oil filters to pesticides. Coakley says the Department gets about 150 complaints a year from people complaining about their neighbors dumping or burying trash.

The trouble with this from an environmental standpoint is that it can pollute groundwater. Ed Huck with the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities says that's an issue for his members since almost 90 percent of local governments get their water from groundwater. Huck says many of the wells that service cities are outside the borders of the city.

The state law that makes it legal to dump or bury household trash has only been on the books since the mid 1990s. Before then, the DNR says all trash dumping was almost largely unregulated, and unmanaged garbage dumps were a lot more common.

A look at federal data shows carbon dioxide emissions dropped in Wisconsin in 2006 and 2007.

The environmental group Wisconsin Environment has looked at newly released data from the Energy Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The numbers show carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, cars, and buildings all declined during 2006 and 2007, with an overall drop of three percent.

Lindsey North of Wisconsin Environment says the data show a big change. North says investments in energy efficiency and alternative energy seem to be paying off. She says the numbers mainly were generated before the recession started curtailing energy use. The emissions data come as Congress is debating a climate change bill and state lawmakers are getting ready to do so. Both measures take aim at carbon emissions and push energy efficiency and less-polluting fuel.

The Great Lakes are getting windier. Rising water temperatures are causing winds to increase more than 10 percent since 1985.

This trend won’t make the Great Lakes into “hurricane alley”, at least not yet. UW-Madison Oceanic Sciences Professor Ankur Desai says data from lake buoys recorded since 1985 shows a warming Great Lakes which in turn stirs up the air above the water making it windier. He says this could impact sailboats and lake effect snowfalls. Desai says as the lakes get windier, it will create issues for recreation and airborne pollution.

Lake Michigan in particular gets air pollution from the Chicago region, funneled over the lake as far north as Door County. Fellow UW-Madison Researcher Galen McKinley says these changes come from around the globe. McKinley says the study is exciting because it shows a local impact from what has traditionally been a global concept of climate warming.

Both researchers say it's too early to know the exact impact of a windier Great Lakes, but it could also mean a slight increase on lake shore wind and less winter ice, thus more evaporation and lower lake levels.

The findings are printed in this week's journal Nature Geoscience.

(STATEWIDE) Some private health care providers around the state have agreed to help the uninsured with flu treatment or prevention of H1N1. Money to pay the doctors and nurses comes from the federal government.

Wisconsin Health Department spokesman Seth Boffeli says this plan for a network of providers to the uninsured was developed before there was a vaccine developed against H1N1. Since then, there've been free flu clinics. However, not all people can get to them. The network is intended to fill that gap. He says the network will only pay for uninsured to get the vaccine, or who have flu-like symptoms.

Uninsured persons with flu symptoms can call 2-1-1 or their public health agency to find a provider in the network who can treat them.

Hunters heading to far Northeastern Wisconsin this weekend will be greeted by a newly opened four lane highway. The last four-lane portion of Highway 41 opened to traffic this morning.

A 7.5 mile length of road bypassing Peshtigo is the last piece of Highway 41 to become a four-lane road.

Work in far northeastern Wisconsin began about two years ago. Steve Noel is the project manager for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Noel says in the past two years, workers moved 8.5 million yards of dirt, built 23 major structures, crossed two rivers and planted 122,000 trees to replace trees taken out for the project.

Part of that work involved closing off more than 320 driveway points and 90 side roads that used to open directly onto highway 41.

Also, Noel says about 17 percent of the road's traffic is made up of heavy trucks. That's twice the state average.

Noel says the re-designed highway with limited access should reduce crashes. In the four years between 1998 and 2002 there were 438 crashes on that stretch of road, 8 of them were fatal.

An Associated Press combat photographer with ties to Wisconsin says when the going gets tough over there, he likes to think about the way it is over here, in Wisconsin.

AP Chief Asian Photographer David Guttenfelder and his wife and two daughters vacation every summer near Eagle River. His wife hails from Neenah. He says his mental escape in the Afghanistan desert heat is the White Stag restaurant at Three Lakes in northern Wisconsin. Guttenfelder says he’s memorized the menu and when he’s eating MREs in Afghanistan, he’s thinking about the halibut served at the White Stag.

Guttenfelder has been covering Afghanistan since 2001. He says this is the most dangerous year he's seen but he's drawn to what he calls the spectacular melancholy of that country. He's been embedded there five times this year. Guttenfelder says the fighting has picked up this year and it’s rough there now. He says the conditions are extreme. He photographed a recent air assault in the desert in 135 degree heat and for 40 days, walked 100 miles carrying everything on his back.

Speaking from his home in Tokyo, Guttenfelder says he tries to capture the daily life of American soldiers. So he gets lots of e-mails from parents. He says parents will see their son in a newspaper and that’s the only information that will have about them, so they contact him for more information. He says the parents he has contact with feel both relief and fear.

In spite of the increase in violence, Guttenfelder says morale is high and so is the sense of mission of the soldiers and Marines he's been with.

The state has discontinued funding for a water research coordinator in the UW System, after concerns were raised in Milwaukee.

Governor Jim Doyle is traveling in Israel with Milwaukee business leaders who are trying to market the city as a freshwater technology center. Doyle told Wisconsin reporters by telephone that after several days of controversy involving a UW System employee assigned to coordinate water research at many UW campuses, that the employee has been re-assigned back to the DNR. That's welcome news to Milwaukee state Representative Jon Richards, who worried that the UW System had been watering down efforts to make UW-Milwaukee the system's water research hub.

The UW System and DNR were sharing the one-year $100,000 salary of the water coordinator. Rep. Richards wants the UW's half of the remaining money to fund more researchers at UW-Milwaukee. UW System spokesman David Giroux says the Milwaukee campus is already getting tens of millions of dollars for a new freshwater research center.

Giroux confirms that last week, Gov. Doyle spoke to UW System president Kevin Reilly about the matter.

More than 7,000 Wisconsin adults are already on a waiting list for a new state health care program that ran out of room in October.

The BadgerCare Core Plus program provides Medicaid coverage to adults without kids who earn up to 200-percent of the federal poverty level. For a single adult, that's an annual income of close to $22,000.

State Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson told state lawmakers the program's waiting list could grow to 20,000 people by March, due in part to a surge of applicants who are unemployed. To pick up the slack, Helgerson unveiled a draft proposal for a state insurance program. Helgerson says it would let people buy in for between $100-$130 a month to get basic health coverage. Helgerson says the department wants to make sure it won’t cost taxpayers more than is currently being spent, yet there is also a moral imperative to help people who need help.

Depending on the type of plan a person chose, their deductibles might be as high as $7,500. Helgerson says it would only be open to those adults who qualify for BadgerCare Core, but can't get in. Hospitals and doctors would be reimbursed at the same rates they are under regular Medicaid.

Republican lawmakers are skeptical that would work. Hudson Republican Representative Kitty Rhoades says the state's already hundreds of millions short in its current Medicaid budget and it's paying hospitals less than it costs them to treat patients. Rhoades asks how the state can expand the program, knowing it’s a cost shift and the state isn’t paying the bills it currently has.

The Department of Health Services could finalize the plan next month. It's hoping to get the full legislature's approval and start enrolling people as early as next spring.

(MILWAUKEE) Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett is expressing more concern about the state of Wisconsin's finances.

Barrett is Milwaukee’s mayor and is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor, with the blessing of incumbent Democrat Jim Doyle, who is not running for re-election. But Barrett is starting to put some political distance between the two men. For example, during an appearance at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Barrett lamented a recent national report that put the state's finances in a bad light.

The Doyle administration downplayed the Pew report and Mayor Barrett says the state's financial problems go back many years, stressing that more than one political party is responsible. But Barrett says the fiscal picture, education and unemployment are the three key issues of the upcoming campaign. He says additional state incentives for businesses must be tied to job creation.

Barrett also spoke at length about his plan to takeover the Milwaukee Public Schools, even as teachers unions and some democratic lawmakers are offering an alternative to the takeover.

Photo by Chuck Quirmbach, WPR

Next year's election for the 8th Congressional District is getting more crowded. Another Republican is in line to challenge incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen.

Now that Teri McCormick has joined the race, that makes five Republicans who have declared their intentions to challenge U.S. Representative Steve Kagen. Two more Republicans are said to be considering a run, and an independent will be on the ballot as well.

McCormick is a former state lawmaker, a business consultant, and a newly published author. She says Kagen is out of step with conservatives in Northeastern Wisconsin. McCormick says Kagen’s views don’t match the district’s demographics, which is why people have called on her to join the race.

In 2006 McCormick lost a GOP primary race against John Gard. Gard eventually lost to Kagen that year, and again in 2008.

The fact that John Gard has not declared has cleared the way for such an array of Republicans to get in line, according to UW Green Bay political scientist Tim Dale.

Dale says the district's main population center, Brown County, has been more of a swing district in the last two presidential elections. George W. Bush won by 9-points in 2004 and Barack Obama won by 9-points in 2008. Dale says he doesn’t believe there was a bigger swing anywhere else in the country. He says the question Brown County Republicans must ask is how to get the county that voted for George W. Bush in 2004 to come back.

Dale says Kaukauna businessman Reid Ribble has the backing of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He predicts some of the Republicans will drop out of the race before next September's primary election.

Clinical trials done at the Medical College of Wisconsin show transcendental meditation substantially lowers the rate of heart attack, stroke and death.

Doctors have known for decades that stress can contribute to heart disease. Preventing stress, however, can be easier said than done- and measuring what's gained health-wise is even harder. Now researchers may have done just that. Dr. Robert Schneider led a study of people with narrowing of the arteries. Those who practiced transcendental meditation had a 47 percent lower rate of heart attack or death. He says while there’s been a lot of research of negative mind-body connections, there’s been little done on positive aspects. Dr. Schneider says the use of transcendental meditation is a specific technique that’s objective, measurable and easy to do.

Schneider directs the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. He oversaw a nine year study conducted at the Medical College in Milwaukee. It involved 200 African Americans with heart disease. Some practiced transcendental meditation, others didn't. Instead they were told how to eat better and exercise. All of those who took medication continued to do so. Neither group had to eat better or work out, and Schneider says few participants made significant lifestyle changes.

The study findings were presented this week at the American Heart Association's annual meeting.

(WONEWOC) Monday afternoon in Wonewoc, family, friends and comrades honored Captain Russell Seager. The Wonewoc native was one of two Wisconsin soldiers killed in the Fort Hood shootings earlier this month.

As people entered the gym at Wonewoc Junior High School, old and young vets stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside in the parking lot. Among them was American Legion commander Mark Lesko. He calls Seager’s death on American soil a “total tragedy.”

In the back of the gym, pictures of Seager – many with his family and friends, others with his fellow soldiers – were posted on Styrofoam boards. Seager, a 51-year-old psychiatric nurse, was on his way to Afghanistan. He was part of a combat stress unit whose mission was to help soldiers cope with the stress of warfare.

During the service, Seager's family sat in the front of the gym, facing the coffin draped in an American flag. Seager’s commander, Robert Lafountain, gave the eulogy. Lafountain called Seager a huge, gentle guy who reminded him of (movie character) John Rambo. He says like Rambo, Captain Seager had a commitment to duty, honor and country, and he sacrificed his life for those beliefs.

Captain Seager's coffin was then carried to the Wonewac cemetery, just yards from the gym, where a trumpeter played taps.

Under a big purple sky, Seager's family and friends consoled each other in the parking lot before going home.

Captain Seager joined the military in 2005, and had worked with veterans struggling with PTSD at a veterans hospital in Milwaukee.

Western Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse says Pakistan is key to peace and stability in south Asia, and could be a great help in the war in Afghanistan.

Kind traveled to Pakistan last week as part of a small congressional delegation examining U.S. counter-terrorism efforts in south Asia. Kind says the U.S. would do well to strengthen its ties with Pakistan. He says most of the leadership of al-Qaeda and the Taliban reside in its western provinces. Kind says Pakistan has done more than any other country to confront, capture and kill terrorists. He says Pakistan is the center of the breeding ground of terrorist groups that pose a threat to the U.S., western Europe and much of the world.

Kind says Pakistan is a fledgling democracy with an independent judiciary. He says if elections next year happen, it will be the first time in over 30 years there have been civilian elections without military intervention. Kind says Pakistan is interested in doing business with the U.S., based on mutual trust.

The Obama Administration is asking Pakistan to get more involved in the Afghanistan war and help target al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.

(STATE CAPITOL) Supporters of a plan to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin say there's no longer any reason to delay. But the state's largest doctors group is still hesitant.

The bill introduced by Madison Assembly Democrat Mark Pocan and Waunakee Democratic Senator Jon Erpenbach would let doctors prescribe marijuana if they think it's medically necessary. Medically necessary conditions could include cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, Chrohn's disease, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

At a state capitol news conference, Erpenbach said once someone gets a prescription, they'd go on a registry maintained by the state. It would allow someone to use marijuana for medical purposes only.

Someone who's registered could either grow a limited amount of their own marijuana or buy it from a state licensed non-profit corporation.

Two recent developments shed new light on this old issue. The Obama administration decided last month not to prosecute users and suppliers of medical marijuana in the 14 states where it's been legalized. And Governor Jim Doyle told Wisconsin Public Radio that he would sign a medical marijuana bill as long as it requires a doctor's prescription.

Longtime advocates are optimistic. Gary Storck of Madison says he first used cannabis in the early 70s to treat severe glaucoma. He says the days when a lawmakers could oppose medical marijuana are over.

But the Wisconsin Medical Society's Dr. Mike Miller says the trouble with legalizing cannabis for medicine is that more people will smoke it. Miller says that introduces carcinogens and other unsafe toxins into the lungs. He says while people could eat the product, he suspects most people will smoke it.

Miller says the medical benefits of marijuana and other cannabinoids should be studied more before lawmakers act.

Elderly in Wisconsin will have fewer choices of private insurers under Medicare's drug benefit in 2010 and costs are likely to be higher.

The period to sign up or change a Medicare drug plan started this week and goes through the end of December. There will be 48 plans available in Wisconsin, four fewer than in 2009. The Coalition for Wisconsin Aging Groups runs a toll free hotline to help people choose a drug benefit. Help line counselor Carol Braun says a website at medicare.gov will assist consumers who want to compare different plans. She says people should not look for the lowest premium, but look for the best coverage for the lowest cost, which can vary depending on the medications seniors are on.

More seniors could qualify for a drug subsidy. Rules limiting income or resources have been eased for 2010. Wisconsin's own drug benefit plan, SeniorCare, will continue until 2012.

Wisconsin law is harsher on adults who hurt other adults than when they hurt children. A bill going through the legislature now would change that inequity.

The bill is called "Emma's Law". It's named after two year old Emma Manning of Spooner who was nearly killed by her mother's fiancé two years ago. Washburn County Sheriff Terry Dryden says she was shaken and near death when they responded to the scene. Dryden says Emma's life will never be the same. He says Emma will have to have continuous medical care the rest of her life, she has a feeding tube and can’t see or walk. Dryden says Emma has a life sentence, while the man who committed the crime, Michael Stoner, will spend a few years in prison.

While prosecuting Stoner, Dryden discovered the prison time is two and a half years less against people who hurt children than adults. State Senator Bob Jauch is the Senate's sponsor. He says Emma's law would equalize the penalty, although he's not sure this would deter child abusers.

Stoner is serving a 7 1/2 year sentence for causing great bodily harm to a child. Emma's Law would increase the penalty of a similar crime to 10 years.

(MILWAUKEE) Teachers’ unions and some Milwaukee legislators say they'll introduce a takeover alternative bill for the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Under an MPS takeover bill backed by Governor Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the mayor would choose the school superintendent and control the school district budget. A new plan from some Milwaukee Democrats and the WEAC teachers union would keep the school board in control of the budget but potentially let the mayor block school-related property tax increases of more than 8 percent. The school board would choose the MPS superintendent, but the mayor could possibly veto the choice.

State Representative Tamara Grigsby says the guidelines for the new federal race to the top funds tell school districts to form innovative partnerships.

The takeover alternative bill comes as Mayor Barrett launches his campaign for governor. Milwaukee State Senator Spencer Coggs says the new measure would give the school board more power and allow Barrett more time to campaign and serve as mayor. But Doyle's spokesperson, Lee Sensenbrenner, says the alternative bill doesn't appear to eliminate structural problems of the Milwaukee schools

Backers of the alternative bill say legislative leaders have promised them a hearing in Milwaukee, perhaps at the same time testimony is taken on Barrett's takeover measure.

Photo by Chuck Quirmbach, WPR

A ranking UW administrator says students who start out at two-year UW colleges and then transfer to four-year schools have higher graduation rates than the national average. David Wilson -- Chancellor of the UW-Colleges and UW-Extension -- is challenging the conclusions about two-year schools from a noted education critic.

Michael McPhearson is coauthor of "Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities." Last month he brought his research to a meeting of the UW regents, and told them that students have a better chance of graduating if they head straight to a four year university rather than starting at a two year school.

Wilson strongly disagrees, saying McPhearson’s conclusion for Wisconsin is not an accurate one.

Wilson says he did his own study of Wisconsin graduation rates, and found that McPhearson's statistics might be correct for the rest of the country, but they don't apply to the UW-system. He says other states have community colleges with many missions, but colleges in Wisconsin have one mission, “undergraduate, liberal arts, high quality education.”

Wilson's research shows that students who start their education at UW colleges and then transfer to a four year university have significantly higher graduation rates than the national average, by a factor of 65 to 55 percent. And he says in tough economic times, the lower cost two-year schools offer opportunity to many who could otherwise not afford it.

Wilson credits the high quality faculty and focused mission of the two year colleges for their success.

(MILWAUKEE) Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he's making his second bid to become Wisconsin Governor. He'll run to replace incumbent Jim Doyle, who isn't running for re-election. Barrett lost to Doyle in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary. At a news conference attended by some of his supporters Sunday, Barrett talked about what he hopes to do differently in next year's race.

Barrett made his campaign kick-off announcement with his family in full view of the television cameras. The Mayor says that at church Sunday, a man who identified himself as an independent, came up to him and said he appreciated Barrett talking with his family before deciding to run for governor again.

Tom Barrett's decision to enter the Governor's race comes despite historic trends that suggest next year could be a difficult one for his party.

Mid-term elections are often tough for the party in power and Republicans are hoping next year will be another 1994. That was the first mid-term of President Bill Clinton's presidency when the GOP won big in both national and state elections.

UW-Milwaukee Political Science Professor Mordecai Lee says he's sure Barrett has considered what he's facing. Lee says Barrett likely understands history is against him, but believes the race is winnable.

Madison-based Democratic pollster Paul Maslin did work for Barrett during his first mayoral campaign. Maslin says that for all the talk of 2010 being a tough year for Democrats, Barrett is poised to do well. He says “Wisconsin produces close elections, but they’re generally won by a Democrat.”

Maslin points to Jim Doyle's two wins as Governor, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold's combined seven wins for U.S. Senate, and Democratic wins in Wisconsin's last six Presidential races.

But Wisconsin Republican Party Director Mark Jefferson says there's a notable exception to that list. Jefferson says the most popular governor in state history was Republican Tommy Thompson. He says something is happening with an electorate that is demanding a change right now.

Jefferson says either Scott Walker or Mark Neumann would match up well against Barrett in the general election.

The State Republican Party says Tom Barrett has yet to show anyone that he actually wants to be Governor.

Barrett's announcement Sunday ended months of speculation that began when Governor Jim Doyle announced in August he would not seek a third term.

State GOP Director Mark Jefferson says Barrett's reluctance to enter the race means he'll have to prove to people that he's up to the challenge. He says it looks like Mayor Barrett is doing this out of an obligation to his party, but it doesn’t look like he wants to lead.

Barrett said that injuries he sustained this summer while defending a woman in distress made it physically impossible for him to consider the governor's race for part of this year.

(MADISON) Tomorrow Dane County will have its first big public flu clinic against H1N1. Shots and nasal spray are intended only for the most vulnerable.

The vaccinations will be held in one of Dane County's biggest venues: the Alliant Energy Center. Madison-Dane County Health Director Thomas Schlenker says they will distribute 5,000 doses. He says there will be no camping overnight and doors to the Alliant Center will open a half-hour before the clinic starts.

A mass vaccination against H1N1 will also be held on Wednesday for target groups. Schlenker says clinics are for those without health insurance; those with access to a private doctor should go to their doctor. He says school H1N1 clinics will resume at some point, when the county gets more vaccine.

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold says he wants the health care package moving through Congress to have a strong option for public insurance. He says he hasn't seen the Senate version yet, but is skeptical of talk to delay a public option until there's a so-called "trigger."

Feingold says it's possible the Senate will pass its bill by the end of the year. Then, the House and Senate versions would go to a conference committee. Feingold says the goal should be to get a measure to President Obama by the time of his State of the Union speech in late January.

Supporters of high speed rail in southwestern Wisconsin have formed a coalition to push for a route from Chicago to the Twin Cities that follows Amtrak's line through La Crosse.

The Empire Builder line -- otherwise known as the Western Route -- sees a ridership of about 2,500 passengers a month at its La Crosse station. Bob Fisher, of the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers, says that number could double or even triple if high speed rail were to come through the area. He says it would be possible to travel to and from Chicago or the Twin Cities several times in one day.

Fisher, a member of the newly formed La Crosse coalition, says it’s a better route for high speed rail than the Union Pacific line running through Eau Claire. He says the Eau Claire route wouldn’t have as many passengers and it wouldn’t serve Minnesota, which the La Crosse route does.

Scott Rogers disagrees. He’s co-chairman of the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition in favor of a route through Eau Claire. Rogers says the passenger rail infrastructure is already in place and there would be less freight congestion on the Eau Claire route.

Either way, train passenger Prem Girdhari says high speed rail would benefit the state. Girdhari says it will pave the way for future regional development no matter what route is chosen.

More than 40 applicants nationwide are competing for $8 billion available for high speed rail projects to be awarded next spring.

Governor Jim Doyle has vetoed a plan that would have stripped future Governors of the power to appoint Department of Natural Resources Secretaries.

The plan would have returned to the system that was in place for several decades in Wisconsin, where the Natural Resources Board appointed the DNR Secretary. Proponents said going back to that system would insulate Secretaries from political influence when they make long-term decisions involving the environment.

Doyle never promised to veto this bill, but his move Friday was hardly surprising. Even though he used to support this change, the Governor has said he opposed the idea for most of this year. But the bill's Assembly author, Madison Democrat Spencer Black, said he was still disappointed. Black says he’d hoped the Governor would notice that virtually every Democrat in both houses of the legislature supported this and return to the position he had when he was Attorney General, that it was important to have an independent DNR.

Black will ask the Assembly Speaker to try and override the Governor, a move that would take a two-thirds vote in both the Assembly and the Senate. That margin is questionable in the Assembly, where support dropped off after Senators changed the plan to require Senate confirmation of DNR Secretaries.

In Doyle's veto message, the Governor said that the major environmental steps the state had taken in the past seven years, including expanding the Stewardship program and toughening mercury standards could not have been achieved by a Board-appointed Secretary. Doyle also said a Secretary appointed by the Governor ensures a direct line of accountability for citizens concerned about natural resources.

The Natural Resources Board has approved changes to shoreline development rules. They're directing counties to come up with ordinances protecting wildlife habitats that fall within 300 feet of the shores of lakes, rivers, and streams.

The board is effectively changing rules written in the 1960's when most waterfront buildings were seasonal cottages.

Some groups like the Wisconsin Association of Lakes say new development since then has harmed water quality and wildlife. Bill O'Connor, a lawyer for the Association, says the newly approved rules will apply to newly constructed patios and driveways. O’Connor says the rule will have a positive effect on water quality by making it difficult to cover lots within 300 feet of the water with impervious surfaces.

Only 15 percent of land located within that 300 foot barrier could be "impervious." So home owners wanting to add on could not build horizontally, though they could add another story.

The rule changes will have to be approved by the Legislature. O'Connor predicts they will pass since the Natural Resources Board adopted changes already made in the legislative process.

He acknowledges people like living on the water, but stresses, so do animals. O’Connor says things like nesting sites and places animals find food and shelter occurs where the water meets the land.

If the legislature passes the rules, counties will have two years to write new ordinances.

Environmental agencies say they'll try to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes during an upcoming maintenance project, by dumping fish poison into a shipping canal.

The primary electric barrier in a suburban Chicago shipping canal will be turned off early next month for scheduled maintenance. To help guard against Asian Carp getting past a back-up barrier and possibly into the Great Lakes, the fish poison rotenone will be dumped into five miles of the canal, near the barriers.

John Rogner, with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, says the other fish that will die are mostly common carp and gizzard shad, which are not highly valued fish. He says the agencies will try to shock and relocate valuable game fish to locations outside the treatment zone. Rogner says the poison will be detoxified, so as not to affect fish. Colonel Vincent Quarles says the backup barrier doesn't use enough current to hold back the Asian Carp on its own.

The Chicago canal will be closed to all boat traffic beginning December 2 and remain closed for several days. The fish barrier maintenance and poison use will cost as much as $2 million. But the state and federal agencies say Asian Carp getting into the Great Lakes would carry a much higher price tag.

Governor Jim Doyle is trying to douse a dispute between the University of Wisconsin System and UW-Milwaukee over water research. Doyle said Friday that he had talked with UW System President Kevin Reilly about news the System will have a staff member coordinate water research at many UW campuses. Doyle says that doesn't mean work in Milwaukee will dry up.

Doyle says there are no plans to build a $40 million freshwater research building anywhere but UW-Milwaukee. Milwaukee State Representative Jon Richards said last week that he'll bring the water issue before the next meeting of the UW Board of Regents.

(WAUSAU) The group that has sponsors the Badger State Winter Games in Wausau has decided to pull its financial support, casting doubt on whether Wausau will continue host the Olympic style events after next year.

Wausau has been the host community for the Winter Games for 22 years and for the past ten years the money has come from the Wausau Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau. But executive director Darrien Schaefer says the games have changed during that time, and it no longer makes sense to pay for them.

Schaefer points to declining participation, not enough out of town visitors, and the decision to decentralize the games by moving events like hockey to Milwaukee. And he says the money would be better spent hosting athletic events throughout the year that have been organized in the Wausau area.

The Badger State Games are run by the Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation in Madison. Its marketing director, Jessica Gammey says they are already trying to find other sponsors in the Wausau area.

And Gammey stresses that the upcoming Winter Games will go on as scheduled in Wausau in January and February of 2010, but that no decisions have been made for 2011.

Whether Wausau hosts the games in 2011 may depend on whether another organization comes forward with the more than $150,000 in annual host fees.