Thursday 4.26
The Dane County District Attorney's Office drops sexual assault charges against Mario Orlando-Amaya, 26. Orlando-Amaya was accused of taking part in the gang rape of a woman behind Ian's Pizza on University Avenue last fall. Prosecutors say Orlando-Amaya helped them catch two other men involved, and he has no prior record.
Friday 4.27
Nicholas Riehl, 21, of Shiocton is killed in a roadside bombing in Fallujah. The Army private is the 73rd Wisconsin soldier to die in the Iraq war.
Saturday 4.28
A fire guts a house at 1110 E. Gorham St., causing $150,000 in damages. The Fire Department is investigating the cause.
Monday 4.30
The Madison school board passes its $339 million budget for 2007-2008. To help plug an $8 million gap, the board cuts $2 million from special education, eliminates $232,000 for busing private school students, and trims $200,000 from the maintenance budget. The board also increases athletic ticket prices and raises the rental fees for musical instruments.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court refuses to temporarily block a state Ethics Board complaint against newly elected Justice Annette Ziegler, alleging that she heard cases as a circuit court judge despite conflicts of interest. Ziegler tried to block the complaint, saying the board does not have jurisdiction over judges; the court wants the Ethics Board to respond.
Tuesday 5.1
The Madison Common Council approves a new regulation requiring booksellers to keep lists of those who sell used textbooks and make the records available to police. Supporters say the law will protect students when their textbooks are stolen; others say it violates civil liberties.
About 400 people gather for an immigrant rights rally at the State Capitol.
Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard files civil complaints against three campaign committees. Blanchard says the campaigns of Kami Eshraghi (who ran for Madison Common Council in 2005), Lawrence Winkler (who ran for the Madison school board in 2005), and the Madison School Board Recall Committee (which in 2001 launched an unsuccessful attempt to oust Bill Keyes) failed to file campaign finance reports.
Wednesday 5.2
The Dalai Lama arrives in Madison for a four-day visit.
One person is killed and two others seriously injured in an early-morning crash on the Beltline. A car driving east crosses the median and hits two other cars traveling west between the Whitney Way and Verona Road exits.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends the law licenses of Chuck Chvala and Brian Burke for two years. The former state senators were convicted of violating campaign finance laws and using state employees for campaign work.
Michael DeSalvo is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the death of Angela Drake, 24. In 2005, DeSalvo met Drake at a Fitchburg bar and later left her half-naked in a frozen ditch, where she died of hypothermia.
Compiled from local media