Thursday 12.14
Gov. Jim Doyle announces a bipartisan proposal to merge the state Ethics and Elections boards, creating a Government Accountability Board to prosecute government corruption. The new board would have unlimited funding for investigations, and legislators would be prosecuted in their home county, rather than only Dane County.
Some 150 people attend a workshop at Monona Terrace to discuss possible streetcar routes. Many in the crowd are skeptical, bringing up concerns about traffic flow, downtown parking costs and competition with the Madison Metro system.
Former St. Mary's nurse Julie Thao announces a plea agreement in a case in which her errors caused the death of a patient in labor. An initial felony charge is reduced to two misdemeanor counts of illegal administration of prescription medication. Under the deal, Thao will serve three years' probation.
Friday 12.15
John Broome resigns as principle of La Follette High School amid concerns that his management style is not a good fit for the school.
Antonio L. Pope, 31, reportedly confesses to the recent rapes of two UW-Madison students after DNA evidence links him to the attacks. In both cases, a female UW student was abducted near campus, driven to an unknown location, and raped before being returned downtown.
Sunday 12.17
Laura Hougan, 18, of Cambridge is killed when her Honda Civic crashes into a Saturn on Koshkonong Road. All three of her passengers and the driver of the Saturn are seriously injured.
Monday 12.18
Kevin M. Kryst, 27, a UW-Madison graduate and Marine helicopter pilot, dies after being hit with a mortar fragment while serving in al-Anbar province in Iraq. The West Bend native is the 64th member of the military from Wisconsin to die in the Iraq war.
Gov. Jim Doyle announces that Health and Family Services Secretary Helene Nelson and Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin will be leaving his cabinet in his second term. Nelson says she wants to spend more time with her family, and Holperin cites long commutes from Eagle River to Madison.
Tuesday 12.19
Hundreds of students from across the state converge on the state Capitol to protest American Civil Rights Coalition chair Ward Connerly's opposition to affirmative action. Connerly testifies to the state Special Committee on Affirmative Action. The UW Board of Regents is considering changes to its admissions policy relating to race.
Wednesday 12.20
A Dane County judge rules that William Connell, 43, is still mentally incompetent. That means Connell, convicted of setting fire to St. Raphael Cathedral in 2005, cannot yet be sentenced.
Compiled from local media
