Wednesday, 2.29
The Middleton-Cross Plains School District announces that Andrew Harris - a teacher who was fired for viewing pornography at work - won his job back and almost $200,000 in back pay and benefits as a result of a ruling by a private arbitrator. In a statement, the board says, "The ruling completely minimizes conduct that cannot be tolerated." The board has not yet decided whether to appeal.
Thursday, 3.1
The state Government Accountability Board announces it will likely seek more time to review recall petitions and ask for an extra $404,000 to do so. The current deadline is March 19.
Friday, 3.2
Access Community Health Centers notifies the families of eight children who received dental care in a mobile clinic about a risk of exposure to HIV and hepatitis because instruments weren't properly sterilized. The sterilizer in the mobile lab wasn't functioning properly. However, because children rarely contract these diseases, the risk is low, the clinic reports.
Monday, 3.5
UW Hospital announces plans to add two floors to its six-story American Family Children's Hospital on campus. This builds on expansion plans announced last month by the hospital and increases costs from $32 million to $45 million. "We grew faster than we imagined," Jeff Poltawsky, vice president of the Children's Hospital, tells the Wisconsin State Journal.
The body of Eric Duffey, a Fitchburg man attending UW-Stevens Point, is recovered from the Wisconsin River by a diver. Duffey disappeared Saturday after celebrating his 21st birthday. Police believe he became disoriented and walked onto the ice by accident.
A UW-Madison faculty committee reports that low salaries at the university have reached a "critical" point. The UW-Madison "is falling behind in its ability to compete for the best faculty, and it faces the prospect of losing many of its most talented professors to other institutions." Faculty earn, on average, almost 11% less than those at peer universities.
Tuesday, 3.6
Shortly before his trial begins, David Hoem pleads guilty to strangling his girlfriend's two young children last July on Madison's east side. Hoem asks to be sentenced immediately, saying, "I would rather get it over with." Judge William Hanrahan sentences Hoem, 28, to two consecutive life terms in prison.
The State Journal reports that the Gallina Cos. is proposing a five-story apartment and retail development at South Park and Drake streets.
Compiled, in part, from local media
