Wednesday, 3.18
A 51-year-old Dane County resident is shot (the bullet goes through his hand and lodges in his neck) after refusing to turn his car over to two men to whom he was giving a ride. The assailants fled; the victim's injuries were deemed non-life-threatening.
Thursday, 3.19
Dane County announces that John Dejung, 52, will be its new 911 Center director, as of June 1. He tells the Wisconsin State Journal, "I'm expecting by the time I leave here that Dane County will be an award-winning center...." Already he has an exit plan. Smart guy.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb, 69, says she's resigning as a full-time judge but will continue to hear some cases. Madison's other federal judge, John Shabaz, stepped down in January.
Sunday, 3.22
The UW women's hockey team trounces Mercyhurst, 5-0, to clinch its third national championship in four years. Mercyhurst?
Police arrest Justin M. Simpson, 20, after spotting him walking down the street wearing the "black parka-style jacket" of a suspect in up to 20 recent armed robberies. They say he was in possession of a fake gun and heroin, and confessed to three of the crimes. Note to drugged-out hoodlums: Spend some of that loot buying a new jacket.
Monday, 3.23
The Verona City Council passes a ban on smoking in public places, including bars, stadiums, parks and inns, effective Aug. 15. Verona is the fifth city in Dane County to go smoke free; only Stoughton and Sun Prairie remain cancer-friendly.
Tuesday, 3.24
Dane County Executive candidate Nancy Mistele issues a press release declaring that, according to her own campaign manager, she is "now the front-runner" in the race against Kathleen Falk. Wow! Mistele's own campaign manager! It MUST be true!
Katherine C. Phair, 30, of Madison, is charged with embezzlement for allegedly helping herself to about $18,000 from the DeForest Chamber of Commerce, where she served - past tense - as director. She was purportedly upset that the chamber did not raise her salary past the $60,000 mark.
Wednesday, 3.25
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin holds a news conference regarding her proposal to hike undergraduate tuition by $1,000 over the next four years, starting with a $250 hike this fall. She says the goal is to "preserve the value of a UW-Madison education." Oh, it's valuable all right. So valuable some folks can't afford it.
Compiled (in part) from local media