Wednesday, 2.17
A 25-year-old construction worker, David Pink, falls 60 feet at Park and Regent streets, where he was working on a six-story apartment building. He is taken to UW Hospital, where he is recovering.
Thursday, 2.18
Brothers Bar defiantly drapes a 30-by-30-foot banner on the side of its building declaring "Save Brothers Bar...No UW Music School." The bar has been fighting condemnation for the new music school. However, the sign violates zoning codes and is later removed.
Friday, 2.19
Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas rules that Dane County can move ahead with plans to direct non-emergency calls to an automated system, over the city of Madison's protests. But the judge rules that Dane County cannot yet begin directing parking enforcement calls to Madison.
An Oregon Middle School teacher allegedly makes a threat regarding a weapon in a phone call and is placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation.
The state Department of Administration announces that it will install better pollution controls, stop using coal or close five coal-powered plants. The announcement comes a day after the Department of Natural Resources found the plants in noncompliance with clean-air regulations.
Saturday, 2.20
A regional Presbyterian body ordains a 54-year-old gay man, Scott Anderson, in violation of national church policy, a decision likely to be appealed. "Some will proclaim this decision the best thing in the world, and others will say the church is dying," the Rev. Alex Thornburg of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Madison tells the Wisconsin State Journal. "It will have its drama around it."
Monday, 2.22
A hearing begins in Sauk County to see whether Terry Vollbrecht, convicted of the 1987 murder of Angela Hackl, should get a new trial. Vollbrecht, 48, is represented by the Wisconsin Innocence Project, which has already succeeded in overturning more than a dozen convictions.
A $1 million winning Wisconsin lottery ticket is voided after whoever purchased it failed to claim the prize within 180 days. The ticket was sold at a Mobile Station in Raymond, Wisconsin. Oh, that ticket!
Tuesday, 2.23
Wisconsin Department of Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch apologizes for the lapses that allowed two inmates to get out of Stanley prison last month using forged documents. Both men were later captured.
Madison Common Council, by a 13-to-7 vote, approves a zoning change that would require any new nonresidential lakefront property to either be located on the site of the previous building or 75 feet away from the shore. The change aids the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment project, which otherwise would have needed approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Wednesday, 2.24
The Wisconsin Supreme Court hears testimony on a petition from the State Bar to greatly expand the availability of expunction of criminal records. The petitioners argue that there is wholesale discrimination against people on the basis of criminal charges, even those that do not lead to convictions.
Compiled (in part) from local media
