Wednesday, 5.12
The Madison Area Technical College District Board tentatively approves a 9% tax hike to fund next year's $266 million budget. The board will hold a public hearing on the budget June 9.
Thursday, 5.13
Kyle Hicke, 38, is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Erica Ostenson, in April 2009 in Janesville. Hicke had gone to Ostenson's house after the breakup, then beat and shot her with a handgun in front of her 5-year-old son. He'll be eligible for parole in 42 years.
Friday, 5.14
Madison's Alcohol License Review Committee files a complaint against University Avenue Liquor for allegedly selling alcohol at a reduced rate to Campusdrank.com, which allegedly then resold the liquor, charging a delivery fee. City police verified 241 sales to underage customers via the website. Danny Harber and Matthew Siegel, the owners of Campusdrank.com, face $400,000 in fines for selling alcohol without a liquor license and selling to underage people.
Sunday, 5.16
The Dalai Lama tells a crowd of 1,100 people at the Overture Center that humans' "basic nature is pure" but that ignorance can distort the mind. Huh?
Monday, 5.17
Activists with two groups - Take Back the Land and Operation Welcome Home - protest at a vacant, foreclosed duplex on the southside, calling on banks to let homeless people live in foreclosed homes. The activists do some basic maintenance on the house, owned by Freddie Mac, and plant flowers, but do not say when or if they'll help someone move in. Madison police warn the groups to stay off the property.
In yet another Craigslist-related crime, a 42-year-old Rockford, Ill., man ventures to a south-side Madison apartment building to receive a massage from a woman who advertised on the shadowy Internet site. Two men rob the man at gunpoint as he enters the building.
Tuesday, 5.18
The State Claims Board announces it will pay $25,000 to an Oak Creek man, Chaunte Ott, who spent about 13 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for the 1995 killing of 16-year-old Jessica Payne in Milwaukee. DNA evidence that helped clear Ott last year implicated another man in the killing.
Madison installs the first "bike box" pavement marker at Williamson and Wilson Streets. It allows bikes to get ahead of cars at the intersection. See David Medaris' report.
Wednesday, 5.19
Gov. Jim Doyle vetos a bill that would have legalized the sale of raw milk, saying "I must side with the interests of public health and the safety of the dairy industry."
Compiled (in part) from local media
