Thursday, 3.18
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz scraps plans for a new $37 million library in favor of renovating the current library for an estimated $27 million. The city couldn't reach an agreement with developer Fiore Co. for a new facility.
A 14-year-old Edgerton girl is sentenced to three years at a maximum-security facility for juvenile girls as well as two years' probation for providing the prescription painkillers that killed her 13-year-old friend, Alexander Aiken, in February.
Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke sentences Porfirio Olivas, 39, to 20 years in prison for abusing and torturing his teenage daughter. The girl was found by social workers in 2008, bruised, battered, gaunt and malnourished. His wife, Minerva Lopez, also convicted of child abuse, will be sentenced April 6.
Friday, 3.19
Motorists driving south on Stoughton Road near Pflaum Road around 1:30 a.m. open fire on each other, seriously injuring one passenger. A driver in one of the vehicles takes the injured man to a hospital and then flees.
Cynthia Person, 35, pleads no contest to causing the death of Pablo Zarinana, 30, whom she hit with her car as he crossed the 3500 block of East Washington Avenue last August.
Madison police taser a 16-year-old boy hiding in a Memorial High School bathroom. He is tentatively charged with resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct.
State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman files a motion to have his colleague, Justice N. Patrick Crooks, removed from an ethics case over a campaign ad Gableman ran. The motion accuses Crooks of making "gratuitous personal attacks" - that is, negatively characterizing Gableman's conduct regarding the ad.
Saturday, 3.20
Dane County Coroner Ray Wosepka, 67, dies from heart-related complications. Wosepka served from 1988 to 2001 as coroner and then retired. He was reappointed last September after Coroner John Stanley died of a heart attack. Chief Deputy Coroner Barry Irmen will serve as interim coroner until the county hires a medical examiner next January.
Monday, 3.22
The Madison school board votes to claim an additional $11.7 million in taxing authority, meaning owners of a $250,000 home will see their school taxes increase by $127. The board still faces a $17 million budget hole, meaning more tax hikes are possible.
Tuesday, 3.23
An Assembly committee deadlocks on whether to expel Rep. Jeff Wood (I-Chippewa Falls), who is facing three driving-under-the-influence charges. That means Wood, who is not seeking reelection, will likely keep his job through the end of the year.
Wednesday, 3.24
The Hammes Co. announces it will bring its revised Edgewater Hotel expansion plan back before the Madison Landmarks Commission, which rejected it earlier. The commission's next meeting is April 12, eight days before the Common Council will vote on the project.
Compiled (in part) from local media
