Wednesday, 11.13
Workers at Pellitteri Waste System discover a severed hand in recycling waste, prompting an intense police investigation. However, an officer notices the hand has six fingers and no thumb. It is later determined to be a bear paw.
Thursday, 11.14
The state Assembly approves a bill that would forbid municipalities from holding in-person, weekend voting. Weekend voting is popular in cities like Madison, where 2,000 people cast weekend ballots ahead of the 2012 presidential election. The measure still needs to be voted on by the Senate.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports that staff at Madison College are furious over new rules that limit public comments to the college's board on personnel, discipline and contracts. The college's new president, Jack E. Daniels, tells the paper he proposed the rules to establish a businesslike atmosphere at meetings and ensure confidentiality.
Dane County officials announce they'll spend $450,000 on a series of initiatives to lessen racial disparities. Among the proposals is a community court intended to keep minor offenders out of the criminal justice system.
Friday, 11.15
The Wall Street Journal reports that the new John Doe investigation in Milwaukee County is targeting the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker, the state Republican Party and more than two dozen conservative groups. The probe is reportedly focusing on the 2012 recall elections and exploring whether the conservative groups illegally coordinated issue ads with campaign leaders.
The state releases an audit of the UW System's $755.4 million in reserves, noting that UW officials did not document plans for about a fifth of it, or $142.2 million.
Dane County Judge Stephen Ehlke sentences 67-year-old Herminio Villegas to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting two children in 2005.
Monday, 11.18
The Dane County Board approves a $510 million operating budget and a $51 million capital budget.
Dane County Circuit Judge Nicholas McNamara sentences Lawren E. Prisk, 44, to seven years in prison for a drunk-driving accident that killed 20-year-old Conor Dunleavy and badly injured another person in Sun Prairie in August 2012.
Tuesday, 11.19
Gov. Walker releases his book, Unintimidated: A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge, which many view as a setup for a presidential bid. Walker is noncommittal in interviews about his political aspirations.
Wednesday, 11.20
Joseph Paul Franklin, a white supremacist and serial killer, is executed in Missouri by lethal injection. The 63-year-old had been convicted of killing seven people, including Alphonce Manning Jr. and Toni Schwenn in the parking lot of East Towne Mall in Madison in 1977. See Judith Davidoff's interview with former Dane County District Attorney Hal Harlowe, who tried Franklin here in 1986.
