12.12 Wednesday
Forbes ranks Dane County as the second-best place in the nation to educate children (behind the Washington D.C-Arlington school district). The magazine says Dane County's 78,017 public school students benefit from small class sizes, high per-student spending and the proximity of UW-Madison.
12.13 Thursday
A fire destroys the Homburg Construction Co.'s machinery shop on Milwaukee Street. The blaze causes $300,000 in damage, but no one is injured. Investigators say it was caused by gasoline leaking from a truck.
12.14 Friday
Court documents allege that Madison Police Detective Jeffery Hughes, 39, of Milton, has removed heroin from the department's evidence room more than 10 times since joining the force in 2001. Hughes is in critical condition at UW Hospital, since he crashed his car on Nov. 20. Police found a ripped bag of heroin and drug paraphernalia in his car. No charges have been filed against him.
Jennifer Hancock, 37, a daycare provider in Verona, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for the death of 4-month-old Lincoln Weber. The baby died in September from head trauma after being removed from life support.
A Sun Prairie man, 38, is charged with 32 felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting his three daughters, taking sexually suggestive pictures of them and possessing child pornography. The man is not being named to protect the identity of his daughters.
12.16 Sunday
UW-Madison says goodbye to 2,000 graduates at the Kohl Center. The commencement speaker is ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, who this summer declared Madison the nation's best college sports town.
12.17 Monday
The Madison school board approves spending $503,000 to improve security in the city's middle and high schools. The money will fund hiring four case managers and five positive behavior coaches, as well as additional security assistants. The additional funding was approved after principals complained about an increase in fighting at the schools.
12.18 Tuesday
Fire investigators say a blaze that destroyed a house on Whitney Way last week was caused by arson. One of the house's occupants, Armenag Hovesepian, 44, allegedly poured gasoline on the garage floor and ignited it with a cigarette lighter. Hovesepian is currently at the Mendota Mental Health Institute, awaiting a competency hearing.
Richard Trotta, 84, a former Waunakee schools superintendent, high school principal and member of the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, is struck and killed by a motorist while trying to cross Highway 19 in Sun Prairie.
Two thieves steal a car with a 9-year-old boy inside at a gas station on East Washington Avenue. It is the second carjacking from a gas station in two days. The boy is recovered unharmed and one of the thieves is arrested.
Compiled from local media
