Thursday, 5.21
President Barack Obama taps Winslow Sargeant, managing director of Venture Investors in Madison, as chief counsel for advocacy at the Small Business Administration. Says Sargeant, "Small business is the backbone of our economy."
Friday, 5.22
Cheri L. Karow, 21, is busted after driving her car into a creek in the town of Windsor. She's cited for third-offense drunk driving, operating after revocation and failure to maintain control, in more ways than one.
A Marathon County jury convicts Leilani Neumann, 41, of second-degree reckless homicide, for praying over her 11-year-old daughter, rather than seeking medical treatment for her diabetes. The girl died in March 2008. (See "Death by Prayer," 8/8/08.) Neumann could face up to 25 years in prison. Her husband, Dale Neumann, will be tried on similar charges.
Saturday, 5.23
Police arrest Raynard Lambert at 2:30 a.m. Saturday for allegedly trying to break into Capital Plumbing, 4914 Pflaum Rd., by trying to cut into the building with a cordless power saw. His ingenious plan was foiled when someone heard a strange buzzing sound and called police.
Sunday, 5.24
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz finishes 1,814th in the Madison Half Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 16 seconds. Three Common Council members finished with much better times than Cieslewicz, but City Attorney Michael May declared their times illegal and invalid.
Monday, 5.25
The World's Largest Brat Festival got a little bigger this year, setting a new record for the number of brats sold - 208,752. Eating all those brats was no small effort. "It was a very tiring four days," organizer Tim Metcalfe told the State Journal.
The Brat Fest is one of the key reasons cited by Kiplinger's Personal Finance in naming Madison the seventh best place to live in the United States in 2009. Other, more trivial reasons listed are the city's low unemployment and crime rates and good schools.
Tuesday, 5.26
Ross Spang, 22, and Roynell Fuller, 20, pleaded no contest to felony murder in the death of a 20-year-old man, whom they assaulted outside a downtown bar. The victim had tried to take a beer out of the bar and had shoved a bouncer.
In a hearing, Jon Okonek, owner of Johnny O's Restaurant and Madison Avenue, agreed to several sanctions and police controls in order to save his liquor licenses. A hearing for Ram Head, on Henry Street, stretched late into the evening. The Alcohol License Review Committee postponed ruling on the license.
Compiled (in part) from local media
