Wednesday, 2.8
Madison Metro announces that driver Debra Foster failed to follow protocol in dealing with a blind spot in an accident last June that killed pedestrian Maureen Grant on University Avenue. Metro is remounting mirrors on all its buses to help reduce the size of the blind spots. Foster remains on unpaid leave.
Thursday, 2.9
Madison and Middleton argue over a state bill that would help Spectrum Brands move from Madison to Middleton. The bill would loosen restrictions on tax incremental finance districts in Middleton.
Americans for Prosperity - the tea party group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers - confirms that it has started a $700,000 advertising blitz in support of Gov. Scott Walker.
Friday, 2.10
The state announces it will use $26 million of its $140 million share of the national mortgage settlement to help balance the budget instead of using it to help homeowners being foreclosed on. "I'm disappointed that the much-needed funds will not be used as intended for programs…working with homeowners who are trying to save their homes," Ellen Bernards, co-chair of the Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce, tells the State Journal.
Saturday, 2.11
Protesters mark the one-year anniversary of Gov. Walker's union-busting legislation with a Capitol rally.
Monday, 2.13
Urban Land Interests announces it is buying the Capitol Hill Apartment building, 24 N. Webster St., which was severely damaged in a fire last June. ULI plans to restore the building rather than raze it.
Wednesday, 2.15
In an early morning session, the Wisconsin Senate passes a bill that would make it easier to develop wetlands. Democrats attempted to stall the bill by delaying a vote until the next session, but Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald simply reconvened at 12:01 a.m. The Sierra Club's Elizabeth Ward is not amused: "It is appalling that the Senate would vote on this bill at midnight and attempt to keep the vote and debate out of the public eye." An Assembly vote is expected Thursday.
The State Journal reports that a 15-year-old girl was discovered last week having been allegedly tortured for years by her father and his wife. A doctor said the girl suffered from "serial torture with prolonged exposure to definite starvation." Her father, Chad Chritton, 40, and his wife, Melinda Drabek-Chritton, 42, are being held in the Dane County Jail on $20,000 bail each.
Compiled, in part, from local media
