Thursday, 2.23
Ryan Braun, outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, becomes the first Major League Baseball player to have a suspension for alleged drug use overturned on appeal. Braun faced a 50-game suspension after a urine sample tested positive for a high level of testosterone. The sample, however, was mishandled and apparently kept in a tester's refrigerator over the weekend, instead of being immediately shipped to a lab. Wonder what else that guy's got in his fridge.
Nino Amato, executive director for the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, says the coalition will go bankrupt if it loses a $340,000 grant from the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources. The coalition has faced heightened scrutiny after an audit found it had poor fiscal controls. But Amato tells the Wisconsin State Journal that the attention is payback for being critical of Gov. Scott Walker.
The State Journal reports that another developer has pitched a proposal to the city for the old Don Miller site on East Washington Avenue. Metcalfe's plan calls for a 60,000-square-foot grocery store with a rooftop farm, along with 30,000 square feet of office space, commercial space, 14 rental townhouses and a 120-room hotel. The development would cost $45 million.
Friday, 2.24
David Hoem, who is accused of killing his girlfriend's two children last summer, remains silent during a 15-minute court hearing and does not respond to any of the judge's questions. Hoem had earlier fired his attorney and is now representing himself. Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan says it appears Hoem does not want to be present for the trial: "It certainly rubs me the wrong way, but there's no other conclusion that can be reached."
A trial over the state's new redistricting maps ends after the Republicans refuse to revisit the issue. A panel of three federal judges says it will hand down a decision in a few weeks.
Monday, 2.27
Gov. Scott Walker's office announces he won't challenge any of the 1 million signatures collected to recall him, saying there isn't enough time to review them all.
Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan sentences Jason Hairston, 30, to four years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child and three years for sexual assault of a student by school staff. While he was an assistant coach at East High, Hairston sexually exploited a 16-year-old student for months.
Madison Gas & Electric Foundation announces it is giving $250,000 to the Overture Center over the next five years and offers a $100,000 matching grant. Private donor Dianne Christensen also announces a $250,000 matching grant.
Wednesday, 2.29
The State Journal reports that Hovde Properties is proposing a 14-story apartment tower with ground-floor retail between Dayton and Johnson streets, behind the Overture Center. At first blush, Mayor Paul Soglin likes the idea and asks Hovde to consider including a new firehouse in the proposal.
Compiled, in part, from local media.
