Wednesday 8.23
A 16-year-old girl is shot in the back on Allied Drive. Her injury is not life-threatening. Police are investigating, but say the witnesses are not cooperating.
Thursday 8.24
A series of thunderstorms dumps record rainfall and hail on the region. Lightning strikes are blamed for causing a house fire in Cottage Grove and for electrocuting 12 cows in a barn in Marshall.
Friday 8.25
Maribeth Witzel-Behl is named Madison's city clerk by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. Her appointment must still be confirmed by the Common Council. She will replace Ray Fisher, who retired earlier this year. The mayor had earlier named Sun Prairie's Dianne Hermann-Brown to the post, but the council rejected her appointment because of concerns with the hiring process.
The state Ethics Board clears Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager of wrongdoing in a complaint alleging that she used her position to help a Philadelphia-area lawyer get state business. It is the second time in a week that the board dismissed complaints filed by Lautenschagler's Republican challengers as baseless.
Saturday 8.26
About 800 people, including nine dressed in bunny suits, attend a counterprotest at the state Capitol, opposite 64 members of a neo-Nazi group. While the Nazis make speeches, the protesters boo and taunt them.
Sunday 8.27
Two new deaths bring the number of Wisconsin soldiers killed in Iraq to 60. Shaun Novak, 21, of Two Rivers dies in an explosion while he is riding in an armored vehicle. Kenneth Cross, 21, of Superior, is killed by a roadside bomb.
Monday 8.28
Patrick Okopinski, owner of All Star Gymnastics on Walsh Road, is arrested and charged with possessing child pornography. Okopinski, 37, of Sun Prairie, later tells the Wisconsin State Journal he is "disgusted with myself" for downloading the material.
Eugene Zapata, 67, is arrested at his home in Henderson, Nev., and charged with the murder of his estranged wife, Jeanette. She disappeared from Madison on Oct. 11, 1976.
The Board of Estimates approves a plan to charge people $5 to attend Halloween on State Street. The plan now goes to the full city council.
Tuesday 8.29
Vincente Rea, 35, and Martha Patricia Cervantes, 40, fail to appear in court and have apparently vanished. The two workers are charged with issuing fraudulent drivers licenses and state identification cards while working at the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Wednesday 8.30
The state Elections Board orders gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to get rid of $468,000 from out-of-state political action committees. A state law prohibits donations from PACS not registered in the state. As of June 30, Green had $3.17 million, while Gov. Jim Doyle had $5.17 million.
Compiled from local media
