Friday, 9.20
The Madison Police Department announces that earlier this year it suspended two officers -- Cary and Emily House, who are married -- for an incident at their Columbia County home on Jan. 3. The two had been entertaining guests that evening when neighbors reported hearing gunfire. A Columbia County sheriff's deputy determined Cary had fired his gun from his backyard into an unpopulated area. An internal MPD investigation also determined that Emily had likely driven that evening while intoxicated, although she was not charged. Cary was suspended for 30 days, with 10 days held in abeyance for a year, and Emily suspended for nine days, with three days in abeyance.
Saturday, 9.21
Molly Schuyler wins Ian's National Pizza Eating Championship, gulping down 12.9 slices of pizza in 10 minutes to win $1,000.
Monday, 9.23
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announces he will not charge protester Damon Terrell with a crime for an incident last month at the Capitol sing-along. Terrell had been filming the daily Solidarity Sing Along when police wrestled him to the ground and then charged him with battery. Numerous other protesters captured the arrest on video, which did not show Terrell battering anyone. Says Ozanne: "We had some questions and we didn't believe we could reach our burden."
Madison's Board of Estimates approves the purchase of 2.2 acres at 4018 Mineral Point Rd. -- the same spot where the beleaguered Madison Preparatory Academy charter school had been proposed -- for a Midtown police district. If approved by the Common Council, the land would be purchased after Jan. 1. Construction might not start for a few years.
Tuesday, 9.24
Gov. Scott Walker says Wisconsin should have tougher educational standards than the controversial national Common Core standards, which Wisconsin adopted in 2010.
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announces he has included $2 million in his budget proposal to help Domestic Abuse Intervention Services complete construction of a 56-bed shelter on Fordem Avenue. "A new, larger shelter will ensure that more families who are living in dangerous or life-threatening situations can gain quick access to the safety and refuge they need," he says.
Lawyers representing several public employee unions file a lawsuit asking Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas to hold the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in contempt for continuing to require union recertification elections. Act 10, approved by the state in 2011, requires annual certification, but Colas ruled last year that the requirement is unconstitutional.
Compiled, in part, from local media.
