1.9 Wednesday
Matthew Poink, 30, of Superior, dies in Iraq. He is one of six U.S. soldiers killed when a bomb explodes in a building in Sinsil, Iraq. Poink is the 84th Wisconsin service member to die in the war.
1.11 Friday
Ian Bowers, 20, of Madison, is sentenced to 13 years in prison for crashing his car while driving drunk and killing two people. Bowers was on leave from Iraq when he wrecked his car on Christmas night in 2006.
1.12 Saturday
Keith Lloyd, 26, of Milwaukee, dies in Tal Afar, Iraq, after his vehicle is hit by a homemade bomb. Lloyd becomes the 85th Wisconsin soldier to die in the war and the fourth in just two weeks.
1.14 Monday
About 25 residents are displaced by an apartment fire on Independence Lane near East Towne Mall. Two people are rescued from a balcony by firefighters, while a third person jumps. No one is injured in the blaze, which causes $750,000 in damage. Fire officials are investigating.
In separate meetings, Madison's Board of Estimates and the Plan Commission approve a redevelopment project for Allied Drive. The $28 million plan includes tearing down some city-owned apartment buildings and replacing them with 48 low-income rental units and 61 owner-occupied townhouses. The measure now goes to the full Common Council.
1.15 Tuesday
Madison police announce they've linked Andrew Clark, 33, of Madison, to two brutal assaults. Police, who arrested Clark last month, say his DNA matches that of an assailant who broke into two homes in November and October, attacking two women, one of them sexually.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office releases the dismissal letter for Lt. Shawn Haney, a 21-year veteran who was fired in December. The letter states Haney released police reports to the Waunakee School District about an underage drinking party last September that involved members of its high school football team. Haney's son played football for DeForest, which faced a playoff game with Waunakee. Haney is appealing his termination. His attorney calls the charges "overblown."
The GOP-controlled Assembly agrees to an April referendum regarding the governor's so-called Frankenstein veto. The proposed constitutional amendment would end the governor's power to selectively strike words to create new meanings from different sentences; but it still would be possible to create new meanings by cutting words within a sentence or omitting whole sentences. Paging Dr. Frankenstein.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled Senate passes a measure to raise the state's minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.25 an hour, with annual increases tied to inflation.
Compiled from local media
