Booze stings without the sting via the Madison Responsible Retailing Forum
Asked about the Madison Responsible Retailing Forum, Hawk Schenkel at first draws a blank: "I've never heard of it." Blame it on the group's name, which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. In fact,...
View ArticleVan Hollen on Calumet County DA Ken Kratz: 'His behavior was appalling'
J.B. Van Hollen says he was shocked. The Wisconsin attorney general, in what may be his first in-depth public comments on the issue, told "Isthmus" Monday morning of his reaction to text messages of a...
View ArticleProtesters make their own free speech zones at Obama's UW rally
What if they designated a free-speech zone and no one used it? That's pretty much what happened Tuesday as President Barack Obama came to Madison to speak at the UW-Madison campus. The city announced...
View ArticleFull of Ken Kratz
For the last two weeks, everyone and her brother has been talking about the Calumet County District Attorney Ken "I'm the Prize" Kratz, who allegedly used his position to hit on vulnerable women. But...
View ArticleSome web providers fail visually impaired accessibility test
Betsy Gruba takes it personally, as well she should: "As someone who uses this technology for my daily quality of life, it's very frustrating to go to a site and not be able to get the information I...
View ArticleBreaking up is hard to do at Capital Newspapers
It came as a complete surprise -- at least to some of those who will be affected. On Sept. 17, "Wisconsin State Journal" editor John Smalley announced via email that some previous areas of cooperation...
View ArticleWisconsin AG Van Hollen proves nimble in ducking challenger Hassett's blows
To get a bead on the race for Wisconsin attorney general, consider the dust-up over allegations against Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz. Scott Hassett, the Democratic challenger, says the...
View ArticleFalk's dilemma and attorney's alleged fraud: You read them in "Isthmus" first
Careful readers of "TheDailyPage.com" and "Isthmus" may have experienced a bit of déjà vu Thursday morning while reading the "Wisconsin State Journal".
View ArticleMadison West High's (alcohol) test success
Tanya Lawler was taken aback. Her daughter, returning from West High's homecoming dance on Sept. 25, mentioned that students were randomly selected to take a breath test as they arrived, to see if...
View ArticleUW: All news is good news?
The UW-Madison is crowing about a new study of university news coverage that says the university was mentioned 6,995 times in "New York Times" articles between 1945 and 2005. That ranks the UW-Madison...
View ArticleFranklin Center for Government & Public Integrity launching Wisconsin media...
It's fashionable these days to lament the demise of state government reporting, especially investigative stories. And yes, shrinking newsroom budgets have trimmed the size of the press corps assigned...
View ArticlePoll pot: Dane County voters to get say on medical marijuana
Gary Storck of Madison has been waiting a long time for his medicine to be legalized; he knows he has some waiting yet to do. But Storck, the president of Wisconsin NORML and a member of Is My Medicine...
View ArticleTom Barrett and Scott Walker are lying!
Everyone knows the American public has a low opinion of politicians. What's sometimes overlooked is why. And the biggest reason is the politicians themselves -- not what they do, necessarily, but what...
View ArticleFreedom from Religion Foundation ads urge atheists to come 'out of the closet'
The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is unveiling a bold new ad campaign that borrows an idea popularized by other movements. "Out of the closet" ads just went up on 13 city of Madison...
View ArticleFeds probe UW-Madison campus animal care violations
A team of investigators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking into the UW-Madison's record of citations regarding the use of animals in research, which could lead to fines or other...
View ArticleThe inadequacy of rules
Last week, nearly two months after being asked, the Madison Police Department released to "Isthmus" records of its internal investigation into a 2006 incident involving then-26-year-old Jacob Bauer,...
View ArticleDetective saw letter, sought charge
What follows is a letter of apology and commendation sent March 15, 2004, by Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard to a Madison woman named Patty, against whom his office previously filed a...
View ArticleSlushie machine gets the boot at O'Keeffe Middle School
A controversial slushie machine installed at O'Keeffe Middle school in Madison is on its way out, after the school's principal joined parents in raising concerns. "They're taking it out of here...
View ArticleHow trustworthy is MacIver News Service?
You don't have to be an investigative reporter to sense something a bit odd about a North Dakota group's interest in setting up news bureaus in Madison.
View ArticleWar and peace at UW's Memorial Union
The letter writer to "Isthmus" made his points clearly and well, in response to an article on the upcoming renovation of the UW's Memorial Union.
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