News and Opinion

• Teen killed in shootout identified

  A 17-year-old boy killed during a shootout on the city's north side Saturday night was identified Tuesday by Milwaukee police as Edqonn L. Simpson. Police said occupants of two vehicles began shooting at each other near N. 42nd St. and W. Hampton Ave. shortly before 10 p.m. Simpson was shot multiple times [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 7:42pm EST
  

• Storm clouds gather in BPA battle

  Consumer groups are calling for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban bisphenol A in food and beverage containers, citing a report published today by Consumer Reports that found the chemical in virtually all items tested, including those labelled "BPA Free." The FDA is expected to release a new ruling [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 6:49pm EST
  

• Waukesha judge to retire

  Waukesha County Circuit Judge Robert Mawdsley (below, instructing a jury in 2000) has announced he will retire this year. Gov. Jim Doyle will appoint a successor. [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 5:30pm EST
  

• Billions of bullets

  In the months after last year's presidential election, gun and ammuniton sales jumped. The Washington Post today put a real big number on the trend -- Americans bought 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the last year, which works out to more a couple magazine's worth for every person in the [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 4:00pm EST
  

• College Notebook: UW Colleges chancellor finalist at Morgan State

  David Wilson, the chancellor of the two-year University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension, is a finalist for the presidency of Morgan State University. In a memo Tuesday to the employees of the UW-Extension and the 13-campus, 14,000-student UW Colleges, Wilson stressed that he “did not seek this position.” Baltimore-based [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 3:58pm EST
  

• Wauwatosa singer on Oprah

  Wauwatosa's Grace Weber will be on "Oprah" on Thursday competing in the talk show host's Karaoke Challenge. Here's what WISN-12 had to say about Weber. Weber is no Johnny-Sing-Lately. In January, she listed these bragging rights for a story in the Journal Sentinel: [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 3:04pm EST
  

• Diego Rivera's daughter writes about her papa

  Guadalupe Rivera MarÍn, the daughter of renown Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera, has written a children's picture book that's bilingual and filled with her father's art and her recollections of him. Entitled "My Papa Diego and Me," or "Mi papá Diego y yo", MarÍn told Latina Style Magazine that she [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 2:58pm EST
  

• UWM provost may leave for Illinois

  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee may be losing one of its top administrators. UWM Provost Rita Cheng is one of two finalists for the top job at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, according to an announcement on the school's Web site. Since May 2005, Cheng, 57, has been the provost and vice chancellor for [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 2:50pm EST
  

• Chicago Christmas tree falls victim to economy

  The picture here reminded me that Christmas is all too close for many budgets. For example, the city of Chicago is downsizing its Christmas tree. Is it a good idea or a simple return to basics? [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 2:16pm EST
  

• New troubles for attorney who showed up drunk

  An Elm Grove attorney who made news earlier this year when he showed up for a case in Elm Grove Municipal Court now has been charged with a felony accusing him of driving drunk with his two children in the vehicle. Meanwhile, a 43-year-old Oconomowoc man accused of showing up drunk [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:47pm EST
  

• Flipping off a judge is not advisable

  If you're charged with a crime and a judge asks you whether you have an attorney, it might not be advisable to start your response with a four-letter word. And if the judge then asks you to raise your hand to be sworn in, it might be best for you to' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  

• A case where the privileged can watch the underclass

  My year spent at Harvard University from 2007-08 was the best year of my life. I was able to be around the best and the brightest minds in the country. At the same time I was also around a lot of people who, to put it mildly, were out of [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:59am EST
  

• What matters is adding jobs

  The economic news reads like this: “Economy grew at 3.5% rate in the third quarter;" “Economy finds its footing”, and “Stocks soar on upbeat economic report." The bottom line is that until employers start adding jobs, consumers will continue to keep their wallets closed. We all know someone who is [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:08am EST
  

• Man arrested on 9th OWI in Wausau

  From the Wausau Daily Herald: A man found passed out in a tavern parking lot Saturday in Wausau was arrested for his ninth drunken driving offense, according to the Wausau Police Department. A Wausau police officer and a Marathon County sheriff's deputy found the man sitting in the driver's seat of a [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:00am EST
  

• Conan's not a fan of Pabst Blue Ribbon

  With the news that Pabst is for sale again, Conan O'Brien took a shot at Pabst, Old Milwaukee and Schlitz during his comedy bit last night. Here's what he said: "The brewery that makes Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Milwaukee and Schlitz is up for sale. However, the new owner must promise' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:59am EST
  

• Suicides rise among military members

  It's a sad tale about our soldiers. So far, at least 134 active-duty soldiers have committed suicide so far this year. That approaches the record total recorded in 2008 of 140 active-duty soldiers taking their own lives, according to an article today in The Wall Street Journal. The Journal article notes [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:34am EST
  

• Is forced-medication law constitutional?

  If you're committed to state custody after being found not guilty of a crime because of mental disease or defect, how easy should it be for doctors to make you take psychiatric drugs? John A. Wood was criminally committed to the state's psychiatric hospital. The state contends Wood is not only' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:00am EST
  

• Colbert has speedskaters' backs

  Big news in the speedskating world. Mock conservative talk-show host Stephen Colbert has adopted the U.S. speedskating team. The team lost a big sponsor when a Dutch bank went into bankruptcy. Colbert wants his legions of supporters to donate to the team, which trains at the Pettit National Ice Center. Here's' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 6:53am EST
  

• Firstwatch: Chemicals and prepping for Obama and Palin

  If you're a Consumer Reports subscriber, you can check out an expose on dangerous chemicals in household food containers. If you suscribe to the Journal Sentinel, you saw such a report a year ago. That said, it's probably worth a look at the Consumer Reports analysis of bisphenol A, a chemical that' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 5:45am EST
  

• Man arrested in accidental shooting

  Milwaukee police have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with Monday night's fatal shooting of a 27-year-old man, according to a department spokesman. Investigators believe the victim, identified by police as Tyress L. Clark, was accidentally shot in the chest about 6:45 p.m. while inside a home in the 2400 block [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:00am EST