In 2007, a Wisconsin man told his friends and neighbors that he was moving away, but instead he shot himself in the head at his West Allis, Wis., home. David Carter's body was not found until Jan. 23, 2012. more ›

Someone loves Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker so much he wrote a power ballad about it. Wisconsin musicians need to create a rebuttal. The BoDeans can't be the only ones keeping Wisconsin "Closer to Free." more ›

Don't do drugs, folks. It'll make you do something stupid like change your name to Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop. more ›

He has since apologized, but this is the kind of behavior you'd expect from a sorority sister, not an elected official charged with running our country. more ›

...and that's how the civil war of the Great Lakes started. more ›

Maybe Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker thinks he hasn't pissed off enough First Amendment supporters yet. more ›

During the contentious political fight in Wisconsin earlier this year, two Wisconsin Supreme Court justices entered a physical brawl, and now one has filed a lawsuit against the other. Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley says conservative Justice David Prosser put her in a "chokehold." Prosser doesn't disagree. But he contends he didn't squeeze, and it was simply a reflex because she charged at him with a clenched fist. No criminal charges have been filed, but a district attorney has taken up Walsh Bradley's case as a special prosecutor. more ›

Got a friend that likes macrobrewed adjunct American lagers and doesn't know any better? Give him/her one of these and put them on the first step towards craft beer nirvana. more ›

We've kind of figured that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's political philosophy is rooted in "I don't give a damn" with his ongoing battle with labor unions in America's Self-Serious Dairlyland. Now Walker has an eye on denying same-sex couples some basic rights. Walker believes a new law allowing same-sex couples hospital visitation rights is a violation of the state constitution and has asked a judge to allow Wisconsin to stop defending it. more ›

Wolves. At once revered and reviled, is there a more controversial critter in this country? The battle over wolves in the Northern Rockies actually spilled over into the federal budget battle last week, when a controversial policy rider was slipped into the final bill that booted the critters off the Endangered Species list despite ongoing scientific debate over their recovery. But what gets lost in the noisy fight over wolves out West is that there are way more of them in our neck of the woods. Chicago might be devoid of predators (aside from coyotes and the sexual kind) but we are a car-ride away from howling packs in the counties northwest of Madison. Right now there are 4,000 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but a proposed federal rule change might whack those numbers down quickly in the Great Lakes. more ›

After all the maneuvering, shouting, protests and court orders regarding Wisconsin's contentious collective bargaining law, it looks as though Gov. Scott Walker has decided to put on hold actually implementing the law, according to two top officials in Walker's administration. more ›

Last month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was crowing about the businesses that would come to his state from Illinois as a result of our state income tax hike. Now, his assaults on organized labor have made his state a prime battleground for the 2012 elections after the Wisconsin Assembly ceased debate and then approved legislation stripping labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. Assembly Democrats, many of them groggy from three days of intense debate over the legislation, didn't know what hit them. more ›

Indiana House Democrats joined their Wisconsin counterparts in fleeing their borders for Illinois yesterday. In order to block a right to work bill that would’ve severely impaired the collective bargaining rights of union workers in Indiana, the majority of Indiana Democrats fled to Champaign-Urbana to keep the House from reaching a quorum. Today, the bill died in the House and Republican leaders say they will not revive it. more ›

We're guessing Illinois corporations are taking a hard look at the nonsense happening in Wisconsin right now and thinking maybe an increase in the state income tax isn't so bad in comparison. Wisconsin state Democrats fled the state yesterday to hold off a vote on eliminating many collective bargaining rights for public workers, a vote that is nearly certain to pass. more ›

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and other elected officials see lemonade from the lemons of Illinois' income tax hike. Walker, who you'll remember rejected $810 in high-speed rail stimulus funds because he couldn't divert them to highway projects, launched a media campaign in the Chicago area to entice Illinois businesses to move their headquarters to Wisconsin with a promise of two years of tax-free existence. more ›

Illinois is among 12 states that will divvy $1.2 billion in high speed rail funding previously allotted to Wisconsin and Ohio. Illinois will receive $42 million in funding. more ›

Walker's opposition to the rail project could have direct consequences on employment in Wisconsin, however. Spanish train-builder Patentes Talgo, which is building two cars for the existing Amtrak Hiawatha line, is being courted by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who has embraced the federal funding to upgrade rail service in the Midwest. Talgo has said that if Wisconsin doesn't change its mind about funding for rail, the company will leave no later than 2012, after delivering two trains that it has committed to build for the state of Oregon. more ›

The news this week has been filled with reports that recently elected Republican governors in Midwestern states want to turn down cash for high-speed rail projects funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To read the news reports, however, one would think that these conservative, cost-conscious governors would simply refuse the funding on the principal that we can't afford to build a high-speed rail network right now. more ›

One of the bullet points of Wisconsin Governor-elect Scott Walker's campaign was opposing the construction of a high-speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison, due to the $7.5 million annual operation costs Madison would have to pony up. Walker has pledged to reject $810 million stimulus funds geared toward the construction of the line. more ›

Although Waukegan is a hop, skip and a jump away from Chicago, the Waukegan Port District has been thinking outside the box in figuring out ways to boost tourism within and around the area. If you've been itching to find a more swank way to travel to the idyllic city of Waukegan other than by car, bus or rail, the further research into a dinner and an overnight cruise line to Kenosha and Milwaukee through Waukegan might strike your travel fancy:

Port District Chairman Hank Bogdala, a lifelong Waukegan resident and supporter of the idea, said a nautical connection between those points seems natural. "We've got the highway, we've got the railroad. Why not the water? he said. The port district board, which oversees Waukegan Harbor and the Waukegan Regional Airport, recently approved further research of the idea. Bogdala said there already are many tourists, families and students in the area visiting destinations such as Six Flags Great America or Gurnee Mills. A pleasure passenger cruise line would draw people to Waukegan Harbor and Chicago's downtown, and vice versa.

We know natural disasters can be pretty stressful, but what the heck is going on up in Eau Claire? Heavy rains have soaked much of Wisconsin this week sending rivers over their banks throughout the state. But the floods seem to have particularly addled folks along the Chippewa River, where Eau Claire city officials rang the alarm bells when they thought an island had broken loose in the deluge. more ›

We all want what we can’t have and this is ever so true when it comes to exclusively distributed craft beers. So, when we heard Lush Wine & Spirits had a field trip scheduled to visit the new Hilltop New Glarus brewery and a bus big enough to smuggle back some “Forbidden Beer,” our beer bellies giggled with excitement and we hopped on the bus. more ›

did a simple comparison between grocery stores and bars to discover a remarkable geographically [sic] phenomenon. We had expected that grocery stores would outnumber bars and for most parts of North America that is the case. But we could also clearly see the "beer belly of America" peeking out through the "t-shirt of data." Starting in Illinois, the beer belly expands up into Wisconsin and first spreads westward through Iowa/Minnesota and then engulfs Nebraska, and the Dakotas before petering out (like a pair of love handles) in Wyoming and Montana.

One inmate has learned the hard way that once you go behind bars, there's no Dungeons & Dragons to play in your future. Kevin T. Singer had filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin's Waupun prison claiming the prison's ban on role playing games violated his First Amendment rights. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the policy was reasonable. The ban was put in place in 2004 after fears were raised about possible gang activity surrounding Singer and three other inmates who played the game. The Sun-Times explains: more ›

Patrick Kane played the hero last night as he netted a last-minute goal that propelled the 'Hawks past the Nashville Predators 5-4 in their final meeting of the regular season. The goal capped off an incredible third period that saw the teams combine for six goals. Nashville got an early lead in the opening minutes before Kane answered with a goal a few minutes later to tie the game up at 1-1. The Predators got a second period goal to take a 2-1 lead into the final period when all Hell broke loose. John Madden scored the next two goals, about six minutes apart, to put the 'Hawks up 3-2 and a minute after his second goal, Brian Campbell scored on a power play to give the 'Hawks a two-goal lead. But the Predators got back into the game, scoring the next two goals. Kane, though, came through scoring amongst a flurry of shots in front of the Nashville goal in the final minute (video below). Antti Niemi recorded 16 saves overall in the game and earned the win. And yes, that wasn't a typo earlier: even though we're not even halfway through the season, the Predators and 'Hawks - division foes - will not meet again for the rest of the 2009-2010 season. Nice move, schedule-makers. For the record, the 'Hawks took the season series 4-2. The 'Hawks are back on the road for a game in Dallas on Tuesday (7 p.m., VS). more ›

The Case of the Krazy-Glued Penis added another chapter to the sordid tale yesterday, as the glue-ee'ed man testified about the attack. Four women are charged with luring him to a Wisconsin motel room, restraining him and then assaulting him with fixative - and he faced down those women, one of which was his wife, as he discussed the attack in court yesterday. The rabbit hole of this story just keeps getting deeper - the full report from CBN is here but some newer gems from Mr. Krazy-wang include bondage discussions, that two of the women were sisters, and if you want to send us that shiny nickel we wagered here about the "allright vs. uh-oh" possibilities...yeah, it was exactly like that. more ›

We know Oscar Mayer’s first and last name, but do we know his insurance policy number? more ›

Ah, I-94. It's construction season. Again. As part of our penance for trying to flee to the northern climes (Lake Geneva, anyone?) during the sweltering summer, we'll be forced to sit on hot asphalt, in bumper-to-bumper traffic staring longingly off the highway. Why? Because it's time for a major highway expansion and modification north of the border. How big? Well, they're making "Are we there yet?" landmark Mars Cheese Castle move from its iconic location - 100 feet further from the roadway. more ›

Among the many reasons New Glarus beers are held in high regard is their attention to detail. From research to bottle, Dan Carey brews some amazing beers. One of our favorites is so good that if you poured it to some unsuspecting drinkers, they might mistake it for a sparkling rosé. more ›

It's simply a shame that New Glarus Brewing doesn't distribute their product to Illinois. The official line from New Glarus is that they had a hard enough time keeping up with demand in their home state of Wisconsin; the Carey's decision to leave Illinois was made easier when their former local distributor was merged into Southern Wine and Spirits seven years ago and SWS asked for $20,000 from the Careys to opt out of their distribution agreement (source). 'Course, that hasn't stopped some local establishments from bringing in New Glarus' offerings. We've had our share of Raspberry Tart at Delilah's, and one of the early selling points of the Burlington — besides Tankboy's incessant pimping of the place (kidding, Jim) was the poorly kept secret that their "house beer" was Spotted Cow on draft. more ›