Top Stories July 17th

Heat Advisory Beginning at 10am

7/17/11 - With the onset of hot and humid weather for the next week officials with Wisconsin Emergency Management are reminding residents that they need to protect themselves. Temperatures will rise to the mid-90s with heat indexes of up to 115 degrees in some places. The National Weather Service has already issued an Excessive Heat Watch for southwest Wisconsin, while we are under a Heat Advisory from noon until 10pm tonight. Officials are trying to guard against the events of 1995, when two major killer heat waves affected most of Wisconsin resulting in 154 heat-related deaths and over 300 heat-related illnesses. Summer heat waves have been the biggest weather-related killers in Wisconsin for the past 50 years, far exceeding tornadoes and severe storms.

Debate of Redistricting Continues

7/17/11 - Under the G-O-P’s redistricting plans, about 300-thousand Wisconsinites would have to wait for two extra years to vote for a state senator. Attorney Jim Troupis, who helped G-O-P leaders draft the proposed maps, says there’s nothing unusual about it. He tells the Wisconsin Eye cable channel that redistricting normally moves people into districts in which they must wait two extra years for a regular Senate election. That’s because senators’ terms are staggered – and those in the odd-numbered districts won’t be up for re-election until 2014, while those in the even-numbered districts will be up next year. A Senate committee approved the G-O-P’s redistricting plans for state-and-congressional boundaries on a 3-to-2 party-line vote Friday. The biggest swing is in Kenosha County, where 75-thousand people would be carried by Bob Wirch’s Democratic district to freshman Van Wangaard’s Republican district. Also, Senate Republican Mary Lazich of New Berlin would lose 44-thousand voters, many from her home town. They would be scattered among four other districts. Rebecca Mason, the attorney for a group that filed a federal lawsuit against the proposed new districts, said it’s cause for concern that 300-thousand voters are being disenfranchised. The Senate is scheduled to take up the redistricting plan on Tuesday, and the Assembly on Wednesday.

Japan Tragedy has U.S. Looking at Safety Improvements for Nuclear Plants

7/17/11 - A federal task force recommends safety improvements at U-S nuclear power plants, in the wake of this year’s nuclear disaster in Japan. But Wisconsin’s two nuclear plants say they’re at least a little ahead of the game. Spokesman Mark Kanz says the Kewaunee plant has a review team that has made some internal recommendations. Sara Cassidy at the Point Beach plant in Two Rivers says her company will work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission – but they’ve made some changes already. An N-R-C task force says power plant operators should evaluate their risks for floods-and-earthquakes – have the ability to deal with problems in more than one reactor at a time – and cool spent pools of fuel within the plants. David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists says spent fuel that’s at least five years old should be kept in outdoor dry casks instead of in pools inside the plants. Kanz says some of its indoor radioactive waste is more than five years old – but the plant might be willing to change its timetables.

More Results of Badger Poll Released

7/17/11 - If you live in the country, you’re more likely than those that live in urban or suburban areas to be satisfied with the way things are going in Wisconsin. More results from the recent U-W Madison Badger Poll were released Friday. Thirty-eight percent of the rural residents in the poll said they were satisfied with what’s happening in the state. Thirty-seven percent of suburban folks said the same thing. And only 32-percent of urban residents were satisfied. The Badger Poll interviewed 556 people since mid-June. Fifty-five percent said rural areas get less than their fair share of state services and funding. Just 21-percent thought urban areas get less than their fair share.

Regents Approve Tuition Hike

7/17/11 - The regents of the University of Wisconsin System have approved a plan to raise tuitions by several hundred dollars a year for most students. Thursday's decision means tuitions will go up 5.5 percent at all 26 of the system's two- and four-year colleges. That translates to average rate hikes of $381 at the four-year universities and $235 at the two-year schools. The figures don't include additional student fees. The increases apply to undergraduates who are Wisconsin residents. Tuitions for out-of-state students would also increase, but by a smaller percentage because their base tuitions are much higher. This is the fifth straight year that base tuition has increased 5.5 percent at the 13 four-year schools. The rate hike also marks the end of a four-year tuition freeze at the 13 two-year colleges.

New Financial Avenues for College Savings

7/17/11 - Wisconsin’s official college savings program is offering three new funds aimed at reducing costs for investors. Ed-Vest announced this week that a new international investment option is available through Vanguard. And two existing funds are being moved to lower-cost portfolios. They are the Legg Mason Aggressive Portfolio and the Baird Bond Portfolio. As a result of the changes, Ed-Vest now has five options from Vanguard which complement Wells Fargo Management investments that have been part of the state’s plan. Ed-Vest allows parents to save tax-free for their children’s college educations. Program director James DiUlio said earlier that Ed-Vest was looking at new investment choices to become more competitive with similar government savings programs in other states.

Transparency in Government

7/17/11 - Want to know where your tax money is going?  As part of Wisconsin’s two-year budget, the state has to show details of every expense over 100 dollars.  That information will be available on a web site.  Anyone will be able to conduct a search to find out who spent the money and where it went.  State officials say they hope to release full details and have the plan implemented pretty soon.

Navy Combat Ship Named

7/17/11 - One of the 10 new Navy combat ships to be built in Marinette will be named the U-S-S Little Rock. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus made the announcement Friday. Marinette Marine was given a fresh contract a few months ago to build the 10 littoral combat ships, which are smaller vessels designed to operate closer to shores. The construction will be led by a Lockheed-Martin corporate team that’s in Marinette. The Little Rock is the second ship to be named in honor of that Arkansas city. The original U-S-S Little Rock was a light missile cruiser that was de-commissioned in 1976 The new Little Rock will be 378-feet long with a water-line beam of 57-feet. It will run at speeds of over 40-knots.

Baby Formula Being Used in the Drug Trade

7/17/11 - You wouldn’t think that baby formula would be a concern for government drug agents, but it is. Sergeant Gordy Disch of the Dane County Gangs-and-Narcotics Task Force says powdered baby formula is often used to dilute the content of cocaine. That way, dealers can make up to twice their normal profits, by claiming to buyers that their stuff is pure. Other times, Disch says baby formula is simply sold on the black market for the product that it is. Last weekend, Madison Police arrested three women at a grocery store who tried to get away with over 600-dollars worth of baby formula.