Racine News

A shopkeeper who sold candy and other snacks at a store on Milwaukee's northwest side and was known to neighborhood children as "Grandpa" was shot to death during a robbery attempt Wednesday evening.

In 24 hours, Tiara Mosely's virus escalated rapidly. The 14-year-old freshman cheerleader at Madison High School had returned from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin feeling better after a series of routine tests and a Tylenol. Monday night, she died.

Wisconsin is second only to Massachusetts in the percentage of residents who have access to affordable health care, state officials say, as it expands the BadgerCare insurance program to include coverage for childless adults.

At a time when African cranes face growing threats in their native environment, four African crane species are moving into new eco-friendly exhibit areas near Baraboo.

The state Senate passed a budget Wednesday that kills Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to tax oil companies and instead repeals the tax break on capital gains, which would cost investors $485 million over two years.

The restart of production at the Kenosha Engine Plant will amount to a "three-week job interview" as workers await word on whether the new management of Chrysler Group will keep the factory running after next year, a union leader said Wednesday.

Trevor Hoffman suffered his first blown save of the season as Cleveland scored four runs in the ninth inning to tie the game, but J.J. Hardy's sacrifice fly in the 11th allowed the Brewers to finish off a three-game sweep of the Indians.

A school-age child from Wausau is the fourth person to die of swine flu in Wisconsin. A Marathon County official said the child had an underlying medical problem that made the child a higher risk to die from the virus. No other details are being released.

President Barack Obama proposed sweeping new "rules of the road" for the nation's financial system, casting the changes as a critically important response to the economic crisis.

A 55-year-old Waukesha woman was apparently stabbed to death Tuesday night in what would be the city's first intentional homicide of 2009, police said.

Rafael Cetina and his family won't lose their land just yet. Milwaukee's Common Council decided to give Cetina another chance to submit redevelopment plans before they take his land using eminent domain.

Facing a record deficit that forced them to raise taxes and fees by $2.1 billion to balance the budget, Assembly Democrats added millions for projects they can brag about back home.

Assembly Democrats showed support Tuesday for writing into law a ban on fund raising during state budget deliberations, but they are likely to be blocked by their fellow Democrats in the Senate.

A program called Read 180 helped students improve their reading, jumping ahead more than a grade, and, in some cases, several grades. And it wasn't cheap - MPS spent $3.2 million, more than $1,500 per student, on the program.

After allowing Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun to do the heavy lifting the previous evening, some of the missing links in the Brewers' lineup resurfaced Tuesday night. With J.J. Hardy, Mike Cameron and Bill Hall driving in key runs, the Brewers held off the Cleveland Indians to win their second consecutive game in the interleague series.

Former physician Mark Benson entered no-contest pleas to three charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts of causing injury while driving intoxicated in the deaths of an Oconomowoc High School administrator, her unborn child and her 10-year-old daughter.

The Skylight Opera Theater has eliminated the position of artistic director, held since August 2004 by William Theisen, a Milwaukee native and a popular figure here.

Milwaukee aldermen Tuesday ordered two-day unpaid furloughs for thousands of city employees, a move that would shut down most city offices on July 2 and Sept. 8.

Waukesha County sheriff's deputies are issuing more than 50 underage drinking tickets to party-goers at a Town of Merton dairy farm, a detective said Tuesday.

The Brewers used a three-run eighth inning to break open a one-run game - and they needed the insurance as Cleveland got a two-run homer in the ninth from Travis Hafner - in defeating the Indians for the second straight night.