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Airbnb is blocking some Wisconsin rentals on summer holiday weekends to address partying

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Airbnb is blocking some Wisconsin rentals on summer holiday weekends to address partying


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With summer weekend getaways fast approaching in Wisconsin, short-term rental company Airbnb is blocking some reservations to prevent homes from being used for partying.

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Airbnb said in a press release that it blocked about 67,500 people over the Memorial Day and July 4 weekends last year, with about 500 of those blocked in Wisconsin. The company is blocking some one-night and two-night reservations over both holidays and using technology that they say identifies “higher-risk” rentals.

“This is really about respecting hosts and respecting neighborhoods,” said Christopher Nulty, Airbnb spokesperson and global director of corporate and policy communications, in an interview with the Journal Sentinel. “What we’re really talking about here is unauthorized, large-scale problematic parties.”

An Airbnb spokesperson said in an email the company wouldn’t have data on this year’s blocked reservations until after the holiday season. But Nulty said that the company sees this effort becoming especially important in Wisconsin during the summer months.

“We’re particularly focused on this in Wisconsin during the (summer) because it’s when people from Chicago go up to Door County. The business is strongest here in the summer,” Nulty said.

Nulty said the company is using machine learning to automatically flag some reservations.

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He said its reservation system looks at a number of factors, like when a reservation is booked, how far away it is from where someone lives and whether someone has made similar bookings without challenges.

He said the technology has reduced reports of partying by half in the last year and that .035% of its reservations resulted in a party report to them in 2023.

The company is requiring guests to agree that they understand the ban on partying when making reservations. In turn, if a guest is blocked from booking an entire home, the company will give them the option of booking a hotel room or private room.

The party bans started in 2022, according to a USA TODAY report from that year, as the COVID-19 pandemic led some to use the rentals for partying, with bars and clubs closed.

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Nulty said Airbnb began the effort to reduce partying on reservations as a way to respect the hosts, rather than responding to a widespread issue. He said Airbnb still allows homes to be used for things like weddings, birthday parties and other small-scale events.

The company heard from hosts and law enforcement in the past about the need for this emphasis, he said.

“People don’t want to share their homes if they’re worried about what’s going to happen to them,” Nulty said.

The company’s other anti-partying efforts include its Neighborhood Support Line, which lets neighborhood residents report issues at rentals to the company; a 24-hour safety line; noise sensors for hosts; and a law enforcement support channel.



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Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars

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Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars


The Wisconsin stepmother from hell accused of abusing her 35-pound 14-year-old daughter by depriving her of food and water has entered a no-contest plea in the twisted case.

Melissa Goodman, 52, now faces up to 46 years in prison if she’s handed the maximum sentence for charges of chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment.

She’s set to be sentenced on July 1.

Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, have been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter. Outagamie County Jail

Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, has been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter.

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Goodman’s daughter Savanna Goodman and her girlfriend Kayla Stemler were also charged over the alleged abuse, People reported.

The family is accused of locking the teen in a bedroom without a mattress, restricting her to only her room for years and depriving her of food and water, according to Wisconsin prosecutors.

The mobile home they lived in became a house of horrors for the teenager, who was mistaken for a 6-year-old when she was found by cops in August 2025 and rushed to the hospital.

Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill.

Responding officers found her weighing just 35 pounds; she was hospitalized with multi-organ dysfunction, including respiratory failure and pancreatitis.

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Melissa Goodman
Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill. WBAY TV-2 | Green Bay, WI/YouTube

From 2020 until August 2025, the victim, whose name is not disclosed because she is a minor, was allegedly isolated in a trailer on Hattie Lane, in Oneida, Wisconsin.

Extended family members were told she was away on vacation or with other relatives to explain her absence.



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‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair

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‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair


When “Song Sung Blue” – the biopic about Milwaukee Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder – had a premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee last December, star Hugh Jackman gave Claire Sardina (played in the film by Kate Hudson) an engraved bench honoring Lighting & Thunder to be installed at Wisconsin State Fair Park.

In August, Sardina will get to have a seat on that bench – and sing again on a State Fair stage.

Sardina will perform with tribute act So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience Aug. 9 at the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater, the largest stage at the fair featuring free concerts with admission.

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For Sardina, it will be a return to a place central to Lighting & Thunder. The band performed in the Milwaukee area from 1989 until Mike Sardina, aka Lightning, passed away in 2006. The State Fair was one of their favorite places to play, and the couple got married there in 1994.

The couple’s wild story – from a performance at a Pearl Jam Summerfest concert to major health issues – was the subject of the documentary “Song Sung Blue” that inspired the biopic, and earned Hudson an Oscar nomination for portraying Claire Sardina.

Fair officials May 8 revealed the full headliner lineup for the stage, which includes:

  • Aug. 6: Sixteen Candles
  • Aug. 7 and 8: Here Come The Mummies
  • Aug. 10 and 11: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
  • Aug. 12: Hairbangers Ball
  • Aug. 13: Too Hype Crew
  • Aug. 14: The Gufs
  • Aug. 15: Let’s Sing Taylor – An Unofficial Live Tribute Show
  • Aug. 16: Pat McCurdy

All Bank Five Nine Amphitheater concerts are included with fair admission.

The lineup is also nearly complete for the Bank Five Nine Main Stage, with just a show on Aug. 11 to be announced.

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Tickets are on sale for these shows at wistatefair.com and include same-day fair admission:

  • Aug. 6: Hairball
  • Aug. 7: Nelly
  • Aug. 8: Bailey Zimmerman with Chandler Walters
  • Aug. 9: Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge
  • Aug. 10: For King + Country with Rachel Lampa
  • Aug. 12: John Mulaney
  • Aug. 13: The All-American Rejects with Joyce Manor
  • Aug. 14: Lindsey Stirling with PVRIS
  • Aug. 15: AJR with Em Beihold
  • Aug. 16: The Beach Boys



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Wisconsin universities and schools impacted by Canvas data breach

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Wisconsin universities and schools impacted by Canvas data breach


WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/GRAY NEWS) – A ransomware group has claimed to have breached the learning management system Canvas, possibly exposing the personal information of students, teachers and staff across the country.

According to a statement from the Universities of Wisconsin website, they were notified of a nationwide security breach experienced by Instructure, the provider of Canvas. Universities of Wisconsin schools use the cloud-based management system.

UW-Stevens Point tells NewsChannel 7 they have not confirmed UWSP was involved in the breach, but did send communication that Canvas was down and students should not perform any asked actions if prompted, as it may not be legitimate while Canvas is down.

Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, posted on May 1 about a cybersecurity incident that had been reported and was under investigation.

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The next day, Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud wrote that the information involved in the attack included names, student ID numbers, messages between users and email addresses.

“At this time, we have found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved. If that changes, we will notify any impacted institutions,” he wrote.

The Wausau School District sent a letter to parents Wednesday regarding the cybersecurity incident. They said there is no evidence that passwords, single-sign-on credentials, financial information or social security numbers were impacted. They stressed that type of information is not stored in Canvas.

Wausau School District email to parents regarding Canvas data breach(WSAW)

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