Wisconsin
Wisconsin man who said he’d shoot lawmakers if they passed a bill to arm teachers gets $500 fine, jail time
A Wisconsin man was convicted and sentenced to time served Monday for threatening to shoot state lawmakers in 2022 if they passed a bill allowing teachers to carry firearms.
James Stearns of Fond du Lac was found guilty of making terrorist threats, a felony, by Judge Anthony Nehls and sentenced to seven days in jail, which he had already served, and fined $500. Stearns’ attorney, Matthew Goldin, did not return an email seeking comment Tuesday.
The 75-year-old Stearns sent two emails in May 2022 threatening to shoot state legislators if they passed a bill allowing for teachers to be armed, according to the criminal complaint. The possibility of arming teachers was discussed by Republican lawmakers days after 19 elementary school students and two teachers were killed in Uvalde, Texas.
One of the emails was sent to a state lawmaker who is not identified in the complaint. Another was sent to a conservative talk radio host in Wisconsin.
In that email, contained in the complaint, Stearns identified himself and said if the bill passed, he “will purchase a gun, the most powerful I can purchase, and go to Madison and shoot as many of the people who vote for this law as I can before someone shoots me.”
In the email sent to the lawmaker, Stearns wrote that he would kill the lawmaker within 60 days of the bill passing.
“People will hunt you down and your family like animals,” Stearns wrote, according to the complaint.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said in a statement that “threats to murder legislators for doing the work of the people is a threat to democracy and must never be tolerated.”
Wisconsin had an estimated 1,162 gray wolves in 321 packs in late winter 2026, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The 2026 population estimate represents a 5% year-over-year decline and is 3% below the 5-year average, a slight fluctuation around a mean that suggest the state’s wolf population has reached its biological carrying capacity, said Lydia Margenau, DNR wildlife research scientist.
The DNR released the information June 25 during a virtual meeting of its Wolf Advisory Committee. Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist, led the meeting. The full 2026 wolf monitoring report is expected to be posted to the DNR’s website in the coming days, Johnson said.
The statistical confidence levels in the 2026 wolf estimate include a population range from 1,026 to 1,307 and a range in packs from 287 to 359.
The estimate does not include wolves not associated with packs or those that have disbursed out of the state’s core wolf range.
Specific to the five Wisconsin wolf management units, Zone 1 in the far north and northwest had 511 wolves, Zone 2 in the northeast had 273, Zone 3 in the northwest had 126, Zone 4 in the northcentral and northeast had 54 and Zone 5 in the central forest zone had 191. Seven other wolves were not attributed to a zone.
The average pack sizes ranged from a low of 2.54 wolves in Zone 4 to a high of 4.34 in Zone 1.
Pack territories were an average of 54 square miles in Zones 1 through 4 but, similar to past years, 32 square miles in Zone 5, likely due to higher prey density in the central forest area, Margenau said.
The DNR produces an annual report on wolves in the state, partly as a requirement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The gray wolf in Wisconsin and most other states has been protected under the federal Endangered Species Act since February 2022.
Since 2020 the DNR has used an occupancy model in its work to produce a wolf population estimate. The model uses inputs from wolf tracking surveys conducted by agency staff, volunteers and others as well as data obtained from GPS-collared wolves.
The GPS collar data helps the scientists determine wolf territory sizes and movements. The DNR obtains location information from the collared animals via satellite.
As of June 2026 there were 45 active GPS collars on wolves in Wisconsin, according to DNR research scientist Danielle Deming, including 15 deployed this year.
For the winter 2025-26 wolf monitoring period, 503 carnivore tracking surveys were conducted across 17,771 miles of roads, according to the DNR. Ninety-seven percent of the blocks received at least three surveys, the minimum recommended.
The work is done in winter when the wolf population is near or at its annual low and when the animals are easiest to track.
Wolf populations typically double after pups are born in spring then drop over the rest of the year due to various sources of mortality, according to wolf researchers.
The gray wolf was native to Wisconsin but after decades of persecution, including poisoning and bounties, the species was considered extirpated from the state by 1960.
Increased protections, including the 1973 Endangered Species Act, helped the carnivore expand from a residual population in northern Minnesota and recolonize Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The Badger State’s wolf population was estimated at 25 in 1980, 34 in 1990, 248 in 2000, 704 in 2010 and 1,034 in 2020, according to DNR reports.
As seen in the recent data, the wolf population has leveled off over the last decade or so as the animals have filled the most suitable habitat in the state, according to biologists.
The slight declines in recent years could be due to mild winter conditions which favor white-tailed deer but are tougher on wolves, Margenau said.
Researchers with the Voyageurs Wolf Project also documented a recent decline in the wolf population it studies in northern Minnesota in its most recent report.
Wisconsin has held four wolf hunting and trapping seasons in the modern era, in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2021.
But no wolf hunting or trapping has occurred since February 2021 due to a successful in-state lawsuit by wolf advocates in October 2021 and a federal district judge’s decision in February 2022 that returned the wolf in Wisconsin and many other states to protections of the federal Endangered Species Act.
Several attempts are being made to delist the wolf. They include: an appeal of the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, legislation that has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; and a rider attached to the fiscal year 2027 Department of Interior appropriations bill.
Confirmed or probable gray wolf depredations on livestock and other domestic animals in Wisconsin decreased in 2025, as did the amount of compensation paid, but were close to 5-year averages, according to DNR reports.
The compensation dropped from $322,970 in 2024 to $200,864 in 2025.
So far in 2026 in Wisconsin there have been 19 verified wolf conflicts and 15 verified wolf depredations on livestock, down from 32 and 22, respectively, in 2025, Johnson said.
There has never been a wolf attack on a human in modern Wisconsin history, according to the DNR.
For more information, visit the DNR’s Wolves in Wisconsin page at dnr.wi.gov.
Greg Gard shares most rewarding part of Garding Against Cancer effort
Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard said the most rewarding part of his Garding Against Cancer initiative is ‘the people.’
MADISON – Greg Gard and Co. have landed another one of their top recruiting targets in the 2027 class.
Baboucarr Ann, a four-star recruit from Maple Grove, Minnesota, announced his commitment to Wisconsin men’s basketball via social media on June 25.
“Belief. Trust. Development. Family,” Ann said in a tweet. “That’s why I’m a Badger.”
Ann chose the Badgers over scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Iowa State and nearby Minnesota, among other high-major programs. 247 Sports has ranked the 6-foot-5 prospect No. 84 nationally and No. 1 in Minnesota.
He is the third UW commit in the 2027 class, joining Wauwatosa West guard Jalen Brown and 7-foot-1 center Jack Thelen. Brown also is a top-100 recruit in 247 Sports’ rankings.
Ann and Thelen are teammates both at Maple Grove and on the AAU circuit. Brad Davison, UW’s special assistant to the head coach, is a Maple Grove alum and had a key role in Ann’s recruitment.
While the rankings surely will fluctuate as other schools pick up more commitments, the Badgers have 247 Sports’ third-best recruiting class in the country. Iowa State and Illinois are the only higher-rated classes.
Manuel Franco claims his $768 million Powerball jackpot
Manuel Franco, 24, of West Allis was revealed Tuesday as the winner of the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot.
Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 24, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 24 drawing
13-14-16-21-38, Powerball: 14, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 24 drawing
Midday: 1-3-4
Evening: 7-7-3
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from June 24 drawing
Midday: 4-2-3-3
Evening: 1-5-4-6
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning All or Nothing numbers from June 24 drawing
Midday: 02-07-08-09-12-13-14-16-18-19-20
Evening: 02-03-04-05-09-16-17-18-19-21-22
Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Badger 5 numbers from June 24 drawing
06-22-24-27-31
Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning SuperCash numbers from June 24 drawing
09-17-27-29-31-38, Doubler: N
Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks numbers from June 24 drawing
01-08-12-24-26-27
Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
- Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
- Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
- Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.
Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?
No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.
When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
- Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **
WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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