MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – After a snake was found dead on the side of the road in Iowa County, the Sheriff’s Office said the snake’s owner has reached out to their agency.

The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office said the snake was found along County Highway Z, north of Hillside School.

Iowa County officials believe the snake had a medical emergency at a veterinary clinic and died. Sheriff Michael Peterson said the snake was supposed to be buried, but was instead put on the side of the rural road.

Sheriff Peterson said Iowa County Sheriff’s Office staff will reach back out to the owner. The agency will also get help from the Iowa County District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said the snake is not native to Wisconsin and they believed it was being kept in captivity before it was abandoned.

The sheriff’s office did not specify the species of the snake but described it as “very large.”

Iowa County Sheriff’s Office thanked Arena Fire Chief Todd Pinkham and others who helped remove the animal from the side of the road.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

Michigan finished its best basketball season in program history with a 37-3 record and Big Ten and National Championships under head coach Dusty May. Chris Balas and the Schiller brothers, Jeff and Greg, break down a special year, look ahead to next season, talk portal and more in this podcast.

Head coach Dusty May has been working diligently on finishing his roster, but it’s not as easy as it’s been the last few years. The Wolverines are battling several others for the best of the best in the portal, and while they have two in the fold, they’re still looking for other big fish, as well. When the roster is set, May will be able to look back at the season he accomplished and enjoy it a bit more … it was special.

“The most rewarding part is they never changed,” the Michigan coach said. “We weren’t very good early in the year. The first two exhibitions we beat St. John’s, but they weren’t St. John’s yet, and we didn’t play well, and at that point we considered pivoting and changing our lineup and going in a different direction and maybe admitting failure for our vision.

“Because of our staff — I remember the day like it was yesterday. We were in the conference room and we did a deep dive in everything that you could come up with to try to predict whether we thought it would work. Once we left that meeting, we were more committed than ever that this is going to work, and these are the reasons why. Now … it was like bamboo. We didn’t feel like the bamboo was just going to shoot to the sky the next week in Vegas, but it did, and then it happens quickly where we’re playing that level. That’s typically when it gets more difficult.

“I’ve been an assistant on staffs when you play like that, and that’s when it really gets tough because there’s more attention, there’s more of everything coming at your guys, and for them not to waver on how they continued to give … to me that’s probably the hardest part and most rewarding thing that these guys did.”

Michigan is still waiting on announcements today from Aday Mara and Morez Johnson (NBA likely for Mara, Johnson Jr. “on the fence,” along with a portal announcement from Cincinnati big man Moustapha Thiam. We talk about that and more in today’s podcast.

Nearly a year after the assassination of a Minnesota legislative leader, lawmakers across the U.S. have worked to fortify security in state capitols and improve safeguards when officials are in their communities.

The changes have followed a rise in political violence nationwide that included the stunning assassination last June of Rep. Melissa Hortman, the top Democratic leader in the Minnesota House, and the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was speaking at a college in Utah.

In Minnesota, most doors at the state Capitol are now locked, and people entering must go through weapons detectors. People entering the visitors’ galleries to watch floor debates must go through a second set of detectors.

“It’s important for us to be able to not have our government fall apart if our legislators are under threat,” said Minnesota Rep. Julie Green, a Democrat who sits directly across the aisle from Hortman’s old desk, which remains empty except for fresh roses, her portrait and a speaker’s gavel. “It’s a complicated, complex, very emotional issue, as you can imagine.”

In addition to the killings of Hortman and Kirk, violence targeting political figures in the U.S. in the last few years has included an arson attack last year at the home of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; an assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in 2024; and a hammer attack on the husband of Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at their California home in 2022.

Twenty-five states, including Minnesota, now formally allow candidates to use campaign funds for personal security. Most made the change after the killings of Kirk and Hortman. Eleven states have laws permitting it, while others have approved it through rules or other mechanisms, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and the VoteMama Foundation.

This year alone, Alabama, Oregon, Nebraska and Utah enacted laws allowing campaign funds for security. Bills to legalize it are pending in about a dozen other states.

It’s not just happening at the state level. Security spending for congressional and presidential campaigns has jumped fivefold over the past decade. Federal political committees spent more than $40 million on expenses labeled as security during the 2023-24 campaign cycle, according to an April report from the nonpartisan Public Service Alliance.

Metal detectors — one of the most visible signs of concerns about political violence — were installed at Alaska’s Capitol last year. Democratic Rep. Sara Hannan said the change was due to “increased risk of violence in our public institutions.” Lawmakers approved them before Hortman was killed.

But some states have balked at making it harder to access the halls of power. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican who knew Hortman, resisted efforts to install metal detectors in his state, saying he didn’t want to “fortify” the Capitol. Wisconsin’s is one of 11 state capitols that don’t have metal detectors, a state audit found.

Minnesota lawmakers are also considering creating a special unit within the State Patrol, which oversees Capitol security, that would provide protection for legislators, the state attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, and Supreme Court justices.

One lead author is Democratic Sen. John Hoffman, who survived being shot nine times the night Hortman was killed. Prosecutors say the gunman, disguised as a police officer, began his rampage by shooting Hoffman and his wife, then stopped at the residences of two other lawmakers who weren’t home. He then went to Hortman’s home, where he killed the representative and her husband, and wounded their dog so severely that he had to be euthanized.

At a hearing Tuesday, Hoffman called his measure “a necessary response” that would “keep elected officials and Supreme Court justices safe and dedicate the resources necessary and hopefully stop future tragedies from happening.”

Numerous states have also taken action to protect lawmakers’ personal information. North Dakota lawmakers on Wednesday discussed a bill draft for next year that would make confidential the home addresses of candidates and public officials upon request.

The NCSL in February created a $1.5 million fund to reimburse legislatures for expenses related to lawmakers’ personal safety and security while they’re away from their statehouses. More than 30 states have applied or are preparing to, NCSL spokesperson Katie Ziegler said.

NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is April 23, 2026.