Wisconsin
11-year-old boy accidentally shot by sibling dies in Wisconsin
An 11-year-old boy died after his sibling accidentally shot him on Friday, authorities said. The incident happened at a home in Racine, Wisconsin, about a half hour’s drive south of Milwaukee.
Officers went to a hospital in the area where the boy’s family had taken him to treat his gunshot wound, the Racine Police Department said in a news release. He died from his injuries, according to the department.
Police said a suspect has been “identified and apprehended” and that their investigation is ongoing.
“Racine Police investigators are interested in any additional information that anyone may have about this incident,” the department said, asking that anyone with knowledge of the shooting contact the police investigations unit or report tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
Hundreds of unintentional shootings by children happen every year in the United States, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, which has tracked such incidents annually since 2015. In 2023, Everytown recorded 411 unintentional shootings by children nationwide, which resulted in 158 deaths and 269 injuries. It was the highest number of incidents counted in a single year since the nonprofit started tracking them.
At the time, a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at a two-decade rise in children’s deaths while playing with guns and found the vast majority of cases involved guns that were loaded and not securely stored. The study’s authors concluded that unintentional deaths from firearms were preventable.
Not including Friday’s incident in Racine, at least 63 unintentional shootings by children have already occurred this year, according to Everytown. They resulted in 28 deaths and 36 injuries reported in 28 states. In Wisconsin, a 6-year-old boy unintentionally shot and killed himself with a handgun on April 1 at a home in Milwaukee, the data shows.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin science, industry play critical roles in creating powerful new Rubin Observatory
The NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory is a groundbreaking achievement for astronomers. Scientists and companies in Wisconsin made the endeavor possible.
Light from faraway galaxies can show us what the universe was like billions of years ago. But the movements and mysteries of those galaxies tell physicists that we still don’t know what makes up the vast majority of the universe.
“How did it begin? When will it end? What is it made of?”
Keith Bechtol, a physics professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said these are some of the questions scientists will try to address with a new observatory in Chile featuring the biggest camera ever built.
The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, released the first set of images on June 23. The stunning images represent the fruits of a decades-long effort to push the study of the cosmos well past its current limits.
Building the Rubin Observatory, which sits on a summit in Chile’s Andes Mountain range, spanned three decades and involved parts and people from three continents. Some of the most important support came from Wisconsin.
‘Visionary’ Rubin Observatory provides detailed look at the cosmos
Beginning in October 2025, the Rubin Observatory will embark on the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Over the next 10 years it will scan the entire Southern Hemisphere sky about 800 times, providing the most detailed look at the universe to date.
The plan going forward sounds deceptively simple.
Getting to the starting point was anything but that.
“The whole idea for the (Rubin) observatory was so visionary when it was conceived (in the 1990s) that many of the technologies didn’t exist at that time” said Bechtol.
Bechtol served as the System Verification and Validation Scientist for the international team in charge of the Rubin. He oversaw much of the testing that ensures scientists will reliably get the high-quality data they are seeking.
Observatories usually face trade-offs between how big an area they scan, the resolution of the photos they take and how fast they can take them. The scientists designing the Rubin attacked these challenges on all three fronts.
The Simonyi Survey Telescope installed uses an innovative mirror system to reflect incoming light onto a camera the size of a car. After scanning one piece of the sky, the whole system rapidly spins to look in a different direction, rotating in coordination with its protective dome while maintaining near perfect alignment of the mirrors.
According to Bechtol, displaying one image at full resolution would require enough high-definition TVs to cover a basketball court.
The final step in building the Rubin — installing the 80-ton mirror system — was made possible by the Milwaukee-based company PFlow Industries.
Pieces of the telescope were assembled at a staging area but needed to be raised five stories to be installed in the dome. PFlow custom-built a lift capable of moving critical equipment from the assembly area to the dome. A video shared by Rubin Observatory shows this lift in action.
During and after construction, Bechtol organized a series of “rehearsals” to simulate how the Rubin will operate. He accounted for details including the workflow of operating it, the challenge of transferring massive amounts of data from the summit, and even making sure the summit hotel was staffed and had food for its residents.
After nearly 30 years of dreaming, designing, building and testing, the first images from Rubin Observatory arrived.
Scientists share new images with the public
UW-Madison hosted a First Look Party on June 23 to view these images with the public. Nearly 100 people gathered in a physics department auditorium to watch a livestream of a press conference in Washington, D.C., before participating in a panel discussion with Bechtol and other scientists who will use data from the Rubin.
Even though Monday was the first chance for the public to see the images, some of the scientists involved in the project had a sneak peek.
“I woke up in bed and saw messages” that the first images had come in, said Miranda Gorsuch, a graduate student at UW-Madison who has Bechtol as an advisor. “It was like waking up from a dream.”
Gorsuch plans to use the data to study the structure of the universe and how it evolves over time.
Rubin Observatory is named after Vera C. Rubin, an astronomer who first provided observations suggesting we might not be able to see most of the matter making up the universe. Understanding the properties of this “dark matter” is one of the top priorities for scientists who will use the collected data.
But there is so much more to learn; the Rubin is already showing outer space in incredible detail. Just one small slice of our solar system imaged by Rubin Observatory already led to the discovery of 2,000 new asteroids. In one image of the full field of view, scientists detected 10 million galaxies — many for the first time. By repeatedly scanning the sky, scientists hope to use the Rubin as an alert system for rare events, like supernovae, which they can then observe in more focused follow-up studies.
“This is when science works best – when you have this interplay” between new discoveries and the new questions they raise, Bechtol said.
“There’s a science case (for building the Rubin), but any time you do this, there is also a set of questions you haven’t thought to ask yet” said Eric Wilcots, dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison.
While UW-Madison was just one of many universities involved in the international project, Wilcots believes its participation will inspire future scientists and attract them to Wisconsin.
Both Bechtol and Wilcots stressed the importance of sustained financial support from the NSF and DOE to bring the project to fruition.
Rob Morgan was one of the first graduate students advised by Bechtol, working on a Dark Energy Survey that served as a precursor to Rubin Observatory. According to Morgan, the Rubin is the culmination of the astronomy field’s shift towards a “big data” approach. Now, Morgan applies the skills he learned as an astrophysicist to his work at Google’s office in Madison.
“Google is where ‘big data’ is done for the rest of the world,” said Morgan.
This week’s image release represented a beginning. Scientists will spend years collecting and analyzing data. Still, the opening provided a moment worth cherishing.
“We don’t get a lot of observatory openings,” said Alyssa Jankowski, who recently completed an undergraduate degree at UW-Madison. “It’s important to celebrate.”
After the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear sites Saturday, Wisconsin federal lawmakers’ reactions were divided along party lines.
Republicans praised the strikes as a necessary step and said they were within the bounds of presidential authority. Meanwhile, Democrats criticized President Donald Trump for ordering the strikes without approval from Congress and said they risked creating a wider conflict.
In an interview Sunday on FOX News, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Trump had been clear that Iran could not become a nuclear power.
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“They were getting too close. They simply would not listen to him. They wouldn’t give it up,” he said.
He expressed disbelief that “anybody could have been surprised at this,” arguing the president had “telegraphed” his intentions.
Johnson said the U.S. was “not at war with the Iranian people.”
“I hope they take this opportunity of the regime’s weakness to rise up and establish a more democrat, Western-leaning, prosperous Iran,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin argued that diplomacy, not war, was the way to keep Iran from having nuclear weapons.
“I have been clear-eyed that Iran is a threat to the safety of people across the world and cannot have a nuclear weapon,” she wrote in a statement Sunday.
That was why, she wrote, she supported former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal. She claimed Trump’s withdrawal from it “got us into this whole situation.”
“We should be learning lessons from our war in Iraq and what it means to engulf us in a conflict across the globe,” she wrote. “I did not support that war, and I don’t support this one.”
House Republicans back Trump, Democrats back checks on presidential powers
Reactions were similar among Wisconsin’s U.S. House delegation, which is split between six Republicans and two Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Clyman, called diplomacy “our preferred path,” but argued Trump’s actions will “prevent a far greater conflict down the road.”
“Now is the time for Iran to reassess its path and choose negotiation over provocation,” the 5th Congressional District representative wrote in a statement Saturday.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, characterized the strikes differently.
She said Trump was “putting American lives in jeopardy and choosing to escalate in a region already on edge.”
“Rest assured, no one is sleeping safer or more secure because of the unfolding attacks,” she wrote on social media site X.
Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, blamed “weak” previous Democratic administrations for emboldening Iran.
“I fully support President Trump’s actions to defend our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, and send a clear message to our adversaries that America does not tolerate nuclear intimidation,” he wrote.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, said Iran’s leadership bore blame.
“Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has squandered our good-faith efforts to negotiate for nuclear disarmament and left the US with few options other than to destroy Iran’s ability to have a nuclear weapon,” he wrote on X Monday.
Axios reported Trump was willing to meet Iran’s president in Turkey as recently as last week, but the Iranian side couldn’t reach Khamenei to greenlight the meeting.
“Iran’s rulers have been vowing ‘Death to America’ for decades,” wrote U.S. Rep Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in a statement. “President Trump understands that peace is achieved through strength, and strength means preventing a nuclear Iran.”
U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, reposted an American flag shared by Trump and echoed the president’s “peace through strength” motto. But he also wrote that “now is the time for peace and an end to endless wars.”
Also writing on X, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat from the Town of Vermont west of Madison, urged Congress to pass a recently-introduced bill that orders the president to seek congressional authorization before military action in Iran.
The bill was written by Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a conservative libertarian from Kentucky who frequently clashes with Trump. It’s cosponsored by 43 Democrats, including Moore and Pocan.
“Hot take: war is bad,” Pocan also posted Monday.
The office of U.S. Rep. Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, did not respond to a request for comment, and as of Monday afternoon, Grothman had not shared a reaction to the attack on his social media accounts.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Personal experiences often create certain paths for people to follow in life.
For one Stevens Point man, it was an unexpected turn that put him on his current path.
What we know:
Surrounded by family, friends and staff at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dan Winkleman is beginning a very long and difficult journey.
“It’s a little bit unnerving,” he said. “And if I was completely honest, there are times I wake up in the middle of the night going, ‘What the heck did I get myself into?’”
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With his two sons right behind him, he’s riding his motorcycle from MCW to Anchorage, Alaska, a 3,800-mile trek. Andy, his oldest son, will be with him for the entire ride and was the one who created the plan from start to finish.
What they’re saying:
“When he was in high school, he actually drove there. I always wanted to recreate this road trip,” his son said. “I always thought it would be this ultimate road trip with my dad to retrace his steps to when he went back up there.”
The ride, which they’re calling, Hope on the Road,” will have many twists and turns and, most likely, other unexpected bumps in the road.
But it wouldn’t be the most difficult journey Dan endured; while in Asia doing mission work, Dan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“I was afraid. I was scared to death,” he said. “I thought I was going to die.”
Immediately, his sons and daughter planned his return to the states that took the Stevens Point native to Froedtert and the MCW.
Why you should care:
The battle was difficult. But Dan persevered, overcoming obstacles and fighting his way to becoming cancer-free.
“I kind of heard this voice in my heart and in my mind. Go ahead. Ride that motorcycle all the way to Alaska for pancreas cancer research,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Man, that is a great idea.’”
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He’s setting the bar high for the expectations of this ride.
“With God’s help, I’m believing we’re going to raise what it takes to do a clinical trial. We’re not talking $50,000 or $100,000,” Dan said. “We’re talking like, in that bigger number, like a $1.2-million.”
Physically, emotionally and financially, his family, friends and the staff at MCW are with him again to help him get to the finish line.
What you can do:
For more information, the chance to donate, and to even follow the journey, visit the Hope the Road page on the Seena Magowitz Foundation website.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by the FOX6 sports team.
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