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Funerals set for teacher and student killed in Wisconsin school shooting

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Funerals set for teacher and student killed in Wisconsin school shooting


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Funerals have been set for the student and teacher who were shot and killed by at 15-year-old at a religious school in Wisconsin, while police on Thursday pursued their investigation into the motive.

Abundant Life Christian School student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison and teacher Erin West, 42, of DeForest were killed in the attack Monday. Police say student Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow killed herself at the school and died at a Madison hospital. Two other students who were shot remained hospitalized Thursday in critical condition.

Vergara’s funeral was set for Saturday at City Church, which is adjacent to the school, and West’s funeral is Monday at Doxa Church in Madison, where she was a member, according to obituaries published Wednesday and Thursday.

West had worked at the school for four years and is the mother of three daughters, according to her obituary. She enjoyed camping with family, attending school sporting events, serving at Doxa Church and spending time with her daughters and the rest of her family, the obituary said.

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“ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West,” the school said in a statement.

West worked three years as a substitute teacher before accepting a staff position as the sub coordinator and in-building substitute teacher, according to the statement.

“She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus,” the school said. “Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family.”

Vergara was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to her obituary.

The school described her as gentle and loving.

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“Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school,” the school said. “She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister. Often seen with a book in hand, she had a gift for art and music.”

Attempts to obtain comment from relatives of West and Vergara have been unsuccessful.

The shooter brought two guns to the school. A man in California told authorities he had been messaging her about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives, according to a restraining order issued against him Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law. The order required the 20-year-old Carlsbad man to turn his guns and ammunition in to police within 48 hours, but it’s unclear Thursday whether he complied, would be charged or was in custody.

The order didn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also didn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.

A spokesperson for the Carlsbad Police Department said federal authorities were leading the investigation and “we do not believe there is a threat to our city.”

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Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said on Wednesday.

Police don’t know if anyone was targeted or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.

While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.

Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents.

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Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school of about 420 students that offers prekindergarten classes through high school.

Adam Rostad, who lives near Madison, went to ALCS from kindergarten through high school. His grandfather was pastor of the church that helped establish the school and his mother and aunt both worked there.

Rostad said Thursday that even though he graduated about 20 years ago and doesn’t even consider himself a “church person” any longer, ALCS is family.

He has collected a list of about 440 people who are eager to either cook meals or buy gift cards for those affected, and is coordinating with the school and church to make sure that’s the best way to help.

“Bullets don’t really care what your faith is, or if you have one,” Rostad said. “They really don’t.”

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Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis and Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.





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Wisconsin DNR opens 2026 elk season applications March 1, with more Central Zone tags

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Wisconsin DNR opens 2026 elk season applications March 1, with more Central Zone tags


(WLUK) — Applications for Wisconsin’s 2026 elk season open next week.

The DNR says the application period begins Sunday, Mar 1 and will close on Sunday, May 31.

Selected applicants will be notified in early June.

For the third year in a row, there will be increased opportunity to pursue elk within the Central Elk Management Zone (formerly Black River Elk Range), as additional bull elk and antlerless harvest authorizations will be available through the state licensing system. The 2026 elk quota for the Central Elk Management Zone is six bull elk and six antlerless elk, up from a quota of four bull and five antlerless in 2025.

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The Northern Elk Management Zone (formerly Clam Lake Elk Range) quota will be eight bull elk, subject to a 50% declaration by Ojibwe tribes.

During the open application period, applicants will have the choice to submit one bull elk license application and/or one antlerless elk license application, separately. Applicants can apply to any unit grouping with an associated quota for that authorization type (bull or antlerless). The order of drawing will be bull licenses first, followed by antlerless licenses. As a reminder, only one resident elk hunting license can be issued or transferred to a person in their lifetime, regardless of authorization type.

In 2026, there will be one continuous hunting season, opening Saturday, Oct. 17, and continuing through Sunday, Dec. 13, eliminating the split-season structure that was in effect from 2018-2025. This offers elk hunters more opportunities and flexibility to pursue elk in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin residents can submit elk license applications online through the Go Wild license portal or in person at a license sales agent. The application fee is $10 for each of the bull elk and antlerless elk drawings and is limited to one application per person, per authorization type. The DNR recommends that all applicants check and update their contact information to ensure contact with successful applicants.

For each application fee, $7 goes directly to elk management, monitoring and research. These funds also enhance elk habitat, which benefits elk and many other wildlife. If selected in the drawing, an elk hunting license costs $49.

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Before obtaining an elk hunting license, all selected hunters must participate in a Wisconsin elk hunter education course. The class covers Wisconsin elk history, hunting regulations, biology, behavior and scouting/hunting techniques.



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Winter transition will bring spring swings to Northeast Wisconsin

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Winter transition will bring spring swings to Northeast Wisconsin


(WLUK) — Snow remains deep across parts of the Northwoods and the Upper Peninsula, even though much of Northeast Wisconsin has seen notable snow-melting heading toward spring.

It’s connected to a shift in Pacific climate patterns.

As of Thursday, 75.1% of the Northern Great Lakes area was covered by snow. Snow depth across the Northwoods and the U.P. ranges from 20 to 30 inches, with areas along and north of Highway 8 in Wisconsin at about 20 inches.

But farther south, significant snowmelt has occurred over the last few weeks across Northeast Wisconsin and the southern half of the state.

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Looking ahead, an ENSO-neutral spring is looking likely, meaning Pacific Ocean temperatures are not notably above or below average. Conditions tend to be more normal and seasonal, though that does not guarantee typical weather.

La Niña occurs when the Pacific Ocean has below-average temperatures across the central and east-central portions of the equatorial region. El Niño is the opposite, with warmer ocean temperatures in those regions. Those shifts influence weather across the United States and globally.

In Wisconsin, a La Niña spring is usually colder and wetter, while an El Niño spring brings warmer and drier conditions. During a neutral period, neither El Niño nor La Niña is in control and weather can swing either direction.

Despite the snowpack up north, the 2026 spring outlook from Green Bay’s National Weather Service leans toward a low flood risk, because ongoing drought in parts of the state is helping to absorb snowmelt.

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Dry conditions are also raising fire concerns in several parts of the country. Low snowfall in states out west is increasing wildfire concerns, and those areas are already experiencing drought. Wildfire activity can increase quickly if above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation continue into spring. About half of the lower 48 states are in drought this week — an increase of 16% since January.



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Wisconsin

Watch live: Vance travels to Wisconsin to sell Trump agenda

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Watch live: Vance travels to Wisconsin to sell Trump agenda


Vice President Vance is traveling to Wisconsin on Thursday, the latest stop in the Trump administration’s tour to sell President Trump’s domestic and economic agenda ahead of the November midterm elections. Vance, after visiting a machining facility, will give remarks in Plover, Wis. His comments come just over a day after Trump gave a record-long…



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