Wisconsin
Prosecutor Won't Bring Charges Against Wisconsin Lawmaker Over Fundraising Scheme – KFIZ News-Talk 1450 AM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor said Friday that she won’t bring charges against a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to evade state campaign finance laws in order to unseat the powerful speaker of the Assembly.
Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said she would not be filing felony charges against Rep. Janel Brandtjen as was recommended by the bipartisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
She is the fourth county prosecutor to decide against filing charges against former President Donald Trump’s fundraising committee, Brandtjen and others involved in the effort to unseat Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
Ultimately, the state attorney general, Democrat Josh Kaul, could be asked to prosecute the cases.
The ethics commission alleges that Trump’s fundraising committee and Brandtjen, a Trump ally, conspired in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws to support the Republican primary challenger to Vos in 2022. It forwarded recommendations for filing felony charges to prosecutors in six counties.
Vos angered Trump by firing a former state Supreme Court justice Vos had hired to investigate Trump’s discredited allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Vos launched the probe under pressure from Trump, but eventually distanced himself from Trump’s effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in Wisconsin.
Trump and Brandtjen then tried to unseat Vos by backing a GOP primary opponent, Adam Steen. Trump called Steen a “motivated patriot” when endorsing him shortly before the 2022 primary. Vos, the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history, defeated Steen by just 260 votes.
The ethics commission alleges that Trump’s Save America political action committee, Brandtjen, Republican Party officials in three counties and Steen’s campaign conspired to avoid state fundraising limits as they steered at least $40,000 into the effort to defeat Vos.
Opper said her decision did not “clear Rep. Brandtjen of any wrongdoing, there is just not enough evidence to move forward to let a fact finder decide.”
“I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her,” Opper said in a statement. “While the intercepted communications, such as audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law.”
A troubling trend for the Wisconsin football continues when it comes to the NFL Draft.
In the past, it was common for Wisconsin football players to be taken early and often over the three days of the draft, but recently, the number of Badgers being taken is dwindling. And when they are, they have been late Day 3 picks.
This year the program hit rock bottom. Not one Badger got drafted in 257 selections, the first time since 1978. There was a thought that maybe a few Badgers would be picked late, but they all went undrafted.
But that doesn’t mean those players football dream is over.
As soon as that last pick is announced, players are agreeing to sign on with teams as undrafted free agents (UDFAs). As was the case with many other former Wisconsin Badgers, these players will have a shot to make an NFL roster in 2026 the hard way.
Here is where every Badger landed as an undrafted rookie after the NFL Draft was completed.
Destinations For Every Undrafted Wisconsin Badger
EDGE Mason Reiger – Signed with the Miami Dolphins – via Jordan Schultz
WR Vinny Anthony – Signed with the Atlanta Falcons – via Nick Osen, 247Sports
TE Lance Mason – Signed with the Seattle Seahawks – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
S Austin Brown – Signed with the Indianapolis Colts – via Tom Pelissero, NFL Network
OL Riley Mahlman – Signed with the Atlanta Falcons – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
CB Nyzier Fourqurean – Signed with the Los Angeles Rams – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
EDGE Darryl Peterson – Signed with the Los Angeles Rams – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
FB Jackson Acker – Signed with the Buffalo Bills – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
DL Ben Barten – Signed with the New York Giants – via Wisconsin Football
WR Jayden Ballard – Invited to minicamp with the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts – via Aaron Wilson, KPRC 2 Houston
DL Jay’Viar Suggs – Signed with the New Orleans Saints – via US Sports Management
DL Parker Petersen – Signed with the Carolina Panthers – via Wisconsin Football
K Nathanial Vakos – Invited to minicamp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – via Wisconsin Football
This will be updated with new signings.
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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Columbia County restaurant has earned the title of making Wisconsin’s best burger.
Awarded by the Wisconsin Beef Council, the Tennessee Whiskey Burger from Dump Bar and Grill in Cambria is this year’s winner.
The content promotes 100% beef burgers made in Wisconsin restaurants.
The Dump earned the highest ranking from a secret panel of three judges who travel to the elite eight restaurants.
The dump has been nominated by customers for three years in a row.
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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Wisconsin volleyball got one last tune-up in the spring.
The Badgers, while showing some things that still need to be tuned up, ultimately won four sets against Northern Illinois, 25-18, 25-18, 25-13, 25-22, on April 24 at the UW Field House to conclude their spring schedule.
UW and Northern Illinois planned to play four sets regardless of the outcome of the first three sets (although they did not record stats for the fourth set).
The second and third sets had a combined 13 ties and six lead changes in the four sets as the Badgers faced a Northern Illinois team with only eight players (and no players taller than 6-foot-2). UW broke free in the third set with a 12-0 scoring run, but the fourth set was tied as late as 21-21.
Here are three takeaways from the Badgers’ win:
Eva Travis, Jaela Auguste again have starring roles (and highlight-worthy kills)
Eva Travis’ first spring after playing in the Big West ended with a big performance against Northern Illinois, recording 10 kills while hitting .643 as she started the first two sets and subbed in for the third set.
“Eva’s getting a lot better,” Sheffield said. “That’s not to say that she hasn’t had a great first freshman and sophomore year because she did. But where she’s been the last two weeks versus the first month here – she’s really settling in and becoming the player that we thought she was capable of being when we went after her in the portal.”
Fellow transfer Jaela Auguste also had 10 kills while hitting .769 and recording four blocks. Sheffield will especially remember one of those 10 kills – an authoritative blow off a one-handed set by Charlie Fuerbringer that excited the UW Field House crowd.
“That’s probably one of the top five highlights this building has even seen,” Sheffield said. “Unfortunately, we threw the next ball into the net when we were serving. But for that one fleeting moment, that was a pretty sweet play.”
Travis and Auguste’s starring roles were a similar story as six days earlier, when Travis had eight kills and Auguste had 10 against UW-Green Bay. Auguste also had six blocks in the road win.
Wisconsin’s depth on display against Huskies
While Auguste and Travis were at the top of UW’s box score, the Badgers also showcased the depth of their attack in the win over Northern Illinois.
Freshman outside hitters Audrey Flanagan and Halle Thompson each had seven kills. (Flanagan hit .455, and Thompson hit .353.) Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Wardlow had six kills while hitting .625.
Freshman middle blocker Lynney Tarnow’s stat line did not jump out as much – three kills while hitting .429 – but one of those was practically a bullet down the right side that landed right in front of the NIU back row.
Eight of the 10 non-libero UW players recorded at least two kills in the three sets that counted toward the official stats, and those eight players each hit above .350 in the process. The Badgers hit .525 as a whole.
That was all while the Badgers were once again without Grace Egan and Grace Lopez amid their continued injury recoveries. Neither player saw the floor in any of UW’s three spring matches.
“It’ll be a nice parlor game trying to figure out who’s going to play for this team,” Sheffield said. “Especially on the pins, there’s a lot of capable players, and we had some of them that didn’t even get in today.”
Wisconsin gets sloppy from service line
The Badgers certainly did not have their finest showing from the service line in their spring finale against Northern Illinois.
UW had 14 service errors while recording only three service aces in the three sets where the team kept official stats. Those 14 errors came from eight UW players, as Sheffield said jokingly that “everybody felt like it was their duty to miss two or three.”
“In three [sets]? You’re too kind not counting the fourth set,” Sheffield said. “It was sloppier than it’s been in previous matches. … Sometimes that can be a little bit contagious, like free-throw shooting.”
The 14 service errors against NIU were up from Wisconsin’s seven in the first three sets against UW-Green Bay and 11 in four sets against Marquette. Sheffield seems unlikely to lose too much sleep over the woes at the service line, though.
“I really think that’s going to end up being a strength of ours, so I’m not overly that concerned,” Sheffield said. “We’ve been really good behind the service line in the other matches that we played. We’ve been really good behind the service line in practices.”
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