Wisconsin
Snow storm blowing through Wisconsin causing 'extremely hazardous' travel conditions
A powerful winter storm is battering Wisconsin, making its way through the north central part of the United States.
The Badger State is under a winter storm warning Friday into Saturday, with the snowstorm to be followed by blistering cold. The National Weather Service says most of the state should see between 7 and 15 inches of snow. Winds across the state are expected to vary between 35 mph to 50 mph.
Several Wisconsin municipalities, including at least the cities of Madison, Green Bay and Oshkosh, declared snow emergencies on Friday.
Marcia Cronce, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Milwaukee/Sullivan office, said Wisconsin is experiencing a “high-impact winter storm” moving up from Missouri across the southern tip of Lake Michigan and then to Lake Huron.
“We’re going to be on the northwest edge of that low pressure track,” she said. “That area is favorable for periods of heavy snow and strong winds with this intense system.”
Cronce said blowing snow is expected to create low visibility in much of the state, making travel “extremely hazardous.”
A blizzard warning has also been issued for the Fox Valley and lakeshore areas of northeast Wisconsin from 3 p.m. on Friday through noon on Saturday.
Cronce said areas under a blizzard warning are likely to experience whiteout conditions on the roads.
Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Dan Diedrich said residents should stay off the streets as much as possible during the storm. If individuals must travel, he said they should take it slow, limit distractions, give themselves extra time to get to their destination and provide extra stopping distance.
“The speed limit is probably not appropriate under any circumstances,” Diedrich said. “The biggest thing is just knowing the limitations of the vehicle that you’re driving. Just because you have four-wheel drive doesn’t mean that speed limit is necessarily appropriate.”
Storm leaves many without power
We Energies reported over 26,000 customers in southeastern Wisconsin were without power as of 3 p.m. Friday.
Alison Trouy, a spokesperson for the utility, said the outages were mainly caused by heavy snow weighing down tree limbs, causing them to come into contact with equipment. Others have been caused by vehicles losing control on slippery roads and slamming into equipment.
She said We Energies has hundreds of crews working to restore power to customers as quickly as possible.
“So far this morning, we’ve already restored power to thousands of people and we’re not going to stop until every last customer has their lights back on,” she said. “It’s challenging conditions for our crew — they can only go as fast as road conditions will allow.”
As the snow begins to slow Saturday, it will be followed by low temperatures, especially for the southern half of the state by Saturday night and then all of Wisconsin by Monday, Cronce said.
“The falling temperatures and the breezy northwest winds are going to give us very cold wind chill temperatures,” she said. “Wind chills are going to dip into the negative 20 to negative 30 degrees below zero, and that is going to be on Saturday night and then Sunday night as well.”
Wisconsin
Stepmom from hell accused of starving 35-pound teen daughter enters plea — could spend the rest of her life behind bars
The Wisconsin stepmother from hell accused of abusing her 35-pound 14-year-old daughter by depriving her of food and water has entered a no-contest plea in the twisted case.
Melissa Goodman, 52, now faces up to 46 years in prison if she’s handed the maximum sentence for charges of chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment.
She’s set to be sentenced on July 1.
Goodman, along with husband Walter Goodman, has been accused of starving her autistic stepdaughter.
Goodman’s daughter Savanna Goodman and her girlfriend Kayla Stemler were also charged over the alleged abuse, People reported.
The family is accused of locking the teen in a bedroom without a mattress, restricting her to only her room for years and depriving her of food and water, according to Wisconsin prosecutors.
The mobile home they lived in became a house of horrors for the teenager, who was mistaken for a 6-year-old when she was found by cops in August 2025 and rushed to the hospital.
Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter was lethargic and ill.
Responding officers found her weighing just 35 pounds; she was hospitalized with multi-organ dysfunction, including respiratory failure and pancreatitis.

From 2020 until August 2025, the victim, whose name is not disclosed because she is a minor, was allegedly isolated in a trailer on Hattie Lane, in Oneida, Wisconsin.
Extended family members were told she was away on vacation or with other relatives to explain her absence.
Wisconsin
‘Song Sung Blue’ subject Claire Sardina playing Wisconsin State Fair
When “Song Sung Blue” – the biopic about Milwaukee Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder – had a premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee last December, star Hugh Jackman gave Claire Sardina (played in the film by Kate Hudson) an engraved bench honoring Lighting & Thunder to be installed at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
In August, Sardina will get to have a seat on that bench – and sing again on a State Fair stage.
Sardina will perform with tribute act So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience Aug. 9 at the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater, the largest stage at the fair featuring free concerts with admission.
For Sardina, it will be a return to a place central to Lighting & Thunder. The band performed in the Milwaukee area from 1989 until Mike Sardina, aka Lightning, passed away in 2006. The State Fair was one of their favorite places to play, and the couple got married there in 1994.
The couple’s wild story – from a performance at a Pearl Jam Summerfest concert to major health issues – was the subject of the documentary “Song Sung Blue” that inspired the biopic, and earned Hudson an Oscar nomination for portraying Claire Sardina.
Fair officials May 8 revealed the full headliner lineup for the stage, which includes:
- Aug. 6: Sixteen Candles
- Aug. 7 and 8: Here Come The Mummies
- Aug. 10 and 11: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
- Aug. 12: Hairbangers Ball
- Aug. 13: Too Hype Crew
- Aug. 14: The Gufs
- Aug. 15: Let’s Sing Taylor – An Unofficial Live Tribute Show
- Aug. 16: Pat McCurdy
All Bank Five Nine Amphitheater concerts are included with fair admission.
The lineup is also nearly complete for the Bank Five Nine Main Stage, with just a show on Aug. 11 to be announced.
Tickets are on sale for these shows at wistatefair.com and include same-day fair admission:
- Aug. 6: Hairball
- Aug. 7: Nelly
- Aug. 8: Bailey Zimmerman with Chandler Walters
- Aug. 9: Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge
- Aug. 10: For King + Country with Rachel Lampa
- Aug. 12: John Mulaney
- Aug. 13: The All-American Rejects with Joyce Manor
- Aug. 14: Lindsey Stirling with PVRIS
- Aug. 15: AJR with Em Beihold
- Aug. 16: The Beach Boys
Wisconsin
Wisconsin universities and schools impacted by Canvas data breach
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/GRAY NEWS) – A ransomware group has claimed to have breached the learning management system Canvas, possibly exposing the personal information of students, teachers and staff across the country.
According to a statement from the Universities of Wisconsin website, they were notified of a nationwide security breach experienced by Instructure, the provider of Canvas. Universities of Wisconsin schools use the cloud-based management system.
UW-Stevens Point tells NewsChannel 7 they have not confirmed UWSP was involved in the breach, but did send communication that Canvas was down and students should not perform any asked actions if prompted, as it may not be legitimate while Canvas is down.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, posted on May 1 about a cybersecurity incident that had been reported and was under investigation.
The next day, Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud wrote that the information involved in the attack included names, student ID numbers, messages between users and email addresses.
“At this time, we have found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved. If that changes, we will notify any impacted institutions,” he wrote.
The Wausau School District sent a letter to parents Wednesday regarding the cybersecurity incident. They said there is no evidence that passwords, single-sign-on credentials, financial information or social security numbers were impacted. They stressed that type of information is not stored in Canvas.
Click here to download the WSAW news app or WSAW First Alert weather app.
Click here to submit a news tip or story idea.
Copyright 2026 WSAW. All rights reserved.
-
Politics4 minutes agoWhich Trump Tariffs Are in Place, in the Works or Ruled Illegal
-
Business10 minutes agoChina’s Exports and Imports Set Records in April Amid High Energy Costs
-
Science16 minutes agoVideo: Pentagon Releases U.F.O. Files
-
Health22 minutes agoHantavirus Vaccines and Treatments Are in the Pipeline
-
Culture34 minutes agoBook Review: ‘Selling Opportunity,’ by Mary Lisa Gavenas
-
Lifestyle40 minutes agoHunting For Lexapro Clocks, Viagra Neckties and Other Vintage Pharmaceutical Merch
-
Technology52 minutes agoDyson’s powerful 360 Vis Nav robovac is down to $279.99 for a limited time
-
World58 minutes agoAs Trump forces NATO to pay up, alliance races to close military gap with US