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What is re-districting and why is a case about it heading to the Wisconsin Supreme Court?

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What is re-districting and why is a case about it heading to the Wisconsin Supreme Court?


MADISON, WI — The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday over a new challenge to Republican drawn maps. You’ve probably heard elected officials from both parties talk about state maps and if they should or shouldn’t redraw them.

But what does ‘re-districting’ actually mean?

Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of Political Science at UW- Lacrosse, describes it as, “the process which someone draws the lines for the legislative districts.” Those lines determine which voters vote for which candidates in the state legislature during elections. It’s something that Chergosky says is a hugely important card for politicians to play for their party.

“With the redrawing of lines comes opportunity. If political parties strategically draw the districts in certain ways, they can add to the number of seats that they control in the legislature,” said Chergosky.

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Wisconsin’s current maps are Republican made, prompting the state’s Democrats to file a lawsuit to the state’s Supreme Court in an effort to change them.

“With the current maps, the Republicans are pretty darn close to being able to achieve those veto-proof two thirds majorities in both the state Senate and state Assembly,” Chergosky explained. With new maps, the chance at a veto-proof Republican super-majority in 2024 likely goes out the window.

While there are plenty of buzzwords surrounding state maps like ‘partisan gerrymandering’ or ‘unfair lines,’ the case on the Supreme Court’s docket this week is partially based on determining ‘contiguity,’ or the idea that voting districts should all be within the same boundaries.

Determining if the current maps are contiguous is an issue that’s been around even before Republicans drew the most recent maps.

As it stands now, 55 of Wisconsin’s 99 state assembly districts in 21 of the 33 state’s Senate districts have islands — or chunks of that district outside of the borders of the rest of it.

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Democrats want the maps to be redrawn by March of next year. Those freshly drawn districts would also mean that all 132 state lawmakers would be back on the ballot in November.


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Wisconsin

Storms bring flash flooding in northern Wisconsin. Heavy rains are possible elsewhere.

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Storms bring flash flooding in northern Wisconsin. Heavy rains are possible elsewhere.


Some areas of northwestern Wisconsin saw between 5 and 7 inches of rain after storms rolled through Tuesday, flooding several roads. Another round of storms in central and southeastern Wisconsin could also bring flooding and damaging winds Wednesday afternoon into the night.

The National Weather Service Office in Duluth said eastern Douglas and southwestern Bayfield counties saw the heaviest rainfall Tuesday, according to meteorologist Cory Rothstein.

“We were seeing rainfall rates in excess of 2 inches an hour in spots,” Rothstein said.

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The town of Gordon reported 5.2 inches of rain, and about 6.5 inches fell about 12 miles northwest of Cable. The storms prompted localized flooding in Superior, as well as water over county roads in Burnett and Washburn counties. Water also covered campsites in the Washburn area of Bayfield County.

Rothstein said on Wednesday morning that reports were still filtering in.

“Just occasional road washouts here and there,” he said. “We haven’t heard of anything more significant yet.”

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The storms also brought tree damage and high winds with a gust of 52 miles per hour recorded just west of Ashland. Downed trees were reported in the Spooner area and near the border of Washburn and Sawyer counties where a tree caught fire after falling on a power line.

Xcel Energy’s website shows about 200 customers were without power Wednesday morning, primarily in Vilas County.

Up to a half-inch of rain is expected in northern Wisconsin today. In central and northeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for this afternoon and evening.

About 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected, but amounts could be higher in some local areas. The region could see flash flooding of rivers, streams and low-lying areas.

Severe thunderstorms might also cause heavy rainfall and damaging winds in southeastern Wisconsin, prompting the cancelation of the Milwaukee Night Market. The market gathering, which draws up to 100,000 people on four nights each summer, has been rescheduled to Oct. 1. 

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Wisconsin teen abducted, man accused pleads not guilty to charges

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Wisconsin teen abducted, man accused pleads not guilty to charges


Gary Day, the man accused of kidnapping a pregnant teen from Beaver Dam, pleaded not guilty in Dodge County court on Tuesday, July 15 to two counts of abduction and two counts of child enticement. 

Amber Alert

What we know:

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Prosecutors charged 40-year-old Gary Day with abducting the teen, which prompted an Amber Alert in multiple states that lasted for months. Court filings said Day is the father of the teen’s unborn child.

The search for the teen stretched across state lines. She was eventually found at a Nebraska gas station on her 17th birthday in April.

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Prosecutors said Day was already under investigation for crimes against children at the time of the kidnapping. In a court appearance in May, Day’s attorney argued the state did not establish probable cause for charges against him. The judge ruled otherwise. 

What’s next:

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Day is due back in court for a scheduling conference on Oct. 7. 

The Source: Information in this report is from the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court, as well as prior coverage of the case.

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Wisconsin bear attack: Victim stable, bear showed ‘aggressive behaviors’

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Wisconsin bear attack: Victim stable, bear showed ‘aggressive behaviors’


The victim of the bear attack in Barron County, Wisconsin, is now in stable condition, but the bear involved is still at large. 

Wisconsin bear attack victim update

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What we know:

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), identified the victim in the bear attack as 69-year-old Karen Frye. 

She was attacked outside her rural home near Comstock, Wisconsin, and she was taken to the hospital after suffering severe injuries. Frye is now recovering and in stable condition. 

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Aggressive behavior by the black bear

What they’re saying:

The DNR says early information shows that the bear involved showed a “sustained series of aggressive behaviors towards the victim.” 

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Black bears can be defensive when surprised, cornered or to protect their food or cubs, but aggressive behavior is rare, officials said. 

The DNR says that aggressive behavior in black bears is a sign they will repeat the behavior, so officials plan to humanely euthanize the bear involved once captured. 

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“Humane euthanasia is not always the standard practice in human/bear conflicts. Our actions in these types of situations are very carefully determined based upon the totality of the known evidence of each event,” said Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist. “Although we’re still working to piece together every element of what transpired in this incident, we know enough to warrant attempting to livetrap at the location of the incident and humanely euthanize this bear if captured.”

Attempting to capture the bear

Dig deeper:

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The DNR has placed several bear traps at the scene to live capture it. The bear and its cub had not been found as of Monday afternoon. 

Once the bear is captured, it will be tested for rabies after it is euthanized. If the cub is captured, it will be relocated and released in the wild, as it is old enough to survive on its own in the wild without human intervention, the DNR said. 

Any other bears captured will be released unharmed, the DNR said. 

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Wisconsin bear attack

The backstory:

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said the attack was reported around 2 p.m. on Saturday near the town of Comstock, in Barron County. 

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Several law enforcement agencies, including local DNR wardens and staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responded to the incident. While searching for the bear, they reportedly found a cub in a tree, indicating the incident could have involved a sow and cub. 

The Source: A press release from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 

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