Wisconsin authorities have jailed the father, stepmother and stepbrother of a 15-year-old girl investigators say was kept in a basement, sexually abused and starved before being found last week.
States are getting $2.5 billion from the national mortgage settlement, but not all of that money is going to help troubled homeowners.
More than a million people have signed a petition to recall Wisconsin's governor, the state's Democratic Party said Tuesday.
Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker could face a recall election down the line. Ted Rowlands reports.
Two Democratic state senators in Wisconsin defeated Republican challengers to hold on to their seats in a recall election Tuesday, news media in the state reported.
Wisconsin Democrats' failed effort to seize control of the state Senate in Tuesday's special elections left some Republican groups cheering, but analysts in the state cautioned against seeing the results as a national rallying point for the GOP.
CNN's Ted Rowlands reports from Wisconsin where six GOP state senators are fighting to keep their jobs in a recall vote.
Republicans retained four of the six state Senate seats that were in jeopardy in Tuesday's recall elections in Wisconsin, news media in the state reported.
A number of homes were destroyed after a line of fast-moving storms and high winds swept through northwestern Wisconsin.
Wisconsin's battle over labor rights shifted toward a series of recall elections Wednesday after the state's highest court reinstated a bitterly contested law that restricts collective bargaining for state workers.
A Wisconsin judge struck down that state's controversial new collective bargaining law Thursday, ruling that GOP legislators failed to provide sufficient public notice before passing the measure this year.
The controversial governor of Wisconsin defended his efforts to limit public employees' collective bargaining rights and make them pay more toward pension and health care costs at a congressional hearing on Thursday.
Shock and sadness etched the faces of residents in northeastern Wisconsin as daylight on Monday revealed the damage left behind by a powerful storm that cut a swath through the state.
A Wisconsin Judge has continued her temporary restraining order barring a new collective bargaining law from taking effect by signing an amended order on Thursday.
Amid a debate over whether Wisconsin's new collective bargaining law had taken effect, a Wisconsin judge again put it on hold Tuesday and warned anyone against trying to implement it.
The litigious and contentious battle in Wisconsin over collective bargaining rights has a new twist -- the publishing of the law despite a judge's order against such a move.
A Wisconsin judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday halting the state's controversial budget repair law that curbs the union power of most public employees, the Dane County district attorney's office said.
Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin to protest the governor's bid to curb the bargaining rights of public workers were greeted Saturday by cheering crowds and vowed to continue the fight.
Labor unions around the nation can thank Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for re-energizing the workers movement.
A CNN producer reports from Madison, Wisconsin, where protesters are being forced from the State Capitol building
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has won an important battle against public employees in his state, but the war -- and here we might justifiably call it the class war -- is far from over. By pushing through the state Legislature a bill stripping most public employees of their collective bargaining rights, Walker has become a hero to the Republican right.
Wisconsin Republican senators pass an abridged version of a bill that curbs rights to collective bargaining.
Senate Republicans pass the governor's controversial budget bill despite missing Democrats who oppose it.
Wisconsin's Republican-led state Senate passed Gov. Scott Walker's proposed restrictions on collective bargaining for public employees Wednesday, getting around a Democratic walkout by stripping financial provisions from the bill.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest in the stalemate between Wisconsin Democrats and the governor over the budget.
The posters and placards carried by Wisconsin demonstrators will soon become an official part of the nation's legacy, adorning the walls of the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday dismissed as "ridiculous" a letter from a Democratic state Senate leader who suggested a meeting "near the Wisconsin-Illinois border" to discuss the state's budget impasse.
CNN's Casey Wian talks to supporters and opponents of the proposed restrictions on Wisconsin government unions.
Video shows police in Wisconsin tackling state Rep. Nick Milroy to the ground outside the state capitol building.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says after his budget bill passes, tempers will subside.
Three weeks after igniting a firestorm of protest from unions, Gov. Scott Walker introduced a budget Tuesday that would slash more than $1.25 billion from aid to schools and local governments. Walker stressed that the aid won't be missed if the legislature votes to severely curtail public employees' collective bargaining power. That's because school districts and local governments will be able to raise workers' contributions to their health care and pensions, saving a total of $1.5 billion.
Tensions rise in Wisconsin after the assembly passed a bill that would reduce workers' collective-bargaining rights.
A coalition spearheaded by liberal advocacy group Moveon.org held rallies across the country Saturday in support of public employees and others outraged at the Wisconsin budget-cutting bill they consider an attack on unions.
Tensions simmered in Wisconsin as a political stalemate continued Friday after the state's Assembly passed a Republican bill that would strip most state workers of the bulk of their collective-bargaining rights.
A prank caller got Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to reveal details of his strategy in his battle over union rights.
There should be no illusions. What is unfolding in Wisconsin and a half-dozen other states may be the beginning of the end for American labor.
State Assembly lawmakers in Wisconsin are poised to vote on a controversial budget-repair bill that would curb public workers' collective-bargaining rights and raise their contributions to pensions and health insurance plans.
National groups flock to Wisconsin in a battle over union power. CNN's Casey Wian reports.
Democratic state legislators have begun fleeing their respective capitals as if the plague has broken out. Perhaps they see it that way. Republicanism has gone viral, and it seems that no state is safe, no matter how unionized.
Wisconsin state workers are calling for the "largest day of demonstration outside of Madison in state history" on Thursday to protest Gov. Scott Walker's budget-cutting strategy that they say will cause them to lose their collective bargaining rights.
Legislatures from New Jersey to California are struggling to tackle yawning deficits, longstanding pension obligations and health benefits and some broader questions about how unionized labor will fit into America's evolving political landscape.
Recent weeks have seen attacks on public employees in several states. In New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin, newly elected Republican governors are seeking to remove the right to collective bargaining, except perhaps on wages, and to eliminate or shift a major portion of the costs for pensions upon the workers.
Hundreds of union activists demonstrated in front of the Washington offices of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday, in solidarity with workers in Walker's state who may lose their collective bargaining rights as part of his budget-cutting strategy.
Embattled Republican Gov. Scott Walker fired back at opponents of a budget bill that would increase the costs of benefits to public employees and curb their collective bargaining rights, describing in a written statement how current agreements give too much power to unions.
Democrats in Wisconsin's State Senate remain out of town as Republicans get back to work today.
A few days ago, I wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com explaining why teachers in Wisconsin -- and throughout the nation -- are angry, and it isn't just because Gov. Scott Walker asked them to pay more for their pensions and health-care benefits. They are angry because of the unwarranted public vilification that has been heaped on them for the past two years.
Protestors continue to demonstrate against Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget cuts in Madison, Wisconsin.
The newly elected executive began implementing his campaign platform in a tough economic environment.
For about a week, tens of thousands of men, women and children have been gathering at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, protesting Gov. Scott Walker's "budget repair" bill. Besides requiring sharp increases in employee contributions to pension and health insurance benefits, the bill strips most of the state's public sector unions of almost all their collective bargaining rights.
After six days of protests that packed the state capitol, Wisconsin's major teachers' union called on members to start returning to work Monday but keep fighting a proposed rollback of union protections for public employees.
This week's bitter budget showdown in Wisconsin isn't the first time state legislators have fled a state, left a building or refused to show when votes were called.
Embattled Republican Gov. Scott Walker defended a budget bill that would slash public workers' benefits and most collective bargaining rights in an effort to address Wisconsin's impending $3.6 billion dollar deficit.
School systems across Wisconsin have been canceling classes as teachers protest Gov. Scott Walker's effort to curb collective bargaining rights for state workers, including educators.
The partisan aisle-wide gap widenes in Wisconsin as Democratic lawmakers defend their right to flee the state.
This week's growing controversy about funding public education in Wisconsin is hardly an isolated incident, as 40 states are coping with budget shortfalls totaling $140 billion, which will threaten America's 14,000 school districts for the next five years, one analyst said Thursday.
At least 15 school systems in Wisconsin are closed as budget protests continue. WTMJ has more.
Furor over a bill that would strip Wisconsin public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights and have them pay dramatically more for benefits drew at least 10,000 protesters to the state Capitol on Wednesday and forced the cancellation of classes in one large school district because of a teacher sick-out.
An Obama administration initiative that aims to create jobs and economic growth has been derailed in some states while it speeds along in others.
Much of the upper Midwest battled blizzard conditions Saturday, with a combination of heavy snow, fierce winds and subzero temperatures pummeling the region 10 days before the official start of winter.
A 15-year-old high school sophomore, accused of holding 23 classmates and a teacher hostage at his Wisconsin school on Monday, fired his two weapons at least five times, police believe, and had a duffel bag containing more bullets with him, authorities said Tuesday.
At least one tornado ripped through Wisconsin, officials said Tuesday, as severe storms moved throughout the region, leaving significant damage.
A Wisconsin man was recovering Friday after being bit by a 7-year-old Siberian tiger, the local sheriff's office said.
A worker sustained a leg injury Wednesday afternoon when he fell between two spans of an interstate bridge that links Minnesota and Wisconsin, officials said.
Parts of the Midwest battled severe flooding as torrential rains caused rivers to overflow, submerging towns.
Officials say a tornado touched down in Eagle, Wisconsin leveling several homes and leaving thousands without power.
Congress wants to help protect seniors who buy complex investment products that they don't understand or may do more harm than good.
A man carrying an assault rifle walked out of the woods and shot four young people who had gathered at a river to go swimming, killing three of them and wounding one
Nancy Grace investigates the case of college student Brittany Sue Zimmermann, found slain in her off-campus apartment.
Both candidates for a hotly contested state race in Wisconsin agree the campaign has become nasty, but that's about the only thing they agree on.
Dear FSB: I run a small tavern in Wisconsin from mid-April through mid-November. I do not collect sales tax from the customers, but do pay in monthly to the state. Does this become a business expense deduction on Schedule C?
Sen. John McCain thanks voters for delivering him the Wisconsin primary.
Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee may be trailing John McCain by hundreds of delegates, but he is still a competitor.
John McCain still has trouble with GOP voters who consider themselves "very conservative," but his strength among moderates and those who say they are only "somewhat conservative" made up for the deficit among the more orthodox in Tuesday's GOP primary in Wisconsin, exit polls showed.
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are courting one-time rival John Edwards as they move forward in the delegate-by-delegate fight for their party's nomination.
CNN's Mary Snow reports on the battle for Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday's primary race.
Severe winter weather cause problems on the roads in Minnesota.
Greetings, Hoop Thinkers. The action on the court is slow this week because of finals (thank the Lord I'll never have to take another one of those babies). So today, you get to join me at the table of a smart, civil hoops conversation as I dip into my mailbag for the first time this season.
The pumpkins made all the difference.
A couple weeks ago, my editor called with an idea, simple yet beguiling: a baseball road trip through the Midwest in the heat of August. The plan: Six teams in four days in three cities, with an eye toward the NL Central race. Go forth and explore baseball country, the editor said, and then he used a bunch of words that East Coasters like to invoke when talking about the Midwest, like "Americana" and "heartland" and "cheese curds." I told him I would do my best.
Another round of thunderstorms brought more rain and a flash-flood warning to an already deluged southwestern Wisconsin on Monday, forcing residents below four dams to evacuate.
Two storm systems colliding along the nation's midsection set off a spate of weather warnings from Colorado to Ohio as the deadly combination moved toward the Great Lakes on Wednesday.
Wildfires have long been feared for their potentially devastating impact on the landscape and people's lives. Technology, improved firefighting techniques and better coordination among agencies have reduced the number of lives lost, but the blazes can still cause widespread destruction.
There may not be a better off-campus house in America than the one that Wisconsin senior tackle Joe Thomas shares with five teammates in Madison. Miller Lite tap in the kitchen, poker room in the basement, John Belushi poster on the TV room wall and -- everyone's favorite -- padded red bra hanging from the antlers of a six-point trophy buck. "I was just doing laundry one day, and it snuck its way into my clothes," Badgers defensive back Ben Strickland says mischievously while watching Pardon the Interruption from the depths of a recliner. In Thomas's room upstairs, his laptop rests on homemade legs: four rolls of toilet paper. In the backyard there's a hot tub, a hammock and a couch. The best in late-night college carryout is within stumbling distance on Madison's busy streets.
Underrated: Oregon It was easy to dismiss the Ducks during the middle of the Pac-10 season when their defensive deficiencies were glaring and the losses piled up, but Ernie Kent's crew has righted the ship while adding even more weapons on the offensive end. How many guys can score on you? Let's see: Aaron Brooks, Bryce Taylor, Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter. What's more, Maarty Leunen is just the sort of rebounding wide-body big man who'll make things tough for Notre Dame's Luke Harangody in Round 2 and Wisconsin's Brian Butch-less interior guys in Round 3.
In the search for a new No. 1, now that Florida and Wisconsin have fallen, the logical thing to do -- if you subscribe to the Coaches' poll's logic of "bumping" teams up the ranks -- would be to grant the throne to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the coaches' current No. 1 and the AP's No. 2, yet I have reservations about bumping them up to my top spot.
In the next 800 words, you're going to meet my new favorite coach. But first you have to guess who he is.
Jumping into a heated free-speech dispute a year before the presidential primaries, the Supreme Court on Friday accepted a pair of appeals over a sweeping campaign-finance reform law that limits "issue ads."
My job is always a lot of fun, but there are some weeks when it really, really doesn't suck. This week was one of them, as I hit the road for two highly anticipated matchups. I was in Madison on Tuesday to see Wisconsin defeat Ohio State 72-69. On Wednesday night, I was in Lawrence, Kan., to watch the Jayhawks whup up on Oklahoma State, 87-57.
If you're looking for a colorful culinary destination, try one of these six roadside attractions.
The bodies of a father and his 9-year-old daughter were pulled from an ice-covered pond in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, on Friday, hours after they fell through, authorities said.
A Wisconsin high school band director, his wife and his granddaughter were among the five people killed when a charter bus carrying students returning from a state marching band competition crashed into an overturned semi-truck early Sunday, police said.
A man who witnessed the tornado that swept through a Wisconsin neighborhood, flattening homes and leaving one man dead, said "the sky just exploded" as the twister moved in.
Jane Chen was a well-paid Wisconsin anesthesiologist. But at the age of 43, she decided to stay home with her three school-age children.
A teenage girl who was abused as a child and convinced Wisconsin lawmakers to make public the records of juvenile sex offenders, urged Congress Thursday to create similar federal regulation.
What is life like on a farm that doesn't benefit from federal subsidies? A lot more entrepreneurial, it seems. An increasing number of independent-minded farmers have kicked the subsidized-crop hab...
The killings of six hunters last weekend in northwestern Wisconsin is more of a "whydunit" than a "whodunit," a lawyer for the suspect in those shootings said Sunday.
The weekend shootings of a group of deer hunters in northwestern Wisconsin claimed a sixth life Monday, hospital officials and the man's family said.
Sheriff's deputies are investigating the killings of five hunters Sunday in northwest Wisconsin -- bloodshed apparently sparked by a dispute over a hunting spot. A suspect has been arrested.
