State leads in prison drug gap

Blacks get drug terms at 42 times the rate of whites, studies say

More than 25 years after the Reagan administration declared America’s war on drugs, two studies published Monday conclude that the battle has been pitched largely in African-American communities and that African-Americans bear a disproportionate brunt of its collateral damage.

The studies, one by The Sentencing Project and the other by Human Rights Watch, found:

• Blacks in Wisconsin are 42 times more likely than whites to receive prison terms for drug convictions. Wisconsin has the highest racial disparity in drug sentencing in the nation.

GOP group wants curbs on ethanol

Senators tie production to increases in food prices

Twenty-four Republican senators, including likely presidential nominee John McCain, on Monday called for a halt to the expansion of ethano

The senators urged the Environmental Protection Agency to restructure rules that would require greater production of ethanol from corn by 2022.

“This subsidized (ethanol) program – paid for by taxpayer dollars – has contributed to pain at the cash register, at the dining room table, and a devastating food crisis throughout the world,” McCain said in a statemental production as a response to rising food prices.

Victim’s 911 call didn’t bring police

UW student’s slaying raises issue of response to cell phones

Madison – Police said Thursday that a 911 call from a college student’s cell phone the day she was murdered should have triggered the dispatch of a police officer, but police weren’t notified of the call.

The existence of the April 2 call from Brittany Sue Zimmermann’s phone prompted questions about how local officials handle emergency calls from cell phones, as well as about the call itself.

Zimmermann, 21, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student from Marshfield, was killed in her downtown apartment and later found by her fiancé.

Retirement home seeks rent after resident dies

Nobody will ever know if Anna Hornbeck understood all the details she was agreeing to when she signed a contract outlining the terms of her stay at an assisted-living facility in St. Francis.

At 85, she was about as sharp as she ever had been throughout her lengthy career teaching math, said her son, Tracy Hornbeck.

Tracy Hornbeck, who also signed the nine-page contract, said he and his mother overlooked one important provision.

It called for the Hornbecks to pay the facility, Howard Village, for more than two months of rent and services should Anna vacate the premises before her lease was up.

Measles outbreak is national

With more than 70 cases in 10 states, 2008 tally could be worst in years; health care providers often lack familiarity with once-corralled disease.

A measles outbreak in Milwaukee is part of a national epidemic that federal health officials said Thursday they fear will be the worst in years

Overnight Fire

Milwaukee were busy battling flames at a home on the cities west side this morning. police say the fire ignited at 2:50 this morning in the 3100 block of west scott.

Police were doing a routine patrol when they saw a fully engulfed mattress learning against the building.

Emotional Idol

No, Paula Abdul wasn’t sent home from Fox’s “American Idol” Wednesday night.

That honor fell to Brooke White, 24, of Mesa, Ariz., who began the competition strong but has been slipping steadily in recent weeks.

She increasingly seemed frightened and on the verge of tears during her performances, and of course, was crying Wednesday night even before the results were announced.

White was hardly able to sing one more time, struggling through Neil Diamond’s “I Am . . . I Said.” She had to start the song twice, something she’s done before.

Surviving again at the bottom of the voting heap was Syesha Mercado, 21, whose performances have been getting stronger over the past few weeks.

Jazz festival announces line up

Saxophonist Warren Hill, guitarist-singer Nick Colionne, East Bay Soul featuring trumpeter Greg Adams and saxophonist Tom Scott, and Soul Express featuring vocalist Phil Perry are among the acts scheduled to perform at the 11th annual Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival, Sept. 5 and 6 at Riverside Park in West Bend.

37% of city restaurants cited for serious health violation

In most cases the violations occur behind the scenes and the inspection reports are written up without fanfare, meaning that diners have little way of knowing about the cockroaches, mold and other unsanitary conditions that may have been cited by city health inspectors that same day.

Manufacures feeling the strain

By July, manufacturers can expect to pay as much as $1,200 a ton for hot-rolled steel, about twice the cost in January, according to the Kiplinger Letter, a Washington, D.C., newsletter that makes economic predictions.

Metal fabrication companies expect business conditions to weaken in the next three months, according to a new report from the Precision Metalforming Association, a trade group based in Cleveland. Precision Metalforming has widespread membership in Wisconsin.