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WISCONSIN BUDGET-MEDICAID

Cost of Walker's Medicaid plan increases

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The cost of Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to reject federally funded Medicaid expansion and instead tighten income eligibility for the program has gone up.

A new estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says the cost of Walker's medical assistance proposal is $73.5 million more than when he released it in February.

Of that, $52 million is directly related to the changes Walker is proposing.

The total additional funding for the program is now estimated to be $734 million, up from $664 million.

Democratic Representative Jon Richards says the higher estimates "should scream to the Legislature that it's time to reverse Governor Walker's position and take the federal money."

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee hasn't voted on the plan.

LOADER-CHILD DEATH

Boy dies in Wis. loader accident

BLANCHARDVILLE, Wis. (AP) - Lafayette County authorities say an 8-year-old boy has died after he was struck by a skid steer loader.

Dispatchers got a 911 call from Blanchard Township at 4:40 p.m. Friday about a child run over by a skid steer loader. Authorities say a man was operating the loader and was backing up when the boy was struck.

The child died at the scene. His name was not released.

WOMAN'S DEATH-WEST ALLIS

Police investigate death of woman in West Allis

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) - Police are investigating after the body of a 63-year-old woman was found in a hallway of a West Allis apartment building.

Police were notified of the death about 1:30 p.m. Friday. Officers say the woman lived in the building.

The body will be turned over to the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office to determine a cause of death.

The woman's name was not immediately released. Police are interviewing people to try to determine the circumstances of the woman's death.

LOCK AND DAM-TOW ACCIDENT

Fountain City lock, dam reopens after tow accident

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reopening a lock and dam on the Mississippi River near Fountain City after a towboat hit 1 of the gates.

The Corps says the tow was navigating downriver when it hit the lock gate Thursday. The accident caused significant damage to the upstream, right descending gate.

Corps engineers assessed the damage and determined the lock can remain open with some restrictions until the gate is replaced.

The replacement gate should arrive next week. No one was hurt in the accident and the barges did not contain any hazardous materials.

CAMP-SICKNESS

Wis. camp gets cleaning after kids get sick

STOCKHOLM, Wis. (AP) - A YMCA camp in western Wisconsin has been cleaned after more than 50 children from a Minnesota school district were sickened with norovirus.

A group of children from Akin Road Elementary in Farmington, Minnesota became sick after visiting the YMCA Camp Pepin near Stockholm Monday through Wednesday.

A second group of children from North Trail Elementary arrived on Wednesday, but left early on Thursday after 2 of their children became sick.

Farmington School Superintendent Jay Haugen tells KMSP-TV the total number of children that have become ill is now believed to be 53.

A Minnesota Health Department spokesman says a child with norovirus apparently brought it to camp, where other children became infected. The camp has gotten a thorough cleaning.

Norovirus is highly contagious and causes nausea and vomiting.

BRA BAR-WISCONSIN

Milwaukee backs off bra ban for historic bar

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A historic Milwaukee bowling alley and bar almost went without the appropriate support after a city inspector decided dozens of bras hanging from its ceiling were a fire hazard.

Holler House owner Marcy Skowronski (skah-RON-skee) says she and her friends started the tradition 45 years ago, when they had a few drinks and threw their bras onto skis hanging from the bar's ceiling.

Inspectors didn't say anything until this year.

The 87-year-old great-grandmother appealed to the city but failed, so her son-in-law took the bras down for fear they would get fined.

That made her even more frustrated so she called the newspaper and Alderman Bob Donovan. Donovan made some calls, and within a day the city backed down.

Skowronski says she plans to have a party to rehang bras.

BURGLARY RING-CHARGES

2 men charged in alleged Wis. burglary ring

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Two men are charged in an alleged burglary ring that authorities say hit homes and businesses in 12 Wisconsin counties.

Twenty-8-year-old Robert Miles and 37-year-old Daniel Frausto are charged with burglary and theft in Fond du Lac, Oconto and Outagamie counties, and Frausto also faces burglary, robbery and false imprisonment charges in Waupaca County.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports charges are expected to be filed in other counties.

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Friday the burglary ring also operated in Winnebago, Dane, Waushara, Shawano, Portage, Calumet, Oneida and Brown counties.

Van Hollen says other suspects are expected to be charged in the burglary ring.

Winnebago County sheriff's investigators began an investigation in 2012 into a series of residential and business burglaries that had occurred over several years.

WISCONSIN HOSPITALS-INFECTIONS

Wis. hospitals work to reduce infection rates

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) - A state report shows patients at Wisconsin hospitals had a lesser chance of getting two types of serious infections than those nationwide, but their chance of getting a third type of infection was greater.

The state Division of Public Health's 2012 report looked at four types of serious infections at hospitals. It said Wisconsin hospitals reduced occurrences of bloodstream infections associated with intravenous lines and urinary tract infections among those who had catheters.

It says occurrences of surgical site infections following abdominal hysterectomy procedures were above national average. And, Wisconsin hospitals were only on par with those nationwide when it came to surgical infections following colon surgeries and hip and knee replacement procedures.

Gwen Borlaug, the public health division's infection control epidemiologist, says Wisconsin is working to reduce those infections.

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