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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic Wisconsin state lawmaker tweeted Thursday that if parents want to have a say in their child’s education they should pay for private school or home school, a message she later deleted and apologized for. Republicans jumped over the tweet from state Rep. Lee Snodgrass, of Appleton, who is also a vice chair of the state Democratic Party. Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch tweeted a video message recorded in her car denouncing Snodgrass’s tweet, saying “we the parents demand a say in our kids’ education and we demand it now.” Snodgrass, in a follow up...

A large batch of mail, including several mailed-in ballots, were discovered in a ditch along a Wisconsin road on Tuesday. Fox 11 reported the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office said three trays were found in a ditch early in the morning. The mail was found “near the intersection of highways 96 and CB, near the Appleton International Airport” and was turned over to the postal service. “The United States Postal Inspection Service immediately began investigating and we reserve further comment on this matter until that is complete,” spokesman Bob Sheehan told the news station. The postal service did not disclose how...

(WLUK) -- One could argue summer is a synonym for construction season. You'll likely find orange barrels in the summer and traffic certain hours of the day. "I see it sometimes coming the other way," said Luke Agnew of Fall River. Once a week, Agnew makes the more than 100 mile drive from Columbia County to Door County."It's usually late evening or mid-morning," he said. He tries his best to avoid the stop and go but not all drivers can say the same. When it comes to the I-41 corridor between De Pere to Appleton, Gov. Scott Walker announced Wednesday:After...

 Photo by Oleg Volk In spite of YouTube video and audio showing numerous rights violations as well as conspiracy to violate those rights, the Appleton PD doubles down.    There will be no investigation of the incident where second amendment activists were detained at gunpoint and handcuffed without reasonable suspicion or probable cause last Saturday.  From the Appleton City Website: Due to the nature of the call, combined with the officers’ observations of the subjects walking toward the farm market armed with rifles, they were briefly detained at the scene. The firearms were identified as AR-15 rifles. Both subjects told...

Charles and Ross had AR-15 type rifles like this one slung over their shoulders Last Saturday, the seventh of September, Charles and Ross were exercising their constitutional rights to bear arms under both the U.S. Constitution and the Wisconsin state Constitution.  Neither had been involved in this sort of activism before, but from reading open carry forums had decided that carrying a video camera as well as their firearms, would be a prudent precaution. They did not expect trouble.  Open carry has been well established in Wisconsin.  Open carry has always been legal, and in 1998, after a long and...

MADISON — An Appleton Area School District committee charged with reviewing and recommending a reading list for the public school system’s ninth-graders proved anything but an open book, according to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. In a lawsuit against the school district, Milwaukee-based WILL, a libertarian-leaning public interest firm, asserts the Communication Arts I Materials Review Committee met in secret before handing down its fiction recommendations to a subcommittee of the Appleton School Board. “They didn’t follow the open meetings law” said Tom Kamenick, associate counsel and open government specialist at WILL. “These meetings were completely closed off...

A 15-year old student at Appleton North Highschool in Appleton, Wisconsin, is claiming that he was bullied by faculty members for being a conservative. Now, the school district has launched an investigation into Benji Backer’s accusations and are taking the claims “seriously.” Backer told Fox News that he has had to endure name-calling and harassment as well as watch other students be indoctrinated. According to Backer, the tensions began to mount when he was 12, during Governor Scott Walker’s battle with the unions and liberals’ unsuccessful re-call bid. Since then, Backer claims that teachers denigrated Walker and labeled Republicans as...

As a 15 year old, I never imagined my activism in politics would translate into controversy for me at school. My name is Benji Backer and I attend a public high school in Appleton, Wisconsin. I have always supported the public school system and plan to do so for the rest of my life. Many Americans who stand up for the public school system and the unions believe there is no attempt to sway opinion or that students with opposing beliefs are singled out. Unfortunately, experiences I have had with harassment and bullying prove that wrong. This is a timeline...

A former abortion worker whose conversion to the pro-life movement helped many in the abortion industry leave their deadly practice died Monday August 20. Before her 1989 conversion, Joan Appleton worked as the head nurse at Commonwealth Women’s Clinic in Washington, D.C., and was an active member of the radically pro-abortion National Organization for Women (NOW). In a testimony about her conversion, Appleton described witnessing an ultrasound guided abortion and how the experience was instrumental in changing her mind on the issue. “I handled the ultrasound while the doctor performed the procedure and I directed him while I was watching...

<p>BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Steve Appleton, the chief operating officer and chairman of Micron, has died in a small plane crash in Boise. He was 51.</p> <p>Micron spokesman Dan Francisco confirmed Appleton's death Friday. Trading in Micron stocks has been halted.</p>

Democratic leaders at the state Capitol say schoolchildren are being hurt by state budget cuts. But here’s another example — this one from Appleton — of schoolchildren being protected: The Appleton School District just saved more than $3 million on its health insurance plan simply by going out to bid for the first time in six years, according to the Appleton Post Crescent. And without a doubt, it was Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining changes and state budget cuts that prompted the savings. The Appleton district had long been offering its teachers generous health insurance from WEA Trust, which is...

Wisconsin State Rep. Gordon Hintz told reporters today that his arrest for sexual misconduct is a distraction from larger issues facing the state. The Chicago Tribune reported: State Rep. Gordon Hintz says he is willing to take responsibility for his actions after he was cited this month for sexual misconduct. Records say the Oshkosh Democrat was arrested Feb. 10. The 37-year-old was accused of violating a City of Appleton ordinance of touching or offering to touch sexual parts. In a statement e-mailed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hintz says, “I am willing to take responsibility for my actions.” But he...

For the second day in a row, Congressman Steve Kagen asked Wisconsinites for their opinions about the health care reform bill. Monday night the Congressman heard an earful from constituents attending his Green Bay listening session. Several hundred people packed the Brown County Central Library to speak out against the bill, and another hundred or so were kept out of the meeting because there simply wasn't enough room. Tuesday the Congressman took the listening session south to Appleton to hear what people in the Fox Valley think about the bill. "You said this is a listening session, now listen," one...

APPLETON (WFRV) - A 'sticky' situation was averted when police arrested an Appleton man early Wednesday morning for burglary. Shortly after 4:30am, Appleton police were dispatched to a home in the 1600 block of N. Wilmer Avenue for a report of a burglary in progress. The homeowners told officers they were awakened after hearing a person whistling in their basement. The homeowner, armed with a shotgun, held 37-year-old Aaron Maurice at bay until authorities arrived. Maurice was taken into custody without incident. Asked why he was in the house, Maurice said he was on the run from the government. When...

APPLETON (AP) - At Jokers Bar, the staff of eight has been laid off. Owner Tony Schaefer said he's now working the bar with his brother. Schaefer is among many business owners still fuming a month after a ban on smoking at all indoor workplaces was enacted in this city. The ban was approved by 56 percent of voters in an April 5 referendum and went into effect on July 1. Madison's similar smoking ban went into effect on the same day, although there was no referendum preceding it. "We'll be closing up" if business doesn't improve, Schaefer said. "The...

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Action 2 News has learned Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will campaign once again in Northeast Wisconsin. Senator Kerry will be in Appleton this Saturday for a political rally inside Roosevelt Middle School, 318 East Brewster Street. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. The event is free and open to everyone. Al Gordon of the Kerry-Edwards campaign says people don't need a ticket, "just come on down." Senator Kerry was just in the Green Bay area Monday and Tuesday, and had a campaign rally at Lawrence University in Appleton on October 15th. President Bush is also rallying in our area Saturday...

College student makes court appearance on voter fraud charge (Published Friday, September 10, 2004 09:42:30 AM CDT) Associated Press APPLETON, Wis. - A college student accused of voting twice in the spring election has been released on a $1,000 signature bond after making his initial court appearance in the case. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student Michael R. Howard, 20, of Appleton, appeared Thursday in Outagamie County Circuit Court with his attorney, Daniel Clausz. Howard answered "yes" when Court Commissioner Brian Figy asked him if it was OK to schedule a preliminary hearing later than the 20 days generally required....

He who flips the bird flips off chair Appleton man injures his arm telling off a train Associated Press Posted: July 21, 2004 Appleton - A man in a wheelchair who makes obscene gestures to the crews of passing trains was injured when he got a little too close to one of them, police said. A gas tank on a train engine clipped the wheelchair of Leland Laird, 54, on Tuesday evening, causing him to fall out of the damaged chair and injure his arm, police said. Laird told officers he has used a wheelchair since 1989 when a car...

Treasury Secretary John Snow reignited the political argument over U.S. companies shipping jobs overseas Tuesday with comments that "outsourcing" was an integral part of a global trading system.