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There are a lot of woolly, fabulous tales out there about Howard Hughes, the famously reclusive, eccentric billionaire. And the Wikipedia version of his life is not the only one that "needs additional citations for verification." The Martin Scorsese movie "The Aviator" recently advanced the images and legends of Hughes and his obsessive compulsions. Hughes officially died in April 1976, an emaciated, drug-addicted, long-haired, tragic, lonely old man who proved to some people money couldn't buy happiness. But not really, according to a new book, "Boxes: The Secret Life of Howard Hughes," by Douglas Wellman, assistant dean of the School...

A judge issued a temporary block to a university policy that censored three Christian students who had expressed opposition to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. Students Peter Perlot, Mark Miller and Ryan Alexander sued the University of Idaho over a policy in which they were barred from talking with a student about their views on same-sex marriage. The three belong to the University of Idaho chapter of the Christian Legal Society, which holds traditional views on the definition of marriage and sexual ethics. In an order released last week, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye issued a preliminary injunction...

Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race. Republicans held on to three other state Senate seats in Tuesday's recall voting. Democratic challengers lost recalls bids against Sens. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls.). Rep. Jerry Petrowski (R-Stettin) was elected to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), who resigned earlier this year after opponents gathered enough signatures to initiate a recall election. All eyes Wednesday will be on the 21st District. Results posted early...

Just reported on WTMJ. Last night every Republican member of the State Senate received a death threat saying they and THEIR FAMILIES would be killed. Also reported on WTMJ, Minority Leader Mark Miller (D) may have sent a tweet out last night encouraging protestors to storm the Captiol building and cause disturbances.

Wis. gov. rebuffs Democrats' request for meetingWalker calls request 'ridiculous,' says key Dem is 'in the way' By SCOTT BAUER The Associated Press updated 2 hours 48 minutes ago MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state nearly three weeks ago asked Monday for a meeting with Gov. Scott Walker to talk about changes to his plan to eliminate most public workers' union rights, a request the governor dismissed as "ridiculous." Walker said he and his administration have been in communication with at least a couple of the AWOL Senate Democrats about a deal that could bring them back,...

Senate Dems late tonight sought to downplay Minority Leader Mark Miller’s comments that they plan to return to the Capitol soon for a vote on the budget repair bill to put their GOP colleagues on record in the face of polls that show the legislation is not sitting well with the public. Miller told the Wall Street Journal that moving forward with a vote on the budget repair will would give Dems more leverage in seeking changes to the 2011-13 budget the guv released earlier this week. But a Miller spokesman and two of his Dem colleagues insisted nothing has...

Before protesters stormed the capitol, the Mayor of the City of Madison tried to pull a fast one. The Governor's budget repair bill was on the fast track, and Madison Mayor Dave Ciesliewicz was racing against the clock to pass new union contracts first. E-mails obtained by the FOX6 Investigators show that the mayor enlisted the help of State Senator Mark Miller. They both tried to convince the Secretary of State to hold up the bill by taking the maximum 10 days allowed by law before publishing the bill. They were trying to buy some time so they could ratify...

First of all, this election was definitely rigged. I have no doubt about it. It's a statistical impossibility that Bush got 8 million more votes than he got last time. In 2000, he got 15 million votes from right-wing Christians, and there are approximately 19 million of them in the country. They were eager to get the other 4 million. That was pretty much Karl Rove's strategy to get Bush elected. But given Bush's low popularity ratings and the enormous number of new voters -- who skewed Democratic -- there is no way in the world that Bush got 8...