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MADISON - The Wisconsin Badgers attracted nearly 10 thousand fans to its spring football game over the weekend.
Fans were interested to see how the team will look under new coach Paul Chryst.
The offensive minded coach is ready to bring a new element to the team in 2015.
ANTIGO - Dealing with allergic reactions to bee stings can be one of the biggest health threats to students.
"If we were seeing a reaction, for example a tingling of the mouth, swelling of the throat, a visual that a student might give us if they are unable to breath at that time, we would immediately administer an EpiPen," Director of Pupil Services Unified School District of Antigo Karen Baker.
Teachers watch carefully for possible allergic reactions, especially at recess and on field trips.
MERRILL - The Community Warming Center in Merrill finished up its first winter season a few weeks ago. The center provides a place to stay for people in need from November through April.
The guest's ages ranged from 22 to 45 years old. The center is run through the Merrill United Way. The Warming Center's director said its first year went much better than expected.
"It's kind of like building the field of dreams and not knowing if anyone will come to play, or to stay in our case," said Merrill United Way Executive Director Dee Olsen. "But what ended up happening was the community was responsive and we ended up with 11 guests throughout the season with 90 user nights."
EAGLE RIVER - Many Northwoods cities need to make improvements to the roads now that it's spring.
Rhinelander wants to do it, enough to impose a new sales tax.
Another local city will make improvements to the road and the pipes under the road.
RHINELANDER - Seventh graders in Rhinelander will help protect bats this summer. That's thanks to help from the U.S. Forest Service.
Kids in Rhinelander Monday learned about endangered bats across Wisconsin on Monday. A bat expert with Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest showed the importance of keeping bats healthy. The students helped local scientists by building new homes for the bats.
"Ms. Swaney showed us a presentation about the bats with a speaker and now we're building them," said 7th grader Jackie Wells.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is struggling over when jail officials should be held accountable for using excessive force against inmates who are accused _ but not yet convicted _ of crimes.
The argument Monday comes amid a national debate over how police use force in arresting unarmed suspects.
The case involves a Wisconsin man in jail pending trial on drug charges. Michael Kingsley claims officers used excessive force while they transferred him to another cell.
MADISON - The person who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison has been identified as a Junction City man.
The Dane County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday 61-year-old Lloyd Taylor died at a Milwaukee area hospital. He was taken there after he was found suffering the effects of carbon monoxide in his camper outside the Alliant Energy Center April 17.
MADISON - The legal fight over what type of identification Wisconsin voters can show at the polls and be allowed to cast ballots continues.
The American Civil Liberties Union and state of Wisconsin are still battling more than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the state's voter ID requirement.
The Supreme Court on March 23 declined to hear the ACLU's appeal of lower court's ruling declaring the law to be constitutional.
RHINELANDER - Last year, a valve malfunction in eastern Wisconsin sent natural gas leaking into the air. A similar situation in the Northwoods could cut off gas supply to a whole city and be dangerous to people in the nearby area.
Wisconsin Public Service wants to be ready in case something like that happens. A natural gas station near the intersection of Highways 8 and 47 provides natural gas to most of the Rhinelander. Workers rushed there on Monday, simulating their response to a leak.
"In the worst case scenario, we would lose the whole town of Rhinelander, and then we would have to get into everybody's home and re-light their appliances," said WPS gas mechanic Shane Sarkkinen. "Everybody's home in the town could be affected. And all of the businesses."
EAGLE RIVER - Many people enjoy freshly roasted coffee. But, the process to roast those coffee beans can be a science.
"We start with green coffee. It comes in 130 to 155 pound sacks of coffee," said owner of Eagle River Roasters Dan Beihoff.
The coffee beans start as the green pit of the coffee cherry. It goes into the coffee roaster and becomes the brown coffee bean that we're familiar with.
RHINELANDER - People in the Northwoods got the chance to try a variety of beer, wine, and food on Saturday.
Hodag Hops and Vines was held in Rhinelander.
There were many different breweries from Wisconsin and the Midwest at the event.
MINOCQUA - The cold weather looks like it's finally behind us.
That means it's a perfect time to start golfing, and Timber Ridge Golf Course in Minocqua has a special "thank you" for its customers.
They're offering a free round of golf through the end of April.
WISCONSIN - The number of organ donors in Wisconsin increased since re-launching the state's donor registry in 2010.
Five years ago, Wisconsin didn't have any registered organ donors while it transitioned to a new system. The system included legal consent for lifesaving procedures.
Today, about 2.6 million people are registered as organ, eye, and tissue donors in the state. One report says there are still two million eligible residents who haven't signed up.
NEPAL - A second Wisconsin man who went to climb Mount Everest survived an avalanche caused by the earthquake in Nepal.
Benjamin Breckheimer, who grew up in Menomonee Falls and now lives in Port Charlotte, Florida, wanted to be the first wounded warrior to climb Mount Everest. Breckheimer was wounded by a homemade bomb in Afghanistan in 2009.
Breckheimer's mother, Mary Lyons, said her son called her at 4:00 a.m on Saturday, telling her the situation was "pretty bad" but that he was okay and would call again later.
MADISON - A Wisconsin lawmaker wants to introduce seven bills to increase penalties for drunk driving. Wisconsin is the only state where a first-time offense is not a crime.
Republican Representative Jim Ott says the bills would actually increase punishments for drunk driving offenses. One bill would require first time offenders to appear in court.
Ott says he decided to bring back half a dozen bills from the last session to increase minimum sentences for drivers who injured or killed someone.
EAGLE RIVER - As the weather changes, some trails in the Northwoods need to be groomed.
The Three Eagle Trail runs more than 12 miles from Three Lakes to Eagle River. Volunteers are getting the trail ready for the spring and summer. Once snow melts, the trail has to dry before crews can clean it up.
"We do the cleanup in May, about the middle of May," said Three Eagle Trail Foundation President Tom Rulseh. "The trail is pretty dried out and started to firm up a little bit better. And then the grading we try the schedule in June."
WISCONSIN - The majority of those lakes are in Northern Wisconsin.
The DNR's Spring Fish and Wildlife spring hearings were held in all of Wisconsin's counties a few weeks ago.
Public input from the hearings the last two years suggested that bag limits should change.
MINOCQUA - The run raises money for the Kiwanis Autism Project.
The project supports six local schools by giving iPads to children with Autism.
Some of the children were presented with iPads this weekend.
"This event started with a Kiwanis governor who started an autism program, because his grandchild had autism, and he realized the power of the iPad, and how effective it could be for any kid with autism," said Race Director Dan Brunette.
WAUSAU - More than 400 people picked up trash today as part of the sixth annual Ghidorzi Green and Clean Earth Day event in Marathon County.
Volunteers collected garbage at 35 locations. Many local groups were involved.
"Faith Christian Academy and Hope Life Center, and there's other businesses and groups within the city of Wausau," said volunteer Dave Arends.
WAUSHARA COUNTY - A dump truck hit a restaurant in central Wisconsin Friday night. Six people were hurt from the crash.
According to Wisconsin State Patrol, the 62-year-old driver was heading west on State Highway 21 in Waushara County around 7pm. He then hit a car from behind, kept moving, and hit Elmer's Place before stopping.
The driver and five people in the pizza restaurant were hurt.
NEPAL - A Wisconsin man who traveled to Nepal to climb Mount Everest survived the earthquake that hit the country Saturday.
Fifty-two-year-old Andy Land from Fond du Lac and his climbing team were near the base of the mountain when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit.
He was climbing with the International Mountain Guides out of Washington. The team posted on its website today that everyone was okay.
LAKE MILLS - A Lake Mills facility will start production again after they euthanize 800,000 chickens. That comes after a highly contagious bird flu spreads in the Midwest.
The Daybreak Foods facility tested the flock every day for the virus after a facility in Jefferson County tested positive ten days ago.
Every test for the Lake Mills facility was negative until they found dead birds this week. The virus also spread to other facilities in Minnesota and Iowa.
LAKE TOMAHAWK - Some veterans might be eligible for various benefits, but not all veterans know which ones they can get.
That's why there was a Veterans Benefit Forum held Saturday afternoon in Lake Tomahawk.
Oneida County's Veteran Service Officer Tammy Walters spoke at the forum and answered questions.
WAUSAU - This was the sixth year that the event was held at various places in Marathon County. Volunteers were picking up trash to better their communities at 35 locations. Many local groups were involved.
"Faith Christian Academy and Hope Life Center, and there's other businesses and groups within the city of Wausau," said volunteer Dave Arends.
Families like the Arends think it's important to show their support for a cleaner community.
LAND O' LAKES - The Phelps community came together Saturday to turn tragedy into something positive.
"Mrs. Johnson was always one of our favorite teachers, you could go to her about anything like troubles at home or bullying, and she'd always be there for us so it's really nice to give back to her," said Phelps 8th grader Alexandria Myszka.
Kim Johnson works as the music teacher at Phelps Middle School. After her husband D.J. was hurt in an accident last month, he's now paralyzed from the waist down.
MERRILL - The historical society has been working on planning the event since last October.
A transportation theme was chosen for 2015.
"[We're] on our history hunt, and we are learning about where the railroads went around Merrill, how the river was important, where the trolley went, where the old highways go, and all of those thing are included in our packet of navigation," said Merrill Historical Society's Jane Francoeur.
ASHLAND - An Ashland High School science teacher has returned from a multiple week oceanic research experience to start passing on her new knowledge.
Theresa Paulsen earned a spot on the research vessel National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Ship Okeanos Explorer after applying for the journey through the NOAA Teachers at Sea program. Paulsen says the ship's sole purpose is to explore the ocean.
"So that way scientists can come up with hypothesizes," Paulsen said.
MADISON - The cost to protect Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch last year was more than three times as much as it took to protect his Democratic predecessor in 2010.
Walker's administration released costs related to his security detail in response to an open records request by The Associated Press.
The information shows that security costs for Walker and Kleefisch were $2.3 million in 2014. The costs were up more than 47 percent from Walker's first year in office in 2011.
WAUSAU - One of the groups that went to the Business Expo was E3YP.
The group originated from the growing need to get young people to stay in area.
Young people often start working in smaller northcentral Wisconsin communities, but they end up leaving after a few years. It's something that E3YP hopes to change.
MINOCQUA - It may have been a little chilly the past few days, but warm weather is headed our way.
And as the weather warms up, the Wildwood Wildlife Park in Minocqua prepares for the new season by opening up some new exhibits and introducing some new animals.
"This is a whole new section which will be open for the people to see," said the park's director Judy Domaszek. We have viewing indoors for our new lemur display. We're also going to have our flamingos. They're getting ready to do the yard out here."
