MILWAUKEE (AP) - Opponents of Wisconsin’s voter-ID law hope that a recent win on the East Coast bodes well for their efforts to get Wisconsin’s law overturned.
Last month, a Pennsylvania judge struck down a requirement that nearly all of the state’s 8.2 million voters show photo identification at the polls. A federal judge is considering a similar challenge in Wisconsin, and his decision could be issued in the next few weeks.
Pennsylvania’s case was a challenge to a state law, so it wouldn’t necessarily influence the outcome in other cases. But the Wisconsin trial is a federal one, which means it could set a precedent for legal challenges in Texas, North Carolina and other states.
Wisconsin’s Republican-backed law passed in 2011. It was only in effect for a single primary in February 2012 before a Dane County judge declared it unconstitutional. Opponents pursued a federal trial while that decision and others were appealed.
The law would require voters to show a state-issued photo ID at the polls. Supporters say it would cut down on voter fraud and boost public confidence in the integrity of the election process. Opponents counter that the law excludes poor and minority voters disproportionately because they’re less likely to have photo IDs or the documents required to get them.
Individual voters and groups that represent minorities challenged Wisconsin’s law in federal court. During an eight-day trial in November, the plaintiffs produced witnesses, many black, who said they had trouble obtaining a state-issued ID. They said their efforts were met with bureaucratic obstacles that took time, money and legal assistance to overcome.
The plaintiffs include the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Washington, D.C.-based Advancement Project.
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LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) - A Minnesota bartender who drowned on New Year’s Eve after her car plunged down a 40-foot embankment and crashed through ice in Wisconsin was legally drunk at the time, according to newly released police reports.
Ellen “Ellie” Ahmann of Winona, Minn. had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, or twice the legal limit, when her body was recovered from the Mississippi River, the La Crosse Tribune reported (https://bit.ly/1dU76tphttps://bit.ly/1dU76tp ). The accident happened shortly after the 21-year-old left the downtown tavern where she worked.
Ahmann was a senior studying finance at Winona State University. Her death was ruled a cold-water drowning with alcohol a contributing factor, according to La Crosse police reports acquired through an open-records request.
Ahmann was scheduled to begin work at the Cheap Shots bar at 10 p.m. She arrived about an hour early and asked if she could have a drink before her shift, bar manager Katie Gannon said.
Surveillance video from the bar shows Ahmann drinking three shots in about 30 minutes and ordering a mixed drink.
She started working about 9:40 p.m. but Gannon told her to stop working just before 10 p.m. Gannon said she helped Ahmann collect her things and had her sit on a couch while Gannon called a taxi, but Ahmann left the bar before Gannon returned.
About 15 minutes later, Ahmann’s vehicle ran over a cub and plunged over the embankment onto Isle La Plume Slough. Her body was found the next day after someone noticed tire tracks in the snow and on the ice.
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VIROQUA, Wis. (AP) - Federal officials are renewing efforts to grant licenses for low-power FM stations, a move intended to help nonprofit organizations reach local populations.
Low-power FM stations are limited to 100 watts and a range of about three miles, the La Crosse Tribune reported (https://bit.ly/1fpDTYdhttps://bit.ly/1fpDTYd ). There are 34 such stations currently licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but another 36 low-power FM stations are approved for construction and another 47 applications are pending.
“It’s an exciting time,” said Julia Wierski, a director with the Prometheus Radio Project, which helps organizations that are trying to start stations.
She said low-power FM stations give voice to communities that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford expensive media stations.
The Federal Communications Commission estimates that the basic cost to equip a low-power radio station is about $75,000, not including land, buildings, furnishings or tower space. A full-power radio station can cost at least 10 times more.
The licenses were first made available in 2000, but after the first round of applications the FCC stopped taking new applications until last year. When the agency began taking new applications, it receives 3,000 in less than a month.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse received a construction permit during the latest round of licensing. Linda Dickmeyer, the chairwoman of the school’s communications department declined to comment on the license.
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WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) - Waukesha police say a man who suffered severe burns in a garage fire this week is in critical condition.
Firefighters responded Friday evening to a Waukesha home after a neighbor noticed flames coming from the garage. They found the man in need of immediate medical assistance.
Some firefighters began treating the man while others brought the fire under control. The 34-year-old was airlifted to a burn center, where police said he was in critical condition Saturday.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.
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