Milwaukee

Howard Fuller is impossible to pigeonhole because he is completely undogmatic. Still, people try. As an African American who supports means-tes...

Bruce Springsteen rarely disappoints at a show in Milwaukee.  "Are you loose?" is his trademark question  to the crowd in Laverne & ...

DENVER - More than 200 Frontier Airlines jobs are being moved from Denver to Milwaukee by the airline's new owner, Republic Airways....

Signs that Republic Airways Holdings, owner of Denver-based Frontier Airlines, might move jobs from Colorado to either Milwaukee or Indiana...

Frontier Airlines' parent company has scheduled an 11 a.m. MST news conference as a Milwaukee newspaper reports that Denver may have lost the three-ci...

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee man who launched a military flare that sparked a major fire at a meatpacking plant has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Twenty-five-year-old Kurtis J. Popp received the same sentence Monday that his 23-year-old brother, Joshua J. Popp, did earlier this month. They must spend 30 days in jail for the next three Julys, perform 500 hours of community service and spend three years on probation.

The flare the brothers launched in July landed on the roof of the Patrick Cudahy Inc. plant in a Milwaukee suburb, causing more than $50 million in damage.

Kurtis Popp apologized to his family and the community on Monday. He told the judge he was thankful no one was hurt, and he promised he'd never be in criminal court again.

MILWAUKEE—l"To stop parishes from closing, we're allowing pretty much anyone who is willing to show up at 9 a.m. and work for slightly more than ...

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The family of a Minnesota woman who died more than a week after being overcome in an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony said Sunday...

WASHINGTON — The pilot of a 2007 medical flight that crashed into Lake Michigan, killing all six aboard, mishandled an unusual flight situation and was unable to properly coordinate with his first officer, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.

Capt. Bill Serra was flying the twin-engine Cessna from Milwaukee to Michigan. A four-member medical crew affiliated with the University of Michigan was on board, as well as human organs for transplant.

Besides faulting Serra and first officer Dennis Hoyes at a hearing, the NTSB said that a culture of lax security by flight operator Marlin Air contributed to the crash. The board also cited the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to detect and correct deficiencies of the company.

On a cockpit voice recorder, Serra can be heard soon after take off struggling to control the plane. The NTSB was unable to determine what caused this, narrowing it to two potential causes: Hoyes inadvertently turning on the plane's autopilot, or a problem with the aircraft's trim control, which helps maintain the aircraft's position. A problem with this control could have caused the plane to turn sharply, leading to the crash.

Under either scenario, NTSB experts said, the crash likely could have been avoided if the pilots had maintained a reduced airspeed.

LOS ANGELES — The self-help expert who led a spiritual retreat in Arizona where two people were overcome in a sweat lodge and later died has spoken out about the tragedy, saying it has left him "frustrated and confused."

At a seminar outside Los Angeles, James Arthur Ray broke down in tears as he addressed the deaths of Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee.

Authorities say Brown, Shore and more than 50 other people attending the retreat near Sedona, Ariz., were crowded into a 415-square-foot sweat lodge during a two-hour period Thursday.

Brown and Shore died, and 19 others people were hurt. One remains in critical condition.

"This is the most difficult time I've ever faced," Ray told a crowd of about 200 at a hotel in Marina del Rey Tuesday. "I don't know how to deal with it really."

— Today is Wednesday, Oct. 14, the 287th day of 2009. There are 78 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 14, 1939, during World War II, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland's Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard were killed.

On this date:

In 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin should raise its tax on beer for the first time in 40 years to fund programs that will help reverse the state's alarming rates of problem drinking, supporters told lawmakers Tuesday.

Trying to build support for raising an unpopular tax, backers told an Assembly committee the extra money was badly needed to pay for better alcohol treatment programs and law enforcement efforts to fight drunken driving. They cited data showing Wisconsin has among the nation's highest levels of binge drinking, fatal drunken driving crashes and pregnant women who drink to excess.

"What we're doing right now isn't adequate. We're top in the nation in almost every statistic," bill sponsor Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, told the Assembly committee on public safety. "Pregnant women drinking too much. Fatalities. Young kids. Why do nothing? Why assume the status quo is going to change?"

She put three pennies on the table in front of her, saying that's how much the tax would increase on a 12-ounce bottle of beer. The plan would raise the beer tax from $2 per 31-gallon barrel to $10, which technically comes out to more than 2 cents per bottle.

But representatives of the state's powerful brewing industry told lawmakers much higher costs would be passed on to consumers, perhaps 12 cents or more per bottle, which would hurt their sales. They said the markup would come as the product is passed through distributors and retailers.

The St. Louis Cardinals missed their first chance to win the NL Central. Now, they can clinch it on Thursday without even stepping on the diamond.

Houston rookie Bud Norris shut out St. Louis for the second time and the Astros delayed the Cardinals' division championship celebration for at least another day with a 3-0 win on Wednesday night.

The magic number for St. Louis dropped to one when the Cubs lost in Milwaukee before this game ended. But Norris (6-3) pitched six shutout innings and Jose Valverde tossed a scoreless ninth for his 24th save.

"They are one win away from clinching this thing, but we definitely wanted to give them a fight," Norris said. "I think we did."

The Astros ended the fourth and sixth innings with double plays as the Cardinals continued to have problems with Norris. The right-hander won his major league debut in St. Louis on Aug. 2, allowing two hits in seven shutout innings.

A judge has ordered a Milwaukee man accused of killing seven women over 21 years to stand trial.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Dallet ruled after a preliminary hearing Wednesday that there was enough evidence to try 49-year-old Walter Ellis. He is charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors say the unemployed laborer's DNA was found on the women and two others, who died between 1986 and 2007. Ellis has not been charged in the two other slayings.

After the hearing, defense attorney Russell Jones entered not guilty pleas for Ellis.

Dallet set the trial for May 3.

A group calling itself the Christian Civil Liberties Union filed a claim with the city of Milwaukee seeking the right to burn a public library's...