The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority on Thursday sided with a former member of the state Public Service Commission who did not want to testify in court about his personal relationships with utility companies building a new power line that he had voted to approve.

A former state regulator applied to become CEO of one of Wisconsin's largest utility companies just months after voting to approve two of its projects, prompting opponents of the plans to accuse him of bias.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker quietly reinstated a program to give merit raises and bonuses to some state workers even as he preached cost-cutting and pushed through a law reducing most public workers' pay and eliminating their union rights.

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin district attorneys are bracing for a state-mandated work reduction for their assistant prosecutors, with some saying the “idiotic” move could mean crippling delays across the state’s criminal justice system. The state Department of Administration warned hundreds of assistant district attorneys that a 20 percent work reduction will be enforced starting ...

By SCOTT BAUER and 
TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Thursday did what thousands of pro-union protesters and boycotting Democratic lawmakers couldn’t, forcing Republican Gov. Scott Walker to halt plans to implement a law that would strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights and cut their pay. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann ...

By SCOTT BAUER and TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge ruled Thursday the state’s divisive new collective bargaining law had not taken effect, and officials in Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration say he plans to comply with the ruling and to halt preparations to begin deducting money from public workers’ paychecks. Dane County Circuit Judge ...

By 
TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans face a new hurdle in their campaign to curb public sector unions’ power. So far Republicans have managed win after win — overcoming massive protests and outmaneuvering Democrats to push their plan through the Legislature, then finding a way to at least temporarily ...

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The showdown over Wisconsin’s explosive union bargaining law shifted from the Statehouse back to the courthouse on Tuesday, but it remained unclear when or even whether the measure would take effect. Republican lawmakers pushed through passage of the law earlier this month despite massive protests that drew up to 85,000 people ...

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge weighed arguments Tuesday about whether an order she issued intended to temporarily block the state’s divisive new collective bargaining law was still in place, or whether Republican leaders had again outmaneuvered their opponents by using a legal loophole to achieve their goals. During a hearing into one of ...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker’s top aide says the Wisconsin Department of Administration is moving forward with implementation of a new law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most state workers. Department Secretary Mike Huebsch said Monday that work is moving ahead to deduct new health care and pension contributions from state workers’ paychecks to be ...

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans were accustomed to getting what they wanted after the election put Scott Walker in the governor’s office and flipped legislative control to the GOP, even gaining some Democratic support for a series of economic measures in his first weeks in office. Then they took on unions. Uproar was swift ...

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dozens of rounds of live rifle ammunition were found Thursday scattered around the grounds of the Wisconsin Capitol, where large crowds of people have been protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to rescind nearly all collective bargaining rights for most public employee unions. State attorneys revealed the ammunition discovery during a ...