Wisconsin's new senate majority leader credits college students for helping the democrats become the majority party. Senator Judy Robson admits she was surprised by the turnout among college students. Especially, at campuses such as Eau Claire, Platteville, Whitewater and Green Bay. Robson is looking forward to working with senate republicans to pass legislation to address issues like healthcare and education. Robson says she already has an outstanding working relationship with former majority leader Dale Schultz.

Sen. Herb Kohl has been appointed to serve on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee when Democrats take control of the Senate next year, his office announced Thursday.

Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, already serves on the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary Committees, as well as the Aging Committee, which he will chair next year.

The 71-year-old Kohl is also in line to chair two subcommittees.

There's such universal respect and affection for Nancy. She's gutsy as hell and she's willing to take a chance," he said. "It was bitter between the two candidates, I suppose, but it wasn't bitter among the members of the caucus. People get over this stuff.

Many faculty members engaged in the discussion said they intend to leave Wisconsin because they fear the amendment will act as a financial drain on their families. (emphasis mine)

"I'm on the job market," said Concha Gomez, an academic staff member in the UW mathematics department.

A UW-Madison student who voted "yes" on the amendment and wished to remain anonymous was also in attendance.

"I heard a lot of you would be leaving like rats from Wisconsin because it would be such an unbearable environment," she said. (emphasis mine)

Eric Trekell, director of the campus LGBT center, said the university's response to the amendment will determine whether gay employees such as himself look for jobs elsewhere. He said that so far he's been pleased with the university's response.

UW sophomore and Students for a Fair Wisconsin Chair Eli Judge challenged the affected faculty to stay and fight for domestic-partner benefits, and promised that his organization would support them. Judge also said Students for a Fair Wisconsin has not and will not "fizzle out" just because the elections are over.

"Though it may be but small consolation right now, it is hard to imagine that history will not one day prove this to be a shameful aberration in our otherwise progressive tradition."

Congressional Democrats are demanding a bold new approach to end a diplomatic standoff with North Korea. They're urging the Bush administration to send the top U-S negotiator to Pyongyang and press for an end to its nuclear weapons program.

No, wait, strike that.

At the delightful prospect of enraging the state's conceal and carry crowd, the case of Adrial White should be exhibit A in why we should be discouraging people from carrying guns around for "self-defense." Thankfully, the jury found him guilty.

From JSOnline:

Jury finds Racine man guilty in shooting

Rejecting the defense's argument of self-defense, a jury today found Adrial C. White of Racine guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of attempted homicide in the shooting death of a young Racine man and the wounding of another in a case that has divided the community.

The verdict means that White could face life in prison when he is sentenced.

White had contended that he was acting in self-defense when he went outside his house early Jan. 18 and found three teens attempting to break into his girlfriend's car. White testified that he felt threatened when he confronted the young men and one of them raised a tire iron above his head.

Prosecutors, however, contended that White had no right to use lethal force to defend property.White was accused of shooting to death Christopher "Eric" Cabajal, and shooting at two other young men, seriously wounding one of them.

Some in the community thought White had acted like a vigilante in the shooting; others thought he had the right to take a stand against crime in his neighborhood.

The basic story here isn’t hard to understand: Some gun-wielding hot head decided to play Judge Dredd, and waste the lives of two people over some minor property damage to a car.

How much harder would this case have been for prosecutors if we had been a conceal and carry state?