Gov. Walker signs bill imposing mandatory minimum sentences for gun felonies

MADISON — Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill that imposes mandatory minimum prison sentences for violent felons who illegally possess a gun.A felon caught possessing a gun within five years after being imprisoned for a violent felony or violent misdemeanor will now face a mandatory minimum of three years in prison.If a felon uses a gun to commit a violent felony, he or she would face a minimum sentence ranging from 18 months to five years in prison depending on the severity of the crime.Walker signed the bill into law on Wednesday, November 11th.

Push for changes at economic development agency grows

MADISON — The push to overhaul Wisconsin's beleaguered economic development agency is growing.Democrats on Thursday proposed making it a felony for companies that receive state tax breaks and commit fraud.

Gov. Scott Walker honors veterans during Capitol ceremony on Veterans Day

MADISON — Governor Scott Walker says the best way to celebrate Veterans Day is to try harder to reach out to fellow citizens and stand up for everyone's rights and freedoms.Walker delivered the message at a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday, November 11th in the Capitol rotunda.Walker recalled his own visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., as a high school student in 1985 and how he was moved by tracing the names of those who died and seeing his own reflection in the wall.Two Wisconsin residents killed in action in Vietnam, Leonard Thompson and Lawrence Joseph Butler, were honored during the ceremony.Later Wednesday, Walker was to recognize the 2015 Veteran of the Year Ralph Bagneski at a ceremony in Milwaukee.

State Senate approves anti-heroin bill now headed for Gov. Walker's desk

MADISON — The Wisconsin state Senate has passed a bill designed to make an anti-heroin drug more readily available to people trained to use it.The Senate on Friday approved the measure that would make clear that pharmacies can hand out a heroin overdose antidote under a doctor's standing order.Under current law, doctors can give health centers, pharmacies and clinics general permission to dispense Narcan without specific prescriptions.