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DEMOCRATIC CHAIR

Wisconsin Democratic chair announces 2017 re-election bid

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning says she’ll run for the position again next year despite one of the party’s worst performances at the polls this past November.

Laning issued a news release Tuesday announcing she’ll run for re-election at the party’s convention in early June.

Donald Trump won the state in November, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to take the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Republicans also expanded their majorities in the state Assembly and the state Senate. Laning said in the release that she has been traveling the state to “debrief” Democrats on the election.

Dane County Democratic Party Chairman Michael Basford said he’s considering running against Laning. He says there’s a “considerable amount of disappointment” in the party.

WISCONSIN GOVERNOR-SHILLING

Shilling says she is not running for governor in 2018

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Shilling is ruling out a run for governor in 2018.

Shilling tells the La Crosse Tribune in a story published Tuesday “I am not running in 2018.” Shilling says she intends to spend the next four years focused on her job in the Senate. She won re-election last month by just 61 votes and was chosen by her colleagues to be Democratic minority leader for a second two-year term.

Shilling, of La Crosse, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor in 2018. No Democrats have announced their plans to run, but several others in addition to Shilling have been mentioned as possible contenders.

But at least for 2018, Shilling says she’s out.

Shilling says, “There will be other opportunities for me. You never say never.”

ELECTION RECOUNT

Stein plans to donate leftover money raised for recounts

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says she plans to donate any money left over from the $7.3 million she raised to force recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Stein said Tuesday that the exact costs of the recounts aren’t known yet, but she expects to have money left over.

Stein is asking donors to complete an online survey about which election reform groups and voting rights groups they want to receive the money.

Wisconsin completed its recount Monday with little changes in the results. President-elect Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by nearly 23,000 votes in the state. A federal court halted Michigan’s recount after three days and another federal judge also did not allow for a recount in Pennsylvania.

JAIL DEATHS

Milwaukee County officials seek outside probe of jail deaths

(Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Two Milwaukee County supervisors are seeking outside investigations of deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail after four deaths have occurred since April.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. and Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde are sponsoring the resolution, which would require outside investigations of deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office runs the jail and is investigating three of the four deaths. The Milwaukee Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation of the fourth.

County lawyers say the board of supervisors lacks the authority to demand independent probes. The sheriff says the two supervisors are diverting attention from the fact that opiate-related deaths have reached a crisis level in Milwaukee.

The proposal will be considered Thursday at a county supervisors subcommittee meeting.

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GIRL KILLED IN HOME

Milwaukee teen girl killed by shots fired from outside home

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee police are investigating the death of a 15-year-old girl who was struck by gunshots fired from outside a home.

The shooting happened about 6 p.m. Monday. Emergency crews who responded were unable to save the girl.

Authorities did not immediately determine a motive for the shooting, or whether the girl was the intended target. They did not immediately identify her.

ELECTION RECOUNT-THE LATEST

The Latest: Stein says hurdles, ‘extortion’ stymied recount

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says “bureaucratic hurdles, financial extortion and legal maneuvering” stymied her efforts to force election recounts in three states.

Stein held a news conference call Tuesday after a recount concluded in Wisconsin and showed little change in Donald Trump’s nearly 23,000-vote victory over Hillary Clinton. She also wanted statewide recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but courts blocked her.

Stein says the recounts were stopped despite “overwhelming support.” She raised more than $7.3 million within weeks for the effort.

Stein’s attorney, Jonathan Abady, says the recount exposed barriers and obstacles to voting that could now be addressed. He says Stein will pursue a lawsuit she filed in federal court in Pennsylvania challenging that state’s election system, which he calls “byzantine” and “unworkable.”

BICYCLIST KILLED-NEW CHARGES

Man charged with killing bicyclist faces theft counts

(Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.madison.com/wsj)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man accused of striking and killing a bicyclist earlier this year in Dane County is now facing theft charges.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports a criminal complaint filed Tuesday charges 35-year-old Brooklyn resident Kevin Meister with 12 misdemeanor theft counts. Authorities accuse Meister of stealing landscaping equipment from two companies and later pawning it.

Meister was charged in August with hit and run causing death and second-degree reckless homicide in the death of 33-year-old Shelton Berel, of Madison. Authorities have said Meister told officials he thought he hit a deer, but was late for work so he kept on going.

The complaint filed Tuesday shows a detective investigating the August incident found a letter from a pawn shop in Meister’s vehicle, prompting him to search for the equipment.

Meister declined to comment to The Associated Press Tuesday.

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POYNETTE STANDOFF

No injuries in Poynette standoff with exchange of gunfire

(Information from: WMTV-TV, http://www.nbc15.com)

POYNETTE, Wis. (AP) — No injuries were reported in a home standoff in Poynette that involved an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and police.

WMTV reports that officers with the Poynette Police Department and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suicidal person with a gun shortly after 6 p.m. Monday.

Authorities say the 40-year-old man began shooting at officers, hitting a squad car, and officers returned fire.

The man later left the home and surrendered. He was arrested on a charge of attempted homicide.

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