Noah Ovshinsky

Governor Scott Walker leaves tomorrow for a 10-day trip to China. This is his first international trade mission since taking office. The governor will be joined by officials from the University of Wisconsin, the Oshkosh Corporation, and Harley-Davidson.

Two state lawmakers say they will try to pass legislation cracking down on drunk driving in the next session. 

Farmers in Wisconsin could soon be breathing a sigh of relief.  It appears Congress may take action on a new Farm Bill.

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law Friday outlawing the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens.  The move puts dozens of late-stage adoptions in limbo nationwide, including some here in Wisconsin.

The husband of a Wauwatosa police officer found shot to death on Christmas Eve has been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense is one of three companies competing to build the replacement for the U.S. military’s iconic Humvee. The winner could produce up to 55-thousand vehicles, and that's not counting foreign sales.  President John Urias says building the Humvee replacement means jobs and stability for a major employer in the state.   

"We have a highly trained workforce which I believe will be sustained if we win that contract and you think about the suppliers we have," he says.   "We have a significant number of suppliers in the Wisconsin region as well."

The drought in Wisconsin is not only affecting crops and home gardens, but also insect populations.  The southern half of the state is seeing fewer mosquitoes than usual. But some bugs are becoming more prevalent.  Phil Pellitteri is an entomologist at UW-Madison. He says the boxelder population is likely to explode in the coming months, “I'm expecting it to be one heck of a bad boxelder bug year now," he says.  "Because they do really when it’s really dry.

Southern Wisconsin has seen some much needed rain in recent days. Even with the rainfall, the state is still officially in a drought. It’s unclear how long the dryer- than-normal conditions will last but climate experts say it is not necessarily a preview of what’s to come in the fall and winter. Jon Martin chairs the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UW-Madison, “There is not much of a statistical correlation at all between what happens in a dry summer and what that means for precipitation or temperature anomalies for the coming fall and winter," he says.
 

Clean-up efforts continue in Superior and neighboring Duluth, following last month's heavy rains and widespread flooding. Many residents will be left with expensive repair bills.