1410 WIZM

A stunning discovery of votes in Wisconsin could give the state's hotly contested Supreme Court race to the conservative incumbent in a race seen as a referendum on the Republican governor's union rights law. And to one Senate Democrat........it's not surprising. Kathleen Vinehout says one thing is evident...Wisconsin is split right down the middle politically.

Adding another twist, the county clerk who said she incorrectly entered vote totals has faced criticism before for her handling of elections. She also previously worked for a state Republican caucus when it was controlled by the very candidate who stands to benefit from Thursday's revelation.

The corrected totals gave Justice David Prosser a 7,500-vote lead over little-known liberal assistant state attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Citing lower sales, a spokeswoman said Trane laid off 87 hourly workers at its La Crosse operations Monday. That brings to 182 the number of employees who are on layoff at Trane in La Crosse, according to Misty Zelent, director of external communications for parent company Ingersoll Rand. About 1,900 hourly and salaried employees continue to work at Trane in La Crosse.

Zelent says they hope to bring these laid-off employees back as soon as possible, but that will depend on economic conditions and customer demand for La Crosse-made products, along with internal factors such as retirements and attrition.

Zelent also said that depending on economic conditions and customer demand, there is the possibility of additional reductions in the future.

Jennifer Shilling hasn't announced she's running for state senate.  Not yet.  But the democratic state rep has done everything but by urging people of the 32nd district to stay tuned for a big announcement on Saturday.  Shilling has been rumored to be considering running for the seat against Republican Dan Kapanke in a coming special recall election and many considered her to be the most logical choice to challenge Kapanke because of her name recognition, existing campaign structure, and success at overwhelmingly winning her district.  The 32nd senate district is typically pretty evenly divided between democrats and republicans but the just-concluded supreme court race saw the democrat-supported Joanne Kloppenburg winning each county in the district.

Seem like the chicken discussion has been going on forever in La Crosse? The city council once again this month considers allowing backyard chickens. It's an issue that's been several months in the hatching. That's about right from Daniel Hoyt's perspective. He spearheaded the backyard chickens idea in Oshkosh.  He says it took about a year from when he first started work on the process till last month when the Oshkosh council passed the chicken ordinance. His advice for chicken backers in La Crosse: Do your research, get your facts, get ready to address naysayers whose reasons not to allow chickens are derived primarily from a position of fear.   The Oshkosh rule allows four backyard chickens--no roosters--and only with the neighbors' permission.