What you need to know: Monday
It’s Monday, June 1 and here is your day ahead:
In local news…
WEATHER: High pressure will influence our weather for the first half of the work week with mostly sunny skies today through Wednesday. The week will start on a cool note with temperatures near 40 degrees this morning. Full forecast
1. MENASHA BRIDGE SHOOTING
Vigil: Hundreds of people visited one of the Fox Valley’s most popular tourist sites last night to remember a tragic event from earlier this spring. Three people were killed last month when a man randomly started shooting at the Menasha bridge, just south of Appleton. The Hands Over the Fox service honored John Stoffel, 31, his 11-year-old daughter Olivia and Adam Bentdahl, 33, from Appleton. On May 3, Sergio Valencia Del Toro headed to the bridge after getting into a fight with his ex-fiancee. After killing the Stoffels and Bentdahl, he shot and killed himself. More on this story
2. BREWERS
17-inning marathon: It was a record-setting night at Miller Park as the Brewers played the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. The game went into 17 innings! After 5 hours and 49 minutes, the Brewers Martin Maldonado was finally able to bat in a run. The Brewers won 7 to 6. The marathon game is now the longest game in Miller Park history. More on this story
3. ROAD CONSTRUCTION
Hwy 12/18, Millpond Road: Single-lane closures are expected on Highway 12/18 through July as crews start intersection improvements at Millpond Road. Construction at the intersection of Highway 12/18 and Millpond Road is scheduled to start today on the east side of the Interstate 39/90 interchange. Access to Yahara Hills Golf Course will remain open. More on this story
4. SPEED LIMIT CHANGE
Speeding is speeding: More than 700 miles of interstate across Wisconsin are about to see higher speed limits, but state patrol says its procedures won’t change. A law signed last week ups the limit to 70 mph on 4-lane interstate highways over the coming weeks – including I-39/90 from the Illinois border to Milwaukee County, 1-90/94 and U.S. 151. Nearly 500 speed limits signs will change, but troopers say their policing policies won’t. Officers have been notified whether any stretch of interstate in their area will be impacted, but that’s as far as their conversations have gone. Trooper Kent Hamoud says as far as they’re concerned, no matter what the number – speeding is still speeding. More on this story
5. PGA ANNOUNCEMENT
Sporting event coming: This morning at University Ridge Golf Course, PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem, PGA Tour Pro Steve Stricker, and Barry Alvarez will announce details regarding a sporting event coming to the Madison area. The PGA also announced that there would be an unnamed special guest in attendance this morning.
In national news…
1. PATRIOT ACT
It’s over … for now: Whether you call it security or spying, the National Security Agency’s bulk data collection program ended at midnight. The government had used the Patriot Act as the legal basis for gathering millions of Americans’ phone metadata, but the Senate failed to reach a deal to keep provisions of the Patriot Act from expiring before the midnight deadline on Sunday. But the Senate is expected to move on final passage of a compromise bill called the USA Freedom Act sometime this week. That bill would have telephone companies hold Americans’ phone metadata and require the government to get a specific warrant to seize any of that information. More on this story
2. BEAU BIDEN
Another tragedy for the Bidens: He had the same name as his famous dad, but Joseph Biden III had quite a political career himself. Biden, better known by his nickname Beau, died Saturday at age 46 after battling brain cancer. The vice president’s son was an Iraq War veteran who later served as Delaware’s attorney general. As a child, Beau Biden lost his mother and sister in a car accident. More on this story
3. JOHN KERRY
Out of commission: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broke his right femur in a biking accident in Scionzier, France, on Sunday morning. That means he won’t be able to attend a counter-ISIS coalition meeting Tuesday in Paris, but he’ll participate in the Paris meeting remotely, a State Department spokesman said. More on this story
Not going anywhere: Qatar has agreed to temporarily extend a travel ban for the five senior Taliban leaders who have lived there since last year, when they were released in a prisoner swap for American Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The ban will stay in place while discussions regarding a long-term solution continue between the United States, Qatar and Afghanistan. Bergdahl, meanwhile, has been charged with desertion and could face a life sentence. More on this story
5. AIRLINE DISCRIMINATION
Diet Coke as a weapon? A request for an unopened can of Diet Coke on a United Airlines flight left Muslim chaplain Tahera Ahmad in tears. She said she asked for an unopened can for hygienic reasons, and the flight attendant told her that she could not give her one — even though she handed an unopened can of beer to a man seated nearby. Ahmad recalls questioning the flight attending, then getting this response: “We are unauthorized to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane.” The incident led to widespread support of Ahmad on social media. More on this story
