Free Republic

The devastated fiancé of the Wisconsin elementary school teacher who was arrested for making out with a fifth grader has called off the wedding, one of his friends told The Post. Madison Bergmann and her betrothed, Sam Hickman, were due to tie the knot in July — but the revelation of her sick love affair with one of her 11-year-old students has halted any plans of a flowery ceremony.

A vegan cafe owner in Milwaukee who recently spoke beside former President Trump at a Waukesha rally told Fox News that her remarks were a plea to the person she voted for in 2020 — President Biden — to understand the plight of struggling business owners like herself. Shana Gray said that since her appearance, it has been an "eventful" time, which host Laura Ingraham reported included messages of hate and at least one case of a person with differing political beliefs "storm[ing]" her cafe. "I just pretty much put a plea out there to the administration of which I...

Jewish comedian Michael Rapaport has had at least two of his shows canceled in Wisconsin as the state's flagship university struggles with an encampment supporting Gaza. Rapaport, who has been outspoken about his support of Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, confirmed the cancellation of his shows in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday and he called the decision "Very very very F***ed Up!"Rapaport was scheduled to perform at Comedy on State in Madison on Thursday, but the show was canceled. The venue has not responded to Just the News' request for comment about why the show...

The Biden administration announced that it would forgive more than $6.1 billion in student debt for 317,000 former students of The Art Institutes, the once-giant chain of for-profit schools. The U.S. Department of Education concluded that the schools and its parent company, the Education Management Corp., or EDMC, made “pervasive and substantial” misrepresentations to prospective students about post-graduation employment rates, salaries and career services. Eligible borrowers will get the forgiveness automatically, whether or not they went through the formal process for loan relief for defrauded borrowers.

MADISON, Wis. -- Law enforcement from multiple agencies took down tents at the protest site on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Wednesday morning. Officers began clearing the space just before 7 a.m., after issuing warnings to protesters assembled. As the tents were being removed, the actions of some officers and protesters became physical. 12:00 p.m. SUMMARY In an update, UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott said 34 people were arrested at the protest Tuesday morning. Most were released without a citation, however, four were taken to the Dane County Jail. One person faces charges of attempted disarming of a police...

MOUNT HOREB, WI -- An active shooter threat led to schools in the Mount Horeb Area School District to implement a full lockdown Wednesday. According to the Mount Horeb Area School District, the threat was neutralized outside the middle school. Authorities said without giving details that the "alleged assailant" was harmed, and a witness said she had heard gunshots and saw dozens of children running. Shannon Hurd, 44, and her former husband, Nathian Hurd, 39, sat in a car waiting to be reunited with their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still in the locked-down school. Shannon Hurd said she was...

MADISON, Wis. -- Hundreds of students took to Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Monday, in protest of the Israel-Hamas war. A group called "Students for Justice in Palestine - UW Madison" organized the event. It defined its protest against "ongoing genocide and Zionist war crimes in Gaza, and against the new wave of student repression across the country." Protesters have demanded for an end to the war, as well as for UW-Madison to divest from corporations that do business in Israel. Speaking to News 3 Now, Students for Justice in Palestine member Dahlia Saba said...

New Emerson College Polling/The Hill swing state polls find President Biden trailing former President Trump in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; the differences are within each survey’s margin of error.

Who knew that the Ivy League and other wealthy institutions were taxing you, the American people Incredibly, it’s a $45 billion largess during the most recent five-year period. Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com quantified the federal payments on contracts and grants and special tax treatment of their endowments into the eight schools of the Ivy League plus Stanford University and Northwestern University. Since 2018, $33 billion of federal contracts and grants flowed to these ten colleges – averaging $6.6 billion annually. Today, these “educational” non-profits are more federal contractor than they are educator. Their $33 billion in federal contracts and grants...

Two jurors who deliberated Nicolae Miu’s fate in the Apple River stabbing trial told FOX 9 the panel of 12 quickly focused on the issue of criminality between intentional and reckless homicide, with little support among jurors that the stabbings were done in self-defense. Both jurors also questioned whether Miu should have taken the stand, concluding the now 54-year-old man from Prior Lake hurt himself more with his testimony rather than helping his case.

Following a trial in Waukesha, Wis. last week, a trans person with two prior s—x crime convictions, was convicted of s—xually assaulting an underage girl who has cognitive disabilities. Adam Hetke terrorized the minor with a knife and told her Hetke was a vampire. Hetke is known by numerous fake names such as "Sabrina," "Morgan" and "Katie." Before the 2021 child s—x abuse attack, Hetke was already a lifetime registered s—x offender. In 2007 and 2019, Hetke violently s—xually assaulted female victims. Hetke also remains the main suspect in the 2021 homicide of a man who was strangled to death.

A 54-year-old Minnesota man was convicted Thursday in the slaying of a high school student and stabbing of four other people who were tubing on a western Wisconsin river. A Wisconsin circuit court jury found Nicolae Miu guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, four counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and one count of battery, Minnesota Public Radio reported. No sentencing date has been set.

HUDSON, Wis — Nicolae Miu's defense rested Tuesday after the defendant took the stand in his own defense. Miu, 54, is charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide for a deadly stabbing spree that took place on the Apple River on July 30, 2022. Prosecutors say Miu pulled a knife during a confrontation with people from two separate groups, fatally stabbing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman of Stillwater and wounding four others, one of those victims nearly dying as well. Miu's legal team called the explosion of violence a clear case of self-defense,...

HUDSON, Wis. — Investigators say video from July 2022 shows Nicolae Miu being pushed and hit by a group of tubers on the river before he stabbed five people, killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman. The victims ranged in age from 17 to 24 and were from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The trial for a 54-year-old Prior Lake man accused of killing a teen and stabbing four others on the Apple River in Wisconsin nearly two years ago began on Monday. Witnesses said Miu was initially in the river with goggles and a snorkel. A group of tubers accused of him of looking...

Wausau voters ousted Mayor Katie Rosenberg, electing conservative challenger Doug Diny with 52 percent of the vote. Wausau spent millions modifying a new water treatment facility after testing in 2022 found all city wells contained elevated PFAS levels. The city instituted new filtration systems in early 2023, but facility costs led to skyrocketing water bills that became an issue in the local race. Diny, who was elected to Wausau City Council in 2020, won 5,222 votes to Rosenberg’s 4,798. Like many local races, the nominally nonpartisan race was characterized by ideological spending on both sides. According to WisPolitics, the state...

Incumbent Democrat Mayor Katie Rosenberg of Wausau, Wisconsin, lost her reelection bid in a race that the far-left Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says “could represent trouble to come for Democratic candidates later this year, and in particular, Biden.” Rosenberg defeated incumbent Republican Mayor Robert Mielke by about five points in 2020. This happened in the heart of the pandemic, so her acceptance speech was a memorable two-word xweet: “HOLY BALLS. Since 2020, Rosenberg has been seen as a rising Democrat star in the area and even a potential candidate for governor. She regularly appeared with Democrat Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and...

Donald Trump suffered a blow in a number of primary votes on Tuesday, after thousands of Republicans refused to vote for him.

Private money to fund elections will be banned in Wisconsin after voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday put forward by Republicans in reaction to grants received in 2020 that were funded by donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Voters also approved a second question put on the ballot by the Republican-controlled Legislature that amends the constitution to say that only election officials can administer elections. That’s already state law, but putting it in the constitution makes it more difficult to repeal or change. Democrats opposed both measures, which they argued would make it more difficult to conduct elections in the...

Wisconsin voters on Tuesday approved a pair of Republican-backed constitutional amendments that will change how elections are run in the critical battleground state, according to projections from The Associated Press. The first measure, labeled on the ballot as Question 1, will ban the use of private funds in election administration — often referred derisively to by conservatives as “Zuckerbucks.” The second measure, Question 2, narrows the role and definition of an election worker. Specifically, the measure asked voters to decide whether “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums.” Opponents had...