Benefits paid to suffering unemployed workers will have to be cut and taxes on struggling businesses will have to go up to pay for a staggering number of claims due to the recession, Wisconsin lawmakers were told Wednesday.

Southern Wisconsin had the largest mass of problem air pollution in the United States on Wednesday.

EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. -- Hundreds of raw milk advocates packed a legislative hearing Wednesday, demanding the right to buy and sell unpasteurized dairy products that some claim have powerful health benefits but that detractors call dangerous.

State consumer protection officials say they received 2,187 complaints about no-call violations in 2009.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Capital Times newspaper that claimed Gov. Jim Doyle's office improperly delayed the release of public records.

A bill in the state Legislature would restore some college tuition benefits for Wisconsin veterans that were eliminated in the latest state budget.

Gov. Jim Doyle has signed a law that will require all homes and duplexes to contain carbon monoxide detectors as a safety precaution.

Republican Scott Walker's first television ad of the governor's race focuses on his decision to return a portion of his salary as Milwaukee County executive.

State wildlife officials are proposing raising deer population goals in nearly four dozen management zones.

There's a good chance Google runs your e-mail, knows what videos you like and tracks every query you make on the Internet.

JANESVILLE, Wisc. -- A Janesville manufacturer that plans to close this fall will start laying off employees in May.

A new federal law that requires states to send ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days before the general election is causing headaches for states with September primaries -- states like Delaware.

WHITEWATER, Wisc. -- UW-Whitewater will play a bigger role in helping Wisconsin businesses grow and thrive in the global marketplace.

Wisconsin environmental officials want to designate six new state natural areas.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has sided with a Wausau truck dealership in a dispute with a major manufacturer of semitrailers.

A Wisconsin group that fights for government transparency awarded state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen its top political honor Thursday, saying his office has vigorously defended efforts to maintain the public's access to online court records.

Wisconsin added 5,600 net new jobs in January, even as the state's unemployment rate rose to 8.7%, according to a report Thursday from the state Department of Workforce Development.

Online sex predators caught up in sting operations would face tougher penalties under a bill introduced by state Rep. Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis).

A broad coalition of Wisconsin business and labor officials, mayors, environmentalists and others urged the Legislature on Thursday to approve regional transit systems to ease congestion, improve transportation and create jobs.

A broad coalition of business, labor and community groups joined forces Thursday to press for a bill to shore up Milwaukee County's struggling bus system with a new transit authority and a 0.5% sales tax.

Dressed in khaki Dockers and a button-down plaid shirt, Adam Puhl moved from desk to desk at a job fair Thursday morning, talking up prospective employers.

Up to $45 million in federal funding could be on the way to help turn around Wisconsin's lowest-performing schools, all of which are in the Milwaukee Public Schools district, according to newly released documents from the state.

Both political parties are taking tea party activists seriously and are wary of offending them – if they are not already actively wooing them for state races this fall. Just look at the governor’s election in Ohio. Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich openly touts his tea party credentials in his bid to defeat incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. “I think I was in the tea party before there was a tea party,” Kasich famously told a Columbus crowd earlier this year. “This is a real movement with a real message about people’s frustrations by broken promises that leaders on both sides of the aisle would be foolish to ignore,” he went on to write in a blog posting.

TODAY’S TAKE: California has fewer people in its workforce today than it did in 1999. For Alabama and Indiana, 1993 is the last time the employment ranks were so thin. And for Michigan — unquestionably the nation’s hardest-hit state in terms of unemployment — 4.1 million people have jobs today. That’s the smallest total since August of 1987, when Ronald Reagan was president.