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• Lawton drops out of governor's race; state briefs

The only announced Democratic candidate for governor of Wisconsin is no longer running for the post.

Ever since Gov. Jim Doyle announced he wouldn't run for re-election, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton has campaigned vigorously.

So her decision to pull out of the race early on has surprised some, like UW-La Crosse political science professor Joe Heim. He questions why she'd leave the race if she's the only Democratic candidate.

Lawton's e-mail to supporters said "very personal reasons" prompted her decision to withdraw.

Mike Tate, director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, says he says it shouldn't be long before another candidate steps forward. Tate expects a spirited political debate in the next year. He feels strongly the Democratic candidate will beat the Republican nominee.

The leading Republican candidates who've announced for governor are former U.S. Representative Mark Neumann and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison

Doyle reacts to Lawton decision

MILWAUKEE -- With Barbara Lawton out of next year's race for governor, current Gov. Jim Doyle is talking up Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as a candidate. But Barrett says he and his family still have to decide what to do.

Doyle and Barrett were asked about Lawton's announcement at a recent Milwaukee news conference. Both men said Lawton's decision surprised them.

Doyle downplayed polls showing Lawton trailing Republican candidates for governor and Doyle said it wasn't his role to have given the lieutenant governor more encouragement about her campaign.

Doyle says he's not trying to pick the next governor. But while standing near Barrett, Doyle did speak well of the Milwaukee mayor, referring to their race against each other in the 2002 democratic gubernatorial primary.

Doyle also says Barrett would be an outstanding candidate and would be a very good governor. Barrett says he's not ready to step into the race, saying for the moment he's busy with the Milwaukee city budget. Barrett says he loves being mayor, but also loved most of his 2002 gubernatorial bid. He says the final decision on next year's race will be made at the Barrett family dinner table.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WHAD-Delafield/Milwaukee

Public defender wants Justice Gableman to recuse himself from criminal cases

-- Gil Halsted, WHA/WERN-Madison

A public defender wants attorneys arguing criminal cases before the state Supreme Court to consider asking Justice Michael Gableman to recuse himself from hearing their arguments.

The request comes at a time when tension is rising among justices on the state's high court about how to deal with the appearance of bias against both criminal and civil litigants who argue their cases before the court.

Attorney Marla Stephens heads the appellate division of the state public defender's office. She says statements by Gableman during his election campaign are a clear indication of his apparent bias against criminal defendants and the attorneys representing them. Stephens says her suggestion is not a mandate, just something attorneys should think about and talk over with a client.

Stephens has also advised her colleagues to refer to "resources", namely instructions posted on the state public defender's website on how to file a motion to compel a justice to recuse him or herself from hearing an argument.

Stephens says statements Gableman previously made on the campaign trail implies that he believes criminal defendants are always looking for a loophole to avoid responsibility for their crimes and that their attorneys do their best to beat the system. She says what a Supreme Court candidate says in a campaign has to be taken into consideration, "whether or not you can be impartial in a case."

On Wednesday the state's high court will hear two petitions calling for new rules on whether justice should recuse themselves from a case where campaign donors are involved.

-- Gil Halsted, WHA/WERN-Madison

Northern Wisconsin schools closed because of flu

VILAS COUNTY -- Vilas County is closing two of its schools because of the flu. The Vilas County School District and County Health Department agreed to close the schools, starting today until Monday. They say more than 30 percent of students and staff are sick with flu symptoms.

The Vilas County schools to be closed are North Lakeland and Lac du Flambeau. All extracurricular school gatherings including athletic events have been canceled until Monday.

-- Mike Simonson, KUWS-Superior

Limited vaccine raises questions about who should get it

LA CROSSE -- Officials at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse have been vaccinating priority groups on campus to protect them from the H1N1 virus. However, limited doses raise questions as to who will be next.

As of last week, UW-La Crosse had received 300 nasal spray doses of the H1N1 vaccine. Dr. Brian Allen, director of Student Health at UWL, says they will finish vaccinating priority groups this week. If the university receives more vaccine, Allen says the question is who will get it. He says with 100 doses left, student teachers may be next in line since they're out in the classrooms, exposed to sick kids.

Paula Knudson is Dean of Students at UWL and a member of La Crosse County's Pandemic Preparedness Coalition. Knudson says they've only been able to vaccinate those in direct contact with people under the age of 24.

Meanwhile, more students and staff are coming down with influenza-like illness. Knudson says there's usually a spike in flu-like illnesses in mid-October during midterms. She adds this year's spike was more serious.

Knudson says there are at least four confirmed cases of H1N1 flu at UWL. Unfortunately, Allen says some campus-goers most at risk are still waiting for the vaccine.

Those with pre-existing health conditions can't use the nasal spray vaccine because the FDA hasn't yet approved it for them. Allen says he hopes to have the vaccine in shot-form sometime in mid-November.

-- Danielle Kaeding, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

Quack flu remedies not unusual

Con artists playing on the fears of the flu pandemic have the federal government putting out a list of 139 fraudulent products boasting cures or treatments for the H1N1 flu.

That's not unusual. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic had lots of quack remedies, such as "Smok-ko" tobacco-less cigarettes. A 1918 ad calls it an influenza germ killer: "a few puffs and goodbye grippe". The laxative Bromo

Quinine claimed to stop the Spanish Flu, said to be used in "every civilized nation" back then.

UW-Oshkosh Psychology Professor Susan McFadden studied the 1918 pandemic in Wisconsin. She says snake oil, cocaine, heroine and alcohol were all touted as remedies. McFadden says even people who didn't drink alcohol, drank brandy if the doctor recommended it.

Historian Stephen Burg has written about the 1918 pandemic for the Wisconsin Historical Society. He says not everything was a con. Some of the so-called remedies were supported by pharmacies and folklore.

Burg says Vick's Vapo-Rub became popular at the time because it warmed the chest and people "hoped they were getting well." He adds there were dozens of other products, or folk remedies, people turned to out of hope, desperation, or even fear.

The federal government is warning people that there is no cure for the H1N1 flu, so beware of hoax products. So far, Wisconsin Health Services reports no large scale efforts to peddle quack medicine.

-- Mike Simonson, KUWS-Superior

Study shows fitness starts declining rapidly in mid-40s

Physical fitness decreases with age. But it apparently doesn't taper off. A new study shows when it drops significantly and how to avoid it.

Fitness levels studied over a 32-year period in people ages 20 to 96 indicate cardiovascular decline occurs differently than previously thought. Andrew T. Jackson from the University of Houston is one author of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

He says physical activity get noticeably more difficult at a certain age. Jackson says "at about age 45, it starts to drop and drops at an accelerated rate."

But it's not age alone that makes our heart work harder. The study found a bad diet and lack of exercise also contribute. Dr. James Stein, directs the Preventive Cardiology Program at UW-Madison's School of Medicine.

He says he's seeing more patients with poor cardio fitness. Stein says people are overweight and can't do activities or daily living, such as chores around the home. He says if it gets to be severe, people lose their independence.

The study notes that more Americans could be considered disabled at a younger age, according to how the U.S. Social Security Administration defines cardio fitness.

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison

Large grant benefits UW-Green Bay business school

GREEN BAY -- The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will use a $5.5 million gift to improve its business school.

The money was given earlier this year by Doctor David Cofrin, who died in August. One of his last requests was that the university use the money to honor Cofrin's father who founded the Fort Howard Paper Company.

Chancellor Thomas Harden says the money came with almost no strings attached. UW-Green Bay will rename its business program after Austin Cofrin. It will use interest from the money to establish an endowed professor-ship and to make improvements to its Business School.

-- Patty Murray, WPNE/WHID-Green Bay

State benefits from solar energy grant

Solar energy efforts in Wisconsin are getting a $4 million boost from the Obama Administration.

The Energy Department is giving $3 million to the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, based in central Wisconsin.

The MREA says it will use the money to boost training of how to install solar panels and solar heating and cooling systems. The training will be for both residential and commercial buildings through the Midwest.

MREA executive director Tehri Parker says at least in cities like Milwaukee and Madison, solar energy may make more progress at larger buildings.

The Energy Department says the MREA was chosen because it wrote a "very good" grant application. The department is also giving roughly a million dollars total to Milwaukee and Madison, which are part of a Solar America Cities project. Department project officer Steve Palmeri says he hopes the money will help overcome barriers to solar on commercial buildings.

Palmeri says Milwaukee and Madison are streamlining their permitting process to allow homeowners to install solar panels. He says both cities are looking at ways to help people afford such projects.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WHAD-Delafield/Milwaukee

Legislature support needed for theatre project

A bill under consideration in the Wisconsin Assembly would help a La Crosse theatre build a new site in the city's downtown area.

La Crosse Community Theatre has spent decades in what was never meant to be a permanent home. Theatre administrators have been looking to build a new facility for years.

Executive director Jackie Jensen Utz says a capital campaign hasn't been launched yet, but a bill that's under consideration in the state legislature would help the cause. The bill would spare any non-profit performing arts theatres within 20 miles of the Mississippi River from having to pay property taxes.

Utz says the current theatre pays about $6,000 in property taxes a year. She says a new facility would be as much as $200,000 in property taxes a year.

Those taxes would be exempt under this bill. Jensen Utz says even if property taxes are waived, the theatre would still have to pay the city of La Crosse a negotiated amount of money each year.

Democratic state representative Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse says lawmakers have approved property tax exempt status to other theatres in the past including Door County and the Milwaukee and Madison areas.

The assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill today. Shilling says it has a good chance of passing.

-- Steve Roisum, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

Anglicans not expected to move in large numbers to the Roman Catholic Church

A week after the Vatican said it would welcome Anglicans seeking to join the Roman Catholic Church, the leader of Wisconsin's Episcopalians says he doubts many in the state will take the pope up on his offer.

That offer came two years after a group called the Traditional Anglican Communion petitioned the pope, requesting a special arrangement that would unite them with the Catholic Church.

The Rev. Steven Miller is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee. He says he was surprised by the pope's decision. Miller says the request appears to be driven by a request of the traditional Anglican Communion, and the Church of England dealing with issues over women as bishops.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Vatican says hundreds of Anglicans worldwide have expressed interest in joining the Catholic church.

-- Kirk Carapezza, WHA/WERN-Madison