Sweet 16 Sorrow
Fake News Friday: Abbreviations help to cut costs, bromance ends poorly and the inconceivable fall of BOOP +PAGE TWO University of Wisconsin-Madison
Despite a second-half comeback, Wisconsin fell short against top-seeded Syracuse Thursday, losing 64-63. +SPORTS, page 8 Complete campus coverage since 1892
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dailycardinal.com
Business ‘booming’ in Clintonville Mysterious noise draws attention to small town By Tyler Nickerson The Daily Cardinal
When a strange “booming” noise awoke citizens in the small town of Clintonville early Monday morning, they were confused. When it happened again Tuesday night, some became irritated. But when it happened three nights in a row without any official explanation, some local business leaders started to see an influx in customers as flocks of people journeyed to the normally sleepy town of 5,000 halfway between Stevens Point and Green Bay to experience and investigate the phenomenon. Lynn Mommaerts, owner of the Hawg House bar and grill in downtown Clintonville, said it sounded, “kind of like a big train going by, like a rattling.” The disturbances have baffled city officials and captivated the attention of the nation, with news organizations from Seattle to Washington D.C. turning their attention to the small town. Some theorized the disturbances were caused by the construction of a KwikTrip gas station in town, while the blog Gawker.com sarcastically proposed there was a “portal to hell opening up under Wisconsin.” But by Thursday afternoon, city officials finally had an explanation. At a town meeting at
Court orders Republicans redraw lines By Adam Wollner The Daily Cardinal
Clintonville
Graphic by Dylan Moriarty
Clintonville High School Thursday night, city officials told the tired citizens that a 1.5 magnitude earthquake early Tuesday morning is the culprit, according to a preliminary review by the U.S. Geological Survey. The reports from Monday morning reflect seismic activity leading up to the actual earthquake. While Clintonville’s online fame is fleeting by nature, the “massive” influx of people is welcome news to some, who overnight have seen Clintonville become a hub for curious passersby and news organizations. Mommaerts said she has noticed her bar has received significantly more business as the town cashes in on its brief spotlight.
“A lot of people are coming from out of town, just to check and see what’s going on,” Mommaerts said. And the Hawg House is only one of the many local businesses that have benefitted from the phenomenon. “I think its great for some of our businesses,” Director of the Clintonville Chamber of Commerce Sandy Yaeger said Thursday. “I think they’re doing well. The hotels are doing well, the coffee shop, the restaurants and the gas stations, so it’s great for business.” Yaeger said the last week has been good for Clintonville, bringing in lots of people and some extra revenue, despite the sleepless nights.
Weekend, March 23-25, 2012
State lawmakers will have to redraw two Milwaukee Assembly districts because the new maps drawn by the Republicancontrolled legislature violated Latino voting rights. A panel of federal judges found the new eighth and ninth Assembly district boundaries to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act Thursday because they split a Latino community into two districts. The Government Accountability Board now must halt implementation of the new election maps. Under state law, the state legislature must redraw district maps every 10 years to account for population changes. The new maps, which altered boundaries across the state, were passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker last summer. Thursday’s ruling upheld the other district boundaries and ordered lawmakers to leave them in tact when redrawing the two
Milwaukee districts. The three-judge panel also criticized Republican legislators for crafting the maps in secret and for placing over a million Wisconsin residents in different districts unnecessarily.
“The Republicans, behind closed doors... concocted unconstitutional legislative maps.” Mark Miller minority leader state Senate
Voces de la Frontera, a Latino rights group, filed a lawsuit against the maps in October, arguing the newly drawn districts would limit the voting power of the Latino community in Milwaukee by dividing them into two districts. “This is a vindication, that we were right,” Voces de la Frontera
redistricting page 3
‘Wisconsin town longs for relief from mysterious booms’ Detroit Free Press
‘Strange noises turn Wisconsin village into boom town—literally’ Toronto Star
‘Earthquake eyed in mysterious Wisconsin booms’
New York Daily News
‘Is the Portal to Hell Opening Up Under Wisconsin Right This Very Minute?’ Gawker
Various news sources picked up on the story of mysterious booms coming from Clintonville.
State Street proposal may be in jeopardy After months of deadlock, donors weighing options By Ben Siegel The Daily Cardinal
A $10 million plan to redevelop a block of State Street could be dead after months of debate over the fate of
numerous historical buildings involved in the project. Representatives of W. Jerome Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland’s Block 100 Foundation asked the city to remove the proposal from the agenda of an upcoming Landmarks Commission meeting Thursday, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. This removal from the agenda gives Frautschi and Rowland
time to decide whether or not to continue pursuing their project, which they have threatened to abandon in the past. The proposal calls for the redevelopment of six properties bordered by State, North Fairchild and West Mifflin streets into a mixed-use office and retail space that features an open garden.
100 block page 3
On Campus
Beginner’s luck
Students gathered at Memorial Union Thursday to participate in the third annual “Casino Night” hosted by the National Society of Collegiate Scholars . + Photo by Shoaib Altaf
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”