Associated Press

Updated at 4:19 p.m. CT

A woman who was found slain in a Milwaukee garage along with her two daughters had been beaten up by her boyfriend the day before she was reported missing — and just hours after the funeral of the couple's young son, according to a criminal complaint.

Republicans on the Legislature's finance committee on Wednesday rejected a plan to build new institutions to replace Wisconsin's troubled youth prison, saying the state doesn't have the money for the facilities.

The move signals that the existing prison won't shut down by the July 2021 deadline lawmakers imposed last year and raises questions about whether the prison will ever close.

A dean at Marquette University is one of two people struck and killed by suspected drunk drivers in separate crashes on Milwaukee's near west side, officials said Wednesday.

Marquette University officials identified one of the victims as Joe Daniels, 60, a business school dean and a faculty member since 1992.

He was crossing a main street on campus about 8 p.m. Tuesday when a 20-year-old female driver struck him, according to police. The woman was arrested.

Wauwatosa police say the teenage boy who was fatally shot by police fired first in Sunday's shooting at Mayfair Mall.  

On Friday, police released a squad car video from the shooting. Wauwatosa police officers don't wear body cameras.

The video shows police chasing 17-year-old Alvin Cole and the sound of gun shots. After Cole fired, one officer fired back five times, according to Wauwatosa Police Operations Capt. Brian Zalewski. The name of the officer has not been released.

The Wisconsin Republican Party this week will open its first-ever office in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, one of the clearest signs yet of the party's push to cut into Democrats' advantage among minority voters and the latest indication of how hard-fought every vote will be in the battleground state.

The office, which opens Thursday, will serve as the base for the party's minority outreach coordinator and serve as a hub for Republican events, campaign organizing and efforts to connect with black and Hispanic people in Milwaukee, party leaders told The Associated Press.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' plan to create a nonpartisan redistricting commission to draw Wisconsin's electoral maps may put pressure on the Republicans who control the Legislature to consider an alternative plan, but it won't force them to do anything differently next year and GOP leaders made clear they won't change course.

Updated Tuesday at 2:46 p.m. CT

A Wisconsin appeals court has put on hold an order to immediately remove up to 209,000 names from the state's voter registration rolls, handing Democrats who had fought the move a victory in the battleground state. The appeals court also put on hold an ealier decision that found the Wisconsin Elections Commission to be in contempt.

Original story Monday at 5:23 p.m. CT

Updated Tuesday at 4:17 p.m. CT

A 17-year-old Waukesha South High School student was shot by a police officer on Monday morning after allegedly aiming a pellet gun at police. 

Gov. Tony Evers signed into law a bipartisan proposal Wednesday making it a felony to trespass or damage oil or gas pipelines in Wisconsin, a measure that opponents said would violate free speech rights and disproportionately affect Native Americans whose lands are often affected by pipeline projects.

Evers said he had problems with the bill but signed it anyway.

Sen. Ron Johnson is taking on the unusual role of being one of President Donald Trump's most vocal defenders at the same time the Wisconsin Republican has emerged as a witness to key moments at the heart of the impeachment inquiry and could serve as a juror on the president's fate.

Despite his personal involvement, the former plastics manufacturer has said he won't recuse himself if there's a Senate trial on removing Trump should the House impeach him. If anything, Johnson has become more outspoken as his ties to impeachment have deepened.

Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger Jill Karofsky suggested Tuesday that Justice Daniel Kelly is corrupt because he repeatedly rules in favor of conservative groups, saying it makes no sense that the law could be on their side all the time.

All public schools in a Milwaukee suburb are closed after officials say a high school student wrote a hit list and was found in possession of a loaded magazine of ammunition.

Shorewood School District officials said because of “ongoing safety concerns,” classes and activities are canceled Wednesday.