The state runner-up in the Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin competition, who was given the title after it was removed from the original winner, has also declined the title.
Michelle Kearney, a West Allis woman born with no arms or legs, turned down the award to protest the removal of the title from Janeal Lee of Appleton. Lee, a teacher with muscular dystrophy, lost the title after a photograph in an Appleton newspaper showed her standing while teaching her class.
Lee told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she can walk up to 50 feet on a good day and sometimes stands in the classroom.
The organizers for Ms. Wheelchair America revoked the title on the grounds that those competing for the title must primarily be seen in their wheelchairs or scooters in public.
Kim Jerman of Waukesha, the second runner-up, has now been awarded the title. The national Ms. Wheelchair America pageant is this summer in New York.
Madison
The state Senate Committee on Labor and Election Process Reform approved a bill Tuesday that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.
The committee passed the voter ID bill by a 4-1 vote, and will now be debated by the full Senate, where a vote will likely occur next week, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The state Assembly passed the bill in February by a 64-33 vote.
Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a similar bill in 2003 and has said he will do so again if the Senate approves the legislation. The governor does, however, have his own agenda of election reforms he introduced last week that does not include requiring voters to show state-issued ID.
Madison
Whether Madison's summer residents are going all the way to Picnic Point or simply to Point B, they have a cheap option to expedite their transport.
More than 300 bicycles, entirely brush-painted red, are now available in the community Red Bikes Project, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
The project, located at 930 Regent St., charges a mere $40 deposit for the bike and another $20 for the lock, all of which will be returned to the bikes' lessees upon safe return of the bike and lock.
Baghdad
As Iraq's National Assembly gathers today to name the country's president after weeks of political squabbling, less publicized post-election battles are still raging at the local level in several of the nation's 18 provinces.
Difficulties and delays in getting the regional governments up and running could create new obstacles. The plans-endorsed by U.S. and Iraqi leaders-to establish a federalist system are based on strong local governments that reflect each province's religious and ethnic makeup.
When assembly members convene Wednesday, they plan to name a president and two vice presidents. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is widely expected to be chosen as president, while interim President Ghazi Ajil Yawer, a Sunni Arab, and Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite, are likely to be named vice presidents. This three-member presidency council will then name a prime minister. There is wide agreement that Ibrahim Jafari, a Shiite, will receive the post.
