Brian LaFave of Sheboygan, WI has had enough of high gas prices, so he’s parking his truck and biking to work… for a month. Brian used to put 300 miles a week on his trusty pickup truck, but no longer. He’s biking to work, not accepting free rides unless his friends are already in his neighborhood, and taking the money he saves and donating it to charity.
wisconsin
6 Days In Jail For Overdue Library Books
By 3.3.08
Beloit, Wisconsin does not f*&% around when it comes to library books. When your books aren’t returned to the Beloit Public Library, three overdue notices are mailed out and then you may be issued a citation that could possibly include a court date.
Time Warner: A Tornado Destroyed Your House Our Cable Boxes? That'll Be $2,000
By 1.31.08
Ann Beam’s Wheatland, WI home was destroyed by a tornado earlier this month. Then a snow storm hit and made clean up difficult. To top it off, she opened her Time Warner Cable bill and saw a $2,000 charge for the 5 (9-year-old) cable boxes and remotes that were destroyed in the tornado.
Social Security Numbers Visible On Envelopes Mailed By Wisconsin… AGAIN
By 1.16.08
Look, Wisconsin. We weren’t kidding around last time. We really did mean it when we said that it wasn’t cool to print people’s Social Security Numbers where anyone can see them. How can people who are smart enough to sell sausage shaped like beer (above) not able to figure out that the SSN is a secret?
Wisconsin Takes Printing Your SSN On Mailing Labels Twice Seriously
By 1.12.08
THE QUOTE: “We take our responsibility in Wisconsin very seriously and we take this matter very seriously,” Kenny said. “We regret that it happened.”
The State Of Wisconsin Needs To STOP Printing Social Security Numbers On Mailing Labels
By 1.9.08
What the hell, Wisconsin?! The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that for the second time in just over a year, the state of Wisconsin has printed mailing labels that display the social security numbers of the recipient.
Letter To Wisconsin Department Of Weights And Measures Results In Victory
By 1.8.08
Reader Gabe writes in to tell us that he reported a gas station to the Wisconsin Department of Weights and Measures because he noticed that the pump started charging him before he ever pulled the trigger.
Walmart Fined $89,705 For Overcharging Wisconsin Customers
By 11.10.07
Walmart received an $89,705 fine after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection found 280 weights and measures violations at nine Walmart stores. The gargantuan retailer failed to subtract the weight of packaging materials, or “tare weight,” when pricing bulk items like coffee, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.
Scabies Outbreak Shuts Down The Children's Place
By 10.19.07
A Children’s Place store was shut down and fumigated after an outbreak of scabies amongst its employees. Ew!
Target Matches Walmart's $9 Birth Control Pill Program
By 9.29.07
Attention women who like the idea of $9 birth control: Target has announced that they will be matching Walmart’s program. Target will also be matching the additions to the $4 generic program.
FedEx Package Signed For By Mysterious "LOLDLADY"
By 9.21.07
I’ve been waiting for a FedEx package and apparently it was delivered today while I wasn’t home and signed for by “LOLDLADY” (an abbreviation for little old lady maybe?). Either way, I just thought this was funny considering FedEx will usually enter the name of the person who signed for the package and not just a description like this.
Wisconsin Accuses Walmart Of Dodging Taxes
By 8.29.07
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue is irritated with Walmart. They’ve just noticed that Walmart has been charging itself rent in a (successful) attempt to avoid paying taxes. Teehee!
Walmart Caught Incorrectly Tagging Food As Organic
By 5.9.07
People in Wisconsin take their organic food seriously, Walmart. Don’t mess with Wisconsin. They wear cheese on their heads, for pete’s sake.
Harder To Sell Used CDs Than It Is To Get A Driver's License?
By 5.8.07
…you’ll certainly feel like a criminal once the local record shop makes copies of all of your identifying information and even collects your fingerprints. Such is the state of affairs in Florida, which now has the dubious distinction of being so anal about the sale of used music CDs that record shops there are starting to get out of the business of dealing with used content because they don’t want to pay a $10,000 bond for the “right” to treat their customers like criminals. …
RIAA 1, Badgers 0: Judge Orders University of Wisconsin-Madison To Turn Over Student IDs
By 4.26.07
On Tuesday, 16 record companies represented by the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking the names associated with 53 Internet connections for copyright infringement. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz signed an order requiring UW-Madison to relinquish the names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Media Access Control addresses for each of the 53 individuals.
UW had initially declined to forward the “settlement” letters to their students, preferring to wait for a court order. The RIAA record companies responded by filing 53 “John Doe” lawsuits against the UW students. “We had every indication that they were going to be going in this direction,” said Ken Frazier, interim chief information officer at UW-Madison. “It’s the step the RIAA would have to take to get the identity of a user of our network.” “We continue to be really concerned for students,” he said. “The prospect of being sued in federal court is a really scary one.”
Check With The Postmaster Before You Install A Mailbox, Or Else
By 4.1.07
John Conway paid $1,300 for a lamppost and matching mailbox, but the Thiensville, WI postmaster refuses to provide service because the mailbox is on the wrong side of the street. The disputed mailbox is part of a new housing development located twenty minutes north of Milwaukee.
“I’m sort of the guy who set the pace here,” Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. “I’m cemented in.”
The Conway’s concrete stance has the post office in a tizzy. They have refused to answer the Conway’s phone calls, and a local paper quoted one postal supervisor threatening to mark the Conway’s mail “return to sender.” A killjoy postal spokeswoman later retracted the statement, adding “We don’t do that.”
Babies And Razor Blades Don't Mix
By 3.21.07
e was getting tired and she wanted to take the baby upstairs and put her in our bed so they could both get some sleep. I folded it up, brought it upstairs, and unfolded it on the bed. That’s when I saw it: the silhouette of a razor blade beneath the mattress cover for the Sleeper.
The rest of Ted’s email and more pictures inside…
Charged Extra For Not Speaking Chinese?
By 2.26.07
David Lopez, a visitor from Wisconsin, contacted the commission after eating at the restaurant with several friends last October.
