DAILY BRIEFING

The search for 3-year-old Major Harris comes to a tragic end in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Major Harris, the 3-year-old boy missing for more than a week, was found dead in Milwaukee

  • Milwaukee police found the child’s body in the 5300 block of North 35th Street. Major had been missing for a week, ever since his mother, Mallery Muenzenberger, 25, was found shot to death in the backyard of a Milwaukee home Oct. 14.

  • Police quickly developed a suspect in Jaheem Clark, 20, but he died by suicide Sunday as officers approached the home where he was staying. The next day, police found Muenzenberger’s black SUV near a laundromat in the 5200 block of North Sherman Boulevard. Blood was found inside the car.

  • Several hours into Thursday's search, police taped off multiple streets near North 35th Street and Rohr Avenue. Major's father, Carlton Harris, and others huddled in an alley. Police located Major's body in a dumpster in the 5300 block of North 35th Street, according to a law enforcement source.

Wisconsin is famous for its cliffhanger elections. But further down the ballot, competition barely exists.

  • There are very few 50/50 legislative districts in this illustrious battleground state. Close contests are scarce. And seats rarely change hands between the parties. There have been 396 state Assembly races in Wisconsin in the past four November elections. Only seven times in those eight years has an Assembly district controlled by one party been captured by the other. That’s 1.8% of the time.

  • Why? One clear answer is gerrymandering. The current legislative lines drawn by the GOP in 2011 locked in huge Republican majorities and slashed the number of competitive seats. As another redistricting battle looms, Republicans unveiled a new proposed Assembly map Wednesday that maintains the GOP's partisan edge and appears to contain even fewer competitive districts. 

  •  But it's not just gerrymandering. More and more voters live in politically one-sided communities, reflecting a growing urban-rural political divide. A Journal Sentinel analysis shows that the share of Wisconsin voters living in highly partisan places has risen with every presidential election since the 1990s. 

  • Another reason is the growth of partisan polarization. State and local elections have become increasingly nationalized. Fewer and fewer voters split their tickets or cross over to vote for the other party. Instead, most vote for the same party up and down the ballot.

Robin Vos says he doesn't know the full details of how Michael Gableman is spending taxpayer funds for the GOP election review

  • In an interview this week, Vos said he has a "broad idea" of who is working for Gableman but doesn’t know all of their names. He wouldn’t say how large Gableman's staff is and said he doesn’t know the names of investigative firms and computer consultants who may be helping him.
  • “My goal is to trust Justice Gableman,” he said. “We wanted to have an investigation that is not politically directed. I did not sit and say, 'Hire this firm, hire these people, do this investigation.' I want him to use his experience and his intelligence to find out the answers that the people of Wisconsin deserve to know."
  • Initially, Vos said he wanted Gableman to complete his work in October so lawmakers could consider voting-related legislation in November. In the interview, Vos said he now hopes it is completed before Thanksgiving but acknowledged it could stretch into next year. Gableman is being paid $11,000 a month under a contract that runs through December. Vos did not rule out the possibility that Assembly leaders would increase Gableman’s $676,000 taxpayer-funded budget.

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The Money

BAYSHORE: A Target opens and more than 300 apartments are coming to Bayshore. But it has over 40 vacant storefronts as its redevelopment continues.

CENTURY CITY: Preliminary plans for a proposed light industrial building at Milwaukee's Century City Business Park get their first green light.

The Fun Stuff

DEER DISTRICT: The Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market is moving from the Domes to Deer District.

AARON RODGERS: Are you keeping up with the Aaron Rodgers Book Club? Here are all of his recommended reads so far.

The Games

BUCKS: Well that was as ugly as Tuesday was beautiful. The injury-riddled Bucks were dominated by the Heat from beginning to end. Onward.

PACKERS: Four things to know about new Green Bay Packers edge rusher Whitney Mercilus.

Around Wisconsin

CONSERVATION FUND: 70,000 acres of northern Wisconsin forest will stay open for recreation forever after being purchased by The Conservation Fund.

ASHWAUBENON: A man and a woman were found dead of gunshot wounds Thursday by public safety officers who had been asked to check the welfare of one of the people. The bodies of the pair were found early Thursday afternoon in a garage at 2355 Cedar Ridge, following an apparent murder-suicide.

SAND VALLEY: Sand Valley Golf Resort resurrecting The Lido Golf Club in Wisconsin.

Today's Weather

Well, here it is. Our first frost advisory for the early morning. It will eventually turn into a nice fall day with mostly cloudy skies and a high of 51.

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