Month: March 2026

By Jenna Wells

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    MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — Timothy Olson, found guilty in the 2022 kidnapping and robbery of an elderly woman, learned his sentence Tuesday, March 17.

He’ll spend more than 30 years in prison, with more time possible as he faces charges as an alleged “dating app predator” linked to two death investigations.

Judge Kristy Yang sentenced Olson to 33 years in prison Tuesday. It comes just days after a trial filled with disruptions, and this hearing was no different.

Olson was removed from the courtroom three times for interrupting the judge before the hearing could fully begin.

“You’ll be brought back out when you can follow the rules,” Hon. Yang said.

After about an hour of disruptions, Judge Yang ordered Olson to appear only by Zoom from the holding cell behind the courtroom and dismissed two motions he filed asking for a mistrial.

“It has simply come to a point where enough is enough,” she said.

Prosecutors detailed Olson’s long criminal history, involving drugs, burglary, theft, and fraud, as well as his other accusations, noting the DA’s office has heard from other alleged victims since this trial began.

“This victimization isn’t just a one time, done,” Deputy District Attorney Sara Sadowski said. “This lasts with victims, especially when they’re being taken advantage of in this way, for years.”

As the judge handed her sentence, she focused on the elderly victim, saying though she wasn’t physically harmed, she was traumatized.

“On a daily basis, she relives this incident and is able to recall this incident,” Judge Yang said.

Olson made it clear he plans to appeal.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By A.J. Bayatpour

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    MADISON, Wisconsin (WDJT) — The Wisconsin Senate’s final regular session of 2026 created some unusual coalitions and compromises in order to get a pair of high-profile bills to Governor Tony Evers’ desk.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed bills legalizing online sports betting and banning the use of FoodShare aid on the purchase of candy and soft drink products.

The sports betting bill required a nearly 50-50 mix of Democratic and Republican support in order to pass.

The 21-12 vote included 12 Democrats joining nine Republicans in passing the bill. Nine Republicans and three Democrats voted no.

With the Senate GOP evenly split on the issue, two Republican senators, State Sen. Andre Jacque (New Franken) and State Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) spoke against the bill on the floor Tuesday. None spoke in favor.

“Family breakdown, lost productivity, addiction treatment,” Nass said. “Bankruptcy, increased demand for social service, criminal justice costs and diminished household savings far exceed any revenue benefit to the state.”

The bill legalized online sports betting, as long as wagers are made through a platform connected to a server on tribal land.

Limiting the legality to only tribal casinos was a key component in securing the Democratic votes needed to clear the Senate.

“My vote today is to get this going, that all these tribes can start having these conversations,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said. “To figure out where all of them want to go.”

Last month, Evers said at a WisPolitics luncheon his support for the bill would hinge on getting the state’s tribes on the same page. He indicated that had not happened yet.

“We have to engage the tribes on that, and I don’t think there’s been much,” Evers said. “It’s their issue. We have to have them at the table, and to my knowledge, they are not at the table.”

When asked about the governor’s stance on the bill Tuesday, Evers’ spokeswoman, Britt Cudaback, referred back to Evers’ comments at the February luncheon.

If Evers does sign the bill, some conservatives have signaled they’re prepared to file lawsuits challenging whether it’s legal to allow wagering without amending the state constitution.

Right-wing critics have also taken issue with the tribal exclusivity, saying there should be an open market if online sports betting is allowed.

That opposition forced lawmakers in the Assembly to cancel a vote on the bill last fall.

Corporate online betting behemoths, DraftKings and FanDuel, have registered in opposition to the bill.

The Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi tribes, along with the Milwaukee Brewers and Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, are among those who’ve lobbied in support of the bill.

The bill passed on a voice vote in the Assembly last month.

On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters after his own WisPolitics luncheon he supported the sports betting measure because people are gambling using offshore accounts.

Vos maintained it was better to move that betting into a regulated system, which would also provide revenue for the state.

“If it were up to me, and I could wiggle my nose like ‘Bewitched,’ I would not have online gambling, but we can’t,” Vos said. “We already have it in Wisconsin. We already have billions of dollars – I think 10 times the amount was bet on the Super Bowl online versus in Las Vegas, so it’s already there.”

A ban on food stamps for candy, soft drinks

The Senate also voted to send Evers a bill banning the use of state FoodShare benefits for the purchase of candy and soft drink products.

Evers’ office indicated Tuesday the governor will sign the bill because of funding Republicans attached to the proposal.

Evers has wanted the GOP-controlled Legislature to approve giving the Department of Health Services (DHS) an additional $72 million to make up for federal funding that was cut through President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”

The federal cuts come from changes that require states to cover a larger share of administrative costs for Medicaid programs, and there is also a new provision that threatens further cuts to states that report high error rates when processing applications

The governor’s office said Tuesday GOP leaders indicated they’d only vote for the funding if it were attached to the new restrictions on how FoodShare aid could be used.

The bill cleared the Senate by a 25-8 vote. Each of the “no” votes were from Democrats. Seven Democrats joined all 18 Republicans in backing the measure.

A busy last day

The Senate took up numerous other bills during its final scheduled session of 2026. Those measures include:

Allowing the UW System to make Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for student athletes and providing state funding for athletic facility maintenance. The bill passed 17-16, with 11 Republicans and 6 Democrats providing just enough votes to pass Allowing DACA recipients to receive occupational licenses. The 31-2 vote overwhelmingly passed, allowing “Dreamers,” the children of undocumented immigrants but who lived in the U.S. most of their lives, to get state licenses in professions such as health care, education and the trades A bill allowing victims of sexual extortion, referred to as “sextortion,” to file civil lawsuits A ban on flying drones over school property without the school’s permission. It creates a fine of up to $5,000 for violating the ban

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By DeJanay Booth-Singleton

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    CENTER LINE, Michigan (WWJ) — A husband was taken into custody after police say his wife was fatally shot on Tuesday in Center Line, Michigan.

Police say they received a call at around 5:30 p.m. about a shooting in the 7500 block of Sterling Street. The 38-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound, police say.

A preliminary investigation determined that a domestic dispute had occurred, leading to the shooting.

Police say the husband, 39, ran away from the scene, and he was later arrested in the area of 10 Mile Road and Wainwright Street. Police say the suspect was taken into custody roughly 30 minutes after officers received the 911 call.

An investigation is ongoing.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jennifer Mayerle

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    CHISAGO COUNTY, Minnesota (WCCO) — A mother who was blackmailed by a Minnesota sheriff is speaking out for the first time in a WCCO Investigation. Darcey Duncan recently received a multimillion-dollar settlement for the abuse she endured. The former Chisago County sheriff pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in 2023.

She told only Senior Investigative Reporter Jennifer Mayerle why she trusted the man who hurt her.

“My story is I was sexually assaulted by the sheriff of Chisago County, and now it’s time to share my side of things,” Darcey Duncan said.

Darcey Duncan is nearly a decade removed from the blackmail scheme carried out by then-Chisago County Sheriff Rick Duncan in 2017.

She said she trusted him because he was law enforcement.

“I did, because they’re supposed to protect us,” Darcey Duncan said.

Rick Duncan was also her brother-in-law. The mother of two first reported him in a 2021 police interview.

“He showed up at my house in uniform. And then he told me we were being blackmailed and he had a letter,” Darcey Duncan told police at the time.

She told police that Rick Duncan had convinced her the two of them were being blackmailed by someone in law enforcement and the former sheriff said he’d protect her.

“This blackmailer wanted us to act like we were having an affair. If we didn’t follow his rules, he’d kill my family and Rick’s, too,” Darcey Duncan told police in 2021.

But there was no blackmailer. It was a ploy by Rick Duncan all along. The demands started with them recording her spanking the sheriff’s bare butt and escalated over time. The ruse ended a few months later, but it took her years to piece together what really happened. By that time, Rick Duncan had resigned as sheriff, and he was sentenced for stalking in a similar scheme with a coworker.

“As soon as I figured it out, I just told myself that this isn’t OK, this isn’t appropriate. Something needs to happen,” she said.

So she went to the police.

“It was very scary for me to have to tell law enforcement, considering he is law enforcement. ‘Do you think they’re going to believe you?’ That was my first thought. Are they going to believe me?” she said.

Wyoming, Minnesota, police executed a search warrant at Rick Duncan’s home as part of the criminal investigation.

“We’re looking for electronic devices used for storage, as well as your electronic communication devices, as well as paper letters from a blackmailer to a victim,” police told Rick Duncan.

During the criminal investigation, police recovered text messages from Rick Duncan trying to keep Darcey Duncan quiet. Attorneys in her civil case provided WCCO Investigates video of the former sheriff’s deposition.

Attorney: “What did you observe of her reaction when you were forcing her to have sex?”

Rick Duncan: “Probably disgust.”

Attorney: “And what was your reaction?”

Rick Duncan: “At that point, I didn’t care.”

“It just made me sick, because how could someone do this to someone else? Why would you want to ruin someone’s family or their life?” Darcey Duncan said.

“The level of manipulation, and really grooming that went into this by the sheriff, was remarkable,” said attorney Andy Noel, with Robins Kaplan.

Noel led the civil rights team, negotiating a settlement of $7.5 million with Chisago County.

“It’s accountability. This case, we have abuse of power, destruction of trust, the ability of one criminal sexual predator who’s in a position of authority to wreck someone’s life,” Noel said.

Darcey Duncan says she’s leaned on her parents to help get her through what Rick Duncan did to her.

“I was in a very bad spot for a very long time, but at some point you realize that you have to keep going. I have two children who need a mom,” she said.

She survived divorce, sees a therapist and wants other women to know there is hope.

“I look back and I’m so glad I was strong enough. Now I’m 10-times stronger. I don’t let it define me in any way. And I’m a survivor,” she said.

A judge sentenced Rick Duncan to six months in jail and supervised probation for 15 years. He also had to register as a sex offender.

Rick Duncan is headed back to court in April for allegedly violating a restraining order involving Darcey Duncan last year. WCCO reached out to his, who said his client had no comment.

The Chisago County attorney provided this statement on the settlement:

“Chisago County and its insurer the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT) have negotiated a payment of $7.5 million to Ms. Duncan in exchange for a dismissal of her lawsuit and a release of the claims against the County. While the County strongly disagreed with the United States District Court’s decision holding it responsible for Richard Duncan’s disgusting conduct, this resolution helps avoid the potential of a larger jury verdict and uncertainty in an appeal before the Eighth Circuit. Chisago County did not indemnify or defend Richard Duncan in the litigation.”

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By Briauna Brown

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    DALLAS (KTVT) — A woman has been taken into custody in connection with a fatal hit-and-run Tuesday night, police confirmed.

Dallas police told CBS News Texas that the incident happened at about 9 p.m. underneath the Northwest Highway and Skillman bridge.

Police said a woman allegedly struck and killed a man, drove to a nearby bank and then parked her car before leaving the scene.

Police said a man who witnessed the incident told them that he gave the woman a ride to a QuikTrip gas station on Skillman.

Officers found the woman at that QuikTrip and arrested her in connection with the hit-and-run. At this time, police have not released her identity or what charges she’s facing.

The name of the victim has also not been released.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.