Wisconsin

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney faced a tense moment during his town hall speech in Green Bay, Wis., a day ahead of the state primary on April 3, when an audience member tried to get him to comment on a race question apparently based on a passage from the Book of Mormon.

Romney, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been reluctant to focus on his religion during his campaign, but some conservatives have described their unease with what they perceive to be a domination outside mainstream Christianity.

At the town hall speech in Wisconsin, an audience member was picked by Romney to ask a question. He then held up verses on pieces of paper from the Book of Mormon, ABC News reported. more >>

Several YouTube clips showing presidential hopeful Rick Santorum speaking at an event in Wisconsin in which the outspoken Catholic appears to nearly utter a racial slur in reference to President Barack Obama has sparked an online debate about what the GOP candidate might have actually said.

Santorum's campaign denied accusations that he uttered the n-word, reportedly calling such claims ridiculous. Nonetheless, the former Pennsylvania senator's intelligible flub has observers debating what he actually said, almost said, or meant to say, during the March 28 Janesville, Wis., event.

Dozens of clips of Santorum's speech, in which he criticizes the president's political policies, appear on YouTube, all of varying lengths. What appears to be a full clip of the Republican candidate's remarks, however, was published by JATV Media Services also on YouTube (and can be seen below). Santorum is heard at about the 34-minute mark saying: more >>

A 15-year-old Wisconsin student has been "censored and punished" for expressing his Christian beliefs – supporting the biblical family view – in a school newspaper op-ed article about homosexuality and same-sex parent adoption.

Brandon Wegner, a contributor for Shawano High student paper "The Hawk's Post," wrote the editorial column in support of children being raised in a home by a mother and a father.

He cited various authorities and sources, including Scripture, in defense of his opinions. Wegner argued that children raised in an environment in which the mother and father are present had the best chance for success and that homosexual adoption should be prohibited. His article was released in conjunction with an opposing viewpoint provided by another student, Maddie Marquardt, also "The Hawk's Post" copy editor. Marquardt countered in her argument that gay couples should be able to adopt because the foster system is broken and children need a two-parent home. more >>

In Green Bay, Wis., the local school district is making an effort to accommodate Muslim students' prayer schedules without interfering with classes or the Constitution. But what school officials consider a testament to religious freedom, others consider a form of special treatment that Christians do not enjoy.

An influx of nearly 200 refugees – many of them Muslim – from war-torn Somalia into the Green Bay area is what has led to the accommodations, which include allowing Muslim students to use empty classrooms or alcoves during recess to pray. Under federal law, public schools cannot deny the right to prayer to any student. Some Muslims pray five times a day at specific, designated times.

"The issue of students praying in school has come up a number of times this year, in part because we have an increasing number of students who practice the Islam faith, many of whom are Somali students," said Barbara Dorff, student services director, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "It is our responsibility to find a private place for these students to pray and to allow them to pray." more >>

Presidential candidate Herman Cain struggled Monday to formulate a response to President Barack Obama’s handling of the Libyan uprising during an interview with a Wisconsin paper, possibly revealing a continuing serious disconnect in foreign policy matters.

When asked “so you agree with President Obama on Libya or not?” in a videotaped interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Cain responded with a painfully long pause during which he writhed in his chair and started to reply but then abruptly stopped, proclaiming “Nope, that’s a different one.”

He also asked the interviewer, “President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of [Muammar] Gaddafi. Just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say, 'Yes, I agreed. No, I didn't agree’.” more >>

The Wisconsin State Senate passed legislation Wednesday mandating that school districts, teachers and parents be given the freedom to choose sex education curriculum that highlights abstinence and marriage over a comprehensive approach that highlights contraception.

The bill, which passed along party lines 17-15, would amend a state bill passed last year. A Democratic majority had approved legislation requiring schools to mandate a comprehensive human growth and development (sex education) curriculum that discusses contraceptives as an equally effective option at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases to abstinence for all sexual activity.

While the legislation allows parents to review their school district’s human growth and development curriculum and choose to opt their children out of the subject matter, such curriculum goes against the beliefs of many Christian parents. more >>