Wisconsin

A Christian legal group, which is defending the National Day of Prayer Task Force against a lawsuit by an atheist group, has launched a campaign to rally support for the annual prayer day.

On the "Save the National Day of Prayer" campaign  Web site, the Alliance Defense Fund is urging Americans to do their part in protecting one of nation's longest standing faith traditions.

Last year, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics, filed a lawsuit against President Bush, the governor of Wisconsin and other officials over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer - an annual event observed on the first Thursday of May, after it was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. more >>

THERESA, Wis. (AP) - At a time when some people are having trouble finding one job, Daniel Seddiqui is lining up 50 - one in every state.

Each job symbolizes the state's most famous industry, and each lasts one week - just long enough for the 26-year-old to appreciate the labor and explore the region.

Since starting in Utah in the first week of September, he's been a park ranger in Wyoming, a corn farmer in Nebraska and a wedding coordinator in Las Vegas. more >>

SPRING GREEN, Wis. (AP) - Thousands come each year to the Wisconsin River valley where Frank Lloyd Wright built his home and tested his ideas about building in harmony with nature.

Nestled on a hillside overlooking the river, Wright's Taliesin has the cantilever roofs, wide windows, great room and open floor plan that became some of the architect's trademarks.

The design concepts, revolutionary in Wright's time, are now widely taught in architecture schools and common among builders concerned about the environment. more >>

A student who was assigned a “zero” and penalized with disciplinary action after he wrote a scripture reference on a piece of artwork won a settlement Tuesday in what was a celebration of freedom for Christians everywhere.

“Christian students shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs, so we’re pleased that this settlement will make sure that no longer happens,” cheered David Cortman of the Christian Alliance Defend Fund, which represented the student, in a statement.

The Tomah High School student of Madison, Wis., was told by school officials in March to remove or cover up his scripture reference on a piece of artwork to stay in line with the school policy that bans depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs.” The artwork depicted an image of a cross alongside the words "John 3:16." more >>

A Wisconsin pharmacist who was punished with over $20,000 in court fines and restrictions on his license for refusing to hand a patient prescription that could be used for an abortion is appealing his case to the State Supreme Court, according to an announcement Wednesday.

Neil Noesen, a devout Roman Catholic, had reportedly told his employer K-Mart that it was against his religious beliefs to “aid, abet, encourage, refer, transfer, or participate in any way with something that I feel would be impairing the fertility of a human being.”

Although K-Mart had a policy of accommodating the religious beliefs of employees with a conscientious objection to contraceptives, the state Pharmacy Examining Board reprimanded him with fees and restrictions on his license after he refused to offer or refer a patient oral contraceptives back in 2002. more >>

A Wisconsin appeals court upheld sanctions Tuesday against a pharmacist from Minnesota who refused to fill a college student's prescription for birth control pills because of religious objections.

Pharmacist Neil Noesen had refused to fill the prescription of a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout while working as a substitute pharmacist at a Menomonie Kmart in 2002. Furthermore, he declined to refer the woman to another pharmacy.

The 34-year-old pharmacist told regulators that he is a devout Roman Catholic and acted like he did because he didn't want to commit a sin by "impairing the fertility of a human being," The Associated Press reported. The Roman Catholic Church is opposed to contraception. more >>