Afternoon News Brief - Man injured in a freak ATV accident near Menasha has died.

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A man injured in a freak ATV accident near Menasha has died. Authorities said 48 year old Todd Wenzel was riding on the front rack of the all terrain vehicle, while his 18 year old son accelerated faster than expected. When they reached a driveway, the teen put on the brakes too fast and it caused Wenzel to fly onto the pavement. He was flown to a hospital in Neenah, where he died on Wednesday. A 15 year old girl was sitting behind the driver and neither she nor the driver was hurt. Authorities said the 18 year old was holding a basketball while he was driving the ATV, and it caused him to lose control.

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For the second time in a year, a Wisconsin judge has ordered the state not to force a public school to change its Indian nickname and logo. Green Lake County Circuit Judge Mark Slate issued a temporary restraining order against the Department of Public Instruction, until he could issue a ruling on whether an order to change the Berlin Indians’ name is constitutional. Five Berlin school district residents challenged the 2010 state law which set up a statewide complaint system for those offended by Indian monikers. The DPI ruled that the “Indians” name and logo discriminates against Native Americans. The state tried to throw out the lawsuit, saying it should be filed by a school district and not by individual taxpayers. Last year, a Waukesha County judge threw out the DP I’s order to have Mukwonago High School change its Indian nickname. The state had ordered three districts to change their team names. The third one, Osseo-Fairchild, complied with the state’s order.

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Wisconsin Tea Party groups will hold their annual “Tax Day Rally” tomorrow outside the State Capitol in Madison. Fox News contributor James T. Harris and radio hosts Dana Loesch and Vicki McKenna will be among the speakers. Luke Hilgemann, the state director of the Americans for Prosperity, said people will see a strong, energized grass roots movement tomorrow. He said his group has gained 15,000 members since the Tea Party movement began in 2009. The rally is normally held around the deadline for filing state and federal income taxes, which is on Tuesday this year. The Tax Foundation says Tuesday is also the National Tax Freedom Day, the date in which people start working for themselves, after making enough money since January first to pay all of their federal, state, and local taxes for the year. Wisconsin’s taxes remain higher than the national averages, so the Badger State’s Tax Freedom Day is four days later, April 21st. Connecticut has the latest Tax Freedom Day, on May fifth. Folks in Tennessee have the earliest. They’ve been working for themselves since March 31st.

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Four UW Madison chemistry professors have received some of the highest awards in their profession. The American Chemical Society recently honored James Dumesic, Robert Hamers, Hans Reich, and James Skinner. Fellow Madison professor Bassam Shakhashiri is the society’s president and he said an anonymous peer review team selected the award-winners. Shakhashiri said the UW is rich in talent and getting four ACS awards is like hitting a “grand slam.” Dumesic was honored for advances in catalysts which transform renewable bio-mass into chemicals and liquid fuels. Hamers discovered new insights into the chemistry of materials that create stable surfaces. Reich was honored for advances in understanding the structure of organo-metallic reagents. And Skinner received his award for models and calculations which describe the dynamics of molecules in condensed phases.

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