Now that the snow is here, a new law on Dane county's snowmobile trails is taking aim at making this a safer winter for riders.

A Milwaukee man pleaded guilty today for his role in the group sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl over Labor Day. 18-year-old Darnell Chaney was charged with a felony count of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The City of Madison has declared a snow emergency. That means take note of alternate side parking restrictions in effect throughout the city.

While the flakes fell, sculptors turned out their best works at the 17th annual Flake Out Festival.

A Wisconsin man is hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center after crashing through a window at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency and falling 16 stories.

A 27 year old Janesville man enters a not guilty plea on numerous charges of child sex abuse and child pornography. A Rock County judge entered the plea for Jeremy Schade late this afternoon.

The Beloit International Film Festival kicked off and organizers say this year it will be better than before.

Gas is starting to dip below $2 a gallon in our area. Oil prices hit a 20 month low today at a little more than $50 a gallon. Back in August, when gas prices hit an all-time high at $3.18 a gallon, oil was trading at $78 a barrel.

The prosecutor who led an investigation into Capitol corruption says a bill to strengthen oversight of ethics laws is severely flawed. Dane County DA Brian Blanchard says the plan, as currently written, would weaken enforcement of public corruption cases in many ways.

After hearing about the triple homicide in their community, a Janesville couple finds a way to help ease the burden being felt by surviving family members.

The man accused of murdering a woman and her two teenage children in Rock County has a record of violent crime. James Koepp is being held in the deaths of Danyetta Lentz, her 17-year-old daughter Nicole and 14-year-old son Scott.

An Oshkosh couple is facing charges after investigators say they locked their 13-year-old in her room for two years. Prosecutors say the teen spent 22 hours a day in the small bedroom and was only allowed out for meals, chores and timed bathroom breaks.

Milwaukee Public Schools will enforce a total ban on cell phones in schools. Two local school districts say they don't see the need to be that strict.

Homeless shelters in Dane County are housing a record number of people this year. Now Portage is helping itself and the crowding in neighboring cities by building its own shelter using donations, not taxpayer dollars.

Is it a housing boom or bust? There are conflicting reports, but if you drive around Madison, one thing is certain--you'll notice plenty of condos for sale. It all has to do with supply and demand. Realtors call it a buyer's market, and that means sellers are forced to play the waiting game.

Madison city officials will now be able to formally protest the gay marriage amendment. Council members voted 14 to 4 to allow city officials taking the oath of office the option of signing a statement saying they took the oath under protest to the marriage amendment.

If they are going to lose it, they want to hand it over on their own terms. Board members in the Town of Burke say they have been fighting a losing battle to keep what is left of their municipality. This week, they are another step closer to an agreement that will divide Burke between three cities in thirty years.

Speed and lack of seatbelt use may be the cause of a fatal crash near the village of Brooklyn. Green County deputies say one person was killed in a crash on King Road, just south of the village.

Two people are dead after an early morning crash along Interstate 90. Wisconsin State patrol says a Chevy Cavalier with two people inside was traveling eastbound on the Interstate when the driver lost control and crossed through the median.

The mother of a Wisconsin soldier says he's been killed in Iraq when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb. Jean Grimm tells the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, that her 21-year-old son Matthew Tyler Grimm died from injuries suffered in the blast.

There's a push to help some local Oregon residents who got overcharged on their property taxes. The Department of Revenue says an employee made a keying error that cannot be reversed by state law.

The Rock County Sheriff says the State Crime Lab is prioritizing evidence from last Friday's triple homicide in Janesville in order to help them find a suspect.

Investigators are stopping short of calling Cha Vang's death a hate crime at this time, but it's a theory that's getting plenty of attention. "Is there discontent in Northeast Wisconsin and the Hmong community? Yes, there is," says Dick Campbell.

30 year old Cha Vang was killed in a wildlife refuge near Green Bay earlier this month. Another hunter, James Nichols, 28, is charged with his murder.

At a Martin Luther King Junior celebration Monday, Madison and Dane county leaders honored several local humanitarians, including someone close to our hearts here at NBC-15 - former anchor Mike McKinney.