2 more dead from H1N1 in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. -- State health officials say two more people have died from H1N1 flu.

The state Department of Health Services has confirmed two deaths in Rock and Kenosha counties in the last week.

Sixty-nine of the state's 72 counties have now reported confirmed cases of H1N1.

Degorski sentenced to life in 1993 killings

CHICAGO -- A former handyman convicted of killing seven people at a suburban Chicago fast food restaurant has been sentenced to life in prison.

Thirty-seven-year-old James Degorski was sentenced Wednesday during an appearance before Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan.

A jury convicted Degorski last month of shooting and stabbing seven people at the Brown's Chicken and Pasta Restaurant in Palatine in 1993.

VA chief meets with Ill. delegation

WASHINGTON -- Illinois lawmakers say Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has ordered a high-level, quality management team to assess problems at a troubled VA hospital in southern Illinois.

Sen. Dick Durbin said Shinseki assured lawmakers Wednesday that fixing problems at the Marion VA hospital is a "personal priority."

A report issued this week says there still are problems at the hospital two years after major surgeries were halted because of a spike in deaths.

Police: Man chained to pole had left before

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- Police were investigating Wednesday how often a mentally disabled man had been chained to a pole in the basement of his home, and said they had reports of the man walking away from the family in the past.

It's possible the man was being tied up to keep him from running away, Eau Claire Police Sgt. Bill Slaggie said.

According to court records, the man told investigators he had been beaten by his father and two other men with a wooden stick and one of them punched him with a boxing glove.

3rd co-sleeping death for Milwaukee family

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee mother is charged in the death of her infant daughter, the third baby to die of co-sleeping with an adult in the woman's immediate family.

Rose Prescott was charged Tuesday with second-degree reckless homicide. An autopsy report says the 6-day-old baby was suffocated while sleeping with an adult.

A criminal complaint says Prescott told investigators she possibly fell asleep with her baby in March. Prescott's 2-month-old daughter died while sleeping with her mother in April 2008.

Army vet indicted on gun charge

BENTON, Ill. -- An Army veteran who authorities say threatened a shooting rampage at a Veterans Affairs hospital in southern Illinois now is under criminal indictment.

A federal grand jury in Benton indicted 29-year-old Mark Harmon on Tuesday on one count of attempted possession of a firearm on federal property with the intent to commit a crime.

Court not taking up challenge to registry

MADISON, Wis. -- The state Supreme Court has refused to directly take up a challenge to Wisconsin's domestic partner registry, a move gay rights advocates touted Wednesday as a triumph for same-sex couples.

A conservative group, Wisconsin Family Action, had argued the registry violated the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Charges dropped

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Authorities in central Illinois have dropped charges against a 22-year-old man who was accused in the stabbing death of an Outlaws motorcycle club member.

Joshua McGuire had been jailed since November 2008.

The Associated Press