Rep. Therese Berceau, D-Madison, announced plans at the Capitol Tuesday to introduce a Cell Phone Users' Bill of Rights to provide Wisconsin consumers increased protection from cell phone companies.
Berceau's proposal, which she said would be the strongest of its kind in the nation, outlines 14 improvements companies would have to make. It would require cell phone companies to more clearly disclose charges, and ease restrictions on everything from canceling contracts within the first 30 days to late payment fees.
\While the cell phone industry has grown dramatically over the past 10 years, consumer protection hasn't nearly kept pace,"" Berceau said in a statement. ""In the lobby-led race toward telecommunication deregulation, we have left consumer protection in the dust.""
The attorneys for Chai Soua Vang, who is charged with killing six Wisconsin hunters in November in a dispute over a tree stand, have asked for a change of venue for Vang's trial, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Vang's attorneys filed papers to move the trial from Sawyer County because they claim pretrial publicity combined with ""racial and cultural overtones"" have prevented Vang from getting a fair trial, the Associated Press said.
Vang, 29, pleaded not guilty to six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide Dec. 29.
The motions for change of venue will be considered June 8, with the trial scheduled to begin Sept. 12.
Two separate organizations recently listed UW Hospital among the best hospitals in the nation according to rankings released Monday.
In one of the studies, Solucient, a company that develops health-care information databases and data analysis software, deemed UW Hospital one of the ""100 Top Hospitals"" of 2004. It was the third time in 12 years UW Hospital made the list. UW Hospital chief executive officer Donna Sollenberger said contributing factors for the hospital's ranking could be the hospital's lower-than-expected death rates for complicated cases and the hospital's shorter stays for the patients of complicated cases.
UW Hospital also made the ""50 Exceptional U.S. Hospital"" list. UW Hospital was the only hospital in Wisconsin to merit a spot on the list, which identifies hospitals according to two-dozen practices designed to reduce medical mistakes.
