Barrett kept Walker on the defensive throughout much of the hour-long debate in Milwaukee, which was broadcast live statewide just 11 days before the election. Walker is only the nation’s third governor to ever stand for recall. The previous two, most recently California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, were defeated.

Polls show a tight race, with Walker holding a narrow lead within the margin of error of two publicly released polls within the past 10 days.

Walker, who defeated Barrett in 2010 by 5 points to win election as governor, was targeted for recall after successfully passing a law last year that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.

Barrett said that proposal, which sparked massive protests for weeks and made Wisconsin the center of a national debate of worker rights, tore the state apart. Walker said his measure, which also forced most workers to pay more for pensions and health insurance, was needed to help deal with a $3.6 billion state budget deficit.

“You decided to use a budget crisis to try and divide and conquer this state,” Barrett said, speaking directly to Walker as the two stood near each other behind podiums in a television studio. “That’s what happened. That’s what led to all of this. And you succeeded. You succeeded in dividing this state.”

Walker said he was focused on moving the state forward and didn’t want to relive the past.

“Going back and rehashing the same debate we had last year as my opponent wants to do is not the way to move forward,” Walker said. “We’re turning things around. We’re headed in the right direction.”

But Barrett said Walker was determined to wage an “ideological civil war” and punish his enemies, most notably unions that have traditionally backed Democratic candidates.

“I will end this civil war,” Barrett said. “That is something the people of this state want.”

Barrett also accused Walker of caring more about furthering his own political career by traveling the country and raising millions of dollars from powerful conservatives than he does about helping Wisconsin. Walker has crushed fundraising records by bringing in $25 million so far, most of it from out-of-state donors.

“This is all part of that ideological civil war,” Barrett said. “He wants this state to be the prototype for the tea party nationally.”

Walker said the reason he’s in demand nationally is because he “stood up and took on the powerful special interests.”

Barrett also prodded Walker to release more information about his involvement with an ongoing criminal investigation that so far has focused on aides and associates of his during his time as Milwaukee County executive. Five people have been charged on allegations including embezzling money from a veterans trust fund and campaigning on county time.

Walker has not been charged, but he did create a legal defense fund and said he would answer questions from the district attorney’s office. Walker has said he’s been told he is not the center of the probe.

Walker called Barrett’s focus on the investigation a desperate move meant to distract from other issues.

“I will continue to have high integrity,” Walker said.

Barrett also voiced his support for gay marriage, while Walker said he stands by the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriages passed in 2006.

Each candidate was given the chance to ask the other a question.

Walker declined, but Barrett asked Walker if he would disclose details about how much out of state fundraising and campaigning he has done since taking office.

Walker did not respond directly, but instead said he’s been visible all across Wisconsin since taking office 17 months ago.

Walker defended his record, citing figures Barrett has questioned that show the state added nearly 34,000 jobs last year.

Walker said people are anxious for the recall to be over so the focus can return to improving the economy and creating jobs.

Goodwill Industries Vice President of Marketing Pat Boelter says, “He really cares about Goodwill, and he cares about teaching the kids the important lessons about giving back to your community. That’s what Donald’s all about.”

During his appearance Driver fielded questions from students. One student asked, “If you weren’t a professional football player, which profession would you choose and why?”. Driver answered, “I would probably be an accountant, because that’s what I got my degree in. I always wanted to work with numbers, so I would probably be an accountant.”

The Pack’er Up Donation Challenge 2012 collected a total of 871,644 items.

“We’re concerned that this happened. It should not have happened. We understand and are in awe of how fast something like that can occur,” said Roseann St. Aubin, MPS Communications Director.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office have a 33-year-old woman in custody accused of abducting a four-year-old girl from Starms. Police say the woman entered the school and claimed that she was asked by the child’s mother to pick up the four-year-old girl. The woman then left with the child.

The two were found at 25th & North, where the child’s mother confronted the suspect and was able to get her child back.  Milwaukee police arrested the suspect.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office is expected to review the incident and make a decision on whether criminal charges will be filed.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.

Related stories:

• Police say four-year-old girl abducted from early childhood center

Gov. Walker spent Friday in southwestern Wisconsin. He spoke to about 350 farmers in Cuba City.

“When you talk to farmers like many of the farmers here today most of whom pay most of their retirement and pension or whatever they might have and most pay for their health insurance they think what we’ve done with the reforms is pretty reasonable,” said Gov. Walker.

Mayor Barrett greeted voters at Friday prayer services at the Islamic Society. His campaign also released a new, internal poll showing in the past three days, the race is a dead heat, with Gov. Walker leading by only one percentage point.

“Once we’re able to start getting their message out, we started seeing the numbers begin to move and we know this is going to be a very tight race and it will really hinge on who gets their voters out on June 5th,” said Barrett.

Related stories:

• Election bribery law was not broken during Romney visit
• GAB: “Don’t tweet your ballot” in the upcoming recall election
• 110,000+ Wisconsinites requested absentee ballots, voted early

Police from two districts lined up near Hopkins and Villard for a public roll call.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said, “District 4, District 7, the NTF probation and parole have been doing excellent work dealing with a pernicious gang that has brought violence to these neighborhoods, and because of your work they’re rocked back on their heels.”

One neighbor told FOX6 News, she’ll continue to work with police because she thinks they’re helping her neighborhood.

Others aren’t so trusting of Milwaukee police officers. Diane Blalock says some people in her neighborhood won’t call the police because they don’t trust them.

Chief Flynn also told officers not to worry about a newspaper report stating the MPD incorrectly classified more than 500 criminal assaults as simple assaults.

(CNN) — A brush fire near Disney World prompted authorities to bar traffic in both directions along a major central Florida highway for several hours at the beginning of the busy Memorial Day weekend, a police spokeswoman said.

Large plumes of white and gray smoke hovered over and around Interstate 4 for much of Friday afternoon, footage from CNN affiliate WKMG showed.

Flames rising about 6 feet high could be seen rising from one section off the highway, just off an exit ramp to Epcot/Downtown Disney and South International Drive. Firefighters aboard what looked like a red pickup drove up to it and shot water to subdue that part of the fire.

Other overhead footage showed a tractor-like vehicle roving through lightly forested areas off a highway, where small patches of fire were evident. A small section of grass could be seen burning along one stretch of road, mere feet from where cars were buzzing by.

By 3 p.m., eastbound lanes of that interstate highway had been shut down around Osceola Parkway because of the fire, according to Kim Montes, a spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol. Soon afterward, state troopers shut westbound lanes of the same highway, shuttling that traffic onto U.S. 528.

But the situation improved considerably over the course of the afternoon, with increasingly fewer flames and less smoke visible.

And by 5:30 p.m., Interstate 4 had reopened in both directions, according to Montes.

Joseph Sikon, a 21-year-old who attends medical school in Orlando, said he first noticed the blaze after getting out of a movie theater Friday afternoon in Downtown Disney, part of the Walt Disney World Resort.

“It was this large cloud of pluming smoke,” said Sikon, a CNN iReporter. “Obviously, it was a very large fire.”

David Charlton, a Shelbyville, Kentucky, resident staying at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, said he first noticed smoke about 1:30 p.m. Within 15 minutes, the situation had deteriorated significantly.

“It was pretty smoky and irritating to breathe,” said Charlton, who submitted photographs to CNN iReport from outside the hotel that showed Orange County fire vehicles directly across the street.

He said activities at the resort were initially called off because of the fire. But later in the afternoon, there was an announcement that the fire was under control.

The fire struck in and around a tourist haven at the onset of Memorial Day weekend, traditionally one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

This month, AAA predicted that there would be a 1.2% increase in travel through Florida this weekend, compared with the same period last year. Overall, the organization expects 34.8 million people nationwide to travel 50 miles or more over this Memorial Day stretch, the vast majority of them — 30.7 million — doing so by car, truck or bus.

42-year-old Richard Schoen was discharged on May 1st for his involvement in an incident that happened in September 2011.

“The evidence was very strong and there was no reason to delay,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said Friday. “So we took appropriate action and now it will be in the hands of the review authorities.”

That evidence was primarily the video from the squad car’s dashboard camera which you can click on just below. It shows Schoen hitting a female prisoner, who was handcuffed in the back of his squad, repeatedly in the face.

“Unfortunately, we’ve got a value system here and the value system maintains that we exercise restraint as well as have integrity, courage and be competent,” Flynn added. “And this circumstance it was clear to us that the officer did not exercise restraint.”

Schoen violated the core value of restraint as described in the department’s Code of Conduct, part of which reads: “We use the minimum force and authority necessary to accomplish a proper police purpose. We demonstrate self-discipline, even when no one is listening or watching.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve got a value system here and the value system maintains that we exercise restraint as well as have integrity, courage and be competent,” Flynn said.

The woman who was struck by Officer Schoen had been pulled over near 51st and Fiebrantz just after 9 p.m. on September 22, 2011. Officials say she had become “argumentative and used profanity” — both which led to her arrest.

The video shows Officer Schoen drive the prisoner into the District 7 garage. She stomps her left leg on the floor of the squad and yells that her leg hurt. Schoen opens the rear passenger door and attempts to pull the prisoner out by the bottom of her shirt. He then enters the rear passenger compartment and punches her in the face a few times. He then grabs her by her hair and pulls her from the squad. Police say that once she was out of the squad Schoen kneed the prisoner in the stomach. But that act is not seen on video.

Schoen had been with the Milwaukee Police Department for nine years.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.

Related stories:

• MPD’s crime numbers become an issue in gubernatorial campaign
• Names of fired, suspended officers submitted to Fire and Police Commission
• Fire and Police Commission to review MPS officer dismissals

As of midday Friday, at least 113,558 absentee ballots had been issued by Wisconsin’s local election officials who track them using the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). Just over one-third of municipalities track absentee ballots in SVRS, including all the state’s large cities.

To give that number some context, the GAB says a total of 68,000 absentee ballots were tracked in SVRS for the May 8 recall primary. Also, there were 230,744 absentee ballots cast in the November 2010 General Election for Governor. As many as 75 percent of all absentee ballots are typically cast in the clerk’s office, with the remainder being delivered by mail.

In-person absentee voting in the clerk’s office runs through 5 p.m. or the close of business on Friday, June 1, whichever is later. Some clerks are offering extended hours to handle demand. Voters can find their local clerk’s office address and phone number on Voter Public Access: vpa.wi.gov.

Under Wisconsin’s election fraud law, it is a Class I felony to intentionally show your marked ballot to any person.

Interestingly, high-ranking members of both political parties apparently missed the memo.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate and St. Croix County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Garza said Friday they’re removing their ballot photos after finding out the postings violated state law.

You may think you’re simply showing your pride in voting for one candidate or the other. But as the GAB points out, you’re actually committing a crime by taking photos of your ballot and sharing it.

Organizers say weather forecasts for Sunday show conditions will be in the “danger zone” by 10 a.m. and there will be an “extreme danger” by noon. They cancelled the race based on guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine.

The half marathon will be held, and full marathon participants will be entered in that
race.

Race director Keith Peterson says that based on numbers from 2010 — when runners were affected by heat — organizers believe only 1 percent of marathoners would be able to complete Sunday’s race if held.

Last Sunday, the Cellcom marathon in Green Bay was halted because of heat and humidity. About 20 runners were taken to the hospital.

Zhenrui Liao

MILWAUKEE — For the second year in a row a student at Rufus King International High School earned a perfect ACT score. Zhenrui Liao is the latest Milwaukee Public Schools student to score a perfect store on the ACT college admission and placement exam. It’s a huge accomplishment to everyone except maybe, Liao.

“It’s not really that special. It doesn’t mean I’m a genius,” said Liao. “It doesn’t mean I’m some brilliant guy who’s gonna cure cancer, it’s just a test.”

It’s a rare feat that only 704 of 1.6 million students accomplished last year.

Last year, Rufus King International High School student Ahmee Marshall-Christensen scored a 36 on the ACT.

Ahmee Marshall-Christensen

“It was really exciting at the time. I guess I realized it’s a bit inconsequential but it was still fun to find out,” said Marshall-Christensen.

Marshall-Christensen will begin undergraduate studies at Harvard University this fall. What are his plans for the future?

“Either a professor or a researcher at a university or doing research for a corporation,” said Marshall-Christensen.

Liao says he hopes to head to either Duke University or University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Engineering has a special call, appeal for me cause it allows me to use my talents to help people,” said Liao.

According to MPS, both students are involved in the International Baccalaureate curriculum at Rufus King. The program is also offered at Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School.

Related stories:

• MPS reviews safety procedures after child abduction
• MPS recognizes volunteer tutors for labor of love in schools
• Students teach during “Project Lead the Way” tour

Artist Sean Monaghan says he may or may not have altered legal currency using his artist skills.

The complaint the D.A. investigated was filed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. It alleged the sandwiches were being handed out in exchange for voting.

In Schimel’s statement to the media, he said, “there is no question that the sandwich and soft drink exceeded the statutory threshold value of $1.00. The only question is whether the items were offered to induce voting.”

It goes on to say, “The facts demonstrate that no one was directly paid to vote.  They also demonstrate that no one was transported to the polling site or was in any other way offered any assistance in voting.”

Schimel also says, “It is common knowledge that on election day candidates stop in at local diners, senior centers and other places the public gathers to remind people to vote.  That is what candidates do on election day. In his interactions with people in the sandwich line and during his speech, Governor Romney acknowledges the fact that it is likely that many present have already voted.”

In the end, “the evidence demonstrates that the intention of the organizers was only to provide lunch to invited volunteers and supporters. Thus, no one who was not otherwise inclined to vote was intentionally offered any inducement to do so.”

Related stories:

• Waukesha Co. District Attorney investigating Romney sub incident

Police say Eugene Marr was taken into custody after struggling with officers in Racine.

Authorities say three officers were injured as they tried to subdue Marr and eventually used a stun gun to take him into custody Wednesday night.

Marr is wanted for at least 16 felony charges from Kalamazoo, Mich. Officers there attempted to pull his SUV over in February, but dash cam video (just below) shows him speeding away by driving over a curb as officers tried to pull him from the vehicle. As Marr drove off, one of the officers was tossed into a squad car.

“Today, we’re installing some railings to improve the safety of the home.  The back staircase leading to the kitchen and the upper unit have no railings currently and one is ready to fall off,” said contractor Jason Polzin.

Contractors are busy during this National Home Improvement Month, providing upgrades to 50 homes for free.  They’re helping the elderly who can’t afford the work to get around safer.

“You don’t want to slip and fall.  Especially if the couple is getting up in years in age, there’s a possibility of breaking bones and things like that,” said Polzin.

In turn, it’ll prevent injuries or worse, even death.  According to NARI, 918 seniors died from falls in their own homes in 2010.  That’s more than 571 fatal crashes that same year.  Wisconsin ranks second in the nation for the most falling deaths per year.

“I was thinking about it all the time.  I don’t want it to happen to me,” said homeowner William Meidam.  He’s 73 years old and also had work done to his home.

He got smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed, as well as having grip bars and a non-slip mat attached to his shower.

“You know, it gets slippery in there and get soap in there that’s for sure,” said Meidam.

Living on social security, it’s work he couldn’t pay for himself.

“It would’ve been tough,” he said.

For the contractors who do the work, they say it’s the least they can do to provide a potentially life-saving repair.

“It makes me feel great that I can give back to the community,” said Polzin.

The Milwaukee NARI decided to renovate 50 homes this month as a tribute to its 50th anniversary.

If you would like to have work completed on a home in the future, you can contact Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee on its website or call 414-312-7531.

Related stories:

• Brewers wives pitch in to build homes with Habitat for Humanity
• Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity to erect 10 homes in “Build-a-Thon”
• ReStore holds recycled art show celebrating Earth Day

Facebook dropped more than 3% in afternoon trading to about $32.

That’s compared to its IPO price of $38 per share, which was set by a consortium of 33 underwriters led by Morgan Stanley. The social media site’s IPO closed just a hair above that – at $38.23 – on May 18, its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

This was one of the most highly anticipated IPOs in recent history, setting a record for trading volume, but it was also one of the most disappointing. Nasdaq flubbed the IPO by delaying the start of trading by half an hour. Also, many investors have complained to CNNMoney that their orders were not processed correctly.

In addition to that, Facebook’s underwriters have been accused of granting preferential treatment to institutional investors by sharing with them negative information about the IPO that was allegedly withheld from other investors. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Congress and the state of Massachusetts are looking into the allegations.

This is the basis of a class action suit from three investors against Facebook, its Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, Morgan Stanley and other underwriters, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch, a unit of Bank of America.

A Facebook spokesman slammed the suit as “without merit.” Spokespersons for Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Barclays declined comment. The other firms were not available.

Robert Weiser, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in the class action lawsuit, said on Friday that he was in the process of adding more investors to the suit.

One of the most common complaints from investors who contacted CNNMoney is that they didn’t receive confirmation of their stock purchases until days later, and they ended up paying a higher share price than they originally thought.

Travis Campbell told CNNMoney he bought 120 shares on the day of the IPO at $40, but after the market closed, his order was listed as expired and the purchase was not withdrawn from his account.

“So I went on my merry way, happy that I wasn’t bitten by the insider trading bug that helped flop the IPO,” he said.

But Campbell said he received confirmation on Tuesday that the deal had actually gone through, at the original price of $40 a share. By then, the price had dropped to $32.

“I understand taking a loss,” he said. “But not knowing the purchase had been made [and] then finding out days later after taking a bigger loss is what really gets me.”

NEW YORK (CNN) — Thirty-three years to the day after Etan Patz disappeared, bringing nationwide attention to missing children, a suspect will finally appear in a New York courtroom to hear criminal charges in the boy’s abduction and death.

At the hearing, prosecutors are expected to formally file paperwork charging Pedro Hernandez with second-degree murder.

Hernandez, a former Manhattan stock clerk who lived in Etan’s neighborhood when the boy vanished, was arrested by police following up on a tip. On Friday, Hernandez was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan for evaluation.

Hernandez, who was 19 in 1979, told police he lured Etan to a store with the promise of a soda, choked him and placed his body in the trash about a block and a half away, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

“Detectives believe in the credibility of the statement,” Kelly said, although investigators had not uncovered any forensic evidence linking Hernandez to the boy’s disappearance.

Kelly said it is unlikely that Etan’s remains would be found.

“He did the right thing, you know, to confess,” Hernandez’s brother-in-law Jose Lopez told CNN affiliate KYW. “Get this thing over with for the people out there and the family over here.”

But Lisa Cohen, whose 2009 book, “After Etan,” is widely considered the definitive account of the case, said she’s not convinced that Hernandez killed the boy.

“No, I’m not, but that’s not necessarily because he didn’t do it,” she said. “That’s just because this has just happened. I’d never heard his name before.”

He has no criminal record and is the father of a teenage girl, Kelly said.

Etan, 6, went missing May 25, 1979, a block from his home in a Manhattan neighborhood. He was walking to school alone for the first time when he vanished.

His disappearance helped spawn a national movement to raise awareness of missing children, including the then-novel approach of putting an image of the child’s face on thousands of milk cartons.

In the years after Etan’s disappearance, Hernandez told a family member and others that he had “done a bad thing” and killed a child in New York, police said.

While the motive remained unclear, Kelly described it as a crime of opportunity and said Hernandez was remorseful.

“The detectives thought it was a feeling of relief on his part,” he said.

Other employees of the store were interviewed after Etan disappeared, but not Hernandez, police said.

“I can’t tell you why,” Kelly said.

The police investigation continues, as does the FBI’s, the agency said in a statement Thursday night.

“The FBI’s investigation into the disappearance of Etan Patz remains active and ongoing. We remain determined to solve this case,” FBI Assistant Director Janice K. Fedarcyk said in a statement.

Thursday’s arrest came nearly a month after investigators searched the former basement workshop of carpenter Othniel Miller, who had given Etan a dollar the day before the boy’s disappearance for helping him around the shop. Etan had said before he disappeared that he planned to use the dollar to buy a soda.

The search produced no apparent clues.

“Mr. Miller is relieved by these developments, as he was not involved in any way with Etan Patz’s disappearance,” said Miller’s attorney, Michael C. Farkas. “At the same time, Mr. Miller is very pleased that those responsible for this heinous crime may be brought to justice, and the Patz family may finally have the closure they deserve.”

A separate law enforcement source said Thursday that Hernandez’s claims were being treated with “a healthy dose of skepticism.”

The tipster whose information led to Hernandez’s arrest contacted authorities months ago after news coverage of their renewed search. That contact, at least in part, prompted investigators to question Hernandez.

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which reopened the case in 2010, declined to comment on the recent development.

Etan was officially declared dead in 2001 as part of a lawsuit filed by his family against Jose Antonio Ramos, a drifter and convicted child molester acquainted with Etan’s baby sitter.

A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy’s death and ordered him to pay the family $2 million, money the Patz family has never received.

Although Ramos was considered a key focus of the investigation for years, he has never been charged in the case. He is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and is set to be released this year.

President Ronald Reagan named May 25, the day Etan went missing, as National Missing Children’s Day.

The commission filed a request with the court Friday asking it to appoint a panel of appellate judges to consider the commission’s misconduct complaint against Prosser.

The conservative-leaning justice is accused of wrapping his hands around Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s throat during an argument last year in front of four other justices.

Prosser argues the review panel’s formation requires a formal Supreme Court order. He’ been working to make sure the court never issues that order, asking his fellow justices to recuse themselves from the matter because they witnessed the altercation.

The commission’s attorney, Frank Gimbel, countered Friday that state law mandates the Supreme Court initiate the panel’s formation.

Related stories:

• Justice Prosser asks another colleague to recuse himself
• Justice Prosser demands Walsh Bradley quit discipline case

The crash happened near I-94 and WIllow Glen Rd. State patrol officers tell FOX6 News, the semi was headed eastbound before it crash. The accident sent the vehicle into the westbound lanes where it ended up.

Westbound I-94 was shut down at Highway 67. All traffic was redirected southbound on Highway 67 to Highway 18 and then to Highway 26.

If you’re headed to Madison, Wisconsin Dells or anywhere else to the west, consider another route.

CLICK HERE to visit the interactive FOX6Now.com traffic map.