It may be just perception, but it appears the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is getting tired of defending itself for raw sewage dumping -- a violation of its permit. Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers and the Alliance for the Great Lakes say they will continue their suit under the Clean Water Act.

Federal courts have tossed the case twice but the groups say they will appeal because the dismissals were on procedural grounds and the legal crux of the issue has yet to be heard.

The suit was filed in 2001 and claims MMSD has illegally dumped billions of gallons of sewage in the Lake Michigan since 1995.

"Our customers have already paid $1 million to defend the legal actions of these two groups and keep telling me they want to work with us to protect Lake Michigan," responded MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer. "As a leader and taxpayer of this district, I'm disappointed that the hard working people of this region have to pay for yet another legal threat from the same people, whose only request to date has been for legal fees."

"As long as sewage is flowing into the waters we all love, we'll continue to be on watch," responded Cheryl Nenn of the Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers.

Education Virtually: There was a lot of virtual reality going in the state capitol this week. Two full days of hearings regarding virtual school regulation filled the docket. There were virtual teachers, virtual students, virtual administrators and lots of talk about bricks and mortar. It's a surreal scene when people get up to testify and refer to themselves as a "virtual" so-and-so.

Two bills are being considered in the Legislature as a result of an Appeals Court ruling that virtual schools, as they exist now, are not part of an actual school district and also don't have the usual state oversight, including a lack of licensed teachers, even though they receive state funding as normal district schools do. The Assembly Republican bill would continue to allow the schools to operate that way, while the Democratic Senate bill would not. There are about 3,500 students in virtual schools in the state.

Drunks Could Get More Time in the Tank: Getting a headline saying you're cracking down on drunk drivers isn't rocket science these days. After all, the thought of meeting someone weaving down the road is the stuff of nightmares. And the thought of a driver who has more than five DUIs continuing to drive drunk borders on insanity. But then again, if you've got five DUIs, you must be either really bad at driving drunk or do it all the time and could be well practiced.

Right now state law says that after the fifth DUI, a person becomes a felon and must serve between six months and six years in prison, along with a hefty fine. But the penalty doesn't change after that.

State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) was among many sponsors of a bill to increase punishment on drivers who decide to ring up more than seven DUIs. Under the bill someone busted for DUIs seven, eight and nine could get up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. From 10 on it's 12 years in the hoosegow.

"It is imperative that we enhance the statutes with tougher penalties for those who never seem to learn," said Sullivan, in his announcement that the bill passed the Senate. "These offenders have no regard for the danger that they put our families in when they drive drunk, and they need to pay a higher price for those actions."

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