Dick Wheeler, the late founder of the Wheeler Report, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award in recognition of his four decades of tirelessly opening Wisconsin state government to public scrutiny.

The award is part of the second annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards reception and dinner, presented jointly on Wednesday, April 25, by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Walt Bogdanich, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, will deliver the keynote address at the second annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards on April 25.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and MAPLight.org announced a major initiative to help the public and journalists investigate the influence of money in Wisconsin state politics and policymaking.

Dave Zweifel, editor emeritus of The Capital Times, will be honored April 20 at the first Wisconsin Watchdog Awards reception and dinner, presented jointly by the nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

At University of Wisconsin campuses, most victims do not report crimes. The statistics are inconsistent. And most rapists go free.

Auditors released a report Wednesday documenting state employees’ misuse of state credit cards on 131 charges totaling nearly $75,000, including a fox fur stole, pricey airline tickets to Europe and $16,686 in inappropriate purchases by a state worker who subsequently resigned.

Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff submitted receipts 70 percent of the time in 2007 and 2008 for travel expenses reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, newly released records show, and not 28 percent of the time as the newspaper reported nine weeks ago.

The offer by Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) comes after a collaborative report on Gov. Jim Doyle’s failure to properly document his spending.