Russia escalates attacks and Biden visits Wisconsin

International court opens war crimes investigation on Putin and UN votes to demand Russia end war

• Russian military forces escalated attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine's largest cities Wednesday as the nation's leaders pledged to repel the invaders and the citizenry joined the military effort to defend their battered country.

• In the besieged northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Igor Terekhov said the unrelenting assault has caused "massive destruction." A rocket strike hit the regional police headquarters, killing four people and wounding several others, Ukraine Emergency Services said. Food, medicine and other supplies were being distributed at central locations and by trucks rolling through the city of 1.5 million residents, the mayor said. Efforts were underway to provide heat to lost utilities in the bombing as temperatures dip toward freezing.

• The United Nations General Assembly voted 141-5, with 35 abstentions, to demand Russia halt the war. The vote came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session in a quarter century. Also, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor opened an investigation Wednesday into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine dating back to 2013, but also covering the current conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion.

Biden touts infrastructure in Wisconsin a day after his State of the Union address

• With war raging overseas and inflation on the rise at home, President Joe Biden sought to find common ground Wednesday by touting an infrastructure plan that he said would bring jobs and investment to America for years. "Now after years of talking about infrastructure, we’re finally getting it done," Biden told a small crowd on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus.

• His visit to this swing state comes at a politically perilous time for Democrats. The Marquette University Law School Poll released just before Biden's event in northern Wisconsin showed he had an approval rating of 43%. That's the same as it was in an October poll and down 6 points from where it stood in an August poll.

• In all, Wisconsin is in line to receive more than $5 billion for roads and bridges under Biden's infrastructure package.

Judge rules Robin Vos an Michael Gableman violated public records law by withholding documents

• The liberal group American Oversight and news outlets have sought records in Gableman's probe for months and not received many of the requested items. American Oversight filed three lawsuits against the Assembly officials after not receiving documents in a timely manner or at all in some cases.

• Remington sided with the group in one suit Tuesday, ruling Vos and Gableman had “arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to records.” He wrote that Vos and Gableman should pay the legal fees for American Oversight — a ruling that could result in taxpayers picking up those costs.

• An attorney for Gableman told the Associated Press he would appeal the ruling.

Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

The Money

GAS: Gas prices in Milwaukee and Wisconsin will top $4 a gallon and could climb even higher in coming days as Russia's attack on Ukraine sends world crude oil markets into disarray, market watchers say.

WARD 4: Milwaukee co-working center operator Ward 4 has purchased space it had been leasing — marking a big investment as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes. Ward 4 LLC bought the 32,000-square-foot space at 313 N. Plankinton Ave., just south of downtown.

The Fun Stuff

LOCAL MUSIC: The 10 top Milwaukee albums and songs to check out in March, from Chicken Wire Empire, Cam Will, Blax, Huey V and more.

WEEKEND: Four things you should be doing this weekend in Milwaukee.

The Games

BUCKS: Wow. Jrue Holiday hit a floater with one second left as the Bucks held off the first-place Heat 120-119.

LORI NICKEL: This major-league baseball mess isn’t just symptomatic of all that is ugly and disappointing and disgusting in sport. It’s an insult to all of us – the people who kept these businesses going.

GOLDEN EAGLES: MU lost ugly to DePaul, 91-80.

UWM: On Wednesday afternoon, the day after the Panthers lost their first-round Horizon League tournament game to Illinois-Chicago on their home court, the school announced that Pat Baldwin had been fired after five seasons as coach.

Today in Wisconsin History

On March 3, 1972, the Milwaukee Bucks named Wayne Embry the team's new general manager, making him the first African-American general manager of any major-league sports franchise. A five-time NBA all-star and future Basketball Hall of Famer, Embry was GM for the Bucks from 1972-'79, and later with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. - Chris Foran

Today's Weather

High of 31 and mostly sunny. Watch for ice on those sidewalks.

Not yet a Journal Sentinel subscriber? Please consider signing up at jsonline.com/deal.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Russia escalates attacks and Biden visits Wisconsin