The Menomonee Falls-based department store chain said Thursday it earned $153 million, or 49 cents per share, during the quarter that ended May 3. By comparison, Kohl's earned $209 million, or 64 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, expected earnings of 44 cents per share.

Sales rose 1.5 percent in the quarter to $3.6 billion. But same-store sales — a key figure in retailing — fell 6.7 percent. Those are sales at stores open at least a year.

Kohl's lowered its guidance for the year, saying it expects earnings to fall in a range of $2.95 to $3.15.

Kohl chairs the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. He praised the bill for extending the Milk Income Loss Contract program by five years and raising the rate at which dairy farmers are paid.

Feingold says the bill will significantly improve food stamp and food assistance programs for many Americans facing high food prices.

After Jones and Kent hit solo shots, Bennett capped the burst with a three-run homer.

Bennett, a backup catcher who hit an RBI double in the ninth, wasn't even supposed to play, but got the start when third baseman Blake DeWitt's lower back started hurting just before the game.

With DeWitt scratched, regular catcher Russell Martin played third base for the fifth time in his career.

Billingsley (3-5) didn't allow a hit until Brewers starter Ben Sheets, a career .078 hitter, singled with two outs in the fifth.

Billingsley gave up three hits and struck out five. The 23-year-old righty was pulled with a 6-0 lead after giving up Jason Kendall's leadoff triple in the eighth and walking his fourth batter.

Reliever Jonathan Broxton got J.J. Hardy to ground into a double play that scored Kendall. Ryan Braun then homered, having agreed to an eight-year, $45 million contract before the game to stay in Milwaukee.

Still, the Dodgers showed most of the power. After coming in tied for last in the NL with 26 homers, Los Angeles jumped on Sheets (4-1) with a surge in the seventh.

But the Wisconsin Democrat wound up securing about $25 million in earmarks in 2008 spending bills, according to a database by Taxpayers for Common Sense. The money he got on his own and with other lawmakers puts him in the top half of House members in securing dollars for pet projects.

Kagen says there's no inconsistency because his 2007 remarks were about reforms in that year's spending bill. He also resists the term "earmarks" when talking about money he obtained for this year.

"I've not seen an accurate definition of an earmark," Kagen said in a telephone interview, "but the majority of earmarks I've seen in my short time in Congress come out of the (Bush) administration — where the administration will give a Department of Energy or Interior grant to someone that they know, or some other entity that hasn't gone through Congress."

House rules define "congressional earmark" as spending included primarily because a member requested it.

John Gard, who lost the election for the House seat to Kagen in 2006, is already trying to make earmarks an issue in the campaign. When he declared his candidacy last month, the Republican cited Kagen's 2007 remarks and noted Congress went on to approve nearly 12,000 earmarks.

Gard said he'd take the fight against "pork barrel spending a step further" and would not ask for a single earmark.

Kagen was unapologetic.

Riske hurt himself in the eighth inning of Wednesday night's 6-4 loss to the Dodgers and immediately left the game. He declined later to talk to reporters.

Riske, who signed a three-year, $13 million contract in the offseason, is 0-1 with one save and a 4.71 ERA in 18 appearances.

DiFelice, an 11-year veteran of the minor leagues with Colorado, Baltimore, Washington, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee, also had two stints in the independent Atlantic League in 2005 and 2006 before signing with the Brewers.

The former 15th round pick has never appeared in the majors. The righty was 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA in four starts with Triple-A Nashville, striking out 28 and walking just one in 23 innings.

Brigadier General Don Dunbar says 3,200 soldiers are expected to be mobilized to Iraq in early 2009. He says a few other Guard units might also get deployed during the year.

Dunbar says 35 percent to 40 percent of the Guard's 10,000 nearly soldiers could be gone at once.

Gov. Jim Doyle says the deployments present long-term challenges for the Guard but he's not worried that it will imperil its response to an emergency in Wisconsin.

Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tim Donovan says 3,000 soldiers were in Iraq in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck but the Guard was still able to send 500 troops to help.

Foreclosures increase in Wisconsin 
in first part of 2008
12:37 p.m.

But, it is adding Sgt. James McDonald's name to a memorial wall for fallen soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas.

The 26-year-old soldier had received a Purple Heart for injuries suffered in a roadside bomb blast last year in Iraq. He was found dead in his barracks Nov. 12.

An autopsy says McDonald's death was likely related to head trauma suffered in combat but the cause has not been determined. Army officials say suicide and foul play have been ruled out and the investigation is closed.

McDonald's mother, Joan McDonald of Neenah, says she will be happy to see him honored on the memorial wall.

Tom Long says the Milwaukee-based brewer saw some shift between higher-priced, premium beers and economy beers starting in January.

He says this shift to beers like Miller High Life and Milwaukee's Best is being driven by Americans dealing with high gas prices and other soaring costs. But he says volumes of beers sold remain stable.

Americans also are spending less in bars and restaurants, and Long told reporters in a conference call Thursday that Miller is seeing declines in sales to those businesses.

Long didn't offer any new information about the proposed joint venture between Miller and Molson Coors Brewing Co. That awaits governmental approval.

More than 72 hours after the quake rattled central China, rescuers appeared to shift from poring through downed buildings for survivors to the grim duty of searching for bodies — with 10 million directly affected by Monday's temblor.

In Luoshui town — on the road to an industrial zone in Shifang city where two chemical plants collapsed, burying hundreds of people — troops used a mechanical shovel to dig a pit on a hilltop to bury the dead.

Police and militia in Dujiangyan pulverized rubble with cranes and backhoes while crews used shovels to pick around larger pieces of debris. On one sidestreet, about a dozen bodies were laid on a sidewalk, while incense sticks placed in a pile of sand sent smoke into the air as a tribute and to dull the stench of death.

The bodies were later lifted onto a flatbed truck, joining some half-dozen corpses. Ambulances sped past, sirens wailing, filled with survivors. Workers asked those left homeless to sign up for temporary housing, although it was unclear where they would live.

Not all hope of finding survivors was lost. After more than three days trapped under debris, a 22-year-old woman was pulled to safety in Dujiangyan. Covered in dust and peering out through a small opening, she was shown waving on state television shortly before being rescued.