The Christmas sweaters you never knew were ugly are back again for more hilarity this year. And the young brother and sister entrepreneurial team of Martha and Jack McCarthy will be happy to sell you one.

They've turned their parents' basement in Wauwatosa into ugly Christmas sweaters R us, and they're selling hundreds through online marketing.

"Each year, more and more people are buying ugly sweaters and trying to outdo their friends in having the ugliest sweater," Martha said. "We just scavenge for the good ones, put up some photos and funny descriptions, and ship them all across the country."

Just about any Christmas sweater could be considered ugly in post-ironic America, but people are willing to pay top dollar for the truly garish and cheesy ones that are busy with color and patterns, and trimmed with bells, Santas, sequins, holly, mittens, stockings, reindeers, teddy bears, wreaths, presents, snowmen, candy canes, nutcrackers - you get the idea.

For years, these were considered festive and cute, especially by your grandmother. Now, to the young and hip, they're so ugly they're cool. Since the craze began about four years ago, ugly Christmas sweater parties and pub crawls show no sign of letting up.

That's good news for Jack and Martha, who are laughing all the way to these parties and the bank. He is 17 and a junior at Marquette High School. She is 22, a grad of Pius High School and the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities, where she lives now and runs a digital marketing business.

Their sweater website is UltimateUglyChristmas.com. There you'll see Jack and his friends modeling the merchandise. Most on the home page are $45, but you can also find some for $19 or $32. Don't worry too much about the size. It's even funnier if they fit poorly. And they're all unisex.

The Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center in suburban Milwaukee parlayed a cat's near-record 26 toes into a fundraising windfall, raising $125,000 in about six weeks.

Center owner Amy Rowell started asking for $26 donations -- or $1 per toe -- on Oct. 31. She wanted to raise money for a new building after finding out her rent at a Greendale mall would double Jan. 1.

Rowell had raised $80,000 by Friday, when The Associated Press reported Daniel's story. The center raised an additional $45,000 by Wednesday, surpassing its $120,000 goal. The biggest number of contributions came from $26 donations.

Rowell says she saved Daniel, Daniel saved the center and now he'll save other animals.

She hopes to raise an additional $230,000 to pay off the mortgage.

Two young Milwaukee women were arrested this week after an 18-year-old Arizona man--who traveled to Wisconsin by bus after meeting one of the suspects online--told cops that he was held captive in the duo’s apartment for two days and slashed and stabbed more than 300 times as part of an apparent satanic sex ritual.

...kinda makes you long for the boring days of Stripper Fights in Fond du Lac

The radio voice of Minnesota Twins baseball will be revealed this afternoon as Brewers announcer Cory Provus.

The choice of Provus will be announced on the team's flagship station, ESPN (1500 AM), at 2 p.m., according to people with knowledge of the selection.

The opening was created with the retirement of play-by-play announcer John Gordon after 25 years behind the microphone.

Provus just completed his third year calling Brewers games beside Bob Uecker.

It’s a few hours before game time, and the Milwaukee Brewers’ locker room looks just as you’d expect. There’s a steaming breakfast buffet, Major League on the flat-screen, a bunch of dudes in jockstraps chewing dip. And then there’s John Axford, carrying an Edible Arrangements.

Axford is the Brewers’ closer—a lanky 6'5" right-hander with floppy hair and a Fu Manchu. (He recently upgraded from a handlebar ’stache, à la Brewers great Rollie Fingers.) The Edible Arrangements—a cornucopia of fruit and chocolate—is a gift for the team’s coaching staff. “The bullpen says thank you,” he tells the room of grizzled old-timers as he places the centerpiece on a desk. “We appreciate everything you do.”

Axford is no stranger to quirky stuff like this. (As teammate Prince Fielder says, “He is a closer.”) But today these hijinks are Maxim-funded. Axford and his fellow Brewers have signed on to help us blow some hard-earned cash and provide a glimpse of life behind the big-league scenes. Mostly, though, it’s an excuse for him to have some fun at his teammates’ expense.