Tuesday State News Briefs: Waldo man arrested for making homemade bombs

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WALDO - A Sheboygan County man has been arrested, after authorities found evidence that bombs were being made at his home in Waldo.

A woman at the home called sheriff’s deputies yesterday and asked for help. Officials said the 38-year-old man has a history of making home-made explosives. The Milwaukee County Bomb Squad was called, and it found large amounts of chemicals and explosives. The explosives were detonated at a county-owned gravel pit, while the chemicals were confiscated and thrown away. State justice agents helped with the arrest, along with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The investigation is continuing, and the suspect is being held for violating a previous probation.

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Shawano County authorities took a man into custody this morning after he reported the death of a 53-year-old man. Officials said the 20-year-old man from rural Birnamwood called sheriff’s deputies are 7:20 a-m, and said the death was quote, “the result of the actions of another.” A dispatcher managed to keep the caller on the phone until deputies arrived at his house and found the victim’s body. Sheriff’s officials have not said how the two were related. They called the 20-year-old a “person of interest” in the incident – and they were still investigating at mid-day.

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Most of Wisconsin is getting just enough snow today to cover the bare spots on people’s yards, and provide a little exercise for shovelers. The northwest part of the state appeared to get the most snow last night and early today. Grantsburg in Burnett County had three-and-a-third inches by mid-morning. Menomonie had two-point-eight, and Osseo had just over two-and-a-half inches. Most other parts of Wisconsin had an inch-and-a-half or less by mid-morning. And with temperatures above freezing, much of it could be gone by sunset except in the north – where snow showers are predicted into the evening. Forecasters say the rest of Wisconsin will be dry at least until tomorrow night, when more light snow and rain are due in. The wet weather’s supposed to continue into Friday. But temperatures will stay mild with highs in the 30’s-and-40’s each day.

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The Air Force said today that a fighter pilot suffered from vertigo as his cockpit fogged up during an air show at the EAA gathering in Oshkosh last July. An investigative report said the pilot thought about ejecting after he lost visibility – but he decided to land the aircraft because he was worried that hundreds of spectators might get hurt. The F-16-C Falcon plane did land safely with no injuries – but it left the runway and veered 300-feet into the grass infield. That caused over five-million-dollars in damage to the aircraft, but there was minimal damage to Wittman Airport at Oshkosh. The pilot was from the Alabama Air National Guard, but he was not named in the report. It said the fog in the cockpit was caused by a problem with the plane’s environmental control system – and the pilot could not see the end of the runway approaching. He apparently tried to de-fog the plane, but couldn’t. Had he seen the instrument references, the Air Force said the pilot would have stopped the plane well ahead of the end of the runway. Instead, the nose wheel broke when it hit the soft infield. The jet was from the 187th Fighter Wing at Dannelly Field in Alabama. It was part of the Tuskegee Airman show at last year’s EAA – and investigators said the craft was properly maintained.

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Wisconsin's popular do-not-call list for telemarketers would be extended to text messages, under a bill up for approval in the state Assembly today. A committee unanimously endorsed the measure last week. It would prohibit most solicitors from texting sales pitches to those on the no-call list. The list does have exceptions. Businesses can still call their current customers. And political candidates and charities can call anyone. Also, authorities have had a hard time stopping calls-and-texts made by telemarketers from outside the U.S. -- and violators of the no-call list have been the state's top consumer complaint for the last several years.

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A 15-year-old Madison girl is getting healthier. And she's had a national outpouring of support, after three of her relatives were charged with molesting her and starving her for years. The girl weighed only 70 pounds when she escaped her house in pajamas earlier this month, and police were notified. Court records said that a week later, the girl gained 17 pounds under a doctor's care -- and she's now in foster care. Dane County prosecutors said her father and step-mother forced her to live in an unfinished basement and live on scraps and feces, while her step-brother sexually assaulted her a number of times. Neighbors expressed concern, and child welfare officials were called numerous times. But officials said the stairwell on February sixth -- and the teen bolted into the cold. All three defendants are due back in court Thursday, when a judge will decide if there's enough evidence to order trials. 40-year-old Chad Chritton and his 42-year-old wife Melinda are charged with reckless endangerment, felony child abuse, and misdemeanor child neglect. The step-brother, 18-year-old Joshua Drabek, is charged with sexual assault and child abuse.

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An 18-year-old man was killed overnight, after his vehicle struck a tree near Kaukauna. It happened in the Outagamie County town of Vanderbroek at Highway 55 and County Trunk Double-"J." Early broadcast reports said the driver was not wearing a seat belt, and alcohol was a factor.

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A man who was brutally beaten by Milwaukee Police in 2004 is two steps away from getting a large settlement. The Common Council's Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 yesterday to pay two-million-dollars to Frank Jude and his attorneys. It would settle a federal lawsuit filed six years ago, in which Jude claimed the city and the police violated his civil rights. The Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett must still approve the deal before it can be finalized. Jude was attacked at a house party after the host -- an off-duty police officer -- accused Jude of stealing his badge. Three officers were acquitted of state charges in the incident, but seven officers were later convicted of federal crimes.

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Innocent pleas have been entered for a Door County woman accused of killing her baby daughter by leaving her in an overheated SUV for several hours. 33-year-old Melissa Martinez of Brussels stood mute yesterday, while her lawyer entered her pleas to fatal child neglect, and two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. A judge will consider pre-trial requests on April ninth. Authorities said eight-month-old Elena Martinez died last October after she was left for hours in an SUV that was running in front of her mother's mobile home. The baby died from environmental hypothermia. Officials said Martinez is now living at a halfway house following inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse.

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A 19-year-old man killed at a weekend house party in suburban Milwaukee was identified yesterday as David Opalinski. Two men were arrested for the shooting, which took place early Saturday in Cudahy. Both suspects are in the Milwaukee County Jail awaiting charges. Police say they'll ask prosecutors to charge a 19-year-old man with first-degree intentional homicide, and illegally possessing a gun as a convicted felon. A 21-year-old man faces a possible count of second-degree reckless endangerment.

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A judge dropped a juvenile delinquency case yesterday against a 17-year-old Shorewood girl who buried a newborn baby in her backyard. Milwaukee County Children's Court Judge Karen Christenson said it was clear that the girl tried to hide last summer's birth. But the state also had to prove she intentionally kept authorities from determining if the infant was born dead or alive. And the judge said there was no proof of intent. Christenson said the girl just might have tried to avoid disappointing her mother, or upsetting her friends. The girl said her child was conceived in late 2010, just when she turned 16 -- but she did not suspect being pregnant until the following July. The girl gave birth in a bathtub. A month later, her mother found the baby buried inside four bags. By then, the medical examiner's office said the body was too decomposed -- and it could not determine whether the boy was born alive. Prosecutor Jennifer Hanson did not comment on the judge's ruling. Defense lawyer Gilbert Urfer praised the judge for a making a tough call. He said the case was a tragedy, but not all tragedies are crimes.

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