Saturday State News Briefs: Wausau tornado an EF-O according to NWS

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WAUSAU - The National Weather Service says a tornado that touched down west of Wausau last Thursday night was likely an EF-0 with maximum wind speeds of about 85 miles an hour.

The Weather Service says the twister was on and off the ground for about five miles, but did only minimal damage to trees. There were no reported injuries. EF-0 is the lowest rating a tornado can get. The tornado was the first one reported in the state this year. While Wisconsin has seen them as early as January before, it’s not that unusual for Wisconsin to wait until closer to the beginning of spring to see its first twister of the year. High winds swept across much of the state Thursday causing a wide swath of property damage. Many parts of the state reported downed trees and power lines caused by strong wind gusts.

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Calling the defendant a, quoting here, “menace to society,” a judge has sentenced 18 year old Jimmy Scales of Cudahy to 25 years in prison. Scales was driving the getaway van when two other teenagers robbed a pregnant woman last August, leaving her dying on the street in front of her 13 year old son. Sharon Staples was shot to death when she wouldn’t give up her purse. Scales was on parole for his role in a 2008 killing when he took part in this latest crime. Scales’ two co-defendants have also pleaded guilty and they will be sentenced next month.

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The attorney leading the disciplinary case against Supreme Court Justice David Prosser has asked the court to order an appeals court to appoint a panel to hear the current complaint. The misconduct complaint against Prosser originates in an altercation last year when Prosser put his hands on Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s neck. She had charged at him during an argument in front of six of the seven high court justices. Prosser’s attorneys argue law and ethics rules bar the justices from hearing a case where they were witnesses or participants. They say that conflict means the court can’t create the panel to hear the disciplinary case.

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Already on probation for an alcohol-related incident, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has suspended the Delta Upsilon fraternity for an incident last March. The suspension is for two years. Fraternity members were accused of taunting two black female students as they inadvertently walked across the fraternity’s property. One Madison police officer said fraternity members, quoting here, “just don’t get it.” He said Delta Upsilon has done nothing to improve the situation since the original complaint. The Committee on Student Organizations at the Madison campus released an evidence packet yesterday. Fraternity members had said they had problems with trespassers prior to that encounter.

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An inmate at the Dane County Jail injured three deputies last week as he was being removed from a housing unit for disruptive behavior. Twenty-eight year old Craig Ragland has been charged with resisting, causing substantial bodily harm, two counts of battery to a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer. Deputies report Ragland initially refused to move from an upper bunk in his cell, then jumped down and punched a deputy in the head. The fight happened just before 10 p.m. Thursday. One of the deputies had to be taken to a Madison hospital for treatment. Ragland was in jail for traffic violations, but he reportedly has a criminal past which includes convictions for battery and disorderly conduct.

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The Oral Health Care Coalition of Dane County says there is an oral health crisis and solutions are needed. The coalition says dental pain led to more than 11,000 emergency room visits in one year, costing more than one and a half million dollars. That’s called an expensive, inefficient and inappropriate use of resources because those visits results in a treatment for the symptoms, but not the causes of the pain. The coalition is calling for creation of a working group to explore solutions like having emergency rooms refer patients like those to dentists who are willing to accept them as patients.

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