Morning State News Briefs: Tuition hike will put UW-Madison costs over $10,000

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MADISON - For the first time, Wisconsin college students would pay over $10,000 a year to attend UW-Madison under a tuition-and-fee hike announced yesterday.

University System President Kevin Reilly unveiled a five-and-a-half percent tuition hike for in-state students at all 13 four-year campuses. The amount has been the same for the last six years. The Board of Regents will act on the increases Thursday. Resident students would pay $431 more per year at the flagship Madison campus, bringing the total to almost $10,400 dollars next year. That includes the expected final year of a $250 annual surcharge approved in 2009. Tuition at Milwaukee would rise $422 to almost 92-hundred a year. Increases of $328 are planned at the other four-year schools. And for the second straight year, tuition would go up at the two-year UW colleges, rising 247-dollars on average. UW officials say the tuition hikes will only cover a-third of the total amount of state funding that was cut in the current state budget. The university lost around $250-million in the two-year package, plus another $46-million this year.

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New home foreclosure cases jumped by 27-and-a-half percent last month in southeast Wisconsin, compared to the year before. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel checked court records showing that 996 new foreclosure cases were filed last month in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties. That was up from 781 new cases in May of 2011. Racine County had the biggest increases in court actions filed against those who didn’t keep up with their mortgages. There were 130 new foreclosure cases in Racine County last month, up from just 68 the previous year. Only Waukesha and Ozaukee counties had decreases.

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A former Lutheran church official will spend a year in jail with work release privileges, after he was convicted of possessing child pornography. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Kathryn Foster decided yesterday not to send Joel Hochmuth to prison for up to 15 years. Instead, she approved the jail term plus 10 years of probation. And the judge said if there’s any hint that he’s going back to child porn quote, “the full prison sentence will be staring you in the face.” The 52-year-old Hochmuth used to be the communications director for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. He was fired last November, a day after he was charged with three counts for allegedly downloading hundreds of images of boys engaged in sex acts with other males. Hochmuth pleaded guilty in March to one charge of possessing child porn. The other two were dropped in a plea bargain. Hochmuth told Judge Foster that he offended his God, betrayed his wife, shamed their son, and dishonored their church. He said he’s been in a treatment program since his arrest and quote, “For the first time, I’m being equipped with the tools to fight my sinful habit.”

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Police in southeast Wisconsin say a 23-year-old man broke into the fire station in Jackson, to look for narcotic pain-killers which an ambulance did not have. Police Chief Jed Dolnick said an off-duty fire-fighter confronted the burglar on Sunday night, and he ran off. A DNR warden joined police and sheriff’s deputies in searching for the man, but to no avail. Dolnick said some investigative work led to the suspect yesterday, and he admitted breaking into the firehouse for narcotics. The man is not in jail, but police have asked prosecutors to consider criminal charges.

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A man was shot to death in Milwaukee, not long after he was released from prison. Police said the victim was 23 years old, but they did not release any other information about him. At last word, no one was in custody for the slaying, which occurred yesterday in a north side neighborhood in Milwaukee. Other details were not immediately released.

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Green Bay Packers’ receiver Donald Driver will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” today with 12-year-old Stephen Wagner of Ripon. Stephen was in the crowd at Driver’s charity softball game near Appleton on Sunday when Driver threw the youngster one of his shoes – and a woman grabbed the shoe from him. It was captured on video, and it went viral on the Internet. And by yesterday afternoon, Driver was able to identify the youngster – and he called Stephen back to Fox Cities Stadium where he gave the boy a lot of memorabilia. They included autographed cleats, a signed baseball bat and jersey, three children’s books that Driver wrote, and autographed Packer cups. The boy’s mother, Mary Wagner, said the woman who grabbed the cleat called her yesterday, apologized, and even offered to return the cleat. Various media identified the woman as Robyn Ereth, and Wagner says they’re all on good terms now. Driver’s marketing agent, Brian Lammi, said the player wanted the controversy to end on a positive note – and that’s happened.

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It was five years ago yesterday when a medical plane from the University of Michigan crashed just outside of Milwaukee – and all six people on board were killed when the plane fell into Lake Michigan. A memorial service was held in Ann Arbor to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. It was part of a day-long “Survival Flight Safety Day.” Four medics were delivering a pair of lungs from Milwaukee that were going to be transplanted into a patient in Ann Arbor, when the chartered plane crashed soon after take-off. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed errors by the two pilots. The CEO of the university’s health system, Ora Pescovitz, said his community grieved in disbelief five years ago. But now, he says the crew’s legacies inspire his health team each-and-every day. Killed were cardiac surgeons Rick LaPensee and Martinus Spoor, cardiology fellow David Ashburn, transplant donation specialist Richard Chenault the Second, and pilots Dennis Hoyes and Bill Serra.

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A Kenosha man was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for killing a UW-Madison student while his car was being chased by Milwaukee Police. 34-year-old Johnny Jones was wanted for over two weeks until officers finally nabbed him. Jones’s auto was being chased by a squad car on Milwaukee’s north side on New Year’s Eve of 2009 when he slammed into another vehicle and ran off. A passenger, 21-year-old Shanica Adkins, was killed. Her boyfriend, who was driving the car, was seriously injured. Jones pleaded guilty last month to negligent homicide, and hit-and-run causing death and great bodily harm. Jones must also spend an additional five years in prison for violating parole in a 1998 armed robbery case. When he finally gets out, Jones must spend 10 years under extended supervision. Jones must also pay almost eight-thousand dollars in restitution, after a state crime victims’ fund paid Adkins’ family almost $37,000 dollars.

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A Hilbert man has been moved from a hospital room to a jail cell. The 25-year-old man faces criminal charges after he allegedly struck 10 motorcycles with his car last Thursday. 59-year-old Daniel Winsemius of Twin Lake Michigan was killed, and nine of the victim’s fellow bikers were hurt. They were heading back home from Milwaukee when the crash occurred just north of Fond du Lac on Highway 151. The car driver has not been charged yet. Fond du Lac County sheriff’s officials say he faces possible counts of homicide by negligent driving and bail jumping. Sheriff’s captain Dean Will quoted the Hilbert man as saying doesn’t remember anything about the crash. Authorities are waiting for toxicology test results, which are not due for several weeks.

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Seven fire departments tried to keep a huge fire at a popular East Troy restaurant under control last night. They responded to Jerzee’s Sports Bar and Grill on Main Street at about 2 a.m. No one was inside when the fire started and none of the firefighters involved suffered any injuries. The state fire marshal will help with the investigation, but local fire officials say they’re not ready to decide whether the fire’s origin was suspicious. The building near Townline Road was a total loss.

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A Milwaukee County judge will hold a hearing tomorrow on the sale of the Staybridge Hotel. The top bidder for the building says construction will be completed, but no officials use for the building has been determined yet. SFG Venture paid more than 12 million dollars to buy it. A company spokesperson says completing the construction of the structure is the best thing for the Milwaukee area and SFG wants to make sure that happens as soon as possible.

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An autopsy in Madison shows that a sun-bather died from complications of injuries received when she was hit by a city dump truck in a park 12 days ago. 38-year-old Karen Remington died Friday at UW Hospital, and a forensic autopsy was performed on Saturday. Barry Irmen of the Dane County medical examiner’s office said more tests are being performed. The Madison Parks Department is conducting an internal review of the incident, in which she was run over by a department dump truck on May 23rd in James Madison Park. Authorities said her injuries were originally not thought to be life-threatening. Remington lived in Windsor, about 15 miles north of Madison. She worked at a paralegal for a Madison law firm.

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The calendar says we have 16 more days of spring – but the National Weather Service has already declared this spring as the warmest ever, at least in La Crosse. Unlike the rest of us, the Weather Service follows meteorological seasons that start at the first-of-the-month. And the average temperature from March through May was 54-point-eight-degrees in La Crosse – almost a whole degree above than the previous record for the warmest spring in 1977. The record warm March had much to do with the new record. But although it felt much cooler in April, it was still one-degree above normal for the month. The spring precipitation was slightly above normal, due mainly to heavy rains. La Crosse had its fifth lowest snowfall on record for a meteorological spring. Today, forecasters predict a mild spring day throughout Wisconsin. Scattered rain and thundershowers are expected in western areas this afternoon – and there’s a chance they’ll spread eastward tonight. Highs today will be in at least the 70’s statewide, and the low-80’s in the south. Similar temperatures are in the forecast for the entire week, with rain on-and-off.

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Sheriff’s investigators are waiting for a second round of DNA test results, before deciding whether a 91-year-old Beloit woman was murdered. Marjorie Sands died after her home last September 18th. And a Rock County deputy coroner first ruled that the death was caused by an accidental blow to the head that was consistent with a fall. But relatives said it didn’t add up. So the family allowed Marjorie’s body to be exhumed, and a Dane County pathologist said there were inconsistencies with the original ruling of an accident. Rock County deputies then began investigating the case as a murder. Detective captain Todd Christiansen said a first round of DNA tests turned up no significant breakthroughs. The next test results are due in a few weeks.

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A 29-year-old man is facing charges, for leaving his two-year-old son in a car parked at Madison’s Ho-Chunk Casino while he went in to gamble. A security officer called police to say the toddler was in a car alone last Friday morning with a window open. According to police, the man claimed he was homeless – and he was gambling to make money so he and his child could eat. But police said the boy appeared to be healthy, and a relative picked him up while the man was being hauled to jail. The man faces possible charges of child neglect and obstructing officers. He’s also being held on a parole violation.

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One of two men killed in a head-on crash in Manitowoc County was a police officer in New Holstein. That community is mourning the death of 22-year-old Andy Hoefler, who was killed along with 32-year-old Nicholas Pieri of Sheboygan. The State Patrol continues to investigate the crash, which happened Saturday night on Highway 32-57 near Kiel. Hoefler joined the New Holstein police force two years ago, after graduating from Lakeshore Technical College with a criminal justice degree. His boss, Chief Brian Reedy, said he went “numb” when he first heard about the crash. Reedy said Hoefler was a “happy go-lucky” man who took things as they came – and who took his job very seriously. Authorities said a car was going south in the wrong lane when it struck Hoefler’s auto head-on. Pieri was a passenger in the first car, driven by a 22-year-old Sheboygan man. He and another of his passengers – a 67-year-old Sheboygan man – suffered life-threatening injuries. A family member told the Sheboygan Press that the older man was in a coma at last word.

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A fifth-grader from western Wisconsin has won a statewide essay contest on the importance of agriculture. Daniella Warner of the Saint Peter-and-Paul School in Independence was among 18-hundred-31 entrants in the annual “Ag-in-the-Classroom” contest. Her winning essay told why crops-and-plants are important to the state’s agriculture. Daniella said she was born in Wisconsin, but she still didn’t know until now how many crops are grown here – and how important the farming industry is to America’s Dairyland. The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation sponsored the essay contest along with the Milk Marketing Board, We Energies, and Frontier F-S. District winners were Emily Gehring of Hartford, Isabella Howard of Clinton, McKenna Bowers of Mineral Point, Madie Podoll of the Plainfield area, Cole Booth of Plymouth, Andrea Spang of Oconto Falls, Cortney Zimmerman of Spencer, and Halli Martin of Plum City.

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