State News Roundup: Possible tornado touchdown near Slinger Tuesday afternoon

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Tornado

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The National Weather Service plans to review a T-V station’s videotape, to see if a tornado actually touched down near Slinger late yesterday afternoon. W-T-M-J T-V of Milwaukee filmed a possible weak tornado. The Weather Service said it did not show any low-level rotation, but it looked as if some dirt was being stirred on the ground. Doppler radar confirmed what the Weather Service called a “weak appendage” in southern Washington County between 4:30 and five yesterday afternoon. But it showed little relative motion. A sheriff’s deputy investigated the area, and found no signs of a tornado touchdown. But the storm did dump hail in parts of Washington and Fond du Lac counties. Kewaskum reported one-and-a-half-inch hail that caused minor damage to vehicles, outdoor equipment, and trees. West Bend had winds of 45-miles-an-hour. Forecasters say western Wisconsin could get thunderstorms this afternoon – and isolated storms are possible tonight in the southern part of the Badger State. The Weather Service says of most of Wisconsin could see rain on Thursday, before clear-and-cooler weather settles in for the weekend.

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Less corn means less ethanol. The U-S Energy Information Administration has reduced its forecast for ethanol production by three-point-three percent, because of the widespread drought and its impact on corn harvests. The government says ethanol producers will make about 870-thousand barrels per day – down from 900-thousand barrels that was forecast earlier. But officials expect ethanol production to nearly recover in the second half of next year, to around 880-thousand barrels per day. Wisconsin is the nation’s seventh-largest ethanol producer. Its refineries make around 504-million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year. National production slipped by around 110-thousand barrels a day between June 8th and the 27th.

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Wisconsin will be the nation’s 15th best place to live in the future, despite concerns that the Badger State will have a lower-than-average economy and standard-of-living. That’s according to a new Gallup Poll. Over 530-thousand Americans were interviewed between January and June, and were asked to rank states on 13 standards of future livability. They said Wisconsin would be among the easiest places to find safe drinking water and places to exercise. They said the Badger State would be the 15th likeliest place to find a full-time job for an employer. And Wisconsin would continue to have average smoking and obesity rates. But they rated the state a poor 44th for its future overall standard-of-living, and 44th for people’s confidence in the state’s economy. And Wisconsin was second-from-the-bottom among states where people think they could lead the best possible life. The poll was part of the ongoing Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Utah was predicted to be the most livable state in the coming years, and neighboring Minnesota was second. Neighboring Iowa ranked Number-seven for future livability. West Virginia came in last.

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A former west central Wisconsin man has been arrested in Illinois, almost a year-and-a-half after he missed two sentencing hearings for defrauding businesses. 61-year-old Malen Juzwiak, formerly of Withee, was arrested in Henry County in northwest Illinois. He faces extradition to Wisconsin to be sentenced in Clark and Chippewa counties for theft, writing bad checks, and theft by fraud. Prosecutors said Juzwiak was paid 20-thousand-dollars by a dealer to provide a large piece of farm equipment – but he sold the item directly to its intended buyer and never gave the dealer the money. Authorities said he also bought a farm track loader with a bounced check, and later sold it to a dealer in Boyd for 25-thousand dollars. In Clark County, Joswiak was convicted on reduced charges of over 10-thousand dollars of theft-by-fraud, and writing more than five-thousand dollars in bad checks. He also has a case pending in Marathon County, in which he has pleaded innocent to theft-by-fraud of over 10-thousand dollars.

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