Afternoon State News Briefs: Milwaukee County releases 911 tapes from temple shooting

Talk about it

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department released audio recordings today of the 911 calls it received about the Oak Creek temple shootings on Aug. 5.

One man told a sheriff’s dispatcher that quote, “Some guy’s shooting a gun (in) some temple or something.” The caller said he saw the gun enter the building and heard shots – and the dispatcher transferred the call to Oak Creek Police. In another call, a woman with an accent tried to express the urgency of the situation by saying quote, “It’s a Sikh temple, you know.” Wade Michael Page shot-and-killed six temple members, and then killed himself after an Oak Creek officer wounded him.

___________________________________________________________

More Wisconsin homeowners are getting behind on their mortgages – but not badly enough to cause delinquencies to rise from a year ago. The Mortgage Bankers Association said today that almost five-point-nine percent of the state’s home borrowers were at least 30 days behind on their payments, not including those in foreclosure. The delinquency rate was down from a year ago, when it was just over six-percent. But it was up from the first quarter of this year, when close to five-point-one percent of Wisconsin home loans were in arrears. The Mortgage Bankers Association says delinquencies normally rise between the first-and-second quarters each year due to seasonal factors. And Wisconsin remains a relatively low 38th among the 50 states and Washington D.C. in its mortgage delinquency rate. The state’s rate was about one-and-a-half percent lower than the national figure of seven-point-three-five percent.

____________________________________________________________________

A state Assembly Democrat from Milwaukee will leave the Capitol this year, after being defeated in a bid for the State Senate. Elizabeth Coggs ran for the Senate post given up by her cousin, the retiring G. Spencer Coggs. But Elizabeth finished second in a five-way Democratic Senate primary yesterday. She received 33-percent of the vote, to 45-percent for Nikiya Harris – who in essence won the Senate because there’s no Republican opposition in November. Elizabeth Coggs was elected to the Assembly just two years ago. G. Spencer Coggs is leaving after a 29-year legislative career that included two decades in the Assembly and nine years in the Senate. Meanwhile, State Treasurer Kurt Schuller failed in his bid to get elected to the Assembly. He only got 12-percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary for the seat being given up by Oshkosh Republican Richard Spanbauer.

___________________________________________________________________

A group that opposes pro-life and school choice Democrats is taking credit for the defeats of two such incumbents in the Wisconsin Assembly. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said Wisconsin Progress was behind the defeats of 29-year incumbent Peggy Krusick and eight-year veteran Jason Fields. Both received only a-third of the vote in yesterday’s primary, while running in newly-configured Milwaukee districts drawn by Republicans over a year ago. Krusick is a Catholic who opposes abortion, while Fields bucked his party by supporting private school vouchers for low-income kids. The paper said Wisconsin Progress recruited and trained the winners of the two Assembly elections, plus Nikiya Harris – who won a five-way primary for a state Senate seat given up by Milwaukee Democrat Spencer Coggs. Scott Spector, the head of Wisconsin Progress, said Democrats have quote, “lost their way” on school vouchers and abortion – and his group was taking a stand against that. But UW-La Crosse professor Joe Heim says the result is a more polarized Legislature – where growing numbers of lawmakers are less likely to compromise while pushing their ideas forward. Heim calls that trend “depressing.” The Journal-Sentinel said Wisconsin Progress has a half-million-dollar budget funded by unions, pro-choice groups, and environmentalists.

______________________________________________________________________

Court records show that a Fitchburg woman quote, “went crazy” after she allegedly tried to kill her six-year-old daughter. A search warrant filed in the case of 30-year-old Tasha Harmon quoted her as saying she tried to kill both her daughter and herself – but neither happened. Tasha Harmon remained hospitalized in serious condition at last word, and police expect her to recover. The same is true for six-year-old Adrianna Harmon, who was in critical condition at last word. The stabbings took place early Monday in the apartment the mother-and-daughter shared in Fitchburg. Police expect to ask Dane County prosecutors to charge Tasha Harmon with attempted homicide. According to the state’s online court records, she’s been convicted of reckless endangerment, writing bad checks, trespassing, and bail jumping.

______________________________________________________________________

The Green Bay Packers are reminding fans to be ready for enhanced security screenings at tomorrow night’s preseason game at Lambeau Field. You should give yourself enough time so the delays don’t make you miss the opening kickoff. Stadium gates open two hours before kickoff. There could also be construction delays during to projects still underway on Highway 41 and Interstate 43 through the city. The game against the Cleveland Browns is the annual Midwest Shrine Game. The event has raised almost three and a half million dollars for hospitals and burn centers since it started in 1950. The stadium parking lot will open at 3 p.m. – the same time as the Tundra Tailgate Zone.

Tags: news, wisconsin