Morning State News Roundup: Heavy thunderstorms hit the southern half of Wisconsin

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The southern half of Wisconsin is cleaning up from yet another band of heavy thunderstorms overnight. They started just after midnight, when trees and power lines fell north of La Crosse – and Perrot State Park in Trempealeau County had quarter-sized hail for 15 minutes straight. Winds hit 60-miles-an-hour at Leon in Monroe County just after one this morning. The storms hit Juneau County around three, and then turned south to Columbia County where Rio had 45-mile-an-hour winds and pea-sized hail around 4:15. By six, the storms hit Waukesha County, with Milwaukee rush-hour commuters seeing penny-sized hail on Interstate-94. Hillsboro in Vernon County had one-point-one-inches of rain overnight. More rain is expected today in southern Wisconsin, with a slight chance in the north. Dry weather is in the forecast for tomorrow, with only a slight chance of rain statewide through the weekend.

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A Clintonville plant that makes paper party supplies and printed labels is getting bigger. Creative Converting is in the middle of a 100-thousand square foot addition to its Waupaca County facility. It’s expected to be finished by mid-January. And the firm plans to add about 40 full-time hourly employees, plus 10 salaried people. About 460 employees work there now. Creating Converting is owned by the Hoffmaster Group. The firm is based in Menomonee Falls, where it plans to close an Inno-Ware facility it bought last year. Officials say those operations are being consolidated at Clintonville.

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One of three shooting victims hospitalized after the Oak Creek temple massacre has been sent home. 50-year-old Santokh Singh was released yesterday from Milwaukee’s Froedtert Hospital. 65-year-old Punjab Singh was still in critical condition at last word. Oak Creek police lieutenant Brian Murphy, who’s 51, remained in satisfactory condition. A fourth survivor was treated at a hospital and released after being grazed by a bullet. They were shot by Wade Michael Page, who killed six worshippers at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek 11 days ago. Page has a long history as a white supremist, but federal investigators are not sure if that had anything to do with the shootings.

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A 75-year-old Milwaukee man is due back in court this morning for the murder of a 13-year-old neighbor over some missing guns. John Spooner is expected to plead insanity to a homicide charge for the May 31st shooting death of young Darius Simmons while he was taking out garbage. Spooner’s lawyer said a mental health expert examined his client – and it’s believed that Spooner is suffering from a mental disease. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner will review a report of the exam – and prosecutors might say whether they’ll seek their own exam. According to prosecutors, Spooner thought that Darius broke into his home and stole his guns a couple days before the murder.

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Johnsonville Sausage of Sheboygan Falls is recalling 48-thousand pounds of its Turkey Sausage with Cheddar Cheese, because it might contain pieces of gloves. The USDA said the sausage was produced on May 22nd. It was distributed throughout the country in 13-and-a-half ounce vacuum packages. The turkey cheddar sausage had a use-by-date of August 20th. Johnsonville says those with questions can call its consumer relations department … and here’s the toll-free phone number – (800) 270-4662.

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