Sunday State News Briefs: MIlwaukee had its warmest summer ever

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MILWAUKEE - It was a hot summer in Milwaukee – actually the warmest ever recorded.

The National Weather Service reports the average temperature in June, July and August was 74.1 degrees, beating the old record by three-tenths of a degree. That mark was set in both 1988 and 1995 during what is called the meteorological summer. Both Milwaukee and Madison are in the middle of their warmest years on record as well. The hottest day in the state’s largest city was July 5th when the high temperature was 103 degrees. Despite the drought, this summer was only 31st when measured against the driest summers experienced in Milwaukee.

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Federal Judge Charles Clevert says Latasha Jackson’s “greed and dishonesty” undercut the safety net some poor people depend upon. Jackson is now listed as Latasha Wilder in legal documents. She was sentenced to 14 months in a federal prison last week after pleading guilty to charges of fraud, theft and conspiracy. Wilder also has to pay 200 thousand dollars in restitution. Prosecutors said the 34 year old Milwaukee woman built a mansion and bought a Jaguar luxury car while collecting about three million dollars in taxpayer subsidies from her child care centers. Wilder admitted she defrauded state and federal programs which had been designed to help poor mothers find jobs. She apparently collected money for children who didn’t actually attend her day care centers.

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A Sheboygan jury agrees with the defense argument that two year old Trenton Flickinger’s death was an accident. The boy died last February while he was being cared for by 28 year old Joshua Keenan. Published reports indicate it took the jury only about an hour to find Keenan not guilty in the boy’s death. Keenan was a roommate of the child’s mother. He told the court he had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to hear dogs barking and the boy screaming. He said he grabbed the child, who slipped and flew across the room, hitting the floor. Then, he said, Trenton started having a seizure. The child was taken to a hospital and died a traumatic brain injury.

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A committee of the Wisconsin Legislature will hold three informational hearings on mining legislation this month. Lawmakers are making another attempt to review the state’s regulations on the mining of iron ore. Meetings will be held September 18th, 20th and 25th in Room 411 at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Janesville state Senator Tim Cullen says the committee will focus its efforts on the state’s current mining laws and try to determine what changes need to be made. The Assembly approved mining legislation last session, but it failed by a single vote in the Wisconsin Senate.

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The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department reports a two-year old boy was found unresponsive in a backyard pond yesterday evening. The child was transported by medical helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It isn’t clear how long the victim might have been in the water in that pond in the Town of Lisbon. He was listed in critical condition last night. The call reportedly came in to emergency responders at about 6:30 p.m.

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