Saturday State News Briefs: Farm accident kills one in Racine County

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BURLINGTON - Racine County authorities say a mishap on a farm near the Town of Burlington has left one man dead and another injured, but it appears to have been an accident.

The investigation is continuing. The Sheriff’s office reports it responded to a 911 call yesterday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. Deputies say they found two men in their 60s trapped underneath a tractor-combine. One of the men was dead on the scene. The second was flown to a hospital.

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First Lady Michelle Obama tells a partisan crowd at Lawrence University in Appleton the November election could come down to a few thousand votes. Obama spent much of her time talking about her husband’s accomplishments as president. The crowd of two thousand reportedly gave her loud cheers when she talked about health care reform, Pell grants and wrapping up the war in Iraq.

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The Department of Health Services reports the state’s Medicaid deficit is not going to be nearly as bad as predicted. A $372 million deficit projected last June is now being put at about 35 and a half million dollars. That information is in a letter to the leaders of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee from DHS Secretary Dennis Smith. Several factors have contributed to the lower numbers. The federal government has sent $27 million dollars to Wisconsin in retroactive service claims. Smith also says fewer people than anticipated have joined the Family Care program since the enrollment cap was lifted last April. The number of people receiving full Medicaid benefits dropped by 71 hundred between January of last year and August of this year.

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A 32-year old Madison man says allegations of child abuse are untrue. Kevin Knight says he didn’t abuse anyone and his 31 year old girlfriend says she has disciplined her children, but doesn’t abuse them. The couple is accused of whipping their two daughters with a belt or extension cord over a 10-year period of time. The two sisters are now teenagers. They told them Knight and Jacqueline Palmer beat them almost every week in a locked basement. Prosecutors allege one of the girls was hurt so badly she had to miss school.

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Attorneys with the Wisconsin Department of Justice have filed more documents in a Dane County courtroom repeating a request to set aside a ruling on the governor’s collective bargaining law. Judge Juan Colas struck down large portions of the law which stripped most public workers of almost all their union rights. Judge Colas ruled the law violates teachers and local government works’ free speech, free association and equal protection right. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has asked for the stay while he appeals the ruling.

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