Wednesday State News Briefs: Fog causes travel problems in SE Wisconsin

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MILWAUKEE - The friendly skies were fogged up this morning, as dense fog caused problems on one of the busiest flying days of the year.

Almost 100 flights had been canceled at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport as of mid-morning – and another 400 flights were delayed. At Milwaukee’s Mitchell International, three outgoing and incoming flights were canceled earlier today – and at least 16 flights had been delayed in both directions. The National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory until noon for much of the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin. Scattered fog cleared out of much of Wisconsin during the nine o’clock hour – but a few southern locations were still fogged in as of 10 o’clock. Triple-“A” said an estimated 64,000 Wisconsinites were planning to fly to Thanksgiving dinner with their families.

Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast for this afternoon, once the fog clears out. Highs today and tomorrow are expected to be in the 50’s-and-60’s throughout Wisconsin. But things are supposed to cool off by Black Friday – and the after-Thanksgiving shoppers can expect highs in the 30’s with scattered snow showers.

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A Waukesha man pleaded innocent this morning to felony reckless endangerment, for allegedly driving 15 miles the wrong way on a Milwaukee freeway. Authorities said it was at least the 33rd time this year that a driver was caught going the wrong way on a major street or freeway – and some of those incidents were deadly. In the latest case, sheriff’s officers said 21-year-old Joshua Klawikowski was drunk when they caught him driving south in the northbound lanes of Interstate-43-94 at the downtown Marquette Interchange. Officials said he never stopped until he got to the College Avenue exit, a short distance beyond Mitchell International Airport. He reportedly had a blood alcohol level of almost twice the allowable limit. Klawikowski waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. He’s due back in court December sixth, when a trial date is expected to be set. Klawikowski is free on a 25-hundred-dollar signature bond.

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Governor Scott Walker chopped his own Christmas tree for his conference room at the State Capitol. It took about four minutes for Walker and his wife Tonette to cut down a 10-foot Fraser fir. It was provided by the Whispering Pines Tree Farm near Oconto in northeast Wisconsin. The farm is owned by Dave and Mary Vandervelden – and it produced this year’s Grand Champion tree, as judged by the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association. The Vanderveldens earned the right to represent the Badger State in the national tree contest next year.

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Wade Michael Page was not under the influence of drugs when he killed six people plus himself in the August fifth shooting rampage at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek. The Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office released an autopsy report on the 40-year-old Page today, a day after the FBI said it completed its investigation into the mass shootings. A toxicology report said Page had a small amount of alcohol in his system – but it might have been a result of decomposition, and it was not known if Page had been drinking before the massacre. The medical examiner said Page was shot in the right side of his abdomen by an Oak Creek police officer – and had a self-inflicted wound in the back of the head from his nine-millimeter pistol. The FBI said Page acted alone in planning and carrying out the shooting spree – and a motive could not be established. The medical examiner’s report showed that Page wore a foam ear-plug in his right ear during the gunfire. And his many tattoos included skulls and cross-bones on one arm, and the word “Suffer” across his shoulders.

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Northwest Wisconsin will host the International Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup for the second year in a row. Skiers with disabilities will again compete at the Telemark Resort at Cable from January 13th-through-20th. The event is not normally held in North America in back-to-back years – but a site in Europe canceled at the last-minute, so the Cable area agreed again to be the host. The last World Cup attracted over 180 skiers from 15 countries to the Badger State. The upcoming event will also be the first qualifier for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Russia.

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Northwest Wisconsin will host the International Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup for the second year in a row. Skiers with disabilities will again compete at the Telemark Resort at Cable from January 13th-through-20th. The event is not normally held in North America in back-to-back years – but a site in Europe canceled at the last-minute, so the Cable area agreed again to be the host. The last World Cup attracted over 180 skiers from 15 countries to the Badger State. The upcoming event will also be the first qualifier for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Russia.

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Iowans are the first to nominate the parties’ presidential hopefuls every four years. But if Governor Terry Branstad has his way, the Hawkeye State would eliminate the infamous Republican Straw Poll which takes place the year before. Republican White House hopefuls have flocked to Iowa since 1979 for the Straw Poll – but lately, it has not been a very good predictor. House Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota won the Straw Poll in 2011 – but she fizzled out of the race this past spring. In 2007, former Governor Tommy Thompson made a run for the GOP presidential bid – but he had raised only a half-million dollars by then, and a sixth-place finish in the Straw Poll did him in. However, the state's GOP chairman, A.J. Speiker, denounced Branstad's suggestion and said he hopes the straw poll will go on as planned in August of 2015.

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State Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch says the governor will have the ability to cut taxes in the next state budget – for now, at least. In a report yesterday to Governor Scott Walker and lawmakers, Huebsch said the state would end the current budget next June with a $342-million dollar net surplus. He said the Republican Walker has the money to achieve his stated desire to cut income taxes. And there are several ways he can deal with the requests by state agencies for $171-million more dollars than the available revenues in the next budget. But Huebsch admits his projections could go south if Congress does not avoid the automatic federal tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in January. Early estimates say Wisconsin could lose at least $94-million federal dollars if the so-called “fiscal cliff” is not averted in Washington. Huebsch also says his budget numbers do not include what the state might have to pay to run the Obama health reform law – and there’s a chance that prison costs might cut into the state’s reserves. Meanwhile, Walker’s people are facing outside pressures to use whatever available money the state does have. Business groups want tens-of-millions of new dollars for vocational training and start-up companies. Minority Democrats say the GOP should scrap any plans for a tax cut, and restore at least part of the public school and university funding that was slashed in the last two years to help remove a huge state deficit.

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