Saturday State News Briefs: Retired state employees to get 13 percent less in montly pension checks starting in May 2013

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Most of Wisconsin’s retired public employees will get up to 13-percent less in their monthly pension checks starting next May. It’s the fifth-and-final year that pension checks will be reduced because of a 26-percent loss in the state’s overall fund in 2008.

That was when the financial services industry almost collapsed, the Great Recession began in earnest, and both public-and-private workers saw their retirement benefits plunge. Public retirees who invest in the State Retirement System’s Core Fund get their payment changes smoothed over during a five-year period – and this is the last year that the big plunge will be reflected on their checks. Deputy Employee Trust Funds Secretary Rob Marchant says the retirees’ benefit checks should start going up again in 2014, thanks to a growth in investment values every year since 2008. Retirees took a seven-percent cut in their payments this year, and between one-point-two and two-point-one percent in each of the previous three years. Payments to those in the Core Fund cannot be reduced below the levels the employees had when they first retired. As a result, 58-percent of retirees did not get the full cuts – and others took bigger hits. Marchant says he knows the cuts are painful, but they’re important to ensure that the system pays all the benefits which are promised.

The State Retirement System covers all state-and-local public workers except those in Milwaukee city and county, which have their own pension systems.

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A homeless shelter in Green Bay was given a citation today for violating its occupancy limits. The city took action after a long debate involving the Saint John-the-Evangelist shelter which is run by the Green Bay Catholic Diocese. Officials from both the city and the church said recently they were committed to working together to solve the concerns. Assistant City Attorney Jim Mueller would not comment on the citation, but he said both sides would keep meeting to resolve the issues. The citation accuses the shelter of violating Green Bay’s zoning code – and it called for a fine of $500 for each day the excessive occupancies took place. A court hearing on the matter is set for January 18th. This summer, Green Bay city officials renewed the shelter’s permit and increased the number of allowable residents from 52-to-64. The church says it has gone above 80-a-night in recent weeks. They attributed it to a high demand during a rough economy.

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One justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court says members of the high court are working together despite reports of tension and one highly-publicized altercation. Justice Pat Roggensack says the members work very well together. She made the comments yesterday while submitting signatures needed to place her name on the statewide ballot for reelection. Roggensack is running for a second 10-year term and is the first of three announced candidate to turn in those two thousand signatures at the offices of the Government Accountability Board. She turned in about four-thousand signatures – twice as many as what’s needed to earn a spot on the spring ballot. Milwaukee lemon law attorney Vince Megna and Marquette law professor Ed Fallone are also running. They have until the end of Wednesday to file their papers, and both say they’re confident they’ll get enough signatures. If they do, a primary will be held February 19th – and the top two vote-getters will square off April second.

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The Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation is taking the tax man to court. The atheist and agnostic organization is alleging the Internal Revenue Service is giving unconstitutional preferential treatment to churches and other religious organizations. The lawsuit was filed in federal court last Thursday. It argues the IRS is violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as well as constitutional equal protection rights by exempting churches from having to file a detailed application form, pay a fee and submit information each year to maintain tax-exempt status.

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A 46-year old Madison woman is in jail due to what police call a failed attempt to shoot her husband. She’s being held in the Dane County Jail. The 46-year old husband says he woke up a week ago today to see a revolver pointed at him. He says she smashed his cell phone after seeing some text messages on it, then pulled the trigger. The gun failed to fire and the husband took the weapon away from her. At that point, police say the woman threw some pots and pans at her husband, then got into an SUV. The man’s car was parked behind her SUV, so she starting ramming it with the larger vehicle. Officers were called and arrived to arrest the woman.

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Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials say they fired probation agent Kim Hoenisch two days before she was formally charged with stealing prescription drug. Prosecutors filed several charges against Hoenisch December 21st, including felony drug possession and misconduct in office. She had been working in a Corrections Department field office in Wausau at the time. She has been accused of stealing Vicodin from probationers while they were taking urine tests. She also accused of stealing the drugs at other locations. State officials say her employment had been terminated December 19th for what they called failure to exercise good judgment.

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Visitation for murdered Wauwatosa police officer Jennifer Sabena will be at Elmbrook Church today. Sebena was shot five times in the head outside a fire station after she had taken a break Christmas Eve. Her husband, Ben Sabena, has been accused of killing her. The Oak Creek Police Department honor guard says it has been given the highest privilege of handling her casket. They will be pallbearers. Sabena is going to get a Category 1 full honors funeral, which is done any time an officer dies while on duty. Following visitation and funeral services, Sabena will be laid to rest at Wisconsin Memorial Park Cemetery in Brookfield.

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He didn’t like what she got for Christmas. Madison police say they have arrested a 23-year old man for beating a 30-year old woman. Police say the two were arguing last Sunday, with the man saying the woman had taken too long to go shopping and she had bought the wrong Christmas gift. Officers were responding to reports of a man with a gun when they saw the suspect running from the building. He jumped over a fence, but couldn’t get away. Witnesses told police the physical fight happened in the hallway of the apartment. They also said the suspect was carrying a gun case. Officers say they recovered cash, marijuana, ammunition and a 12-gauge shotgun.

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A federal appeals court sides with Milwaukee Public Schools in a lawsuit filed over the drowning death of a seventh grader during a supervised field trip in 2010. Kamonie Slade’s parents filed a civil-rights and wrongful-death claim last year against the MPS school board and several educators. The incident happened June 14, 2010, the last day of that school term. When the student drowned in Mauthe Lake, no lifeguard was on hand. A federal judge had granted a summary judgment for the school officials, leading to an appeal by the family. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled while the two officials who set up the trip were negligent, they weren’t reckless and therefore not liable under a federal constitutional argument.

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Trademarked University of Wisconsin merchandise is flying off store shelves. Figures released today show the products set a sales record in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Gross royalties received at UW-Madison topped $3.7 million dollars – $400,000 more than the year before. Half of that money is earmarked for financial aid to undergraduate students. Collegiate Licensing Corporation reports sales of Wisconsin merchandise, such as the school mascot or the motion “W,” ranks 15th among the 160 colleges and universities ranked, and fourth among the 12 Big Ten Conference schools.

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After a standoff lasting several hours, Milwaukee Police were able to take a homicide suspect into custody on the city’s west side. The department’s Tactical Enforcement Unit saw the man it was looking for outside a home in the 42 hundred block of West Roosevelt Drive at about 2:40 a.m. today. He is a suspect in the December 10th shooting death of Eddie Taylor. Police say contact was established and the people inside the house were able to get out. Negotiations lasted for several hours, with tear gas used at one point. The 30 year old suspect eventually gave himself up peacefully.

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Now that Christmas is over, Wisconsin motorists are no longer getting the gift of lower gas prices. The Wisconsin Triple-“A” said the average statewide price for regular unleaded is 3.22-a-gallon today – one-point-six cents more than yesterday, and three cents more than a week ago. Patrick DeHaan of Gas Buddy.com says it’s no surprise – because the national average has risen in six-of-the-last-seven years between Christmas and January 15th. This year, DeHaan says it’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the price jump – considering that gas inventories are so high, and consumers cut back on their holiday shopping due to the prospect of federal tax hikes from the fiscal cliff. Southern Wisconsin appears to have had the biggest jumps in gas prices lately. The Triple-“A” says Madison’s average prices are over a nickel higher than yesterday. Milwaukee and Janesville are both up three-cents. But the Triple-“A” says gas is still about three-cents cheaper than a year ago, when the average was just over $3.25.

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Several agencies will share $230,000 in private funding to help infants and homeless people. A foundation that’s connected to the Assurant Health group is providing the money. Most of the recipients are in the Milwaukee. The Guest House is receiving the most – $50,000 to help homeless people find long-term housing. Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force also received $50,000 to provide infant formula, milk, and cereal to feed needy children two-and-under for a year. The Milwaukee Rescue Mission is also getting funded – along with Pearls for Teen Girls, the Penfield Children’s Center, COA Youth-and-Family Centers, and Pathfinders.

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A state panel has agreed to pay $25,000 to a Milwaukee man who was wrongly convicted of a murder that was later blamed on serial killer Walter Ellis. 41-year-old William Avery spent six years in prison before he was freed in 2010. He wanted 30-thousand-dollars, or five-thousand for each year he served. But the Claims Board could only award 25-thousand without asking the Legislature for more – so that’s what they gave him. Avery was convicted of strangling 39-year-old Maryetta Griffin to death in 1998. He was sentenced to 40 years. But in 2010, he asked prosecutors to test the victim’s DNA – and it was found to be Ellis’s. Avery became the third prisoner to wrongly do time for a homicide which DNA tests had linked to Ellis – who later pleaded no contest to killing seven women in Milwaukee over a period of 21 years.

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