Wednesday State News Briefs: Watertown food company recalling beef

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WATERTOWN - A meat company in Watertown is recalling 2,500 pounds of ground beef.

The USDA said the raw beef comes from Glenn’s Market-and-Catering – and some of it might be contaminated with E-coli bacteria. State and federal officials said three people suffered E-coli from eating the company’s ground-round. The recall involves various packages of Glenn’s Market ground round, ground chuck, and ground beef sold at Glenn’s retail outlet in Watertown between December 22nd and January fourth. E-coli can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and dehydration.

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A 20-year-old Milwaukee man is facing possible charges, after he entered the State Capitol yesterday with a backpack in which he claimed to have a Molotov cocktail. Capitol Police arrested Kvon Smith, after they learned that he posted a video on his Facebook page which said he would go the Capitol and do harm. Spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said police and state troopers were posted at all entrances, and Capitol officers immediately identified Smith as he walked in. He was apprehended in the Rotunda after telling officers he was carrying a Molotov cocktail. A bomb squad later checked the backpack. Officials did not confirm that Smith had anything dangerous, but a Madison TV crew saw bottles being removed from the backpack. Marquis said Smith did not threaten anyone in particular – and there was no indication that he knew about Governor Scott Walker’s State-of-the-State address last night, in which lawmakers and all top state officials gathered in one place in the state Assembly chamber. In mid-December, Smith was arrested for resisting an officer during an incident at Madison’s West Towne shopping mall. And he was charged with injuring an officer and disorderly conduct upon being released from jail. Those cases are still pending. Smith also filed a federal lawsuit the day after Christmas, alleging that several state agencies conspired to commit bankruptcy and violated his civil rights – including the University of Wisconsin football team.

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A Kenosha woman missing since the holidays has turned up safe. Police said 19-year-old Christina Guild called a relative yesterday from a Kenosha train station – and the person took her home. Police lieutenant Brad Kemen said Guild appeared to be happy and healthy. She disappeared from a group home on December 29th. Police still could not say why she took off – or if anyone helped her disappear.

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A Marshfield Clinic researcher says this year’s flu vaccine is 62-percent effective in preventing the flu. Doctor Edward Belongia says the percentage is about the same as in recent years, despite a large increase in flu cases this winter. As of last week, over 13-hundred Wisconsinites have been hospitalized with the flu – over three times as many as all of last winter. The Marshfield Medical Research Foundation is among five institutions in the U-S Flu Effectiveness Network, which checked over 11-hundred people with acute respiratory infections between December third and January second. The vaccine was found to be 55-percent effective against Influenza-“A,” and 70-percent effective against the “B” strain. Belongia says it’s an early-season snapshot – and those figures could change. He says H3N2 is the major flu strain around the country this winter – but the state has also seen Influenza-“B” cases in children. Officials say there’s still time to be vaccinated. Diane Rodd of the Wood County Health Department said the vaccine may not prevent everybody – but it does reduce the chances of being seriously ill or hospitalized.

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A central Wisconsin man has made a plea deal, after he admitted that he accidentally killed his best friend while he was drunk. A trial scheduled for tomorrow has been called off, and 22-year-old Tyler Enkro of the town of Grand Rapids is scheduled to enter a new plea on March seventh in Wood County Circuit Court. He’s currently charged with homicide by the intoxicated use of a firearm in the December 2011 death of 31-year-old Nick Hoffman of Wisconsin Rapids. Enkro first reported the shooting to authorities. His blood alcohol level at the time was .17, more than twice the legal limit for drunk drivers.

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The American Lung Association loves Wisconsin’s public indoor smoking ban – and the fact that smokers must give two-and-a-half dollars to the government for every pack of cigarettes they buy. But the group says Wisconsin does little to encourage smokers to quit – and it spends a relative pittance to discourage folks from starting to smoke. Those conclusions are part of the Lung Association’s annual “State of Tobacco Control” report that’s being released today. It gives Wisconsin a grade of “F” for the seven-and-a-half million dollars a year the state spends on tobacco prevention. That’s only 11-and-a-half percent of what the U-S Centers for Disease Control recommends. The state also got an “F” for its overall smoking cessation efforts. Among other things, Wisconsin was criticized for not making private insurers cover stop-smoking treatments. The Badger State did get an “A” for its two-and-a-half-year-old ban on smoking in workplaces, including bars-and-restaurants. And Wisconsin’s cigarette tax of 2.52-a-pack got a grade of “B.”

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A former Wausau area firefighter will spend just over a year in prison for burning down his mobile home, after his family was evicted from the property where the home sat. 46-year-old Keith Rosenow was sentenced yesterday to two years behind bars – but he was given credit for 350 days he spent in jail while his case was going through the court system. He must also spend three years under extended supervision when he gets out. Rosenow was a fire-fighter for 16 years until 2001. He told authorities he torched his house last January to get back at the manager of the Lazy Acres Mobile Home Park for making his family leave. Two neighboring homes were damaged in the blaze. He pleaded no contest last fall to Marathon County charges of reckless endangerment, and unsafe burning of his own structure. Two other endangerment charges were dropped in a plea deal. Rosenow must also pay almost $3,900 in restitution. His wife Kathleen is also charged with the same four counts her husband faced, plus obstructing an officer. She’s scheduled to go on trial April third.

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Today’s toddlers in Wisconsin can expect to live until they’re about 80. That’s according to the state Health Services department. It says the average life expectancy for those born between 2009-and-2011 is about 82-and-a-half for girls, and just under 78 for boys. The data was included in a larger summary on death rates in Wisconsin. It said 37 people died in 2011 from injuries on-the-job – way down from 57 such deaths the year before. But the numbers of infant deaths rose by nine-percent, to 427 statewide.

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If you’re looking for something different at the movie theater, you might want to put the Milwaukee Film Festival on your calendar for this fall. The event was expanded to 15 days last year. And organizers said it was so successful, they’re planning to hold it just as long this time. The festival will run from September 26th through October 10th. Last year’s event featured 225 movies from 47 countries. Just over 75 of the screenings were sold out – and the festival had a 40-percent increase in attendance from 2011, when it was only 11 days long compared to last year’s 15.

Tags: news, wisconsin