Evening State News Briefs: Forecasts are for a good year for dairy farmers in 2013

• America's Dairyland - Wisconsin

America's Dairyland - Wisconsin

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Agriculture experts say milk prices are expected to go up, which feed prices go down. That means Wisconsin dairy farmers are in for a pretty strong 2013.

How the year goes for crop farmers depends on whether their fields get enough rainfall to counter the problems caused by drought. Wisconsin dairies produced a record 27-point-2 billion pounds of milk last year. That four percent increase didn’t necessarily mean a major increase in profits because it was offset by lower milk prices and higher costs for feed. The annual Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum was held in Madison yesterday.

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A judge has ordered 20 year old Andrew Meis to undergo a mental evaluation. He was in Dane County Court yesterday. Meis is in jail on attempted murder charges, accused of plotting to kill two Madison people. Investigators are asking questions about how Meis was able to buy an AK-47 online, acquiring what is being called a “significant” amount of ammunition the same way. Meis has a history of being hospitalized for mental illness. His father called police when he learned of his son’s plans to kill a neighbor and one of his friends. Meis apparently believed the intended victims made noises on purpose to bother him and were reading his thoughts through his television.

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Students at Fairview South School in Elmbrook were locked down for about 30 minutes this morning. The district reports its staff was told a student had threatened to bring a gun to school. Brookfield police intercepted the student, searching him and the vehicle he was riding in. They say they found no credible threat although the student was detained for questioning. The other students were allowed to enter the school building. Fairview serves about 60 special needs students aged 12 to 20. The lockdown happened as the school day was starting.

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UW experts say crop farmers will need a lot of rain to get over the adverse effects from last year’s drought. But the problem is, the drought’s in a holding pattern. The U.S. Drought Monitor said today that just over 88-and-a-half percent of Wisconsin’s land area was abnormally dry or worse. And that number has hardly budged in over a month. The Badger State had a sizable snow-melt before this week’s cold snap – but it appeared not much seeped in. Parts of northwest Wisconsin and the far south remain in a severe drought. And 12 east central counties remain the only ones with no drought status. At an agricultural outlook forum in Madison yesterday, experts said fruit-and-vegetable crops were hit hardest by the drought. And those which did well tapped into deep water reserves. Those reserves are partially depleted now, and UW experts say it would take 12 inches of rain to get them replenished. Meanwhile, dairy farmers are expected to do better this year. That’s because feed prices are expected to fall, while milk prices go up.

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About a dozen state Assembly members plan to tour the place where Gogebic Taconite says it would open a new iron ore mine – if legislators vote to make it easier to do so. Freshman state Assembly Republican Mary Czaja of Irma in Lincoln County is organizing the tour, which is set for tomorrow. Her office said Czaja toured the site a few weeks ago, and she thought other lawmakers would benefit from seeing the area. Six Republicans and six Democrats plan to make the trip – and they’ll pay for the trip themselves. The GOP in both houses is pushing to create a deadline for approving state mining permits – loosening environmental rules – and limiting public challenges to the DNR’s mining decisions. The bill’s chief sponsors agree that changes will be made to a package that was unveiled last week. There’s no timetable for a vote on the measure. Legislative leaders hope to get it done in the spring.

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Forecasters say northern Wisconsin could get four-inches of snow tomorrow – and other parts of the state may get smaller amounts, down to around a half-inch. The National Weather Service says a low-pressure system will start bringing snow to northwest Wisconsin tonight, and to the rest of the state tomorrow before it clears out by the end of the day. And after a few days of sub-zero cold, the mercury could get close to 30-degrees in the far south tomorrow afternoon. Thirty is in the forecast for Sunday. The Weather Service says it should not get below zero any place in the Badger State overnight – but it was still one-below in Superior early this afternoon.

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U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Oshkosh) said today he should not have accused Hillary Clinton of using her emotions to dodge questions about last fall’s attack at the American embassy in Libya. The Wisconsin Republican told the BuzzFeed website after yesterday’s Senate hearing on the Benghazi attack that Clinton planned to invoke the deaths of four Americans in the raid as a “trump card” to avoid questions. Today, Johnson told CNN he probably speculated about the trump card, and he should not have. But he stood by the comments he made at the hearing – that the State Department misled Americans by passing the attack off as a planned protest instead of a terrorist act. Meanwhile, Clinton’s possible replacement as Secretary-of-State – Massachusetts Senator John Kerry – said Johnson missed a classified briefing on the attacks. In a report on the Talking Points Memo Web site, Kerry said the briefing included video tapes which made what happened quote, “crystal clear.” Johnson sparred with Clinton over the details of the attack – and at one point, she got exasperated and said, “What difference does it make.” Kerry said that if the question was whether the truth should come out, he said it should – and Clinton would agree. He said Clinton’s pointed remark referred to the sequence and timing of the events – and when the intelligence information came to light.

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The state DNR says it’s investigating private well contamination in several areas of Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Racine counties. Officials said they found excessive levels of molybdenum in 44 water wells among 153 it tested in Oak Creek, Franklin, Muskego, and the Racine County towns of Raymond, Caledonia, and Norway. The DNR said 11,000 private wells are located in the areas that were tested. And the elevated molyb-denum is too spread out to be from one source. It’s a naturally-occurring metal. Officials say it’s an essential food nutrient in small amounts – but excessive amounts can lead to gout and digestive problems. Besides food, the metal is present in waste sources – like foundry sand and coal ash. State health epidemiologist Elizabeth Evans says a final conclusion is at least several months away. But she says it’s very unlikely that the DNR will find adverse health effects from the region’s drinking water.

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Wisconsin had the nation’s fifth-largest decrease in new unemployment benefit claims for the week ending January 12th. The state did not tell the federal government why 3,183 fewer residents filed for initial jobless benefits than the week before. Other states cited a reduction in layoffs. New York State had over 27,000 fewer claims for first-time unemployment – and officials said it was due to fewer layoffs in the transportation, construction, and educational service industries. Georgia had the second biggest decrease in new claims with 75-hundred-20. North Carolina was third, followed by Alabama and then the Badger State. Texas had the largest increase in new jobless benefit claims with 12,786. The Lone Star State did not give a reason for that.

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Six Wisconsin communities will get federal money to help new refugees settle in. Barron, Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay, Madison, and Milwaukee will share one-and-a-half million dollars in re-settlement funds administered by the state Department of Children-and-Families. Officials say the refugees are from Nepal, East Africa, and Burma – as well as from Iraq and Afghanistan. Local agencies use the money to provide numerous services to refugees. They include help with enrolling in school, taking language and literacy classes, getting jobs, and obtaining mental health services. The refugee status is given to people who fear persecution back home, and are not safely able to return to their home countries.

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Don’t be surprised to see more-and-bigger trucks on Wisconsin’s major highways. This week’s cold snap expanded the state’s Frozen Road Law, which allows heavier loads for carrying most forest products and winter road maintenance items. The heavier loads are permitted on state highways throughout Wisconsin except the southeast region. The allowable trucks can carry up to 98,000 pounds – up from the normal 80,000. The heavier vehicles are not allowed on local roads unless those local governments approve. More information is available at the state Department of Transportation’s Web site, accessible at Wisconsin.gov

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An Iraq war veteran pleaded innocent this morning to a homicide charge in the slaying of his wife. 30-year-old Benjamin Sebena was arraigned in Milwaukee County Circuit Court for the Christmas Eve shooting death of Wauwatosa police officer Jennifer Sebena. He appeared in court in a wheelchair with a suicide-prevention vest. Authorities said Ben Sebena ambushed the 30-year-old police officer right after she left a break area at the downtown Wauwatosa fire station while she was on solo patrol duty. She was shot five times in the head with two weapons, including her own police revolver. Ben Sebena was quoted as telling police that he was a jealous husband – but officials have not disclosed a motive for the slaying. Further proceedings in the case are scheduled March first, when a trial date could be set.

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A state appeals court nullified a restraining order today against the son of a former legislator who was told to stay away from University of Wisconsin officials and property. Jeff Decker – a son of former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker – was trying to embarrass UW officials over what he felt were illegal student fees. In 2011, Decker reportedly got upset during a meeting with the chancellor at UW-Stevens Point. Officials said he also disrupted a meeting of the university’s Board of Regents, and trespassed on UW System property. Soon after that, a judge approved the UW’s restraining order. But today, the Fourth District appellate court in Madison threw out the order. It said Decker had a legitimate right to publicly protest. The State Justice Department, which took the UW’s side in the case, did not immediately comment.

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Life-Net, which provides in-home health care, has told state officials it would close its office in Eau Claire by the end of March. The move would affect 120 employees. Life-Net also has offices in Medford and Schofield – and there was no word on whether those facilities would be affected.

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