Monday State News Briefs: State Senate hires new law firm

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MADISON - Republican state Senate leaders hired a new law firm today, after the plaintiffs in last year’s redistricting lawsuit subpoenaed Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) and other GOP officials.

Democratic and Hispanic groups want to know if majority Republicans are hiding state computers where information about the redistricting process is stored – records that were ordered to be made public by a federal court panel. The state Senate’s Organization Committee voted 3-2, with Democrats voting no, to hire the law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek – the same firm that does work for another of the defendants, the Legislative Technology Services Bureau. The Senate Republicans plan to hand the bill to taxpayers – and they did not put a limit on how much the firm will get. Taxpayers have already spent $1.9 million defending the way the GOP redrew Senate, Assembly, and congressional district boundaries in 2011.

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It appears that Wisconsin’s Secretary-of-State will lose his power to delay the start of new state laws by 10 days. The state Senate Organization Committee voted 3-2 today to advance a proposal to have the Legislative Reference Bureau publish a bill the day after it’s signed by the governor. The new law would take effect at that time, unless a specific date is placed on the measure. Secretary-of-State Doug La Follette used the obscure 10-day publication time limit in 2011 to hold up the law which virtually ended collective bargaining by most public unions. Republicans did an end run around La Follette, and had the Legislative Reference Bureau publish the union law instead. The Senate could take up the change tomorrow. It was sponsored by West Bend Republican Glenn Grothman. La Follette said the union law was the only time that the 10-day waiting period caused any controversy. He said those in power quote, “think they can rush everything through. It’s one more thing in diminishing the people’s ability to learn what’s going on.”

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A former probationary police officer in Milwaukee could be given up to 18 months in prison when she is sentenced in March. Danielle Scott was fired just two months after she graduated from the police academy. She has pleaded guilty to felony charges of failing to report information about a homicide which involved the father of her child. Twenty-four year old Russell J. Setum was shot to death last April. One of the suspects charged in the crime told police he and his co-defendants went to Scott’s home after the crime and told her what happened. Scott didn’t tell her police supervisors. She also used department computers to look up calls and incident reports to see if Nicholas Smith was a suspect. She was linked to the killing when a video showed Smith arriving at the crime scene in a car registered to Scott.

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Authorities at Pulaski High School outside Green Bay say 10 students no longer attending class there were selling prescription drugs to their classmates. One of those students left the district and the other nine were expelled. All 10 could face charges. The group included one senior, a junior and a sophomore, and seven freshmen. Police report they are recommending charges of selling narcotics at a school, with a 17 year old suspect to be charged as an adult. Superintendent Mel Lightner says students came to school administrators after overhearing two of the suspects talking about selling the pills and splitting the profits. Most of the drugs sold were prescribed for attention-deficit disorder.

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Racine police report a two year old found wandering around in the cold weather without shoes and a jacket was just trying to return home. A witness called 9-1-1 after seeing the child in a west-side neighborhood. The little boy’s mother was sleeping when he slipped away and officers say she was stunned when they confronted her about 45 minutes after the boy was found. He apparently was just trying to go back to his old apartment which was a block away. He and his mother had lived there until a few days ago. The little boy was checked out at a hospital and found to be okay, then reunited with his mother. Police and social services agents say it was just an unusual incident.

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President Obama says he wants Oak Creek Police to help urge Congress to approve gun control. Obama made the request today to the police chiefs of Oak Creek, Newtown Connecticut, and Aurora Colorado – all of which had mass shootings in 2012. They met with the president at the White House, along with the Major Police Chiefs and Major County Sheriffs’ associations and Cabinet members. Obama said no group is more important than law enforcement in the debate over gun control. He said the issue quote, “elicits a lot of passion from all across the country.” But Obama claimed that Congress would pay attention to police. The president wants lawmakers to ban assault weapons, limit high-capacity magazines, and adopt universal background checks for all gun buyers – including those at gun shows and private sales.

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A southeast Wisconsin lawyer has been suspended for six months, for not doing enough to represent seven clients in civil cases. Everett Wood of Hubertus had never been disciplined until now. The State Supreme Court approved the punishment. And the justices told Wood to pay 20-thousand dollars for the state’s cost of handling the case against him. The justices said they agreed with a judicial referee, who noted that Wood failed to be diligent in acting on clients’ cases – and then did not communicate well when questioned by those clients. The referee said several clients lost patience and reported Wood to the state’s Office of Lawyer Regulation – and Wood later failed to cooperate with the office in some matters.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control say at least 16 people in five states have gotten sick from salmonella linked to ground beef that was recalled last week. Most of the illnesses have been in Michigan, where the beef was made – but there have been scattered illnesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Arizona. Seven of the 16 victims ate a ground beef dish called kibbeh at a suburban Detroit restaurant. That spurred warnings which discouraged consumers from eating uncooked meat. The cases were linked to a recall of over a-thousand pounds of ground beef from two businesses in Michigan – Jouni Meats and Gab Halal Foods.

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Special interests who support a new mine for northern Wisconsin have donated $610-dollars to state political campaigns for every one-dollar given by mining opponents. That’s what the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said today. The watchdog group said those backing the proposed iron ore mine gave over 15-million dollars to Governor Scott Walker and lawmakers from 2010 through June of last year. Environmental groups that oppose the mine gave just $25,000 in almost an identical time period. The Republican Walker’s campaign received over $11-million from mining supporters, while lawmakers got just over four-million. Walker has campaigned around the state in support of relaxed mining laws and shorter time limits for approving Gogebic Taconite’s request for a new iron ore mine in Ashland and Iron counties. The Democracy campaign said the construction industry gave the most – over four-million dollars to mining supporters. Republican finance co-chair Alberta Darling received the most from supporters among legislators – just over $467,000.

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A court hearing this week will decide whether a 14-year-old boy will be tried as a juvenile instead of an adult in the brutal murder of a Sheboygan Falls woman. The boy currently faces life in prison on an adult homicide charge – but if he’s moved to juvenile court, he could face delinquency that would let him go free at age 25. He and 14-year-old Antonio Barbeau are accused of using a hammer and a hatchet to kill Barbeau’s great-grandmother, 78-year-old Barbara Olsen, at her home last September. Authorities said they also ransacked her house for money, and used it afterward to buy marijuana and pizza. Barbeau’s lawyer has decided that his client would not meet the threshold for being tried as a juvenile – and he has pleaded innocent-by-insanity to his adult homicide charge. If found insane, Barbeau would be treated indefinitely at a mental institution. The other boy’s defense lawyer would have to prove that the teen would benefit from treatment that he couldn’t get in an adult prison. A hearing on that issue is set for tomorrow and Wednesday. For now, both boys are scheduled to go on trial in early March.

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Four drunk drivers in northeast Wisconsin have failed to get their penalties reduced, by claiming that a first-time OWI ticket should not be held against them for subsequent violations. The Third District Appeals Court in Wausau issued the ruling in similar cases that were consolidated from Brown, Outagamie, and Shawano counties. The four defendants claimed that since first-time OWI is a simple citation, there’s not enough proof to hold the first conviction against them for subsequent drunk driving convictions – and therefore, they said their penalties should be reduced. The appellate judges said the courts have upheld Wisconsin’s graduated OWI penalties several times over the years. And Appellate Judge Mark Mangerson added that it would not be the smartest defense to take to a jury. He said that by obligating the state to prove guilt in two offenses at the same time, a defendant risks being convicted quote, “simply because the jury views him as a bad person.”

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An Appleton area company that provides school supplies and products to the pre-kindergarten market has filed for Chapter-11 bankruptcy. School Specialty Incorporated of Greenville said this morning it would sell its assets – and the investment firm of Bayside Capital has agreed to be the first bidder. The firm could go to a higher bidder if a court allows it. And in the meantime, the company expects to keep operating as normal. Reuters News Service said School Specialty lost money in the last six months, partially because of the seasonal nature of providing equipment and supplies to those pre-kindergarten schools. Also, Reuters said the firm depended on local-and-state school aids, which have taken a large hit ever since the Great Recession began in earnest in late 2008. In a bankruptcy filing in Delaware, School Speciality said it had almost $500-million in assets, and close to 400-thousand in debts. Reports said the company’s board has agreed to borrow up to $175 million to keep operating through its bankruptcy process. And an affiliate of Bayside Capital is committing 50-million dollars of debtor-in-possessing financing. A New York bank is School Specialty’s largest unsecured creditor, with 157-million dollars due. The firm that makes Crayola crayons is owed just over four-million. School Specialty says it could take up to three months to complete a sale.

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Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke went on national TV this morning to defend his recent radio ad that encouraged people to learn how to use guns to protect themselves. On CNN’s “Starting Point,” host Soledad O’Brien said the ad was “kind of scary,” and she asked if the goal was for everybody to run out and buy guns. Clarke said the criminals are the only scary things – and with fewer officers on the streets, he said he just wanted to give people options to save themselves. Speaking from a convention in California, the Milwaukee sheriff said he had to lay off 42 people last year, and he was left with 350 sworn officers. He also said 1,500 Milwaukee police officers are each getting three-day furloughs this year. And while that happens, Clarke said “The crime continues to go on. At some point, there is a breaking point.” Clarke’s ad said people can no longer sit back and wait for officers to save them after they call 911. O’Brien told Clarke that many law enforcement officials believe the real danger is having so many armed citizens who are not well-trained. She cited the police chief in Chicago who called it a “recipe for disaster.” Clarke said, quote, “I trust law-abiding citizens. The people who scare me are the criminal elements.” And he said he would not be putting more guns on the street because quote, “The guns are already there.”

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Students at Fond du Lac High School hope to break a world record with a food drive in May. The youngsters are organizing what’s called the “Food for Freedom” drive on the first two days of Memorial Day Weekend, May 25th and 26th, at Fond du Lac High. Organizers hope to break the mark for the most food collected at a single location in a 24-hour period. The current record is just under 560,000 pounds. Volunteers from throughout the Fox Valley and eastern Wisconsin plan to help, ranging as far north as the Green Bay area. Meanwhile, 14 Fond du Lac area churches, a Christian school, and a youth group in Fond du Lac helped kids from Union Grove pack boxes of food over the past weekend. That was part of a program called “Feed My Starving Children.” About 600 volunteers packed 125-thousand meals over two days at Fond du Lac’s Army Reserve Center. And they raised over 30-thousand dollars to buy food for the needy. The food packs will be sent to one of over 70 nations served by the Starving Children program.

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A handful of Wisconsin school districts were closed today, and dozens of schools opened two hours late, in the wake of the snow-and-ice storm the state had yesterday. In Crawford County, the De Soto and North Crawford schools are both closed. De Soto had a-third-of-an-inch of rain to go with two-tenths-of-an-inch of snow-and-sleet. New Glarus schools are also closed, along with Onalaska Luther High School just north of La Crosse. Much of the western half of Wisconsin had a mix of snow and freezing rain yesterday. Rice Lake had the most snow in the state with just over five-inches. The largest electric utilities in western Wisconsin report only a handful of power outages this morning. Much of eastern Wisconsin had all snow. Lena and Tigerton had the most with four-inches. Some parts of the state are expected to get a little more drizzle or freezing drizzle this morning. Rain-and-sleet are in the forecast tonight and early tomorrow. Highs are expected to reach the upper-30’s statewide today, and the 40’s tomorrow before a new blast of Arctic air is due in on Wednesday.

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A Milwaukee public works official is the new chairman of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board. The seven-member panel has elected Preston Cole to replace Dave Clausen of Amery. The 51-year-old Cole is the operations director for the Milwaukee Public Works Department. He has also served as Milwaukee’s city forester and environmental services superintendent. Cole was appointed to the board in 2007 by former Governor Jim Doyle. His six-year term is up this year, and Governor Scott Walker will either re-appoint him or name somebody new. Cole says the board is working with DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp to re-shape the DNR as a less bureaucratic agency. The department is in the midst of reviewing 37-hundred pages of administrative rules, and Cole says the goal is to keep protecting the environment and public health without putting a heavy burden on small businesses.

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Two people were injured after they stopped to help victims of a traffic crash near Green Bay, and they fell off an overpass where the mishap occurred. It happened about 12:10 yesterday morning on Highway 172 at Lime Kiln Road in Bellevue. Brown County authorities said a car and an SUV were going west when they collided – and two people saw the crash and stopped to help people in the SUV. A mini-van came along and hit the SUV, and the two Good Samaritans fell from the overpass and into a ditch. Officials said one had serious injuries, while the other had non-life-threatening injuries. Three others in the SUV and the mini-van were treated at hospitals and later released. Two people in the car that was involved in the original crash were not hurt. An investigation continues. Brown County officials say alcohol does not appear to be a factor.

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Fire heavily damaged a central Wisconsin tavern. The Flume Creek Bar in Rosholt started burning around 3:30 yesterday morning, an-hour-and-a-half after the Saturday night crowd left. Rosholt is northeast of Stevens Point, and fire-fighters from both communities helped put out the blaze. Rosholt Fire Chief Chris Kluck said it started in the kitchen area, near a large exhaust fan. The wooden structure is still standing – but the roof, the interior, and a kitchen wall are heavily damaged. No one was in the bar at the time.

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The head of the state board that disciplines Wisconsin doctors says his panel does not have the money or the resources to revoke or strongly suspend medical licenses. Sheldon Wasserman of the State Medical Examining Board made the remark, after the Wisconsin State Journal found that over half of 218 doctors disciplined got just reprimands. And at least 50 of the reprimands were for cases in which patients died or were harmed. The figures are from the last three years. Examining Board officials have long contended that their main goal is to rehabilitate doctors instead of punishing them. Wasserman says that’s still true. And he says the board is held back from stricter punishment by limited funds, and sometimes limited authority. The Public Citizen watchdog group notes that Wisconsin has long been near the bottom in doctor discipline. The group rates the Badger State 46th over the past three years, up from 49th. Doctor Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen calls reprimands “slaps on the wrist.” He says they have no effect on a doctor’s practice. But former Examining Board chairman Gene Musser disagrees. He says all of Wisconsin’s doctors are informed about reprimands, and prospective employers and the public can find out about them, too. He says the reprimanding process quote, “really wakes them up.”

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An assistant police chief in Milwaukee starts a high-ranking position today in the state Justice Department. Patrick Mitchell becomes the new deputy administrator of the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation. He joined the Milwaukee police force in 1985 as an officer. He had been an assistant chief under Ed Flynn for about a year-and-a-half. Mitchell replaces Dave Matthews, who was promoted in October to a division.

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A gun show near Wausau attracted three times as many people as a year ago, as customers buy weapons they fear will be banned soon. Over two-thousand people showed up for the weekend gun show at the Cedar Creek mall – and sporting rifles that normally sell for $900-dollars were going for over two-thousand dollars each. Suppliers say they’ve had trouble keeping up with the demand, both before-and-after Obama proposed a ban on assault rifles and a uniform background check for all gun buyers – including private sales and those at gun shows for the first time.

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The number of Wisconsinites resorting to bankruptcy continues to go down, as the economy keeps slowly improving. According to federal court records, just over 25-thousand state residents filed for bankruptcy last year. That’s down seven-percent from the nearly 27,000 who sought protections in 2011. Attorneys agree that falling unemployment is the biggest reason for the drop in bankruptcies, but there’s another side to that. Milwaukee attorney James Miller says people who’ve been out of work for months are filing for bankruptcy so the wages from their new jobs don’t get garnished to pay old bills. Also, Milwaukee lawyer David Leibowitz said many people are getting lower-level jobs than they had previously – and they cannot afford the same standard of living they had in the past, when many carried lots of debt. About three-fourths of all Wisconsin bankruptcies are the Chapter-Seven kind that wipes out things like medical bills and credit card debt.

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