Morning State News Briefs: Milwaukee mayor says furlough program will not reduce police service

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MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee mayor’s office says people will not notice any reduction in police service, when 1,500 officers go on three-day furloughs later this year.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke mentioned the furloughs on national TV yesterday, as a reason that people should learn how to protect themselves – and not just call 911 and wait for officers to save-the-day. Pat Curley, the chief-of-staff to Mayor Tom Barrett, said the Milwaukee Police furloughs were necessary to avoid layoffs – and to give those officers a four-percent pay raise this year. And Curley says they’re scheduled in a way that avoids any reduction in officers on the street. Meanwhile, Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says 911 should be people’s first option when crime hits. He also agreed that folks can reduce their chances of being victims by installing dead-bolt locks, alarms, and better lighting. Nehls also said his officers have more experience than Clarke’s in dealing with violent crimes. That’s because the vast majority of Milwaukee County’s land area is served by municipal police. As a result, Nehls said Milwaukee County deputies handled just 17 violent crimes in 2009-and-2010, while Dodge County had 59. Nehls says he has nothing against Clarke – but he just wanted to point out that his office has more experience in handling violent crime.

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A Wausau area man will spend just over 11-and-a-half years in prison for driving the getaway vehicle in an armed home invasion east of Hatley. 22-year-old Ademus Saechao must also spend 10 years under extended supervision once he gets out. He was found guilty last summer of seven Marathon County felony charges connected with a home robbery in August of 2011. Authorities said the victims were tied up with vacuum cords as the robbers took guns, knives, and a Samurai sword. Saechao was arrested three months later in Green Bay. Two other defendants are still facing charges in the case. 19-year-old Manuel Alonso-Bermudez of Antigo could learn today when his trial date will be. 20-year-old Joseph Rohmeyer of Wausau has a two-day trial scheduled to begin May sixth. All three faced the same seven felony counts, which include false imprisonment, armed robbery, armed burglary, and theft.

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A Racine police officer is on desk duty, after he was nabbed as part of a weekend crackdown on drunk driving in Milwaukee County. Deputies said the 40-year-old officer had a blood alcohol level of .16, twice the legal limit of point-zero-eight. He was arrested as part of a weekend patrol in which 25 other suspected drunk drivers were picked up. Racine Police said the officer was taken off active patrols and put on administrative duty while police officials investigate.

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Madison’s airport attracted its second-highest number of passengers in 2012. Over 810,000 people flew in-and-out of the Dane County Regional Airport – second only to the 847,000 who flew to-and-from Madison in 2004. Officials said last year’s traffic was up by 6.7 percent from 2011, because several airlines expanded their service. Last year’s summer traffic hit all-time highs, with monthly records set from June-through-August.

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Former state probation agent Kim Hoenisch could spend up to a year-and-a-half in prison for stealing pain-killers from offenders she supervised. The 41-year-old Hoenisch pleaded no contest yesterday to all five charges against her – three counts of drug possession, burglary, and misconduct in office. She struck a plea deal in which the state said it would seek an 18-month prison sentence and two years of extended supervision on her burglary conviction. Defense lawyer Harry Hertel made it clear that he would seek a lighter sentence. Judge Ann Knox-Bauer will have the final say when Hoenisch is sentenced. That’s scheduled for April 25th. Kim Hoenisch, wife of Marathon County Sheriff Randy Hoenisch, was fired from her state job two days before she was charged. Prosecutors said she repeatedly stole pain-killers from clients at her office, and at homes where she did not have permission to go in. Hertel told reporters that Hoenisch was battling addictions to pain-killers since the 1990’s, when she had plates and screws put in her legs to help her function. And she’s been getting both in-patient and out-patient help to get better. The attorney said her husband didn’t know about the addiction – and she hid everything from him.

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Milwaukee Police have been investigating two fatal traffic crashes within 24 hours of each other. The latest mishap occurred around 4 p.m. yesterday, when a 57-year-old Glendale woman was killed. Police said her car was going north when it rear-ended a UPS delivery truck that was legally parked on a north side street. Nobody was in the truck at the time. The car driver died at the scene. Her name was not immediately released. The crash happened about 24 hours after another fatal mishap in Milwaukee. Police said 30-year-old Mark Tyler died after his SUV struck a tree. A 31-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy both had non-life-threatening injuries.

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