Sunday State News Briefs: Snow conditions improving in state

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Snow may have buried much of the Northeast, but it’s just right for outdoor activities in Wisconsin.

Tourism officials say many areas of this state have good or excellent conditions for skiing, sledding, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Last week’s snowfall added inches to trails and sledding hills. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says snowmobile trails are groomed and in good to excellent condition across the northern counties and through most of the central part of the state. Trails are good to poor farther south. The biggest outdoor event of the week kicked off yesterday on Lake Winnebago with the start of the 16-day sturgeon spearing season.

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Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says it will re-file its lawsuit in state court over a law which makes doctors performing medication-induced abortions liable to possible criminal charges. The suit was originally filed in federal court. Planned Parenthood says it’s being moved due to jurisdictional issues. The state law requires doctors and patients to go through a series of steps before a woman can receive a medication abortion. The law suit argues the statute’s wording is unconstitutionally vague.

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The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department reports a deputy was setting out cones for lane closures when he was hit by a car last night at about 7 p.m. No information was given about the driver. Milwaukee police will handle the case because the accident happened inside the city limits on Interstate 43 southbound, near West Greenfield Avenue. The deputy was taken to a hospital, but a spokesperson says that was only a precaution.

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Despite the huge storm blanketing the northeastern United States with up to three feet of snow, flights at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport are almost back to normal. Thousands of flights were canceled at airports from Newark to Toronto. Service still hadn’t been restored to Boston’s Logan International until late last night. Southwest Airlines has four nonstop flights scheduled between Milwaukee and Boston today. An airline spokesperson says it’s anticipated Logan will re-open later this morning. Officials at Mitchell are urging travelers to check with their airline to make sure the flights haven’t been canceled.

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A 26 year old military police officer stationed in Washington state has been booked into the Dane County Jail. Shannon Remus was extradited last week. She is accused of helping her husband hide the body of his half-brother. Remus faces a felony charge of hiding a corpse. She waived extradition from Washington’s Pierce County after being arrested at Lewis-McChord joint military base. Her husband, 28 year old Jeffrey Vogelsberg, is accused of torturing and killing Matthew Graville last summer. Vogelsberg has told detectives he brought his wife to the secret burial site in a wooded area. She has denied being at that site.

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The Brown County Medical Examiner reports the investigation into the deaths of Michael Carroll and his wife, Kyung Ja “Kim” McCoy, indicates Carroll died of natural causes and his wife took her own life. The couple was found dead inside their home January 17th when one of Carroll’s co-workers came by to check on him. Police have said there was no sign of foul play. Carroll died as the result of a disease, then the evidence shows McCoy took an overdose of medication two days later. Blood levels of the medication were said to be too high for the overdose to have been accidental.

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