Top Stories November 13th

WI Not Alone in Recalling Lawmakers

11/13/11 - Wisconsin was not the only place where state legislators were recalled this year. According to voter analyst Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, four lawmakers around the country have been recalled in 2011, and seven others survived challenges. That’s 11 total recall elections – more than in the last 11 years combined, and by far the most in any year since at least 1910. One legislator apiece was voted out this week in Michigan and Arizona. Michigan education committee chairman Paul Scott lost his seat for pushing cuts in education and teacher tenure. Gilbert said it was regarded as the type of anti-union legislation that cost Wisconsin Republican Senators Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke their jobs. Also, Arizona G-O-P Senate President Russell Pearce was replaced by another Republican. There, the issue was Pearce’s support for Arizona’s strong immigration law. Josh Spivak of the Recall Elections Blog says changes in technology make it much easier than before to recall public officials. He said computers have turned state issues into national referendums – and the increasingly polarized politics have also been a factor. And Spivak said the trend will continue, despite efforts by lawmakers to stop it. He said voters are not feeling “recall fatigue.” But the Journal Sentinel’s Gilbert pointed to a poll last month from the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, which said 52-percent of those surveyed said recalls were negative, and 42-percent said they were good. The poll came amid early discussions of a drive to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker early next year – and possible some state senators as well.

Mock Election to Held on UW-Campus

11/13/11 - The Madison City Clerk’s office will hold a mock election on Tuesday at U-W campus. It’s a test of Wisconsin’s new voter I-D law, and it will determine how many students have the proper I-D’s to use when voting. Students can use their campus I-D’s if they have their photos-and-signatures, but they expire within two years. Many school I-D’s are good for 4-to-5 years, so the Government Accountability Board has approved the applying of 2-year stickers that would verify campus I-D’s to election officials. But there’s a chance that Republican lawmakers will get Governor Scott Walker to strike that down. The G-O-P says it’s concerned that the stickers would invite voter fraud, but Democrats say Republicans are only trying to discourage college students from voting. Students can also use driver’s licenses and state-approved I-D cards at the polls. And what will they be voting on next Tuesday? Their favorite brand of ice cream at the U-W’s Babcock Hall – and their favorite song by the Badgers’ marching band.

Tax Increase on Cigarettes Not Having the Wanted Effect

11/13/11 - Wisconsin officials were hoping that two large increases in the cigarette tax would get adult smokers to quit – but instead, they appear to be just cutting down. The U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average price of cigarettes has gone up 50-percent nationally, and sales are down 23-percent since 2007. But the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says the percentage of adults who admit smoking has remained the same at about 20-percent. Wisconsin is just a tad below that at 19-percent, about the same as in recent years. But the Badger State did drop from having the 25th-lowest smoking rate in 2007 to the 35th-lowest now. That appears be due to a drop in teen smokers. In January, the American Lung Association said 11-thousand fewer Wisconsin high school students were smoking last year than in 2008. But Danny McGoldrick of the Tobacco-Free Kids’ campaign says many adult smokers appear to be adjusting their habits to their pocketbooks instead of quitting. He praised Wisconsin for its cigarette tax hikes, and its 2010 law which banned smoking in workplaces. But McGoldrick criticized the state’s decision to cut the amount spent on encouraging smokers to stop – or not start in the first place. The Lung Association said Wisconsin’s tobacco prevention and cessation efforts were slashed from 21-million dollars in 2000 to seven-million last year. McGoldrick calls that “penny wise and pound foolish.” Meanwhile, Marshfield Clinic oncologist Adedayo Ontillo say smokers are deceiving themselves if they think can cut down and avoid getting lung cancer. He says the only way to eliminate the risk is to quit – and even then, a smoker could still be a risk for related diseases for up to 15 years after kicking the habit.

Kohl Representative in Dodge County this Week

11/13/11 - A representative for Senator Herb Kohl will be in Dodge County later this week. Marlene Mielke, Kohl’s regional representative, will be available to meet with constituents at the Dodge County Administration Building in Juneau this coming Friday, November 18 from 11am until noon. Kohl says people should meet with Mielke if they are having a problem with a federal program or agency, or have an opinion on an issue before Congress. No appointment is necessary. Mielke can also be contacted at Kohl’s regional office in Appleton. Kohl’s regional office is located at 4321 West College Avenue, Suite 370, in Appleton, WI 54914. The telephone number is (920) 738-1640 and email address is marlene_mielke@kohl.senate.gov.

UW Can Move Ahead With Expanding Broadband

11/13/11 - A Dane County Circuit Judge rejects a challenge to efforts by the University of Wisconsin System to expand broadband capabilities to rural areas of the state.  The Wisconsin Independent Telecommunications Systems filed a lawsuit last July contending state law prohibits such competition with the private sector.  Judge Peter Anderson disagreed in a verbal ruling yesterday in Madison.  The UW System wants to fund fiber optic cables to provide broadband access for schools, hospitals and emergency services in Chippewa, Eau Claire, Douglas, Dunn, Grant, Marathon and Menominee counties.

Mudslide Shouldn’t Cause Health Issues

11/13/11 - The state D-N-R says the mudslide that dumped debris and coal-ash in and near Lake Michigan at Oak Creek should not affect people’s health, and it will have a very limited environmental effect. Officials said the coal ash had elevated levels of several chemicals – but they’re confined to areas where people cannot go, and they can be safely disposed of. The D-N-R said it based its conclusions on its own tests, and a report by the federal E-P-A which said there were slightly-excessive amounts of arsenic and chromium in the coal-ash. Water samples turned up high levels of iron and aluminum – and the sediment that was tested had high amounts of nickel, arsenic, and iron. Coal ash contains several types of chemicals. And in that specific kind of waste, the chemicals are considered hazardous. The mudslide occurred on Halloween when part of a bluff collapsed at the We Energies’ power plant in Oak Creek. It spilled coal ash buried since the 1950’s, and it sent construction equipment and several vehicles into Lake Michigan and the shoreline. The equipment was being used to build a pollution control facility for the power plant. Officials say much of the spilled liquid has been skimmed off the lake, and vehicles stuck in the water will be removed this coming week.

Priest Released into Halfway House

11/13/11 - A former priest is living in a halfway house in Appleton after serving a little over half of his 15-year prison term on a child sexual assault conviction.  John Patrick Feeney had reached his mandatory release date earlier this month.   The 84 year old Feeney was convicted in 2004 of the sexual assaults on brother Troy and Todd Merryfield when Feeney was working at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Freedom.  The crime happened in 1978.  The Merryfield brother filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Green Bay three years ago.  The case is to go to trial next May.

Prosecutors Bring Rape Charges in Cold Case

11/13/11 - Police say DNA evidence links 55 year old Roman Zareczny to three rape cases from 1989.  He has been referred to the Outagamie County district attorney’s office for charges in the sexual assaults of girls 11 and 12 years old at the time.  He also accused of raping a woman 22 years ago, but he won’t be charged in that case because the statute of limitations has passed.  Zareczny was in the Outagamie County Jail when the connection was made.  He was convicted last June on several felony charges, including fraud, forgery and making false insurance claims.  His felony conviction required him to submit a DNA sample.  A month later, the state Crime Lab told police his sample linked him to the rape cases.

MKE Sherriff Being Sued by Employee

11/13/11 - Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has been sued by one of his sergeants. Rich Graber said his constitutional rights were violated, and he claimed he was showered with profanity in a meeting about an overtime dispute and was later suspended. Graber filed his suit in federal court against Clarke and deputy sheriff’s inspector Edward Bailey. The dispute involved overtime Graber said was owed to deputies who guarded a downtown parking garage where a concrete panel fell and killed a 15-year-old boy in June of last year. In his suit, Graber said the sheriff repeatedly used expletives against him, and called him a “terrorist.” And Graber quoted Clarke as saying, “I have a dead child at the lakefront and you are questioning mandatory overtime.” Graber filed a complaint with the state over what he called a “counseling session” by the sheriff and Bailey – and he won the complaint recently. Also, Graber accused the sheriff of violating his free speech rights when Clarke suspended the sergeant for seven days for another incident. Clarke has not commented on the lawsuit.