Top Stories March 16th

Record Heat Possible Again

3/16/12 - Wisconsin could see record high temperatures for a third straight day. Just like Wednesday, Juneau hit 75-degrees yesterday, breaking the nearly 30-year-old record for the day of 65-degrees. Today we’re looking for highs in the low to mid-70’s, which would crack the record of 66-degrees set in 2003. Unfortunately, the forecast is also calling for possible thunderstorms today, tomorrow and again on Monday.

Unemployment Down Over Past Year, Up from December.

3/16/12 - Nearly every county in Wisconsin saw a drop in their unemployment rate over the past year as of January. The Department of Workforce Development called the decline encouraging, while also noting the fact that the January 2012 numbers were up sharply from December. DWD Secretary Reggie Newson said the numbers aren’t seasonally adjusted and said the rate jump is a normal occurrence each January. In Dodge County, the jobless rate jumped 1.1% in January to 7.9%. But that was 1.2-% lower than January of 2011. Washington and Fond du Lac counties each saw a full-percent jump to 7.2%. But they were also both down more than a percent from last year at the same time. Jefferson County had the biggest local increase going up 1.3% to 8.3%. Still, that was 1.2% lower than January 2011. Columbia County was at 7.8%, up 1.1-percent from December but a full percentage point down from last year. The lowest jobless rate was seen in Dane County at 4.9-percent. Door County had the highest rate at 13.5-percent.

Kaiser Waives Prelim

3/16/12 - The suspect in last July’s armed robbery of the Shell Travel Mart in Beaver Dam waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday. 32-year-old Josiah Kaiser is charged with Armed Robbery with the Threat of Force. Kaiser is accused of brandishing a handgun during the robbery and a firearm was among the items taken as evidence and sent to the State Crime Lab for investigation. An arraignment hearing will be held next month. Kaiser is being held on a $20,000 cash bond.

Warrant Issued for Alleged Lookout

3/16/12 - An arrest warrant has been issued for a Watertown man accused of acting as the lookout in the armed burglary of Martin Motors. 18-year-old Mark Humfleet failed to appear for a preliminary hearing on charges of being a party to a crime of Burglary and Theft. A window was broken on January 26 to gain access to the Watertown car dealership. Authorities say Humfleet served as the lookout while another man ransacked the office, stealing around $20 in cash an iPod and a 22-caliber handgun. The handgun was allegedly found in Humfleet’s possession. Shoe prints at the scene matched the shoes he was wearing during questioning and after investigators noted the similarity he reportedly connected the stolen gun to Humfleet, who is also accused of filing down the serial number on the weapon. The other suspect allegedly burglarized the dealership on the same day he was to be sentenced for an unrelated burglary. Humfleet forfeited a $1000 signature bond.

Fire Cause Listed as Undetermined

3/16/12 - Officials are listing the cause of a fire that destroyed a barn in the Town of Lowell as “undetermined.” Firefighters responded to N1350 South Kohn Road just before 11pm Wednesday night. It was reported by the grandson of the property owner after he heard the crackling of the flames. The barn was fully involved when crews arrived on scene. The barn was located in the Reeseville Fire District and Fire Chief Dave Snow says it was a total loss and investigators were unable to determine how it started. Siding on the nearby house melted. There were no injuries and no animals inside the barn. Farming equipment inside the structure was destroyed and there was a lot of hay, which kept crews on scene for close to 12-hours. Reeseville received mutual assistance Lowell, Clyman, Juneau, Beaver Dam, Columbus, Waterloo and Watertown.

Senate Closes Out “Historic” Session

3/16/12 - State senators closed out their two-year session yesterday with a 52-minute meeting, much of which was a debate over what they did over the past 15 months. Republican Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald called the session historic. And he again defended the law which stripped public employees of most of their collective bargaining. He said the G-O-P had to make the changes to get rid of the state’s massive budget deficit, and help communities deal with the losses of millions in state aid. In Fitzgerald’s words, “I’m more confident than ever that we made the right choice.” But Green Bay Democrat Dave Hansen said the budget problems could have been solved without quote, “stripping away the rights of nearly 200-thousand workers.” Fitzgerald and three other senators will start campaigning to keep their jobs in recall elections set for May and June.

Assembly Debate Gets Heated

3/16/12 - After hours of debate, the Wisconsin Assembly passed an education reform bill and tougher standards for abortion doctors last night, as the two-year session dragged toward an end. The abortion debate went on for two-and-a-half hours before the Assembly voted 60-to-33 to require doctors to consult with women in-person instead of using Webcams – and to give physicals to all abortion candidates. The education reform package was approved 80-to-14. Among other things, teachers and principals will start being evaluated in part on their students’ test scores. And kindergarteners must get screening exams before starting school. Tensions were high on the Assembly side, as police removed demonstrators twice from the gallery – and protestors blew horns at lawmakers from outside the chamber. Both bills were sent to Governor Scott Walker.

Couple Accused of Child Abuse Back In Court

3/16/12 - A Madison couple is due back in court this afternoon, on charges that they starved the man’s 15-year-old daughter and cooped her up in a basement for years. A preliminary hearing will take place in Dane County Circuit Court, where a judge will decide if the 40-year-old man and his 42-year-old wife should go on trial for a pair of felony counts. The hearing was supposed to be held on Tuesday, but the state’s chief witness had to stay home with a sick child. Doctor Barbara Knox will testify today. She examined the girl after she ran out of her house in pajamas in mid-February, and was found by a man who called 9-1-1. The girl weighed only 70 pounds – a normal weight for a child half her age – and Knox described her as the victim of quote, “serial child torture with prolonged exposure to definite starvation.” The father’s attorney has questioned the girl’s story.

Judge Refuses to Re-instate Voter ID Law

3/16/12 - State Republicans and the Justice Department suffered a legal defeat Thursday afternoon when a judge in Madison refused to re-instate Wisconsin’s voter I-D law. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan rejected the state’s request to toss out a preliminary injunction from last week. It put the photo I-D requirement of the law on hold, until a trial could be held in mid-April in a lawsuit from the N-Double-A-C-P and the Milwaukee Hispanic group Voces de la Frontera. The state almost immediately appealed the judge’s ruling to the Second District Court of Appeals in Waukesha. The state has said Wisconsin’s law is just like the one in Indiana that the U-S Supreme Court upheld. But Flanagan said Indiana’s law was based on protections under the U-S Constitution – while the Wisconsin lawsuit was based on broader protections for voters outlined in the state Constitution. The state also argued that suspending the I-D law would cause confusion by local government clerks in the April third elections. But Flanagan said that doesn’t rise to the level of irreparable harm which is needed to overturn the preliminary injunction. Meanwhile, a state appeal is pending in a second lawsuit against the I-D law, filed by the League of Women Voters. A permanent injunction against photo I-D mandate was granted in that case last week.