Top Stories, April 19th

Child Abuse Suspect Deemed ‘Incompetent’ For Trial

4/19/12 - A Beaver Dam man said to be behind a severe case of child abuse and neglect has been found to be incompetent to stand trial. The case against Larry Hillyer was suspended yesterday after Dodge County Judge Brian Pfitzinger ordered the 44-year-old committed for treatment. Hillyer is charged with two felony charges of Child Abuse, Intentionally Causing Harm. Three children – ages 12, seven and one – were found by police who were responding to a tip from the children’s grandmother. Authorities entered the home in January and found the children starving, huddled together on a couch wrapped in blankets to keep them from freezing. The baby had bruising, and blistering consistent with burns. The oldest was found with dried eggs on his head in a room littered with food. The middle child had scrapes from reportedly being thrown down the stairs. Hillyer is not the children’s father but their mother is also charged. Police say they found Hillyer and 33-year-old Mandy Molina upstairs under a blanket, unable to comprehend questioning. Investigators say Molina turned a blind eye to the assaults of her children. Everyone in the home, though, may have fallen victim to Hillyer’s physical and psychological abuse. According to the criminal complaint, Hillyer made everyone refer to him as “god,” even police when he was questioned. The court has ordered a psychological evaluation for Molina, who entered a “not guilty” plea at arraignment last month. The children were treated at a local hospital and are with relatives.

Fall River Man Injured By Concrete Chunk

4/19/12 - A 50-year-old Fall River man remains hospitalized in serious condition, after a softball-sized piece of concrete fell through his windshield while driving on a Madison Interstate. The Dane County sheriff’s department says Kevin Droz was hit in the head by large falling rock. Deputies say they do not believe it came from an overhead bridge. Droz was going north on I-39-90 between the Highway 12 and 151 Madison exits on Tuesday when the concrete broke into his vehicle. Investigators were not able to talk to Droz who was taken to U-W Hospital in Madison. Authorities are still looking for any witnesses.

Four Months For Running For Watertown Police

4/19/12 - A Milwaukee man will spend four months in jail for running from Watertown police at a high rate of speed. Steven Bertram pleaded “guilty” to a felony count of Fleeing an Officer and had a misdemeanor Obstruction charge dismissed but read into the record. According to the criminal complaint, police stopped the 22-year-old on the Highway 16 Bypass in October for speeding. When the officer informed Bertram that he had three warrants out for his arrest, Bertram stood silent for a moment, slowly put his hands on the ignition and “slammed his car into gear.” A one-mile chase followed that reached speeds of 85mph before the officer terminated the pursuit. A citation was sent to Bertram. A passenger in the vehicle later told police that Bertram said he did not know about the warrants and did not want to get arrested and lose his job. In addition to 120 days in jail with Huber privileges, Bertram was placed on probation for three years and lost his drivers license for six months.

Milwaukee Woman Gets 11th OAR in Dodge County

4/19/12 - Dodge County Sheriffs deputies have cited a Milwaukee woman for eleventh-offense Operating After Revocation. Authorities say 29-year-old Angelina Konaha ran a stop sign on County Highway P in the Town of Rubicon around 2:30am yesterday morning. A check of her driving record shows Konaha has 29 moving violations which resulted in her being suspended or revoked a total of 26 times. In September of 2010, Konaha was classified by the Department of Transportation as a Habitual Traffic Offender and revoked her license for five-years. Fourteen days later she was caught driving. Several years ago, the state legislature decriminalized Operating After Revocation violations so people would not face incarceration. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says it is frustrating for law enforcement, who are just now starting to see the downside of the changes. Nehls says drivers continue to drive and rack up citations, refusing to pay the fines and ignoring suspension notices.

FLCI Inmate Arraigned on Escape Charge

4/19/12 - An inmate from the Fox Lake Correctional Institution entered a “not guilty” plea at arraignment Wednesday to charges that he escaped from custody. Christopher Lacourciere was free for six days last November, after he disappeared from the prison’s work farm east of Waupun. The 29-year-old was spotted on Thanksgiving Day by a Dane County sheriff's deputy on routine patrol. Lacourciere is a registered sex offender and is serving a prison term for Third-Degree Sexual Assault. He is scheduled for release next February but could have up to six years added to that sentence if found guilty. Lacourciere was also previously convicted of seven burglaries and another Escape from Custody charge back in 2006.

DCSO Investigating Two Burglaries

4/19/12 - There were two separate burglaries reported in Dodge County yesterday. According to department records, the first breaking and entering was reported just after 6pm at a residence on Highway 26 in the Town of Burnett. Guns were stolen from a cabinet inside a pole shed. The second incident was reported about a half hour later at a residence on County Trunk AY in the Town of Theresa. Jewelry and pills were among the items taken. The Dodge County Sheriffs Department detectives division is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

Kratz Files for Bankruptcy

4/19/12 - The Wisconsin prosecutor who resigned for making sexually-suggestive remarks to several women has filed for bankruptcy. Former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz listed 34 creditors in his Chapter-Seven petition. They include Robert Bellin, the lawyer who’s helping Kratz defend a federal civil rights suit against him. Federal Judge William Griesbach will hold a hearing April 27th on Bellin’s request to withdraw from the civil suit because Kratz hasn’t paid him. And that could delay a trial set for late September on allegations that Kratz violated Stephanie Van Groll’s civil rights, by sending racy text messages in 2009 while he was prosecuting her boyfriend for abusing her. Van Groll’s attorney, Michael Fox, has asked the judge to make Bellin stay on the case so the trial’s not delayed. Meanwhile, Kratz still faces a three-day hearing in June on a request by state officials to suspend his law license for six months. Kratz resigned as Calumet County’s chief prosecutor in late 2010, after former Governor Jim Doyle started proceedings to remove him. He later opened a private law practice in Kimberly. But the Appleton Post-Crescent says the firm’s phone has been disconnected and its Web site was taken off-line – and Kratz’s current address is Pompano Beach Florida.

Oshkosh Battling Record Number Of Overdose Deaths

4/19/12 - The Oshkosh area is on pace for a record number of drug overdose deaths this year. Nine people have died from overdoses of heroin and other illegal drugs since the first of the year in Winnebago County. At the current pace, the death toll will be one-and-a-half times as much as last year’s total of 24. In the last decade, Winnebago County has averaged 15-to-16 drug-related deaths each year. And authorities say the numbers would have been a lot higher, had they not intervened with medicines that counter the effects of the heroin. Sheriff John Matz said officers gave out 130 doses last year of Narcan, a drug used in treating addicts. And this year, they’ve already given out 49 doses of the antidote. Matz calls the numbers “alarming.” He said the numbers of deaths dropped last year when over 40 people were arrested in southern Winnebago County for dealing heroin and cocaine. But Matz says local officers fear that other drug dealers have moved in to fill the gap. The sheriff said crime is going up, as some drug users resort to burglaries and home invasions to get money to buy their drugs.

Appellate Court Upholds Animal Mistreatment Charge

4/19/12 - A state appeals court refused to drop a felony conviction Wednesday against a Fond du Lac area man who shot a neighbor’s dog with a high-powered pellet gun. Shawn Klingelhoets said there was no evidence that he intended to kill the animal. But the Second District Appellate Court said the intent-to-kill was not necessary to convict the man of an animal mistreatment charge in 2010. Authorities said Klingelhoets shot his neighbor’s Jack Russell terrier three times while the dog was tied to a post. The third shot hit the dog’s spinal canal – and it forced him to be euthanized.

Polls Show Fitzgerald Leads Compass

4/19/12 - A new poll shows that Republicans have big leads in three-of-the-four Wisconsin Senate recall elections in early June – and the fourth race is in a statistical dead heat. The Public Policy Polling firm says G-O-P incumbent Van Wanggaard of Racine has a 48-to-46 percent edge over former Senate Democrat John Lehman. That’s within the poll’s margin-of-error of around three-and-a-half percent. Democrats only need to win one of the four Senate contests to regain control of the upper house at least until the scheduled elections in November. In the other races, Senate G-O-P leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau leads Lori Compas 54-40. Chippewa Falls Republican Terry Moulton leads former Assembly Democrat Kristen Dexter 51-41. And Assembly Republican Jerry Petrowski of Marathon leads Wausau Assembly Democrat Donna Seidel 51-37. Petrowski is running in place of Pam Galloway, who resigned from the Senate last month.

We Energies Recognized As ‘Best Corporate Citizen’

4/19/12 - Three Wisconsin-based companies are on a national list of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens.” Johnson Controls of Glendale is Number-five in a ranking that’s put out by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. But Johnson was first a year ago. Bristol Myers-Squibb has taken the top spot. Wisconsin Energy, which owns the We Energies utility that serves portions of Dodge County, is 82nd. Milwaukee’s Manpower Incorporated is 94th. Firms are ranked according to their efforts to improve the environment, climate change, and human rights – plus their finances, employee relations, and philanthropy. Bristol-Myers is the first company to be Number-One for two years. It also headed the list in 2009, but dropped to fourth a year ago. Among other things, Johnson Controls makes batteries for electric vehicles – and they’re ranked second for their environmental concerns. They’re also tied for fifth in the human rights category.

We Energies Disconnecting Delinquents

4/19/12 - Wisconsin’s largest electric utility has started cutting off power to those behind on their bills. We Energies did not say how many customers might be subject to disconnections, after the state’s winter moratorium on shut-offs ended on Monday. We Energies serves the southern and eastern portion of Dodge County along with Metro Milwaukee and much of eastern Wisconsin. We Energies is urging those in arrears to call the utility to arrange payment plans.

Bulk Pick-Up Coming Up In Beaver Dam

4/19/12 - It’s that time of the year for Beaver Dam residents to collect their bulk garbage as one of two annual pick-ups begins on the first of the month. Director of Facilities David Stoiser has announced that bulk pick-up will begin Tuesday, May 1 and continue through Monday, May 7 for residents who receive city-provided waste collection services from Veolia. Stoiser says the collection regulations are the same as in the past. Bulk waste can be placed on the curb no sooner than 24 hours prior to each collection and by 7am on the day of pick-up. Bulk waste is defined as, but not limited to, furniture, wooden doors and windows and rolled carpet, not exceeding 4’ to 6’ in length. No metal items like bed springs, doors, windows, appliances and pipes will be collected. Also, they do not accept bundled or loose piles of lumber or building materials; those items must be broken down and placed in the weekly collection cart. The next bulk pick-up will be the first waste collection day of November.