Top Stories August 27th

Dog Attack Victim Died from Blood Loss


8/27/10 - Dodge County Medical Examiner P.J. Schobel says the 4-year-old girl killed by a dog on Wednesday died due to a loss of blood. Schobel says Taylor Becker was bitten multiple times by a five-year-old boxer named Rocky. Meanwhile, Taylor’s father, Brian Becker, doesn’t blame the dog’s owner, Steve Beauprey. According to Sheriff Todd Nehls, Becker is good friends with Beauprey and doesn’t want the incident to be viewed as something that could have been avoided. The attack took place just before 1 p-m in the backyard of a home in the town of Hubbard. Nehls says their investigation into the incident continues but he doesn’t expect any charges to be filed. The dog, a boxer, is currently at the Dodge County Humane Society and will remain their on a 10-day quarantine while they perform certain tests. Nehls says the owner of the dog has told him that he would like the dog to be put down.

Robbery Suspect Dies from Gunshot Wound

8/27/10 - A Watertown man suspected in a weekend robbery died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound yesterday. 27-year-old Corey Kuehl was involved in a standoff with Waukesha police Wednesday night. Tactical officers surrounded the Extended Stay America, where Kuehl had barricaded himself in a room. Police said they had long negotiations with Kuehl before they shot tear-gas into the room. They then heard a gunshot, went in, and found Kuehl with a head wound. Kuehl was flown to Froedert Hospital where he died yesterday. Watertown Police said Kuehl was suspected of robbing the Aurora Pharmacy on Sunday. Officials say they also believe he was involved in another robbery on August sixth in Cross Plains west of Madison.

Columbia Co. Authorities Looking into Rumor

8/27/10 - Columbia County authorities are trying to find out if a man was pushed into the Wisconsin River, instead of jumping to his death on his own. Sheriff Dennis Richards said his investigators heard a rumor that 39-year-old Robert Kleist was pushed off the Highway 60 bridge at Prairie du Sac on Monday night. And officers are looking for evidence to see if that’s true. But Richards says there’s no evidence at the moment that the incident was anything more than a prank. Kleist’s body was found yesterday after an extensive search. A D-N-R warden found the body near a railroad bridge in Sauk City, about a mile-and-a-half downstream from where he went under. Kleist and two friends jumped 60 feet off the bridge. The other two made it out safely, but the sheriff said Kleist went in awkwardly and disappeared. Jennifer Leifer, one of the victim’s friends, told the Sauk-Prairie Eagle newspaper that five people had gotten together after a friend had visited from Pennsylvania. And the three men decided to jump off the bridge quote, “for old time’s sake.” She and another woman to decided to stay on the bridge. Leifer said Kleist landed on his stomach.

Unemployment Drops in July

8/27/10 - Local unemployment rates were down across the board last month. Dodge County dropped to 7.9 from 8.1% in June. Last year at this time it was at 10.4%. Fond du Lac County was down three-tenths of a percent to 7.6%. Jefferson County sits at 8.4% down from 8.6%, while Washington County dropped six-tenths to 7.3%. Columbia County was also down six-tenths of a percent to 6.9% giving it the lowest rate in the area. 63 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties saw their actual unemployment rates go down and eight saw double digit decreases from a year ago. Dane County continued to have the lowest rate at 5.5% while Menominee County has the highest rate at 18.7%. The statewide rate was 7.8-percent. That’s down three-tenths of a percent from June and more than a full percentage point lower than a year ago.

Grulke Attorney: BD Board “Deceptive and Misleading”

8/27/10 - The attorney for Cheryl Grulke says the Beaver Dam School District’s statement that settlement of two pending discrimination complaints would cost in excess of $200,000 is deceptive and misleading. Bob Shumaker says Grulke wants her job back as a high school secretary without having to interact with the people she alleges harassed her. But Shumaker says if the district wasn’t willing to do that they could also place her on paid leave until she retired, which he believes is where the board got their $200,000 figure. Grulke is alleging she was harassed and discriminated against by former high school principal Don Patnode and two others in the main office at the high school. In a press release earlier this week the district confirmed that while Grulke did file a complaint, the report about the investigation contained no evidence that supported the claims. The district says as part of the $200,000 settlement about $30,000 would have been in attorney’s fees.

Woman and Child Injured in Afternoon Accident

8/27/10 - A woman and one of her children were taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after being involved in a two-vehicle accident. It happened just after 2pm at the intersection of Shady Lane and Highway M near Juneau. Authorities say a truck driven by 22-year-old Matthew Mullin failed to yield the right away to an SUV driven by 32-year-old Sara Hendricks and the two collided. Hendricks suffered a leg injury and her 4-year-old son sustained some facial injuries. Both were taken to the hospital. Hendricks other child in the car, a baby less than a month old, was not injured. Mullin was citing for, among other charges, failing to yield causing great bodily harm.

Percentage of People Behind on Mortgages Goes Up

8/27/10 - Just over six-point-six percent of Wisconsin homeowners were behind on their mortgage payments in the second quarter of this year. That’s two-tenths of a percent higher than the first quarter – but it’s also two-tenths’ percent lower than at the same time a year ago. The figures come from the Mortgage Bankers Association, which says that about two-and-a-percent fewer Wisconsinites are behind on their mortgages than the national average of almost nine-point-four percent. Jay Brinkman of the mortgage bankers’ group says the numbers contain both good-and-bad news. The good news is that foreclosures are down, and the percentage of loans more than 90 days overdue has gone down. The bad news is that the number of mortgage loans at least 30 days overdue went up from the previous quarter – and that could lead to more foreclosures. Brinkman says the housing story is really an employment story – and the mortgage delinquency rate will improve only when there’s a consistent increase in jobs.

Frugal Wisconsinites

8/27/10 - Wisconsinites are legendary coupon clippers – and another survey confirms it. Scarborough Research says Milwaukee ranks first in the nation in the percentage of coupon use among major U-S cities. Forty-five percent of households in 10 Milwaukee area counties either clip or download coupons for groceries each week – well above the national average of 32-percent. Also, 20-percent of Milwaukee area people use non-grocery coupons at least once a week – again, much higher than the national average of 13-percent. Not surprisingly, Scarborough says the use of coupons has risen during the economic downturn.