Top Stories January 12th

Area Under Winter Weather Advisory until Friday Morning

1/12/12 - Wisconsin's first big snowstorm of 2012 is underway. We are under a winter weather advisory from 9am this (Thursday) morning to 9am tomorrow (Friday) morning. It was already snowing overnight in most of the northern, central, and western parts of the Badger State. Hayward had almost two-inches by late last night. Hurley is expected to get a foot of snow by the time the storm leaves tomorrow. Other parts of the far north could get 6-to-10 inches. Around here we’re expecting three to four inches today and an additional two to four inches tonight for a total of five to eight inches. Parts of the state had wind gusts up to 25-miles-an-hour during the night. And stronger winds are expected today, with blowing-and-drifting snow in the forecast this afternoon in eastern and southern Wisconsin. Colder temperatures will follow. Lows in the single digits and teens are expected by this time tomorrow. Yesterday, Juneau had 50 degrees, which broke a 37-year-old record high for the date.

Davis Sentenced in Armed Robbery

1/12/12 - An Oconomowoc man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in an armed invasion of a home in Watertown. Lawrence Davis was convicted in September of Armed Robbery, Armed Burglary and nine counts of False Imprisonment. According to prosecutors, Davis and a second man armed themselves with a pellet gun and an ax handle, donned masks and forced their way into a residence. While there Davis struck several people with the ax handle and restrained the nine victims while he and his accomplice searched for the residence for valuables. They were eventually chased from the home after some of victims recognized one of the robber’s voices. In addition to the prison time Davis will spend five years on extended supervision.

FDL Police Say Woman Tried Killing Herself and Daughter

1/12/12 - Fond du Lac Police say a woman tried to kill herself and her six-year-old daughter by injecting medicines, and then pointed a butcher knife at her sleeping boyfriend. The 28-year-old man woke up to find the knife at his chest. Police said he wrestled the knife away from the 25-year-old woman, and called 9-1-1. The incident happened last Thursday. Police arrested the woman and held her in protective custody until yesterday, when they sent her to jail. She now faces possible charges of attempted homicide and reckless endangerment. Officials are not saying whether the woman tried to killed the boyfriend. She reportedly told police she tried to kill herself and the child so they could stay together. Officials said the girl was fed a dozen sleeping pills, and she would have died had she not been treated when she was. She was eventually taken to Milwaukee Children's Hospital. The man suffered minor cuts from the knife.

Write-in Candidate Files for Beaver Dam School Board

1/12/12 - A Beaver Dam man says he will run as a write-in candidate for school board. John Kraus Junior formally submitted the necessary papers with the Beaver Dam School District to run for one of the vacant seats on the board. Three seats are up for reelection in April and two incumbents, Marge Jorgensen and Gary Spielman, are running again. But current member Dan Feuling is not seeking another term and Kraus would likely take his place at the table if no one else attempts to run as a write-in.

Brother of Steven Avery Facing Charges

1/12/12 - A brother of one of Wisconsin’s most notorious criminals is facing sex-related charges of his own. 41-year-old Earl Avery of Whitelaw is free on a signature bond, after he was charged in Manitowoc County with two felony counts of capturing nude images. Earl Avery is the brother of Steven Avery, who’s serving life in prison for killing Teresa Halbach after he had served 18 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. Earl Avery was charged last month. Prosecutors said he put up a video camera in a changing room at his home during a swimming party in July of last year. Those video-taped were as young as three. Authorities said Avery’s wife called them after she found the videos – and he later admitted his actions to investigators. Earl Avery is scheduled to return to court January 30th to complete his initial appearance.

Bauman Sentenced to Probation

1/12/12 - A Waterford woman will spend a year on probation for trying to smuggle tobacco into the Fox Lake Correctional Institution. Kimberly Bauman pleaded “no contest” to reduced misdemeanor charges of Disorderly Conduct. Authorities say the 29-year-old was caught passing a quart-size baggie half-full of tobacco to an inmate during an embrace at the institution in October.

Fritsche Elected to Sit on Board of WCCEA

1/12/12 - The Executive Director of the Beaver Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will be serving on the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Executives Association. Phil Fritsche was elected to serve on the 14-member board that is tasked with training and supporting Wisconsin chamber executives as they promote and enhance the economies of communities around the state. Van Nutt, executive director of the Middleton Chamber of Commerce, has been elected to serve as president.

Democrats Using Embezzlement Scandal to Raise Money

1/12/12 - Wisconsin Democrats are using the criminal cases against two former Scott Walker aides to raise money to try and recall the Republican governor. State Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate put out an e-mail yesterday urging supporters to donate 10-dollars to quote, "expose Scott Walker's latest scandal involving more than 60-thousand-dollars that was stolen from military veterans and their families." Tate said he'd like the donations by Tuesday, the next deadline for filing campaign finance reports. Two of Walker's former Milwaukee County aides, Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh, were charged last week with embezzling money from an annual appreciation event for veterans at the county zoo. Walker said it was his office that initially took the matter to prosecutors -- and he hoped it wouldn't affect the current effort to recall him from the governor's office. Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski defends his party's effort to take advantage of the case, even though it doesn't touch Walker directly. State G-O-P director Stephan Thompson would not comment on it.

Legislator Wants Justice Gableman Removed from the Bench

1/12/12 - A Democratic lawmaker wants to remove State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. Representative Kelda Helen Roys of Madison has asked her colleagues to co-sign a resolution to remove Gableman before the Assembly goes back into session in about a week. Roys, an attorney who’s running for the U-S House this fall, said Gableman broke a state law that prohibits public officials from taking anything-of-value from outside interests in their course of their duties. And Roys said Gableman also broke the state’s judicial ethics code by taking free legal services. The Assembly’s G-O-P majority dismissed Roys’ resolution. Spokesman John Jagler of Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald’s office said the measure was quote, “nothing but a political stunt not worthy of comment.” The law firm of Michael Best and Friedrich told the Supreme Court last month that Gableman never paid for legal services he received. The firm represented the justice during an ethics probe connected with a T-V commercial he ran during his 2008 election campaign. On a tie vote, the Court ruled in 2010 that Gableman did not violate the judicial ethics code with his ad. Gableman’s lawyer said the arrangement for the legal services did not break state laws.

Panel Looks to Eliminating Financial Waste and Fraud

1/12/12 - A bipartisan panel appointed by the governor says Wisconsin could save as much as a half-billion dollars in taxpayer money by eliminating waste and fraud. That panel took a close look at reducing state spending. Among its recommendations were managing overtime costs, going after people who don’t pay their taxes and eliminating fraud and abuse in public service programs offered by the state of Wisconsin.

Jobs Possibly Coming to Sheboygan County

1/12/12 - The Kohler Company says it would close a plant in Arkansas that makes water faucets – and it will move some of the work to its home base in Sheboygan County. About 80 employees will be affected when their plant in Malvern Arkansas shuts down. Most will be offered jobs at a Kohler plant 25 miles away in Sheridan Arkansas. An unspecified number of jobs will be added at Kohler Wisconsin, once a machining and brazing operation is moved there. Kohler’s worldwide president for faucets, Jeff Mueller, says the rough economy has hurt the demand for kitchen-and-bath fixtures. And he says the Malvern plant has been under-used.

Steven Point Company Moving Jobs Out of State

1/12/12 - A medical products’ company in Stevens Point says it will move most of its manufacturing work out of Wisconsin. Joerns Health-care says it will spread its current Stevens Point operations to other facilities it owns in Matamoros Mexico, Arlington Texas, and Duman Arkansas. The move will take place over the next 6-to-12 months, and will leave about 200 people without jobs. Stevens Point officials are upset. Mayor Andrew Halverson says the city and the state offered millions-of-dollars in incentives to get Joerns Health-care to stay.

New Miss America to be Crowned this Weekend

1/12/12 - A new Miss America will be crowned on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and Wisconsin’s entry has an early jump on the others. Kenosha native Laura Kaeppeler won the first round of the talent competition as an opera singer. She won a two-thousand dollar scholarship for her performance of “Il Bacio.” Talent covers 35-percent of a contestant’s preliminary score. Kaeppeler won the Miss Wisconsin title last summer as Miss Southern Wisconsin. Miss Utah, Danica Olsen, earned a one-thousand-dollar scholarship for her swimsuit entry in the lifestyle-and-fitness category. That represents 15-percent of the total score. Two more winners in each group will be selected during the next two evenings.