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6/18/2013
A body pulled from the Chippewa River belonged to a missing UW-Eau Claire student. The UW-Police Department confirmed the body as 20-year-old David Rogers of Northfield Minnesota. Canoeists spotted the body near the Short Street Bridge just before 6pm Monday. Rogers disappeared April 19th, and matched the description of a man witnesses say fell into the river from the campus footbridge.
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6/18/2013
Deputies say an Altoona man charged with murder told them he was sorry for what he did, but that, "She did something stupid." 41-year-old Ying Xiong is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 35-year-old Panhia Vue. He made his initial appearance in Eau Claire County circuit court this morning. Xiong appeared via video conferencing from the jail, along with a public defender and an interpreter. Xiong and Vue both lived at 1220 10th Street West in Altoona, and investigators say they were a couple with domestic issues. According to the criminal complaint, Vue was last seen alive late Sunday, June 9th at their home. Her body was discovered in a shed at the home last Tuesday. There were burns to the upper torso, and an autopsy revealed Vue had been strangled. Xiong had left the home that morning, switched vehicles and driven to Marathon County, where he has family and is going through a divorce with another woman. Xiong was arrested after fleeing from Marathon County officers, first in a vehicle, and then on foot. A search of the vehicle turned up more than 19,000 dollars in cash and a necklace identified as belonging to Vue. Investigators say Xiong ...
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6/18/2013
The bill, including a minor amendment passed in committed, received bipartisan support. Racine Senator John Lehman one of two Democrats to vote against it. "I just don't want to throw the money on the table. I don't want to gamble the 25-million-dollars."
Many Democrats say the bill is less than what they wanted. Janesville Senator Tim Cullen had a message for them. "I've watched this bill for a while now, and it reminds me of a pretty famous saying - don't make the perfect be the enemy of the good."
In the end, only Lehman, Senator Bob Wirch of Pleasent Prairie and Republican Senator Glenn Grotham of West Bend voted no.
The Assembly, on the floor today, will need to approve modified bill before it heads to the governor.
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6/18/2013
One man was killed in a car versus train crash Tuesday morning. The Clark County Sheriff's Department says 81-year-old Charles Podbelsek failed to stop at the stop sign approaching a railroad crossing on Century Road in the Township of Unity. He collided with a Canadian National train being operated by 56 year old Jeffrey Graff of Superior. Investigators say Podbelsek was ejected from his vehicle after it was thrown south of the crossing; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation is ongoing.
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6/18/2013
A Burnett County man is recovering at a Minneapolis-St. Paul hospital after being mauled by a black bear. The Department of Natural Resources says the unidentified man was attacked in his yard near Shell Lake on Monday night. Authorities say a dog may have triggered the attack, the man's brother shot and injured the bear. D-N-R says the man is in stable condition and they are searching for the bear.
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6/18/2013
A man that caused a crash resulting in injuries in Lake Hallie is being held at the Chippewa County Jail. The Lake Hallie Police Department says 46-year-old Robert Holm of Lake Hallie rear-ended a legally stopped van at the intersection of Highway 124 and 40th Avenue, Sunday afternoon. Five passengers in the van had to taken to a hospital by ambulance for non-life-threatening injuries. Police say Holm had no alcohol under his breath but he failed field sobriety tests. Holm was arrested for an active warrant, as well as operating while under the influence of a controlled substance causing injury, 2nd offense, and possession of THC among other charges.
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6/18/2013
Former U-S Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was named this morning as a U-S envoy to a troubled region of Africa. Secretary-of-State John Kerry announced Feingold’s appointment at a State Department media briefing in Washington. Feingold headed the Senate Foreign Relations’ sub-committee on Africa when he served in the Senate from 1993 through 2010. Kerry said Feingold would help U-S efforts in what he called a “long-troubled region” in the Congo. Kerry said the stakes in that part of the world are very significant – and when the two served together in the Senate, Kerry said Feingold was quote, “the leading advocate and expert on Africa.” The nation’s top diplomat said there’s a need to help those involved in the conflicts find a path to peace, make those committing human rights abuses accountable, and break down barriers between humanitarian aid and civilians who need it. Feingold was unseated by Republican Ron Johnson in 2010. Since then, he has written a book. He’s also been a visiting professor at Marquette, Lawrence of Appleton, and Stanford. Assuming he serves through the rest of the Obama administration, Feingold would not be available to run for governor in 2014. One poll earlier this year ...
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6/18/2013
Wisconsin is one of nine states that dramatically reduced its numbers of teens in detention centers during the last decade. That’s according to a report issued today by the National Juvenile Justice Network and the Center for Effective Justice in Texas. The report said the numbers of incarcerated youths dropped by 43-percent from 2001-through-2010. That’s four-percent more than the national decline of 39-percent. Back in 2000, the Badger State had 109-thousand juveniles who were held in detention centers either awaiting trials, or found delinquent by judges. That number dropped to 66-thousand by the end of 2010. Wisconsin and the other eight states all had huge increases in incarcerated youths from 1985-through-2000. Jim Moeser of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families said the drop in teen detentions was due to strategic reforms at the state-and-local level which provided services to youths-and-families instead of just incarcerations. The other states recognized today were Washington, New York, Mississippi, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, California, and Connecticut.
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6/18/2013
On a 32-to-nothing vote today, the Wisconsin Senate agreed to put tighter controls on the state’s troubled Economic Development Corporation. Green Bay Republican Rob Cowles was among the bill’s main sponsors. He said people need to know where their tax dollars are being spent and quote, “We have to continue auditing this entity until we feel totally comfortable with it.” Under the bill, W-E-D-C board members would serve standard six-year terms instead of at the pleasure of the governor. The agency would be audited every year instead of every two years. The agency’s employees must observe state ethics laws. Also, the Joint Finance Committee would need to give its approval before the corporation can set up a private foundation. The reform bill now goes to the Assembly. The W-E-D-C was the subject of a critical audit a few weeks ago. Auditors said the agency did not adopt required policies, and did not keep adequate track of funds given and loaned to businesses for creating jobs.
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6/18/2013
A Chippewa Falls man is in jail for leading officers on a short chase on his motorcycle while intoxicated. The Lake Hallie Police Department says around 2am June 9th, an officer attempted to pull a motorcycle over for speeding on southbound-county-highway-double-O near 110th st. Instead of pulling over, police say 33 year old Chad Mondeau of Chippewa Falls increased his speed to around 100mph. Police say Mondeau began to slow down to turn at 30th avenue, approximately a mile-and-a-half after the chase began. Mondeau took a wide turn, and slid into the ditch where police caught up with him. Mondeau refused medical treatment, and sobriety tests. About an hour later, a search warrant was reviewed and signed for a blood draw. Police sent his blood to the State Crime Lab in Madison. Mondeau was brought to the Chippewa County Jail and charged with Operating a Motor Vehicle while Intoxicated 4th offense, and Felony Fleeing an Officer and Speeding.
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6/18/2013
A former business partner is suing Eau Claire billionaire John Menard. Tomisue Hilbert claims that the home improvement magnate pressured her for sex, and later retaliated by firing her husband and filing suits against them and their friends. The 43-year-old Hilbert filed her suit in Hamilton County Indiana. She accused Menard of extortion, battery, assault, and a breach of fiduciary duty for firing her husband Steve as the C-E-O of a private equity firm that Menard and the Hilberts started in 2005 in Indianapolis. Menard’s attorney denies any inappropriate conduct. He said that in February, a court banned the Hilberts from managing the company’s private equity funds in Wisconsin. The suit claimed that the 73-year-old Menard wanted Tomisue Hilber to have sex with him and his wife in 2011 at Hilbert's home in the Caribbean – and he allegedly made several other requests. Yesterday, the Indianapolis Business Journal said Menard fired at least four employees of the equity firm since the Wisconsin court order. The report also said several lawsuits were filed against the Hilberts’ friends who had connection to the equity operations. Menard’s lawyer said the defendants quote, “mismanaged the assets and resources entrusted to them.”
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6/18/2013
A body was pulled from the Chippewa River in Eau Claire yesterday. Police say canoeists spotted what appeared to be a body near the Short Street Bridge around 5:50 p-m. Fire Department rescuers launched a boat, and recovered the body. The person has not been identified. The last person reported missing on the river was 20 year-old David Rogers of Northfield, Minnesota, a UW Eau Claire Student. Rogers disappeared in April and matched the description of a man witnesses say fell into the river from the campus footbridge. His body was not found.
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6/18/2013
One of the two men killed in a weekend plane crash on Madeline Island was a doctor at the Gundersen Health System in La Crosse. 63-year-old Rick Renwick was an O-B/G-Y-N specialist at the clinics in La Crosse and Viroqua. His brother, 58-year-old Bruce Renwick of Waunakee, was also killed. Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan said the doctor was piloting the single-engine Piper Comanche that went down on a second approach near the Madeline Island Airport on Saturday evening. Brennan said the craft apparently stalled out, and dove into a wooded area at a 40-to-60-degree angle before it burst into flames. The bodies were pulled from the craft the following day. Madeline Island is just east of the Apostle Islands chain. The F-A-A and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
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6/18/2013
Both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature are scheduled to meet at 11 this morning. The Assembly will spend the day considering the proposed state budget for the next two years. The Senate will take up a new venture capital program, and a bill that keeps a closer eye on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Under the venture capital bill, taxpayers would provide 25-million dollars to help a variety of new businesses get off the ground. Another 50-million would come from private sources. The Assembly passed the bill on a 91-to-2 vote earlier this month. Most Democrats supported the measure, even though they were concerned that none of the money would go to medical bio-tech firms. The bill involving the Economic Development Corporation is designed to provide more accountability, after a critical state audit which showed that the W-E-D-C never adopted legally-required policies, and did not keep track of loans and tax breaks to businesses for creating jobs. The bill would have the corporation’s board members serve six-year terms, instead of at the pleasure of the governor. The agency would be audited every year instead of the current two years. All W-E-D-C employees would be subject to state ethics laws.
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6/17/2013
A mother accused of attempting to kill her children remains in the Taylor County jail on a 200-thousand-dollar cash bond. The Taylor County Sheriff's Office arrested 37-year-old Heidi Mann for allegedly trying to kill four of her six children by carbon monoxide asphyxiation. The kids are ages 3, 5, 8 and 11, and are currently with other family members. The Sheriff's Office says an incident on March 8th at the family's home in Rib Lake led to Mann's arrest. Additional information cannot be released at this time as the investigation is ongoing.
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6/17/2013
A teenager faces up to 40 years in prison for providing the drugs that may have led to another teen's death. Prosecutors filed a First Degree Reckless Homicide charge against 17-year-old Dorien Hash of Barron on Monday. Hash is accused of dealing LSD to 18-year-old Alex Hill of Cameron, who died at the hospital after investigators say he intentionally put himself in the path of a semi on Highway-8 early Saturday morning. Investigators found text messages related to Hill asking Hash for drugs. Hash stated "Hill purchased the 25 hits of LSD for 200-dollars" and acknowledged that the drugs contributed to what led up to Hill's death. Hash is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
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6/17/2013
Two men killed in a plane crash on Madeline Island are related, and they’re from the La Crosse area. That’s what Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan said today. Their names are expected to be released after autopsies on both victims are performed. A La Crosse company was listed as the owner of the Piper single-engine aircraft. Authorities said the plane aborted an initial landing attempt before it tried again – and the plane crashed and burned Saturday evening in a wooded area up to 200 yards from a runway at the Madeline Island airport. The island is located between Ashland and the smaller Apostle Islands’ chain.
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6/17/2013
Wisconsin cities and counties are scrambling to find money for Great Lakes water tests, after the federal E-P-A proposed a major funding cut for those tests. A state D-N-R official says Washington normally provides 225-thousand dollars for the testing – but this year, the state will get less than of that. Only 84 of Wisconsin’s 192 beaches along Lakes Michigan and Superior will get funded. The D-N-R says it has to make priorities – and places like Iron County in far northern Wisconsin won’t get anything for its Lake Superior beaches. County health officer Zona Wick said it’s possible that its beach-testing program will end. Milwaukee has 40-thousand dollars budgeted this year to help plan its efforts. Alderman Michael Murphy says good science is needed to make good decisions – and the city has an obligation to leave at least some testing funds available.
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6/17/2013
At least some mental health services will be improved at Veterans’ Administration clinics in western Wisconsin. President Obama recently ordered the V-A in Minneapolis to hire 24 new mental health professionals. Now, we’re learning that they’ll work at rural clinics which are overseen by the Minneapolis V-A in rural Minnesota and the western part of Wisconsin. The V-A’s Ralph Heussner says those seeking services range from World War Two veterans to those who recently came home from Iraq and Afghanistan. He says that in addition to combat issues, the vets may need help with financial hardships and relationship problems.
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6/17/2013
Wisconsin’s maple syrup harvest for this spring is the biggest in at least 21 years. The U-S-D-A said today that the Badger State made 265-thousand gallons of syrup this year. That’s five times as much as a year ago, when an early spring cut the sap season short. Officials said this year’s sugar content was up. Only 34 gallons of sap were needed to make a gallon of maple syrup. That’s down from 44 gallons a year ago. Wisconsin is the nation’s fourth-largest syrup-producer. Vermont is Number-One, followed by New York State and Maine.
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