News 03.16.17
16 March 2017 News
A teenage boy involved in a rollover crash in Dodge County dies from his injuries. Fourteen year old Cade Werner died Tuesday evening at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Werner was a passenger in a car that rolled over on Pond Road east of County Highway P Friday morning. He was ejected from the vehicle. The driver, a 16 year old boy, received minor injuries.
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The Fond du Lac Police and Fire Commission dismisses a charge filed by the former Fond du lac County District Attorney accusing the police chief of perjury and misconduct in office. Former DA Dan Kaminsky filed the charges against police chief Bill Lamb accusing the chief of perjuring himself during the investigation of former police officer Curt Beck. Beck was one of five officers involved in three extramarital affairs. The Commission fired Beck last fall for dishonesty and said at the time the chief’s investigation was fair and reasonable.
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The state Elections Commission is getting ready to purge people who haven’t gone to the polls in years from registration rolls. State law requires elections officials to examine registration records, identify qualified voters who haven’t voted in four years and mail them a notice warning they’ll be removed from the rolls if they don’t respond and have to re-register. The commission estimates about 387,000 voters could get the mailer. The commission also plans to send another about 389,000 mailers to voters who may have died, moved or have duplicate voting records. Together the efforts are expected to cost about $233,000. The commission approved the plan Tuesday. The mailings will go out this summer.
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About 200,000 retired public employees in the Wisconsin Retirement System will receive a 2 percent pension payment increase starting in May. The Department of Employee Trust Funds announced the payment increase on Tuesday. It comes after the State of Wisconsin Investment Board reported that investments in the “Core Fund” rose by 8.5 percent last year and “Variable Fund” investments rose by 10.6 percent. All public employees are covered by the “Core Fund,” which levels out gains and losses over a five-year period to avoid large spikes. The nearly 40,000 retirees who invest in the voluntary and more volatile “Variable Fund” will see a 4 percent increase. That fund is comprised of all stocks, making pension payments tied to it more subject to ups and downs.
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Candidates for Wisconsin state superintendent are scheduled to meet for a forum less than three weeks from the election. Incumbent superintendent Tony Evers and challenger Lowell Holtz are set to meet Wednesday at the event organized by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. Holt and Evers are scheduled to take questions from a moderator. The race is officially nonpartisan but Holtz has been trying to woo conservatives while Evers has the backing of Democrats. Evers is seeking a third term. Holtz retired last year as superintendent of the Whitnall School District after clashing with the school board. He also previously worked as superintendent in Beloit. Holtz supports expanding private school vouchers and doing away with the Common Core curriculum, two things Evers opposes. The election is April 4.
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A UW-Madison disciplinary committee decides to expel a student accused of sexually assaulting and harassing nearly a dozen women. UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone sent an email to reporters Tuesday saying the committee found Alec Cook responsible for violating university student conduct policies related to a crime of violence and upheld the university’s expulsion recommendation. McGlone said federal privacy laws prohibit her from disclosing any other information. Cook, of Edina, Minnesota, has until March 24 to appeal the decision to Chancellor Rebecca Blank. Cook’s attorney, Chris Van Wagner, says the hearing was Feb. 24 and the panel voted 2-1 to expel him. The university didn’t notify him of the vote until just before midnight on Friday. Van Wagner says Cook didn’t get a fair hearing and he’ll appeal.
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