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News 06.20.17

20 June 2017 News


A Fond du Lac lawmaker is asking residents to write to a federal judge to express their concerns about a Highway 23 expansion project. The project to widen 23 to four lanes between Fond du Lac and Plymouth was halted a couple years ago when an environmental group filed a lawsuit arguing the expansion wasn’t necessary. A federal judge has yet to make a final ruling. Fond du Lac state representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt told a recent gathering that he is hoping a final order will come down sometime this summer. Thiesfeldt says if there is a favorable ruling he is working to make sure there is funding for the project.

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Authorities in southeastern Wisconsin say two people suffered serious injuries when an apartment deck collapsed in Clyman. The Dodge County Sheriff’s office says the 46-year-old woman and 40-year-old man walked out onto the deck at an upper residential apartment Saturday night when it collapsed under them. The two fell with the deck onto the concrete driveway below. Both were conscious and alert. They were flown to Aurora Medical Center in Summit. Their conditions were not immediately available. The building owner told authorities the deck had been inspected about two years ago.

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A jury finds a Fond du Lac man guilty of causing great bodily harm to his girlfriend’s toddler. Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney says Jason J. Schifelbine, 36, was found guilty after a three-day jury trial. It took the jury about 90 minutes to reach a verdict on June 14. The case dates back to August of 2014. North Fond du Lac Police and the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation after St. Agnes Hospital reported they had a 13-month-old child who was unconscious. The child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. The boy suffered brain swelling. Schifelbine, a registered sex offender, claimed that the child had fallen off a counter. However, a criminal complaint states the child had bruises on the forehead, eyes, cheeks, chest, abdomen, and genitals that were not consistent with a fall. The victim’s mother said Schifelbine was watching the child while she was at work. She had noticed bruises on his face on Aug. 11. Schifelbine told her that the boy suffered the injuries after falling on his face and that there was a witness to it. However, investigators found no witness to this alleged fall.

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Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel takes an unusual step by revealing the state Department of Justice is investigating opioid manufacturers. Schimel announced last week that he and a group of attorneys general from other states have been looking into drug companies’ opioid marketing practices to see if any have engaged in illegal activity. The investigation could conceivably lead to a multi-state lawsuit against the companies. A number of states already have sued drug manufacturers, accusing them of misrepresenting the risk of prescription opioids and fueling addictions. Rarely does Schimel or any DOJ official acknowledge the existence of an investigation. Schimel and the other attorneys generals made the announcement Thursday. It came hours before Senate Democrats tried to pass legislation forcing him to consider a lawsuit.

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Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is praising the Supreme Court’s decision to put on hold an earlier ruling that new legislative maps be drawn. The court on Monday stayed a ruling requiring the Republican-controlled Legislature to draw new maps by November. The court also announced it will hear arguments in the case brought by Democrats challenging the constitutionality of the existing maps. Schimel says the stay “preserves the Legislature’s time, effort and resources while this case is pending.” Campaign Legal Center attorney Paul Smith is the lead lawyer in the case challenging the maps. Smith says the court can decide the case in time for new maps to be drawn for the 2018 fall election.

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