Home

News 02.16.18

16 February 2018 News


A Princeton man is arrested following a high speed chase in Green Lake County. The 40-year-old man is facing charges of Operating while Intoxicated, 10th offense, Fleeing and Eluding, and Theft of a Motor Vehicle. On Thursday, a Green Lake County sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop just before 2:00 a.m. on State Highway 23 in the Town of Brooklyn. During the initial contact, the driver fled the scene west on Highway 23 and a chase ensued, with speeds reaching 85 mph. The vehicle eventually flipped over in a ditch and the operator fled the vehicle. A perimeter was set up, and using a police dog from the Waupun Police Department, the suspect was pursued to a local excavating company where a plow truck may have been attempted to be stolen, followed by a second vehicle that was successfully taken. Evidence led to a residence south of Princeton and later to a residence in Waushara County. At that time, the suspect was taken into custody and transported back to the Green Lake County Jail. The Waupun Police Department K-9 Unit, Princeton and Berlin Police Departments assisted the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office with the incident.

-30-

The DNR’s senior fisheries biologist says its not surprising that huge sturgeon have been harvested this season, and expects there will be more. Ryan Koenigs says a fish registered in Oshkosh this week was 84 and a half inches long, which is longer than the current state record, but 70 pounds lighter. He says it’s been known for five to ten years that there’s a lot of these big fish out there. Koenigs says 229 sturgeon have been harvested on Lake Winnebago and 297 fish on the upriver lakes. The upriver lakes season closed Tuesday afternoon. The season on Lake Winnebago will go the full 16 days.

-30-

Wisconsin breweries are fighting against a bill that would create a powerful new “alcohol czar” position to enforce liquor laws in the state. The Wisconsin Brewers Guild, the Wisconsin Winery Association and MillerCoors are among those opposing the measure that got a public hearing before a Senate committee Thursday. The new “alcohol czar” position would have broad powers to enforce Wisconsin laws and regulations governing the production, distribution and sale of beer, wine and alcohol. The measure is backed by the Wisconsin Wine and Spirit Institute, whose lobbyist is the brother of Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. He told reporters Thursday that he had talked with his brother about the bill, but there was no undue influence. Gov. Scott Walker has not endorsed the bill and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says it will be difficult to pass.

-30-

A hastily conceived plan to close the Lincoln Hills juvenile prison and reorganize how young offenders are imprisoned in Wisconsin moved ahead Thursday at a lightning-fast pace in the Legislature, with a highly unusual committee hearing and vote on the same day. The bipartisan backers of the bill that Republican Gov. Scott Walker is urging them to pass before the session ends next month admit that many details still need to be worked out, but the pressure is on to act quickly. Walker called for passage of the bill last month, three years after federal investigators began looking into allegations of abuse of inmates by guards. Multiple federal lawsuits have also been filed. But both Democrats and Republicans worked together on the bill heard Thursday at a joint Senate and Assembly committee hearing that won broad support. No one testified against the measure. The bill calls for the closing of Lincoln Hills by mid-2020, with the most serious male offenders being moved to state-run prisons and the others being sent to county-run facilities that are more like residential care centers than traditional prisons. It would create two committees that over the next year and a half would work out details that aren’t addressed. The full Assembly is expected to pass the measure next week.

-30-


Share