News 04.04.16
4 April 2016 News
A Berlin man involved in a chase through Green Lake, Fond du Lac and Dodge counties will not get any more prison time. Fond du Lac Judge Robert Wirtz ordered another three years probation to 20-year-old Maxwell Decker. Decker was convicted of stealing four vehicles last August and leading police on a multi=county chase that ended in three separate traffic crashes. After each crash, Decker fled on foot and stole another vehicle. He was later arrested in Jefferson County.
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A Waupun Correctional Institution inmate will spend more time in prison for trying to kill another inmate and injuring a correctional officer. 29-year-old Eric Connor was sentenced to 20 years of initial confinement and 10 years extended supervision on a charge of attempted second degree intentional homicide. He was also sentenced to two years initial confinement and three years extended supervision on a charge of battery by prisoner. According to a criminal complaint, Conner was accused of making a shank and attacking a 27-year-old inmate. Officers saw the knife and attempted to subdue Connor. In the process, Connor punched a correctional officer multiple times. Conner is already serving a 33 year prison sentence for the stabbing death of a Menasha man.
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Governor Walker signs a bill that makes it illegal for individuals to bother hunters in the woods. The Republican authors say concerns have risen over the past few years after hunters have been harassed and followed while trying to hunt. The bill expands the definition of interference with a hunter to include staying in their sight and taking photos or confronting a hunter more than twice.
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Two people are seriously injured following a four vehicle accident in Winnebago County. The accident happened Saturday morning around 8 a.m. on Interstate 41, near Snell Road, in Oshkosh. Investigation shows a Chevy Malibu was traveling south on Interstate 41, lost control and struck a Honda Pilot, also traveling south. The Malibu then struck a full size Chevy Pickup towing a 5th wheel cattle trailer. The truck and trailer lost control and struck a GMC Terrian. The driver of the Malibu, a 23-year-old Omro man, and his passenger, a 30-year-old Neenah woman, were transported to ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah with life threatening injuries. A six year old in the vehicle was not injured. Four other people in the remaining vehicles escaped injury. Nam es have not been released,. The accident remains under investigation.
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Governor Scott Walker has signed sign a bill lifting Wisconsin’s ban on new nuclear plants. State regulators currently can’t approve a new nuclear plant unless a federal facility for storing waste exists and the plant doesn’t burden ratepayers. No such federal facility exists. The bill would erase the storage and ratepayer clauses from state law, clearing the way for new plants. The bill’s Republican authors argue nuclear power is a renewable energy source and the ratepayer language duplicates other sections of state law that require regulators to determine that any new power plant won’t burden customers. Democrats say nuclear power is too dangerous, pointing to a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima plant in 2011. Walker signed the bill Friday at the Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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With Wisconsin’s presidential preference primary looming, the remaining candidates hit the campaign trail this weekend with numerous stops across the state. Several cities saw multiple candidates roll through, as both Republicans and Democrats tried to make one last connection with voters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Eau Claire alone saw visits from four of the five candidates, with Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speaking within hours of each other Saturday. Republican front-runner Donald Trump also made a stop on Saturday, while U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) held a rally Sunday evening. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is also seeking the Republican nomination, made stops in both Janesville and Madison on Saturday.
The feverish pace of visits comes as many Republicans who oppose Trump’s candidacy look to make Wisconsin a tipping point in the race for the nomination.
Trump currently leads the delegate count, but Cruz could make up lost ground with a big win in Wisconsin this week and possibly turn that into momentum in future state contests. The latest Marquette University Law School Poll had Cruz leading Trump by ten points. Several prominent state Republicans, including Governor Scott Walker, have also endorsed his candidacy.
During a rally in Green Bay Sunday, with Walker appearing alongside him, Cruz told supporters that Trump would lose the race for Republicans in November if he gets the nomination. He argued he has what it takes to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House.
For Sanders, a win in Wisconsin could provide a needed boost for his campaign against former Secretary of State Clinton. The Vermont Senator capped off his weekend with a rally at the Kohl Center on the UW-Madison campus, where he continued with criticisms of Governor Walker’s policies on everything from education to voter ID, and made the case that a high turnout will be a key to any chance of victory on Tuesday.
Both Sanders and Cruz plan to continue with campaign swings through the state on Monday. Cruz will be in Madison, while Sanders will be in Janesville, Green Bay, and Milwaukee. Trump has rallies planned in La Crosse, Superior, and Milwaukee. Former President Bill Clinton will campaign on behalf of his wife during a rally in Milwaukee.
Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, April 5.
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Wisconsin’s long-standing ban on building new nuclear power plants is no more.
Governor Scott Walker signed a bill Friday that ends the restriction, banned the permitting of a new nuclear reactor in the state unless there is an established federal disposal site for waste and for proof a new reactor would not negatively impact ratepayers. The requirement were first put in place since 1983, and advocates of the change have argued that new and improved technology has largely eliminated the need for the state to continue following them.
Wisconsin currently only has one operating nuclear power plant – the Point Beach facility near Two Rivers. Walker said there has been no mention of anyone looking to build a new reactor anywhere in the state, although he noted there have been some national organizations that ending the restrictions could open the door to development down the road. “I think a large part of it is a lot of people were waiting to see if the state was actually going to follow through on it,” he said.
Critics of the change have raised concerns that safer forms of renewable energy exist, such as wind and solar power, and that nuclear is still not a completely safe form of energy. Walker on Friday said he’s not concerned about safety because of high regulatory standards at the state and federal, along with the lower risk of the types of natural disasters that have caused meltdowns in other parts of the world.
The measure passed out of the Legislature with bipartisan support. The governor signed the bill during a ceremony at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Energy Institute.
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