News 01.13.17
13 January 2017 News
A Ripon man convicted of child pornography is going to prison. At a hearing Wednesday in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court, 43 year old Daniel Mattson pleaded no contest to three counts of possession of child pornography. Seventeen counts of possession of child porn and three counts of child sexual exploitation were dismissed and read into the record. Judge Richard Nuss sentenced Mattson to five years in prison followed by ten years of extended supervision. Ripon police chief Dave Lukoski says the 43 year old Mattson was arrested in October after police executed a search warrant at his Metomen Street home. According to a criminal complaint Ripon police received information from ICAC Data Systems, which receives tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
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Investigators from Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health will investigate an explosion at a truck manufacturing plant that injured several employees. Authorities say six people were hurt in the explosion Wednesday morning at McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing in Dodge Center, in southeastern Minnesota. McNeilus is part of Oshkosh Corp. in Wisconsin. An Oshkosh Corp. spokeswoman says five injured employees were “under medical care,” but she could not comment any further. The company will work with local authorities on the investigation. The plant makes cement trucks and refuse trucks and employs about 1,000 in Dodge Center, a town of 2,700 about 70 miles southeast of Minneapolis. Mayor Bill Ketchum says, “Anytime you have something like that — big town or small town — it’s a tragic thing.”
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A private investment firm continues to work on plans for revitalizing the Fond du Lac Forest Mall. The Texas based company that specializes in revitalizing small, distressed shopping centers purchased the mall a year ago. Community Development Director Dyann Benson says she expects to see changes in terms of any new tenants, including the possibility of a major mall anchor sometime this summer. Benson says they are looking to determine what would be a good tenant mix in terms of the existing tenants, potential tenants and some larger big box spaces that have been vacated by J.C. Penney and Sears. Meanwhile, two new fast food restaurants at the Mall, Dunkin Donuts and Noodles and Company are expected to open in the next couple of months.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to cut tuition at the University of Wisconsin and use taxpayer funds to pay for it is shaking up normal political alliances with some Democrats supporting it while skeptical fellow Republicans worry it could put the state on a path toward socialist Bernie Sanders’ free college tuition plan. Republican governors across the nation have criticized universities over higher tuition and some, including Walker, have forced tuition freezes. But Walker appears to be the first Republican governor to promise taxpayer money to reduce the cost of university. Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos fears it’s a step toward the state paying for free tuition. Peter Barca, the Democratic Assembly leader and frequent Walker critic, says he supports the proposal as long as it is paid for.
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A group of ex-judges is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to adopt rules requiring judges and justices to recuse themselves from cases involving campaign donors. The group sent a proposal to the court for rules requiring circuit judges to step aside if they got at least $1,000 for a litigant or attorney. The threshold for appellate judges would be $2,500 and for justices $10,000. The limits would apply to donations from so-called issue groups as well. The proposal also calls for a state constitutional amendment allowing appeals judges or retired justices to sit on cases if multiple justices are forced off cases. The high court approved rules in 2009 saying campaign donations don’t require recusal.
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A legislator plans to introduce a bill this session that would lift Wisconsin’s mining moratorium. Gov. Tommy Thompson signed the moratorium into law in 1998. It requires companies to prove a sulfide mine can run for a decade without polluting state waters and a sulfide mine has been closed in the state for a decade without polluting the water. Republican Sen. Tom Tiffany of Hazelhurst plans to introduce a bill this session repealing the moratorium. He says the Flambeau copper mine near Ladysmith proves a sulfide mine can operate safely, making the moratorium moot. That mine operated for four years. A federal judge found the mine discharged copper into state waters but it was minimal. An appellate court reversed the judgment in 2013.
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