News 06.09.16
9 June 2016 News
A corrections Office at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution is facing charges after sexing and attempting to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. 35-year-old Gustav D. Houle is charged with six felony counts of causing a child older than 13 to view sexual activity and one count of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. According to police, Houle used a messenger service to contact the girl, who was actually a crime analyst from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. Police say Houle sent the analyst multiple pictures of his genitals and asked for photos in return. The two agreed to meet at a park in Town of Clayton, at which time Houle was arrested. If convicted, Houle faces up to 76 years in prison. His next court appearance is June 23rd.
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Concerned Van Dyne area residents have filed a petition with the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Railroads expressing their opposition to a Wisconsin Central Limited proposal to close two area railroad crossings. The petition signed by nearly 200 residents in the town of Friendship says closing the Lincoln and Viaduct Road crossings would lower property values and hamper firefighters who need to get across the tracks. The Fond du Lac County Board went on record last summer in opposition to closing the tracks. Fond du Lac County Highway commissioner, Tom Janke, says getting funding for an overpass on County Highway N appears slim at this point. Wisconsin Central says 38 trains operate daily on the two crossings. The railroad says the Lincoln Road crossing averages 265 vehicles daily and the Viaduct Road crossing averages 150 vehicles a day.
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The Dodge County Clerk of Courts says a new e-Filing system will help improve efficiency and save money at the same time. Dodge County is piloting a program that requires lawyers to electronically file court documents for civil, family, small claims and paternity cases. Dodge County Clerk of Courts Lynn Hron says the court system’s Consolidated Court Automation program staff is working with clerks of court and court staff to help ensure counties are prepared to make the transition. Hron says there has been mixed reaction from attorneys. Throughout the next two years E-Filing will be expanded to include other case types on a voluntary basis and then transition to mandatory after a period of time.
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Those challenging Wisconsin’s voter identification law in federal court say they will soon be asking that people having trouble getting the required ID be allowed to vote in the August primary. America Civil Liberties Union attorney Sean Young said Tuesday that the ACLU will be filing a motion in federal court in Milwaukee soon to make sure “voters who face a reasonable impediment to getting an ID” can still vote with an affidavit. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman held a brief status conference on the case Tuesday. Attorneys for the state Department of Justice, who are defending the law, had asked Adelman to put the case on hold while another similar lawsuit in Madison is pending. Young says the judge indicated he was “not inclined” to do that.
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Wisconsin insurance industry leaders are worried a potential state move toward self-insurance is already on its way to a done deal. At a Wisconsin Health News panel Tuesday, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire CEO Pete Farrow says he’s concerned the process won’t adequately assess the different options. Under a self-insurance model, the state would pay for benefits directly for about 250,000 state workers and family members instead of purchasing insurance from 17 HMOs. State consultants have estimated the financial impact could range anywhere from $42 million in savings each year to $100 million in costs per year. State Deputy Insurance Commissioner J.P. Wieske says more information on the cost and impact of such a move will come during the request for proposals process currently underway.
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A former suburban Milwaukee police officer accused of killing two women and ditching their bodies in suitcases along a rural Wisconsin highway is facing extradition to Minnesota where he’s charged in the death of one of the victims. The Wisconsin case against Steven Zelich is expected to wrap up Wednesday when he enters a plea and is sentenced on two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County. The 54-year-old Zelich has already been sentenced to 35 years in prison in the 2012 death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Details of the Wisconsin case are similar to accusations Zelich faces in the death of Laura Simonson, who was killed in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2013. Authorities say he met both women online, choked them at hotels during sexual encounters and hid their bodies in suitcases.
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