News 12.29.17
29 December 2017 News
A Wisconsin man is charged in a drunken driving crash that killed two people from Illinois last week. Fifty-seven-year-old Joseph Konetzke of Neenah faces two felony counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. His bond was set Tuesday at $200,000. Authorities say 83-year-old Hazel DeWitt and 82-year-old David Rosol, both from the Chicago suburb of La Grange, were killed when Konetzke ran a stop sign and crashed into their car on Highway 54 on Dec. 17. According to the complaint, Konetzke told an officer after the crash he could not say what road he was on because he had “too much” to drink. WLUK-TV reports a preliminary breath test showed Konetzke had a blood-alcohol content of .262 percent, more than three times Wisconsin’s legal limit.
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An Appleton man is charged in connection with a high speed chase in a stolen car in Fond du Lac, Dodge and Washington counties. Twenty five year old Adam Piotrowski made his initial court appearance in Washington County on charges of recklessly endangering safety, fleeing and resisting and officer and bail jumping. Bail was set at $35,000 cash. Shortly before 1am Christmas morning a Fond du lac County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a speeding vehicle on southbound Interstate 41. The vehicle failed to stop and fled southbound at speeds over 100 miles an hour. The vehicle ran over stop sticks near County Highway B, ran over a second set of stop sticks in Dodge County and was eventually pulled over in Washington County. The vehicle had been stolen in Oshkosh.
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Camping and state park entrance fees could go up and hybrid vehicle owners will pay more for license plates under state budget provisions that go into effect Jan. 1. The Republican budget allows the Department of Natural Resources to raise camping fees by as much as $15 per night for Wisconsin residents and state park entry fees by as much as $5 per day for residents. A DNR spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiring about which camping sites and parks will see increases. The budget also calls increasing hybrid vehicle registration fees by $75 and electric vehicle registration fees by $100. Other budget provisions that take effect Jan. 1 include permitting school districts to hold referendums only twice a year and reducing benefits for government employees’ domestic partners.
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Gov. Scott Walker’s administration says the typical family of four in Wisconsin will see a $2,508 tax cut under the recently passed Republican tax overhaul. Walker released details Wednesday of the analysis completed by the state Department of Revenue. Using Census data and expected growth, the median income for a Wisconsin family of four in 2018 was projected to be around $94,700. The Revenue Department then calculated what effect various law changes would have on that income, including increasing the standard deduction to $24,000, reducing the 15 percent tax bracket to 12 percent and doubling the child tax credit to $2,000 per child. Multiple analyses of the law have found that middle class tax cuts will gradually fade and then morph into tax hikes as individual tax cuts expire after 2025
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