News – January 11, 2019

(Town of Gordon) Missing teenager Jayme Closs was gone for 87 days before being found alive 65 miles north of her Barron County home in Douglas County.  The search for the 13-year-old started when the bodies of her murdered parents were found near Barron on October 15th and ended at 4:43pm yesterday. A relative says Closs managed to get free and run for help. The suspect was reportedly arrested 11 minutes after Douglas County authorities were contacted; that person’s name hasn’t been released.  The girl is reportedly being treated at a hospital before she will be reunited with family members.

(Lomira) One person was killed in a two-vehicle crash around midnight in the Town of Lomira. The preliminary investigation shows that a pickup truck was northbound in the southbound lanes of Interstate 41 when it struck a southbound semi in the righthand lane. The driver of the pickup was pronounced dead at the scene; the name is being withheld pending notification of family. There were no other occupants in the vehicle. The driver of the semi-truck sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was flown by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital; the name being withheld at this time.  The southbound lanes of I-41 were closed for almost 5-hours-and-a-half hours. The northbound lanes were closed for about one hour-and-10 minutes while Flight for Life was on the ground.  The crash remains under investigation.

(Juneau) Word of the first traffic fatality of the year in Dodge County comes as the Sheriff’s Office issues a press release looking at the number of fatal crashes last year. There were a total of eight fatalities in 2018 this after 2017 saw a total of 20 people dying in crashes, 15 in the second half of the year alone. Sheriff Dale Schmidt says internal records show that is the lowest yearly totals dating back to 2003. Schmidt credits his staff for the reduction and says his office took an evidence based/data driven approach which included identification of high crash areas, targeted enforcement, public education and high visibility signage.

(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam community played a crucial role in helping develop a new device that better diagnoses concussions. That from Doctor Rosina Samadani, the Beaver Dam-native who along with her sister Uzma, just received word that their cutting-edge EyeBOX device received FDA approval to begin commercial marketing; as we reported yesterday; today the focus is on the local connection . Rosina says both the Beaver Dam and Wayland Academy football teams contributed in clinical studies. She adds that they also received help from the emergency department at the Beaver Dam Community Hospital and a local eye doctor’s clinic. The device tracks eye movement as patients are watching a four-minute video. The data gathered allows doctors to better diagnose concussions and suggest treatment procedures.

(Sun Prairie) Federal safety regulators have cited two contractors for failing to locate a gas main that exploded in Sun Prairie last July. OSHA issued the maximum fine of around 12-thousand dollars to both Kansas-based Bear Communications and Michigan-based VC Tech. Investigators say contractors failed to call either We Energies or Diggers Hotline before doing work around the gas main. The resulting blast leveled half a city block and killed firefighter Corey Barr.

(Fox Lake) A Milwaukee woman accused of bringing an illegal substance into Fox Lake Correctional is heading to trial after waiving her right to a preliminary hearing yesterday. Sophia Guarnero was allegedly overheard in a phone conversation with an inmate that she was bringing chicken and waffles as well as an illegal drug. When Guarnero arrived at the institution on November 17 she was questioned and at first denied the accusations.  According to the criminal complaint, the 35-year-old later produced a cellophane wrapped object that reportedly contained three small balloons that were filled with marijuana. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for February 13.

(Madison) Southern Wisconsin has seen less than 10 inches of snow this winter and that continues a trend dating back more than five years.  A majority of Wisconsin’s snowmobile trails are still closed as mid-January approaches, including all trails in Dodge County.  The Association of Wisconsin Snowmobiling Clubs says from 2005-to-2012 trails routinely stayed open for longer than a month but now have not been able to keep its trails open longer than a week since 2014.