Schonitzer Denied Bail Reduction
1/9/14 – Bond reduction was denied Wednesday for a Beaver Dam man accused of burglarizing the home of former Sheriff Todd Nehls. Scott Schonitzer remains jailed on a $300-thousand dollar cash bond. The 45-year-old is charged with felony Armed Burglary with a Dangerous Weapon and Theft of Movable Property and misdemeanor Theft. It was noted in court again yesterday that Schonitzer may face additional charges as area police agencies are reviewing previous burglary reports to see if he may be a suspect. In fact, Dodge County Judge John Storck has recused himself from future proceedings because those possible charges may related to a former court commissioner in Stock’s office that was not identified. Schonitzer was reportedly discovered last month by Nehls newly-deputized son who was off duty when he went to his parent’s house to retrieve ice fishing equipment. The deputy heard a commotion upstairs, went to investigate and found Schonitzer hiding behind a chair wearing black gloves. Stolen cash and the former sheriffs Smith & Wesson were allegedly found in his pocket. Dodge County Judge Joseph Sciascia will decide later this month if there is enough evidence to order a trial.
Schreiber Competent To Stand Trial
1/9/14 – A Markesan man has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he officiated youth sports even though he is a convicted sex offender. Aaron Schreiber is also accused of calling in a series of bomb threats after his ref license was suspended. The 32-year-old agreed with Judge Steven Bauer yesterday that he is competent to stand trial on is 41 felony charges. Schreiber – who was convicted in 2005 of having consensual contact with a 15-year-old girl – was a regular official for baseball, softball and basketball at school districts in Beaver Dam, Mayville and Waupun. In November, the first of 15 phony bomb threats was made at a restaurant in Waupun. Over the course of the next three days similar threats were called in at a Waupun-area grocery store, gas station, school, hospital, bank and library; the threats also spread into Fox Lake and Beaver Dam. Investigators eventually traced the calls to Schreiber’s cell phone and he was brought in for questioning and he allegedly admitted his actions. Schreiber has a preliminary hearing on the calendar next month.
Primary Not Necessary in Mayville
1/9/14 – Mayville voters will not have a February primary after all. City Clerk Deanna Boldrey says one of the three candidates who submitted nomination paperwork by Tuesday’s deadline did not have the required number of signatures. Gregory Justman’s name will not appear on the ballot for the Sixth Ward seat being vacated by David Pasbrig. Dodge County Clerk Karen Gibson will still have to prepare for a February primary. That is because of the number of candidates vying for school board positions in Columbus and Hartford, along with a crowded town board race in Ashippun and two school funding referenda in the Lomira and Herman school districts.
Fall River Ballot Ironed Out In Annual Caucus
1/9/14 – All three incumbents on the six-Member Village of Fall River Board of Trustees will be seeking another two-year term in the April election. Judy Robbins, Jeff Slotten and John Ninmann were nominated to run at last night’s annual Village caucus. All three will run unopposed. There were also two Candidates nominated seeking the vacant one-year post formerly held by long-time Board Member Duane Durtschi. Former Board Trustee Ron Kennedy and former School Board member Leroy Dieckoff will be running for the one-year seat on the Village Board.
Wisconsin Federal Judge Nominee Grilled
1/9/14 – Wisconsin federal judge nominee James Peterson ran into a little turbulence Wednesday during his U-S Senate confirmation hearing. The Madison lawyer told the judiciary panel that his rulings would not be influenced by his previous work for the Freedom-from-Religion Foundation. President Obama appointed Peterson two months ago to replace the late John Shabaz in a district that covers the western half of Wisconsin which includes Columbia and Jefferson counties. Iowa Democrat Charles Grassley questioned Peterson’s previous comment that a display of the Ten Commandments on government property cast non-believers as quote, “outsiders to the political community.” Peterson responded that he has handled First Amendment issues from clients with a variety of viewpoints — and it was an honor to do so. Peterson was chosen by a selection panel formed by Wisconsin’s two U-S senators, Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson. Both praised Peterson’s work and asked for a quick confirmation because the judgeship has been vacant for several years. It’s been open since 2009 because Obama nominated former State Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler four times — and Republicans on Capitol Hill kept casting him aside after Butler lost an election for the state’s highest court in 2008.
Attorney General Candidate Regrets 1990 OWI
1/9/14 – A candidate for Wisconsin’s top law enforcement office says he deeply regrets a “terrible error of judgment” when he was ticketed for drunk driving in 1990. A campaign consultant confirmed Brad Schimel’s O-W-I citation, after Schimel said on Tuesday he was skeptical about making first-time drunk driving a crime. The 48-year-old Schimel is the Waukesha County district attorney. He’s the only Republican candidate to replace J-B Van Hollen, who will leave office after this year. Schimel said he pleaded guilty to his O-W-I citation, and he works each day to help others learn from his experience. As D-A, Schimel said he has helped create “innovative and successful programs” to reduce the numbers of O-W-I offenders. Wisconsin is the only state in which first-time drunk driving is not a criminal offense. One of Schimel’s Democratic election opponents, Milwaukee Assembly Democrat Jon Richards, said Schimel should have been more forthcoming about his O-W-I conviction. Richards noted that if Schimel gets caught today, he still wouldn’t be charged with a crime because a second O-W-I ticket would come more than 10 years after his first. The Assembly voted last year to make all two-time offenses criminal misdemeanors. The Senate does not plan to take it up this spring, thus killing the measure for the current session. Richards voted for the tighter penalty. Schimel’s campaign said he supports it as well.
Gun Rights Group Sues Madison Transit
1/9/14 – A gun rights organization has filed a lawsuit against the city of Madison, seeking to clear the way for guns on busses. The suit, from Wisconsin Carry Incorporated, alleging that the gun ban policy on Madison Metro Transit buses violates the state’s concealed carry law. John Monroe, an attorney from Georgia who has challenged other cities firearms policies in court in the past, is representing Wisconsin Carry. The suit seeks a declaration that state law trumps Metro’s ability to ban carrying of guns on buses and at bus shelters. The lawsuit claims the states 2011 concealed carry law allows license holders to carry concealed firearms in motor vehicles, thus invalidating Metro’s ban.
920-Area Code Will Not Have Overlapping Code, Yet
1/9/14 – Homes and businesses in Wisconsin will not have to worry about dialing 10 digits for local phone calls — not for a while, anyway. The state Public Service Commission has indefinitely delayed plans to have new phone numbers in the 9-2-0 zone use an overlapping area code of 2-7-4. The move was ordered because cell phones and fax machines were snapping up available 9-2-0 numbers. However, over a million possible 9-2-0 numbers remain unassigned — so the additional area code in the Green Bay-area is being held up indefinitely. 9-2-0 users were planning to dial the area code for their local calls starting on January 25th — but the P-S-C says that’s off for now. The change affects mainly land-line users. Most cell users are accustomed to dialing area codes for all their calls. The same change took effect a few years ago in central and northern Wisconsin, where new numbers in the 7-1-5 zone were given the area code of 5-3-4. Officials say it’s easier than carving out a whole zone for a new area code — where people would have to change their speed-dials and business stationery.
Finance Panel Endorses Mental Health Measures
1/9/14 – Mental health care in Wisconsin will be improved under seven measures endorsed Wednesday by the Legislature’s finance panel. The bills now go to the Senate for approval later in the session. Funding would be provided for things like crisis intervention training, consultations for child psychiatric help, primary care grants, and encouraging psychiatrists to work in under-served areas. The measures were approved either unanimously, or with one no vote. Senate Republican Glenn Grothman of West Bend rejected three of the measures, but did not say why. Also today, the finance panel voted 8-to-7 to approve funding for a new student information data-base. Hudson G-O-P Representative Dean Knudson says lawmakers should limit what can be collected. He fears that student privacy will be violated. Senate Education Chair Luther Olsen of Ripon said the data needs to be collected to make public schools more accountable. The measure allows multiple vendors to provide the software for the new database. Only one vendor had been approved — Infinite Campus of Minnesota over Skyward of Stevens Point. Skyward successfully lobbied for multiple vendors, so it could keep the databases it had developed with individual school districts.
Two People Killed in Separate Fires Wednesday
1/9/14 – At least two people were killed in separate fires in southern Wisconsin Wednesday. One person died and two others were hospitalized last night in a fire at a senior housing complex in Waunakee, north of Madison in Dane County. Waunakee Fire Chief Gary Acker said two-of-the-16 units of the senior housing complex had damage. The survivors’ injuries were not said to be life-threatening. Officials said the fire apparently started in a kitchen area. Also, 78-year-old Madeline Christensen died yesterday morning, after she was pulled from her burning house in Racine. The causes of both fires remain under investigation by state-and-local authorities.
Crews Respond To Chimney Fire in Beaver Dam
1/9/14 – The Beaver Dam Fire Department responded to a chimney fire Wednesday morning. Crews were dispatched to the 800 block of Cherokee Road around 8:45am. Chief Alan Mannel says damage was confined to the fireplace and chimney. There was no additional damage, no injuries and no one was displaced. Firefighters were on scene for about one hour.
Walker Wraps Up Jury Duty
1/9/14 – Governor Scott Walker did his jury duty this week by hearing two days of testimony in a personal injury case. He was sent home before deliberations began. Walker was designated before the trial as an alternate juror, rendering a decision only if another juror couldn’t due to illness or another emergency. He was summoned as a possible juror on Monday in his home county of Milwaukee. The case involved an insurance issue involving Secura — and the Republican Walker had received campaign donations from that firm. Lawyers on both sides agreed to make the governor the alternate so there could be no claim that the jury was not fair-and-objective.
