Durand Police and the Pepin County Sheriffs' Department have announced the release of a sex offender back into the community. 67yr old Willam Hartung will be released from prison on August 8th and will be returned to Pepin County. Hartung will be homeless at the time of his release. His release will also require him to wear a GPS monitor to keep his whereabouts known. If Hartung is able to find housing, his address will be released by authorities.
There will be plenty of opportunities for National Night Out tonight in the Chippewa Valley. The police departments in Durand, Mondovi , Wabasha, and a half dozen other communities are all planning to spend part of tonight out in their communities. Durand Police Chief Stan Ridgeway says the public is invited to the Bauer Built Sports Complex for a free picnic. The Pepin County Sheriff's Department will also be doing a demonstration of its drone and projecting the image the drone sees on the video screen at the sports complex. National Night Out is a yearly chance for neighbors to meet each other, and for police to do some community outreach. Most events run from about 5 til 8 p.m. tonight.
City of Elmwood Authorities are warning residents of a new scam. Elmwood police have received a report from a resident that they received a phone call from the police department phone number. The caller was claiming to be an Elmwood Police Officer and was looking to gather information on the resident and also money. The department is advising residents to verify you're actually talking with an officer to hang up and call Pierce County Dispatch on the non-emergency number. Do not give out any personal information or money.
There could be some movement in the Leinenkugel's strike today. Some of the striking workers at Leinie's Chippewa Falls brewery are set to sit down with company leaders today. Over 40 workers at the plant have been on strike for the past three weeks. The union for the workers wants more money and other concessions. The company says it's made a generous offer. This is the first strike at Leinie's since the 1980s.
A central Wisconsin man accused of child sex crimes in four counties has been sentenced to prison time for crimes committed in one of them. A Rusk County jury found Roger Hattamer Jr. of Loyal guilty of eleven child sex crimes there in January. WQOW reports he was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison and must also register as a sex offender for life. Hattamer has sentencing hearings scheduled in the coming months in Taylor, Clark, and Chippewa County, with the cases all involving the same victim.
Three counties in northwest Wisconsin have been declared natural disaster areas due to drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Ashland, Bayfield, and Douglas counties as primary natural disaster areas due to drought, according to a news release from the USDA's Ashland office. Burnett, Iron, Price, Sawyer, and Washburn counties are eligible as contiguous counties. The designation allows the USDA's Farm Service Agency to extend emergency loans to meet recovery needs. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season ranging from “exceptional” to “severe” for eight or more consecutive weeks.
Wisconsin’s Third District Congressman gets a rebuke from fellow legislators for cursing at pages at the U.S. Capitol. Floor speeches Thursday had Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell indirectly admonishing Representative Derrick Van Orden after he berated a group of high school-age Senate pages in a profanity-laced rant the night before. Van Orden has reportedly refused to apologize for his outburst, which occurred when the pages were lying on the floor taking pictures of the Capitol’s rotunda dome. Schumer said he was shocked at the refusal to apologize to the young people, while McConnell stated that "…everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way."
We are waiting for more answers about a public embezzlement case in Vernon County. Viroqua Police last week arrested 30-year-old Kayla Fortney on charges that she stole from the county. Fortney was an administrative assistant at the county. Investigators say she took more than 10 thousand-dollars, though it's not clear how. Fortney was in court on Friday and released on a signature bond.
The Minnesota Department of Health is recommending certain people not eat fish from the Mississippi River and Lake Rebecca. People under the age of 15, pregnant or possibly pregnant, and mothers planning on breastfeeding should not eat fish from those waters. The fish there have pollutants that can have long-term effects on young children. It can damage their immune system.
New Minnesota laws surrounding catalytic converters will go into effect today. Starting on today, anyone in Minnesota found with a catalytic converter, but with no vehicle or identification information will face criminal penalties. Possession of three or more converters will be considered a felony, and scrap yard dealers will be required to keep and check records of catalytic converters. The new law is intended to combat the recent increase in catalytic converter thefts.
A man convicted of killing an 18-year-old over stolen reptiles is sentenced to prison time. In June, a Waupaca County jury found William Zelenski guilty of first-degree intentional homicide for the October 2020 death of Ryelee Manente. A criminal complaint says in, Zelenski and Manente’s mother confronted Manente on a Waupaca sidewalk. After a doorbell camera showed Zelenski handing a shotgun to Manente’s mother, who pointed it at her son, Zelenski took the gun and shot Manente. The 47-year-old Zelenski was sentenced to 35 years in prison with the possibility of extended supervision. Manente’s mother, Tiffany Powell, was sentenced in February to 23 years in prison for having a role in her son’s death.
The former CEO of a defunct Germantown real estate firm is going to prison. Fifty-three year-old Joseph Nemeth of Germantown was sentenced last week to 16 months in federal prison for carrying out an investment scheme that defrauded over 20 victims and caused a loss of at least $2.2 million. Nemeth had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. His former business partner, 44-year-old Jeremy Arrington of Middleton was sentenced last year to 33 months in prison for his role in crime. The men were charged with operating Wisconsin Home Buyer's Network as a Ponzi-type scheme between 2012 and 2017. Less than $500,000 of investors' money was returned.
State Supreme Court justice Brian Hagedorn says he's concerned about the politicization of the Court. Speaking on WISN's UPFRONT, Hagedorn said people should stop thinking of the court as some political tool. Justice Janet Protasiewicz will be sworn in this week to replace retiring Justice Patience Roggensack. That will shift the court's majority from conservative to progressive, but Hagedorn has been seen as a swing vote already in several high-profile cases.
It's been a big two-week run for Powerball and Mega Millions, with both jackpots rolling into the billion-dollar territory in recent days. Wisconsin Lottery Spokesperson Gary Kohn says that means that more players than usual are paying attention to the news and dreaming of hitting it big. But, as always, you're encouraged to play responsibly, especially if the lottery isn't part of your normal budget. Last week a one billion dollar Powerball jackpot was won in the Los Angeles area, resetting the prize pool for that game. Today the Mega Millions jackpot is over $1 Billion.
A major human trafficking bust in St. Paul ended with eleven people arrested, and four victims rescued. The arrests were a culmination of an undercover investigation by the St. Paul Police Department and the Human Trafficking Task Force. The operation utilized investigators who posed as minors and sex buyers, and law enforcement officials arrested the suspects as they arrived at the arranged meeting place. Authorities say ten out of the eleven people arrested are facing charges for felony solicitation of a minor under 18 years of age for prostitution.
It was a happy homecoming for a couple hundred Wisconsin National Guard soldiers. More than 250 members of the 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade returned Saturday from a deployment to the Horn of Africa. Guard commanders say the troops were in Africa to 'enhance partner nation capacity, promote regional stability, and protect the country.'
No comments:
Post a Comment