Wisconsin State News "Top 5" 09-01-10
Winning lottery numbers:
Mega Millions: 10-20-29-47-48, Mega Ball 38, Megaplier 3
Supercash: 8-15-24-31-33-38 – No Doubler
Pick-3: 9-9-7
Pick-4: 3-5-1-2
Badger-5: 6-13-18-24-25
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Summer ends today for hundreds-of-thousands of Wisconsin school students and their families. It’s the first day of school for virtually all districts statewide. But classes have been delayed in at least two schools where mold turned up due to the hot-and-humid summer. Yesterday, officials said the Kromrey Middle School in Middleton would not open until at least next Tuesday – and that will depend on the results of air samples in the building. Elevated levels of mold were found in two rooms at the school, and a marginally-high level was spotted in another room. Also, the Gillett School District is closed until September 13th, after mold was found last month in an elementary school. In Milwaukee, schools scrambled to make repairs following the heavy rains and floods in late July. Glendale Nicolet High School had five-million-dollars in flood damage, and student registrations had to be delayed in mid-August. In Madison, officials have tried to make safety improvements outside their schools to protect kids from heavy traffic. The Madison district has applied for a 300-thousand-dollar grant to look for ways to encourage more students to walk and ride bicycles to school.
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Wisconsin lawmakers have been asked to spend more tax dollars on the criminal justice system. Offenders have been covering the rising costs with higher fees-and-surcharges on top of their fines. But Chief Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson told a special legislative committee this week that the current trend is not sustainable. She says the law-breakers don’t have the money to pay – and the state won’t collect it, quote, “especially in this economy.” State Attorney General J-B Van Hollen agrees. He says that when offenders keep paying more for state programs, it often stops them from paying restitution to their victims. Van Hollen says it’s “wonderful” to have offenders pay for enforcement, rehab, and crime prevention efforts. But in some cases, he says it’s not functional. The legislative panel is looking for ways to revamp the funding system for the courts, the Justice Department, and the state Public Defender’s office.
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President Obama ended America’s combat role in Iraq last night as he told the nation quote, “It is time to turn the page.” In his 18-minute televised address, the Democratic president praised the one-million U-S troops who served in a war he opposed from the beginning. But he said the nation paid a “huge price” in Iraq, and he blamed the heavy war spending for the rising deficits which he now promises to tackle. Earlier yesterday in Milwaukee, G-O-P House Minority Leader John Boehner (bay-ner) told the American Legion’s national convention that Iraq will remain a target for terrorists who want to destroy democracy. And he slammed Obama and other Democrats who had criticized the 2007 troop surge in Iraq, and are now taking credit for its success. Boehner said 50-thousand U-S troops will stay in Iraq, and a strong democracy there is critical for countering the threats posed by extremists and the regime in neighboring Iran. Wisconsin Senate Democrat Herb Kohl called the ending of the Iraq war a “proud moment” for the troops who spent seven years protecting the country. And Kohl said the nation must now focus on ending our involvement in Afghanistan and re-building our economy. Obama has promised to end combat operations in Afghanistan next July. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the American Legion in Milwaukee that the Taliban and other terrorist groups should not assume that the U-S will leave then.
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An Indian tribe from northern Michigan wants to join Wisconsin and four other states in a lawsuit demanding more federal action to fight the Asian carp. The Grand Traverse Band of the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians has filed a request to intervene on the states’ side. The tribe says the five states are not focusing on what it wants – the preservation of fishing rights in a treaty adopted in 1836. Wisconsin and the other states say the Chicago area shipping locks cause a public nuisance, because those waters are connected to the carp-infested Mississippi River. They want the government to close the locks and create more barriers to assure that the bloated carp stays out of the Great Lakes – so it doesn’t ruin the region’s fishing industry. The Obama administration and the state of Illinois say the closing of the locks would hurt Chicago’s economy, with no guarantee that the carp will stay away. Federal Judge Robert Dow of Chicago started hearing arguments in the suit last month. Another hearing is set for next Tuesday.
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A Green Bay man is out of prison after serving 14 years of an 80-year term for an attempted murder. An appeals court ordered a new trial last week for 45-year-old Cody Vandenberg. And yesterday, a judge ordered him to be released on a signature bond. But he still remains under house arrest in the custody of his son in Oneida. Vandenberg was convicted of repeatedly stabbing Blake Renard at the victim’s mobile home in 1995, and stealing his credit cards. Vandenberg was convicted of attempted homicide and armed robbery. But a co-defendant has confessed to the crimes, and the Wisconsin Innocence Project at U-W Madison has been working to get Vandenberg exonerated. He’s due back in court September 28th, as prosecutors decide whether to re-try him, drop the case, or appeal the order for the new trial to the State Supreme Court.
