Saturday, October 26, 2024
JD Vance to visit Wausau, Tim Walz to visit Manitowoc and Waukesha, on Monday
Drake Bentley
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will hold an event at Wausau Downtown Airport, 725 Wood Place, at 2 p.m. Monday, according to his campaign. Doors open at noon.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will travel to Manitowoc and Waukesha on Monday, according to his campaign.
With Election Day just 10 days away, Wisconsin, a swing state, will continue to be visited as major party candidates campaign for votes.
Kamala Harris will be at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday, while former President Barack Obama rallied the liberal base in Madison last week.
And, former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will hold a rally at Fiserv Forum on Friday, just days before the Nov. 5 election.
Packers legend Brett Favre to join Donald Trump at Green Bay event Wednesday
Alison Dirr
Hall of Fame ex-Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre will join former President Donald Trump at his event in Green Bay on Wednesday, according to the campaign.
Favre will be a special guest speaker at the event that will take place less than a week before the Nov. 5 election in which Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are each vying for the White House.
Trump and Favre are expected to make remarks at the Resch Center in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon.
The candidates and their campaigns are each crisscrossing this critical swing state in the final days before the election. Trump will also be in Milwaukee next week while Harris will hold a rally in Madison.
Favre played 20 years in the NFL.
He was known as an ironman during his career, starting an NFL-record 321 consecutive games across 18½ seasons from 1992 to 2010.
He began his career with the Atlanta Falcons before being traded to the Packers in his second year, a transaction that changed the course of the organization. He became the first player in NFL history to win three straight MVP awards and turned the Packers into a perennial contender. Favre led Green Bay to a Super Bowl title after the 1996 season, its first in 35 years, and another Super Bowl appearance in 1997.
The Packers traded him to the New York Jets after he came out of retirement in 2008. He spent one season there before playing the final two years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings.
Favre, 55, announced last month that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder that affects the nervous system.
Favre suffered numerous concussions during his playing career.
He announced the diagnosis during testimony at a congressional committee meeting about the misuse of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds in Mississippi.
Favre, a native of Mississippi, is embroiled in the scandal but has not been charged with a crime. He has denied wrongdoing.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Christopher Kuhagen and JR Radcliffe of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this story.
Friday, October 25, 2024
It's peak season for car vs. deer collisions in Wisconsin. Here's how to avoid them
Alex GrothMaia Pandey
Drivers should be on the look out for deer on Wisconsin roads during the months of October and November when deer are most active during breeding season, says the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Every year, Wisconsin roadways record more than 15,000 deer related crashes, according to the DOT. In 2023, there were 16,153 crashes involving a deer in Wisconsin. Of these crashes, 14 people were killed, 12 of which were motorcyclists, and 585 people were injured.
The state has an estimated population of 1.6 million deer, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Most deer crashes happen in areas where there are high deer populations, along with high traffic, according to the DOT. In 2023, Waukesha County reported the most deer-related crashes at 836, followed by Dane County at 802 crashes and Washington County at 763. Last year, just in Lafayette County, 47% of all reported crashes included a deer, according to the DOT.
Here's how to avoid deer-related car crashes this fall in Wisconsin, plus what to do if you do hit a deer, according to the DOT.
How to avoid deer-related car crashes in Wisconsin:
If you're planning any fall drives, there are a few steps you can take to avoid deer-vehicle collisions.
In general, best practices include always wearing a seat belt, driving slowly and carefully through forested areas, and being vigilant in the early morning and evening when deer are most active.
Here are some additional tips from the Wisconsin DNR:
- If you notice a deer in your headlights, don't expect it to dart away. Headlights can confuse a deer and lead the animal to freeze in place.
- Instead, brake firmly when you notice the deer. A long honk of your vehicle can sometimes frighten the deer to run away.
- If a collision is unavoidable, brake and stay in your lane. Do not swerve, as this can confuse the deer as to where it should run and lead to you losing control of your vehicle.
- If you are on a motorcycle, slow down, brake firmly and then swerve if necessary, to avoid hitting the deer. Try to stay within your lane if possible, to avoid hitting other objects or vehicles.
- If you see one deer, watch for more. Deer seldom run alone.
What to do if you get in an animal-related crash
If you do end up hitting an animal, there are a few steps you should take, according to the DNR. These steps are specifically for deer-related crashes:
- If possible, get your vehicle safely off the road. Stay buckled-up inside your vehicle to avoid being struck by another vehicle, particularly if you are on the highway.
- Be prepared to describe your precise location to law enforcement. Helpful location markers include proximity to a mile post, the lane direction, nearby exit numbers, an address or mailbox number.
- If the animal remains are on an active portion of a highway, call 911. These remains pose an urgent safety hazard.
- If remains are on the shoulder of the highway or off the busy portion of the roadway, contact your local county sheriff. Here are the numbers to call for killed deer pick-up in each Wisconsin county.
More:Animal-vehicle collisions are more common in Wisconsin than almost any other state, study says
Top 5 states for animal collisions in the U.S.:
According to State Farm, these are the top five states for animal collision in the U.S., including the odds for animal collision:
- West Virginia — 1 in 40
- Montana — 1 in 54
- Michigan — 1 in 59
- Pennsylvania — 1 in 61
- Wisconsin — 1 in 65
Racine County Board of Supervisors approves 0.5% county sales tax
Holly Gilvary
Supervisors voted 13-5 to approve the ordinance adopting the tax, which will take effect April 1, 2025.
Supervisors Valena Coleman, Tom Rutkowski, Melissa Kaprelian, Jody Spencer, Q.A. Shakoor II, Brett Nielsen, Eric Hopkins, Tony Veranth, Don Trottier, Scott Maier, Gary Kolb, Greg Horeth and Tom Preusker voted in favor of the sales tax; supervisors Renee Kelly, Ernie Rossi, Robert Miller, Tom Kramer and Taylor Wishau voted against it.
Preusker offered an amendment to the ordinance that reduced the general obligation debts that will be allocated to property tax relief from $5 million to $2 million, saying it would not be fiscally responsible to pass the ordinance as is based on the county's proposed 2025 budget, the county's current deficit of $17 million and the projected $20 million of anticipated sales tax revenue.
"If we commit five million of the expected 20 (million) to general obligation debt, that means there's only 15 (million) left to solve a gap of 17 million," Preusker said. "I don't think it's responsible to knowingly, tonight, pass an ordinance that knowingly creates a deficit."
The board voted 11-7 in favor of the amendment.
The county will begin allocating some of the sales tax revenue to property tax relief in 2026.
Supervisors Robert Miller and Melissa Kaprelian also offered amendments to the ordinance, but both failed.
Miller proposed allocating "approximately 50%" of the sales and use tax revenue to the portion of the county budget devoted to debt service on general obligation debt to affect direct property relief.
"If we do not do this sales tax in a responsible way with a lot of direct property tax relief, many of our constituents will be justifiably unhappy," Miller said.
The board voted 10-8 against Miller's amendment.
Kaprelian proposed changing the amount of revenue committed to property tax relief from "not less than $5 million" to "up to $5 million based on operational needs, debt services, borrowing for capital projects and state municipal aid approved in the state budget."
Kaprelian said the change would maintain the $5 million target for property tax relief but would allow for more flexibility so that the number could be adjusted through the county's budget process if necessary.
"By binding ourselves to this rigid allocation while facing a $17 million deficit, now we risk sending this contradictory and fiscally irresponsible message," Kaprelian said. "How can we tell our constituents that we're implementing a sales tax to resolve the deficit while simultaneously committing to a specific allocation that could perpetuate that deficit?"
The board voted 9-9 for the amendment, so it failed.
In other business, supervisors:
- Authorized and approved the memorandum of agreement between the National Association of Conservation Districts and Racine County to accept the Urban Agriculture and Community Conservation Grant for $60,000 to be used at the Racine County Youth and Development Care Center micro-nursery.
- Authorized the purchase of up to five capital asset vehicles and a transfer of $120,000 within the Public Health 2024 Budget.
Waukesha Kwik Trip has bed bugs | FOX6 News Milwaukee
Donald Trump schedules campaign rally in Green Bay days before the election
Lawrence Andrea
Former President Donald Trump will return to northeastern Wisconsin next week to rally voters just days before the Nov. 5 election.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks Wednesday evening at the Resch Center in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon, according to his campaign. An advisory for the event suggested Trump would center his remarks on the economy. He's expected to speak about 6 p.m.
The visit is scheduled just six days before the election and as surveys show a neck-and-neck race in Wisconsin. A handful of recent polls have shown the race dead even, and a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey on Thursday showed Trump edging Harris by just 0.3 points.
Wednesday's event would also mark Trump's second stop in Green Bay this year. He made his first stop in the battleground state in April, when he rallied voters in a downtown Green Bay convention center. Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, stopped in De Pere in late August.
More:Trump, Harris are ramping up their travel in Wisconsin. See all the places they've been
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and their surrogates, have barnstormed the state in recent weeks. Wisconsin will be among a handful of states that will decide the election.
Harris held an event with former Republican GOP Rep. Liz Cheney in Brookfield on Monday, and former President Barack Obama rallied voters with Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Madison on the first day of early, in-person voting on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 24, 2024
How the Racine County Sheriff's Office investigates child pornography cases
Annie Pulley
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The Racine County Sheriff's Office seal as posted on a wall in its offices located at 717 Wisconsin Ave. in Racine. |
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"I want to get these people off the streets," said Anthony LaCombe, one of the RCSO's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators. |
"There's definitely an uptick for the Racine County Sheriff's Office," RCSO Public Information Officer Lt. Michael Luell said.
The increased number of arrests suggests multiple causes. The internet, social media and other digital channels makes the illegal material easier to access, and electronic service providers, such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft, are required to report suspicious activity.
The county is also funneling resources toward these cases, which has an effect on the number of arrests made.
Law enforcement agencies across the county investigate child pornography cases. For many of these departments, however, the investigators assigned to these cases also are working other types of cases.
In the sheriff's office, an entire team is focused solely on the investigation of child pornography cases.
RCSO's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is made up of two full-time investigators, Anthony LaCombe and Emil Ortiz, one computer analyst, Madeline Churches, and one electronics detection K-9, Stella.
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The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has national, state and local operators. The goal of these task forces is to identify and prosecute those who make, distribute and view child sexual abuse material or child pornography. |
The group is one of about 312 state affiliates of Wisconsin's ICAC Task Force, which is administered by the state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation.
Often, investigations begin with a cyber tip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC.
When Google, Snapchat or another provider flag activity related to the download or distribution of child pornography, they report the activity to NCMEC. The center then finds the IP address of the user, tracing it to the state of origin.
If the illegal activity occurred in Wisconsin, NCMEC would send the tip to the state DOJ. The DOJ's Division of Criminal Investigation then assigns the tip to the appropriate local jurisdiction.
This all has to happen before LaCombe and Ortiz can begin their investigation.
"That's a big process," LaCombe said.
In 2023, NCMEC, a nonprofit, received 36.2 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation online, according to its website. Reports of online enticement increased by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023.
"Every year," LaCombe said, "it is going up dramatically."
Timeliness is often a factor of how quickly electronic service providers respond to subpoenas or warrants after LaCombe and Ortiz begin their investigation.
In order to search a user's Microsoft or Apple account for additional evidence, they need cooperation from the electronic service provider.
Google, they explained, can take between three and six months to respond to a warrant. Some companies, such as WhatsApp, are not based in the United States, which can further slow the process.
After receiving access to a suspect's account or files, their analyst must sort through masses of content to determine what's evidence and what's irrelevant to the investigation.
In some cases, a suspect might no longer be in the county. In many of these cases, the investigators will transfer their evidence and progress to the appropriate authority.
According to LaCombe, a case was transferred to the U.S. military because the suspect was actively deployed.
LaCombe and Ortiz also manage a complex computer system in which several machines constantly scan the web for child sexual abuse material. There are about 400 million known images that NCMEC has previously flagged; this system will automatically flag activity that includes recycled imagery.
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One of several computers used by ICAC investigators Anthony LaCombe and Emil Ortiz to constantly scour the internet for recycled child pornography. |
Luell likened these investigations to a "space race."
The technology used to attain and distribute illegal material is constantly evolving, meaning that investigators' technology and approaches must also constantly evolve.
Beyond having a strong command of their relevant computer systems, legal procedure and search and arrest tactics, these investigators must also be psychologically evaluated every six months due to the nature of their investigations, Luell said.
"I don't know that there's people out there that could mentally handle a lot of the things that we see," Ortiz said. "We're not desensitized to stuff, but we have a job to do ... We do have compassion. We care about the community, care about serving and protecting."
When it's time to execute a search warrant, K-9 Stella is essential.
According to Ortiz, people who view child pornography are often very adept at organizing and hiding the content. Investigators have even found SD cards hidden in fake coins.
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Stella is an English Black Lab specially trained in electronics detection. She is an invaluable member of the Sheriff's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. |
Stella, a 2-year-old English black lab, is trained to detect a chemical present in the electronic devices routinely used to store child pornography.
Stella also is a therapy dog.
According to LaCombe, Stella is a comfort to victims and to the entire task force.
She takes "your mind off of stuff and kind of gives you a break," LaCombe said.
Speaking on behalf of Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, Luell said that these children are "horrifically traumatized and sexually abused in the creation of child porn, but they're also revictimized when people upload, download and view this."
As this strand of criminality receives more attention, the very vernacular is changing. Advocates and prosecutors have adopted the term child sexual abuse material versus child pornography, to reflect the underlying abuse behind every image.
"We're able to protect kids, protect our community, give children justice," LaCombe said. "It's probably the most rewarding law enforcement job I've ever had."
JD Vance coming to Racine next week
ADAM KELNHOFER
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| Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance hosts a rally in Eau Claire, Wis. Tuesday, Sep. 17. |
Republican vice presidential hopeful JD Vance is scheduled to deliver remarks in Racine on Monday evening, according to former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
The Ohio U.S. senator will be at Racine Memorial Hall, where doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Vance is expected to begin speaking two hours later. Those interested in attending can register at www.donaldjtrump.com/events.
The campaign email detailing the event does not specify what Vance will talk about, but most of the notice blames “Kamalanomics” for high cost-of-living increases under the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The email also urges Trump supporters to “get out and vote right away,” after early in-person voting started in Wisconsin Tuesday.
Vance and Trump have both criticized early voting in the past and in this election cycle, with Vance saying as late as last month that he is “a firm believer that we ought to have Election Day in this country and not election season, but we are where we are.”
The announcement comes a day after former President Barack Obama and Harris’ vice presidential pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also urged supporters to vote early in speeches in Madison.
Vance was also in Waukesha on Sunday.