Saturday, November 23, 2024
10-year-old Wisconsin boy calls 911 for help with his math homework
Drake Bentley
According to the Shawano County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Chase Mason wrote in his report that he wasn't "overly proficient when it comes to math" either but "nonetheless, I responded to assist" on Nov. 15.
Together, the boy and deputy were able to solve an eighth-grade level decimal math problem. The sheriff's office released audio of the 911 call on Friday.
"Hey, um, it's not really an emergency I just need help on one math problem on my homework," the boy said. "It's like eighth-grade level. I'm sorry to waste your time."
"I'm not very good at math, sweetie. But I can try," responded dispatcher Kim Krause.
The boy then recited a confusingly worded math problem.
"I'm afraid I'm no good at that," Kruse said. "I bet ya I could send somebody to help you, though."
The boy said his mom would be home in an hour and she could solve the problem, but his adult relatives were sleeping at the moment and "they're not very good at (math)."
Deputy Mason then responded to save the boy's report card.
The sheriff's office said Friday no further comment would be made and the boy and his family will be declining interviews from media outlets.
Last week, Deputy Mason responded to an unusual 911 call. This call came from a 10-year-old who called to say that he needed help with his math homework. He stated his family "wasn't very good at math either" and he needed help. Although Deputy Mason in his report indicated "personally, I am also not overly proficient when it comes to math, but nonetheless, I responded to assist." With the help of Deputy Mason, they were able to work together and solve the decimal related math problems. Our young caller was provided a business card and was told we are always here to help, except next time he should probably use the non-emergency line if it's not a life-threatening situation. A great teaching moment for all. Thank you, Deputy Mason, for taking time out of your day to be a friend to this young man!
106 | 424 |
Although, Mason gave an interview to WBAY-TV in Green Bay.
“He came right to the door to meet me, then I walked into the house and sat down by the kitchen table,” Mason said. “He had his math out all ready for me. He pointed out exactly which ones he needed help with.
“I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I wasn’t very good at math either, but I was going to give it my best shot."
After solving the problem, Mason gave the boy his business card and reminded him to only use 911 in emergency situations.
"It was a positive contact and a good thing to see for the community to show that we’re out here to help people in every way, shape and form, especially in a small community like ours," Mason said.
"When he goes to school and all of the students see it they’re going to think it’s so cool," the deputy added. "Just hopefully they don’t all call me for math help next time."
Cops Gone Wild: Shorewood woman convicted in spitting incident receives $760K civil rights settlement
Claudia Levens
Stephanie Rapkin, the woman who was found guilty of spitting on a Black teenager during a 2020 Black Lives Matter march in Shorewood, has been awarded a $760,000 settlement after suing Shorewood and Whitefish Bay over her arrest in 2020 where police conducted a search of her home without a warrant, as first reported by TMJ4.
"To our knowledge, this is the largest police misconduct civil rights settlement in Wisconsin that doesn’t involve a death or serious injury," John Bradley, one of Rapkin's attorneys, told the Journal Sentinel.
Rapkin's lawsuit against the villages, filed on May 31, 2023, stems from an incident that took place on June 7, 2020, the day after Rapkin spit on a Black teenager at a Black Lives Matter march. She was eventually convicted of a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct over the spitting incident in 2023.
Rapkin claimed officers from the Shorewood and Whitefish Bay police departments "conspired to violate the Fourth Amendment" by breaking into Rapkin's home without a warrant under the false pretense of a welfare check, according to Rapkin's lawsuit against the villages filed by her attorneys with the firm Strang Bradley, LLC.
The Journal Sentinel on Nov. 21 requested the police report and body camera footage related to the June 7, 2020, incident but has not yet received a response from the Shorewood Police Department.
Police arrested Rapkin in 2020, entering her home without a warrant
The day after the June, 6, 2020, spitting incident, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay police officers showed up to Rapkin's home. They had been in the area to take the statement of a young man who wanted to file charges against Rapkin for pushing him, per the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin.
After reviewing footage from the man's cellphone showing the incident, the officers sought to arrest Rapkin, the lawsuit claims. But they did not have a warrant.
While the officers were waiting outside her home for 40 minutes, a neighbor told them Rapkin had likely taken a sleeping pill 12 hours before, according to the suit.
As described in the lawsuit and as shown on police body camera footage obtained by TMJ4, the officers kicked down Rapkin's door, pointed weapons at her, arrested her for allegedly assaulting the young man and searched her home for evidence to use against her.
Rapkin eventually filed a motion to suppress the evidence gathered from the search, and Judge Laura Crivello granted the motion, saying "you need to get a warrant or wait till her attorney brings her down to the station house to talk.”
The suit argued the following counts: claim for initial unlawful entry/failure to intervene, claim for unlawful seizure and arrest, claim for second unlawful entry/failure to intervene, claim for conspiracy, and a Monell Policy Claim, a type of claim aimed at an agency or municipality responsible for policies that allow officer misconduct.
There were no disciplinary actions taken against the officers involved in Rapkin’s arrest, Shorewood police told the Journal Sentinel.
Suit pertains to officers not pursuing a warrant
In particular, the suit hinges on the officers not pursuing a warrant to enter Rapkin's home, instead justifying their decisions under the departments' community caretaker doctrine, which allows non-investigatory activities that advance public safety, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin.
The suit argues the officers' immediate resolve to do so was evidence of an entrenched and universal practice of "fabricating excuses to conduct warrantless home entries."
In a statement sent to the Journal Sentinel on Nov. 22, one of Rapkin's attorneys, James Odell, wrote, "The officers’ legal justification for entering her house was directly contradicted by their body camera footage, which recorded them talking about their intent to arrest her upon entering her house."
Bradley added that The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by police.
"And it protects people inside their home most of all," Bradley said. "The rule is simple: unless there’s an emergency, if the police are going to come into your house uninvited, they need a warrant."
Office of Lawyer Regulation initiated disciplinary proceedings against Rapkin for mishandling a probate case
Rapkin's lawsuit is not the only legal proceedings she's been tied to recently.
On Nov. 5, The Supreme Court of Wisconsin's Office of Lawyer Regulation initiated disciplinary proceedings against Rapkin for allegedly mishandling a probate case starting in 2020.
The OLR's order to answer alleges Rapkin charged unreasonable fees for unidentified nonlegal services provided to an estate after a woman's death and failed to close the estate in a timely manner.
The order also made note of the 2020 spitting incident and 2023 disorderly conduct conviction, which the court said was in violation of rules against "professional misconduct."
In 2018, Nancy Balcer named Rapkin as the personal representative of her estate in a will and named Johnson Bank as a co-trustee on her trust.
When Balcer died in 2020, she owned $165,000 worth of personal property.
Rapkin took a variety of actions related to Balcer's estate and trust, billing the trust over $24,000 and paying herself monthly for work on the estate's behalf as its personal representative, the order alleges.
Rapkin allegedly never entered into a fee agreement with the trust and never communicated in writing the rate and basis for her fees or the scope of representation to the trust, per the order.
Over the course of an entire year, Johnson Bank asked several times for information about the status of the estate, and eventually, its accounting.
The complaint alleges Rapkin failed to provide substantive responses or provide the requested information until Johnson Bank filed a formal probate court petition requesting her removal as personal representative of the estate in August 2022.
In February 2023, according to the order, the court removed Rapkin for failing to close the estate in a timely manner, and she was later ordered to repay around $19,000 in improper fees.
Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.
Friday, November 22, 2024
Transgender bathroom ban is a ‘bigoted attack’: Activist
TikTok creator arrested for Target shoplifting after officers spot outfit in video
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Father, son accused of damaging controversial Milwaukee mural appear in court
Racine shows it now has the capacity to play bigger role as host city
Caroline Neal
RACINE — Downtown Racine residents may have noticed more statewide conferences and other large gatherings in the city.
Some business owners and leaders attribute this uptick to recent developments in the area, such as Hotel Verdant, as well as the new management at Festival Park.
The addition of these facilities, they say, give the city the capacity to host large events.
Since September, Downtown Racine has hosted statewide conferences including Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s Downtown Development Placemaking Workshop and the Wisconsin Public Transportation Annual Fall Conference.
“I think for people who have not been to Downtown Racine from across the state, (they) don’t realize what a gem it is — the proximity, the walkability,” said Kelly Kruse, executive director of Downtown Racine Corporation. “The architecture is probably some of the best in the state when it comes to our historic buildings.”
Kruse said the WEDC’s training conference brought together more than 40 downtown directors and board members from across the state in September.
Kruse said that in 2021, Racine hosted a regional one-day workshop but had not hosted a statewide training.
Christopher Adams, developer for Hotel Verdant, said the boutique hotel has 80 rooms, adding about 40% more rooms to the downtown area when combined with the DoubleTree.
When these conferences come to town, Adams said he sees an increase in business.
“When we had the transit event in October, both hotels, I believe, were (at) 100% occupancy,” he said.
Although he said there’s not really a “standard day” because the day of week and time of year can affect occupancy, Downtown Racine hosting an event is “definitely helpful,” Adams said.
Trevor Jung, transit and mobility director for RYDE Racine, said the group volunteered to host the Wisconsin Public Transportation Annual Fall Conference last month.
The conference brought more than 200 transit professionals to Downtown Racine and Memorial Hall.
“But the only reason that we were able to put our hand in the air and bring this event to Racine … was because of the ecosystem that now allows for it in downtown,” he said.
Patrick Flynn is the founder of 5k Events, which is general manager of Festival Park.
Since Flynn took over management, Festival Park has hosted political events for both Republican and Democratic figures.
In June, President-elect Donald Trump spoke at Festival Park.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied supporters in October at Memorial Hall; a week later, Vice President-elect JD Vance also addressed a crowd in Memorial Hall.
“Everybody benefits from those events, not just us,” said Kevin MacDougall, Festival Park’s director of sales. “The spider web extends out into the community. We all work together because it’s in everybody’s best interest to make the downtown vibrant. Whether we’re hosting an event, we help the DRC promote their event and vice versa. It’s not competitive at all. It’s collaborative.”
Adams said Hotel Verdant coordinates with other businesses on “an ongoing basis” to accommodate their needs.
“I’ve been reaching out to businesses in downtown and trying to see how we can work together with different folks,” he said.
Tamara LoPiparo, owner of The Maple Table, believes the economic effect is a “rising tide raises all ships” situation.
“Hopefully, the economic impact of these events will encourage people to spend not only in the bars and restaurants, but also all the wonderful little shops we have,” she said.
For Kruse, these conferences might help increase foot traffic during the week, when small businesses have fewer people walking through their doors. Often, she said, these conferences occur during non-summer months, which can also be challenging periods for small businesses.
“Having the influx of people from out of town that have money to spend on going out to eat, maybe doing some shopping that they weren’t expecting on their lunch break while they’re here for a conference — all of these things can play a major impact,” she said.
Red Onion Cafe’s owner Corey Oakland said that although his business is “fortunate” to be busy on the weekends and weekdays, he believes these conferences can have an impact beyond the event itself.
“One of the things that I always say I really miss, as an example, would be when the triathlon was in the area,” Oakland said. “We literally got to know people from around the world that would be here. You’d see them once or twice a year. They’d come in, and you’d, in a way, get to know these people.”
Having large events in town that fill up the hotels can have a positive impact for the cafe as it would encourage people to grab a coffee or stop in for lunch, he said.
“You can’t deny that if you bring several hundred people into a downtown area, it’s going to have a positive impact,” Oakland said. “Not every store may feel that impact, but it’s definitely sort of a trickle down situation.”
Still, he said Racine’s location in between Chicago and Milwaukee can make it challenging for the city to compete as a host.
Oakland also said that Racine’s distance from the interstate isolates it, which could be a drawback for companies trying to make transportation to a convention easier.
“As somebody who’s lived here for many, many years, it’s not a huge issue,” he said. “But for somebody who’s considering a convention, that might be something of a barrier.”
This, he said, is why Racine’s location on Lake Michigan is important.
“It’s worth the 20 minute drive from the freeway to see where we’re situated on the lake,” Oakland said.
Adams, like Oakland, said Racine’s spot on Lake Michigan — as well as the Root River, the marina and the historic downtown — makes the city a good location for conferences.
“It’s a quaint, mid-sized city that a lot of people haven’t seen before. It’s got a lot going for it,” he said.
Kruse said the historic element of Downtown Racine’s architecture still remains because of the city’s strict codes.
And while these requirements can be frustrating for new property and business owners, Kruse said the codes have been a “blessing.”
“It certainly makes a big difference on the overall aesthetic,” she said.
Kruse said the walkability of downtown also is a draw for Racine — a belief shared by LoPiparo.
Whereas bigger cities like Milwaukee can be tough to navigate, in Racine “everything’s just a couple of footsteps away,” LoPiparo said.
“Some of these people coming in, if they’re staying at (Hotel) Verdant or DoubleTree, they might not even necessarily need a rental car because they can walk to all the restaurants, they can walk to Festival Hall,” she said. “Everything is there for them.”
The variety of Racine’s restaurants is another benefit for the city.
“We have so many restaurants, which when you are traveling, restaurants and being a foodie is a big deal. Having the array of restaurants and hospitality that we have is great,” Kruse said. “It’s really exciting that we finally have everything that we need to be a host city.”
For the WEDC conference, Kruse said DRC made sure visitors had the necessary information in their welcome bags, including a downtown visitors guide as well as a list of open restaurants and the self-guided walking tours and day trips.
“Not only were we able to have that foot traffic those days that they were in town, but giving them a reason to come back is really important,” Kruse said. “So that we’re really making that connection. Not just, ‘Hey, thanks for coming by,’ but we’re working directly with all of these and saying, ‘Here’s a reason to come back.’”
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Student behavior now the leading cause of teacher burnout
We are not alone in the cosmos. Why isn't UFO hearing tearing up Google trends? | Opinion
House committees hold hearing on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth"
You would think if anything could break through the noise of our news cycle, UFOs could.
This needs to be a bigger deal folks because the American people, nay people of the world, need this right now.
Last week, for the second time in two years, there was a Congressional subcommittee hearing on UFOs, or as they have been foolishly rebranded “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” shortened to UAPs.
One of the visionaries helping uncover the truth is none other than Wisconsin Congressman Glenn Grothman, R-Fond du Lac, who chairs the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.
Editorial:Hovde's election claims are false. He's blaming Milwaukee – without evidence.
Last week’s hearing, "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth," including a new slate of witnesses that provided testimony about UFO sightings and what the government may or may not know about them. One witness, Luis Elizondo, a former military intelligence officer, went so far to say, "Excessive secrecy has led to grave misdeeds against loyal civil servants, military personnel and the public, all to hide the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos."
Alien spacecraft and dead extraterrestrials now in Congressional Record
Last year’s testimony included former Pentagon official, David Grusch, telling a Congressional committee that he’d learned of a decades-long Pentagon program focused on “crash retrieval and reverse engineering” of UFOs from other planets. Grusch also said that remains found at the spacecraft crash sites were “non-human biologics.”
Yes, crashed alien spacecraft and dead extraterrestrials made it to the Congressional Record.
However, neither in the aftermath of last year's and last week's hearing did the terms "UFO" "Alien" "UAP" or even "government cover up" break the 25 most searched terms in Google Trends.
What were people searching for last week? Would it surprise you if I said: "mike tyson jake paul fight."
To be fair, neither of these hearings has provided real evidence to prove UFOs or UAPs are extraterrestrial in nature. But the collection of testimony indicates that UAPs are very real in the sense there are a number of some as-yet-unexplained phenomenal.
And yet, apparently, most of us do not care enough to let that information even make a blip on our news cycle.
All the more reason that right now is the right time for these tight lipped folks in defense and intelligence departments, whose jobs could very well be on the chopping block anyways in Trump's administration, to just let it rip.
Declassify everything. Tell us the truth is out there. Then send Biden and Trump out to do a tag team Bill Pullman-Independence Day-esque speech, where they encourage us to not be consumed by our petty differences and instead be united in our common interests. Give us a new enemy!
Or at the very least, declassify everything just to remind humans of our standing in the universe. I don't know who said it first but right now feels like a good time for everyone to remember that we’re, "just ghosts driving meat coated skeletons made from stardust riding a rock floating through space."
Kristin Brey is the "My Take" columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Posts
