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Local unemployment rates increase

July 22, 2009 By

Unemployment continues to increase across the Badger State. Unemployment rates increased in each of the Wisconsin's 12 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in June compared to May. State Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman released June 2009 local unemployment rate estimates for Wisconsin cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

 

When compared to rates of June 2008, all 12 MSAs also had higher unemployment rates last month. The Madison MSA had the lowest rate in June at 6.6 percent. The Janesville MSA recorded the highest rate at 13.2 percent. Preliminary figures for nonfarm wage and salary jobs showed an increase in nine of the 11 reporting areas. All 11 reporting areas had fewer jobs compared to employment totals for June 2008.

 

In June, unemployment rates decreased in 11 of 72 Wisconsin counties, increased in 57, and remained the same in four. Dane County recorded the lowest rate at 6.3 percent, followed by Pepin at 6.6 percent. The highest rates were recorded in Menominee County at 15.6 percent, Rock County at 13.2 percent, and Rusk County at 13.0 percent.

 

On an annual basis, unemployment rates increased in all 72 counties. The smallest increase occurred in Pepin, which recorded a 2.5 percentage point increase. The biggest increase occurred in Price County, where the unemployment rate increased 8.1 percentage points to 12.7 percent.

Filed Under: Business, Sports

Fifty year sentence for abductions

July 22, 2009 By

Edward Lanpher A man convicted in one of the most disturbing cases in central Wisconsin history has been sentenced to fifty years in prison. Edward Lanphear will be eligible for parole at age 97.

In June, the 47 year-old Lanphear pleaded no contest to two counts of kidnapping and two counts of sexual assault. Nine other felonies were dropped.

Lanphear was accused of abducting and sexually assaulting a 23-year-old man and a 22-year-old man last July. He allegedly chained one man to his basement floor; the other was chained in his garage.

The men were rescued after Lanphear left the property to get cigarettes for the man chained in the garage. He was able to free himself and run to a neighbor's house to call authorities.

It was clear Lanphear had planned the abductions. Authorities revealed he preinstalled "fasteners" that were used to keep his victims chained at his very normal-looking Saratoga home.

Lanphear had no criminal record and had worked at a Wisconsin Rapids paper mill for 20 years.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Sports, Top Story

Jorgensen seeks to end thrill kills

July 22, 2009 By

Wisconsin Wildlife Federation's George Meyer, Representative Andy Jorgensen, Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney (Photo: Jackie Johnson) A new measure addressing "Thrill Kills" gets momentum at the capitol.

"People who torture and slaughter animals are sick individuals."

Fort Atkinson Democrat Andy Jorgensen's legislation is in response to the recent death-by-snowmobile involving several deer and dozens of ducks. Jorgensen's bill is aimed at operators of any off-road vehicle who recklessly harm or kill wild animals in Wisconsin.

"This bill is simple and right to the point. It seeks to solve a complex problem. No person may harm a wild animal by harassing or pursuing it with a motor boat or motor vehicle, period."

Jorgensen says state law needs to change, in order to keep such crimes from going unreported and unpunished. If it's an accident, he says, it must be reported. And, if it's intentional, the animal abuser must be punished.

"It is disingenuous for someone to say it was an accident when they did not report the incident to law enforcement or to the DNR. A simple reporting requirement may help differentiate between an honest accident and an intentional crime."

Considering the varying degrees of severity for this crime, from simply annoying the animal to torturing or killing it, Jorgensen's bill leaves the punishment up to a judge's discretion. That could involve a fine up to $10-thousand, three years of probation, revocation of vehicle operating privileges, a mental health assessment, or a Class I felony charge.

Note: Jorgensen has the support of several District Attorneys throughout the state, law enforcement, the state DNR, off-road vehicle clubs, and conservation clubs. 

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:33 MP3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Produce grown, served on UW campus

July 22, 2009 By

UW Madison kitchen garden. IMAGE: Bob Hague Some diners at UW Madison are enjoying really fresh veggies. They don't come much fresher than the salad greens being served at Frank's Place dining facility in Holt Commons. The produce is grown just a few hundred feet away, and supplements the salad bar offerings to some 800 high school students on campus for various summer camps.

The small "kitchen garden" also provides instructional opportunities. "I work with the dietetic students, and many of them have grown up with no understanding of gardening," says Monica Theis, senior lecturer in the Department of Food Science. "So it's another opportunity that we have here, to help our students understand what it means to grow a garden."

At this point, the garden is just supplementing the dining hall. "We can't possibly source 800 meals from this small amount of space," says Theis. "But what we're trying to do is learn how we can help large volume food service operations source locally." Theis notes that area school districts like Madison and Middleton produce thousands of meals daily. "It's very difficult to get a consistent source of supply that could guarantee fresh produce from a local source every day."

The vegetables, growing next to a historic house in Allen Centennial Gardens on the UW campus, are also going into Babcock Dairy Store sandwiches and salads. "This lettuce has been remarkable" Thies says. "It's unusual to have lettuce growing this time of year, but the cooler temperatures have been helping us. So when it's realistic we've been harvesting it and taking it over to Babcock Hall, and they've been using it in their deli shop. They're anxiously waiting for the tomatoes."  

AUDIO: Bob Hague interview (4:00 MP3)

Filed Under: Human Interest

Sex ed found lacking

July 22, 2009 By

A call for better sex education for Wisconsin teens. Lon Newman, executive director of Wausau based Family Planning Health Services , says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that youth need better sex education.

"I haven't seen reproductive health and sex education improving in Wisconsin or across the country, especially over the past twenty years," says Newman. "And there's so much to be done, because the risks are so great. We need to know, and our young people need to know, these are the risks and consequences, these are the ways that you can protect yourself, this is how to say no to sexual intercourse, to pressure for sexual intercourse, and this is how to prevent an unintended or unwanted pregnancy."

The CDC report, says Newman, contains a number of alarming findings. "The most telling thing to me in the whole report really was that a third to a fourth of our young people 15-to-19 are already infected with sexually transmitted diseases, and about half of them don't even know that." Newman says that and other findings in the report point to the need for better sex education. "The fact is that if people don't know what they need, if they don't know what the risks are, if they don't have a basic understanding of reproductive health care, they don't often get clinical services until it's too late."

Newman says the Obama administration and Congress have dropped abstinence only education, and new resources should mean about two million dollars in federal money will be available for pregnancy prevention education in Wisconsin. "Congressman Obey in Appropriations passed it on, it's now going to the Senate, and this is a real opportunity for us to take advantage of that two or three million dollars and make a difference in this area," says Newman.  

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Health & Medicine
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