May 16, 2012

A tryst with a twist

A Joliet, Illinois man is in custody after he traveled to Milton to rendezvous with an under aged girl who turned out to be a police officer. Lt. John Conger says 36-year-old Michael D. Johnson was taken in on charges of child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime, and exposing a child to harmful material.

Conger says the investigation, which lasted four months, began when he posed as a 15-year-old girl online then was contacted by Johnson through instant messages and chat rooms.

The officer says it's almost comical when he logs onto chat rooms because when he identifies himself as a 15-year-old girl. other people in the room immediately identify him as a police officer. In spite of that there are usually men who introduce themselves and want to meet the "15-year-old."

Conger says these investigations take minimal effort and help keep predators out of Milton. This is the third such arrest in a sex sting using the "15-year-old" character.

AUDIO: Lt. Conger on chat room activity (MP3 :22)

Sparks fly as county takes up same sex registery

It was supposed to be about setting fees for registry of domestic partnerships, but a debate by the Fond du Lac County Board Tuesday night developed into a discussion about a state mandate some feel is unconstitutional.

Supervisor Jim Kiser told board members he couldn't go along with supporting the setting of fees for registration of same sex couples as domestic partners. Kiser says it goes against the state constitution's definition of marriage, while affording many of the same benefits. He says setting the fees endorses a provision that was tucked away in the state budget.

Board Chairman Marty Farrell accused Kiser of making a speech about a law he didn't like and at several points reminded supervisors the resolution before them was about setting fees.

By a 13 to 5 vote the Board set a $90 fee for registering domestic partnerships and the same cost for terminating the partnership. It's the same amount the County charges for marriage licenses. The fees will go into effect on August 3 rd.

AUDIO: Sup. Kizer on registery as a budget provision (MP3 :18)

Sex offender missing

DOC photo Fond du Lac police are looking for a 42-year-old sex offender who left home early Tuesday morning and hasn't been seen since.

Police found Carl King's electronic monitoring bracelet and the steak knife he used to cut it off his ankle on a desk in his room.

Another sex offender living in the same home, 36-year-old Gregory Smack, told authorities he didn't hear King leave. Smack said he'd last seen King about 15 to 20 minutes before police arrived. Smack told officers King took all his stuff with him.

Captain Klein says they're putting out information about King on a national crime data base in case other law enforcement agencies encounter him.

King was released from prison a month ago after serving three years for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on multiple occasions.  

AUDIO: FDL Police Captain Steve Klein (MP3 :17)

WIAA Proposes Plan To Change High School Football

The WIAA has proposed a plan that would drastically change the face of high school football in the state of Wisconsin.  The plan would get rid of the traditional conferences for football and replace them with 8 team districts based on enrollments in 7 divisions.  After one non-district game, the teams would face the other seven district teams for an 8 game regular season.  The top four teams in each district regardless of record would advance to the post season, while the bottom four teams would be matched up for 9 th game against other non-playoff teams from other districts.  The WIAA said in its proposal that this plan could be in place after the January 2010 Board of Control meeting. But it will be first discussed in Area Meetings this fall and the plan may never happen at all.

Brewers Blank Pirates

The Brewers blanked the Pirates 2-0 on Tuesday night. Braden Looper and the bullpen came up big on Tuesday night as the Brewers evened the three game series at 1 game a piece.  Looper gave up just four hits in seven shutout innings of work to notch the win.  Mark DiFelice and Mitch Stetter pitched the 8 th and Trevor Hoffman threw a perfect 9 th for his 22 nd save of the year.  Prince Fielder knocked in both runs with RBI singles in the 5 th and 7 th innings.  The series wraps up this morning as Jeff Suppan takes on Paul Maholm. The first pitch is scheduled for 11:35am Wisconsin time.

Major League Baseball suspended Brewers hitting Dale Sveum for three games for a confrontation with the umpires during last Sunday's loss to the Reds.  He served the first of those games last night.