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911 tape released in Kenosha murder

July 27, 2009 By

The 911 call made from Shirl's Drive-in to the Kenosha dispatch center has been released, with the callers talking to dispatchers while Sunday night's deadly hold-up was still in progress.

The first voice on the tape is that of the manager of the custard stand, who calmly tells the dispatcher that he's been shot in the back and that the robbery is still in progress. He then hands the phone to a female employee, who tries to describe one of the suspects.

The manager then takes back the phone and tells the dispatcher than another employee has been shot, although he doesn't know his condition.

That employee has been identified as 18-year-old Robert Wilde of Kenosha. He was pronounced dead a short while later. The store manager was treated and released from the hospital.

Kenosha Police continue to search for the two male Hispanic suspects. An intensive search on Sunday night, which included dogs and a helicopter, failed to turn up the offenders.

AUDIO: Janet Hoff reports (MP3 1:02)

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Capitol showdown over DNR secretary

July 27, 2009 By

A bill that would take away the governor's power to appoint the secretary of the DNR is up for a hearing at the Capitol this week, and it's expected to get a lot of support.

Governor Doyle previously campaigned for the measure, but apparently has had a change of heart. George Meyer of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation says there will be a lot of pressure on the governor if the bill passes. He says Governor Doyle may have a hard time vetoing the measure because of the widespread public support.

Meyer says the change in law is needed to "take the politics" out of the managing of our natural resources.

The bill goes before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday morning. Democratic sponsors are hoping to build a veto-proof majority.

AUDIO: John Colbert reports (MP3 :34)

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Lawmaker worried about bad credit

July 27, 2009 By

As many out-of-work Wisconsinites struggle to keep up with their bills, chances are their credit rating is taking a hit. If a potential employer sees that during the interview process, State Representative Kim Hixson (D-Whitewater) is worried it could be held against them.

Hixson is introducing legislation that would add credit scores to the list of criteria employers are not allowed to use when weeding out applicants. In most cases, he says those scored are not connected to how effective a person will be in a particular job.

The bill does provide exemptions for jobs where how you manage your own money could be a factor. Hixson says he can see the importance of looking at credit reports for an investment banker, where their own financial issues could influence their decisions.

As many unemployed residents of the state look for work, the Whitewater Democrat says lawmakers should be doing all they can to make it easier for them to get the jobs they're able to find.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (MP3 :57)

Filed Under: Legislature

UW back on party schools list

July 27, 2009 By

UW-Madison is back on the list. Of top party schools that is. The annual Princeton Review survey is out, and for 2009, Madison is number 8 on the list. Last year, UW didn't even make the top 20, although the school was number one in 2006 for the ranking put out by Playboy magazine.

As for the number one this year, on Princeton's list, it's Penn State University, the first time UW's fellow Big Ten school has finished first. Penn State takes the title from University of Florida, number one last year and now second on the list.

 

Filed Under: Human Interest, Top Story

Red, red robin may be bobbing along with West Nile

July 27, 2009 By

Do Chicago's suburbs hold the key to understanding West Nile virus? Tony Goldberg, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine, says the Chicago suburbs near Oak Lawn are the perfect laboratory for prying loose the secrets of the mosquito borne West Nile virus.

"There's something about that area of the west Chicago suburbs, that seems to be amenable to the transmission of vector borne diseases," says Goldberg. What that something is, still isn't clear, but Goldberg can report that crows and blue jays are not actually the most important bird species for amplifying the disease. He says the robin is "the indisputable super spreader" of the virus in the Chicago region. "They do get sick, but not so sick that they die right away, so they can carry the infection for long enough to transmit it to another mosquito and continue the cycle," says Goldberg. "There's enough of them around that they create quite a pool of individual that the virus can replicate in."

Goldberg says it's the young, fledging robins that are most likely to carry the disease. And robins, he notes "seem to be distributed around the landscape in ways that are really good for picking up the virus and distributing it to people. Everybody knows that robins like to hang out on your lawn."

Goldberg is in the first year of a five year study in the southwest Chicago suburbs, a "hot spot" for West Nile infections. Oak Lawn and surrounding suburbs, he notes, have a large number of human cases. "That's typical in cities where West Nile and other diseases that are transmitted by diseases are studied."

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:10 MP3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Health & Medicine, Labor
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