February 12, 2012

Train derails in Wausau

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a train derailment Thursday night in Wausau.

The last three cars of a Canadian National freight train jumped the tracks and one of them crashed into an office building in the rail yard. A cleaning worker inside was not hurt, but the crash damaged the walls and heating system.

Rail spokesman Patrick Waldron says the cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.

Crews spent the morning Friday working to get the cars back on track and remove them.

Matt Lehman, WSAU

Body found in Fox River identified

Oshkosh police Chief Scott Gruele (Photo: Mike Kemmeter)

Police says the body of a man found in the Fox River Monday was the son of an assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers. Oshkosh Police Chief Scott Greuel says they have identified the man as 21-year-old Michael Philbin, son of Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin.

Police are working to retrace the young man’s footsteps before he disappeared Sunday morning. Philbin, a student at Ripon College, was meeting friends at the UW-Oshkosh on Saturday night. Greuel says he became separated from them at some point in the evening, with a “non-distress” call made from his cell phone at around 2:10 Sunday morning.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:00)

Police then received a 911 call at around 2:30 am Sunday from a security guard at a business along the Fox River. The caller reported hearing someone crying for help and then seeing a person’s head above the surface of the river.

Philbin was reported missing later in the day on Sunday.

Greuel says foul play is not suspected. Police are still trying to determine if alcohol was a factor and an autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death.

WHBY’s Mike Kemmeter contributed to this report.

Alert at nuke plant on Mississippi

The state Emergency Operations Center Madison is elevated in response to an incident at a nuclear power plant on the Mississippi River. There’s been no release of any radiation at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant near Red Wing, Minnesota. Lori Getter with Wisconsin Emergency Management says they responded to an alert early Thursday from the plant operated by Minnesota-based Xcel Energies. There was a leak of sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as chlorine bleach, which is used to help cool water. The leak was found near a tank and has been contained by crews. It’s not known how the leak started. Getter says there was no release of chemical fumes, and cleanup got underway at about 7:30 Thursday morning.

Crash kills three teens

Speed and an inexperienced, unlicensed driver are blamed in a single vehicle crash which killed three western Wisconsin teenagers and injured two more Tuesday evening. The Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Department says the five teens were driving at high speed on Walnut Road just south of Eau Claire when the car came over a hill and crashed. Only one of the teens had a license, and she was not the driver.


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Investigators say 14-year-old Austin Gable was at the wheel. He and a 13-year-old McKenna Johnson died at the scene. A 15-year-old, Marco Perz, died later at a hospital. A 13-year-old boy, Ulises Ponce, and 16-year-old Felicia Bertrang, whose parents own the car, were both injured. All five were students at Eleva-Strum schools. Alcohol was not believed to be involved, but investigators are looking into other possible contributing factors.

Dan Lea, WAYY

Talking campus security at UW Board meeting

In the wake of Thursday’s shooting and two deaths at Virginia Tech, University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly reassures parents and students Wisconsin campuses are safe and secure.

UW-Madison Police Chief Sue Riseling briefed the Board of Regents about the system’s security and safety measures. “Years ago we used to set parameters and we used to kind of wait the bad guys out. Today the bad guys come with such an arsenal that you can’t wait.”

Immediately following the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech which resulted in 32 deaths and 25 injuries, Riseling chaired a taskforce to work on preventive efforts at the UW System. She said there was a tremendous amount of training in rapid deployment for all police officers at the state’s 26 universities and colleges. Also, she stressed, communication is vital, so it had to be streamlined.

Riseling said students and their ability to instantly tweet can be helpful. She called them “quicker than quick,” saying, “I learned working at the Capitol how quickly a crowd of 80,000 can tweet each other and let everybody know what’s going on. So the students will help you here. The downside is they also tweet false information. So that’s still a struggle for us.”

Riseling said most campuses now have the capability to quickly send out electronic messages via various types of social networking. But, the real test is whether they can do it under stress. In 2005 it took two hours to send out mass emails; that’s been trimmed to less than ten minutes. Text messages are even faster — under six minutes.

The emergency text message system resides not in the dispatch center which would be overwhelmed with 911 calls, but at a special command center where seconds count.

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report 1:48