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Report: Evers plagiarized sections of budget request

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Plagiarism by the Democrat running for governor. The Journal Sentinel reports that state schools Superintendent Tony Evers submitted a budget request last month included sections plagiarized from several sources, including Wikipedia.

A spokesman for Republican Governor Scott Walker’s campaign accused Evers of “peddling empty promises but also stolen ideas.”

A spokesman for Evers’ Department of Public Instruction acknowledged that “proper citation use was missed in certain places” of the budget request. Staff will be retrained but Evers does not plan to discipline anyone, according to DPI’s Thomas McCarthy.

The story broke just hours before Evers and Walker meet in their first debate Friday night.

Walker shrugs off criticism by former cabinet members

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Governor Scott Walker on Thursday shrugged off criticism from former cabinet secretaries. Former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Paul Jadin co-signed a letter with former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall and former Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten, sharply criticizing Walker, and supporting Democrat Tony Evers.

But the governor said the criticism just shows he welcomed differences of opinion in his cabinet. “One of them advocated for a gas tax increase,” Walker said. “I didn’t have a problem with people serving on my cabinet having different viewpoints on issues.”

Walker was referring to former Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb. Gottlieb has not endorsed Evers but said that Walker was “not truthful” and “increasingly inaccurate” in comments about transportation funding.

The tone of the letter from Jadin, Wall and Bildsten goes well beyond different views on issues. The letter accuses the governor of “micromanagement, manipulation and mischief.” The three men are supporting Walker’s opponent in his reelection, Democrat Tony Evers.

“It’s not surprising to me that their politics aren’t as aligned with me,” Walker said. “That’s part of leadership. You bring people with different backgrounds, different experiences out there. But I think what voters should look at ultimately is our track record and what our plans are for the future.”

Debates aplenty – and plenty of eyes on Brewers

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Walker

Set your DVR, because the timing is — awkward. The first debate between Republican Governor Scott Walker and Democrat Tony Evers is at 8:00 p.m. Friday. That’s 20 minutes after the opening pitch in the Brewers must-win Game 6 with the Dodgers, in their National League Championship Series.

It’s just one of three campaign debates scheduled on a night when the attention of a majority of Wisconsin residents is likely to be focused on a team that’s is making a bid to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982.

The Walker-Evers debate is sponsored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. It will be produced at WMTV-TV in Madison and be carried by radio and TV stations around Wisconsin.

Evers

The final U.S. Senate debate between incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin and GOP challenger Leah Vukmir is at 7:00 p.m. from Marquette University Law School. Mike Gousha will moderate and WISN-TV carry the debate live.

And in the 1st Congressional District race, Republican Bryan Steil and Democrat Randy Bryce will debate, beginning at 7:30, from the at Oak Creek City Hall. Mary Spicuzza of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Steve Walters of WisconsinEye will moderate and the debate will be live streamed at wiseye.org/live.

The Brewers are not the only sports competition for politics – the Milwaukee Bucks tip-off at 7:30 p.m. in their first-ever home opener at Fiserv Forum.

 

Paul Jadin is latest Scott Walker critic

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Paul Jadin PHOTO:WRN

A fourth former cabinet member has come forward to criticize Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Paul Jadin is stepping down as director of the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports Jaden told the MADRep board that he wants to be able to speak more freely about politics. Specifically, he sent a letter to the newspaper, criticizing Governor Walker, who hired the former Green Bay mayor to be the first CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

“All of us have witnessed how job preservation and the siren call of higher office have influenced the Governor’s approach to conducting business in Madison,” the letter states. In addition to Jaden, former Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten, and former Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Wall also attached their names to the letter.

Wall and Bildsten, along with former Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb, have previously criticized the Republican governor, who is running for a third term.

Jadin joins Wall and Bildsten in publicly endorsing Walker’s opponent, Democrat Tony Evers.

The Walker campaign issued a statement calling WEDC a “successful public-private partnership” that has brought Amazon, Haribo, and Foxconn to Wisconsin.
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Help for schools attended by missing girl

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The Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety is working with the Wausau Police Department, and the Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center to deploy trained therapists, school resources officers, and comfort dogs to Barron School District.

Thirteen year-old Jayme Closs, whose parents were murdered this week, is a student in the district. A nationwide Amber Alert remains in effect for Jayme. If you have information that can help find Jayme Closs, contact the tip line at 1-855-744-3879.

A therapist and school resource officer with a therapy dog and trauma-informed care training from the Wausau Police Department are at the Barron School District on Thursday.

The OSS is also developing resources to assist the school, including offering a team of counselors to respond to the school by the end of the week.

 

President Trump to rally Wisconsin GOP voters

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President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Wisconsin next week. A press release from the Trump-Pence campaign says the president will hold a MAGA Rally next Wednesday at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee.

Governor Scott Walker’s campaign has confirmed that he’ll be with the president for the rally, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Trump’s campaign said the president will urge voters to protect Republican control of Congress, including electing Republican Leah Vukmir in her race against Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will also be Wisconsin next week, on behalf of Democratic candidates. The independent senator from Vermont will be in Milwaukee on Monday, to rally liberal voters for Democrats like U-S Senator Tammy Baldwin, gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers, and congressional candidate Randy Bryce. He will make a second appearance later the same day in Kenosha, again rallying Democrats for Bryce.

Ryan to campaign for House Republicans

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House Speaker Paul Ryan is hitting the campaign trail for the midterms. The Janesville Republican is not running for reelection, but is campaigning on behalf of 25 House Republicans.

That includes Brian Steil, running against Democrat Randy Bryce in Ryan’s southeast Wisconsin district. He’ll also campaign for Minnesota Republicans Jason Lewis and Erik Paulson, whose districts both rate as “lean Democratic” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

USA Today first reported Ryan’s upcoming campaign efforts.

“Speaker Ryan said in his announcement in April that he was going to ‘run through the tape’ and he’s making good on that promise with this ambitious schedule over the final three weeks in the lead-up to Election Day,” Kevin Seifert, executive director of Team Ryan, said in a statement.

Madison police chief frustrated by juvenile offenders

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Koval

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval says despite his officers’ best efforts, juvenile crime remains a serious problem in the city. “We have this perfect storm. We have increasingly bold crimes being committed, by historically young offenders,” Koval said.

Koval said officers repeatedly arrest chronic youth offenders. “Some of the times we’re picking them up, they still have GPS bracelets, or we find out they’re on home detention or home monitoring. And it’s a little difficult, when you’ve just picked kids up out of a stolen car that they may have rolled or crashed, and to have them literally laughing and saying ‘nothing’s going to happen to me.'”

He said the perception is that those young people are being turned back into the community. Juvenile court judges are pushing back against the claim that there is a “revolving door.” Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne issued a statement responding to Koval Tuesday afternoon, disagreeing with Koval’s assessment of the justice system.

“The juvenile’s best interests and the safety of our community are linked and it is past time we acknowledged this,” Ozanne said. “I implore the people of this county to resist the urge to turn towards more severe and harsher punishments and instead ask them to join me in demanding and creating change.”

Ozanne

Madison mayor Paul Soglin said juvenile court judges options have just two options in dealing with young offenders. He said judges are not going to send them to Lincoln Hills, “because of the operation of that facility.” The second option, Soglin said, is to release the juveniles.

Koval released his daily blog post on Tuesday morning. in which he noted the increasing frequency of “juveniles engaged in serious, illegal behavior[s].” He referenced a recent incident last week, in which three teens are accused of beating a woman and stealing her car.

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain says one of the suspects, a 13-year-old boy, appeared unfazed. “We were trying to convince him to change his ways and stop this crime spree, and the teen told the officer ‘This is only the beginning, we’re just getting started.'”

DeSpain said the young teen is a known member of a gang that continues to steal unlocked cars in the city. He was already on electronic monitoring for a previous case of theft, but had cut off his ankle bracelet. DeSpain also noted that many of the vehicle thefts are crimes of opportunity. “Almost all of the cars that have been stolen in the last month had been unlocked and had the keys inside.”

WRN’s Raymond Neupert contributed to this report

Red Cross seeking blood drive hosts

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The American Red Cross is looking for places to hold blood drives this winter. “We’re asking individuals and organizations to help us, and host blood drives,” said Laura McGuire is External Communications Manager with the Red Cross.

All that’s needed is a 1200 square foot space, the Red Cross can pretty much do the rest. “We’ve got some excellent donor recruitment staff that’s going to help you throughout the whole process,” McGuire said. “So they’ll handle the logistics.”

Blood shortages are not uncommon during the winter months. By hosting a drive in December, January or February, individuals and groups can help ensure patient needs are met all winter long. To learn more about hosting a blood drive and to sign up, visit RedCrossBlood.org/HostADrive.

Autopsy results expected on parents of Jayme Closs

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Details on the deaths of a northern Wisconsin couple whose daughter remains missing are expected to be made available on Wednesday. The Barron County Sheriff’s office released new photos of 13-year-old Jayme Closs, who has been missing since deputies responding to an early Monday 911 call found her parents dead in the family’s Barron area home.

At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald admitted that investigators had little new information to offer. “I’m struggling with this, because I don’t have those answers that I want to give you, that I want to give the family.”

Fitzgerald confirmed that autopsies were being conducted the on the bodies of Jayme’s parents, Denise and James Closs. He did not confirm or deny if they were killed by a gunshot or by another means.

Police say they have isolated where the 911 call came from early Monday morning but they don’t know who made it. Barron is located about 90 miles northeast of the Twin Cities.

A news conference has been scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday to give an update on the case.