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Wausau family files appeal to DPI over school district’s dismissal of complaint against teacher

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A complaint has been filed with the Department of Public Instruction against the Wausau School District over its handling of a case of racist and homophobic statements directed at a student by a teacher.

Attorney Elizabeth Lambert says the School District erred when it chose not to take action against band director Rob Perkins.

“The district applied a definition of harassment that violates both state law and its own policy.”

School administrators decided not to punish Perkins claiming his comments were jokes. The school board has since said it will investigate the matter again with the help of a consultant. Lambert says schools need to follow policy. 

“We really need to make sure that school administrators in this state understand what fair inclusive schools look like and understand how they are supposed to put those principles and those ideals into practice every day.”

Dozens of people commented on the case at a school board meeting on Monday.

Funeral Friday for slain deputy Kaitie Leising

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Funeral services for slain St. Croix County Sheriff’s Deputy Kaitie Leising will be Friday at Hudson High School. Sheriff Scott Knudson said the 29-year-old was killed last weekend on what should have been a routine impaired driver call 

“For reasons that we’ll probably never know, this morally bankrupt and ethically challenged criminal decides to turn and murder Kaitie,” Knudson said Tuesday.

Knudson said he’s saddened by the loss to Leising’s family. “Her wife is at home. She’s got a three month old baby. And they’ll never get to see Kaitie again.”

Liesing’s fatal shooting by an intoxicated driver who also killed himself came just over a month after the gun deaths of two police officers in Barron County during a traffic stop.          

“Our office, our deputies, our law enforcement community is hurting, again, in this region,” Knudson said.

Knudson thanked law enforcement and communities in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. Alleged shooter Jeremiah Johnson took his own life. He had an extensive criminal record in Minnesota.

Governor Tony Evers signed Executive Order #199 ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff on Friday in honor of Deputy Leising.

10th Wisconsin man charged in January 6th insurrection

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Another Wisconsin man has been arrested and charged in connection with the January 6 insurrection at the U.S Capitol. Jonathan Bonney, of Hayward, is charged with four misdemeanors.

He’s the tenth Wisconsin man to be charged for taking part in the 2021 insurrection. Bonney made an initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in Madison.

According to the criminal complaint Bonney, who was apparently then living in Colorado Springs, told a fellow airline passenger that he’d taken part. The FBI used his driver license photo to identify him breaking into the Capitol Building. Video records show Bonney was in the building for a total of 12 minutes.
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Former cardinal charged in decades old sexual assault

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A former Roman Catholic cardinal has been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault for an incident in Wisconsin over 45 years ago. Attorney General Josh Kaul and Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld announced the charge for former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is 92 years old.

In a press release, the specific charge comes from an accusation that McCarrick fondled a victim’s genitals while staying in Lake Geneva in the spring of 1977. That same year, Mc Carrick was elevated to serve as Auxiliary Bishop of New York.

McCarrick has also pleaded not guilty to a charge in Massachusetts, where authorities accuse him of sexually abusing a boy at a wedding reception in the summer 1974. His attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss that case saying Mc Carrick, who now lives in Missouri, has dementia and isn’t competent to stand trial.

‘Tragic, terrible’ – Sheriff on Barron County police officers deaths

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The police officers slain in Saturday’s shootout in Barron County are 32-year-old Chetek Officer Emily Breidenbach and 23-year-old Cameron Officer Hunter Scheel.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Monday that the county has seen tragic events before, but “nothing like this.”

Breidenbach and Scheel exchanged shots with a man identified as 50-year-old Glenn Douglas Perry, who died later at a hospital. According to the state Division of Criminal Investigation, they were conducting a traffic stop based on a warrant and to check Perry’s welfare following notification of concerning behavior.

Breidenbach was an officer with the Stoughton Police Department in Dane County for about 9 months before she joined Chetek Police Department, where she had served for approximately 4 years.

Scheel graduated from the Law Enforcement Academy last December and had been with Cameron Police for approximately one year.

Funeral services for the officers are pending. DCI is leading the investigation.

Two police officers killed in Barron County shootout

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Two police officers were fatally shot during a traffic stop in northwest Wisconsin on Saturday. The officers, with the Chetek and Cameron police departments, both died at the scene. The suspected shooter died at a hospital.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the fatal incident began around 3:38 p.m. as the officer from the Chetek Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the Village of Cameron, located in Barron County about 90 miles northeast of the Twin Cities.

Shots were exchanged by a person in the vehicle and the officers. The state Department of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation.

 

First woman and first Native American judge elected in Sawyer County

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A Sawyer County woman achieved two historic firsts in Tuesday’s spring elections. Monica Isham is the new Judge for the newly established Sawyer County Circuit Court Branch 2.

Isham, Deputy Attorney General for Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is the first woman and first Native American to serve as a judge in Sawyer County. She grew up on the LCO Reservation outside Hayward, and is a graduate of Hayward High School, UW Green Bay and Marquette University Law School. 

Isham was unopposed on Tuesday’s ballot.

Arrest in 2022 firebombing at Wisconsin pro-life group’s office

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An arrest has been made in last year’s firebombing at the office of a Wisconsin pro-life group in Madison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison announced that 29-year-old Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury of Madison was arrested Tuesday at Boston’s Logan International Airport, where he intended to board a flight to Guatamala.

Investigators were able to link Roychowdhury to the crime scene by comparing graffiti left there with similar graffiti he was observed leaving at a Capitol protest in January. They were then able to confirm his identity by matching DNA from the firebombing scene with DNA from a fast food burrito he discarded.

The firebombing at Wisconsin Family Action took place on Mothers Day, Sunday May 8, 2022. The office was empty but there was significant damage. Roychowdhury appeared in federal court in Boston on Tuesday and is in custody pending a Thursday detention hearing.

READ: Press release  //  Complaint and affidavit 

Tougher penalties for those who provide drugs in fatal overdose cases

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The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill toughening penalties for those who provide drugs to people who fatally overdose – like the brother of Milwaukee Democrat LaTonya Johnson.

“I don’t give a damn if this bill doesn’t stop people from using.” said Johnson. “I do give a damn that it takes the person off the street who is killing other people because of their addictions.”

Milwaukee Democrat Chris Larson voted no.

“It solves nothing. It makes the problem worse.” said Larson. “Over 400 overdose deaths in Milwaukee County and we refuse to work together, we’ve refused to collaborate.”

It’s unclear whether Governor Tony Evers will veto the measure if it also passes the Assembly. The Senate and Assembly also approved bills defining carjacking and providing a penalty. Evers has indicated he’ll sign those.

Schools across Wisconsin, other states deal with “swatting” calls

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Schools across the Midwest had to deal with a series of “swatting” calls on Wednesday.

The caller claimed there was an active shooter at the ‘high school’ in Chippewa Falls, but never specified which one. Chippewa Falls patrol sergeant Sheridan Pabst says the caller was very vague about details in the call. “There was a lot of red flags during the call to our dispatch center. That kind of indicated it was a false call.”

Chippewa Falls schools are currently on spring break, so there was no danger and no actual shooter. Pabst says swatting is dangerous because police have to treat it like it’s real. 

“If we’re getting reports of shots being fired, we expect an armed confrontation until proven otherwise.”

Other swatting calls were sent to schools in Rice Lake, Superior, Wausau, and Spooner. Similar calls were received in schools in Minnesota and Iowa.