Latest Wisconsin news:

Interstate reopens after fatal crash

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A fatal one-car crash closed a stretch of a
Milwaukee County interstate early Tuesday for at least four
hours.
Sheriff's officials say the car hit a median wall on
Interstate 43/894 and landed in a ditch, killing the male driver.
The interstate reopened about 6:30 a.m.
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Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com

Gambling help line has record use

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A group that counsels gambling addicts
says its help line received a record number of calls in 2008.
The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling says it's 24-hour
hotline received at least 12,000 calls last year - a 28 percent
increase over the previous year.
The council's executive director, Rose Gruber, says the
poor economy may be one reason for the increase. Gruber says some
may see gambling as a solution to making ends meet.
Gruber says in its 14-year history, the hotline has never
been busier. And that isn't expected to change any time soon.
Gruber says the first three months of a new year are generally
the busiest.
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Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio,
http://www.wpr.org


Fewer boats, barges use Upper Mississippi locks

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) - The region's locks on the Upper
Mississippi River were quieter in 2008, with nearly a third fewer
tons of cargo going through than in 2007.
And 2007 was well down from the peak of about 10 years
before.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at Lock and
Dam 5 near Minneiska, the 2008 tonnage was down 58.7 percent from
its 1996 peak.
Last year's total tonnage at Red Wing; Alma, Wis.;
Minneiska and Winona was down about 32 to 33 percent from 2007.
The corps says the number of both commercial and
recreational trips through the locks also dropped. For example,
at Alma, 9,522 vessels of all sizes locked through last year,
compared with 11,497 the year before.
The corps didn't give a reason for the drop. But experts
say much more corn is going to make ethanol locally, so much less
is shipped down the river. And high gas prices cut into
recreational boating.
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On the Net:
St. Paul District, Army Corps of Engineers
http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil
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Authorities searching for owner of lake car

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) - Authorities in Kenosha are using vehicle
registration records to try to find the owner of a car found
submerged in the harbor.
No one was found inside the sedan discovered in the water
about 50 feet from the city's north pier. A couple walking along
the harbor spotted the car Sunday night.
The dive team from the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department
was called to the scene, but the icy conditions prevented divers
from searching the water. A towing company pulled the vehicle
from the harbor.
Video surveillance from the nearby water treatment plant
shows that the car plunging off the pier, then bobbing in the
water before sinking. No one was seen returning to land.
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Information from: Kenosha News, http://www.kenoshanews.com

SNOWMOBILE DEATHS
7 killed so far in '09 Wis. snowmobile accidents

UNDATED (AP) - A Racine County couple and a pair of college
students from Minnesota are among seven people killed in
Wisconsin snowmobile accidents so far in 2009. The seven deaths
happened in the first three days of the new year, and they've
pushed the season's fatality toll to 13. That's more than half
the 25 deaths all of last winter.
A memorial service is being planned Saturday for Nathan and
Jennifer Kender, both 26, of Caledonia. They died along with an
Illinois man when their snowmobiles crashed on a trail in the
Vilas County town of Arbor Vitae last Saturday.
In Douglas County, two University of Wisconsin-Stout
students died in a crash last Thursday night. Twenty-year-old
Marty Platek from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and 21-year-old
Caitlin Higgins from Little Canada, Minnesota, were killed
instantly. Higgins' funeral is scheduled today at St. Anthony
Park United Church of Christ in St. Paul. Platek's funeral is
scheduled tomorrow at The Church of St. Patrick in Inver Grove
Heights.
Separate accidents Saturday killed 38-year-old Christopher
Hanifl of St. Charles, Illinois, in Monroe County and 65-year-old
Danny Kolnik of Phillips in Price County.

BABIES DEAD
Baraboo man to get new lawyer in twins' deaths

BARABOO, Wis. (AP) - A Baraboo man accused of beating his
twin infants to death will get a new lawyer after refusing advice
to make an insanity plea.
Attorney Mark Frank told Sauk County Circuit Judge James
Evenson that after reviewing the case, he believes David Yates
should plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,
but Yates won't do so.
Questioned by the judge, Yates agreed to have Frank
withdraw even though getting another lawyer through the public
defender's office will delay his trial, which has been scheduled
in February.
The 46-year-old Yates is charged with two counts of
first-degree intentional homicide.
Authorities say he battered 5-week-old Tyler and Savannah
Yates to death when their mother left them with him while she was
working the weekend of April 13.
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Information from: Baraboo News Republic,
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr

ST. NORBERT-DONATION
Couple giving $1 million for St. Norbert project

DE PERE, Wis. (AP) - St. Norbert College alumnus Fred
Wakeman and his wife Carol are giving $1 million toward the new
Donald J. Schneider Outdoor Athletics Complex at the campus.
The gift comes a few weeks after the $4 million lead gift
by Donald and Patricia Schneider.
Plans call for the $12 million complex to replace the Dr.
John R. Minahan Stadium, which has been in use for more than 70
years. It will include a 400-meter track, field space for
football and soccer and a locker room building.
Construction is to start once 90 percent of the funding is
identified. Completing the complex is expected to take 15 months.

TOP LIARS
Yarn about baby, diaper named 2008 Champion Lie

BURLINGTON - A whopper about a devious baby and his diapers
is the top lie of 2008.
That's the decision of the Burlington Liars Club.
The club gave the annual award to Garth Seehawer of Oconto
Falls. Here's the winner: "My grandson is the most persuasive
liar I have ever met. By the time he was two years old he could
dirty his diaper and make his mother believe someone else had
done it."
The 71-year-old Seehawer says it's an honor to receive the
award as the best in the world at something -- even if it is
lying.
Four judges picked his lie out of about 160 entries.
The six runners-up included an entry from Jim Kubath of
Palm Springs, California. His tale is about air passengers
watching the movie "Cocoon" when turbulence hits, causing water
from the movie to splash out and inflate the onboard life raft.
And, he adds, the flight crew had to hand out towels for the
passengers to dry off.

ATHLETE-SHOOTING
18-month term for ex-athlete in Racine shooting

RACINE - A former athlete at Racine Park High School faces
an 18-month prison term for the accidental shooting of a friend
as they tried to rob a drug dealer of marijuana.
Nineteen-year-old Damonshay Pitt, who apologized at his
sentencing yesterday, pleaded guilty to first-degree recklessly
endangering safety and being party to armed robbery.
He was also ordered to serve four years on extended
supervision once he gets out of prison for the shooting, and
three years probation for violating conditions of his bond.
Authorities say Pitt, who was in football and track at
Park, was with a group of friends when they went to rob a man of
two pounds of marijuana in October of 2007. Pitt told police he
fired the gun when a tussle broke out. A 16-year-old boy was
wounded.
A co-defendant received the same sentence as Pitt.
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Information from: The Journal Times,
http://www.journaltimes.com

BUS-CAR FATAL
Motorist killed in collision with bus near Chilton

CHILTON, Wis. (AP) - An Appleton woman was killed when a
small school bus collided with her car at a Calumet County
intersection. There were no passengers on the bus and the driver
wasn't hurt.
The sheriff's department says the car failed to yield at a
stop sign before being hit yesterday afternoon at the
intersecition north of Chilton.
The 46-year-old woman the car was killed. Her identity
hasn't been released.
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Information from: WBAY-TV, http://www.wbay.com

WOMAN SLAIN
$1M bail for Wis. woman's accused killer

WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) - Bond is set at $1 million for a Portage
County man accused of gunning down his ex-girlfriend as she began
her work shift at a Wausau nursing home. A criminal complaint
says he told investigators that if he couldn't have her, nobody
could.
Fifty-four-year-old Walter Lassa is charged with
first-degree intentional homicide and false imprisonment in
Saturday's killing of 39-year-old Robin Dunwoody outside Wausau
Manor.
The criminal complaint says Lassa admitted his role in the
slaying after being arrested near Stevens Point about an hour
after the shooting.
His preliminary hearing is January 14th.
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Information from: Wausau Daily Herald,
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com

DRUG TESTING-BOARD
Town board considers testing its own members

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - The elected members of a rural
Wisconsin town board would be subject to drug and alcohol testing
under a program being considered by the board.
Supervisor Sheila Running is one of three members of the
Seymour Town Board. She says the idea came up as the board was
discussing whether to set a similar policy for town employees.
Town Clerk and Treasurer Glenda Lyons says there have not
been any drug problems, but enacting the policy would be a way to
make sure the town has good board members and they make good
decisions.
The board scheduled discussion today on such a policy for
board members and town employees, other than those who have
commercial driver's licenses and are subject to federal testing
regulations.
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Information from: Leader-Telegram,
http://www.leadertelegram.com/

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.)