Badger Blogger

I talked a little about the fix that Jeffery Norman found himself in before the election. Even though he was probably the front runner, because of a paperwork snafu, Norman was held off the ballot and had to run as a write-in candidate. When all was said and done, he finished last, but only about 1000 votes from the second place finisher (the top 2 move to the General Election in April). Because of the way a write-in candidate has to be entered on the ballots in Milwaukee, Norman believes that his actual vote count was incorrect and has demanded a recount, and he is paying for it himself.

Politics Watch: The Board of Election Commissioners will meet at the election warehouse, where all of the ballots are stored, to begin its review. The warehouse is located at 1028 N. Hawley Rd. in Milwaukee.

Norman finished fifth in the contest and about 1,000 votes behind the second place finisher. The top two finishers, Jennifer Havas and Phil Chavez, will face off April 3 in the election for the open seat.

Because the gap was so large, Norman must pay for the recount.

Could get interesting.

Man gets 25 years in gang rape of girl

Freeman Gurley, 40, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and 10 on extended supervision. Darnell Chaney, 18, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 more on extended supervision. Both men had prior felony convictions, which Wagner noted while sentencing each man for what he called the “lack of humanity” inherent in the rape of the girl.

“Someone called it ‘disturbing,’” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner said. “That is an understatement.”

Sorry Judge Wagner, while you got this one a little closer to what I would have sentenced them to, but the rape of a 6th grader was just as horrible when you sentenced others in this case to only 6 and 10 years each.

The paper has a story that is getting quite a bit of hype on local talk radio today.

Spy where?
Insurer will offer free cameras to let parents see teens’ bad driving habits

I just want to make a few comments, I know something about these cameras from DriveCam, because the company I work for has been using them for several months now. When we first got these units, I did a little research, because, frankly I didn’t like the idea of someone watching me all of the time, but once I learned the facts, I could see where this could be a good tool to protect me and the company in the case of an accident.

A quick overview

The DriveCam unit mounts behind the rear view mirror, it has one camera pointed forward and one back into the car, and it includes audio. The camera does not allow anyone to spy on you, or watch you all the time. Basically what it does is records a continuous loop of 20 seconds, and the only time it saves the video is when it is triggered, it then saves the 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after the triggering event.

This unit is not triggered very easily, it takes a fairly violent action to trigger the unit. What sets it off are things like high speed turns of hard breaking, or of course an impact of an accident. I have had it go off a few times going over particularly bad pot holes, through a construction site and a real bad set of train tracks, but it is quite rare.

The unit can be a valuable tool if you are involved in an accident, it can show who is at fault, saving you from defending your self in a law suit, although, if you are at fault, I suppose it could be used against you, but if it was your fault…

One of the times my DriveCam went off earned me a little praise from the boss. I had a fool pull away from the curb without looking, it was a close call, but my defensive action saved us from a really nasty accident. The boss seen this and complemented me.

As a follow-up on this post from last month, Outrageous! DMV helps illegal aliens get drivers license before law change, our friend Kevin Fischer drops the other shoe:

Wisconsin lends a helping hand to illegal immigrants

Kevin links to a stunning column from The New American, that outlines just how badly the Wisconsin DMV handles illegal aliens. There is a concerted effort on the part of state employees to get known illegals an ID that can be used to allow them to do anything a citizen can do.

“If Osama Bin Laden came to a Wisconsin DMV customer service center, affirmed he was an illegal alien, presented two forms of identification and one proof of residency in his own name, he would be issued a Wisconsin ID card. Unless he caused a disturbance or displayed a document that was clearly fraudulent, the police would not be notified…. Once he had his Wisconsin document, Osama would then qualify to get taxpayer benefits, vote in the next election, and do untold harm to our society.”

Go read Kevin’s post and the accompanying article, but be prepared to be pissed off.

The new District Attorney, John Chisholm held his press conference on crime at Mayfair Mall yesterday. You can read the paper’s coverage and listen to Chisholm speak here:

DA gets tough at mall

John Chisholm is live on the air with Charlie Sykes right now and I will point you to his coverage (and I assume audio) when it is posted.

I think that Chisholm’s plan is a good, and needed idea. And it is wonderful to HEAR a District Attorney talking about being tough on crime, this man actually HAS A PLAN unlike his predecessor E. Michael McCann(t).

Also, Wauwatosa police, the Milwaukee police the District Attorneys Community Prosecutors will be working closely on crimes at Mayfair.

John Chisholm is winning me over.

On Mayfair’s part

Mayfair Security will begin checking for photo ID’s on weekends, they will card anyone 30 or under and minors will require an adult to accompany them, much the way they do at Mall Of America and several others.

TMJ4 has more details on this end of the story.

Reaction
Typically, the McGee’s are already ratcheting up the rhetoric on Mayfair, but to be fair, they have been against Mayfair for a long time. Of course they say that everyone there is a racist. Talk about a one trick pony…

As most people know, Michael McGee Sr. purchases his airtime on WNOV, and they are in the middle of their fund raising drive, but things don’t seem to be going well. McGee Sr. spent the first few minutes of his show this morning whining about the poor showing at the last fund raiser. He went on to talk about the possibility of retiring and leaving the state, making “Jr. the elder McGee” in Milwaukee.

Maybe he was serious about us Bloggers donating to keep his show on the air

Maybe he can’t raise money because of comments like these?

Download

Or this

Go read Greg Borowski’s full article for details.

Todd gets restraining order against McGee

A former Milwaukee School Board member today obtained a restraining order against Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee, saying McGee continues to harass him for supporting the recall effort against him.

The temporary restraining order sought by Leon Todd was issued by a court commissioner, who scheduled a hearing for March 13 on whether to make the order permanent.

In seeking the order, Todd cited a December statement by McGee - aired on the WNOV-AM (860) program hosted by McGee’s father, Mike McGee - in which the alderman said Todd should be “hung” for his “betrayal of the community.”

UPDATE

Due to a technical glitch… Actually, my own screw-up, I didn’t record McGee’s show today and only heard a small part of it, but it appears that McGee may have given out the numbers again today. Keith Conrad received a new flurry of calls this morning, and from what I heard of the show, they were still joking about the reaction they were getting.

Then by this afternoon, the news of Leon Todd’s restraining order against McGee broke (see above). This pattern of harassment includes, but is not limited to the calls of the past several days and the on-air statement that Mr. Todd should be “hung for his betrayal of the community.” (a story broken here)

But that isn’t the only thing that Leon Todd did at the court house today. Mr. Todd filed a Notice Of Claim against Alderman McGee and the City of Milwaukee for $1 million for McGee’s ongoing harassment. A Notice of Claim is a precursor to a law suit against a government body.

Dan also reported that the Greenfield P.D. is rethinking their stance on the threats and harassment against WISN’s Keith Conrad. Dan also says that “The McGinions have also been reduced to making racist, sexist, insulting calls to our receptionist. Very classy.” Indeed.

Let us also remember, that these folks are not the first people that McGee Jr. has harassed on the phone. (video included)

On the FCC front
It has been suggested that the FCC be contacted about these on-air antics, and thanks to a reader, we now have a link to the FCC Complaint Form incase anyone in moved to voice their opinion.

Shootings jump in city
Deaths decline, but hospitals care for 26% more victims in ‘06

Gun violence surged in Milwaukee last year, as hospitals treated 26% more gunshot victims and serious shootings hit a 15-year high, according to first-ever data from hospitals, paramedics and police.

Even as local leaders vow changes to slow the bloodshed, the surge is obvious in emergency rooms and among Milwaukee’s corps of paramedics.

The Journal Sentinel found that in 2006:

• 808 people were treated for gunshot wounds at eight hospitals in Milwaukee County, compared with 640 in 2005. The data includes assaults, accidents and self-inflicted wounds.

(Go read the full column for more numbers.)

The spike in shootings came as the number of shooting deaths in Milwaukee dropped by 18% in 2006, boosting experts’ arguments that the true measure of gun violence in a community is the total number of shootings, not homicides.

The mayor is outraged (finally), the D.A. is reorganizing to focus on the violent crimes (a good thing) and the police chief…“has formed a group to study police response and consider changes as the department copes with the surge in violence. One option being considered is whether to continue sending officers to certain lower-priority calls…” (Can’t we just pay her to leave now??)

Police often are stymied by a lack of cooperation from shooting victims, O’Keefe said. That may change as police team up more with federal law enforcement in the next year, cultivating sources in the community.

This is why Community Policing is vital, we need cops that know the areas and the people! But here in Milwaukee, we are going to have to suffer through another whole summer while they take their time to search for a new police chief while Nan Hegerty studies the problem and keeps police from dealing with crimes before they reach the level of a shooting. The D.A. can’t effectively run their new programs if the police are hamstrung by this chief’s failed policies.

It’s going to be another long bloody summer Milwaukee.

The Early Spinners gave us an update on the Michael McGee flap. It seems that “The Alderman” broke an FCC rule or two when he gave out phone numbers and played Keith Conrad’s voice mail on the air without permission. They have also taken the threatening phone calls to the Greenfield police. You can hear the on-air discussion below.

Download audio

WISN management (I am not sure of his exact title) Jerry Bott, while sitting in on the Mark Belling Show this afternoon noted that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Radio & TV reporter will be covering this subject tomorrow.

Make sure you follow the coverage at The Early Spin Blog.

UPDATE: Why bother?
Here is the total coverage given to this story, tucked in the middle of a longer column:

SPINNING THE DIAL: Ald. Michael McGee remains the talk of talk radio. The WISN-AM (1130) morning team did a parody song about the outrageous pol, leading to a series of outrageous phone calls. You can hear it all at www.earlyspinblog.com.

This morning new District Attorney John Chisholm joined the Early Spin, you can listen here. In his discussion, he talked again of the “community oriented prosecution” and again I see how closely it matches retired MPD Captain and Police Chief candidate Glenn Frankovis’ own Quality of Life Policing. You can read more details AND RESULTS here

Getting back to Chisholm, tomorrow they will formally announce a crackdown on crimes at Mayfair Mall, and part of the plan will be to have MPD and Wauwatosa police work more closely, since most of the bad actors at the mall, are Milwaukee residents. Makes sense to me!

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Wauwatosa officials will announce a new, get-tough prosecution policy Tuesday for dealing with disruptions and criminal conduct at Mayfair Mall.

Chisholm, along with Wauwatosa Mayor Theresa Estness, Police Chief Barry Weber and representatives of Mayfair Mall will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. to outline the new strategies they have developed for dealing with disruptive behavior at the mall.

Instead of issuing municipal citations for disturbances at Mayfair, Assistant District Attorney Kent Lovern said Monday all mall-related cases will be evaluated for possible criminal prosecution.

Good morning all, I hope you are all dug out from beneath The Great White Death that descended upon Milwaukee this weekend. The forecasters sort of blew the details of how much would fall when, but in the end we look out over more than a foot of new snow, and a wet heavy snow at that. And it sounds like we get a little more snow each day for the next few days with another storm system looming on the horizon.

Don’cha just love Wisconsin weather? Hey… drop that snowball!

Teaching is becoming a dangerous job, This in the heals of the Milwaukee student that attacked a teacher that took away a cell phone.

Police: Students Break Teacher’s Neck Over iPod

PHILADELPHIA — Police said they arrested and charged two students Friday in an attack on a Germantown High School over an iPod.

Officials said 60-year-old math and photography teacher Frank Burd had two broken bones in his neck after the attack.

“You could hear it break. You could hear when he fell on the ground,” said Synquetta Reid, a student who saw the incident.

School officials said the teacher had taken an iPod from a student during class, and after class, two students, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, were waiting in the hall for him. One student pushed him and another threw a punch, police said.

“He fell … on his face. After that, they turned him over and there was all this blood,” Reid said.

This teacher is going to be alright, but would it surprise anyone to hear that the next school shooting is sparked because of an incident like this? No one in the school administrations take the escalating violence seriously until it becomes extreme. We have a large segment of the population that has a total lack of respect for any authority… Can this be changed in this current generation?

Aaron has a special treat for your Dennis York fans, he and Sean Hackbarth have made a full hour long podcast interview with Christian Schneider, the man that IS Dennis York.

Woah, wonder what the whole story is here?

Troha drops out of casino project

Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha late today abruptly withdrew from the proposed $808 million tribal casino project on which he’s spent years and millions of dollars.

Evan Zeppos, a spokesman for the casino project, said Troha told the Menominee tribe that “other obligations made it impossible” for him to put in the extra time and money it would take to see the Kenosha project to completion.

UPDATE: And FBI investigation will do that to you

This morning the paper reports:

Casino backer pulls out of project
Move comes as FBI investigates donations to Doyle

Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha late Friday abruptly withdrew from the $808 million tribal casino project on which he’s invested years and millions of dollars.

The surprise move came as the FBI was investigating the thousands in campaign donations the Troha family has made to Gov. Jim Doyle.

Federal law gives Doyle veto power over any off-reservation casino in the state.

Sources said the FBI launched its probe of Troha and family members earlier this year.

[…]

Sources said the FBI and prosecutors began scrutinizing Troha’s contribution to Doyle as an offshoot of the investigation that resulted in the conviction of former state purchasing employee Georgia Thompson. She was convicted of steering a travel contract to a company whose executives had given the Doyle campaign large contributions.

[…]

Troha and 12 family members have donated $200,000 to Doyle since he first ran for governor five years ago, sometimes writing checks on the same day, campaign records show. Troha also played a role in sponsoring both of Doyle’s inauguration celebrations.

The casino deal could have earned Troha $88 million over seven years, according to records filed with the federal government as part of the Menominee tribe’s application for the casino.

Yep, I figured there was more to this story

Remember a few weeks ago when some rotten thieving SOB stole my snowblower? Well, with all of the talk of the next “White Death” descending upon us, I decided to go buy a new snowblower tonight… So if we don’t get at least a foot of snow over the next 48 hours, the way they say we will, I am going to really be pissed!