The Post-Crescent, Appleton-Neenah-Menasha, Wis. REGION STATE www.postcrescent.com Saturday, October 9,2004 VITALS DEATHS CRAMER, Holly 11, Waupaca. JANDREY, Vera 78, Chilton. KURKA, Dorothy; 76, Wild Rose. LECLAIR, Roger 60, Appleton.
SHORES, Grace Appleton. SOMMERFIELD, Mabel 97, Appleton. WOIZESKI, Betty; 81, Winneconne. DEATHS ELSEWHERE QUINLAN, James 44, Milwaukee, husband of Rebecca Quinlan of Wautoma. SZCZUTKOWSKE, Gertrude; 93, Palatine, sister of Lucille Schutkoske of Menasha and Marcella Staffeld of Neenah.
WILHELM, Cecilia; 79, Lomira, mother of Loretta Wilhelm of Appleton. BIRTHS Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center and New London Family Medical Center do not release birth information. If you wish to have your birth announcement published, you may pick up a form at The Post-Crescent office, 306 W. Washington Appleton, or The News-Record office, 128 W. Wisconsin Neenah.
Information on the form will be cross-checked for the protection of the new families. ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL Kristin and John EDWARDS, Appleton; a daughter. BIRTH ELSEWHERE Anne- Marie and Tom WOZNICKI, Manitowoc; a son (born Sept. 24).
Grandparents are Eugene and Joan Woznicki, Appleton, and Germaine Suchomel, Manitowoc. ALLERGY ALERT ALLERGY COUNTS are the number of pollens and mold spores per cubic meter of air. Counts in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. yesterday were: MOLDS, 2,303 (moderate) POLLENS, 0 Source: Kagen Allergy Clinic St. Elizabeth Hospital COURT REPORTS OUTAGAMIE COUNTY SPAULDING, Jenny 18, 1700 W.
Weiland Lane, No. 5, Appleton. Placed on probation for 18 months for endangering safety with a dangerous weapon April 7 in Kimberly. ANIOL, Jared 24, 1226 Buchanan Road, Kaukauna. Placed on probation for nine months for obstructing an officer Feb.
13 in Kaukauna. RHODEN, Patrick 19, 123 E. Commercial Appleton. Placed on probation for three years for fourth-degree sexual assault and criminal damage to property in Appleton on June 1, 2003, and May 11, 2004. NEWLING, David 20, W6150 County BB, No.
97, Appleton. Sentenced to 90 days in jail for disorderly conduct May 7 in Combined Locks. JONES, Leonard 40, Milwaukee. Placed on probation for one year and ordered to serve 15 days in jail for retail theft Jan. 12 in Grand Chute.
MARRIAGES CALUMET COUNTY Alvin SMET and Susan CHRISTEL, both Brillion. Bradley WOLFINGER, Town of Woodville, and Marina SAKELARI, Odessa, Ukraine. Timothy SCHAD and Cheri SCOTT, both Town of New Holstein. David CAROW and Nancy GEIDEL, both Harrison. Jason ZIEMER and Margaret MANSON, both Harrison.
Alois ROHL and Lisa SINGLETON, both Harrison. Peter VAN ZEELAND and Kristin HAMMEN, both Harrison. William EGAN and Sara HILTON, both Menasha. James SENKBEIL and Amanda QUELLA, both Appleton. Kevin REFFKE and Laurie REFFKE, both Appleton.
Nicholas BOLZ, Chilton, and Jennifer SCHNEIDER, Kaukauna. Koua XIONG, Appleton, and MayYia YANG, Sheboygan. Jason SCHREIBER and Peggy MCCABE, both Menasha. Christopher ECKER, Town of Stockbridge, and Sherry BUECHEL, Brothertown. Rate hike OK'd for We Energies The Associated Press Electrical bills set to rise 2 percent to pay for MILWAUKEE The upgrades On the Web state Public Service Commission has approved an approximately 2 percent increase in electrical bills for We Energies customers to help pay for environmental upgrades at the utility's power plants.
The commission authorized Thursday the use of a new financing mechanism, known as environmental trust bonds, to fund $450 million in environmental work. "This new approach will save ratepayers a significant amount of money through lower financing costs and allow WEPCO to reduce pollution," said Burnie Bridge, who chairs the commission. The PSC said the increase would not be charged to customers until early next year, once the bonds are issued. The bonds will be used to pay for upgrades, including environmental control Scenic time for a leisurely walk equipment being installed at the Pleasant Prairie power plant in Kenosha County and a pilot project to reduce mercury emissions at the Presque Isle power plant in Marquette, Mich. The commission cut several items sought by the utility, to reduce the cost of the Post -Crescent photo by Kristyna Wentz-Graff 00NAGH ALWAY (left) of Scotland and friend Judith Humphreys of Madison stroll along a trail Friday looking at fall foliage along the Fox River in the Appleton flats area.
The women were in town visiting friends. Avery lawsuit seeks up to $36 million The Associated Press WAUSAU The Two Rivers man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit is seeking up to $36 million in damages from Manitowoc County and its former sheriff and district attorney. According to a copy of the lawsuit to be filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, Steven Avery accuses the defendants of violating his civil and constitutional rights in wrongfully convicting him and imprisoning him. Former Sheriff Thomas Kocourek of Two Rivers and former Dist.
Atty. Denis Vogel of Madison ignored who should have been the prime suspect in the July 29, 1985 rape, the DANE COUNTY State seeks bigger pot By Robert Imrie ficer who mistakenly put a of Kenosha casino ante MADISON The state will seek a greater share of the profits from the casino proposed in Kenosha by the Menominee Indian tribe in Kenosha, the state's chief negotiator says. Wisconsin Administration Secretary Marc Marotta said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle wants the state to collect more than the 7 percent to 7.5 percent of the facility's net gambling revenue laid out in a 12- year-old deal between the state and tribe. Indian tribes recently have offered other states as much as a quarter of their net revenue, but Marotta did not specify how much he thinks Wisconsin should reap if the Kenosha casino is approved.
"What we're seeing on these new deals, the state has a lot more bargaining power," he said. Menominee spokesman Evan Zeppos said it was too early to discuss the matter because local and federal approval of the arrangement is pending. OZAUKEE COUNTY Mistakes cited indeath of hooded prisoner PORT WASHINGTON No charges will be filed against a Mequon police of- We Energies: www.we-energies.com projects from $490 million to $450 million. A proposal to include the cleanup costs of abandoned power plants, known as manufactured gas plants, was eliminated, as was a $4 million access road to the Port Washington power plant. Five face hate Door County bar fight involved local gay couple By Paul Brinkmann Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers STURGEON BAY The five men facing hatecrime charges stemming from a June 6 bar fight are now facing trial in Door County Circuit Court.
Judge Todd Ehlers bound over four of the five men on Thursday, following a preliminary hearing that lasted three and a half hours. The four Mark Sawyer, 48, and his son Joshua Sawyer, 22; Andrew Ostrand, 42; and Robert Wagner, 42; all of Egg Harbor are scheduled to enter pleas Nov. 19. The fifth man, Adam Bley, 23, of Sturgeon Bay, already has pled not guilty and goes to trial Jan. 10.
The two alleged victims, gay couple Darrin Day and Bryon Groeschl, both of Sevastopol, testified for an hour each about the fight. Both men recounted details of the drunken brawl while defense attorneys sought contradictions. The four defense attorneys portrayed the fight as being instigated by Day and Groeschl. Both men testified the fight started when Groeschl dropped a pool stick and Joshua Sawyer kicked it as he walked by. They said Day asked Sawyer why he kicked the stick, and the younger man started yelling profanity and offensive terms for hom*osexuals.
When they con- one count of third-degree ger sexual assault. Five other counts were dismissed as a result of a plea agreement, and he faces prison terms of up to 30 years when he is sentenced Jan. 7 by Judge Ralph Ramirez. He is free on $10.000 bond. SAUK COUNTY Badger Ammunition site transferred to USDA BARABOO Nearly 2.000 acres of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo have been transferred to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, according to the federal government's real estate management agency. The U.S. General Services Administration said Friday that 1,943 acres of land would be used by the USDA's Dairy Forage Research Center. The department has operated the research facility for 25 years, using Badger land under an agreement with the Army as well as its own property adjacent to the plant. The land is part of the Badger plant, which was opened in 1942.
The plant went on standby mode in 1975 and the Army declared it excess property in 1998. Mark N. Lundgren, head of the GSA property disposal office in Chicago, said the agency was also continuing efforts to dispose of the remaining Bad- The Citizens' Utility Board, an advocacy group, supported the environmental trust concept because rates will not go up as much as they would have under traditional financing methods. men will trial for crime "I said 'Let's get out of At some point someone struck me in the back of the head. I fell to the ground and people jumped on top of me." BRYON GROESCHL, of Sevastopol, who says he was punched repeatedly fronted him, he started lawsuit says.
The government officials had an "attitude of hostility" toward Avery and his family that tainted how the rape was investigated, the lawsuit says. A copy of the lawsuit clined comment. "Until I know and see what it is, I really can't comment," he said. A message left Friday night by The Associated Press at a Madison listing for Vogel was not immediately returned. Avery was imprisoned was provided to The Associated Press by Avery's attorney, Walt Kelly of Milwaukee.
Kocourek, Avery contacted Friday night, de- hazardous materials hood over the head of a man who subsequently suffocated, the Ozaukee County district attorney says. Although saying Thursday that criminal prosecution was not warranted, Sandy Williams was critical of the actions in the case. "The victim's demise resulted from an accumulation of critical errors," Williams wrote. Matthew Sheridan, 20, of Mequon, suffocated June 19 after Officer Gregory Klobukowski put a vinyl biohazard bag over Sheridan's head. Klobukowski mistakenly believed the hood designed to protect against chemical and biological agents was a transport hood that is used to protect officers from spitting and biting.
The officer testified during an Ozaukee County jury inquest that he received no training in use of the biohazard hood. VILAS COUNTY Speeds in fatal crash topped 100 mph EAGLE RIVER A snowmobile drag race on a northern lake was hitting speeds over 100 mph when a crash killed one of the racers last February, according to testimony at an inquest into the death. The coroner's inquest considered whether actions of others contributed to race participant Douglas after a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting a woman jogger on a Lake Michigan beach in 1985, largely on her eyewitness testimony. But DNA testing done last year showed Avery, now 42, could not have committed the crime and the analysis indicated another man serving a 60- year sentence for another sexual assault and kidnapping Gregory A. Allen was the assailant.
Avery, the father of five small children when he was convicted, was freed from prison Sept. 11, 2003. His lawsuit seeks between $1 million and $18 million in compensatory damages and between $1 million and $18 million for punitive damages. Avery said Friday that he now lives with a new girlfriend in a trailer near Two Rivers, he works sporadically at his family's auto salvage business and he still has his good and bad days. In May, the Wisconsin Innocence Project, which won Avery's freedom, set up a fund for donations to help Avery.
Avery said he received nearly $9,000 from that effort. He said he used the money for everyday needs plus a new motor for his Chevrolet Suburban. In his 15-page lawsuit, Avery contends the Manitowoc Sheriff's Department didn't like him because of an "endangerment of safety" incident involving him and the wife of a deputy sheriff in January 1985. WISCONSIN BRIEFING WISCONSIN BRIEFING MICHIGAN Eagle River Green Bay MINNESOTA Port Baraboo Washington IOWA Madison Waukesha ILLINOIS Ehnle's death and warrant criminal charges. The victim's widow, parents and siblings were present for the testimony Wednesday.
Ehnle, 38, of Elmwood, died Feb. 18 when his snowmobile and two others crashed on Little St. Germain Lake. Vilas County Dist. Atty.
Albert Moustakis said the inquest should send a message to snowmobilers that there can be legal consequences if they race on Northwoods lakes. Judge Neal Nielsen said he would issue a recommendation soon about the facts of the case. But Moustakis, who will shoving, they testified. "I said 'Let's get out of here, 66 Groeschl, 37, testified. "At some point someone struck me in the back of the head.
I fell to the ground and people jumped on top of About 70 people showed up to attend Thursday's hearing, but only 25 got inside the small courtroom with the media and court security. Day acknowledged one of their gay friends who accompanied them to the bar got "very, very drunk" and acted "inappropriately" toward other men in the bar while dancing to music on the jukebox about 45 minutes before the fight started and then departed. Daniel Clausz, Ostrand's attorney, said the testimony didn't show his client had punched anyone, although Day and Groeschl testified that Ostrand was on top of Groeschl at one point. Groeschl testified he was punched repeatedly, bled from his nose and elbow and "may have" blacked out at one point. Paul Brinkmann writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Avery ger property. Those include talks with the Ho-Chunk Nation. The tribe had requested 1,500 acres, and said earlier this year that it would not agree to accept the 420 that was being offered. BROWN COUNTY Giants fans call Packers, Green Bay great hosts make the final decision on whether criminal charges should be filed, said Friday he had not yet received that recommendation WAUKESHA COUNTY Computer firm founder admits assaulting kids WAUKESHA The founder of a Brookfield computer firm has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two children at his home Steven C. Wangard, 45, of Butler, president of Vanguard Computers pleaded guilty Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court to one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child under age 16 and GREEN BAY The Green Bay Packers lost a game Sunday, but the community and its fans added a notch to their image belt.
Ernie Accorsi, senior vice president and general manager of the New York Giants, left Green Bay with a newfound appreciation for the Packers' culture and fans. He was so moved, he wrote a letter to the Green Bay Press-Gazette to express his feelings. "I've never written a letter to the editor before," Accorsi said Thursday from his New York office. "But it struck me that, as I near the end of my career, win or lose, this is great. The trip to Green Bay was a great experience." Accorsi's letter wasn't the only one received from a Giants fan.
Christine Hiel of West Paterson, N.J., also attended Sunday's 14-7 Giants victory. the tailgate party, wary to walk into the sea of green, I quickly relaxed when we were welcomed with nothing but smiles and kind words," Hiel wrote..
