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• Hudson -- Agreement settles judge threat case
• Kind visits Hudson, tours Energy Concepts

A Boyceville man charged with threatening a St. Croix County judge has accepted a plea bargain in the case.

Jeffrey E. Flettre, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct Aug. 26 in a plea bargain that included a 15-month diversion agreement. The misdemeanor charges were reduced from a felony count of battery or threat to a judge.

Court records said on March 19, Flettre threatened to strangle Judge Eric J. Lundell and blow up the Government Center in a phone call to the clerk of courts office. Flettre called the office about traffic violation fines he owed and said he was upset he lost his job because his driver's license had been suspended.

Dunn County Judge Rod W. Smeltzer , who heard the case, said if Flettre complies with the requirements of the agreement the case would be dismissed.

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind continued his "Energy Tour" of western Wisconsin Tuesday, Sept. 2, with a visit to Energy Concepts Inc. in Hudson.

Kind has spent much of August visiting businesses in western Wisconsin who are involved in alternative and renewable energy. These businesses are already engaged in moving toward energy independence, and the technologies being developed and utilized in Wisconsin could act as a model for our energy future as a nation.

"Wisconsin companies like Energy Concepts have the type of forward-thinking we need to employ on the national level," said Kind. "The technology already exists to harness the endless amounts of wind and sun, and research shows that our abundant supplies of natural gas could quite possibly be a viable, less expensive, and most importantly domestic fuel that will power our vehicles in the future. We know that the cure for our addiction to oil is not more oil. What we need now is the federal investment to enhance our energy infrastructure and bring these new, clean energies to market."

For more information see the Sept. 11 edition of the Star-Observer.