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• Parents sentenced in daughter prayer death case; state briefs
• Bi-partisan, bi-state lawmakers search for way to restore tax reciprocity

-- Glen Moberg, WHRM/WLBL-Wausau

WAUSAU -- A central Wisconsin couple was sentenced Tuesday for praying but not seeking medical help as their 11-year-old daughter died from treatable diabetes.

The Marathon County judge lectured Dale and Leilani Neumann on the limits of freedom of religion.

When Dale Neumann took the witness stand prior to being sentenced for the death of his daughter Madeline Kara, he told Judge Vincent Howard that he was only guilty of following his faith. Dale Neumann said, "Guilty, guilty of following Jesus Christ."

Speaking for Leilani Neumann, attorney Gene Linehan had a similar reaction. Linehan said, "My client has been charged with homicide because she has faith in her creator, ultimate faith."

Prosecutor Lamont Jacobson told the judge that the couple deserved prison time, pointing to a lack of remorse and comments that were posted on a family Web site.

Jacobson said, "These two individuals have shown no respect for the legal system, rather they have compared these proceedings to a lynch mob, the Holocaust, and Christians being tossed to lions."

But Judge Howard told the Neumanns that they were not the ones who were martyred. "In your family, Kara is the martyr. She is the one that died. You can't become a martyr by causing her death," Howard said to the couple.

Howard sentenced the Neumann's to 10 years probation instead of the 25 years they could have received, in part, he said, to keep them from becoming martyrs.

They will also have to serve 30 days in jail every year for the next six years to think about Kara's death. That part of the sentence was stayed pending the Neumann's appeal.

-- Glen Moberg, WHRM/WLBL-Wausau

Court system supports raising public defender requirements

STATE CAPITOL -- Judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys joined forces Tuesday to push for passage of bill to change the poverty standard for people eligible to get a taxpayer-funded attorney to defend them in court.

Budget constraints have repeatedly blocked bills to raise the poverty standard for people to get court appointed lawyers high enough to help everyone who can't afford an attorney.

Milwaukee judge Richard Sankowitz told legislators the current standard undermines public faith in the state justice system because as soon as they're charged people are told that they make too much money to get help.

Sankowitz says public defenders ask defendants if they make more than $2.37 an hour, and as "everyone does," no one is poor enough to afford a public defender.

Advocates for raising the poverty level include the Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Van Hollen says while it would cost $4 million a year to add about 50 new public defenders, it would save at least that much for county governments who now pay to appoint attorneys for many indigent defendants who fall through the cracks.

Van Hollen estimates it's three times more expensive for counties to hire private attorneys than it would be to hire assistant state public defenders.

Gov. Doyle vetoed a similar bill in the last budget citing the cost, but advocates for the bill say he'll probably sign this one if it reaches his desk.

-- Gil Halsted, WHA/WERN-Madison

Principal's widow supports anti-bullying curriculum

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

The widow of a high school principal who was shot to death by a student says an anti-bullying curriculum being sent out to Wisconsin school districts could have helped her husband.

Three years ago 15-year-old Eric Hainstock walked into Weston High School, carrying several firearms. When Principal John Klang confronted him and wrestled him to the ground, Hainstock fatally shot Klang in the struggle.

Hainstock later told police that the shooting was an accident and he just wanted to confront the principal about being bullied.

John Klang's widow, Sue Klang, says several students knew what Hainstock was planning that day and said nothing. She told reporters at a news conference unveiling new anti-bullying curriculum that if the curriculum had been in place, students might have recognized what was going on and not have felt intimidated talking about it.

Klang says it will help someone being bullied and maybe a student who's thinking of retaliation.

The Department of Public Instruction developed the curriculum. It teaches students how to spot bullying and how to react to it, whether it's in person or through social networking Web sites after school hours.

DPI Superintendent Tony Evers says that with the No Child Left Behind Act, there was a lot of stress on testing and a tendency only to focus on improving those test scores.

Evers says as a result of focusing on test scores, some schools have stepped back from a commitment to kid's emotional and social health.

The curriculum will be paid for by WEA Trust, an insurance group that covers school employees. It will cost $15,000. Evers says a little more than half of the state's school districts decided to adopt a previous version of the anti-bullying curriculum.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

UW budget software hearing

STATE CAPITOL -- The University of Wisconsin's chief financial officer told state lawmakers Tuesday that he could be fired if a major new software project fails.

The UW has budgeted $81.4 million to install a new payroll and benefits system. An earlier attempt at the project already failed at a cost of $28 million.

Lawmakers asked UW-System senior vice president Tom Anderes how the university would prevent a similar failure this time around. In one pointed exchange, Green Bay Assembly Republican Phil Montgomery asked Anderes if he (Anderes) would be fired if the project does not work, to which Anderes replied, "I would assume yes."

Lawmakers asked Anderes to report back monthly with updates. The project has already run into some troubles. Its contractor is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The UW says it's confident that investigation won't affect this IT project.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

Liquor tax could pay for tougher OWI law

STATE CAPITOL -- A state Senate panel passed a plan Tuesday that would raise the tax on hard liquor to cover the cost of tougher penalties for drunken drivers.

Other than the liquor tax, the plan is similar to one that passed the Assembly last month. It would require ignition interlocks for all repeat drunken drivers and make a fourth arrest in five years a felony. It would also criminalize a first offense if someone younger than 16 is in the car.

But new projections released Tuesday showed the plan would cost more than $70 million.

To cover the cost, a bill by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, would raise the tax on liquor by 50 cents per liter. Sullivan says everyone agrees the state needs drunken driving reform.

He says if its public policy worth passing, then it should be worth paying for.

But the author of the Assembly's drunken driving package took issue with the new cost estimates from the Departments of Transportation and Corrections. Tony Staskunas, D-West Allis, called them inflated.

Staskunas says if a department doesn't like a bill, they can get creative with fiscal estimates and I think that's what's going on. Staskunas's proposal passed the Assembly last month on a unanimous vote.

But Republicans gave this latest Senate plan a cool reception, voting against it in committee.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

SNAP: Milwaukee Archdiocese moved abusive priests for religious reasons

MILWAUKEE -- A group of clergy abuse victims says the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese is arguing it was OK to transfer abusive priests for "religious reasons."

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP says the church has filed legal motions in some current court cases against the Archdiocese.

SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isely says the Archdiocese is arguing that past concealment or transfer of clergy is a religious decision that should be protected by the First Amendment. Isely says freedom of speech does not extend that far.

Isely says a Supreme Court decision this week regarding a Connecticut case should make it tougher for the Milwaukee Archdiocese to succeed with its argument.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese has released a statement focusing on one former priest, about whom the church says it has acknowledged abuse allegations for many years.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WHAD-Delafield/Milwaukee

Health group not surprised BadgerCare plus nearly full

The relative speed at which a new Medicaid program in Wisconsin filled up doesn't surprise a group of community health centers.

The BadgerCare expansion to childless adults is nearly full after three months of operation. Stephanie Harrison expected it to happen sooner.

As head of the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, she says the 17 federally funded community clinics in the state see firsthand how great demand is for medical care.

Harrison says the perception is people put off health care because they don't have an insurance card, but judging from the demand for the CORE program, a lot of people want and need health care.

CORE is the name of Wisconsin's Medicaid program providing health coverage to adults without children. Anticipating a last-minute push for applicants to get in under the wire, state officials are urging people to sign up online, instead of calling busy phone lines.

After Friday, those eligible will be put on a waiting list. State health administrators have 45 days to come up with a bare-bones alternative coverage plan to serve childless adults who seek medical care. The governor has said it will be financed with premiums, not tax dollars.

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison

Converting landfill gas to energy studied

LA CROSSE -- Those looking to improve sustainability in La Crosse County recently completed a study on methane gas produced at the county's landfill. Environmental advocates hope they can harness the gas and turn it into energy.

Nick Nichols is the sustainability coordinator for La Crosse County. Nichols says they're evaluating the study to determine whether investing in such a project now will prove economically worthwhile down the road.

Nichols says they are looking at how much electricity the county could create and if it can make enough money to pay not only for the gas to energy plan, but other projects as well.

Rob Tyser is a biology professor with UW-La Crosse. Tyser says trapping the gas to generate electricity would in turn minimize its harmful effects on the environment.

Tyser says trapped methane gas can leave the ground and go into the atmosphere. He says methane gas is a harmful greenhouse gas, more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.

Meanwhile, Nichols says they're crunching the numbers. He says they'll present their findings to the county board in the next four to six weeks. The study is part of a joint city and county sustainability plan that includes reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

-- Danielle Kaeding, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

By Judy Wiff

regional@rivertowns.net

Apart from inconvenience for workers who will have to file in two states, the end of the income tax reciprocity agreement between Minnesota and Wisconsin may have greater implications, say some lawmakers.

"There's a state border there, but we really operate as a region," said Wisconsin state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls. She said ending this 40-year-old cooperative agreement could jeopardize others.

"Once you lose one, it's easier to watch the others fall apart," Harsdorf said. She said there's a lot of interest among legislators from both states to explore ways to reinstate the reciprocal agreement.

Harsdorf and a Minnesota counterpart, Sen. Kathy Saltzman, a Democrat, are inviting their peers who represent border communities from Duluth to Iowa to a "working session." The intent of the meeting is to "seek a strategy that will lead to the reinstatement of our long-standing and mutually beneficial income tax reciprocity agreement," says the invitation.

The session will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 12, at City Hall in Woodbury, Minn.

"I think it's really hard to change something once you've imposed it," Saltzman said.

She said lawmakers want to determine if there is a solution that can be put in place before January 2010.

The Minnesota Department of Revenue announced in September that it will end the tax reciprocity agreement. The change, which goes into effect Jan. 1, means people who live in one state and work in the other must file tax returns in both states.

Reciprocity allowed people who cross the border for work to pay income tax in their home state, and the state governments settled up later.

Termination of the agreement will affect about 33,500 Wisconsinites working in Minnesota and about 13,000 Minnesotans who work in Wisconsin.

Since more than twice as many Wisconsinites work in Minnesota, Wisconsin always ended up paying Minnesota. Because there was a gap of several months, the agreement called for Wisconsin to pay eight percent interest on the money it owed Minnesota.

"It's really a concern for our taxpayers," said Harsdorf, because more Wisconsinites work in Minnesota than the other way around.

Still, she said, both states and their taxpayers benefited from the arrangement.

"It's not like either side loses out," said Harsdorf. "It's really more of a convenience for taxpayers."

Saltzman said she has heard from a few constituents who wonder how the loss of the agreement will affect them. Minnesotans who work in Wisconsin want to know whether they will have to pay more taxes, she said.

Others have wondered whether small businesses employing people who live in the other state will be affected, Saltzman added.

One of the issues that will be explored at the meeting is whether, under the now-severed agreement, Wisconsin actually owed Minnesota more than it has paid because more Wisconsin residents are working across the border than in years past, Saltzman said.