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• Pierce Co. Board raises supervisors' pay -- a little
• Many veterans don't seek help for problems; state briefs

By Jon Swedien

ELLSWORTH -- On Nov. 10, Pierce County Board members voted to give future members and themselves, if they're re-elected, a raise.

The board voted 10-7 to increase supervisors' per diems for committee meetings from $35 to $40. Pay for County Board meetings will remain at $50 per meeting.

Board members will receive $75 for attending meetings outside the county, a $5 bump over their current per diems for out-of-county meetings.

The rates will take effect after the April election.

"The amount that supervisors are paid per meeting hasn't changed in 10 years," Supervisor Rich Purdy, town of River Falls, said before the vote.

Board members in favor of the pay bump said it would help attract future board members and would offset expenses incurred by attending meetings, which would help less affluent people serve on the board.

Supervisor Ken Snow, Spring Valley, said increasing per diems during the current recession sends the wrong message to county residents.

Supervisor Ronald Bartels, Bay City, agreed.

"I think the timing couldn't be worse," he said.

Voting for the raise were Leo Simones of Prescott, Jim Camery of River Falls, Purdy, Ben Plunkett of River Falls, Nikki Shonoiki of River Falls, Ron Lockwood of River Falls, John Kucinski of River Falls, Don Rohl of Ellsworth, Dan Reis of Ellsworth and Mel Pittman of Plum City.

Dissenting were Snow, Bartels, Paul Barkla of River Falls, James Ross of Elmwood, Greg Place of Ellsworth, Jerry Kosin of Prescott and Jeff Holst of Hager City.

Officials with the state's Department of Veterans Affairs say there's an increased awareness of the mental and emotional costs borne by Wisconsin's soldiers. But, many veterans still resist getting help.

Daniel Naylor is a board member with the state Department of Veterans Affairs, and he says his organization hopes to provide greater outreach for soldiers who've come home.

This includes counseling for substance abuse and domestic violence. Naylor says more awareness and support is provided to today's veterans than ever before.

Naylor points to a recently opened veterans' center in Green Bay, and the state's plans to open another one in La Crosse County next year. It will be the first in western Wisconsin. The centers provide therapy and support for troops suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

State figures show that out of 431,000 Wisconsin veterans, about 12 percent have stress disorders. But state veterans officials say only between 23 to 40 percent of afflicted soldiers seek help.

Naylor says his daughter served 14 months in Iraq, and now suffers from a stress disorder. Speaking from his family's farm near Waupaca, Naylor says providing mental health services throughout the state can be difficult and that access to resources is a challenge in rural Wisconsin.

But, Naylor says it requires these tough men and women to take the next step, which is reaching out for help.

-- Kirk Carapezza, WHA/WERN-Madison

Report shows Wisconsin headed for serious budget trouble

A new report includes Wisconsin on a list of state governments whose budget troubles could resemble California's over the next couple years.

The Pew Center on the States report looked at six factors that led to California's budget collapse. These included the size of the state's budget gap as a percentage of its general fund, the change in tax revenue, the change in the unemployment rate, and the foreclosure rate.

Pew's report then scored every other state on how well they fared in those areas. It ranked Wisconsin tenth worst in the nation on those grounds, bad enough to make the list of states that could be in fiscal peril.

The Pew Center's Susan Urahn says California's problems have been well documented during this recession, but it's hardly alone. She says state budget problems will likely get worse before they get better, even if the national economy starts to recover.

Wisconsin's budgeting practices were part of the reason this report gave the state low marks. Pew noted that Wisconsin has run budget shortfalls for several years, and it's regularly used money from what are supposed to be segregated funds to pay other bills.

The report also pointed out that the state has struggled to keep pace with growing budgets for schools and Medicaid.

The report said that even if the national economy rebounds, upcoming budgets could be difficult for states as federal stimulus dollars run out while Medicaid and unemployment costs remain high.

-- Shawn Johnson, WHA/WERN-Madison

Is H1N1 peaking in Wisconsin?

Health officials believe Wisconsin is nearing the peak of H1N1. However, flu caused by that virus is still expected to be around for the next several months.

Health Services spokesman Seth Boffeli says they believe H1N1 has peaked because all five public health regions covering the state have reported a decrease in flu cases.

He says it's too soon to tell if H1N1 cases are peaking or even declining, but southern states which started flu activity a month sooner than Wisconsin peaked several weeks ago.

In the past week, there have been four deaths related to swine flu, bringing the statewide total to 20 since the virus was first detected this spring. State health officials have received more vaccine, and are still recommending it be used on people most vulnerable to H1N1.

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison

Sen. Kohl on health reform

Some Democrats in the U. S. Senate are voicing concerns about whether health reform will adequately control rising medical costs.

Sen. Herb Kohl says the version passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend is a "start", but he's skeptical it can slow health care spending. Kohl says the cost of health care is out of control and if the U.S. doesn't get a handle on that, the nation will be in trouble.

The senator didn't specify how he would like to see costs contained. Others have suggested a tax on so-called "Cadillac" health plans, or more drastic changes in provider reimbursement for doctors and hospitals.

-- Shamane Mills, WHA/WERN-Madison

Nurse survey will help get answers on future shortage

Registered nurses who are renewing their licenses early next year will have to fill out a survey. The results will be used to determine the impact a nursing shortage will have over the next decade.

Registered nurses must renew their licenses every two years. Those who do so in the first quarter of 2010 will be required to fill out a survey asking, among other things, how long they plan to stay in the profession.

About 83,000 nurses are expected to renew in the first three months of next year.

State Sen. Judy Robson of Beloit pushed for the funding for the survey which was included in the state budget. Robson is a former nurse and nursing instructor, and she says the goal is to find out the extent of a projected nursing shortage.

She says while nurses are feeling the shortage, she says that shortage is mostly anecdotal since there isn't data to show what the shortage will be like in the future.

The Department of Workforce Development estimates the state will need 80,000 new nurses over the next decade. Robson says some of those will be new positions, others will be to make up for nurses who retire.

She says the current average age of a nurse is about 50 and they are going to be retiring. But Robson says there's no statewide plan to deal with the future.

Robson says the data can be used to argue for federally funded nursing programs in Wisconsin. It'll also help determine how the state should use money it has now to spend on nursing schools and financial aid.

-- Patty Murray, WPNE/WHID-Green Bay

Consumer group attacks utility profits

At least four Wisconsin electric utilities are trying to take more money out of customers' pockets with rate increase proposals now before state regulators. But a consumer group hopes to chip away at the companies' profits.

The utilities seeking higher rates collectively serve most of Wisconsin. The companies want to hike natural gas or electricity prices somewhere between a few percent, to up to 7 percent. Bill Skewes heads the Wisconsin Utilities Association. He says the companies need more revenue, because they're spending a lot on infrastructure.

Skewes concedes that to some extent, utilities are raising rates because industrial demand for electricity is down, and the power companies are trying to make up the revenue from other customers.

But he says the utilities are taking several belt-tightening steps, and that lower fuel prices are helping limit the size of the proposed rate hikes.

The Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin has asked the Public Service Commission to slice the size of any rate hikes and cut utility profits by nearly one percent.

A PSC ruling on a rate increase requested by Milwaukee-based WE Energies could come Thursday.

-- Chuck Quirmbach, WHAD-Delafield/Milwaukee

Supreme Court case could determine when a teen becomes an adult in court

MADISON -- The Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering changing the rules that judges and lawyers follow when deciding whether to try young teens in adult court.

The court heard oral arguments this week in a case involving Corey Kleser. He was 15 in 2006 when he allegedly killed Ron Adams, 58, by beating him with a hammer and stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors.

He was charged as an adult, but after a waiver hearing the circuit court waived him back into juvenile court. The state appealed and the appeals court ruled that the judge had allowed the defense to introduce too much information about how the victim was killed.

Kleser's attorney, Devon Lee, told the high court it was appropriate to let the judge know that Kleser believed he was going to be raped when he killed Adams. She says that's a different kind of murder than one carried out during a robbery.

But some of the justices said they're concerned about allowing a waiver hearing to turn into an actual trial about guilt or innocence.

A decision in this case isn't likely until this spring. But the same issues may come up sooner than that in another juvenile murder case pending in Milwaukee.

Labrina Brown, 14, will soon have a juvenile waiver hearing. She's charged with killing her step grandfather by stabbing him in the neck during an argument.

-- Gil Halsted, WHA/WERN-Madison

Program helps ease law breakers back to the community

LA CROSSE COUNTY -- A national project is helping La Crosse County ease the transition for offenders from jail to the community. Program representatives visited the La Crosse County jail this week.

The National Institute of Corrections partnered with the Urban Institute in 2007 to put together the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative. They selected six sites out of 29 applicants nationwide to help with the project, including La Crosse County.

Jane Klekamp is the jail's justice sanctions manager. She says it helps to have other people assess their criminal justice system, it helps reduce repeat offenders and increases public safety.

Jesse Jannetta, a research associate with the Urban Institute, says La Crosse County recognizes the importance of in-jail programming. He says La Crosse is ahead of other groups that his organization is working with to deal with screening people in jail.

Jannetta says the jail needs to further relationships with community agencies. La Crosse County's Klekamp says they're looking to work with local health providers, substance abuse counselors, and groups like the YWCA. He says the county is trying to be as inclusive as it can.

Klekamp says they'll receive assistance through the initiative over the next two years.

-- Danielle Kaeding, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

More federal flood money available

The federal government will be distributing another $6 million to help people who suffered damage from 2008 floods and storms.

The money comes from a $600 million federal social services block grant. Wisconsin's share of the pot will be $6 million dollars to be distributed by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The organization has hired 25 social workers to establish need in 30 southern Wisconsin counties.

Spokeswoman Michele Virnig says there's still plenty of people who are recovering from the storms and floods of over a year ago who need to repair damage or replace items like furnaces.

Wisconsin received another $10 million in federal funds for a variety of initiatives such as upgrades to the state's 211 system and counseling for people impacted by flooding and storms.

Steve Roisum, WLSU/WHLA-La Crosse

New Madison project provides shelter for homeless vets

MADISON -- As the nation honors its war veterans an affordable housing group in Madison is opening a new apartment building to provide shelter and assistance to homeless veterans.

According to the latest statistics on any given night, there are more than 130,000 homeless veterans sleeping on the nation's streets.

In Dane County, the most recent estimate is 230 veterans without a place to stay. Thanks to a new federally funded building in downtown Madison, that number may soon be reduced by 22, that's the number of beds at the Porchlight's Veterans Transitional Housing Center. Dean Krahn is the chief of mental health services at the VA Hospital in Madison.

He says unlike other homeless shelters that only allow people to stay for a few months, veterans can stay at this new center for as long as two years. Krahn says that's enough time to get an addiction under control, get a job, and save some money to get an apartment.

There are six veterans already staying at the center; most served during the war in Vietnam.

Bob Carreon is Porchlight's on-sight alcohol and drug counselor. He says a program through the VA allows veterans to stay even if they have a part-time job making up to $200 a month. He says veterans pay $40 a month for a room with a laundry facility and three meals a day.

Nationally, the Department of Veterans Affairs has promised to beef up housing assistance for homeless veterans and to launch programs that will prevent them from ending up on the streets in the first place.

-- Gil Halsted, WHA/WERN-Madison