Newtown deaths spur gun debates here too; Couple accused of pawning presents from under tree; Walker says he’ll leave unions alone next session; more briefs

Talk about it

President Obama told grieving residents of Newtown Connecticut last night that he’ll use “whatever power” he has to prevent massacres like Friday’s elementary school shootings. In Wisconsin lawmakers of both parties addressed gun rights and school safety in the wake of the murders of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Gun rights hardly raised a ripple in the presidential and Wisconsin U.S. Senate campaigns even though it was fresh on people’s minds following the Sikh Temple tragedy at Oak Creek in early August. Obama briefly mentioned Oak Creek at Sunday night’s vigil and said the nation cannot tolerate such growing violence.

As always, reactions fell along partisan lines with liberals blaming the guns and conservatives blaming the criminals.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he would again ask state lawmakers next year to make it a felony for those prohibited from carrying concealed weapons to do so and for people to buy guns for criminals. Barrett said he would also try to make private gun sales subject to criminal background checks.

Incoming state Senate Democratic leader Chris Larson said both parties would have to agree to changes, but it will be hard because “The National Rifle Association has a stranglehold on the Republican Party.”

State GOP finance co-chair Alberta Darling said schools are among the places where concealed weapons cannot be carried and perhaps those exemptions should be reviewed because they “advertise where people are not able to protect themselves.”

Nik Clark of a state group that supports concealed carry doubted that the Legislature would allow concealed weapons in schools, but his group would support it.

Darling also cautioned against passing laws making it easier to institutionalize those with mental illnesses. She said people need to do their part by being aware of those showing severe mental illnesses and letting authorities know about them.

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Couple accused of stealing presents from under tree

A couple from rural Cambria is accused of stealing Christmas presents from beneath a family’s tree.

Investigators say Dean Jansma, 43, and Charlene Gordon, 46, took 15 wrapped presents meant for four children Dec. 10. They’re also accused of taking tools and other items while they were in the house in the town of Scott. Both are charged with felony burglary.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Department says the family returned home from shopping and dinner to find the Christmas presents stolen.

Arrests were made in less than 24 hours by checking pawn store records. The missing gifts were tracked back to Jansma, then he was connected to Gordon.

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Walker says he’ll leave unions alone next session

Gov. Scott Walker says he will not pursue any major bills that affect public or private unions in the next two-year session.

Walker said he would not touch the right-to-work issue until it was debated in an election campaign.

The governor met with reporters and editors from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He said the right-to-work issue would be a huge distraction from his priorities to boost the economy and create jobs.

Walker went one step further, saying, “This is not a wink and nod thing. I’m not saying, ‘I’m not going to push but you guys go ahead,’” referring to the Legislature.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said his house would not pursue a right-to-work bill in the next two years, but Senate GOP leader Scott Fitzgerald has been silent on the subject.

Walker said it would hurt job growth in Wisconsin if the state had another bitter debate and demonstrations like those related to the 2011 limits on public union bargaining.

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Governor considers UW tuition cap

After years of high increases, Gov. Scott Walker says he’s considering either a freeze or a new cap on University of Wisconsin tuition to keep it affordable.

According to Wisconsin Public Radio, Walker brought the subject up last week when he spoke at a school in Milwaukee that gets tax-funded vouchers to teach low-income kids.

The governor said he’s considering several options for his next two-year state budget proposal, which he’ll submit to the Legislature in February. Besides a tuition cap, higher state aid to the UW is also being considered.

Walker said he still wants the UW System to grow and keep having the programs and courses it wants to offer.

State aid has not kept pace with rising university costs for a number of years. As a result, average tuitions at the 26 UW schools have gone up by 5.5% in each of the last five years and even more in the eight years before that.

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Same-day voter registration popular with Dems and GOP

Three recent statewide elections showed that Democratic voters may have indeed taken more advantage of Wisconsin’s Election Day registration law. But lots of Republicans use it as well.

The Wisconsin State Journal looked at same-day registrations in the 2008 presidential election, the November 2010 governor’s contest and June’s Walker recall vote.

About 16% of voters in Democratic counties registered on the same day that President Obama won his first term in 2008, but just over 13% also registered in Republican areas.

Two years later, Democratic areas had almost 6% more same-day signups than GOP districts.

UW-Madison professor Barry Burden said it makes sense that more Democratic voters take advantage of same-day registration. That’s because they generally younger and more mobile, which requires them to change their addresses more often.

Burden said Republican areas have more stable populations, therefore they have less of a need for the same-day voter sign-ups.

Two Republican lawmakers continue to work on a bill to get rid of Wisconsin’s 36-year-old same-day registration system even after Gov. Scott Walker came out against it.

Walker said he doesn’t want to spend millions of dollars on federal election requirements that would kick in if the current system is scrapped.

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Members needed for wildlife rehab council

Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources is looking for 18 people to serve on a new wildlife rehabilitation council.

Secretary Cathy Stepp hopes to recruit experienced people in wildlife health and rehab and the captive wildlife industry.

The new council would advise the DNR on wildlife rehab matters. It would also start up new education programs and help experts inspect wildlife rehab facilities.

More information can be found on the DNR’s Website, accessible through www.Wisconsin.gov

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Facebook faux pas costs superintendent his job

Showing a Facebook photo to two members of the Milton School District staff has cost Supt. Mike Garrow his job.

Garrow resigned after the incident had been investigated. The incident happened last June when he was talking to two staff members. He reportedly brought up a photo on Facebook of a woman which made them uncomfortable. The investigator decided that picture could have been inappropriate.

Garrow submitted a written response saying his decision to show the photo was, in his words, “not a great choice,” but he didn’t believe his conduct called for a full investigation.

The superintendent has been on leave since October. His resignation takes effect June 30. He is also going to receive a $35,000 severance check.

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More state banks merge

More of Wisconsin’s banks are merging in the wake of the Great Recession.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a half dozen bank mergers were either completed or proposed this year, and three other banks voluntarily liquidated and sold their assets to other institutions. The activity is about three times as high as in each of the previous three years.

The largest merger was announced in late November when Nicolet National Bank of Green Bay said it would acquire the Mid-Wisconsin Bank of Medford -- thus making Nicolet one of the 10 biggest Wisconsin-owned bank chains.

Peter Bildsten, who heads the state Department of Financial Institutions, said smaller banks that made it through the recession are now deciding whether to keep going on their own. That’s because the demand for loans is not the strongest right now, and as low interest rates continue on deposits, some banks may not see prospects for growth.

In those cases, Bildsten said it sometimes make sense to merge with a bank that provides a broader market.

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Wisconsin returns sex offender to Iowa

A sex offender who fled to Wisconsin to escape punishment is back home in Iowa after he served a prison term for molesting a child in Janesville.

Anthony Sanders, 22, was put on probation in 2008 for committing lewd acts with a child in Waterloo, Iowa. Authorities put a tracking device on him, but he took it off and fled to Janesville where he was arrested the same month for molesting a 13-year-old.

Sanders served four years in prison. As soon as his term ended last week, authorities returned him to Iowa to face more charges.

Sanders is charged in Iowa with hiding his tracking device, fleeing authorities and not registering as a sex offender.

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UW experts: Bat fungus will be tough to control

UW-Madison scientists now say that a fungal disease which has killed millions of bats will be tougher to deal with than experts had hoped.

White nose syndrome has killed about 5.5 million bats in the eastern U.S. over the last six years. That’s bad for agriculture because bats protect farm crops by killing insects.

According to the new UW research, caves where infected bats hibernate continue to have the disease in the soil for at least two years after all surviving bats have left a site. That means bats might not be able to rebuild their populations in a cave where the disease had struck.

Wisconsin has not been hit with white nose syndrome yet, but it’s been detected 30 miles away at a state park in eastern Iowa. Department of Natural Resources experts say it’s just a matter of time before the disease hits the Wisconsin and officials have been trying to ward it off.

Visitors to caves are often asked to wipe off their shoes before entering and leaving to prevent any disease from spreading. A couple years ago, the DNR had considered having the ability to close commercial caves if necessary, but that was scrapped after heavy opposition from cave owners.

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