If any journalist needs to stick to the facts, the "dean of the state Capitol correspondents," Matt Pommer, has a special need to be accurate. But accuracy was sorely lacking in his recent opinion piece, "Community policing under fire in Madison." Pommer notes that the Dane County Board rejected a federal grant, the "Cannabis Enforcement And Suppression Effort" (CEASE), but goes on to wrongly state "the grant provides money to fight heroin, other drugs and gun traffic." Not true. The $5000 federal grant was solely for cannabis eradication. [continues 149 words]
BELOIT-Drive west out of Beloit on Shirland Avenue, just past the Rock River, and you won't notice many differences on either side of the road. Stateline Liquors on the left gives it away; the center line on this part of Shirland Avenue divides more than traffic, it splits Wisconsin and Illinois. Despite that division, you'll still see small houses with big lawns and businesses with cracked parking lots either way you look. The only clues to what makes the sides different are the phone numbers those businesses advertise and the signs for street names-green to your right and white to your left. [continues 1148 words]
The First Amendment's five freedoms ensure that government doesn't run roughshod over our religious-liberty and free-expression rights. But sometimes, the First Amendment doesn't win out. Thankfully, it's not all that often. When it does happen, generally the situation involves balancing one of the First Amendment freedoms =AD religion, speech, press, assembly and petition =AD against other parts of the Bill of Rights. The threat of terrorism is one such area. Critics of unrestrained speech by our enemies =AD and sometimes, of opponents at home =AD have observed that the First Amendment is not "a suicide pact.=94 [continues 647 words]
Erpenbach Bill Would Legalize Medical Marijuana in State JANESVILLE - Sen. Jon Erpenbach said his push to legalize marijuana for medical use is about compassion. "Why does somebody have to break the law to go and get a very good medicine for their system and is less trying on their system than anything else has been?" the Middleton Democrat asked. Erpenbach, whose district covers western Rock County, recently introduced the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act with co-sponsor Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. [continues 1220 words]
JANESVILLE - The three cornerstones of Rock County's drug court are abstinence, honesty and responsibility. The mortar that holds them together is hope. "I'm cautiously optimistic that people who graduate will have a much better life," said Kate Buker, the Rock County assistant district attorney assigned to drug court. "I think this is helping people," said Judge Richard Werner, who presides over drug court. "Realistically, it's not going to work for everybody, but from my practical experience working here, it is helping people. [continues 803 words]
JANESVILLE - While marijuana and crack cocaine are the two most available and used drugs in Janesville, heroin has killed here. And smack regularly comes close to killing users, says Sgt. Stephen DeWitt, supervisor of the Janesville Police Department's Street Crimes Unit. Heroin has become more prevalent in Janesville, he said. "It seems like heroin skipped a generation," DeWitt said. "It was here in the '60s and '70s, and now it's back. We see a reported overdose every couple of weeks. There are people here who deal heroin. Most of the people who deal it are users. Rockford (Ill.) is the big supply." [continues 1187 words]
JANESVILLE - Rock County's drug court is no cakewalk or slap on the wrist. Since its inception a little more than a year ago-May 3, 2007-more drug users have washed out of the program than graduated from it. Figures provided by Kate Buker, an assistant Rock County district attorney, showed that 20 of 42 people with final court outcomes had graduated. Two left the program on their own; one never showed up. The two judges who have presided over drug court booted the remaining 19 back to the criminal courts where their cases originated-and where they have been sentenced. [continues 1079 words]
JANESVILLE -- So you inhaled when you were in college. Maybe you enjoyed yourself immensely. Wouldn't trade those days for anything. But now your child is 10 or 13 and wants to know: Did you smoke dope, mommy? What's A Parent to Do? Tell the truth, said Kate Baldwin of Partners in Prevention of Rock County. Tell the truth, said Carrie Kulinski, the Janesville School District's drug/alcohol coordinators and a longtime drug abuse counselor. Tell the truth, said Ben Masel, perhaps the most famous marijuana user in Wisconsin, known for organizing an annual marijuana festival. [continues 876 words]
Carrie Kulinski vividly recalls her chat with a student last year. Why did he want to drink alcohol? He didn't want to, he told her, but he thought everyone else was, so he should, too. That's why Kulinski, the Janesville School District's coordinator of drug and alcohol programs, wants to emphasize this message: Not all kids drink. In fact, the percentage of those who do is slowly declining. The latest survey of Janesville students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 bears that out. In the survey taken in March, 59 percent of seniors said they drank beer in the previous year. That continues a downward trend since 76 percent said they did in the 1994 survey. [continues 455 words]
A federal grant will give the city's high schools something they haven't had before: a comprehensive program to combat drugs and alcohol. The district announced the grant Tuesday. It amounts to nearly $1 million over three years. The money will pay for two drug/alcohol counselors, a part-time clerk, a supervisor, staff training and materials. It also will pay for Project SUCCESS, or Schools Using Coordinated Community Efforts to Strengthen Students. Project SUCCESS aims to reduce pro-drug attitudes among students and their parents and stem drug abuse and and behaviors such as cutting class, fighting and talking back to teachers, according to the district's grant application to the Department of Education. [continues 575 words]
Heroin is becoming a dangerous trend in Walworth County, officials say. "I would say it's a growing problem," said Sgt. Jeff Patek of the Walworth County Drug Unit. "In the last year, it is starting to become more prevalent." Heroin used to be the drug of choice for "experienced" addicts, Patek said. Now, it's reaching a younger audience. "It's a trend right now," Patek said. "Can I attribute that to anything? No. I have no idea why. But other agencies throughout the state are seeing the same thing." [continues 576 words]
One of two marijuana cases filed against a Janesville man has been dismissed, but the second still is pending in Rock County Court. The charge of delivery of marijuana that prompted an arrest warrant for Michael J. Lacey, 44, and a search warrant for his home, #### Academy St., upper apartment, was dismissed without prejudice because the informant in the case declined to testify, said Scott Dirks, an assistant district attorney for Rock County. The original complaint accused Lacey of selling a small amount of marijuana, Dirks said, adding that he had no leverage to compel the informant to testify. [continues 125 words]
Marijuana: The harmless drug. A mellowing agent. An herb. Carrie Kulinski tossed those ideas to her class at the Rock River Charter School this week. Ever hear that kind of talk? she asked. They had. One student had heard it another way: "God made weed. Man made alcohol. Who do you trust?" he recited. Kulinski was out to convince her students that "weed" is no good for them. She knew she had a hard audience. Surveys have consistently shown that only alcohol is more popular among local teens. [continues 674 words]
MADISON, Wis. - Police found 29-year-old Leah Gustafson in a pool of blood in her apartment last year. Next to her was her collector sword. She'd been stabbed through the heart. A blood trail led police in Superior, Wis., to an apartment across the street, where her killer, Jason Borelli, had just gotten out of the shower. Borelli got life in prison. "This is something nobody else should go through," said 32-year-old Kelly Ziebell of Superior, Gustafson's friend since high school. "It feels like an empty hole without her." [continues 879 words]
ROCKFORD, ILL-An Albany woman is charged with murder in the December death of her boyfriend, whom Rockford, Ill., police say overdosed on heroin she gave him. Albany police and Green County deputies on Thursday arrested [Name redacted], 36, of 202 Milwaukee St., on a charge of drug-induced homicide in the death of her boyfriend, Max A. Huffman, 52, Albany. [Name redacted] waived extradition and was transferred Monday to jail in Winnebago County, Ill., where her bond is $50,000. [continues 116 words]
The handwriting is a little sketchy, but the message from elementary students is clear-bring back the DARE program. Facing budget pressure from Walworth County supervisors and a need to put more deputies on the road, the Walworth County Sheriff's Department eliminated the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program from its 2007 budget, Sheriff David Graves said. "It's not a decision I wanted to make, but one I feel I had to," he said. An external study of the sheriff's department recommends at least nine more patrol deputies. [continues 484 words]
ELKHORN -- A brother, sister and the man suspected of dealing them heroin are in the Walworth County Jail facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide. Rebecca H. Monroe, a 37-year-old Elkhorn woman, died in her home April 3 from a drug overdose, said Dr. Lynda Biedrzyski, a Waukesha County medical examiner, according to a criminal complaint. Devis K. Osinski, Ladine L. Osinski and Jermal A. Johnson are accused of being the terminal end of a supply chain that delivered heroin to Monroe. [continues 323 words]
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. - Parents are reeling at news that investigators expect to charge 158 people in a Wood County drug case that allegedly included parents selling illegal drugs to their children's friends. Sue Ulrich, of Rudolph, has children in the seventh and 10th grades in the Wisconsin Rapids school system and said it was difficult to believe parents would sell drugs to children. Just as surprising to Debbie Wood was the apparent extent of the drug network in Wisconsin Rapids, where she has lived for four years since moving from Kenosha. She said she might have expected something like it in southeastern Wisconsin, but not here. [continues 339 words]
JANESVILLE -- Vicodin. OxyContin, Percocet. Morphine. Heroine. Health officials say abuse of these opiate painkillers is increasing. In the past, people seeking treatment for opiate addiction had few options. Now, a new drug takes away the craving for the opiate. And it reduces or even eliminates withdrawal symptoms. Dr. Adedapo Oduwole, who specializes in addiction psychiatry at Mercy Options, said buprenorphine is performing miracles. People have to want to stop using opiates for buprenorphine to work, Oduwole said. But those who do have rebuilt their lives. [continues 679 words]
JANESVILLE-Lisa is sure she and her husband would be dead today. If it wasn't for a new drug and the doctor who administered it, she may have overdosed. She may have frozen. Or her 88-pound frame may have wasted away. At the height of her addiction, Lisa didn't care enough to keep her three precious daughters, let alone her own health. Lisa calls the doctor who prescribed Suboxone a saint. She calls the medicine, which continues to anchor her to sane life, a miracle. [continues 1601 words]
