A member of the sage family, Salvia divinorum is a cousin of the popular flowering salvia found in many American gardens. Salvia divinorum is native to dark, damp, shady areas in Oaxaca, Mexico, where it has been used for centuries by Mazatec Indians during mystical rituals, and to treat headaches and diarrhea. It was first described in 1939 in a report on Mazatec shamans, and wasn't identified as a psychoactive drug until the 1990s. But, unlike its benign cousins, Salvia divinorum contains a powerful hallucinogenic called salvinorin A, which is described as being as potent as LSD, and "essentially the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogenic drug," according to Dr. Bryan Roth, a biochemist and neuroscientist who directs the National Institute of Mental Health's Psychoactive Drug Screening Program. [continues 170 words]
A big yellow sign on State Street reads: "Salvia sold here. Get it while you can." Many who pass by are perplexed. To the middle-aged and older, salvia is a perennial flowering plant found in many local gardens. But a growing number of young people, even middle schoolers, know salvia as an unregulated drug that delivers a powerful high. Salvia divinorum, related to but different from the backyard salvia, is a perennial herb of the mint family native to the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. It contains a powerful hallucinogen considered by some to be as potent as LSD, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 1020 words]
What can be done about the price of gas? It's simple -- alternative fuels will replace carbon-based fuels in the future. What about now? In "Popular Science Monthly", dated March 1941, Ford displays a car that runs on ethanol distilled from hemp, and the car itself contains hemp composites. What happened? Certain individuals stood to lose fortunes in industries they dominated such as carbon fuels, paper products and chemicals if hemp was cultivated. Hemp is more cost effective than corn for ethanol, can grow almost anywhere, does not need insecticides or fertilizer and has little to no end waste product. It is the money tree. [continues 65 words]
On a November day just before Thanksgiving in 2005, Joan Rademacher, a 72-year-old woman with breast cancer, sat at a kitchen table in Madison with her hospice nurse, drinking tea and discussing the progression of the disease. The bumpy, reddened skin that at first had been contained to Rademacher's chest had crept to her back and arms. It looked like a rash but was in fact the tumor spreading. "Are you in pain right now?" asked Cathy Sutter, the hospice nurse. [continues 5937 words]
On Sunday, April 15, I was waiting at church for a long-time friend, who at 39 was lovely and sparkling with life. She had photos from my 60th birthday party she was going to give me, as she said by phone a couple of days earlier, but she never showed up. On Monday morning I got the call that she had died between Saturday night and Sunday morning from a reaction to crack cocaine, leaving her adorable 5-year old son, her mother, and many of her friends stunned, shocked, and angry. [continues 369 words]
If the four letters printed in Thursday's Spectrum section reflect the majority sentiment, marijuana prohibition should be in its last gasps. Not so, judging by District Attorney Brian Blanchard's reaction to a letter of rebuke sent by four county supervisors regarding his choice to file felony distribution charges over an arrest at Harvest Fest 2006 ("Board Members Rip Marijuana Prosecution," in the April 10 Wisconsin State Journal). The felony case against Chris Lankford continues to go forward, absorbing scarce tax dollars. The next move comes on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1A of the courthouse, 215 S. Hamilton St. [continues 113 words]
Marijuana is a monumental problem with our youth. Adolescents are in critical developmental stages and THC in marijuana interferes with judgment and motivation. Evidence indicates reaction time is impaired and driving is dangerous under the influence of marijuana. We are concerned with the minimizing and "relaxed" attitude about marijuana. I believe state laws should focus on rehabilitation, not incarceration. Education, prevention and treatment save lives and promote change. We must focus on increasing awareness and modeling healthy living to our young people. Shelly Dutch, owner and director, Connections Counseling AODA clinic, Madison [end]
As a conservative, I'm disgusted by the idea that America will punish people for eating, drinking or ingesting an all-natural plant. What is even more disgusting is that America spends more on the "war on drugs" than we spend on homeland security. Uncle Sam seems more interested in arresting Tommy Chong than Osama bin Laden. Locally, law enforcement has more resources dedicated towards chasing illegal gardeners than they have patrolling the Internet for child predators. We need to stop worrying about adults who choose to consume a plant and instead focus on our real enemies. The war on marijuana is a failure and it is time for some serious changes. Ben Trapp, Madison [end]
It is true that lessening the severity of Wisconsin's anti-marijuana statutes would be a useful first step toward creating a sensible drug policy. Nationally, billions of dollars are wasted and hundreds of thousands of people are arrested each year for the victimless crime of pot use. Realistically, there should be no penalties at all for responsible adult use of cannabis. Marijuana is probably the most benign substance to ever be criminalized by a government. In the 1920s, America engaged in a particularly disastrous effort to regulate the production, distribution and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Prohibition fomented bloody turf wars between organized criminal gangs, which rushed to fill the lucrative illicit demand. Organized crime flourished and became an entrenched phenomenon in the U.S. [continues 89 words]
Drug laws are racist, and the proof is in the number of blacks in prison. Marijuana became illegal when blacks started smoking it at the jazz clubs in New Orleans years ago. Drug laws in this country will not change until the World War II generation is gone because of the propaganda such as "reefer madness" that brainwashed so many Americans. Politicians today know the truth about marijuana, but if they become pro-marijuana, they risk losing the vote of the generation that made the United States the great country it is and risk being voted out of office. [continues 132 words]
I know of no certain way to destroy illegal drug traffic except to take the profit out of it. If marijuana were sold at government-licensed outlets (like liquor in the South), at a price below that charged by drug pushers, the pushers would vanish and might even need to find honest work. Persons buying marijuana through an approved outlet can be contacted by authorities to see if they want help in kicking their habit. Drug traffickers have no interest whatever in rehabilitating their clients. Should the government sell health-destroying, career-destroying drugs to the public? My answer is no. The only thing worse would be criminals selling such drugs to the public. Well, guess what? F. W. Nagle, Madison [end]
Appearing without a lawyer, Jeanna Fandrich avoided prison at a court hearing Wednesday, closing the final legal door on a criminal case involving the deaths of her husband and two robbers at her rural Blanchardville home last year. Fandrich, who has changed her last name to Jones, was placed on two years of probation by Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge William Johnston, who withheld sentencing and added a host of conditions, one of which limits her involvement in "romantic relationships." Fandrich survived a drug-related break-in in March 2006 that left three men dead. One of the three was her husband, Brad, who committed suicide while under questioning from police for shooting and killing two men who had broken into the home. It was Jeanna Fandrich who made the call that alerted the Sheriff's Office to the shootings of the two men. [continues 275 words]
Four liberal Dane County Board members are questioning the district attorney's decision to pursue a felony drug charge against a Madison man who declined a deal to plead guilty or no contest to misdemeanor marijuana possession. In a letter to Democratic District Attorney Brian Blanchard, the board members note the county's top prosecutor recently raised concerns about budget constraints and asked county officials for more staff. The letter - signed by Progressive Dane Sups. Ashok Kumar, Al Matano, Kyle Richmond and Barbara Vedder - criticizes Blanchard's office for filing a felony charge against a county resident who allegedly "handed a marijuana cigarette to a colleague during a demonstration in favor of relaxation of anti-marijuana law in Downtown Madison." [continues 175 words]
Thirty years ago, Madison was at the forefront of the effort to bring the nation's marijuana laws in line with growing public opinion that, among adults, smoking a joint is akin to drinking a beer. But after three decades, Madison's historic ordinance permitting possession of small amounts of marijuana remains at odds with state and federal laws, putting city police in a difficult position. And Madison advocates are still pushing for Wisconsin to join other states that have relaxed their laws against pot. [continues 1100 words]
A student was "officially" excused from school along with his classmates. The student moved off the school grounds and onto a public access sidewalk. As I see this, the school was not formally in session (for that student at that time) and the student was not on school property when he was approached by the principal. As a result, the student was not formally a student at the time. Thus, the school had no jurisdiction over the child at that time. This seems to be a no-brainer. [continues 154 words]
In a Sunday Forum column, Kenneth W. Starr states "illegal drugs and the glorification of the drug culture are profoundly serious problems for our nation." It is legal for businesses to sell bongs because the intent is to inhale tobacco smoke. There is no direct reference to the use of illegal drugs on the banner "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." No matter what connection Starr made between "bong" and "marijuana," it is not a legal connection. I think Starr is playing with people's emotions and social awareness that drugs are bad. [continues 113 words]
At the age of 19, I was arrested with marijuana and sent to prison. I was sentenced in 1998 to 3 1/2 years. The possibility of an early release from that living hell so motivated me that I took on everything within my limited power to improve myself. I began attending weekly groups that supported my recovery from drugs and alcohol. I had a full-time job in the prison's library. I also petitioned to receive the requisite course materials from the UW-Extension so that I could work towards my bachelor's degree. [continues 329 words]
First Amendment Case Sparks Unexpected Alliances Banner Prompts First Big Free Speech Case In Years The First Amendment has a way of inspiring unexpected alliances. A case the Supreme Court began debating Monday, Morse v. Frederick, is providing just that inspiration. The case is one of the first substantial challenges to student free speech rights in more than 20 years, and it is one which both of our organizations -- the Center for Individual Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union -- consider vitally important. [continues 675 words]
Colleges Urged To Step Up And Combat Binge Drinking, Prescription Drug Abuse Substance abuse on college campuses is nothing new, but a new report suggests it is taking a more extreme and dangerous form, with higher rates of frequent binge drinking and prescription drug abuse, and more negative consequences for students such as arrests and risky sexual behavior. The comprehensive report ties together a range of recent research on college substance abuse, supplemented with some of its own new survey data. [continues 422 words]
Saying she wanted to send the message "when in Wisconsin, follow the laws in Wisconsin," a Dane County judge ordered a former Fitchburg resident to serve 30 days in jail for possession with intent to deliver a substance that is considered an illegal drug here but is legal in Somalia and many European countries. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Nicks ordered the jail time as a condition of three years of probation for Liban Moalin, 37, who was convicted by a jury in November of possession of khat with intent to deliver. [continues 296 words]
A former Clark County district attorney faces three drug-related charges following an investigation that started with a traffic stop in Illinois, according to court records. Gene Radcliffe, 55, of Neillsville, was charged in Clark County Circuit Court with felony manufacture and delivery of marijuana and two misdemeanors, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. His attorney, Tom Harnisch, declined comment Thursday. Radcliffe was elected district attorney in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 1979. Jackson County District Attorney Gerald Fox is serving as special prosecutor in the case against Radcliffe. Fox said a hearing is set for April 18 on whether Radcliffe is competent to proceed after Radcliffe checked into a mental hospital for evaluation. Police in Washington County, Ill., stopped Radcliffe for a traffic violation and found a gun, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and hydroponics supplies in his car, according to court records. [end]
As an assistant district attorney in the Dane County District Attorney's Office for more than two decades, I have had the opportunity to work under five district attorneys, most recently Brian Blanchard. I write this without his knowledge to give an insider's perspective on his recent decision to drop prosecution of simple possession of small amounts of marijuana. There is not an ounce of fat to cut from the bone in the funding of state prosecutor positions. In Dane County, as in the district attorney offices throughout the state, the counties pick up the cost of equipment, supplies and support services. [continues 414 words]
I applaud Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard for his announcement that his office will no longer criminally prosecute over small amounts of marijuana. It's a refreshing slice of common sense. In a county with an ever-rising violent crime rate and limited resources with which to deal with it, the DA's office can't afford to have its hands tied with something as minor as pot possession for personal use. Blanchard gets it. Hopefully, the county's police departments will as well. - -- Dale M. Schultz Madison [end]
People who are busted in Dane County for having less than 25 grams of marijuana - a little less than an ounce of pot, or the equivalent of about 20 to 25 joints - will no longer face criminal prosecution, but they could still pay some hefty fines. Citing a lack of resources and continuing staff reductions, District Attorney Brian Blanchard has told police chiefs his office will no longer file charges of criminal possession against individuals for having less than 25 grams of marijuana - an amount many law enforcement agencies consider to be for personal use rather than for distribution to others. [continues 543 words]
The survivor of a drug-related shooting that left three men dead in rural Blanchardville nearly a year ago pleaded guilty Monday in Lafayette County Circuit Court to helping run a drug house. In return for her guilty plea, authorities will recommend that Jeanna Fandrich, now Jeanna Jones, receive no jail time. Fandrich, 29, and her husband, Brad Fandrich, were living in a converted cheese factory last March when two men and a woman burst into the residence, planning to steal marijuana. Brad Fandrich shot and killed the two men, then killed himself while being interviewed by deputies. [continues 271 words]
As if being the first re-elected Democratic governor in 30-plus years wasn't enough to get fans attending Gov. Jim Doyle's Inaugural Ball on Wednesday night excited, Doyle riled up the crowd with Wisconsin sports. "Can you imagine, what a weekend to follow!" said Doyle to formally dressed partiers imbibing champagne at Monona Terrace. "Badger basketball, Packer football, Badger football!" The crowd was smaller than four years ago, despite a performance by Taj Mahal, but revelers remained buoyed by the excitement that began Nov. 7 for Democrats when they kept the governor's office and took over the state Senate. [continues 151 words]
Recent articles and letters about a proposal to further raise Wisconsin's cigarette tax got me thinking. Despite almost 70 years of marijuana prohibition and nearly 800,000 arrests per year, most for simple possession, the cannabis market continues to grow. The report concluded cannabis should be taxed and regulated, like we do now with tobacco and alcohol. This is not a new idea, and coincidentally, the report comes just days after the death of former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond Shafer. A conservative Republican, Shafer had chaired President Richard Nixon's commission on marijuana. The commission concluded marijuana users "are essentially indistinguishable from their nonmarijuana using peers by any fundamental criterion other than their marijuana use." [continues 178 words]
The co-owner of a rural Blanchardville home where three men died in drug-related shootings last March was charged Tuesday in Lafayette County Circuit Court with helping run a drug house. A woman , 29, told investigators she knew her husband, Brad, was growing marijuana in a secret basement room and helped him grow and process it, according to the criminal complaint. Brad Fandrich, a gun collector, shot two men raiding the home March 16, then killed himself while being interviewed by Lafayette County deputies who responded to the wife's telephone call for help. [continues 421 words]
Nurse Lorilee Olmsted Has Heard the Same Order Too Many Times When It Comes to Disposing of Unused Drugs in the Many Nursing Homes and Hospitals Where She Has Worked. "'Flush them,' that's what they tell me," Olmsted said. "It happens so frequently. . . . It is greatly disturbing to me." Olmsted is disturbed because she knows those drugs don't just go down the drain. They go into the sewer system and eventually contaminate our lakes, streams and drinking water. And she is frustrated because for Wisconsin residents there are few safe ways to get rid of expired or unused drugs. [continues 356 words]
A Madison Couple Whom Authorities Say Are Serious Drug Users Were Charged Tuesday in Connection With Nine Armed Bank Robberies Between July and November, Part of a Rash of 35 Bank Robberies in Dane County This Year. A man, 29, is being held in Dane County jail on $46,000 bail, and a woman, 26, is being held on $20,000 bail in connection with the robberies that netted a total of $37,800 from banks in Madison, Cottage Grove, Monona, Middleton and Stoughton. [continues 665 words]
Now that animal-rights activists have won the right to buy land for a museum next to UW-Madison's primate labs, you have to wonder who's going to visit. It's hard to imagine dad offering to pack up the kiddies for a fun day at a display of cruelty to animals. "Wanna go down to the Primate Freedom Project and see the new torture methods?" "Yeah!" "It's my turn to shock the monkey first!" Yes, I know. It's more about protest than a place to entertain little kids on a gray Saturday morning. [continues 340 words]
The headline of Tuesday's editorial about cleaning up state politics - -- "No more excuses for Legislature" -- could also easily apply to medical marijuana. Polling has long established that a majority of voters support legal access to medical marijuana. Some of the "bums" the voters "threw out" were anti-medical marijuana zealots. In the 2005 to 2006 session, AB 740 became the fourth medical marijuana bill to die in committee without a vote since 1997. Each year, there are an estimated 36,000 new cases of cancer in Wisconsin and around 11,000 people die from it. Add in patients with multiple sclerosis, AIDS, glaucoma and many other medical conditions, and we are talking about thousands of citizens who will benefit if the Legislature will only listen to the people. [continues 97 words]
A plant chewed for millennia as a stimulant by East Africans and Arabs brought a rare drug conviction Tuesday night in Madison. The plant is khat, an evergreen shrub grown in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula and prized for its stimulating properties. The new felon is Liban Moalin, 37, a Canadian citizen who was born in Ethiopia, where people routinely chew the plant's leaves and stems. It took a jury only about a half-hour to find the former Fitchburg man, who now lives in St. Paul, Minn., guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. [continues 667 words]
As Wisconsin farmers tended to the soybean and corn harvest, hundreds of people gathered in Madison this weekend hoping that someday those same farmers will be able to legally add another cash crop to their yield. On Saturday and Sunday on State Street Mall, proponents of marijuana legalization gathered to stump for their favorite weed with political speeches, music and - at least in a few instances - pot smoking at the 36th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. Last year the focus was on supporting a bill that would have legalized medicinal marijuana in Wisconsin. But with the demise of that bill, this year's focus was on electing officials who do support legalization, said event organizer Gary Storck. [continues 478 words]
A hunter tipped off authorities after finding plots of marijuana plants, some growing up to 7 feet tall, in western Kenosha County, authorities said. The 2,250 plants, said to have an estimated street value of $4.5 million, were seized and destroyed Monday, according to the Kenosha County Controlled Substance [end]
Over The Past Decade, The Number Of Sites Glorifying Drug Use Has Surged. Four years ago, curiosity about marijuana brought an Idaho teenager named Nick to a popular online drug encyclopedia. Now 18 and in a rehabilitation program, Nick said he became obsessed with the Web site's offerings -- particularly the vaults filled with information about hundreds of mind-altering chemicals, herbs and plants. The site, which the journal Pediatrics reported receives 250,000 clicks daily, also has thousands of posts from users, mostly twentysomethings, about their substance experiences. [continues 759 words]
A contentious and controversial Republican primary race for Columbia County sheriff will be decided Tuesday. The candidates -- Lt. Roger Brandner and Deputy Dennis Richards -- are members of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and are seeking to succeed outgoing Sheriff Steven Rowe, who endorsed Brandner for the position. The controversies that arose during the primary campaign include: Richards' questioning whether Brandner's use of photos of himself in his deputy uniform in campaign materials and on his Web site were a violation of Sheriff's Office rules. [continues 349 words]
We should be proud of one of Wisconsin's Democratic senators who has demonstrated his wisdom and courage through the principled stands he has taken on important issues. We should be embarrassed by the other one. Sen. Herb Kohl does not lead; he skates by. He relies on blandness, political favors and his personal fortunes to keep him comfortably in office. Let's shake him up a bit. On the primary ballot on Tuesday, voters will see two names listed as candidates for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate: Herb Kohl and Ben Masel. The Wisconsin State Journal describes Masel as a "nominal" candidate. That means he's not going to win. But Masel's positions are strong, clear and liberal. If enough of us vote for him, maybe Kohl will get the message: Lead, or get out of the way. Matt Weber Middleton [end]
Sandy Theune, a lieutenant with the Madison Police Department, and Gordon C. Disch, a sergeant with the Dane County Sheriff's Office, are members of the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force. While methamphetamine is not currently a significant problem in Dane County, there is no reason to believe we will be immune to it. We must be constantly aware of the po tential devastation to individuals as well as the environmental hazards methamphetamine presents. The good news is that Dane County is better prepared to deal with the consequences of such an epidemic than we would have been three to five years ago. We have had ongoing training for law enforcement personnel throughout the county, as well as for our fire and emergency medical counterparts. [continues 383 words]
How should Wisconsin respond to illegal methamphetamine use? During the crack epidemic of The '80s, New York City chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and America's capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously. The decline was not due to a government anti-drug campaign or the passage of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. [continues 370 words]
Understanding Addiction: Part 3 of 5 When a man and a woman drink too much alcohol - by far the most widely abused substance in the country - they not only do it for different reasons, they also get different results. And many now say they need different treatment. Alcoholism carries greater risks to women. Heavy drinking increases the chances of a woman becoming a victim of violence and sexual assault. Most women who abuse alcohol and drugs - studies show as many as 80 percent to 90 percent - have a history of physical or sexual abuse. [continues 904 words]
Wednesday's article regarding the attorney general race raised the question "What comes next in fight against meth?" Unfortunately, none of the candidates has the insight or political courage to address the root cause. A recent segment of the PBS series "Frontline," citing Drug Enforcement Administration sources, stated 65 percent of meth consumed in the United States comes from Mexican drug cartels. The drugs have no value until they are illegally carried across the border to be sold. Drug cartels work with gangs, such as MS-13 to handle distribution. [continues 147 words]
Still, Too Many Get Inadequate Or No Treatment With her bright pink nail polish, pancake makeup and darting, penciled eyes, Sarah looks older than 16. But being too old has never been her problem - not since the age of 11, when she sought help from a California drug treatment program for adolescents and was turned away for being too young. By then, she had already been smoking crystal meth for at least a year. Ineligible for a program "developmentally targeted" for teens, an adolescent Sarah fell through the cracks. [continues 1107 words]
Understanding Addiction: Part One Of Five Brain Research Is Key To Hope Seven. That's how many attempts it took Joseph Bryant to kick lifetime addictions that began with alcohol when he was just 10, followed by heavy marijuana use in his teens, and topped by a $700-a-day heroin habit in his 20s. After he served prison sentences for car theft and drug peddling, and as he took up residence in abandoned houses at the age of 27, he realized he had to change his life, or he would find himself, as he put it, "in jail for the rest of my life or dying on the streets of Baltimore." [continues 1111 words]
Wisconsin's efforts to reduce methamphetamine labs are working. But the state must now expand the battle against the illicit drug on another front: Halting the trade in meth flowing into the state from labs elsewhere, particularly Mexico. To shore up resources on this added battlefront, Wisconsin should: .Pressure the federal government to strengthen joint U.S.-Mexican anti-trafficking efforts. U.S.-Mexican cooperation can be effective. Earlier this month, Mexican law enforcement officials, trained in anti-meth procedures by U.S. officials, seized a meth "superlab" near Guadalajara that had been feeding meth into the United States. [continues 301 words]
Jonathan Lehnherr won't go to prison for the heroin overdose death of his friend, Michael Ace, but a Dane County judge put him on a very short leash. Circuit Judge James Martin initially sentenced Lehnherr, 25, to three years in prison for causing Ace's death on May 5, 2005, at their West Wilson Street apartment. But he stayed the prison sentence and put Lehnherr on seven years of probation, with a year in the Dane County Jail as a condition of his probation. [continues 383 words]
Recently released state figures show a heartening drop in methamphetamine labs in the state - part of a national trend that could cut down on deadly explosions and help the environment. But that progress in the fight against the dangerous, addictive drug leaves state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and the three other candidates for her job to debate another issue: how to fight the out-of-state trafficking of the drug that now accounts for almost all of the meth seized in Wisconsin. [continues 936 words]
WISCONSIN DELLS - Police wrapped up a three-month investigation into illegal drug sales Thursday, arresting 14 adults and eight juveniles and predicting that more arrests are likely. An undercover officer had infiltrated groups of dealers, and search warrants were executed Thursday at three Dells residences: 912 Broadway, Apt. 4, 901 Capital St. and 521 Church St. A large number of people were arrested, but the amount of drugs seized was relatively small. One pound of marijuana and smaller amounts of cocaine were seized, Wisconsin Dells Police Chief Bret Anderson said. [continues 245 words]
A marijuana plant heist planned with information provided by an insider went fatally awry one morning in March, resulting in a botched robbery that left three men dead and, this week, criminal charges against the woman who got away. Erin Van Epps, 23, a Dodgeville native, who claimed to be a reluctant tag-along, faces felony charges of theft and burglary, with "party-to-a-crime modifiers" because weapons were involved. The criminal complaint was filed Tuesday in Lafayette County, after five months of investigation by the state Justice Department's Division of Criminal Investigation, and includes a six-page handwritten statement by Van Epps in which she describes the shootings and claims to have warned her boyfriend and another man against the robbery. [continues 830 words]
The grass-roots Common Sense Coalition and a majority of Madison City Council members want to reinstate the city's controversial anti-loitering law to help stop a surge in serious crime. But Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the move is divisive, politically motivated and distracts from an important community conversation on public safety. The effort "is designed to pull people apart," he said. The original law, passed in 1997 and dropped over concerns about discrimination in 2002, made it illegal to loiter for the purpose of selling drugs. [continues 793 words]
