DPPA vs. Open Records vol. 2

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ews TRI-COUNTY

Viewpoints

Editorials

Calumet County area just got less safe

Calumet County and the surrounding area became a less safe place in which to live in the past week.

On advice of its corporation counsel, the Calumet County Sheriff’s Department this week began crossing off the names, ages and addresses of anyone listed on a motor vehicle accident report.

This does not come as a complete surprise to this newspaper, which has been informed by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association that some other law enforcement agencies around the state and beyond have done likewise over the last six months or more. There was hope that in this part of Wisconsin where people normally show common sense and do not knuckle under to the politically correct ridiculousness of the big cities that this issue would not have to be dealt with, but apparently that hope was misplaced.

And ridiculous is really a word to use for this action taken by any agency. This movement began not with any problem ever experienced with a single accident report anywhere, but because a guy in Illinois thought his privacy had been violated when personal information appeared on a parking ticket placed on his car. His case went to a court which made a bad decision—yes, that happens.

The redaction of information from accident reports is now being fought in courts as well, but until the issue is decided some municipal attorneys have decided to take away the public’s right to know. In this age when anyone can sue anyone, anytime over anything, people—even government entities—are afraid of being sued by anyone, anytime over anything. So it is out of baseless fear that a practice which has gone on for decades without a problem is now being changed.

So if a local school bus driver or daycare provider gets in their second or third accident of the year, parents do not have to worry—because they will not know about it.

If their high school child’s friend crashed after driving recklessly last week, no need to worry that the two boys are going out for pizza Friday night.

Mom and Dad don’t know about their son’s friend’s accident. By the way, who is driving Friday night?

And don’t worry about 86-year-old Grandma who is still driving, and who happened to back into a light pole in the past month at Wal-Mart—on two separate occasions. Grandma will certainly let someone know that her driving skills are diminishing quickly... won’t she?

Haven’t heard from Aunt Jane in Stockbridge lately? Hmm, there was a serious accident over on CTH E a couple days ago, but nobody knows who was involved.

OK, these might be extreme situations, but they are by no means impossible scenarios. As a matter of fact, things just like this happen in Calumet County and have been reported on the pages of this newspaper—at least up until this week.

The real point is that taking driver information off accident reports takes away one more deterrent from people who do not seem to mind driving recklessly.

It does nothing to improve the safety of Calumet County residents, or people traveling through the county.

But why stop with names on accident reports?

Court documents are public records, too—at least for now. Perhaps the big, black magic marker should come out to cross those names, ages and addresses off criminal complaints. Then when someone is charged with sexual assault of a child, parents can just sit around and guess whether or not it is someone in their neighborhood or someone who cares for their children.

This disturbing trend flies in the face of Wisconsin’s open records law, which instructs officials to err on the side of openness. Instead, Calumet County officials are choosing to err on the side of baseless fear.

They might be less afraid this week about being sued over an accident report—even though that never happens. And if they get in a crash on the way to work...shhh, nobody needs to know.

THURSDAY

September 26, 2013

Yes, there really are bad ideas

I’m sure most if not all of you have heard the that the league never saw a second year. phrase, “There is no such thing as a bad idea.”

This was a little before my time, but in the history I received a press release in the past week from a of business flops there is the Edsel. The Edsel was a public relations firm pushing someone’s book on the series of cars produced by Ford from 1958 to 1960. subject of whether or not there are bad ideas. The About $400 million was spent to develop and market press release goes on almost ad nauseam on the sub- the Edsel—a lot of money back then, and even today. ject of whether or not there is such a thing as a bad The trouble is nobody liked the name (named after idea.

Edsel Ford) and nobody knew what it was supposed I could have saved this PR firm a lot of words— to be—a luxury car or a budget alternative? It was and the lives of a lot of trees used to publish that neither. Then since the car’s assembly took place in book—by providing the obvious reply to the opening different plants, quality control was nearly impossistatement: Of course there is such a thing as a bad ble. Some cars were shipped to dealers only partially idea. There are lots of them assembled, with instructions out there. on how to finish it in the I mean, I can quickly trunk. think of a bunch of really More recently was the bad ideas: Netflix idea to split its n It is a bad idea to jump streaming and DVD delivery out of an airplane without a services into two separate parachute. businesses and to raise the n One of our pet dogs price by about $6 per month. sleeps in bed with us, but Customers now had to do

By Mark Sherry if your pet is a rattlesnake, more work (manage two sleeping with it at night is a separate accounts) and they bad idea. got charged more for doing so. Now, other businesses n Testing whether or not electrical wires are live in other industries get away with charging more for by grabbing both exposed wires—bad idea. less service, but it didn’t work so well in the fractured We could do this all day, and I’m sure you could world of how people get their movies and TV shows. contribute many examples as well.

Netflix lost around 800,000 subscribers and 10 perThis press release/book really focuses on the busicent of their quarterly revenue. ness world and whether or not bad ideas should be Sometimes businesses can recover from a bad crushed on the spot, or if doing so will quickly diidea. Remember New Coke? In 1985 The Coca-Cola minish the creative process.

Company decided to replace the original formula As you could easily guess, in the business world of its incredibly popular soft drink. In addition to there have been a lot of ideas which the originator falsely believing the phrase “there is no such thing now wishes someone would have squelched immedi- as a bad idea,” they also forgot the saying, “If it isn’t ately. It might have saved a lot of people a lot of time, broke, don’t fix it.” America hated New Coke, but money and embarrassment. the reintroduction of the old Coke brought back the In 2001, Vince McMahon of the professional wres- market share. tling world and NBC thought they could play off the People in charge of trying to get other people great success of the National Football League and to brainstorm new ideas walk that fine line of not create a new league which would compete during the wanting to throw wet towels on the creative process.

NFL’s off-season. They created the XFL. The first But every once in a while, don’t we all wish we had two seasons of broadcasts were planned out by NBC, someone looking over our shoulder who was willing only the ratings were so low during the first season to say, “Wow, that’s an incredibly bad idea.”

Behind the

Front Page

Citizens, police depend on each other In small town America, we always like to think we’re vehicles and cars to remove tempotations from would safe, and above some of the criminal activities that be thieves. Also, as our local law enforcement officials plague larger cities. remind us repeatedly, we need to be keenly aware of We find comfort in believing that our streets are safe things that don’t appear right in our neighborhoods, from those who would break into our homes and take and we need to contact them when suspicious activities our possessions. are taking place.

But, every now and then Second, we can be gratewe get a grim reminder that ful that in small towns like even small towns like Chilours, law enforcement plays ton, Kiel and New Holstein a proactive role in stopping are from from exempt when these sorts of problems as it comes to criminal activity. they are reported.

Such was the remindWe have a great profeser last Thursday evening, sional police force serving when an alert resident of each of the communities Kiel’s Rockville Subdiviin our circulation area, and

By Mike Mathes sion helped Kiel police they take great pride in apprehend five alleged burproviding the kind of proglars in the middle of what tection needed to keep our appeared to be a thieving spree. neighborhoods safe. We’d all like to think that they do This well-placed call to law enforcement officials their job well enough that we shouldn’t have to lock our alerted police to activity that had already included one doors. And, to a degree that might be true. alleged burglary and theft of cash and a firearm.

But, our police departments know how criminals Apparently, in the eyes of law enforcement, the quin- work and think, and when they ask us to be vigilant in tet of young men were on the prowl for other potential securing our homes and vehicles, they are just asking victims, including the cars of those who don’t believe for help in doing their job. in locking them for protection overnight.

Keeping our communities safe is everyone’s business.

Quick action by the Kiel Police Department, with Whether we are simply concerned citizens or profesbackup from New Holstein and other agencies brought sional law enforcement officers, the goals for safety and the proceedings to a screeching halt, as many people a peaceful community are shared by all. were already snug in their homes for the evening.

We thank those whose vigilance stopped these alTwo things come from this incident. leged criminals in their tracks. And, we also say thanks First, we all have to be vigilant in helping to protect for the many misdeeds that are thwarted without us our neighborhoods. The first step is properly securing even knowing.

Through the

Viewfinder

Turn to the cover of the Extra section to learn more about the new attractions spicing up Beef-A-Rama.

with every day,” Randy Minocqua, The Lakeland Times 09/27/2013 Gilson, BeefA-Rama volunteer, said in

Northwoods police differ on disclosure issue

Rhinelander, Eagle River police release less information than county sheriffs

By Jonathan Anderson of The Lakeland Times

A growing number of police agencies across Wisconsin are withholding information that once was routinely released, though that problem is less prevalent in the Northwoods.

Police across the state are keeping secret the names of drivers involved in car accidents, and in some instances, the identities of people arrested, citing liability concerns in the wake of a federal court ruling.

Yet most police in Oneida and Vilas counties have either

Taste of Home Cooking School tickets on sale

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bucked that trend or have taken steps to mitigate it, according to a Lakeland Times analysis.

The newspaper surveyed the six public law enforcement agencies in Oneida and Vilas counties, and found that only two have adopted more restrictive disclosure policies.

At the heart of that disparity is a disagreement over the interpretation and application of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, or DPPA, a federal law regulating disclosure of driver information. The law restricts the extent to which

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September 30, 2013 3:03 pm /

by the county for their legal fees and In their recent legal reply, the Accolas civil suit.

County Corporation Counsel Martha other related costs. They also want the also claim the terms “rent” and “com- Earlier response In a written response to that letter, the court to09/27/2013 declare the county’s legalReduced action mercial” are not clearly defined the page Milanowski filed the lawsuit Aug. 13 inTimes Minocqua, The Lakeland Copy to %d%% from original to fitinletter Accolas said the individuals that were county’s ordinance. an effort to halt Brenda and Harlan “frivolous.”

The Accolas are also partners with Included in the court filing are state- staying at their lake home were employAccola from renting their home on Rosalind Lake in the town of Presque Isle on other investors in Northwoods Equity ments from nearby lake property owners See CASE. . . page 46

POLICE From page 1

records regarding information garnered through DOT records on advice from legal counsel.”

police can use and further release infor- Most policies unchanged The Senne case, however, has not mation obtained from state motor-vehiprompted more restrictive records policle databases.

Enacted in 1994, DPPA was intended cies at the Oneida County and Vilas to protect drivers from having their per- County sheriff’s offices, and Minocqua sonal information sold to private data and Woodruff police departments.

Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartaggregators.

Last year the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of man said in his view, the case is limited Appeals in Chicago ruled in a split deci- to parking tickets – not accident reports.

“To me, the case in Illinois has to do sion that an Illinois village violated DPPA by printing personal information specifically with putting people’s names on a parking ticket and leaving that tick- and addresses and those kind of things et in public view on a windshield. The on a parking citation and leaving that on information on the ticket included the a car windshield,” Hartman said. “We’ve full name of the driver, as well as the dri- never included that information on any ver’s home address, gender, height, of our parking tickets and would not do that. We’re not going weight and date of to consider doing birth.

“To me, the case in Illithat in the future. I The court noted nois has to do specifically don’t think it correthat each improper with putting people’s lates to redacting disclosure could accident reports.” carry a $2,500 fine. names and addresses and Hartman said in Since the court’s those kind of things on a making that determiruling in the case, parking citation and leavnation he consulted Village of Palatine v. with the county’s Senne, lawyers and ing that on a car windchief lawyer, Oneida insurance compashield.”

County Corporation nies began advising Counsel Brian municipalities that Sheriff Grady Hartman Desmond. Desmond they should be careOneida County said in an interview ful about releasing that the county’s personal informainsurance company has not issued an tion contained in police reports.

At least 72 law enforcement agencies opinion on whether to restrict release of in Wisconsin have followed that advice. personal information.

Hartman also sought an opinion from Two of them are in the Northwoods: Rhinelander and Eagle River police Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in June. The attorney general’s departments.

Rhinelander Police Chief Michael office declined to provide guidance.

Vilas County Sheriff Joe Fath also Steffes said his department changed its public records policy on the recommen- said the Senne case has not changed how dation of the city’s insurance company. his office responds to public records He said he is just complying with that requests, but did say that dates of birth and driver’s license numbers are typicaladvice, though he doesn’t agree with it.

“Personally the frustration is that I ly redacted to prevent identity theft.

That’s also what Woodruff and want to be as transparent as possible with the public,” Steffes said. “Once we have Minocqua police departments do.

Minocqua Police Chief Andrew Gee an accident, I want to be able share that with everyone. If the DPPA is going to said he believes the court’s decision in prohibit people to see what we’re doing Senne is limited to parking citations, in the city, that bothers me that it seems which is similar to how Hartman, the to limit our full ability to be transparent Oneida County sheriff, sees the case.

“This court’s decision addresses a to the public.”

Rhinelander’s police department has very narrow issue,” Gee said. “It created a partial workaround: Officers addresses a parking citation left on a are giving drivers involved in accidents a windshield. That’s the issue at hand that consent form that allows the department I look at when I’m revising my policies.”

Some police departments in the state to release personal information to other have come to similar conclusions, drivers in the accident.

No such workaround exists in Eagle according to Beth Bennett of the WisRiver, where the police department there consin Newspaper Association, which is has also restricted release of personal working to fix the redaction problem.

“It really is very schizophrenic,” Beninformation in police reports. Police Chief Mark VanderBloomen said he is nett said. “It’s just different from one city to the next.” also upset with the change.

For instance, the police chief in the “This entire mess with the DPPA and the Wisconsin open records law has been city of Oconto had stopped releasing extremely frustrating,” VanderBloomen personal information in accident reports, said. “In a nutshell, yes, we have but partly reversed that decision earlier changed the way we release open this year.

An example of a redacted police accident report.

In fact, Bennett said, the very same accident reports that police departments are blacking out can be obtained unredacted from the state Department of Transportation.

And there is no indication that law enforcement agencies in Illinois and Indiana, the other states in the 7th Circuit, are redacting police reports like in Wisconsin, Bennett said.

Fighting back

Open government advocates do not believe the Senne case nor the DPPA require the kind of secrecy that has spread around the state, and they are pressing for change in a number of ways.

One route is litigation: The New Richmond News, in western Wisconsin, sued the city of New Richmond in March over records the city’s police department redacted. The case is in its early stages, and a judge is expected to rule whether the matter should be adjudicated in federal or state court.

As part of its argument, the New Richmond News has cited a 2008 opinion from Wisconsin Attorney General

J.B. Van Hollen, who wrote that DPPA “does not require redaction of the personal information from law enforcement records provided in response to [a] public records request.”

Van Hollen has declined numerous requests to issue another opinion – including the request from Hartman, the Oneida County sheriff – because the New Richmond News lawsuit is still ongoing.

Bennett said the newspaper association has instead asked Van Hollen to consider reaffirming the 2008 opinion. She said she hasn’t yet received a response.

But Bennett did say that she is hopeful about progress on another front. She has met with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, associations for units of local government and the insurance industry to discuss the redaction problem. There was a consensus, she said, that something needed to be done.

“There is a general agreement that even the organization that represents local governments would like this clarified,” Bennett said.

Jonathan Anderson may be reached at janderson@lakelandtimes.com

September 30, 2013 3:05 pm /

Fort Atkinson, Daily Jefferson County Union 09/27/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page PAGE 6

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

DAILY JEFFERSON COUNTY UNION

Traffic crashes in county reported (Editor’s note: In response to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling related to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has changed its policy regarding releasing accident information and now is redacting names and ages on the reports it releases.

In addition, as of three weeks ago, the sheriff’s department began redacting the town of residence of drivers as well. As of two weeks ago, the department began redacting the makes, models and years of all of the vehicles. Now the names of individual property owners whose property is damaged in an accident have been redacted as well.

The Daily Union is continuing to release all accident reports involving injuries or citations, but no longer is including the redacted information, reflecting the new sheriff’s department policy.)

JEFFERSON — The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office released reports in the last week on nine traffic crashes, which injured six people and resulted in seven citations. The weekly tally also included two car-deer crashes.

Town of Ixonia A two-vehicle crash Sept. 18 resulted in a citation to a male driver for failure to yield the right of way from a stop sign.

The incident took place on County Highway F at the intersection with Marietta Avenue.

The first driver, a male, who faces the citation, was operating a passenger car. The responding deputy indicated failure to yield the right of way and inattentive driving as contributing factors on this driver’s part.

The second driver, also male, received no citations, and was operating a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan owned by Mike Albert Ltd. of Merrill.

According to the crash report,

the car was stopped at a stop sign facing west on Marietta Avenue at the intersection with Highway F while the van was northbound on Highway F. The report said the car driver then pulled out into the intersection and struck the passenger side of the van.

Town of Ixonia A one-vehicle crash at 1:17 p.m. Sept. 18 injured one person.

The incident occurred on County Highway E, three-tenths of a mile north of Aliceton Drive.

The crash report states that the passenger vehicle, driven by a female, was northbound on Highway E when it went off the road on the east side of a left curve.

The vehicle struck the ditch and came to a rest facing northwest on the east ditchline, the report said.

Village of Johnson Creek A one-vehicle hit-and-run crash at 9:25 p.m. Sept. 18 injured one person and resulted in three citations to the driver: for failure to report an accident to law enforcement officials, unreasonable and imprudent speed, and hit-and-run damaging property adjacent to the highway.

The incident occurred on Cora Street, 25 feet south of Swap Street.

The driver, a male, was operating a motorcycle. He received “non-incapacitating injuries” after the vehicle overturned, the report stated, but no ambulance was required since the driver left the scene of the crash and later was located.

According to the report, deputies responded to the area of Swap and Cora streets in attempt to locate a motorcycle, and driver who had left the scene.

The responding deputy reportedly noticed pieces of a motorcycle scattered 25 feet from the intersection. Sheriff’s officials lat-

er made contact with the driver at the corner of Clarke and Cora Street, where the responding deputy saw pieces of a motorcycle on the ground and noticed that the motorcycle in front of the garage was missing several pieces.

The deputy spoke with the cycle owner who initially said his friend had been driving the motorcycle. After briefly entering and coming out of the house, however, the cycle owner changed his story and said he had been driving.

He said he had accelerated too fast and lost control of his cycle, the report said.

The responding deputy noted that the driver smelled of alcohol and admitted to drinking. Then field sobriety and preliminary breath tests were administered, yielding a breath-alcohol percentage of .11, which is above the legal limit for driving.

Village of Johnson Creek A two-vehicle crash at 9:42 a.m. Sept. 19 injured two people and resulted in citations to both drivers.

The incident occurred at the intersection of State Highway 26 and County Highway B. The first driver, a female, was operating a passenger car, and was cited for failure to yield the right of way while turning left.

The second driver, a male, also was driving a car and faces a citation for a seatbelt violation.

According to the report, the first car was southbound on Highway 26, approaching the intersection with Highway B, when its driver turned left to head east into the intersection, failing the yield the right of way to the northbound vehicle.

Both the female and the male drivers were transported by ambulance from the scene with nonincapacitating injuries, the re-

port said.

Town of Koshkonong A two-vehicle crash at 10:20 a.m. Sept. 19 injured one person and resulted in a citation to a male driver. The incident took place on the State Highway 26 ramp at the intersection with U.S. Highway 12.

The first driver, a male, was operating a passenger car, and faces the citation for failure to yield the right of way from a stop sign.

The second driver, also male, also was operating a car.

The report states that the second car was eastbound on Highway 12, approaching Highway 26, when the first vehicle stopped at the stop sign on Highway 26 and proceeded to cross Highway 12, heading directly into the path of the second vehicle and causing a collision.

Town of Cold Spring A one-vehicle crash at 9:58 a.m. Sept. 25 injured the female driver who was transported via ambulance for non-incapacitating injuries. The driver also was trapped in and had to be extricated from her vehicle.

According to the report, the vehicle was northbound on Findlay Road when it drifted off the road to the left, striking a mailbox.

The vehicle then continued into the ditchline, striking the raised edge of a driveway at another address.

The vehicle then continued northbound and overturned, striking a fence.

Deputies stopped at the redacted address but were unable to contact anyone there. Neighbors reportedly said that the vacant house was being remodeled.

Deputies were unable to talk with the driver either due to a medical condition. The driver left her purse behind, so the responding deputy turned it over to the wrecker crew for safekeeping.

Leaves starting to change color, drop Overnight lows often dipping into the 40s in the north and Fall color has reached 30 to 40 percent at Copper Falls State Park in Ashland County, while the

the season does not open until 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Thousands of green-winged teal recently were reported from Horicon Marsh.

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Falls, a candlelight hike at Interstate Park, and Sturgeon Fest at Lakeshore Park in Milwaukee COL September 30, 2013 3:02 pm / where a thousand young sturtempt geon will be released. the w

ON, Wis. (AP) — Pri- payer subsidy should be includ- diate investigation” into the stanols accepting students ed on report cards that are cur- dards and detailing concerns taxpayer-subsidized rently issued for public schools. about losing local control and Fort Atkinson, Daily Jefferson County Union 09/27/2013 can offer “no more exA bill introduced in the Legis- lowered standards. not being a part of ac- lature by the Republican chairs In response, the Legislature ty reports, Wisconsin of the Senate and Assembly edu- created two special study comndent Tony Evers said cation committees has been wide- mittees. during a speech that ly criticized by the private-school away from the hottest community. Private talks on a topics in the state. compromise continue — but also strongly defended Evers’ comments did little to n’s implementation of bring the interests together.

Core academic stanThe proposal gives the Dedoing those standards, partment of Public Instruction, conservatives have de- which Evers leads, too much auwould be a disservice to thority over how to interpret and WATERTOWN — The victim he said. report results from voucher nnot go back to a time schools, said School Choice Wis- in Saturday’s fatal motorcycle standards were a mile consin president Jim Bender. The crash in the Town of Watertown n inch deep, leaving too school choice community does has been identified.

According to the Watertown s ill prepared for the de- not trust DPI, in part because Daily Times, Watertown resident college and a career,” Evers has been an outspoken opd during his annual ponent of the voucher program, Sharon Hamann died after a crash at approximately 11:24 ducation address.

Bender said. nnot pull the rug out “Our baseline requirement is p.m. near East Gate Drive near er thousands of kids, that an equal amount of trans- River Road in the Town of Wand educators who have parency be put on the process tertown.

Deputies reported late Monday past three years work- DPI is using and so far they have ch these new, higher ex- been unwilling to do it,” Bender morning that a single customs that we have set for said. built, three-wheeled motorcycle The co-sponsors of the ac- had gone out of control and r school accountability countability bill, Sen. Luther crashed into a utility pole, caustatus of the Common Olsen and Rep. Steve Kestell, ing a power disruption in the dards are currently two said they continue to work with area. t controversial topics in private schools, DPI and others Both the driver and a passenucation in Wisconsin, on a compromise. Olsen said he ger on the vehicle had been ejectv. Scott Walker and the was optimistic something could ed. n Legislature have ad- pass this year.

Hamann was pronounced dead n aggressive education The Legislature is also at the scene by the Jefferson e past two years. That wrestling with what to do about County Coroner’s Office. The has included cutting the Common Core standards. driver of the vehicle, a male, was r public schools, ending Wisconsin was one of the first transported to the hospital by bargaining for teachers states to adopt the voluntary na- Ixonia EMS. nding private school tional standards covering math The sheriff’s office did not restatewide. and English language arts in lease any information about the has opposed all those 2010. The state’s nonpartisan male passenger, following a new ut he has worked with Legislative Fiscal Bureau has redaction policy implemented n other areas, such as said the standards are “more rigthis summer. nting new statewide orous, cohesive and specific” than In response to a recent 7th Cirmeasure how well stu- what Wisconsin previously had cuit Court of Appeals ruling remeeting the Common in place. dards.

But criticism has been grow- lated to the Driver’s Privacy Proest fight over vouchers ing, particularly among conser- tection Act, the Jefferson County whether, and how, the vatives who fear a loss of local Sheriff’s Office has changed its nce of private-school control, the way the standards policy regarding releasing acciwho receive the tax- were adopted without legislative dent information.

It now redacts the name, age approval, and the sharing of students’ personal information with and address of crash victims, as well as the make and model of vethe federal government. a.m Earlier this year, three dozen hicles involved.

The cause of the crash is unmembers of Wisconsin tea party e Auction, this is an on't Miss It! groups sent a letter to lawmak- der investigation by the sheriff’s ers calling for a “full and imme- office Crash Investigation Team.

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Committee, which Kedzie chairs, held a public hearing on the bill Wednesday. Nine people spoke in favor; 15 spoke against it.

Kedzie, of Elkhorn, told the committee he introduced the bill to cement a package of regulations the Legislature passed in 2003 after international bottler Perrier proposed building a high-

Motorcycle fatality victim U.N., Iran talk of Watertown on arms probe

VIENNA (AP) — Iranian and U.N. officials held a “constructive” meeting on resuming a probe of allegations that Tehran has worked on atomic arms, officials said Friday, in talks seen as a test of pledges by Iran’s new president to reduce nuclear tensions.

The upbeat assessment and an agreement to meet again Oct. 28 was a departure from the deadlock left by previous meetings over nearly two years.

At issue are suspicions outlined in reports from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran worked secretly on trying to develop nuclear weapons — something Tehran denies. As part of its probe, the agency is trying to gain access to a sector at Parchin, a military establishment southeast of Tehran.

Fitzgerald against Kenosha casino MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin state Senate’s top Republican says he doesn’t want to see a new tribal casino in Kenosha.

The Menominee Nation is trying to persuade Gov. Scott Walker to green-light their plans for an off-reservation casino at a former dog track in the city. Walker says approval hinges on new net gambling, community support and consensus from Wisconsin’s other tribes. The Ho-Chunk Nation and the Forest County Potawatomi have both objected to the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Juneau Republican, released a column Wednesday saying approval could lead to a proliferation of off-reservation gambling. He also says Republican job creation policies will do more to help Kenosha’s economy than a casino.

September 30, 2013 3:01 pm /

Max Garland

State po

(Continued from p In particular, Garla is “interested in prom connection between p place, and urging youn as young-at-heart w write of the places they explore their relations those places in poetry.

A first-generation c dent, Garland left a 1 reer as a letter carrier his love of poetry. He master of fine arts i writing from the Uni Iowa in 1989 and has b ing since 1990.

Currently, he is a p English at the Univers consin-Eau Claire.

In his first poet tion, “The Postal Con which earned the pres niper Prize for Poetry chronicles his years ca mail in a classic Amer discovering deeply fe cance within everyda ences often drawn from of the folks who lived ral mail route.

Garland’s book, “Hunger Wide as earned another natio this time from the State University Poet a leading force in the p and promotion of new poetry.

Of his book, poet N hab Nye wrote, “Ther coming world here yo nize, as well as a wistfu feels perfectly pitche out to mystery … I’m of the delicious, radian Max Garland.”

The poetry festival take place at the Dwi Public Library at 209 M Ave. in Fort Atkinson Amy Lutzke at (920) 56 additional information

Sturgeon Bay, Door County Advocate 09/28/2013 PAGE A4

DOOR COUNTY ADVOCATE

SISTER BAY

STURGEON BAY

Woman drives car into living room

Residency dropped f

By Ramelle Bintz Door County Advocate

Door County Advocate

No one was injured Monday when a Sister Bay area woman drove her car into the living room of a man’s apartment.

LaVerne E. Kordon was parking in the lot of an apartment building at 2389 Country Walk Drive at 2:42 p.m. when she forgot to put her car in park and pushed on the gas instead, according to a Door County Sheriff’s Department accident report. Kordon’s 1999 Chrysler LHS lunged forward,

LaVerne Kordon’s 1999 Chrysler LHS ended up in Max Curzon’s living room Monday afternoon in Sister Bay. Photo by Door County Sheriff’s Department.

going through the wall of Max Curzon’s apartment.

According to the report, no citations were issued but “failure to have control” was listed as a factor in the crash.

The apartment building is owned by KG Properties, De Pere.

Kordon’s age and address were not available as they were redacted on the report; only her ZIP code was released.

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The city of Sturgeon Bay employee manual currently has a residency provision requiring city employees to live within city limits. But that became obsolete in July with the passage of the 2013-15 State of Wisconsin biennial budget (Act 20), which prohibits local governments from requiring employees to live within the city as a condition of employment.

There is an exception for police, fire and emergency personnel, according to City Administrator Steve McNeil. The city, at most, can negotiate for emergency workers to live within a15-mile radius as the crow flies, he said.

That was the policy the city personnel committee voted to recommend as the city begins negotiating to require full-time police officers and all firefighters to live within the 15mile limit. But the union could bargain for the distance to be farther. The city will also reserve the right to return to the residency requirement if courts reverse or amend that portion of Act 20.

“The law has been chal-

TOWN OF EGG HARBO

Rear-end colli Door County Advocate

A Sturgeon Bay woman received minor injuries when a car she was driving rear-ended another vehicle stopped in traffic Saturday in the town of Egg Harbor.

155 E. Walnut St. 2613 S. Bay Shore Dr. 123 Commerce Dr Cassandra L. AnSturgeon Bay Sister Bay Luxemburg schutz, 28, was traveling Whatever it takes.® 920-743-5587 920-854-5587 920-845-2525 September 30, 2013 2:58 pm / south on Wisconsin 42 at www.wulfbrothers.com -9 %"6= !""= ':>$ %"6 $>>! 6;) ( 0.*, 8&>=<>$#% 3>=47#> 12:50 p.m. following WI-5001702067

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unit, 25-bed facility by February or March 2014. project represents a coopFort Atkinson, Daily Jefferson County UnionThe 09/24/2013 eration between Kuehn Enterprises, which acquired the land off East Racine Street for a

at South Kranz Avenue to link up with East Racine Street.

This building, designed by Pete Weston of Design Alliance Architects in Fort Atkinson, is the first of two planned memory care

In Color flooding

Watertown cycle crash claims life WATERTOWN — A motorcycle crash in the Town of Watertown Saturday night left one passenger dead and the driver injured.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of a single-vehicle crash on East Gate Drive near River Road at approximately 11:24 p.m.

Deputies reported late Monday morning that a single custombuilt, three-wheeled motorcycle had gone out of control and crashed into a utility pole, causing a power disruption in the area.

Both the driver and a passenger on the vehicle had been ejected.

A female passenger was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office. The driver of the vehicle, a male, was transported to the hospital by Ixonia EMS. The cause of the crash was under investigation by the sheriff’s office Crash Investigation Team.

No other information was available about the crash.

In response to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling related to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has changed its policy regarding releasing accident information.

It now redacts the name, age and address of crash victims, as well as the make and model of vehicles involved.

building on the Sanctu real-estate developm across County Highwa the future home of Sun Kuehn previously pressed concerns ab

Vice President Biden

DENVER (AP) — V dent Joe Biden is prom idents that aid for are tated by massive floodi orado won’t stop even eral government shuts “I promise you, I pro there will be help,” Bid ter flying by helicopte over the Big Thomps and fields and reservoi with muddy brown wa Biden stood with Col John Hickenlooper and of the state congressi gation to tell Colorada

Jamerson brings CC boys’ memories to l

By Pam Chickering Wilson Union staff writer

JEFFERSON — Bill Jamerson, historian, author and songwriter, took his audience at the Jefferson Public Library back to the days of the Great Depression, when the Civilian Conservation Corps had a dual role as hoodlums and heroes.

They were the young men from out-of-town who danced with your sister and got into fights in the local bars. But they also rescued lost children and beat back forest fires. They built rock stairways and beautiful shelters, all the while sending money home to support their impoverished families.

The Civilian Conservation

Corps transformed th the 17- through 25-yea signed up. All of a sud had three square meal backbreaking, but m job; military-style disc wonderful role models, said. They also had n and a little spendin which made all the dif their attitudes.

Jamerson spoke at t son Public Library las an event sponsored b brary, senior citizens c the Jefferson Historica The speaker said he himself more as a stud tory than as a historia son first began resear Civilian Conservation (Continued on pa

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September 25, 2013 1:22 pm /

Watertown Daily Times 09/24/2013

WATERTOWN

TUES

September 24, 2013 TRAFFIC

Crash victim is identified

By David Brazy

davidb@wdtimes.com TOWN OF WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department has identified the victim killed in Saturday’s fatal motorcycle crash as Watertown resident Sharon Hamann.

Hamann was riding on a custom-made threewheeled motorcycle at approximately 11:30 p.m. on East Gate Drive when the motorcycle failed to negotiate a turn and went off the roadway into a ditch, according to a release from the department. The motorcycle struck a utility pole and both Hamann and the male driver were ejected. The motorcycle came to rest in the intersection of East Gate Drive and River Road.

Hamann was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.

The male driver was listed in fair condition Monday at UW Hospital after being transported

by Flight For Life from the Watertown Regional Medical Center. The sheriff’s department declined to identify the male driver in response to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling related to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. The accident caused a power disruption to the area, according to a release from the department.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Crash Investigation Team was called to the scene of the accident and the crash is still under investigation.

US BUDGET

GOP offers smaller cuts on debt limit measure

Fresh fish

J.P. Pliska casts under the Division Street b ing some of the fish that were recently stoc Rescue of Watertown stocked approximatel morning near Riverside Park.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are far less ambitious this week in their demands for spending cuts to erase new debt issued to pay the government’s bills than they were during a budget battle two years ago.

The list of cuts under consideration now tallies up to a fraction of the almost $1 trillion in addi- September 25, 2013 1:24 pm / tional borrowing that would be permitted under a

Watertown

Tech Page 1B

Racine, The Journal Times 09/08/2013

DAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

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ORY SHAVER gregory.shaver@journaltimes.com

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Blackout Police try to make sense of new rules after court ruling on redacting public records STEPHANIE JONES stephanie.jones@journaltimes.com

RACINE COUNTY — For years, if you walked into the Racine Police station and asked for accident reports, you were directed to a stack.

Those days are gone.

Because of a Chicago federal appeals court decision last year, Racine, Mount Pleasant, Caledonia, Sturtevant and the Racine County Sheriff’s Office have all started to redact — or black out — personal information obtained from DMV records from accident and other police reports.

The result is that police can’t just hand a stack of reports to a walk-in from the public without first examining and redacting. The ruling limits what information the public can obtain in other ways, too, and may strengthen protection of privacy but has also meant less government openness and more work for area police, who are hoping to get clarification on what the law really requires.

How it works When police stop a driver, they use drivers’ licenses to verify who the person is. Then they enter the information from the license into their electronic system. That information ends up on accident and police reports.

But under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, information obtained from a driver’s

license cannot be given to the public, according to Sgt. Jessie Metoyer of the Racine Police Department.

There are exemptions, such as if you are an attorney or insurance company representing a person involved in an accident, Metoyer said.

But attorneys looking for potential clients can no longer get personal information from accident reports, and even if you are the one who got into an accident, your copy of the report will be redacted, she said.

It’s not just affecting accident reports. It also affects people seeking a copy of a theft or burglary report because the information in it may have come from information on a driver’s license, said Lt. Gary Larsen of the Caledonia Police Department. His department started redacting information at the request of the village’s attorneys and municipal insurance company, he said.

To avoid the redaction requirement, Lt. Steve Sikora of the Racine Sheriff’s Office said officers would need to independently verify all personal information from people involved in an accident or other traffic incident.

Longer traffic stops But that means traffic stops would take longer, making them

More on RECORDS, Page 9A

Understanding the law September 16, 2013 3:37 pm /

Local law enforcement’s new policies of redacting — or blacking out — information stems from an Aug. 6, 2012,

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Enough redaction: We don’t need secret police Sometimes it takes a while for the unintended consequences of a law to become apparent.

Such is the case with the 1994 Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which was intended to safeguard a driver’s personal information from being released.

It was spurred in part by the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer. Schaeffer, 21, was an aspiring Los Angeles actress who was shot and killed in the doorway of her home in 1989 by a stalker who had gotten her address by hiring a private detective, who got her address from California Department of Motor Vehicle records. DPPA also was intended to stop harassment of women who parked near abortion clinics and were targeted by protesters.

Both laudable protection efforts.

Fast forward to three years ago, when a Palatine, Ill., police officer put a ticket on the windshield of a car. The owner, Jason Senne, sued the village, arguing the “public” listing of his name, address, driver’s license number and other information — all reportedly received through the Illinois DMV — violated his rights under the DPPA. The classaction suit was initially dismissed, but a year later it was reinstated by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Wisconsin). That court held that, even though there was no evidence that anyone had ever seen the ticket or read the personal information on it, that sufficient evidence existed to support Senne’s claim.

The court held that the DPPA does not provide unlimited authority for law enforcement to access or disseminate personal information gained from DMV records, and sent it back to the lower courts for further proceedings.

Palatine, which has since stopped putting personal information on tickets, faces fines of up to $2,500 for every similarly detailed citation issued over the four-year period of statute of limitations.

That could cost the village up to $80 million. Palatine appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the high court in June declined to review it, Municipalities and their insurers across Wisconsin took note, and advised police departments across the state to stop releasing information it traditionally obtained from DMV records and routinely released to the press and public on traffic arrests and a host of other police reports.

Out came the black pen, and police agencies across the state began redacting names, addresses, ages and other information that they have historically given to the public. At last count, more than 70 police departments in the state had begun squeezing off the flow of information.

That overzealous interpretation of the court actions has, unfortunately, spread to Racine County where Racine, Caledonia, Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant and the Racine County Sheriff ’s Office have begun to redact personal

information from accident and other reports, rendering the reports almost useless.

The spreading plague of redaction undermines openness in government, creates a system of secret police arrests and turns Wisconsin’s Open Records Law on its head.

Many law enforcement agencies routinely use DMV information for their work and feel caught in the middle on this — not really wanting to waste staff time blacking out incident reports, but having to follow the directive of municipal officials worried about the cost of lawsuits.

The redaction outbreak has predictably resulted in some goofy interpretations across the state. Consider: One municipality, Edgerton, adopted the strange policy of redacting all personal information except the last name of a person from police reports. Which probably leaves residents there trying to guess out which Smith or Jones was arrested, injured or cited.

Another municipality declined, for two months, to release the name of a driver who caused a crash in June that took the life of an elderly woman, according to news reports.

In some instances, drivers who have been involved in auto accidents cannot even get the names of those who hit them — just a blacked-out square on the police report.

Not surprisingly, the redactions have already triggered a lawsuit. The New Richmond (Wis.) News is suing the City of New Richmond over its new redaction policy.

Congress clearly didn’t anticipate this Orwellian interpretation when it enacted the DPPA. In fact, one of the exemptions to the DPPA allows DMV records to be accessed “for use by any agency, including any court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out its functions ...”

We would submit that letting a car owner know who hit him in an accident is part of the “function” of a police department. So is letting the community know who has been arrested in a vehicular homicide, or a drug or other arrest. Part of keeping a community safe is keeping its citizens informed. That includes the name of a person and what they are arrested or cited for.

And if we allow — or in this case, demand — that police agencies work in the dark and make arrests without saying who was involved, we will soon regret that day.

If the courts don’t overturn this secret system, it will be up to Congress to go back and clean up this mess, which will soon spread beyond Illinois and Wisconsin unless it is put in check.

Perhaps Congressman Paul Ryan would be interested in taking up this cause, since it’s festering right in his own backyard. In the meantime, it would be helpful if state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen would provide some guidance on this issue.

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Janesville, The Gazette

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A troubling tsunami of police secrecy is rolling across America’s Dairyland.

In our area, this wave first swamped the public’s right to know in Edgerton. Police Chief Tom Klubertanz announced in May that his department would release no details other than last names of those in official police reports.

Since then, redaction policies have slammed public disclosure in Milton, Whitewater, Elkhorn and Delavan, among more than 60 municipalities statewide. When police spend time poring over reports to black out details, they’re doing nothing to ensure public safety. Instead, they’re smothering the public’s right to know who got arrested, when and for what—and more.

This storm stems from a Palatine, Ill., lawsuit in which a man argued that police violated his privacy by leaving a parking ticket with his name, address and other personal information gathered from the Illinois motor vehicle database on his windshield. A court ruled against the village, which has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That case has municipal insurance companies running scared and advising police to withhold such information. Ironically, while Badger State agencies are capitulating to that pressure, Wisconsin Newspaper Association Director Beth Bennett says no Illinois police departments have bolstered redacting policies.

Now, this cloud is hanging over Janesville.

Deputy Police Chief Dan Davis says Cities and Villages Municipal Insurance “strongly” suggests the city withhold identities.

If Janesville police follow that advice, the next time some Smith gets busted for drunken driving, it could cast suspicion on each of the hundreds of Smiths living here. How fair is that? And how can the public monitor daily actions of law enforcement and be sure police aren’t abusing their authority?

As Madison Attorney Bob Dreps, an expert in media law, told The Gazette: “The whole point of the open records law is to hold government officials accountable to what they do.

What value is an accident report to anyone without names?

Van Hollen There’s no public accountability without names, no oversight of our public officials. How do we know what they’re doing is appropriate if everything is anonymous?”

Besides, police liability fears ignore the Wisconsin Open Records Law, which has served this state admirably for decades and has been affirmed by landmark court rulings.

Because the Palatine case involved the Illinois motor vehicle database, the Delavan Police Department is only redacting information pulled from the state’s database. In other words, if Delavan busts two brothers and culls information from one’s driver’s license but the other doesn’t have his license with him and police get information from the state, authorities withhold the latter information from public view. While we appreciate the effort, that’s obviously an inconsistent and unfair approach.

One Wisconsin newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is doing no one any favors amid this storm of controversy. While he advised agencies not to limit release of state database information after the Illinois case surfaced, he now says he won’t comment until the New Richmond case is resolved.

Thanks, J.B. Despite this copout, which might leave the public in the dark for years until that case plays out, it’s time for law enforcement agencies to have the guts to stand strong against this wave of secrecy. These public servants wear badges. It’s their duty to uphold the law, including our tried-and true open records statute. Stop shirking that responsibility.

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(Editor’s note: In response to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling related to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has changed its policy regarding releasing accident information and now is redacting names and ages on the reports it releases. In addition, as of three weeks ago, the sheriff’s department began redacting the town of residence of drivers as well. As of two weeks ago, the department began redacting the makes, models and years of all of the vehicles. Now the names of individual property owners whose property is damaged in an accident have been redacted as well.

The Daily Union is continuing to release all accident reports involving injuries or citations, but no longer is including the redacted information, reflecting the new sheriff’s department policy.)

JEFFERSON — The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office released reports in the last week on nine traffic crashes which injured three people and resulted in six citations. The weekly tally also included two car-deer crashes.

Town of Concord A one-vehicle crash Sept. 2 injured one person and resulted in two citations to a male driver for unreasonable and imprudent speed and an insurance violation.

The incident took place on County Highway E, three-tenths of a mile north of County Highway F. The driver, a male, was operating a passenger car when the crash occurred.

According to the report, the vehicle was southbound on Highway E when it struck the shoulder and the driver lost control of the vehicle. The car went off the road to the right and rolled oneand-a-half times, finally coming to a rest on its side, the report said.

Town of Koshkonong A two-vehicle crash at 5:04 a.m. Sept. 3 resulted in a citation to a female driver for following too closely. The incident occurred on State Highway 26, threetenths of a mile north of County Line Road.

The first driver, who faces the citation, was operating a passenger car and apparently was not injured in the crash.

The second driver, also female and also operating a passenger car, was carrying one passenger, a female who had been traveling in a child safety seat. That child received “non-incapacitating” injuries, the report indicated.

The report states that both vehicles were southbound on Highway 26, the first directly behind the second.

The second driver reportedly was slowing due to southbound traffic stopped ahead of her ve-

◆

hicle. The traffic was stopped for a southbound construction truck turning east into new road construction.

The first driver, meanwhile, reportedly did not see the second vehicle in time to avoid a collision. That driver attempted, but was not able to stop.

The front of the first vehicle then struck the rear of the second vehicle. The driver reportedly declined medical assistance.

Town of Jefferson A two-vehicle crash at 5:09 p.m. resulted in no injuries but did result in a citation to a male for operating a motor vehicle left of the centerline.

The man was driving a passenger car. The second driver, a female, also was driving a passenger car.

According to the report, the first vehicle was westbound on Highway 18 while the second was eastbound on Highway 18.

The first vehicle reportedly crossed the centerline of Highway 18. In the eastbound lane of travel, the front left side of the first vehicle struck the rear left side of the second vehicle, and the first vehicle then slid sideways and entered a cornfield on the south side of the highway.

The first vehicle came to a rest in a cornfield facing southeast.

The second vehicle, after being struck, went into a spin and slid into the corn on the southeast side of the highway.

The second vehicle then came to a rest with its back side in the corn, facing northwest.

The sheriff ’s department redacted the exact address and name of the property owner whose corn was damaged, as well as information on the drivers.

Town of Jefferson A one-vehicle crash at 1:45 a.m. Sept. 6 injured one person and resulted in one citation for a seatbelt violation to a male driver. The incident took place on U.S. Highway 18, 300 feet east of Christberg Road.

The driver was operating a passenger car.

The report states that the vehicle was eastbound on Highway 18 when the driver fell asleep and the car went off the road to the right, striking a tree and fence. The fence was listed as being owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Town of Ixonia A two-vehicle crash at 5:02 p.m. Sept. 7 resulted in no injuries but did result in a citation to a male driver for inattentive driving.

The incident occurred on County Highway F at the intersection with Rockvale Road.

The first driver, who faces the citation, was operating a passenger car. The report cited “inat-

Obituaries

tentive driving” on his part as contributing to the crash.

The second driver, also operating a passenger car, received no citations. The driver, a male, was carrying his father as a passenger in the vehicle, according to the non-redacted portions of his official crash statement.

According to the report, both vehicles were northbound on Highway F when the second car driver slowed and signaled to indicate a right turn onto Rockvale Road.

The driver of the first vehicle said he was looking down Rockvale Road to the west and did not see the vehicle slow or signal in front of him, the report said.

The first vehicle then struck the rear of the second vehicle.

The second driver estimated the first vehicle’s following distance at between 10 and 15 feet.

More Americans exercise while they are working WASHINGTON (AP) — Glued to your desk at work? Cross that off the list of excuses for not having the time to exercise.

A growing number of Americans are standing, walking and even cycling their way through the workday at treadmill desks, standup desks or other moving workstations. Others are forgoing chairs in favor of giant exercise balls to stay fit.

Walking on a treadmill while making phone calls and sorting through emails means “being productive on two fronts,” said Andrew Lockerbie, senior vice president of benefits at Brown & Brown, a global insurance consulting firm.

Lockerbie can burn 350 calories a day walking 3 to 4 miles on one of two treadmill desks that his company’s Indianapolis office purchased earlier this year.

“I’m in meetings and at my desk and on the phone all day,” he said. “It’s great to be able to have an option at my work to get some physical activity while I’m actually doing office stuff. You feel better, you get your blood moving, you think clearly.”

Treadmill desks designed for the workplace are normally set to move at 1 to 2 mph, enough to get the heart rate up but not too fast to distract from reading or talking on the phone comfortably.

It’s been a decade since scientific studies began to show that too much sitting can lead to obesity and increase the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Even going to the gym three times a week doesn’t offset the harm of being sedentary for hours at a time, said Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.

“There’s a glob of information

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Milton Courier

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If last week’s headline about Wisconsin police departments blacking out information in police reports was confusing, then it served its purpose. It conveyed the confusion this newspaper and dozens of open records advocates have experienced when they encounter the latest roadblock in serving the people’s right to know.

Liability insurance carriers for many state municipalities are encouraging police agencies – including the Milton Police Department – to redact (black out) information from routine police reports that identifies the people involved in an incident before

providing copies of the reports to the public. It doesn’t matter if the subject in the police report received a simple speeding ticket or was arrested for a violent crime; you won’t find out who they are “... it is declared to be the public or where they’re from. policy of this state that all persons It’s an absurd notion. The are entitled to the greatest posinformation contained in police sible information regarding the reports has long been considaffairs of government and the ered public record. However, it is advice 74 Wisconsin police official acts of those officers and departments and sheriff’s offices employees who represent them.” have started to follow based on an over-zealous interpretation of recent federal court cases. This growing shadow of government The two federal court decisions secrecy should be reason for – Senne v. Village of Palatine great concern. and Maracich v. Spears – involve

What the open records law says

the dissemination of personal information obtained through Department of Motor Vehicle records and how they relate to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. The DPPA was signed into law

by President Bill Clinton in 1994 in response to the death of a 21year-old California actress, who was shot to death by a stalker who managed to track her using a private detective and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Since it was enacted, the DPPA has prohibited the disclosure of personal information – such as a home address or driver’s license number – obtained through Department of Motor Vehicle

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records with few exemptions.

In 2010, Jason Senne sued the Village of Palatine, a northwest Chicago suburb, for a parking ticket he received. The citation had Senne’s name, address, driver’s license number and other information — all reportedly obtained through the Illinois DMV — listed on it. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Wisconsin in its jurisdiction) ruled that sufficient evidence existed to support Senne’s claim that the ticket, which sat visible to passersby, violated his privacy.

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VIEWPOINT

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Spears specifically addressed the way an exemption was used to gain access to DMV records.

In this case, trial lawyers submitted several open records requests to the South Carolina DMV seeking names and addresses in order to solicit clients for a lawsuit against several car dealerships. They claimed an exemption within DPPA that allows access to DMV records “For use in connection with any civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitral proceeding,” including “investigation in anticipation of litigation.” In response, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, “Solicitation of prospective clients is not a permissible use ‘in connection with’ litigation or ‘investigation in anticipation of litigation’ under (b)(4) of the DPPA.” Wisconsin appears to be the only state where these rulings are affecting the release of information from police reports to the press and the public. These cases had nothing to do with access to police reports or the use of information contained within them as a matter of public record.

They are separate issues.

The first exemption of the DPPA is very clear.

DMV records can be ac-

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cessed “For use by any government agency, including any court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out its functions, or any private person or entity acting on behalf of a Federal, State, or local agency in carrying out its functions.”

Responding to public records requests falls within the scope of a police department “carrying out its functions.” If police reports are public records, then the information contained within them – including the personal information obtained or confirmed by the DMV – should be considered public information as well.

State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has previously commented on this issue and offered the same conclusion. In a 2008 informal opinion, he wrote: “The Wisconsin Public Records Law imposes a statutory duty on law enforcement agencies to respond to public records requests. In the course of carrying out its functions, including responding to public records requests, a law enforcement agency may disclose personal information obtained from DOT that is held by the law enforcement agency.”

In July, Van Hollen’s office decided to punt instead of standing by his previous stance. Representatives from his office have

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have secret police arresting citizens or writing tickets and then not telling us who is involved.

Despite the Attorney General’s reluctance to Email editor James back up his own stateDebilzen at couriereditor@ ments on this issue, his hngnews.com or call him reasoning in 2008 was and continues to be sound. at 868-2442.

Nothing in the Senne or Spears cases should have stated they are awaiting changed those perceptions. the outcome of a lawsuit This isn’t about a newsbetween the New Richpaper’s ability to scour mond News and the City DMV records for informaof New Richmond, where tion. The DPPA clearly the local newspaper alleges prohibits that. Rather, this its police department is issue pertains to letting unfairly limiting access to police departments do information. their job. An officer must Van Hollen’s excuse is verify the people they are a weak one. He knows it communicating with are could be years before the who they say they are, and New Richmond case is put they often do that by crossto rest. In the meantime, checking a DMV database.

Wisconsin citizens will be They should not have to left in the dark about the worry about being sued actions of their own police for violating the DPPA departments. The uncerbecause of an attorney’s tainty also puts municibroad misinterpretation of palities in a bad spot. a couple of court cases or City of Milton officials being sued because of alhave made it clear they legations they are violating believe the information in the state’s public records police reports should be law by not providing considered public record, enough information. but they are left with little The public’s right to choice other than to follow know is not served by the directives from their following the misguided insurance carrier for fear advice of municipal insurof increased premiums or ance carriers for legal dropped coverage. matters that have not been The DPPA was intended resolved. We urge Wisconto limit who has access to sin police agencies to err DMV records. It was not on the side of openness by intended to limit access to following the state’s longpolice records. We don’t standing open records law.

What do you think?

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Our Views Ripon Commonwealth Press 08/15/2013

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

Driver data eclipsed by privacy concern But 53 other agencies have joined Ripon and Green Lake County in using black magic markers to redact information from incident reports.

In refusing to reveal names, ages and addresses of individuals involved in crashes that have caused injury, yielded citations or in other ways been deemed newsworthy — information they used to routinely make available — the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Ripon Police and other agencies If you’re bothered that this newspaper ran a story last month that didn’t are turning their backs on the long-standing assumption imbedded in Wiscongive the name of the motorcyclist severely injured after hitting a deer along sin’s public records law that requires officials to err on the side of openness.

Privacy is a legitimate concern; the Commonwealth doesn’t report on a Highway 23, you can blame the killer of actress Rebecca Schaefer.

A stalker in 1989 shot the 21-year-old in the doorway of her Los Angeles motorist’s weight, drivers license number, date-of-birth, phone number and apartment building; he located the address after hiring someone to search other extraneous, personal information. But rare should be the instance when someone’s privacy trumps your right to open records and accountability by California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) records.

This led to passage in 1994 of the federal Drivers Privacy Protection their creators and custodians. These are public officials who wield a tremendous amount of power over our lives. We give them the authority to do Act, which prohibits disclosure of personal records from DMV files.

Now fast forward to April 2012. After getting a $20 parking ticket, so with the understanding that their work products are open and accessible to the public. motorist Jason When they Senne in Palastart deciding that tine, Ill., used the the people who law to sue the pay their salaries village, claiming are not able to the listing of his view information name and other that they legally personal inforhave a right to acmation on the cess, they impede ticket placed on public oversight his windshield of law-enforceviolated his right ment investigato privacy. After tions and comprotwo lower courts mise the public’s dismissed his c o n fi d e n c e i n case, the U.S. law-enforcement Court of Appeals for the Seventh POLICE REPORTS AROUND Wisconsin are featuring more magic markers redacting information activities.

Circuit found in that used to be accessible to the public.

This is no miTim Lyke photo illustration the driver’s favor nor matter; conin August 2012. sider the case of the Sheboygan Falls mother who recently spent 13 days This caused insurance companies and government attorneys to warn tracking down the name of the man who crashed into her daughter’s car law-enforcement authorities to be careful how they disseminate DMV after police refused to release to her a copy of the incident report. “I uninformation, even though the court’s ruling is not binding in Wisconsin derstand they’re trying to protect the party,” Brenda O’Malley, 45, told and clearly violates the state’s open records law. a Gannett reporter in May. “But, I’m sorry, where was the protection for Wisconsin Attorney Gen. J.B. Van Hollen issued an opinion in 2008 my daughter?” that said police don’t violate the Drivers Privacy Protection Act when they Even law enforcement officers asked to abide by the recommendations release records that reveal drivers’ personal identification. But some agen- of corporate counsels and government associations will tell you that the cies, such as the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Department and as of last Senne parking ticket decision has been misapplied in this state — ironiweek, the Ripon Police Department, no longer heed Van Hollen’s opinion. cally, law-enforcement officers in Illinois and Indiana are not redacting Meanwhile, his office has been asked to write a fresh opinion on the information that Wisconsin police are more prone to withhold. matter given the U.S. Court of Appeals decision. But regrettably, he has Despite the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh declined to provide further guidance to government attorneys, who surely District extending to Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, only the Badger state would follow his lead. is cowering from the Senne decision, fearing criminal and civil liability for So what does this matter to you? their jurisdictions if information disclosed results in a lawsuit.

When the Commonwealth reports on mishaps involving motorists, we When Wisconsin Newspaper Association Executive Director Beth Benknow readers want and expect to find out from our stories who is involved, nett asked her Illinois counterpart how that state’s media were dealing with be it a public official, neighbor, relative — no withholding of facts. the Senne case, she was told it was a non-issue there.

“For whatever reason, the authorities here in Wisconsin are seeing Yet a recent edition of the newspaper reported only that an unnamed 35-year-old from Fairfax, Iowa was severely injured after his 2013 black dangers in this case when other states aren’t,” Bennett told a Milwaukee Harley Davidson motorcycle hit a deer along Highway 23 outside Green Journal reporter. “It all seems to have started through local associations Lake. The Green Lake Sheriff’s Department, which historically has bent that represent municipal governments by sending out advisories ... That’s over backwards to provide names and information involving traffic, criminal how things start, and it’s not uncommon.”

A federal judge or the Supreme Court should further flesh out the Senne and safety matters, has been muzzled by the county’s corporation counsel.

Thus far, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department and Wisconsin decision, the sooner the better, as its misapplication — and Van Hollen’s timidity — are increasingly impeding the people’s right to know.

State Patrol have not followed suit.

— Tim Lyke “From at least the time of the Magna Carta and the formalization of the writ of habeas corpus, the concealment of the reason for arrest has been as odious as the concealment of the arrest itself. It is fundamental to a free society that the fact of arrest and the reason for arrest be available to the public.”

— 2008 opinion by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen

What were we thinking?

Editorial stands taken this week in past years An editorial appearing in the Ripon Commonwealth Press a year ago this week notes that the best weapon in the war on illiteracy

September 5, 2013 8:03 pm /

business improvement district ... 20 years ago this week, an editorial suggests “it’s time for the city to curb curbside shenanigans” by

Ripon Commonwealth Press 08/15/2013 www.RiponPress.com

INSIDE

Selected For MP Academy Riponite Gregg Rasske was just one of 30 chosen to participate in a U.S. Army Military Police Academy in Missouri this summer.

See page 3

Our Views

Issue No. 33 Serving the Ripon community since 1864

Illinois case means less info from police

by Aaron Becker aaronb@riponprinters.com

Traffic and incident records from Green Lake County and the city of Ripon are becoming tougher to obtain.

In recent weeks, Ripon police and also the Green Lake County Sheriff ’s Department have begun witholding (redacting) certain information that was previously available publicly.

Specifically, For an editorial it’s information related to this s u c h a s story, see “Driver data names of individu- eclipsed by privacy als cited concern,” page 4. with municipal offenses, or drivers’ information from local crashes.

“I do expect complaints; I would not be surprised if I’m hit with an open-records violation [allegation],” Ripon Police Chief Dave Lukoski said. “... I haven’t gotten any so far, but I certainly expect them.”

It’s a growing tug-of-war between individual privacy protection and open-records laws.

But Green Lake County and Ripon aren’t alone.

Information obtained through Department of Motor Vehicle

3

Quilting queen This Riponite has been selected not once, but twice, as a “master artisan” to pass along the traditions of quilting to an apprentice.

See page 4

Business

F

Ripon family fights r to give ‘Ferdie’ a new

by Aaron Becker aaronb@riponprinters.com

Mary Wagner doesn’t recall exactly how or why that photo.

It was three years ago, in August 2010. The Bar tary School teacher was at home browsing the inte children up for adoption.

“Adoption had been on my heart for a long time She doesn’t remember how her computer mous cross paths with this particular child that day, but w Ferdinand (Ferdie) — then 11 — she remembers t began stirring.

“I asked some questions about him,” she said, a age had “incredible things to say about him.”

“Then we just thought about it for a while. I jus about him.”

Her husband, John, was easily moved, too.

“I actually just saw his picture one time, and I fe son,” John said. “I felt God was telling me he belon Fast-forward to today, and the newest member o family is a hand-drum-playing, Big Mac-loving tee

See FE

See POLICE/ page 16

City to dog owners: Registe September 5, 2013 8:05 pm /

by Ian Stepleton

Simply put? Residents no

possibly alte

Ripon Commonwealth Press 08/15/2013

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News

W

POLICE/Redacting began in GL County, too water.”

GREEN LAKE, TOO

Meanwhile, the Green Lake County Sheriff ’s Department also recently began redacting certain information on reports.

The change began around late spring, in the wake of the Senne decision. It came to the Commonwealth’s attention when the newspaper requested information about a July 5 motorcycledeer crash near Green Lake, but the department would not

release the name of the cyclist.

This had not been the practice previously.

“As a result of that [Senne] decision and as a result of advice from legal channels, we were advised to redact according to some of the decisions from that court case,” Green Lake County Chief Deputy Sheriff Mark Putzke said.

Until further notice, the de-

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to official information.

“And we are eagerly anticipating some sort of advice on how to handle that conflict,” Putzke said, adding the department wants to provide information whenever possible. “... That conflict between the [Senne] decision and the [open-records] statute needs to be addressed.”

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This could include names, addresses, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers.

Putzke noted this change may be perceived to conflict with the state’s open-records laws, which seek to provide the public access

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Ripon Commonwealth Press 08/15/2013

HU QU

News

POLICE/Law enforcement not happy The department has been hearing feedback on this.

“Many citizens have realized that information doesn’t flow as easily as it once did, and have expressed some frustration, yet understanding that the intent of this is to protect their information from misuse,” Putzke said.

Meanwhile, city of Green Lake police have redacted certain individual information for years, Police Chief Mike Ratter said, although he indicated things like tickets and reports are now being scrutinized even further. “[The DPPA] has been around since ’94, but all these incidental violations — like the parking ticket story — it was just never thought of as being a violation,” Ratter said.

He planned to meet with City Attorney Dan Sondalle this week to seek further clarification on moving forward.

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

Lukoski feels caught in the middle of the struggle.

“We feel we’ve been thrown square into the middle of a dispute between a federal law — which is the DPPA — and a conflicting Wisconsin openrecords law, and we are left to sort all that out, with a final decision resting on what the

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financial impact is from disregarding or obeying one or the other,” he said.

Lukoski is expecting complaints as citizens run into situations where they can’t get the information they’re looking for.

“We’ve never operated this way ... The way our records system is constructed, there’s no way of putting information out there that does not use Department of Transportation files.”

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association has been working to get the matter resolved.

Acce continued from page 1

“Wisconsin Newspaper Association staff, attorneys and lobbyists are working on behalf of [its] members each day in an effort to re-gain public access to public records — specifically information obtained through DMV records, which is now being redacted from police reports in 56 municipalities around the state,” the Association’s website reads. “All possible strategies are being explored, and efforts are underway to bring all players to the table for a discussion.”

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NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • ONIOINZ • APPETIZERZ • SAUCEZ • SUNDAEZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ • CONEZ • BEVERAGES • SWIRLEEZ • MALTZ September 5, 2013 8:08 pm / • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • BURGERZ • HOT DOGZ • CHICKEN BURGERZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ • SANDWICHEZ • FRIEZ • NACHOZ • GRYROZ

Happy 1 yea

Zuzaks’ RESTAURANT

Birthday Special

TUESDAY: Welcome to Gyroville! Single Gyros ..

WEDNESDAY: Make a Float with your choice o

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Fort Atkinson in a Night Johnson speaks in Watertown NEWS, 5A Waterloo, The Courier 08/15/2013 off game SPORTS, 1B

photo

nd brafor ed a or 12 d phs

s

REGIONAL

Police to redact information

By Jake Kurtz and Diane Graff Hometown News Group

Police in Waterloo have joined the departments of DeForest and Poynette who are among the more than 55 departments statewide currently opting to black out information previously made readily available to the public through reports.

Waterloo Police Chief Tim Thomas announced Monday his department will join the statewide departments and begin redacting information. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department has also

recently begun withholding names to the media of those involved in traffic accidents.

In the past, the Waterloo Police Department withheld the identity of those involved in incidents, while the Marshall department provides the names from the police reports.

Until police departments receive a directive about distributing information, that information will be redacted, Thomas said. The state’s attorney general has not made any ruling on the issue, he added.

Marshall Police Chief Lee Hellenbrand said his department is

WATERLOO

reviewing its policies on providing information to the public.

The redactions are the latest result of a nearly 20-year-old piece of legislation and subsequent Illinois lawsuit two years ago related to the dissemination of personal information by authorities.

Spurred by the murder of 21-yearold Rebecca Schaeffer at her Los Angeles, Calif., home five years before, the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. An actress, Schaeffer was shot See POLICE, page 10A

FINISHING THE RACE

District projects on schedule

By Alyssa Skiba Assistant Editor

Several summer maintenance projects are on schedule for completion for the 2013-14 Waterloo school year, as pointed out by District Administrator Connie Schiestl during a regular school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12.

Flooring is being finished in new rooms, the band room has been completed, the math room is awaiting flooring, cleaning, and furniture, several SMART Boards will be installed beginning next week, the science room is being tiled, heating, ventilation and air conditioning issues are being completed, and a generator will be switched over this week.

“We will be ready to go when school starts,” Schiestl said.

Other business • Registration update. Schiestl said attendance for the all-school registration Aug. 5 was very good, with 78 percent of elementary students, 82 percent of intermediate students, 84 percent of middle school students, and 87 percent of high school students taking part.

• Approved 2013 annual meeting agenda and resolutions. The annual meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23 in the high school cafeteria. Included on the agenda will be a change to the supplemental student accident insurance program. Rather than have the premium paid by the district, the expense will be the responsibility of the parent/guardian. The district cur-

August 16, 2013 2:49 pm / Diane Graff photo

About 200 people participated in the 5th annual Waterloo

NEWS

Waterloo, The Courier 08/15/2013

rierenews.com

SS DAY

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

August 15, 2013

POLICE: Opponents say black outs violate open records law Continued from page 1A

Diane Graff photo

slow on the aftersister, Lily, ct business along f Dickenson Street in r 50 cents a glass g entrepreneurs had

ns

yments for school eements with major ercentage-based fee so posts payments cords system, by district personancelled with 30

ks for elementary, ols. oard approved the strumental/general shmen football

d approved hiring ediate/middle school; ate/middle school; le school; Shannon acher; Lindsay Michael Becker, Kmy Falkner, erm substitute; onal aide; Carmen ended contract days; ndant; Jane gist; and Kaia Dorn,

The board approved head coach and eyball. ard approved the hich focus on utiliznity model, increasnd reducing the

to death by a stalker who managed to track her using a private detective and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Since enacted, the DPPA has prohibited the disclosure of personal information, such as a home address or driver’s license number, obtained by authorities through Department of Motor Vehicles records. The law went relatively unnoticed until 2010 when Jason Senne sued the Village of Palatine, a northwest Chicago suburb, for a parking ticket he received.

The citation had Senne’s name, address, driver’s license number, and other information — all reportedly obtained through the state’s DMV — listed on it.

The case was dismissed by a district panel of judges in August 2011, but a year later, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (with its Wisconsin jurisdiction) ruled that sufficient evidence existed to support Senne’s claim that the ticket and it’s bounty of intelligence, which sat visible to passersby for hours, violated his privacy.

Under the DPPA, Palatine, which quit putting personal information on tickets following the lawsuit, faces $2,500 fines for every similarly detailed citation issued over a fouryear statue-of-limitations period. That could cost the municipality upwards of $80 million.

The city has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter.

The Senne case and it’s financial implications, along with the DPPA, are today being used by police departments to withhold information in connection with arrests, car accidents, and other crimes.

The amount and types of information withheld by law enforcement agencies varies. In DeForest, Poynette, and Waterloo names, addresses, and dates of birth were com-

monly excluded from issued reports.

In one extreme case, Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council said police have yet to release the name of a driver who caused a crash in June that took the life of an elderly woman.

“Whatever the DPPA requires is what we are redacting,” DeForest Police Chief Robert Henze explained.

“The bottom line is you can get sued if you release the person’s information,” Poynette Police Chief Don White said.

White said his office began the redactions “a few months ago” after being advised to do so by legal counsel. He plans to continue the practice “until the Palatine case is straightened out and we get some guidance.”

“Obviously under open records requests, if you deny one of those it’s a $1,000 fine,” White continued. “Under DPPA it’s up to $2,500, plus attorney fees. That can get rather expensive.”

Asked if he has received complaints from locals about the pared down reports coming from his office, White said “Not so far.”

Henze said he and DeForest’s city attorney are “working on a new policy” and that “something will be coming out pretty quick on that.”

Sun Prairie Police are among the majority of

•

reports prior to releasing departments statewide them to members of the that do not currently media or general public.” redact reports. Assistant Specifically, the LWM Chief Scott Faust said it’s notice states that “… law Sun Prairie’s policy to err enforcement agencies on the side of the open should evaluate all the records law, but he underways in which they use stands why others hold a information obtained from different stance.

“This is one of those sit- DMV records in order to avoid violating the Drivers uations where our particular branch of government Privacy Protection Act.” Lueders said he also is waiting for another believes the redactions are branch of government to give us a definite opinion,” being performed as a ‘lesser of two evils’ option by Faust said. law enforceSupporters ment. say they are “Basically, simply being they would cautious. rather get Opponents sued for viosay the black lating open outs violate records laws Wisconsin’s because the open records fines are so laws. nominal com“This is pared to the not what Don White Poynette police chief privacy act,” Congress intended Lueders said. when it “I think that’s passed the federal [DPPA] a key part of this.” act, and not what the fedThe New Richmond eral court in the Palatine News in March filed a decision intended,” lawsuit against the City of Lueders said. He expects New Richmond alleging the “overzealous” interpre- that the police departtation of the DPPA and ment there is unfairly Senne case to continue restricting access to inforand potentially spread mation. “until the courts make a The case is awaiting a determination whether federal court decision on this is necessary.” the newspaper’s motion to An update released by return jurisdiction to St. the Wisconsin Newspaper Croix County Circuit Association points at a Court.

November 2012 analysis Officials within state attorney general’s office from the League of last month said they will Wisconsin Municipalities (LWM) as “the impetus for not address the matter until the New Richmond police around the state to case is addressed. begin redacting accident

“The bottom line is you can get sued if you release the person’s information.”

LAURA’S POCKETBOOK • WAS FEELING THE HEAT Energy saving tips helped her cool things down

August 16, 2013 2:50 pm /

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Menomonie, The Dunn County News 08/11/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page THE DUNN COUNTY NEWS

OPINION

SUNDAY,August 11, 2013 Letters to the Editor: editor@dunnconnect.com

A5

OUR VIEW

Van Hollen should promote openness Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen continues to be a major disappointment on matters of public records and freedom of information.

Last week, he issued an opinion concluding that “Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general continues to sidestep a far more important issue — black marks that police draw to blot out what should be public information on public law-enforcement reports.

Nearly five dozen police

Nearly five dozen police agencies in Wisconsin are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier that believes that a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates the personal information should be redacted from initial police reports. (Irony alert: Illinois police don’t black out information based on the case.) agencies in Wisconsin are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier that believes that a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates the personal information should be redacted from initial police reports.

(Irony alert: Illinois police don’t black out information based on the case.)

Many police departments across the state have been very open in working with journalists in spite of legal depart-

ments’ insistence on following the advice to redact.

Police clearly understand that spending quality time with a Sharpie and a public document does nothing to make cities safer, as they were trained to do.

So, if you want to find out who ran into your vehicle, for instance, you’ll likely have to ask your insurance carrier to obtain what otherwise should be a public document open for

all to see.

The Illinois case involved information written on a parking ticket.

After that 2008 Illinois case, which still may go to the U.S. Supreme Court, Van Hollen issued an opinion recommending that Wisconsin agencies should not restrict the release of DOT data.

That was then.

Since then, an insurance carrier has buffaloed a growing number of police agencies in Wisconsin into redacting Department of Transportation data — an obstacle to access for the public and a waste of time for police.

That’s why a chorus of journalists has asked Van Hollen to provide further guidance to the

YOUR VIEW Roundabout wrong for Hwy. 12/29

By LARRY J. WAGNER Elk Mound

Grants train youths for in-demand jobs

REP. WARREN PETRYK For THE NEWS

Recently, Gov. Scott Walker announced that $1.86 million would be provided for Wisconsin Youth Apprentice-

The Youth Apprenticeship Grants program began in 1991, and there are currently 40 various occupations from which potential participants can choose. tial participants can choose.

Youth apprentices complete on-the-job training with the employer while receiving tech-

program and how to get your child involved, visit the DWD website at http://dwd.wisconsin .gov/youthapprenticeship/.

As our state continuously works to create a climate that promotes job growth, programs such as Youth Apprenticeship help equip our state’s future employees with the necessary skills to obtain and keep good paying jobs.

It is encouraging to see the governor investing further in

state’s law-enforcement agencies and let them know that releasing the data, without redaction, is their public duty as laid out in state law.

One newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

As for our attorney general: In addition to clearing up the carpet-cleaning conundrum, his office has issued a statement saying the attorney general won’t comment until there’s a resolution to the case in New Richmond involving the 2008 case in Illinois.

So, given his previous opinion, can Van Hollen say he has done his duty for openness in Wisconsin?

Just barely.

St. Croix River has to merge into the muddy Mississippi.

Yeah, water is a huge topic.

Thankfully, some reforms have been made to prevent pollution and raw sewage from going into lakes and rivers. It’s not 100 percent better, but at least progress has been made.

Does anyone else remember when, in the 1970s, I believe, manufacturers added phosphates to laundry detergents?

They worked really well making clothes clean, but they were banned later on from being added to detergents because of the adverse effect they had on the environment. (Water, of course.)

Phosphates are still wonderful for turning water into pea soup, but I haven’t a clue what the solution for that is, either. I hope, however, scientists can find a remedy some day — and the sooner, the better.

I truly appreciate the comments that Phil Diser expressed in the July 21 issue of The Dunn County News. The motoring public really doesn’t need a roundabout at the Stout RoadRed Cedar intersection, but there are enough businesses and vehicle movement on both sides of Hwy. 12/29 in this area to warrant slower speed limits starting back at Parkway Drive by the Dunn County Judicial Center.

I would strongly urge members of the city council to ride in a semi truck to experience what these rigs require to navigate in their lane of traffic safely. Most roundabouts are nowhere near big enough to accommodate double-lane semi traffic, such as what is proposed for east of Menomonie. There is enough big-rig movement in this area that a bottleneck of any sort

By PHIL LYONS would be detrimental.

Also, there is a stoplight on Menomonie 21st Street to the west that drivThis is in response to the leters can use to blend in with the movement of traffic. Lookout ter to the editor of Aug. 3 conRoad to the east is another cerning the changes to the UWalternate route that may be used Stout North Campus Gateway.

Since completion, we have to ease the pressure at the Stout Road-Red Cedar street inter- received numerous compliments regarding the improvesection.

Another possibility is to ments that were made to our Campus facilities, place monitoring blinking North speed limit signs along Parkway including the landscaping with annuals and perennials on both Drive toAugust 21st Street help12:20 the pm 12, to 2013 / motoring public to be aware of sides of Broadway. The Gateway sculpture and UW-Stout sign their present speed.

Proud of efforts to improve North Campus gateway

Editorial Board

Mauston, Juneau County Star-Times

■ matt mEyErS, General Manager ■ michaEl thompSon, Editor 08/10/2013 Copy Reduced tohere %d%% from On occasion, opinions expressed are reached byoriginal to fit letter page a consensus of our editorial board.

anothEr viEw

Van Hollen fails test on openness The following editorial was published Wednesday in the La Crosse Tribune, a Lee Enterprises paper. Lee Enterprises is the parent company of Capital Newspapers, which owns this newspaper.

W

isconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen continues to be a major disappointment on matters of public records and freedom of information.

Last week, he issued an opinion concluding that “Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general continues to sidestep a far more important issue — black marks that police draw to blot out what should be public information on public law-enforcement reports.

Nearly five dozen police agencies in Wisconsin, including La Crosse police, are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier who believes that a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates that personal information should be redacted from initial police reports.

(Irony alert: Illinois police don’t black out information based on the case.)

We need to say that La Crosse police have been very open in working with journalists, in spite of the city legal department’s insistence on following the advice to redact.

Our police clearly understand that spending quality time with a Sharpie and a public document does nothing to make our city safer, as they were trained to do.

So, if you want to find out who ran into your vehicle, for instance, you’ll likely have to ask your insurance carrier to obtain what otherwise should be a public document open for all to see.

The Illinois case involved information written on a parking ticket.

After that 2008 Illinois case, which still may go to the U.S. Supreme Court, Van Hollen issued an opinion recommending that Wisconsin agencies should not restrict the release of DOT data.

That was then.

Since then, an insurance carrier has buffaloed a growing number of police agencies in Wisconsin into redacting Department of Transportation data — an obstacle to access for the public and a waste of time for police.

That’s why a chorus of journalists has asked Van Hollen to provide further guidance to the state’s law-enforcement agencies and let them know that releasing the data, without redaction, is their public duty as laid out in state law. One newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

As for our attorney general: In addition to clearing up the carpet-cleaning conundrum, his office has issued a statement saying the attorney general won’t comment until there’s a resolution to the case in New Richmond involving the 2008 case in Illinois.

So, given his previous opinion, can Van Hollen say he has done his duty for openness in Wisconsin?

Just barely.

letters Reader opinions are welcome, particularly on a subject of local interest.We prefer letters be sent via email to jcst-news@

those funny rep

C

olumnist Michael Reagan and his fellow Republicans are pretty good comedians, because people who know the facts can’t help laughing at what they say.

In his Tuesday column, Reagan referred to his father Ronald Reagan, former Screen Actors Guild member, governor of California, and president of the United States.

He mentioned his father’s “glorious conservative revolution” and how he kept federal spending in check.

That last part — that’s funny.

Under Ronald Reagan’s administration, the national debt tripled from $1 trillion to $3 trillion, and the debt ceiling was raised 18 times, compared with six times under President Barack Obama. Under Reagan, the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 resulted in, up to that time, the largest tax increase in the history of the United States.

It’s also ludicrous that, during his entire career, Ronald Reagan profited from liberal policies and government. As a screen actor, he became rich because of salary negotiations won by his union. The resultant fame and fortune allowed him to run for, and win, the governorship of California which led to his election as president. Of course his salaries for those jobs came from the government he loved to hate.

Michael Reagan, in turn,

pat naSh

NEWS REPuBLIC benefited all his life from his father’s name. He didn’t graduate from college, and his only jobs, up to the time he was hired as a radio show host, were working as a clothing salesman and a speed-boat racer. I’m sure he didn’t buy those expensive boats with his wages as a retail salesman.

Then, miraculously, with no broadcasting experience or training, he was hired as a radio show host.

If he thinks he got that job based on his qualifications, he’s delusional. He, the conservative who touts self-reliance, still can’t stand on his own merits; he mentions his father’s name in practically every column.

It’s really kind of sad.

And Wisconsin conservatives: have they been as self-reliant and independent of government benefits as they want the rest of us to be? Let’s see.

Gov. Scott Walker worked full-time only four years in the semi-private sector, as a fundraiser for the American Red Cross,

which happens to a good part of its ing from state an grants. When he won a seat in the Assembly and ha ing off Wisconsin ever since. It’s pr that one of his st is to wean people dependence on g ment.

Rep. Paul Ryan worked as a mark consultant for a y the private sector though he had no or experience in m ing. It didn’t mat his family’s busin he didn’t have to with anyone else the job. That was year in his adult l he didn’t get his p from the governm wait — his family pany earned muc profits from gove contracts, so nev Even though h experience in the sector, the GOP c ers him a financia and trusts him to gigantic national We’re not suppos notice he’s never business budget and isn’t very goo details. On their 2011 tax returns, failed to report fr lion to $5 million income his wife r He called it an “in omission.” Oops.

Then there’s S Johnson, another darling who says that wonderful c

unions sapped, other lob

S

pecial interest groups in Wisconsin spent less trying to sway state law and policy in the first half of 2013 than in comparable past periods.

But it’s still a whole lotta moolah.

With a few stragglers left to file (reports were due July 31), the Government Bill luEdErS Accountability Board’s “Eye WISCONSIN CENTER fOR on Lobbying” website lists INvESTIGATIvE JOuRNALISM $17.1 million in lobbying outlays reported by more August 12, 2013 12:23 pm / access to abortion and birth than 600 registered lobby groups. This paid for nearly control. The group reported just $38,061 in lobbying 124,000 hours of lobbying.

rect lobby costs a research and an “ study of our indu shared with lawm costs included at suggestion.

“I’m complyin spirit and letter o law,” Franken says In second place consin Hospital A spent $323,506 on lobby hours. Fort percent of its effo budget bill chang ical Assistance an programs. In all, m 50 groups lobbied

Editor ■ mICHAEL THOmPsON,Assistant Editor

Portage Daily Register 08/09/2013

Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the editorial board or this paper. Opinions expressed by the Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page editorial board will be labeled a Daily Register Editorial.

ANOTHER VIEW

Van Hollen fails test on openness The following editorial was published Wednesday in the La Crosse Tribune, a Lee Enterprises paper. Lee Enterprises is the parent company of Capital Newspapers, which owns this newspaper.

W

isconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen continues to be a major disappointment on matters of public records and freedom of information.

Last week, he issued an opinion concluding that “Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general continues to sidestep a far more important issue — black marks that police draw to blot out what should be public information on public law-enforcement reports.

Nearly five dozen police agencies in Wisconsin, including La Crosse police, are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier who believes that a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates that personal information should be redacted from initial police reports.

(Irony alert: Illinois police don’t black out information based on the case.)

We need to say that La Crosse police have been very open in working with journalists, in spite of the city legal department’s insistence on following the advice to redact. Our police clearly understand that spending quality time with a Sharpie and a public document does nothing to make our city safer, as they were trained to do.

So, if you want to find out who ran into your vehicle, for instance, you’ll likely have to ask your insurance carrier to obtain what otherwise should be a public document open for all to see.

The Illinois case involved information written on a parking ticket.

After that 2008 Illinois case, which still may go to the U.S. Supreme Court, Van Hollen issued an opinion recommending that Wisconsin agencies should not restrict the release of DOT data.

That was then.

Since then, an insurance carrier has buffaloed a growing number of police agencies in Wisconsin into redacting Department of Transportation data — an obstacle to access for the public and a waste of time for police.

That’s why a chorus of journalists has asked Van Hollen to provide further guidance to the state’s law-enforcement agencies and let them know that releasing the data, without redaction, is their public duty as laid out in state law. One newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

As for our attorney general: In addition to clearing up the carpet-cleaning conundrum, his office has issued a statement saying the attorney general won’t comment until there’s a resolution to the case in New Richmond involving the 2008 case in Illinois. So, given his previous opinion, can Van Hollen say he has done his duty for openness in Wisconsin?

Just barely.

Go online at www.portagedailyregister. com and vote on our poll question: should Columbia County borrow up to $3.4 million for an array of highway

Keep watching Editor’s note: Longtime Daily Register columnist Blanche Murtagh died June 8.

Here is one of her noteworthy columns, from Aug. 18, 2006.

The Daily Register will continue to publish examples of her best work in Friday editions in the coming months.

R

iding the El to the Chicago Loop was a very special experience when growing up in the Chicago suburbs. It was with childlike wonder that I would ride the electrified train whose tracks were elevated as high as the second- or third-floor windows of the buildings it passed. Miraculously, or so I thought with fingers crossed, the train did not fall off the tracks as its wheels gave out squeals of anguish as it reluctantly rounded the sharp turns through the downtown Loop.

Waiting for the El, which always approached the stop at its designated place to release or reclaim its passengers, was an especially absorbing time for this young child. The waiting platform was lined with large advertising posters, all one size, opening the world to me displaying products not yet familiar. There was an occasional poster that was blank except for the words WATCH THIS SPOT that took most of my attention. I watched the spot without blinking, closing one eye and then the other, looking elsewhere and suddenly returning to the sign that still remained the same

loveliness.

The reas the biograp at this time in the guise thought it a note the ot winner of P that of Fred Turner wit Plaza. Port place of his bLANCHE muRTAGH tant people SAGE AnD ASSORtED SPiCE enter our c of it. with the words WATCH As Porta THIS SPOT. It was only after tomorrow, a passage of time — was it August, the weeks or really years? — that Zona Gale f someone finally explained to I thought I this innocent child that the within this words were not to be stared liminary ab at, but were only a precursor Gale biogra to another advertisement the state hi that would appear within an will still be unspecified time. by the city That episode of my edu- Historical S cation on the El platform has the ulti came to mind as I wrote out bility for th today the allowable number plaque: of words outlining the life of Zona Gale — the maximum ZONA GA number of 2,009 characters Zona Ga that included the spaces Prize-winn and punctuation as well as journalist, the letters within the words. ity rights ad It was for a state historical ette, politic marker. It might be approand univers priate, but not likely to have born Aug. 2 a sign reading WATCH THIS tage. As an SPOT within the Comwas raised merce Plaza garden next and love. to, and parallel to, the large Upon he Frederick Jackson Turner from the un state historic marker. Nevson in 1895 ertheless, this is a chance to a journalist commend the Commerce and the Eve Plaza gardener for the lovely in Milwauk landscaping with its diverse, Moving to N unusual plantings. It is not a she wrote f garden to pass by, but to stop World unti to examine its unexpected ing a memb

Keeping the Post in

T

he masthead of the Washington Post contains these words: “An Independent Newspaper.”

When word spread that Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, was buying the Post for $250 million, attention focused August 12, 2013 12:24 pm / on the word “newspaper.”

COKIE RObERTs AND Bezos once predicted that

have to ans on Wall Str and the pri about 1 per That’s inde Ted Leon Bezos mad internet pio Post that th the paper t and transfo the harsh li

Spooner Advocate 08/08/2013

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 | PAGE 7B

Earl Koenig Earl Rudolph Koenig, 87, of Kansas City North and formerly of Wascott passed away on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013.

He was born on March 7, 1926, in Milwaukee, one of four children of Frank and Clara (Steege) Koenig.

He was preceded in death by an infant sister, Arlene, and brothers Kenneth and Frank Jr. Earl served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He worked as a heavy equipment operator for the Milwaukee County Highway Department before retirement.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Joyce (Albright) Koenig; daughters, Patricia Koenig and Jody King (Paul); grandchildren, David King (Audrey) and Katy King; greatgrandson, Caelum; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Private services will be held.

An online guestbook and opportunity to send a message to the family are available via www.parklawnfunerals.com.

Arrangements were entrusted to Park Lawn Northland Chapel.

Memorial donations are suggested to North Care Hospice, 2800 Clay Edwards Drive, North Kansas City, MO 64116.

Gloria Weaver Gloria J. Weaver, 84, of Webster, passed away on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, at Spooner Health System.

Gloria was born in Winona, Minn., on September 14, 1928. Gloria was an excellent seamstress, and she and her husband, Clark, owned and operated Action Jacket and Jackets Plus for many years.

Gloria was preceded in death by her parents, and her brothers Richard and Robert Ecker.

She will be sadly missed by her children, Evelyn (Todd) Roberts, Susan (Jim Fuller) Melton, and Jon (Misty) Weaver; her grandchildren, Andrew, Danielle, Mandy, Amy, Karlynda, and Stella; her great-grandchildren, Garrett and Levi; many other relatives; and many friends.

A memorial gathering was held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at Taylor Family Funeral Home in Spooner.

Arrangements were entrusted to Taylor Family Funeral Home, Spooner. Online condolences can be made to www.scalzo-taylor.com.

Bernard Redding

Driver injured in a rollover

BY FRANK ZUFALL A driver suffered non-incapacitating injury in a rollover at 1 p.m., Friday, Aug 2, on 30th Avenue, one mile west of Shallow Lake Road in the town of Sarona, DFFRUGLQJ WR WKH 6KHULII V 2IÂżFH DFFLGHQW UHSRUW The driver was eastbound on 30th Avenue when the vehicle began to slide out of control to the north side of the road and then slide sideways before rolling once and coming to rest on the passenger side facing west.

7KH :DVKEXUQ &RXQW\ 6KHULIIÂśV 2IÂżFH UHGDFWV QDPHV and other personal information from accident reports.

Sarona FROM PAGE B5

ter Megan was there with her two children. Many more is wished for you!

Les and Sandi Vogt traveled to George, Iowa on Thursday to spend the day with friends from the Midwest they met in Texas last winter.

Jim and Nancy Swanson celebrated her birthday (her 39th, she says) by going to the champagne brunch at Turtle Lake Casino.

Dick and Marie King made Jack Pine Savage Days a family event. They were joined by son Jay and his family Melissa, Jaycee and Zanna, and along with neighbors Cindy Bauman and her sister Sandy, they served beer to the thirsty folks.

There was a lot of fun things going on at Jack Pine Savage Days in Spooner on the weekend. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting bigger every year.

Ryan and Jessie Furchtenicht coached the volleyball team on Saturday. Mavis Schlapper, Jan Rath and Marion Reiter and myself pitched in the bean bag competition. Janet Zimmerman enjoyed the crafts. There was truly something for everyone! %LUWKGD\ ZLVKHV WR -DFN &XUWLVV &OLQW %XWWHUÂżHOG Wendee Thompson, Amanda Musil and Brock Cherney, Aug. 8; Lorraine Thompson, Adam Gronning, Shane Williams and Derek Sando, Aug. 9; Earl Semm, Karen (Schlapper) Kline, Drew Sauer and Phil Robertson, Aug. 10; Jeff Magnes and Nora Hastreiter, Aug. 11; Ed Fischer, Ken Schmitz and Allie Hotchkiss, Aug. 12; Joel Anderson, Gina Ailport and Peggy Frisbe, Aug. 13; Mike West, Dona Sather, Lloyd Cross and Bill McCann, Aug. 14.

A happy anniversary to Gene and Polly Parker, Aug. 9; Greg and Sue Krantz, Karl and Krista Okonek and Phil and Tammy Holman, Aug. 11; Matt and Lisa Stodola, Robin and Karen Taylor on Aug. 13.

A happy wedding day to Ericka (Krantz) Hutton and Lance Parker, who will be exchanging vows on Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Butternut Hills Golf course. Q Marian Furchtenicht can be reached at 715.469.3339 or mjfjb2000@yahoo.com.

People in the News

August 12, 2013 12:25 pm /

What others are saying ...

Madison, Wisconsin State Journal 08/09/2013

LA CROSSE TRIBUNE

eau claire leader-telegram

(MI

Van Hollen fails test on openness

Don’t dictate when schools must start

M ne

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen continues to be a major disappointment on matters of public records and freedom of information. Last week, he issued an opinion concluding “Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general continues to sidestep a far more important issue — black marks that police draw to blot out what should be public information on public lawenforcement reports.

Nearly five dozen police agencies in Wisconsin ... are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier who believes a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates personal information should be redacted from initial police reports. ...

The Republicans who control the governorship and both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature won their majority status at least in part because of their party’s traditional claim that they are the party of limited government.

Another of Gov. Scott Walker’s trademark slogans is that under his administration, “Wisconsin is open for business.”

But when it comes to local school districts deciding when they should start classes for a new school year, these two objectives come into conflict. In this case, local control should prevail and local school boards should have sole discretion to decide when classes should start.

Under current law, fall classes cannot start before Sept. 1. ... But a bill circulating in the Legislature would eliminate that requirement effective with the 2014-15 school year.

In pro to th veh gen of th W aren “en is w last pro end erty Fr tota tho $3.6 ...

T end tion in 2 will from

— Wednesday

— Monday

August 12, 2013 12:27 pm /

of thing. We are going to have to make sure it is financially accept- fees Waterloo residents are payable to both communities. In our ing would then go to Watertown Watertown Daily Times 08/09/2013 estimation there can’t be a cost to to cover the collection costs and the city of Watertown’s taxpayers,” (Continued on back, col. 1) David said.

DAILY TIMES

New records policy affects traffic stories The Watertown Police Department has joined over 50 municipalities in Wisconsin in redacting the names, ages, addresses and any other identifying information on traffic reports and other incident reports which are made available to the public.

Jefferson County has also started the redaction and the list implementing the policy is growing daily.

The redaction policy changes a long-standing policy of making those records available to the public without redactions.

The policy change came at the recommendation of city attorney Will Gruber who in turn had been advised by a statewide organization

that releasing the names could put the city in legal jeopardy.

The policy change stems from a 7th District Court of Appeals ruling that sided with a Palatine, Ill., man who claimed his privacy had been violated after local police placed a parking ticket on the windshield of his car. The ticket displayed personal information accessible to any passerby.

The new policy will mean the Daily Times will be unable to provide basic information on accidents, drunk driving arrests and any other traffic related arrests where police use the individual’s driver’s (Continued on back, col. 4)

WATERTOWN

Police investigate death

By David Brazy

davidb@wdtimes.com The Watertown Police Department is investigating the death of a 27-year-old male carnival worker at Riverside Park Thursday.

Officers were notified of an unresponsive male subject at 5:31 p.m. in a trailer at Riverside Park, according to a press release from the

department. The man was an employee with Rainbow Valley Rides, the company hired to run the carnival at this weekend’s Riverfest.

The department is not releasing the name of the man pending notification of his family, according to the release.

(Continued on back, col. 3)

Joe Retta, lead singer for The Swe band began its 2013 Riverfest perf

Excellen

By Steve Sharp

steves@wdtimes.com Even mosquitoes and a few thre ening dark clouds refused to pu damper on opening Thursday nig fun at the 2013 edition of Riverfest Everywhere a person went the intimate Riverside Park festi grounds, members of an unusua large opening-night crowd could found smiling, enjoying perfect su mer weather, an assortment of car val rides, music, food and good co pany.

“We had an excellent start compar to one year ago when we had rain a

Robin Hood and friends

August 13, 2013 1:29 pm /

the park at levels comparable to yone’s pocket, which is past years. n a tight economy.”

“We have similar staffing.

Times 08/09/2013 ultz said heWatertown would like toDaily We have some flexibility dehe plans in place before pending on crowd size,” Roets d of the year and have said. “The festival is well-run own start picking up the on Jan. 1, 2014. Howe said it is possible the ations may take longer plete, which would push t date to later in 2014.

(Continued from page 1)

ath —

ntinued from page 1) cause of the death is unas of press time today. opsy and toxicology repending. . Curtis Kleppin said the ment was not concerned ublic safety moving forat Riverfest. He added id not have a timetable results of the autopsy, expected it to be comwithin a few days.

Watertown police were d at the scene by Dodge y Medical Examiner PJ bel. investigation is still achile police follow availeads, according to the . Anyone with informathis or other crimes are to call the Watertown Department at 920-261r report it anonymously ing “WTTN” and a tip to (847411).

and said she loves Riverfest because she enjoys meeting new people, “seeing new faces” and “getting people hooked on gyros.”

At the Bigg’s Bar and Grill

Street Program’s sales area.

“It’s really amazing we kept Riverfest going all these years,” Tietz said.

Admission to Riverfest is free.

New policy affects stories — license for that identifying information.

The policy has not been implemented fully but is expected to be in the coming days, according to police Chief Tim Roets.

Roets, in a discussion with the Daily Times in which he announced the policy, said he has little choice but to follow the recommendation of the city attorney and other government officials statewide. To do otherwise, he said, could put the city in legal jeopardy if release of the information was challenged by an individual.

Not only the media but the general public will no longer have access to these kinds of traffic records. People can sign a waiver and get unredacted reports only if they are the individual involved in the report.

Unredacted traffic reports are still available through the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle Department at a fee of $6 and an

extended waiting time for the processing. The department is the custodian of the records.

This spring the New Richmond News filed a lawsuit against the city of New Richmond, alleging the city’s police department is unreasonably restricting access to timely information on accident and incident reports. The newspaper claims the city misinterpreted the court of appeals ruling. That suit is winding its way through the court system.

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council are all working together to resolve the situation.

The state newspaper association’s position is that the trend for redacting of all pertinent information flies in the face of Wisconsin’s open records law, which instructs officials to err on the side of openness in all government records.

“This information is exactly what the public wants and

needs to know,” according to Tom Schultz, Daily Times managing editor.

The information is a public record and as such should be available to the public. Without any identifying information, most reports will have only minimal value to the public, he added.

The records are helpful to businesses and individuals as they go about their regular work.

The Wisconsin Association of County Corporation Counsels has requested an opinion from Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen regarding this new redacting policy that is sweeping the state. In addition, city attorneys in Milwaukee, Brookfield, Neenah, Wauwatosa, Maidson and West Allis have also asked for that opinion.

However, last month, a spokesman for Van Hollen said the attorney general would not comment on the case until the New Richmond case is settled in court.

August 13, 2013 1:30 pm /

remained shuttered indefinitely. that the al-Qaida threat was waning. bassy in Sanaa, U.S. officials evacuated personthere Friday after receiving ed closed.Madison, The nelWisconsin Please see POSTS, Page A6 State Journal 08/12/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

LEMENT EXPANSION

Retailers keep tabs on return habits Data increasingly is being outsourced to anti-fraud companies that analyze patterns.

JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press

clear understanding that the American people are absolutely unhappy with what they’ve learned and that more is going to be forthcoming,” Lon Snowden said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

“I believe much of what he suggested is superficial,” Snowden said.

Other critics agreed Sunday that the president might not have acted

WASHINGTON — It’s not just the government that might be keeping tabs on you. Many retailers are tracking you, too — or at least your merchandise returns.

The companies say it’s all in the name of security and fighting fraud. They want to be able to identify chronic returners or gangs of thieves trying to make off with high-end products that are returned later for store credit.

Consumer advocates are raising transparency concerns about the practice of having companies collect information on consumers and create “return profiles” of customers at big-name stores such as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Victoria’s Secret, Home Depot and Nike.

The practice led to a privacy lawsuit against Best Buy that eventually was tossed out.

Each year, consumers return about $264 billion worth of merchandise, or almost 9 percent of total sales, according to industry estimates.

Many buyers aren’t aware that some returns, with and without receipts, are being monitored at stores that outsource that information to a third-party company, which creates a “return profile” that catalogs and analyzes the customer’s returns at the store.

“I had absolutely no idea they were doing that,” said Mari Torres of Springfield, Va., during

Please see SNOWDEN, Page A7

Please see RETAILERS, Page A7

SEBASTIAN SCHEINER — Associated Press

site during a ceremony to mark the resumption erusalem neighborhood. Israel’s housing nearly 1,200 apartments in Jewish settlements in alestinian prisoners. U.S.-sponsored peace talks A8.

ries ‘political theater’

ms and dismissed k Obama’s prosed reforms as uperficial.”

Lon Snowden d he was dispointed with bama’s promises a news conferce on Friday reform spying dited his son with dent to act. t’s driven by his

PRIVACY

August 13, 2013 1:33 pm /

Madison, Wisconsin State Journal 08/12/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

FROM PAGE ONE

Wisconsin State Journal

Retailers Continued from Page A1

a shopping trip with her daughter at the Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Va. “I honestly think it’s an invasion of privacy.”

Torres, 39, says she’s a responsible shopper and she’d like to know what kind of information retailers keep on her, with whom they may be sharing it, and how long they keep it.

Fighting theft One company that offers return tracking services, The Retail Equation (TRE) in Irvine, Calif., said it doesn’t share information in the profiles it creates with outside parties or with other stores.

For example, if TRE logs and analyzes returns from a Victoria’s Secret customer, TRE only reports back to Victoria’s Secret about the return activity. It does not then also share that information with J.C. Penney or other retailers that use TRE. Even so, consumer advocates don’t like it.

“There should be no secret databases. That’s a basic rule of privacy practices,” says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “Consumers should know that information is being collected about them.”

The retail industry says it’s not about monitoring the majority of its shoppers, but fighting theft.

Lisa LaBruno, senior vice president of retail operations at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, says organized retail crime is costing retailers tens of billions of dollars each year.

LaBruno says the prob-

lem goes way beyond the small-time shoplifter and involves organized groups of criminals that make a living from the large-scale theft of merchandise. For example, they might switch the UPC code on a $600 faucet with a lower-cost code that rings up at $50.

They buy the faucet, then replace the fake UPC tag with the original, higherpriced code, and return the faucet to the store without the receipt for a $600 store credit, which can later be sold online.

“It’s not to invade the privacy of legitimate customers at all,” LaBruno said in an interview. “It’s one of many, many, creative solutions out there to help combat a really big problem that affects retailers, honest customers, the entire industry and the public at-large.”

Disclosure varies The problem, says government privacy experts, is disclosure, or lack of it in many cases.

People need to be aware when they make a purchase that if they return it, some information from the transaction may be stored, according to the experts.

“Most people think when they hand over a driver’s license that it’s just to confirm identity and not to be kept to be used for future transactions,” said the Federal Trade Commission’s Bob Schoshinski, assistant director at the agency’s division of privacy and identity protection. “It shouldn’t be that a third party is keeping a profile on someone without them being informed what’s going to happen when they hand over their driver’s license or some other information to a retailer.”

In some cases, the dis-

How RETURN tracking works Here is how stores go about tracking merchandise returns: • A consumer buys an item at Best Buy and later returns it. Even if the shopper has the original receipt and is within the time frame when returns are permitted, store policy requires that the customer provide a photo ID, such as a driver’s license. Other stores, such as Home Depot, only require the ID if there’s no receipt or if the item was purchased with a store credit.

• The ID is swiped and then some information from the transaction is sent by the store to The Retail Equation.

closure by retailers is conspicuous. In others, not so much.

At Best Buy, a sign at each cash register states the return policy, and it’s also on the back of the receipt, telling consumers that returns are tracked and an ID is required. The disclosure adds: “Based on return/exchange patterns, some customers will be warned that subsequent returns and exchanges will not be eligible for returns or exchanges for 90 days. Customers who are warned or have been denied an exchange/return may request a copy of their ‘Return Activity Report’” from The Retail Equation by contacting the company.

At Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works, disclosures at the cash register said nothing about The Retail Equation’s tracking returns.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes says the return tracking isn’t just about money.

“This isn’t only about protecting our bottom line,” Holmes said in an interview. “It’s about protecting our communities,

LANDSCAPE SERVICES, INC “Serving The Area For Over 26 Years”

FULLY INSURED

The company says the information captured from the ID typically includes the identification number, name, address, date of birth and expiration date.

• The Retail Equation catalogs return activity by the shopper and creates a “return activity report” on him with his returns at the store. If TRE determines that there’s a pattern of questionable returns that suggests potential fraud, it would notify Best Buy, which could then deny returns by that shopper at the store for a period of time.

— Associated Press

too. We know from working with law enforcement at the state and federal levels that organized retail crime is feeding other crimes, such as drug trafficking and even terrorism, in some cases.”

27,000 stores The Retail Equation says more than 27,000 stores use its services. Best Buy, Home Depot, J.C. Penney, Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, and Nike are among its clients. TRE would not say how long the profiles on consumers are kept in its database; it varies from retailer to retailer.

But a recent “return activity report” obtained by one consumer turned up returns to The Sports Authority dating to 2004.

The threshold for too many returns is determined by each retailer.

TRE says the vast majority of returns — about 99 percent — are accepted.

In a 2011 lawsuit in Florida against Best Buy, Steven Siegler complained after the magnetic strip on his driver’s license was swiped for a return. He wanted the manager to delete the information. His suit said Best Buy refused.

He alleged Best Buy violated privacy law when it swiped the license. But a federal appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling that the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act didn’t apply in the case.

August 13, 2013 1:33 pm /

Snowd

Continued from Page A

at all if not for the Sn leaks. Among the sures, Snowden r information showi NSA has assembled sive database of tel call logs of virtuall American.

But there was co able debate about w the president’s ple reform NSA surve programs was mai show and whether quell public concern After weeks of c versy over the sp grams, Obama pr to put in place oversight, more parency and safe against abuse. He al posed creating a r a civil liberties ad to ensure the gover will no longer be th side represented w requests to conduc veillance are weig the secret court se the Foreign Intel Surveillance Act. Obama is also c ering changes to t to limit how much mation on America NSA can get and ho it can retain the dat Rep. Michael M R-Texas, chairman Committee on Hom Security, said he the president’s refo “window dressing.”

“The problem, mentally, is he’s fa explain these pro which are lawful, have saved lives,” h “and now he’s in a mess.”

But McCaul sa worries that O idea of adding a advocate to the Service Intelligenc court would slow investigations.

“I’m in a unique tion to talk abou McCaul said on “Meet the Press.” “ ally applied for FIS rants as a counter ism prosecutor, and the idea of having a

Dream

Three Lakes News 08/14/2013

Wisconsin Newspaper Association battling for access to public records ___________

BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

In recent months, Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) staff, along with attorneys and lobbyists, have been battling to regain access to public records which have been redacted from police reports in 56 municipalities statewide.

The censored information largely includes data obtained through Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records.

“A growing number of police and sheriff's departments from across Wisconsin have either slowed or stopped the free flow of information regarding their actions — information that had been routinely available,” said WNA Communications Director Mary Callen.

“This disturbing trend flies in the face of Wisconsin’s open records law, which instructs officials to err on the side of openness,” she said.

Among the area agencies reported by the WNA to have redacted public records information is the Rhinelander Police Department and the Sawyer County Sheriff ’s Department in Hayward.

Agencies in Vilas County, including the Eagle River Police Department and Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, have proven cooperative with open records requests from the media, according to the WNA.

Concern among agencies began in the wake of an Illinois lawsuit involving Jason Senne, who sued the Village of Palatine after a parking ticket displaying personal information was left overnight on his windshield.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Senne, citing a violation of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

As a result, agencies throughout Wisconsin have begun to withhold information out of fear of possible litigation.

However, some, like Oconto Police Chief Dan Ault, say that holding back information about car accidents is an inconvenience to drivers and law enforcement officials.

“All we were really doing is making it harder on the people in the accidents,” said Ault in a Green Bay Press Gazette article last month. “If I’m in an accident, every day I’m without a car or getting it

fixed, it’s an inconvenience, and this prolongs the inconvenience. I don’t want to contribute to the problem.”

In March, the New Richmond News filed a lawsuit against the City of New Richmond, alleging the city’s police department is unreasonably restricting access to timely information on accident and incident reports.

The case is currently awaiting a federal court decision on the newspaper’s motion to return jurisdiction to St. Croix County Circuit Court, according to Callen.

“Since that time, more and more municipalities have begun to redact information obtained through DMV records from reports,” she said.

The WNA is not alone in its effort to reverse this trend.

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council also are working to regain access to public records.

“Most WNA editors have

Eagle Lake meeting set A meeting with all Eagle Lake property owners will be held Saturday, Aug. 24, at 9 a.m. at Eagle Waters Resort to discuss the present and future direction of the lake.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss issues critical to Eagle Lake. This will

be a town hall style meeting with open discussion. Property owner input is needed, according to meeting organizers.

Eagle Waters is located at 3958 Eagle Waters Road. For more information, call Jan Winter at (715) 617-3900.

noted that local police and sheriff’s departments are not in favor of redacting the DMVobtained information, but feel they must based on directives from attorneys and insurance companies,” said Callen.

In addition, the Wisconsin Association of County Corporation Counsels has requested an opinion from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, along with city attorneys representing Milwaukee, Brookfield, Neenah, Wauwatosa, Madison and West Allis.

Assistant Attorney General Kevin Potter said Van Hollen’s office wouldn’t comment on the matter until the New Richmond case has been decided.

The Three Lakes News COVERING NORTHEASTERN ONEIDA COUNTY

Established 1931 PUBLISHED AT 425 W. MILL ST. EAGLE RIVER, WI 54521 vcnewsreview.com

By Eagle River Publications Inc. Publication #553770 Member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the National Newspaper Association

Entered as periodical mail matter at the post office, Three Lakes, WI 54562, under an act of April 23, 1980. Published every Wednesday. Subscription price for a year: Vilas and Oneida counties only, $50; rest of Wisconsin, $57; out of state, $68. Mail subscription to The Three Lakes News, P.O. Box 243, Three Lakes, WI 54562. Payable in advance.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes, form 3579, to Vilas County News-Review, P.O. Box 1929, Eagle River, WI 54521, phone (715) 479-4421, fax (715) 479-6242.

August 15, 2013 1:25 pm /

Janesville, The Gazette 08/10/2013

OPINION

6A Saturday, August 10, 2013

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

GUEST VIEWS

Van Hollen failing big test on openness Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen continues to be a major disappointment on matters of public records and freedom of information.

Last week, he issued an opinion concluding that “Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general continues to sidestep a far more important issue—black marks that police draw to blot out what should be public information on public law-enforcement reports.

Nearly five-dozen police agencies in Wisconsin, including La Crosse police, are following the advice of a municipal insurance carrier who believes that a 2008 legal case in Illinois dictates that personal information should be redacted from initial police reports.

(Irony alert: Illinois Van Hollen police don’t black out information based on the case.)

We need to say that La Crosse police have been very open in working with journalists, in spite of the city legal department’s insistence on following the advice to redact.

Our police clearly understand that spending quality time with a Sharpie and a public document does nothing to make our city safer, as they were trained to do.

So, if you want to find out who ran into your vehicle, for instance, you’ll likely have to ask your insurance carrier to obtain what otherwise should be a public document open for all to see.

The Illinois case involved information written on a parking ticket.

After that 2008 Illinois case, which still may go to the U.S. Supreme Court, Van Hollen issued an opinion recommending that Wisconsin agencies should not restrict the release of DOT data.

That was then.

Since then, an insurance carrier has buffaloed a growing number of police agencies in Wisconsin into redacting Department of Transportation data—an obstacle to access for the public and a waste of time for police.

That’s why a chorus of journalists has asked Van Hollen to provide further guidance to the state’s law-enforcement agencies and let them know that releasing the data, without redaction, is their public duty as laid out in state law.

One newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

As for our attorney general: In addition to clearing up the carpet-cleaning conundrum, his office has issued a statement saying the attorney general won’t comment until there’s a resolution to the case in New Richmond involving the 2008 case in Illinois.

So, given his previous opinion, can Van Hollen say he has done his duty for openness in Wisconsin?

Just barely.

—The La Crosse Tribune

Sidney H. Bliss, Publisher Howard F. Bliss, 1883-1919 Harry H. Bliss, 1919-1937 Sidney H. Bliss, 1937-1969 Robert W. Bliss, 1937-1992

o

STATE VIEWS

What have Wisconsinites done to deserve voter suppression?

MADISON

The U.S. Supreme Court in June gutted key components of the Voting Rights Act, which became law on Aug. 6, 1965.

Before the ink was dry on the high court’s ruling, several states announced they will implement restrictive laws that have been on hold or introduce new voting restrictions.

Wisconsin was not covered by the voting act’s “preclearance” requirements, which now cannot be enforced until Congress acts to update the law. However, we have had our share of unneeded and unfair ANDREA voting laws proposed KAMINSKI and, in some cases, enacted in the past couple of years.

For example, a new proposal from Sen. Glenn Grothman, RWest Bend, would severely limit the hours when municipal clerks may offer in-person absentee voting for their constituents to no more than 24 hours a week, during business hours, for a twoweek period prior to an election. This would reduce the opportunities for voters across the state who have daytime jobs or family commitments.

Proponents claim the proposal would create uniformity around the state, but it would not. By treating all municipalities equally, it would favor voters in small communities where a clerk serves a couple of hundred residents rather than 100,000. In addition, the proposal does not say that all clerks’ offices shall be open 24 hours per week; rather, it says they shall be open no more than 24 hours per week. Thus it sets a maximum level at which a clerk may serve her constituents, not a minimum level.

Limiting early voting to business

hours would complicate the lives of the many part-time municipal clerks in our state who have “day jobs” and perform their clerk duties off-hours. How will they serve their constituents, who also might work during business hours? This proposal would impose a statewide, cookie-cutter solution to a nonexistent problem.

It makes one wonder what Wisconsin voters have done to deserve yet another restrictive voting law. Wisconsin consistently ranks near the top nationally for clean, efficiently administered elections with high voter participation. Federal and state investigations have not substantiated the rumors of voter impersonation that proponents of restrictive laws often cite. The problems we have seen have largely been a matter of poll-worker error or, more rarely, mismanagement.

Founded by the suffragists who fought for decades to win the right to vote for women, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters has held for 93 years that voting is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed. Our government should not restrict a fundamental, constitutional citizen right based on unsubstantiated stories and circumstantial evidence.

If anything, lawmakers should be working to make registration and voting more accessible to all qualified citizens.

We can do this by investing more in the training of local election officials, bringing our voter registration system into the 21st century, and equipping voters with full and reliable information about the choices on the ballot.

Andrea Kaminski is executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Education Network, 612 W Main St., Suite 200, Madison, WI 53703; phone 608-256-0827; website www.lwvwi.org.

The league is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for informed and active participation in government.

YOUR THANKS Bobby Stair Outing gains much support The family of Bobby Stair wish to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all who generously donated to the 4th Annual Bobby Stair Memorial Golf Outing on July 20 at Oak Ridge Golf Course in honor of Leann Stluka.

We love all of you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Whether you made a donation, sponsored a hole, golfed in the outing, donated or bought at the auction, we wouldn’t have been successful without your support.

In total, you helped raise over $34,000, which will be used toward Leann’s outstanding medical bills, travel expenses to Texas for chemotherapy treatments, scholarships for some 2014 graduates going into the medical field and to the Froedert Cancer Center of Wisconsin in Bobby Stair’s name.

A special thank you needs to go out to

Chambers & Owen, The DeLong Co. and Frito Lay for supplying products for our gift bags, raffle and auction. Last, thank you to Oak Ridge Golf Course who hosted the amazing outing and auction.

THE BOBBY STAIR FAMILY Milton

Featured Tallman artist expresses appreciation I want to thank the Rock County Art Committee for selecting me to be this year’s featured artist for the 56th Annual Tallman Arts Festival. It was such a great surprise and a wonderful opportunity.

I had a real nice time at the show, and it seemed like everyone else did, as well.

I also want to thank Shelly Birkelo and Bill Olmsted from The Gazette for doing such a great job on the article.

LORI SALAMONE-LIMBACHS PazleeButterfly Janesville

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Edgerton police arrest five for thefts from vehicles

By Neil Johnson njohnson@gazettextra.com EDGERTON

Police have arrested four Edgerton men and a juvenile male in connection to a rash of vehicle thefts in Edgerton last month.

According to a news release from the Edgerton Police Department, police arrested: ■ Devan Teniente of Edgerton on charges of theft, operating a vehicle without owner consent and party to criminal damage to property.

■ Joshua Howard of Edgerton on charges of operating a vehicle without owner consent.

■ Cole Green, Edgerton on

charges of theft and party to theft.

■ Cory Thomson, Edgerton on charges of receiving stolen property.

■ A juvenile male on charges of theft and party to theft.

Police made the arrests after a nearly month-long investigation that wrapped up Aug. 8. Police have not said when the arrests were made.

Teniente, Howard, Green and Thomson, whose ages and addresses have been withheld because of an Edgerton Police Department personal identification redaction policy, were booked into Rock County Jail.

The juvenile male was referred to juvenile authorities.

BRIEFS Departments to hold tactical training MILTON—Four Rock County police departments will come together today in Milton for a day of tactical training, according to a news release.

Officers from Janesville, Milton and Beloit police departments, as well as the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, will run through tactical scenarios in the former Milton Savings Bank building from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.

Hostage negotiators and SWAT teams from Beloit and Janesville police will also take part, authorities said.

The training will close Greenman Street between Highway 26 and Parkview during the exercise, Janesville police said.

Senator’s staff travels to Genoa City GENOA CITY—Staff members of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., will hold mobile-office hours from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, in the board room of the Genoa City Village Hall, 715 Walworth St. The events allow constituents to ask for help on federal issues or with federal agencies.

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Ooh-Rah/E Continued from 1A The number was twice as many as the previous decade and surpassed the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan.

Krafjack calls the suicides unacceptable.

“As we see more and more returning troops, we have to figure out what to do to help them,” she said.

She talked about setting up some kind of buddy program.

Board member Pat Runaas said many troops are returning home with missing limbs.

“We are not doctors, but we are here to listen,” she said. “I appreciate the sacrifices our troops are making.

We want to help.”

Board members also are talking about how to help military families.

“We may start up a program to offer services by concerned people,” Krafjack said.

“Maybe someone needs a ride to the doctor or they need a babysitter. The poor economy has made people in the community pull together for each other.”

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A Janesville man was arrested for his fourth operating while intoxicated offense late Sunday night, according to a news release from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.

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August 15, 2013 1:33 pm /

Fort Atkinson, Daily Jefferson County Union 08/15/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page PAGE 6

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013

DAILY JEFFERSON COUNTY UNION

Traffic crashes in the county reported Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: In response to a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling related to the Driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Privacy Protection Act, the Jefferson County Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office has changed its policy regarding releasing accident information, and now is redacting names and ages on the reports it releases.

The Daily Union is continuing to release all accident reports involving injuries or citations, but no longer is including the identities of drivers or passengers, reflecting the new sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s department policy.

This week, the sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office released official reports only on three traffic crashes, none of these involving injuries or citations. The tally included two cardeer crashes and one minor accident.

JEFFERSON â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Jefferson County Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office released official reports in the last week on 18 traffic crashes, which injured four people and resulted in six citations. The weekly tally also included two car-deer crashes.

Town of Milford A motorcycle crash Aug. 11 injured the driver, who was partially ejected from the vehicle and required ambulance transport from the scene. The incident took place on Highway 19, twotenths of a mile west of Engelhart Road.

The driver, who was wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time, was operating a 1950 HarleyDavidson motorcycle.

According to the crash report, the cycle was eastbound on Highway 19 when its front tire went flat and it began to slow, going onto the gravel on the right shoulder of the road. The driver then lost control of the vehicle, which overturned.

Town of Oakland A one-vehicle crash at 10:17 a.m. Aug. 12 resulted in a citation to a Fort Atkinson man for unreasonable and imprudent speed.

The incident occurred on County

Highway J, two-tenths of a mile east of Scheppert Road.

The driver was operating a 1995 Chevrolet K1500 four-door.

The report states that the vehicle was eastbound on Highway J, approaching a 90-degree curve, when the driver failed to negotiate the curve and the vehicle went off the road.

The driver reportedly overcorrected on the gravel shoulder, turning sharply to the left and crossing the road to the east shoulder. There, it struck the ditch and rolled, coming to a rest on its driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side.

Town of Palmyra A two-vehicle crash at 4:49 p.m. Aug. 13 resulted in a citation to a Walworth driver for failure to yield the right of way from a stop sign. The incident took place on State Highway 59 at the intersection with County Highway Z. The first driver, who did not receive a citation, was a female from Eagle who was operating a 2007 Honda Accord four-door.

The second driver, who faces the citation, was a man from Walworth. He was operating a 1998 Ford F250 pick-up truck owned

by Kau Farms of W650 State Highway 59, Palmyra.

According to the crash report, the Ford was southbound, stopped at the stop sign on Highway Z. The driver of the Ford reportedly said he had looked for traffic on Highway 59 but did not see any oncoming vehicles before attempting to cross Highway 59.

Meanwhile, the Honda was eastbound at approximately 55 miles per hour on Highway 59.

The Honda driver reportedly was able to avoid a direct collision but struck the front quarter panel and bumper of the Ford.

The Honda driver swerved into the north ditch on Highway 59 and the car came to a stop, the report stated.

Town of Milford A two-vehicle crash at 11:55 a.m. Aug. 4 caused incapacitating

Sign up for City-Wide Rummage Sale in Fort Applications now are being accepted for the Fort Atkinson citywide rummage sale, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The deadline for rummage sale registration is Friday, Sept. 13.

Register early for a chance to win a $25 Chamber Gift Certificate! Registration forms must be received by Friday, Aug. 30, to be eligible for the drawing.

The cost to participate is $10 per household.

Interested participants can reserve a spot now by completing and returning a registration form available at the Fort Atkinson

Bethene â&#x20AC;&#x153;Peteâ&#x20AC;? Pitterle 920-699-2852

Area Chamber of Commerce or by visiting www.fortchamber.com.

Participants who wish to extend their sale through Sunday, Sept. 29, should indicate that on their registration information.

Sunday hours are 8 a.m. until noon. There is no additional fee.

Two-day sales will be noted on the listings.

The Chamber is located at 244 N. Main St. in Fort Atkinson, and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For additional information or questions, call (920) 563-3210.

Offering the Quality, Caring and Creativity You Deserve when Discussing Your Memorial Needs

Town of Oakland

N4450 County Road A, Cambridge Tuesday, August 20, 2013 Monthly Board Meeting 7:00 p.m.

AGENDA 1. Call meeting to order/roll call 9HULÂżFDWLRQ RI QRWLFH

injuries to both drivers and also injured two passengers, all of whom required ambulance transport. The incident occurred on County Highway A, north of French Road.

The first driver, a female from Cambridge, faces a citation in connection with the crash for failure to yield the right of way. She was operating a 1995 Jaguar XJ5.

The second driver, a female from Lake Mills, faces no citations. She was operating a Dodge Grand Caravan van. The van contained two passengers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a woman and a man, both of Lake Mills â&#x20AC;&#x201D; who received injuries and also were transported by ambulance from the scene.

The report states that the Jaguar was northbound on Highway A and the Dodge was southbound on Highway A when the Jaguar driver turned left onto French Road, failing to yield the right of way, and turning in front of the Dodge. The two vehicles then collided in the southbound lane of Highway A, the report said.

Town of Concord A two-vehicle hit-and-run crash at 3:10 p.m. Aug. 6 injured one person.

The incident took place on County Highway F at the intersection with Interstate 94.

The first driver, a female from Sullivan, received possible injuries in the crash. She was operating a 2013 Toyota.

The second driver, the hit-andrun driver, is as yet unidentified, as is the exact vehicle that person was driving. The vehicle is described as a red pick-up or utility truck.

According to the report, the Toyota was southbound on Highway F when, according to the driver, a red pick-up failed to yield at the stop sign at the end of the eastbound off-ramp from Interstate-94.

The hit-and-run driver allegedly pulled in front of the Toyota.

The Toyota driver reportedly could not stop in time to avoid striking the left side of the truck, which continued after the collision to enter I-94.

Town of Milford A two-vehicle crash Aug. 7 resulted in one citation to a Watertown driver for following too closely. The incident took place on County Highway A, 15 feet north of Zabel Lane.

The first driver, the Watertown

man, reportedly was following too closely. He was operating a 2000 Kia four-door.

The second vehicle involved in the crash was a 2002 Honda Civic four-door driven by a Johnson Creek woman.

The crash report states that the Honda was southbound on Highway A, slowing to turn east onto Zabel Lane. The Honda was waiting for northbound traffic to clear.

The Kia reportedly also was southbound on Highway A. The driver of the Kia reportedly could not stop in time and collided with the Honda.

Town of Hebron A one-vehicle crash on County Highway D on Aug. 9 injured one person and resulted in a citation to a motorcycle driver â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a man from Madison â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for operating a motorcycle without a valid driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license.

The incident occurred threetenths of a mile north of Pine Lane. The crash resulted in â&#x20AC;&#x153;nonincapacitatingâ&#x20AC;? injuries to the driver, who was operating a Suzuki motorcycle.

According to the crash report, the vehicle was southbound on Highway D when it entered a curve and went too close to the

gravel. Unable to keep the motorcycle on the road, the driver lost control and the cycle went into the west ditch.

Town of Watertown A one-vehicle crash at 8:50 p.m. Aug. 9 resulted in a citation to a Lake Mills driver for inattentive driving. The incident took place on the Highway 26 ramp 200 feet south of Highway 19.

The driver, a male from Lake Mills, was operating a 2001 Honda Civic. The responding deputy listed inattentive driving as a factor causing the crash.

The crash report states that the vehicle was northbound on Highway 26 when it exited to the northbound off-ramp to Highway 19.

The driver reportedly was adjusting his radio while driving and the vehicle went onto the left shoulder of the ramp, causing the driver to lose control on the gravel shoulder.

The driver reportedly then overcorrected and crossed to the right shoulder of the off-ramp, leaving the road, striking a curb and striking posts supporting a Madison Area Technical College sign.

The vehicle then went down an embankment before coming to a rest.

Digital era threatens future of drive-ins LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Through 80 summers, drive-in theaters have managed to remain a part of the American fabric, surviving technological advances and changing tastes that put thousands out of business.

Now the industry says a good chunk of the 350 or so left could be forced to turn out the lights because they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to adapt to the digital age.

Movie studios are phasing out 35 mm film prints, and the switch to an eventually all-digital distribution system is pushing the outdoor theaters to make the expensive change to digital projectors.

The $70,000-plus investment required per screen is significant, especially for what is in most places a summertime business kept alive by mom-and-pop operators. Paying for the switch would suck up most ownersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; profits for years to come.

The United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association figures 50 to 60 theaters have already converted. At least one operator decided to close instead of switch, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not clear how many more might bite the dust. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone knows eventually that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be digital or youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll close your doors,â&#x20AC;? says Walt Effin-

ger, whose Skyvue Drive-In in the central Ohio town of Lancaster has been showing movies on an 80-foot screen since 1948. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some will. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not doing enough business to justify the expense, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just going to have to close up.â&#x20AC;?

Effinger worked at the Skyvue off and on for 30 years before he and his wife, Cathie, bought it two decades ago. They converted to digital last year, the first of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 29 drive-ins to do so. Because the films now come on a device the size of a portable hard drive and are downloaded to his projector, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less hassle for him on movie nights and gives viewers a stunningly brighter, clearer image.

Think of the picture on a flatscreen digital TV, compared with the old tube set.

The digital transformation has been underway in the film industry for more than a decade because of the better picture and sound quality and the ease of delivery â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no more huge reels of film. The time frame isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t clear, but production companies are already phasing out traditional 35 mm film, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expected to disappear completely over the next few years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know fewer and fewer

prints are being struck,â&#x20AC;? says D. Edward Vogel, who runs the historic Bengies Drive-In in Baltimore and is spokesman for the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association.

An industry incentive program will reimburse theater owners 80 percent of the cost of conversion over time, Vogel says, but because most drive-ins are small, familyrun businesses, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard for many to find the money, period.

And the reimbursement doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cover the tens of thousands of dollars more that many will have to spend renovating projection rooms to create the climate-controlled conditions needed for the high-tech equipment.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a dilemma also faced by the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small independent theaters, many of them struggling to pay for conversion to digital years after corporate-owned multiplexes already did it.

Darci and Bill Wemple, owners of two drive-ins in upstate New York, hope an online competition will help them with the $225,000 to $250,000 they figure it will cost to switch their three screens.

The American Honda Motor Co. is compiling online votes for the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite drive-ins and is going to pay the digital conversion costs for the top five vote-

getters. The Wemples say that if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get help, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to consider closing up. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To make this kind of conversion with three screens is like trying to buy another drive-in all over again,â&#x20AC;? says Darci Wemple, whose El Rancho theater in Palatine Bridge is among dozens of drive-ins featured in the Honda ad promotion.

The number of drive-ins peaked at more than 4,000 in the late 1950s. Now there are 357.

Robyn Deal and Dave Foraker have been going to the Skyvue in Lancaster since they were both in school in the 1960s and early â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;70s. On a recent weekend night, they sat together in folding chairs outside their car, blankets on their laps and their 12-yearold dachshund, Wilson, getting lots of attention just before a double feature of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Turboâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Wolverine.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;So much of our heritage is going away, and this is one of them,â&#x20AC;? said the 60-year-old Foraker, who figures his first movie at the Skyvue was â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?â&#x20AC;? around 1966. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of the things I did when I was kid are gone,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to keep whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left.â&#x20AC;?

Fort Atkinson City Council Proceedings MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN August 6, 2013 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER A workshop of the City Council was called to order by President Lescohier at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.

2. ROLL CALL On call of the roll, members present were: Bill Camplin, Paul Kotz (arrived at 6:02 p.m.), John Mielke, Davin Lescohier, Dick Schultz was excused.

Others present: City Manager, City Clerk/Treasurer, City Engineer, City Attorney, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Building Inspector, Public Works Supervisor, Library Director, Museum Director, Parks and Recreation Director, City Electrician, and numerous other City employees.

3. DISCUSS FIVE-YEAR FISCAL FORECAST FOR THE GENERAL FUND The City Manager began the meeting by indicating she had prepared D ÂżYH \HDU ÂżVFDO IRUHFDVW IRU WKH *HQHUDO )XQG 7KLV ZDV VRPHWKLQJ WKDW Carlson-Dettmann asked the City to prepare for the pay study they are conducting. The assumptions made when completing this forecast were no wage increases from 2014 to 2018; a 2% increase for utilities; pension

between the two by 2018, with the expenses being much greater than the revenue.

Mr. Carlson said part of the reason the revenues and expenses have JRWWHQ WKLV ZD\ LV WKDW RYHU WLPH UHYHQXHV KDYH Ă&#x20AC;DWWHQHG RXW DQG SURSHUty values have fallen. The economy has not rebounded very rapidly, and the City is limited by the State on how much revenue they can raise, and the expenses keep going up. He said the longer you spend dealing with the situation, the harder it will be to deal with. He feels that the proposed gap tends to argue for some heavy emphasis on performance-based pay, if not, the City may be dealing with a reduction in staff or bidding out certain services.

Mr. Carlson said a pay plan makes sense if it is internally fair, which means employees are shouldering the burden equally. We cannot continue to grant pay increases to protective service employees that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not prepared to push forward for other employees, or there will get to be a wedge in the organization. If the plan is internally fair, and the pay ranges UHDVRQDEO\ UHĂ&#x20AC;HFW ZKDW HPSOR\HHV FDQ HDUQ LQ WKH ODERU PDUNHW SHUIRUPing similar duties, it supports employee August 16, if2013 2:35 pm / development, and employees have an opportunity to make more based on their contributions, and you can fund it and maintain it consistently, it is a pretty good pay plan.

Mr. Carlson said the question of the Council tonight, is which of those

nisse and bogeymen want the child, but it is nonethe- international adoptions annually by families in the U.S., which by ments of an overac- less wanted by someone.

Evidence? what the08/14/2013 way is very expensive. In ination in a young Black River Falls Jackson Consider County Chronicle fictional creatures in Mother Teresa repeatedly said to many of those cases, the children n folklore? Maybe. the Clintons in the 1990s: “Give are not newborn but older. was a time in Norway en many grownups hey were real. Is it der that a couple m boys of Norwegian Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. hought that maybe, e, they weren’t just Van Hollen continues to be a major folktales but could disappointment on matters of pubund in the dark cor- lic records and freedom of information. police have been very open in r haymow at night.

Last week he issued an opinion working with journalists, in spite of ect that if our barn tanding today, and if concluding that “Wisconsin law the city legal department’s insisup in that dark hay- does not prohibit residential lease tence on following the advice to n, my heart would provisions that require a departing redact.

Our police clearly understand le faster, every little tenant to pay for routine carpet that spending quality time with a ld take on a sinister cleaning.”

We’re very pleased for a solution Sharpie and a public document d those dark shadows does nothing to make our city safer, l be dancing on the to the black marks on the carpet.

But our attorney general contin- as they were trained to do. roof of the barn as So, if you want to find out who res of the night came ues to sidestep a far more important issue — black marks that police ran into your vehicle, for instance, e more. draw to blot out what should be you’ll likely have to ask your insurpublic information on public law- ance carrier to obtain what otherenforcement reports. wise should be a public document Nearly five dozen police agen- open for all to see. cies in Wisconsin, including La The Illinois case involved inforCrosse police, are following the mation written on a parking ticket. hronicle, 34 S. First advice of a municipal insurance After that 2008 Illinois case, o (715) 284-0087 or carrier who believes that a 2008 which still may go to the U.S. onicle.com. Please legal case in Illinois dictates that Supreme Court, Van Hollen issued rs must be signed or personal information should be an opinion recommending that l submitted materiredacted from initial police reports. Wisconsin agencies should not . No letters pertainThe irony is that the Illinois restrict the release of DOT data. before the election. police don’t black out information That was then. based on the case.

Since then, an insurance carrier We need to say that La Crosse has buffaloed a growing number of

son to abort any child since every child is a wanted child.

Pastor Sam Faust Merrillan

AG Van Hollen fails test on openness Other Views

POLICY

police agencies in Wisconsin into redacting Department of Transportation data — an obstacle to access for the public and a waste of time for police.

That’s why a chorus of journalists has asked Van Hollen to provide further guidance to the state’s lawenforcement agencies and let them know that releasing the data, without redaction,is their public duty as laid out in state law.

One newspaper, the New Richmond Times, has sued the city of New Richmond for restricting public information.

As for our attorney general: In addition to clearing up the carpetcleaning conundrum, his office has issued a statement saying the attorney general won’t comment until there’s a resolution to the case in New Richmond involving the 2008 case in Illinois.

So, given his previous opinion, can Van Hollen say he has done his duty for openness in Wisconsin?

Just barely.

— La Crosse Tribune

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blished weekly on t-of-state subscripr Falls, WI 54615. tmaster: Send Form ounty Chronicle, 34 WI 54615. The paper of the Wisconsin

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August 16, 2013 2:37 pm /

Poynette Press 08/15/2013 Poynette press file photo What a difference a year makes. Cracks on the bottom of Goose Pond in July 2012.

es, Martin said most of the minnows by late summer. we approved last year covers prairie plants went dormant Martin said Goose Pond the cost,” trustee Kevin during the extensive drought. receives runoff water from Marquardt said at the Aug. 5 Even the wetland seeds in the about 3,000 acres of watershed Copy Reduced to %d%% from original tomeeting. fit letter page dried pond came back fullthat includes most of the vilIn October 2012, the vilforce when the spring rains hit lage board approved annual and runoff began to fill the See POND, page 12

Obamacare, environmental protection in Wisconsin and an update on the legislative session,” he said.

See VILLAGE, page 5

PUBLIC RECORDS

Information restricted by police Names, addresses, blacked out in reports

By Jake Kurtz Hometown News Group Police in DeForest and Poynette are among 56 departments statewide currently opting to black out information previously made readily available to the public through reports.

The redactions are the latest result of a nearly 20-year-old piece of legislation and subsequent Illinois lawsuit two years ago related to the dissemination of personal information by authorities.

Spurred by the murder of 21year-old Rebecca Schaeffer at her Los Angeles, Calif., home five years before, the Driver's Privacy Don White Poynette Protection Act Police Chief (DPPA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. An actress, Schaeffer was shot to death by a stalker who managed to track her using a private detective and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Since enacted, the DPPA has prohibited the disclosure of personal information, such as a home address or driver's license number, obtained by authorities through Department

of Motor Vehicles records. The law went relatively unnoticed until 2010 when Jason Senne sued the village of Palatine, a northwest Chicago suburb, for a parking ticket he received.

The citation had Senne's name, address, driver's license number, and other information — all reportedly obtained through the state's DMV — listed on it.

The case was dismissed by a district panel of judges in August 2011, but a year later, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (with its Wisconsin jurisdiction) ruled that sufficient evidence existed to support Senne's claim that the ticket and it's bounty of intelligence, which sat visible to passersby for hours, violated

INDEX Calendar Churches Classifieds Legals

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News Obituaries Opinion Sports

Poynette Editor: Rachelle Blair rblair@hngnews.com

his privacy. the matter.

Under the DPPA, Palatine, The Senne case and it's which quit putting personal financial implications, along information on tickets followwith the DPPA, are today ing the being lawsuit, used by faces police $2,500 departfines for ments to every withhold similarly informadetailed tion in citation connecissued tion with Don White over a arrests, Poynette Police Chief car accifour-year dents, statueof-limiand tations period. That could cost other crimes. the municipality upwards of The amount and types of $80 million. information withheld by law The city has asked the U.S. enforcement agencies varies.

Supreme Court to weigh in on In DeForest and Poynette,

“The bottom line is you can get sued if you release the person's information.”

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5 2 4 7

Details of the Veterans’ Memorial upgrade.

Sports Editor: Sam Rodriguez srodriguez@hngnews.com

names, addresses, and dates of birth are commonly excluded from issued reports.

In one extreme case, Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said police have yet to release the name of a driver who caused a crash in June that took the life of an elderly woman.

“Whatever the DPPA requires is what we are redacting,” DeForest Police Chief Robert Henze explained.

“The bottom line is you can get sued if you release the person's information,” Poynette Police Chief Don White said.

White said his office began the redactions “a few months ago” after being advised to do

See REDACTED, page 6

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REDACTED: From page 1 so by legal counsel. He plans to continue the practice “until the Palatine case is straightened out and we get some guidance.”

“Obviously under open records requests, if you deny one of those it's a $1,000 fine,” White continued. “Under DPPA it's up to $2,500, plus attorney fees. That can get rather expensive.”

Asked if he has received complaints from locals about the pared down reports coming from his office, White said “Not so far.”

Henze said he and DeForest's city attorney are “working on a new policy” and that “something will be coming out pretty quick on that.”

“We're in the research and revising stage right now,” Henze added.

Sun Prairie Police are among the majority of departments statewide that don’t currently redact reports. Assistant Chief Scott Faust said it's Sun Prairie's policy to err on the side of the open records law, but he understands why others hold a different stance.

“This is one of those situations where our particular branch of government is waiting for another branch of government to give us a definite opinion,” Faust said.

Supporters say they are simply being cautious. Opponents say the black outs violate Wisconsin's open records laws.

“This is not what Congress intended when it passed the federal [DPPA] act, and not what the federal court in the Palatine decision intended,” Lueders said.

Lueders said he expects the “overzealous” interpretation of the DPPA and Senne case to continue and potentially spread “until the courts make a determination whether this is necessary.”

An update released last week by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association points at a November 2012 analysis from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities (LWM) as “the impetus for police around the state to begin redacting accident reports prior to releasing them to members of the media or general public.”

Specifically, the LWM notice states that “… law enforcement agencies should evaluate all the ways in which they use information obtained from DMV records in order to avoid violating the Drivers Privacy Protection Act.” Lueders said he also believes the redactions are being performed as a ‘lesser of two evils’ option by law enforcement.

“Basically, they would rather get sued for violating open records laws because the fines are so nominal compared to the privacy act,” Lueders said.

“I think that's a key part of this.”

The New Richmond News in March filed a lawsuit against the city of New Richmond alleging that the

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Wisconsin Newspaper Association graphic

Police in DeForest and Poynette are among 56 departments statewide currently opting to black out information previously made readily available to the public through reports.

police department there is unfairly restricting access to information.

The case is awaiting a federal court decision on the newspaper's motion to return jurisdiction to St. Croix County Circuit Court. Officials within the state Attorney General's Office last month said they will not address the matter until the New Richmond case is addressed.

“Should the New Richmond litigation be dismissed or resolved without a court ruling, this office may reevaluate whether to offer new guidance in light of Senne,” Assistant

Attorney General Kevin Potter said.

The redactions have not surfaced with law enforcement in Illinois or Indiana, where the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals also has jurisdiction.

Summer Sunday Worship: 9 a.m.

adults during the 9 a.m. service.

Sundays at 6:30 is Middle School youth. Wednesdays at 6:30 is Awana and Divorce Care and 7:00 is High School youth.

Other small group Bible studies meet throughout the week. Senior Pastor: Brian Erickson. Youth Pastor: Scott Larson.

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Send Letters to the Editor to Rachelle Blair at rblair@hngnews.com or vote in the poll at www.poynette pressonline.com

POYNETTE AREA CHURCHES BURKE LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA) 5720 Portage Road, Madison (608) 244-8486 email: burkelutheran@att.net Check out our website: www.burkelutheran.org

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Waunakee Tribune 08/15/2013

reserved for those who volunteer more than 20 hours per year.

Gericke put in that many hours durCopy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page ing some weeks.

During (GERICKE continued on page 2)

Lawsuits have police redacting records

BY JAKE KURTZ HOMETOWN NEWS GROUP

Police in DeForest and Poynette are among 56 departments statewide currently opting to black out information previously made readily available to the public through reports.

The redactions are the latest result of a nearly 20-year-old piece

• The Waunakee girls’ golf team will tee off for the first competition of the season.

See page 13.

of legislation and subsequent Illinois lawsuit two years ago related to the dissemination of personal information by authorities.

Spurred by the murder of 21year-old Rebecca Schaeffer at her Los Angeles, Calif., home five years before, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in (REDACT continued on page 10)

Classifieds.................................19-23 Coming Events.............................6 Early Files.......................................24

Local police see changes, too

BY ROBERTA BAUMANN MANAGING EDITOR

The Palatine lawsuit that dissuaded police there from including personal information on parking tickets has had reverberations in the Waunakee Police

Opinion..........................................11 Neighbors...............................4-5 Sports.........................................13-14

Department and most others throughout Wisconsin.

“This has really changed a lot of things about how we go about open records requests,” said Waunakee Police Chief Kevin Plendl.

(LOCAL continued on page 10)

Phone – (608) 849-5227 Tribune fax – (608) 849-4225 Email address tribnews@hngnews.com Website www.waunakeetribune.com

August 16, 2013 3:05 pm /

Waunakee Tribune 08/15/2013

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

The Waunakee Tribune – Thursday, August 15, 2013, Page 10

Redact

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Continued from page 1

1994. An actress, Schaeffer was shot to death by a stalker who managed to track her using a private detective and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Since enacted, the DPPA has prohibited the disclosure of personal information, such as a home address or driver's license number, obtained by authorities through Department of Motor Vehicles records. The law went relatively unnoticed until 2010 when Jason Senne sued the Village of Palatine, a northwest Chicago suburb, for a parking ticket he received.

The citation had Senne's name, address, driver's license number, and other information — all reportedly obtained through the state's DMV — listed on it.

The case was dismissed by a district panel of judges in August 2011, but a year later, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (with its Wisconsin jurisdiction) ruled that sufficient evidence existed to support Senne's claim that the ticket and its bounty of intelligence, which sat visible to passersby for hours, violated his privacy.

Under the DPPA, Palatine, which quit putting personal information on tickets following the lawsuit, faces $2,500 fines for every similarly

detailed citation issued over a fouryear statue-of-limitations period.

That could cost the municipality upwards of $80 million.

The city has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter.

The Senne case and its financial implications, along with the DPPA, are today being used by police departments to withhold information in connection with arrests, car accidents, and other crimes.

The amount and types of information withheld by law enforcement agencies varies. In DeForest and Poynette, names, addresses, and dates of birth are commonly excluded from issued reports.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, is watching the outcome closely.

In one extreme case, Lueders said, police have yet to release the name of a driver who caused a crash in June that took the life of an elderly woman.

“Whatever the DPPA requires is what we are redacting,” DeForest Police Chief Robert Henze explained.

“The bottom line is you can get sued if you release the person's information,” Poynette Police Chief

‘Basically, they would rather get sued for violating open records laws because the fines are so nominal compared to the privacy act.’

–Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Don White said.

White said his office began the redactions “a few months ago” after being advised to do so by legal counsel. He plans to continue the practice “until the Palatine case is straightened out and we get some guidance.”

“Obviously under open records requests, if you deny one of those it's a $1,000 fine,” White continued.

“Under DPPA it's up to $2,500, plus attorney fees. That can get rather expensive.”

Asked if he has received complaints from locals about the pared the down reports coming from his office, White said “Not so far.”

Henze said he and DeForest's city attorney are “working on a new policy” and that “something will be coming out pretty quick on that.”

“We're in the research and revising stage right now,” Henze added.

Supporters say they are simply being cautious. Opponents say the black outs violate Wisconsin's open

Local

________________________________________Continued from page 1

Plendl said in the past, particularly with street storage issues, warning notices were left often with the name and address of the registered owner. Now just the license plate is included.

Today, accident reports are no longer left up front at the police station’s reception area for the public to see.

Typically, police would receive requests for accident reports from individuals working for attorneys looking for new clients to represent, Plendl said.

Today, only the name of the person is left on the accident report, Plendl said.

Blacked out are the address, date of birth, and phone number.

Plendl said more information is released to the media, however.

“That has not changed a great deal,” he added.

Overall, the release of public information is a balancing act when weighing open records laws with an individual’s right to privacy.

“It’s beneficial to the public to have as much information as possible within certain parameters,” Plendl said.

‘It’s beneficial to the public to have as much information as possible within certain parameters.’

records laws.

“This is not what Congress intended when it passed the federal [DPPA] act, and not what the federal court in the Palatine decision intended,” said Lueders.

Lueders said he expects the “overzealous” interpretation of the DPPA and Senne case to continue and potentially spread “until the courts make a determination whether this is necessary.”

An update released last week by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association points at a November 2012 analysis from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities (LWM) as “the impetus for police around the state to begin redacting accident reports prior to releasing them to members of the media or general public.”

Specifically, the LWM notice states that “… law enforcement agencies should evaluate all the ways in which they use information obtained from DMV records in

order to avoid violating the Drivers Privacy Protection Act.” Lueders said he also believes the redactions are being performed as a “lesser of two evils” option by law enforcement.

“Basically, they would rather get sued for violating open records laws because the fines are so nominal compared to the privacy act,” Lueders said. “I think that's a key part of this.”

The New Richmond News in March filed a lawsuit against the City of New Richmond alleging that the police department there is unfairly restricting access to information.

The case is awaiting a federal court decision on the newspaper's motion to return jurisdiction to St. Croix County Circuit Court.

Officials within state Attorney General's Office last month said they will not address the matter until the New Richmond case is resolved.

The redactions have not surfaced with law enforcement in Illinois or Indiana, where the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals also has jurisdiction.

Grant

Pause a Moment

___________Continued from page 3

“These treatment dollars are a critical component to help people turn their lives around.”

Poisoning deaths have reached near historic levels in Dane County, surpassing vehicular crashes as the number one cause of death. Two-thirds of poisoning deaths are due to drug overdoses.

–Kevin Plendl, Waunakee Police Chief He noted that releasing too much information can result in liability issues for a community and cited a recent memo from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Mutual Insurance.

That memo from July includes legal advice stemming from court decisions based upon the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).

Overall, it advises municipalities to consult counsel when handling open records requests and reminds municipal employees that the federal DPPA “protects the privacy of personal information assembled by the State Department of Motor Vehicles.”

That information includes the photograph, social security number, driver identification number, name, address, telephone number and medical or disability information,

according to the memo.

It allows government agencies to use such information in matters of vehicle safety, theft, statistical reports and for other matters “so long as personal information is not disclosed or used to contact individuals,” the attorney’s memo notes.

Any exception to the law “does not allow for the disclosure of information to attorneys for their solicitation of potential clients,” the memo states.

A little boy was listening to a long and excessively boring sermon in church. Suddenly the red sanctuary lamp caught his eye.

Tugging his father's sleeve, he said, "When the light turns green, can we go?"

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Three Lakes News 08/14/2013

Wisconsin Newspaper Association battling for access to public records ___________

BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

In recent months, Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) staff, along with attorneys and lobbyists, have been battling to regain access to public records which have been redacted from police reports in 56 municipalities statewide.

The censored information largely includes data obtained through Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records.

“A growing number of police and sheriff's departments from across Wisconsin have either slowed or stopped the free flow of information regarding their actions — information that had been routinely available,” said WNA Communications Director Mary Callen.

“This disturbing trend flies in the face of Wisconsin’s open records law, which instructs officials to err on the side of openness,” she said.

Among the area agencies reported by the WNA to have redacted public records information is the Rhinelander Police Department and the Sawyer County Sheriff ’s Department in Hayward.

Agencies in Vilas County, including the Eagle River Police Department and Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, have proven cooperative with open records requests from the media, according to the WNA.

Concern among agencies began in the wake of an Illinois lawsuit involving Jason Senne, who sued the Village of Palatine after a parking ticket displaying personal information was left overnight on his windshield.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Senne, citing a violation of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

As a result, agencies throughout Wisconsin have begun to withhold information out of fear of possible litigation.

However, some, like Oconto Police Chief Dan Ault, say that holding back information about car accidents is an inconvenience to drivers and law enforcement officials.

“All we were really doing is making it harder on the people in the accidents,” said Ault in a Green Bay Press Gazette article last month. “If I’m in an accident, every day I’m without a car or getting it

fixed, it’s an inconvenience, and this prolongs the inconvenience. I don’t want to contribute to the problem.”

In March, the New Richmond News filed a lawsuit against the City of New Richmond, alleging the city’s police department is unreasonably restricting access to timely information on accident and incident reports.

The case is currently awaiting a federal court decision on the newspaper’s motion to return jurisdiction to St. Croix County Circuit Court, according to Callen.

“Since that time, more and more municipalities have begun to redact information obtained through DMV records from reports,” she said.

The WNA is not alone in its effort to reverse this trend.

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council also are working to regain access to public records.

“Most WNA editors have

Eagle Lake meeting set A meeting with all Eagle Lake property owners will be held Saturday, Aug. 24, at 9 a.m. at Eagle Waters Resort to discuss the present and future direction of the lake.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss issues critical to Eagle Lake. This will

be a town hall style meeting with open discussion. Property owner input is needed, according to meeting organizers.

Eagle Waters is located at 3958 Eagle Waters Road. For more information, call Jan Winter at (715) 617-3900.

noted that local police and sheriff’s departments are not in favor of redacting the DMVobtained information, but feel they must based on directives from attorneys and insurance companies,” said Callen.

In addition, the Wisconsin Association of County Corporation Counsels has requested an opinion from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, along with city attorneys representing Milwaukee, Brookfield, Neenah, Wauwatosa, Madison and West Allis.

Assistant Attorney General Kevin Potter said Van Hollen’s office wouldn’t comment on the matter until the New Richmond case has been decided.

The Three Lakes News COVERING NORTHEASTERN ONEIDA COUNTY

Established 1931 PUBLISHED AT 425 W. MILL ST. EAGLE RIVER, WI 54521 vcnewsreview.com

By Eagle River Publications Inc. Publication #553770 Member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the National Newspaper Association

Entered as periodical mail matter at the post office, Three Lakes, WI 54562, under an act of April 23, 1980. Published every Wednesday. Subscription price for a year: Vilas and Oneida counties only, $50; rest of Wisconsin, $57; out of state, $68. Mail subscription to The Three Lakes News, P.O. Box 243, Three Lakes, WI 54562. Payable in advance.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes, form 3579, to Vilas County News-Review, P.O. Box 1929, Eagle River, WI 54521, phone (715) 479-4421, fax (715) 479-6242.

August 15, 2013 1:25 pm /

Waunakee Tribune 08/15/2013

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t a - at least for now. ssailed the idea, his ker would look at it if it gislature. Republican o tried to head off criticism, saying there ussion of it among their

officials have urged blican-controlled legextend the anti-union ve sectors. They argue ment workers should be police and firefighter rge part of municipal

nions aren't the only argets in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin donors to his ike to see the state k" law which would rship in private-sector nents contend it would nd in the state. Indiana a law. cutive director of the al Police Union, said ke a presidential candinor of Wisconsin. appeal to some extreme tional basis," Palmer

political consideraicans will be seeking a to run against U.S. Sen. beral Democrat. That assuming he isn't electn 2016.Walker may re unions if he wants to

The Waunakee Tribune – Thursday, August 15, 2013, Page 11

What’s too much information?

BY ROBERTA BAUMANN MANAGING EDITOR

As a reporter for more than 20 years now, I’ve always been an advocate of open records laws. Nothing frustrates a newspaper professional more than information withheld.

Fortunately, Waunakee officials within the school district and village government – its municipal courts and police department – have been more than cooperative with open records requests.

Without that cooperation, Tribune readers would find a void in their newspaper when they looked for police calls or municipal court news. Some might applaud that void, but most seem to like the list of calls and citations the Tribune prints each week.

It gives them a little information about the police activity in their neighborhoods.

Still, the release of information is a balancing act for the Tribune, the Waunakee Police Department and municipal court. As the Tribune reports this week, police departments across the state are working harder to comply with the 1994 federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, a law that requires departments to withhold personal information.

President Bill Clinton signed that bill into law after an actress, Rebecca Schaeffer, was shot to death by a stalker who managed to track her using a private detective and Department of Motor Vehicle records.

It prohibits the release of information found within the Department of Motor Vehicles with some exceptions.

For the Tribune, the concern is releasing enough information so that readers are

LETTER FROM THE

EDITOR

clear on the facts. For instance, to print that John Smith received a speeding ticket could implicate several individuals. To clarify, we like to include Mr. Smith’s age, as well.

At one time, we also released individuals’ addresses in the municipal court reports. That’s likely to change.

Already the Tribune made the decision not to list municipal court news with addresses online. This decision came after two separate complaints from women who had been cited for speeding yet months later had stalkers contacting them.

Online, any Google search of their name brought up their municipal court report, complete with address. While we feel informing the public is important, putting people at risk is unnecessary. Those online records are accessible long after the citation is issued and at all times.

That said, we should also be aware that interpretations of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act can be taken to an extreme.

Certainly names of individuals should be released and even addresses when safety is at stake. This is certainly the case in the release of a sex offender. When arrests are made, the public has a right to the basic information.

When deciding to release or print personal information, one should ask what it will or can be used for. If information can be used for harmful purposes, it might be wise to leave it out.

August 16, 2013 3:06 pm /