Lemon law: Can an acceptable replacement be a different color? 3B Obituary: Greenhouse was Slomski’s pride and joy. 4B Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 01/26/2013 Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page Violent Femmes: Band announces first concert in 5 years. Encore/8B
GREENHOUSE SALE SAVE 30-50% OFF
REGULAR P
NEWSWATCH DELIVERED: Go to www.jsonline.com/newsletters to have a free news digest sent to your inbox each weekday, and when major news breaks
Bill would make public records pricier By JASON STEIN and PATRICK MARLEY jstein@journalsentinel.com
Madison — Government agencies could once again attempt to charge hundreds — even thousands — of dollars to release public records about how police deal with and report on crime, under a draft bill in the Assembly. The bill also would allow agencies to extend those charges to other areas, such as records on taxpayer subsidies to businesses. The proposal seeks to undo a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling last summer that found the City of Milwaukee could not charge the Journal Sentinel for the time its employees spent de-
Agencies could charge for deleting confidential details
leting from public records some information they considered confidential. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2010 open records request based on a Journal Sentinel attempt to audit two weeks of incident reports for offenses such as assault, burglary and theft. The department, which had already produced copies of 100 incident reports for free, switched gears and told the news organization the additional 750 reports would cost about $4,000 and would take police more than nine months to
produce. While the lawsuit was moving through the courts, the news organization asked for much larger crime data files from the state Justice Department and the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office. Both agencies provided those records quickly and at minimal cost. Ultimately, the Journal Sentinel reported that police had misreported thousands of violent assaults, rapes, robberies and burglaries as less serious offenses, and failed to correct the problems
or publicly disclose them. A consultant hired by the Fire and Police commission largely confirmed the findings. The consultant, who for months publicly backed Police Chief Edward Flynn and his department’s handling of the flawed crime figures, said he found no evidence of conspiracy to alter the numbers. The sponsor of the draft bill is Rep. Garey Bies, chairman of the Assembly Corrections Committee and a former chief sheriff’s deputy in Door County. Bies said he hadn’t talked with the depart-
ment or its police officers union about the bill. He said he wrote it after learning of the Supreme Court decision and talking to local officials in his district, who were concerned about being saddled with unexpected costs. “I don’t want to see the taxpayer stuck with a bill from someone who’s maybe on a hunting expedition,” he said. He said that most redactions should cost little or nothing, and that if newspapers are seeking records that cost thousands of dollars to redact, they must be makingbroadsearches.AskedspecifiPlease see PUBLIC, 3B
Referendum delay planned
In The Moment
Sanfelippo will give supervisors time to act first By STEVE SCHULTZE sschultze@journalsentinel.com
The author of a draft bill to hold an April 2 binding referendum on slashing the pay of Milwaukee County supervisors said Friday he has agreed to up to a year’s delay on that vote to give supervisors a chance to enact their own reforms. State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) said in an interview that he’ll still introduce a bill in about a week that will call for a later referendum and likely include a major cut in the County Board’s budget. He wants the Assembly to act on the measure soon but would consider recommending amendments to the state Senate if the County Board enacts its own reforms that RICK WOOD / RWOOD@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM
Lori Krueger (left) uses a scarf to enhance her movement during a belly dancing rehearsal. To see more photos, go to jsonline.com/photos.
Moving bellies to a different beat Troupe’s organizer finds culture, art in dance By BILL GLAUBER bglauber@journalsentinel.com
O
n a cold winter night, the women rush into the warmth of a dance studio, pulling off their boots and bulky coats and tying hip scarves around their leotards. By day, they’re pharmacy techs, a sales rep, a publicist, a nurse midwife, a psychotherapist, a dental hygienist and a college student. But on this night, for two hours, they are transformed, immersed in the music
A JOUR SENTIN WATCH UPDAT
work and an understanding of the culture and the music to dance well.” Christensen is a petite dynamo who goes by the stage name of Samantha Fairuz. Born and raised in Milwaukee, she’s a married mom with a 6-year-old son. Christensen runs the Safar Dance Company. The company performs at events around the area, and its soloists can often be seen dancing on Friday nights at Casablanca restaurant on Brady St. A graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Christensen has been captivated by belly dancing since 1995. It was back then that she
In The Moment is a feature of the Journal Sentinel devoted to the people, places and character of our communities.
he considers adequate Sanfelippo, a former c supervisor. “I’m usin old trust-but-verify proach,” Sanfelippo “I’m proceeding with t but in a way that will time for (supervisors) some things on their ow “If don’t do state’s do it.” He sa would ha partisan port for measure Sanfelippo Sanfel in his month as a legislator made county reform h priority. His draft bill for an April referendu cutting supervisors’ pa to$15,000ayearandelim ing their health and pe benefits. It also would d ly cut the board’s $6.5 m annual budget to $1.1 m
Please see COUN
Walker says he plan to boost school aid
Governor addresses district officials at state convention By ERIN RICHARDS erichards@journalsentinel.com
Striking a congenial tone that contrasted with some of the bitter fights in Wisconsin education and politics over the past two years, Gov. Scott Walker told hundreds of district 5:25 officials March 15, 2013 pm / and school board members Friday he intends to increase aid for schools in his biennial budColorful hip scarves with individually
likely be part of his stat get proposal schedule delivery on Feb. 20. “One of the things looking to do is put add al resources into publi cation over the nex years of this budget, in ety of ways,” Walker to crowd at the Hilton Mi kee City Center Hotel. The governor reite his support for creat pool of incentive grant would reward high-per ing or high-growth sc as well as a pool of fund help failing schools imp