MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Milwaukee police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday in a popular downtown park after a struggle in which the man grabbed the officer’s baton and struck him in the head.
The park where the shooting took place is one of the most visible areas of the city with workers frequenting a Starbucks there, children skating at the ice rink and, in warmer weather, teens and young adults gathering to ride unicycles. The park also is across the street from the historic City Hall building downtown, and many people inside heard the shots, including Bill Arnold, the public information manager for the city of Milwaukee.
Arnold said he was on the other side of the building on the third floor when he heard six to eight shots in “quick succession” and walked to the north side to see what happened. He had little doubt they were gunshots.
“We made that determination quickly because of the way the sound reverberated and the quickness of the sounds all in a row: bam, bam, bam, bam,” he said.
He looked outside and saw police officers and first responders doing chest compressions on the suspect.
Police Chief Ed Flynn said the beat officer in that neighborhood had gone to the park after receiving a call about a man who was lying on the ground. When the officer arrived, he helped the man to his feet and then started to check him for weapons.
“A struggle ensued. The officer withdrew his baton, and it is our understanding that he began to defend himself, at which time, the subject took it from him,” Flynn said. “The subject began to beat the officer with the wooden baton, striking him in the head.”
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker did not disclose Wednesday how much he was paid to write a book he released last fall, providing only the bare minimum required on a statement of economic interest form he filed with state regulators.
The form showed Walker received payment of more than $1,000 from his publisher for “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge,” which was released in November. Walker co-wrote the book with Marc Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush.
Walker’s book further fueled speculation that the first-term Republican governor is positioning himself for a 2016 presidential run. Walker faces re-election in November; he’ll be challenged by likely Democratic nominee Mary Burke, a former state commerce secretary and Trek Bicycle Corp. executive. Burke is required to file her statement of economic interest by June 5.
Walker has declined to say how much he was paid for the book, which detailed his high-profile 2011 fight with public unions and the subsequent recall election. Penguin Group imprint Sentinel, the book’s publisher, has also declined to say how much Walker was paid.
As of Sunday, the book had sold 18,000 copies in six months, according to Nielsen. Its numbers account for about 85 percent of the print book market. Nielsen does not track any e-book sales.
Walker’s non-disclosure drew criticism Wednesday from his political foes, who have also called on Walker to disclose who donated to his legal defense fund that was first established to deal with a criminal investigation into his former aides and associates.
“This report shows Gov. Walker continues to keep secret from the people of Wisconsin both the details of how much he personally enriched himself for his lucrative pre-presidential campaign book deal, as well as who financed his criminal defense fund,” said Scot Ross, director of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. “Given the corruption, cronyism and incompetence surrounding his administration, the people deserve much more information than what Gov. Walker has shielded from public scrutiny.”
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser is still paying off debts associated with the 2011 election that nearly cost him his seat on the bench and cost his supporters around $700,000.
Prosser defeated challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in a race that included public financing and millions in spending from outside groups. An anomaly in Prosser’s narrow victory led to the first statewide recount in more than two decades. The results confirmed Prosser won the election by just 7,004 votes. But it came with a price.
Three years after the victory, the team behind Prosser’s campaign and political action committee is still trying to raise money to pay off about $200,000 in remaining debt associated with the election and recount.
“Since 2011, the debt-retirement environment has been challenged by a near-constant election cycle,” wrote Brian Nemoir, Prosser’s 2011 campaign director and adviser to the Prosser Victory Recount Fund, a political action committee.
Campaign finance reports show Prosser’s campaign account amassed nearly $233,000 in debt between January and July 2011. Most of that went to legal fees for Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, a Milwaukee law firm, which didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The most recent filing, covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2013, showed the campaign had paid just $33,000, most of it coming from in-kind donations from the Prosser PAC. The next report is due in July.
Meanwhile, the Prosser PAC recently received help from former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, who appointed Prosser to the bench in 1998. Thompson sent out an email in January this year asking for donors to repay a “debt of gratitude” to Prosser.
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BELLEVUE, Wis. (AP) - Police say a young boy who survived being thrown from a car in a weekend accident in Bellevue was not properly restrained.
Investigators say the 22-month-old child either wasn’t properly restrained or was not restrained at all.
The crash happened Sunday afternoon on a ramp to westbound Wisconsin 172. The 23-year-old driver was thrown from the car and died.
Brown County sheriff’s Capt. Randy Schultz tells Press-Gazette Media (https://gbpg.net/1n0jQIJhttps://gbpg.net/1n0jQIJ ) two child seats were found in the car and neither was properly fastened.
Schultz says high speed and failure to use a seat belt were factors in crash.
The boy was returned to his mother after being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
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