MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Embattled Wisconsin state Assembly Majority Leader Bill Kramer’s office said Saturday that he has checked into a treatment center while fellow Republicans pushed ahead with plans to strip him of his leadership position amid charges that he sexually harassed multiple women.
Kramer’s office released a two-sentence statement saying the Waukesha Republican was entering treatment and would have no further comment. The statement did not say what type of treatment he was seeking.
Two Republicans with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier Saturday that he was being asked to resign among charges that he harassed multiple women Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., and again Thursday on the flight back to Wisconsin.
Then later Saturday, the Assembly Republican leadership released a statement saying they planned to hold a vote Tuesday in an attempt to strip Kramer of his position.
“We believe the serious nature of the alleged incidents require us to ask the Assembly Republican Caucus to remove Rep. Kramer from his position as the Assembly Majority Leader,” according to the statement. “It is clear he has lost our trust and confidence.”
Kramer, who was elected by Republican Assembly members as majority leader in September, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Republicans who know about the allegations said that GOP Assembly leaders met late Friday to discuss the situation and agreed that Kramer should step down as majority leader. They spoke anonymously because attorneys had not authorized them to comment publicly.
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MILWAUKEE (AP) - If the vehicle you just bought turns out to be a lemon, you’ll have less time after this weekend to seek damages from the manufacturer and you won’t get as much money.
The restrictions that went into effect Saturday drew broad bipartisan support when state lawmakers approved them last year. Supporters said the previous law left too much room for abuse by consumers and lawyers. Opponents say the new rules favor corporations over people.
The lemon law applies to new vehicles on which the manufacturer fails to repair a warranty-covered defect even after four tries in one year, or fails to provide a timely refund or replacement. Previously, car owners had six years to sue the carmaker, and they’d be eligible for mandatory double damages. Now they have three years, and they can only get actual damages.
The changes bring Wisconsin’s lemon law in line with those in other states, said Chris Snyder, general counsel for the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association, a trade group that supported the measure.
“Consumers are still protected under this bill,” Snyder said.
Wisconsin’s efforts to water down its lemon law began last year with a bill crafted by Republican lawmakers. It would have eliminated the mandatory awarding of consumer damages and attorney fees and forced consumers to file lawsuits within two years.
After that version drew opposition, the Assembly Judiciary Committee removed the restriction on damages and allowed customers three years, not two, to file suit.
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EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - An Eau Claire native will be in the crowd at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, but he will have already won an Oscar this year.
Peter W. Anderson was honored Feb. 15 at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Awards, according to The Leader-Telegram (https://bit.ly/1pKBr76). He was given the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for “technological contributions that have brought credit to the industry.”
The 71-year-old is considered an innovator in cinematography and visual effects, including on films like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” ’’Tron” and the 1998 “Godzilla.”
“This award is a very special Oscar; most everybody who has won the Sawyer Award has been a friend or influenced my career in a positive way,” Anderson told the newspaper by phone from his suburban Los Angeles home. “I’ve been blessed to work on films that were challenging and interesting.”
Anderson graduated from Eau Claire Memorial High School in 1960 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After two years at UW-Eau Claire, Anderson decided it was time to move to California.
“I was going to go somewhere to pursue my film career,” he said.
He attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where he learned many of his filmmaking skills.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl 12 years ago in the Town of Madison has been arrested in Texas.
Manual Camposeco, 40, is being held in the Travis County Jail awaiting extradition to Dane County to face trial, according to the Wisconsin State Journal (https://bit.ly/1ocHAFChttps://bit.ly/1ocHAFC ).
“A sexual assault victim may finally see her day in court, 12 years after the crime was committed,” Town of Madison Police Chief Scott Gregory said in a news release.
According to police, on April 9, 2002, a 13-year-old girl told police Camposeco sexually assaulted her. He was arrested and charged but the girl didn’t show up for court, according to police. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning the case could be reopened later.
But on April 16, 2013, the girl contacted Town of Madison police, saying back in 2002 she had been put on a bus going to Mexico alone, so she couldn’t testify against Camposeco.
The case was reopened and Camposeco was arrested on Oct. 7, 2013, on charges of repeated sexual assault of a child. Two weeks later, he posted bail, got out of jail, sold his house and never went back to work.
A bench warrant was issued for his arrest in November, and the U.S. Marshal’s Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Minnesota, city of Madison police and Maple Bluff police worked the case.
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