MILWAUKEE (AP) - Republican leaders in the state Legislature called on state Rep. Bill Kramer to resign Saturday, saying they were dismayed by allegations that he sexually assaulted a political aide three years ago.
Kramer, a Waukesha Republican, was charged Friday with two counts of second-degree felony sexual assault. He’s scheduled to make an initial court appearance April 14.
Kramer used to be the Assembly’s majority leader, the second-most powerful position in the Assembly. But the chamber’s Republicans stripped him of the position earlier this month amid separate allegations that he sexually harassed a lobbyist and a Wisconsin legislative staffer in February.
After those allegations surfaced, pressure began to build on Kramer to resign the seat he’s held since 2007. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called on him to step aside, and Gov. Scott Walker said if the allegations against him were true, he should not hold office.
Kramer didn’t resign but said he will not run for re-election in November.
The latest allegations came to light Friday with the release of a criminal complaint in which a woman told investigators Kramer shoved her against her car after a Republican event in 2011. She said he tried to kiss her, groped her breasts and told her he wanted to have sex with her.
Kramer acknowledged kissing her good night but denied groping her, according to prosecutors. The complaint quotes him as telling a detective the woman “has very nice doctor-enhanced breasts. I am not a big fan of those. I like the real ones.”
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RACINE, Wis. (AP) - When Branden Kerr recently arranged to sell a video game console on Craigslist, he suggested to the buyer that they conduct the swap at a Milwaukee police station. The buyer, who’d previously agreed to the deal, replied by text that he was no longer interested.
“You can infer what you want from that,” said Kerr, 29, of Racine. “It seems pretty shady when someone is willing to pay money, and when police get involved, they back out.”
Law enforcement agencies say it’s not often that residents use a police lobby to seal a deal made online, but they like the idea. They say it’s a neutral location that allows both parties to keep their home addresses private, and having officers nearby makes it far less likely that one party will swindle the other.
Kerr came up with the idea because of his experience as a military police officer. He said he’s been trained to be cautious and not take unnecessary risks.
So when he decided to sell his Sony PlayStation 4 along with video games and an extra controller, he was careful not to reveal too much personal information. He used a smartphone app that allowed him to text without revealing his actual phone number, and he never gave out his home address.
After the first buyer backed out on March 8, Kerr sold the equipment to a Milwaukee buyer the next day for $690. That man didn’t mind meeting at a police station.
Jackson Police Chief Jed Dolnick, the president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, said it’s a “nice option” for online buyers and sellers to meet in a police lobby. He said he’s only aware of it happening a few times across the state, but it’s an idea that makes sense, especially because there have been reports of criminals using Craigslist to find victims.
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Green Bay School District plans to spend $2.5 million to buy 5,000 laptops for students in four grade levels.
The Chromebook computer will be used in math and language-arts classes for grades 6, 7, 9 and 10. They’ll also replace older equipment in some elementary schools, Press-Gazette Media reported (https://gbpg.net/1ldwXmzhttps://gbpg.net/1ldwXmz ).
This isn’t the first time the district has invested heavily in technology. Officials bought about 900 smaller laptops in 2012 for students in sixth and ninth grade classes.
The latest purchase frees the smaller laptops for checkout by students who don’t have computers at home.
Administrators say the new technology will be useful as the district continues to use the Common Core State Standards, a nationwide educational guideline released in 2010 and adopted by Wisconsin.
Students will use computers to access materials for math and language-arts content that fits with the new standards, administrators said. They’ll be able to use the new laptops in school but won’t be allowed to take them home.
Teachers will use a Google application for educators that allows students to access documents from home computers or smartphones. It also teachers to monitor how much time students spend working on a particular assignment.
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RACINE, Wis. (AP) - Racine police say a man has died after being shot downtown in an early-morning attack.
Police responded Saturday about 1:15 a.m. to a call for a shot fired. A Journal Times of Racine report (https://bit.ly/1lcPJdIhttps://bit.ly/1lcPJdI ) says they found a 21-year-old man who’d been shot.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. His name hasn’t been released.
The crime scene was still blocked off about 8 a.m., with police vehicles parked nearby and white chalk markings that indicated the apparent location of the shooting.
Police ask that anyone with information call the investigations unit at 262-635-7756.
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Information from: The Journal Times, https://www.journaltimes.comhttps://www.journaltimes.com
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