I donâ??t think Iâ??m blowing a scoop by confirming that Greta Van Susteren, host of Fox Newsâ?? On the Record, was in town last week investigating the murders of Kelly Nolan, Joel Marino and Brittany Zimmermann.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and 911 Center director Joe Norwick came under heavy fire Monday night as Dane County citizens and employees complained about Falk and Norwickâ??s failures to address longstanding problems at Dane Countyâ??s 911 Center.
â??The 911 dispatch chief quite frankly doesnâ??t have the shoes for the job,â? said citizen Gary Berliot. Norwick is not entirely to blame, Berliot said, because of Falkâ??s failures to commit adequate resources to the center.
â??Iâ??d like to see both of them retire or resign.â? The audience inside the Fitchburg Community Center applauded.
MADISON, Wis. — Members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors held a meeting on Monday night to give area residents a chance to ask questions about the local 911 system.
It’s the second meeting in regards to the alleged mishandling of a 911 call.
But it was the first opportunity the public had to comment on the 911 controversy surrounding the Brittany Zimmerman 911 call.
Local officials and residents have raised questions about the 911 system after an operator was accused of mishandling a call from the cell phone of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was later found dead.
27 News has uncovered the last two Madison alderpersons assigned to a 911 Center oversight board have missed more than a year of recent meetings.
A review of the minutes of the Public Safety Communications Center Board show the common council representative to the board has missed the past fourteen board meetings.
Four Dane County Supervisors held what was supposed to be a Q&A session on Monday night in Fitchburg to address problems with the county’s 911 center. But there were many more questions, than answers.
None of the invited county and city leadership showed up, including the Madison Police Chief, 911 Center Director, County Executive, or Sheriff.
The meeting is being held three weeks after it was revealed that UW student Brittany Zimmermann called 911 the day she was murdered and police weren’t dispatched.
At the base of a State Street lamppost, beneath a banner that says “Celebrate Madison,” Darrell Regulus works the only job he knows.
He calls it “shaking the cup.” Others call it panhandling or begging for money.
“How’re you doing, sir?” he says to a middle-aged man walking by. “Can you help me out?”
Nothing.
Then Robert Weiss, 19, a UW-Madison freshman, gives him $5. Regulus’ mood improves â?? if he can get to $10, a motel owner near the Beltline will rent him a room for the night, he says.
Produce doesn’t get more local than when it is grown on the roof of the supermarket where it will be sold.
Keith Agoada and Troy Vosseller, business students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, developed that prize-winning idea for the university’s annual G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition last month. First place earned them $10,000 to invest in their business model, which they call Sky Vegetables.
Molly Somers is a woman who likes a challenge, and as the new University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band manager, she’ll certainly have one.
The Plover native will be responsible for scheduling the popular marching band’s performances, both in and out of Wisconsin, in addition to completing her studies as an elementary education major with a minor in French and education policy studies.
A few days ago Ashley Kay Huibregtse was chasing calves on a visit to her family’s dairy farm in the Town of Lyndon.
On Friday night, Huibregtse was chosen to wear the amethyst-studded tiara of the state’s preeminent ambassador for agriculture, as the 61st Alice in Dairyland at the selection finale at the Stefanie H. Weill Center.
MADISON, Wis. — Although this year’s college graduates are entering the workforce amid rising unemployment numbers and fears about the economy, graduation is still a day of joy and optimism.
This weekend thousands of students will trade in textbooks for briefcases as graduation ceremonies were held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Madison Area Technical College.
At the UW, about 5,000 Badgers received diplomas on Saturday as proud families looked on.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) A theater student who died in a fire has been awarded the first ”extraordinary” degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Peter J. Talen, 23, was killed in a house fire near UW-Madison in November.
Talen had been a student at UW-La Crosse, but took a break in the fall of 2007 and was planning to return in January 2008, said Bill Clow, interim associate dean for the College of Liberal Studies and director of the School of Arts and Communication.
Thousands of students marched out of college and into the school of life this weekend in Madison.
The Class of 2008 received their two year and four year degrees from MATC and UW Madison.
About 5,000 UW students will graduate this weekend during four commencement ceremonies held at the Kohl Center.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Ultimate Frisbee club team, the Hodags, are returning to the Ultimate Players Association College Championships this weekend in a bid for a second-straight national title.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison police have released more information about the slayings of 31-year-old Joel Marino and UW student Brittany Zimmerman.
Police said Marino and Zimmerman’s deaths do not appear to be connected.
However, in a statement released on Sunday, police said they cannot totally rule out any connection, mainly because of certain similarities.
Those similarities include that the victims were killed inside their homes, were in close proximity to each other and there was nothing in either case to suggest the victims had enemies or were at risk due to their lifestyles.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A few days ago Ashley Kay Huibregtse was chasing calves while visiting her family’s dairy farm in the Sheboygan County Town of Lyndon.
Friday night in Sheboygan, Huibregtse was chosen to wear the amethyst-studded tiara of Alice in Dairyland, the state’s pre-eminent ambassador for agriculture.
The 23-year-old Huibregtse is graduating Saturday with a degree in education and communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Madison Police believe the murders of Joel Marino and Brittany Zimmermann are not connected.
However, according to an incident report issued on Sunday, police cannot completely dismiss a connection between the cases due to similarities both share.
Both Marino and Zimmermann were attacked inside their homes during daylight hours, with the two murders being committed in a reasonably close geographic area.
Also, police believe there was nothing to suggest that Marino or Zimmermann had enemies or were at risk due to eitherâ??s personal lifestyle.
UW Madison engineering students are in a national vehicle competition that’s winding down this weekend. The UW Madison team is among 17 schools to re-engineer a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, using advanced propulsion technologies to increase fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Team Leader Dan Mehr Mehr says it’s been a challenge getting all the components biodiesel-electric hybrid entry to work together smoothly.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Ultimate Frisbee club team, the Hodags, are returning to the Ultimate Players Association College Championships this weekend in a bid for a second-straight national title.
The tournament, which features the best open and women’s college teams in the nation, is being held Friday through Sunday in Boulder, Colo.
A 21-year-old UW-Madison student was injured Thursday when her bicycle was struck by a car at the intersection of Lathrop Street and Van Hise Avenue on Madison’s west side.
Madison police said the driver of the car was southbound on Lathrop and the bicyclist was eastbound on Van Hise shortly after noon Thursday.
Madison fire investigators have learned that the fraternity whose Langdon Street house was destroyed by fire early Tuesday recently suspended a member for an alleged sexual assault.
Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter President Mike Miesen said he doesn’t believe there’s any link between the assault allegation and the subsequent fire, and he said the fraternity didn’t tell fire investigators about the assault allegation until after a Wisconsin State Journal reporter asked about it.
“Pomp and Circumstance” will be the hit song of the weekend as seven commencement ceremonies take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday for three Madison institutes of higher learning.
Graduation ceremonies for UW-Madison will be at the Kohl Center Friday through Sunday, Madison Area Technical College has commencement Saturday at the Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center, and Edgewood College graduates will get their diplomas Sunday at the Coliseum.
Traffic on Dayton Street and in the Kohl Center area will most likely be congested, as UW-Madison students continue their massive move-out from Witte, Sellery and Ogg Hall dormitories on Dayton Street and Johnson Street, coupled with five commencement exercises for UW grads.
About a dozen fraternity members from the Sig Ep house that burned down on Monday night toured a new house.
This one is directly across the street from the old one.
“It’s ironic, the new one would be across from the old one,” said Ryan Sugden, a fraternity alum and spokesman for the group of 28.
“We’re committed to finding a new place where we can remain a fraternity,” said Sugden.
A man who allegedly tried to steal from the burned-out Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on Langdon Street was arrested by Madison police Wednesday night.
Wilkie L. Johnson, 43, was tentatively charged with burglary, criminal damage to property, resisting an officer, obstructing an officer, unlawful trespass and a probation violation.
She knew her Brewers, Bucks and Packers. She even surprised herself by knowing Flavor Flav.
But a bit of history that involved President John Tyler and Texas stumped Suchita Shah, and the UW-Madison senior saw her run on “Jeopardy!” end in a semifinal that aired on Wednesday. By making it that far, she won $10,000 at the college tournament that was filmed at the Kohl Center last month.
For some time now I have had the opportunity to offer comments on issues, both local and global, in this space thanks to the good people at the River Falls Journal.
We have explored a wide spectrum of topics and, hopefully, some of those thoughts have been useful.
TV celebrities and public officials are popular speakers at commencement ceremonies this year as colleges increasingly cater to student interests.
TV mogul and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey will speak at Stanford University, the University of Delaware has baseball star Cal Ripken Jr., and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland hosts Internet entrepreneur Craig Newmark (craigslist).
One of the biggest surprises this year was Harvard’s choice of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
A growing number of colleges are recasting the tradition of senior-class gifts by encouraging their graduating classes to focus more on giving â?? preferably money the college can spend as it sees fit.
MADISON, Wis. – If you want to find out who one of the youngest Democratic superdelegates in the country supports, check out his YouTube video.
University of Wisconsin-Madison student Awais Khaleel, 23, became the first superdelegate in the country to use the popular Web site to announce his endorsement of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
MADISON, Wis. — Several members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors announced plans to hold a community meeting next Monday in connection to the county’s 911 system and the ongoing controversy about whether a call from the cell phone of a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student was mishandled.
The meeting, which is set for 6 p.m. in Fitchburg, will feature comments from several local officials with time for questions from the public regarding the death of Brittany Zimmermann, 21, in early April and the call that came from her cell phone to the Dane County 911 Center.
Dane County 911 Center director Joe Norwick, Dane County executive
Investigators collected debris, ash, and burnt wood today from the scene of the fraternity fire on Langdon Street.
Head Investigator Lt. Brad Olson told 27 News it’s too early to say what caused the fire, although he says it started somewhere in the rear of the house.
“All possibilities are still on the table,” said Olson.
The State Crime Lab will analyze the material for possible evidence of arson. Olson says this is part of any routine investigation into such a large fire without an obvious cause.
Representatives of Dane County law enforcement agencies and fire departments asked for more time before deciding whether to support changes in 911 Center practices to have police and fire departments notified of every 911 call.
The review of center practices was ordered by County Executive Kathleen Falk and prompted by the mishandling of a 911 call from the cell phone of murder victim Brittany Zimmermann.
Two of five previously undecided superdelegates in Wisconsin have endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, including a previously undecided superdelegate from Madison.
College student Awais Khaleel announced his decision in a video posted on YouTube. Khaleel did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday.
Monday UW graduate student He Chang was in a panic.
His family lives in Sichuan Province.
16 miles away from the earthquake’s center.
“I started to call my family, and I couldn’t get to them. So I was worried,” Chang says.
After hours of frantic calls, he talked to his family who was scared, but safe.
They described the chaos to him over the phone.
MADISON, Wis. — Several members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors announced plans to hold a community meeting next Monday in connection to the county’s 911 system and the ongoing controversy about whether a call from the cell phone of a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student was mishandled.
Barack Obama may have lost West Virginia’s primary on Tuesday, but he won an online “contest” that has yielded him a pair of additional delegates to this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
And that’s got the senator from Illinois personally welcoming a University of Wisconsin student as his latest delegate catch.
Two weeks ago, the president and vice president of College Democrats of America — both convention superdelegates — posted a YouTube video that asked young people to tell them to commit either to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
“Let me tell you, the responses were overwhelming,” said CDA Vice President Awais Khaleel, a UW senior.
Dane County Supervisor John Hendrick is absolutely right when he says that an independent investigation of the troubled Dane County 911 Center is needed. And the investigation should not stop there.
Each day brings new evidence to suggest that:
1. The 911 Center mishandled a call from UW student Brittany Zimmermann, who was murdered April 2.
2. Investigations of that murder and others have been plagued by miscommunications.
3. Top elected and appointed officials have been more concerned about avoiding controversy than they are about making necessary changes to guarantee public safety.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater fraternity has been suspended for three years to try to stop a troubling culture of underage drinking and hazing, an official said Wednesday.
Assistant Dean of Student Life Mary Beth Mackin said the university suspended Tau Kappa Epsilon after learning that alcohol and underage drinking were the central focus of many fraternity events. Many members routinely drank to excess, she said.
Pledges also were forced to eat and drink strange things such as raw onions and prune juice, were yelled at by senior members and made to do exercises, chores and other acts of servitude, she said.
Madison Police Officer Angie Dyhr realizes that had she happened upon the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity fire even five minutes later, the result could have been devastating.
Dyhr, 33, a mother of three, was patrolling Langdon Street in her squad car when she noticed what appeared to be a campfire or a grill fire in the back of 237 Langdon St. So she pulled in the driveway and notified dispatch right away.
Two weeks earlier she had gone through an in-service training with the fire department, where she learned how quickly a house can become engulfed in fire. She was taught that any time she witnesses a fire — no matter how small — to get on the radio and alert the Fire Department.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and three other media outlets sued Dane County and Madison Tuesday for withholding public records, including a tape of a 911 call made from a murdered college student’s cell phone.
The media groups are seeking the tape and other public records related to a 911 call made from Brittany Sue Zimmermann’s cell phone around the time she was killed April 2. Officials have acknowledged that the 911 dispatcher did not call Zimmermann’s phone back as is required under county protocol, but they have refused to release a copy of the tape, an uncensored copy of an investigation into how the call was handled and other documents.
More than two dozen Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity members who were forced to flee their burning house in Madison now face finals week without their computers or books.
None of the 28 fraternity members living at the house on Langdon St. near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus were injured in the fire, which was discovered late Monday by a police officer who saw a glow coming from the back of the building.
All that online pressure, all the instant messages on AIM and Gchat, all those YouTube comments and Facebook messages and wall posts added up to something: Two more delegates for Sen. Barack Obama.
In a YouTube video posted shortly before midnight yesterday, Lauren Wolfe and UW-Madison student Awais Khaleel, who as president and vice president of the College Democrats of America are among the youngest Democratic superdelegates, endorsed Obama. In the two-minute video, Wolfe said: “We’ve received over 5,000 e-mails . . . hundreds of YouTube comments. . . . We support Senator Barack Obama.”
Madison fire officials are searching for the cause of a fire late Monday and early Tuesday that destroyed the historic Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at 237 Langdon St.
Fire Department spokesman Eric Dahl said Tuesday afternoon that evidence from the blaze has been sent to the state Crime Laboratory to test for accelerants to determine whether the fire was arson.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison fire investigators have cleared the scene of a fire at a fraternity house on Langdon Street, but there is still no word on what caused the fire at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house late Monday night.
The Madison Fire Department said the fire caused about $750,000 in damage.
Authorities said that the first fire call came in at about 11:40 p.m. A Madison police officer in the area said she noticed a glow coming from inside the fraternity house and went to investigate. Upon discovering the fire, Officer Angie Dyhr said she pounded on the fraternity’s front door to get the attention of residents. She helped safely evacuate everyone inside.
MADISON, Wis. — Four television and newspaper media organizations filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Dane County, the city of Madison and Madison Police Department as part of an effort to obtain open records information concerning the county’s 911 system and the investigation into a University of Wisconsin-Madison student’s death.
The smoke billowing from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on North Langdon Street was so intense, you could smell it eight blocks away.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries, but no students were hurt.
The fire destroyed the house worth 750 thousand dollars. 28 students must now find alternate places to live.
Within an hour after firefighters came to battle the fraternity house on fire, the UW Dean of Students and her associates were on the scene helping the students who lived inside the house.
Argyle Wade, an associate dean of students, says it’s his office’s job to reach out to the students and help them deal with classes.
Angie Dyhr is a bubbly, but shy, police officer who was on routine patrol Monday night on Langdon Street.
Driving by fraternity houses, something caught her eye inside the 3-story white Sig Ep house.
“I saw what looked like campfire, maybe a grill,” she says.
Officer Angie Dyhr was the officer who noticed the fire. She says she just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Langdon Street isn’t even her assigned patrol area.
Dyhr says once she saw the flames she immediately thought back to the training she just underwent that taught her how to react in this type of emergency. She started banging on the door to get the student’s attention was able to get all of them out of the house. As soon as the door opened she says black smoke came billowing out. From the looks of it she didn’t think any of the students knew what was going on but is just thankful they all made it out alive.
Teach for America, the program that recruits top college graduates to teach for two years in public schools that are difficult to staff, has experienced a year of prodigious growth and will place 3,700 new teachers this fall, up from 2,900 last year, a 28 percent increase.
Wisconsin, Berkeley and the University of Texas are each sending 50 recruits.
The 25 students evacuated from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity are being assisted Tuesday in finding temporary living quarters, and the police officer who pounded on the door of the house to awaken and then evacuate all inside is being nominated for a Madison Police Department life-saving award.
The fire destroyed the fraternity at 237 Langdon St., displacing the 25 students living there during finals week.
UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam said all of the young men fleeing the fire Monday night had housing for last night.
“We are checking on where they can go this week,” Berquam said, “possibly into the short-term dorms, but we’ve also had citizens offer their homes to the students for the duration of finals week.”
In the wake of the Brittany Zimmermann phone call to the Dane County 911 center, staffing of the center has improved, and more equipment is coming, according to the chair of the committee overseeing the center.
“The good news is we are making progress in the strategic plan for the 911 center,” said County Board Supervisor Brett Hulsey. “But questions remain on how we deal with hang-ups and how to educate people to take 911 off their speed dial.”
Joe Norwick, 911 center director, gave an update to the Dane County Board’s Personnel and Finance Committee on Monday.
Since the death of Kelly Nolan, a 22-year-old UW-Whitewater student who disappeared after partying on State Street, Madison residents have seen two more tragic killings of young people in which the questions far outnumber the answers.
Hundreds of students stood in shock as they watched fire consume the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on Langdon Street late Monday and early Tuesday during finals week at UW-Madison.
It appeared the three-story building at 237 Langdon St. would be a total loss. All 25 residents of the house were safe.
The Brittany Zimmerman murder investigation is profoundly troubling on many levels.
Certainly, the fact it’s the third of a string of recent unsolved murders apparently involving strangers is disconcerting as it should be. Let us never be blase about murders in our community. But the Zimmerman case has shed further light on a significant trend in the Madison Police Department — secrecy. And this policy of secrecy is causing the public to lose confidence in a police department that is risking its credibility.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison firefighters battled a fire at a fraternity house on Langdon Street early Tuesday morning.
The blaze started around midnight at a three-story house in the 200 block of Langdon Street, near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Hundreds of students gathered outside and watched as the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity appeared fully engulfed in flames.
The smoke billowing from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on North Langdon Street was so intense, you could smell it eight blocks away.
One firefighter was injured, but no students were hurt.
The fire destroyed the house, according to a fraternity member. 25 students must now find alternate places to live.
Madison police officer Angie Dyhr spotted the fire around 11:40pm. She saw a burning glow from the back window of the white building, and thought it was a BBQ grill.
Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor is traveling the state, urging eighth graders to sign up for the Wisconsin Covenant. The program seeks to get kids into higher education.
In Rhinelander, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton told students education is necessary to have good job prospects. She says every student should have some form of post-high school education if they want to have a family supporting job.
Fire destroyed the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Wisconsin-Madison early today, leaving 25 residents displaced, three firefighters injured and an estimated $750,000 in damage, according to the Madison Fire Department. [With an accompanying video link]
Instead of cramming for finals, 25 members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity sat on a Metro Transit bus early this morning at the corner of Langdon and Frances streets keeping warm as dozens of Madison firefighters battled a massive fire that enveloped their fraternity house.
The fire department got the first call at 11:41 p.m. Monday after a city of Madison police officer noticed a glow that she thought was a grill at the back of the house, said Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez. When the officer investigated she found that the back of the house was on fire, Galvez said.
Madison – On April 2, in the light of day, the unthinkable occurred on a quiet street in Madison.
The murder of Brittany Zimmermann, a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student, sent a shock through Madison, putting people on guard and on edge.
People like Kate Maternowski.
