Wheeler News - Morning State News #1 - 12/1

Wheeler News Service – Thursday, December 1, 2011 - Morning State News #1

Editor on duty: Thom Gerretsen (715) 389-2373
Story contributions: wheelernews@yahoo.com
Wheeler Blog: http://learfielddata.blogspot.com

Here are the headlines:

State regulators recommend a six-month law license suspension for former Calumet County D-A Ken Kratz...
The federal E-P-A proposes stricter rules for cleaning the ballast water on incoming ships that brought in almost 200 invasive species...
Opponents of Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan get enough signatures to force a recall election...
Bon Iver and its leader from Eau Claire receive four Grammy Award nominations.

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Here are the details:

A former eastern Wisconsin prosecutor who resigned for making sexual remarks to women might have his law license suspended, and be temporarily forced out of his current private law practice. Ex-Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz had a complaint filed against him yesterday. The state's Office of Lawyer Regulation asked the Supreme Court to suspend his law license for six months for multiple violations of the attorney conduct code. Kratz resigned his D-A's post 14 months ago, after it was learned that he sent over 30 racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim in 2009. He was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend at the time. The new complaint also said Kratz made lewd comments to a female social worker who was worried about testifying in a parental rights case -- and to a woman who wanted him to help her get a pardon for a drug conviction. Regulators also said another woman accused Kratz of sexually assaulting her three years after he prosecuted her for theft in 2006. Kratz said the sex was consensual, but regulators still said it was offensive behavior. The incidents reportedly happened around the same time in '09. The text messages showed that Kratz called the domestic abuse victim a "hot nymph," and he claimed to be her "prize" with a 350-thousand-dollar house. Other women then came forward and said he made similar remarks to them. Former Governor Jim Doyle had started the process of removing Kratz from office when he stepped down in October of last year. Kratz and his attorney have not commented on the new complaint. He has 20 days to give the Lawyer Regulation office a response.

-12/1-

The federal E-P-A has proposed stricter rules for cleaning the ballast water on foreign cargo ships that dumped almost 200 invasive species into the Great Lakes, and caused billions in environmental damage. The new rules are similar to those endorsed by the International Maritime Organization seven years ago. Ballast water is a balancing agent that keeps ships from tipping over. And both the E-P-A and Congress have hesitated to adopt uniform standards until the House voted last month to impose the international rules. The E-P-A wants to make vessels install technology that can kill at least some of the foreign organisms before they're dumped in U-S ports. The standards would take effect in 2013, and the shipping industry says they're doable. Steve Fisher of the American Great Lakes Ports Association said it allows room for changes after four years. But environmental groups say the proposed standards are not strong enough. Thom Cmar of the Natural Resources Defense Council calls it a "half-step forward." Both sides say federal rules are preferable to the patchwork of ballast water regulations that states are imposing. New York is scheduled to adopt standards in 2013 that are 100 times stricter than the international rules. And Wisconsin and other states have balked, claiming their foreign business would be cut off. That's because incoming ships must pass through New York to get to the Great Lakes. The E-P-A will take public comments for 75 days on its new rules.

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Opponents of Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan were successful in forcing a recall election against him. City Clerk Sue Richards said yesterday that enough valid petition signatures were filed to order the Common Council to schedule the vote for January 17th. Ryan is being targeted for three major alcohol-related episodes in the first two-and-a-half years of his four-year term. The latest was in July, when he admitted going on a three-day drinking binge in Elkhart Lake. Recall organizers needed 41-hundred-21 signatures, and they got over 600 more than that. Richards says she won't know the final number of valid signatures until later today. But she said 10 different computer checks and other processes convinced her that enough signatures were obtained. Richards will give her report to the Council on Monday. Ryan says he won't challenge the petitions, and he'll wage what he calls a "vigorous campaign" to keep his job. Ryan admits he's an alcoholic, and is getting help.

-12/1-

Bon Iver and its leader from Eau Claire have received four Grammy Award nominations. Justin Vernon's group was nominated last night for both the best record and the best song with "Holocene." Bon Iver was also nominated as the best new artist, and the best alternative music album with the self-titled "Bon Iver." Kanye West led the way with seven Grammy nominations. Adele had six. The selections were unveiled during a prime-time concert on C-B-S. The 54th Grammy Awards ceremony will be held February 12th in Hollywood. Two other artists with Wisconsin connections also received nominations. Tierney Sutton, who went to Glendale Nicolet High School, had his self-named band nominated for the best jazz vocal album, "American Road." And Butch Vig, formerly of Madison, was nominated as the non-classical producer-of-the-year for the album "Wasting Light" by the Foo Fighters.

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