United States of America
A versatile, dynamic leader and community partner with more than 20 years experience in print and broadcast journalism. I am a skilled communicator with significant training and experience in investigative reporting, editing, and data-based storytelling, with strong leadership and organizational skills.
In late April, the federal government released a progress report on its Police Data Initiative, which asks local police to publish better data on their operations. Launched in May 2015, the program aims to increase transparency on police actions, reduce crime, and build trust between communities and police.
On March 18, Dylan Yang of Wausau was convicted of stabbing and killing 13-year-old Isaiah Powell, a middle school student who had come to Yang's house over a conflict that began on social media.
A proposed partnership between Hard Rock International and the impoverished Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin would funnel millions in profits back to Florida if Gov. Scott Walker approves the plan to open an $808 million casino complex in Kenosha.
It's 4:00 am, the morning of the first regular season Packer game of the year. Mark Fitzke can't sleep. He rises, pulls on his lucky t-shirt, and heads out the door. His dog, a 7-year-old border collie named Tulco, follows his master outside.
GREEN BAY - Just after 7 p.m. on the last Friday night in January, Mario Victoria Vasquez took a deep breath and walked out the door of the Brown County Jail. Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team reporter Shereen Siewert.(Photo: Gannett Wisconsin Media) He wore unfamiliar second-hand jeans, shoes, a sweater and jacket, all of which had been handed to him, he said, by a jailer a few minutes earlier.
About a month ago, Jim Nick was having a burger at Hiawatha Lounge in Wausau when an old friend, Wausau East Principal Brad Peck, walked in and struck up a conversation. Nick told Peck, "You know, I went to Wausau East, and I've been thinking about how I could help the kids there who might need a little leg up.
In a world where appearances matter, James, a Wausau native and vice president of a local bank, fits in nicely. He's widely known in social circles, is a volunteer for several charitable organizations and a recipient of at least one community award. He favors well-cut suits, crisp white shirts and leather loafers.
My father, who died in early 2008, knew just about everything. He could remodel bathrooms, change diapers, rewire electrical outlets, cook a mean breakfast, build fences and fix lawn mowers. As the plumbing inspector for the city of Wausau for more than 30 years, he knew just about every contractor, city official, attorney and business owner in town.
The operation began around noon on Friday, Sept. 16, in the basement of the Marathon County Sheriff's Department. There, in a newly designed space detectives call the "war room," carefully crafted ads were posted on Craigslist and Backpage.com to snare potential child predators.
In the battle over who will spend the next four years as Wisconsin's governor, the funds fueling the race are flowing from distinctly different sources. The challenger, Madison Democrat Mary Burke, is her own top contributor, spending $430,528 so far. The second-highest amount came from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the public-sector labor union that represents thousands of teachers.
A critical tool used by judges to sentence convicted criminals is under fire, prompting a possible review by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. MADISON - Wisconsin's highest court could decide whether judges are violating thousands of criminal defendants' rights by using specialized software to assess whether they are a risk to society.
Near Madison, a 23-year-old man sexually assaults an 18-month-old child during live Skype video chats with a man in Louisiana who records the episodes for future viewing. Near Fond du Lac, a former police officer from the Milwaukee area drugs and sexually assaults at least a dozen girls ranging in age from 6 to 14 at a campground, filming each attack.
MADISON - In the wake of a police shooting that left an unarmed black teen dead, officials in Madison say they welcome discussions about how to overcome the continued racial disparity that plagues the city.
Enslaved: Sex Trafficking Cases Pervasive, Hard to Crack
Enslaved: Prosecutors Seek New Tools to Combat Sex Trafficking
Fighter jet flyovers, performances of the national anthem and other patriotic displays are popular with fans. This year at Lambeau, military honors won't be funded with taxpayer money. GREEN BAY - Football fans at Lambeau Field will see plenty of patriotic displays and military salutes this season, but none of them will be funded by tax dollars.
In the movies and on TV, when a person goes missing, there's a flurry of activity. Notices instantly appear online and on milk cartons. Volunteers start sweeping the forest. Police hold press conferences with tearful family members, begging for their loved one's return. It's portrayed as an extraordinary event.
APPLETON, Wis. - Behind the gray walls of Fox Lake Correctional Institution, Daniel Frisch - in his pale green prison jumpsuit, wire-rimmed glasses and thinning, sandy hair - is counting the days until he is a free man. The 53-year-old Manitowoc man is one of about 30 people in Wisconsin with at least a dozen drunken driving convictions.
Wisconsin is one of just nine states that treats 17-year-old offenders as adults. A bipartisan coalition wants to send them back to the juvenile system for the first time since 1996. MADISON - Seventeen-year-olds arrested for shoplifting, underage drinking, petty theft and a host of other nonviolent offenses will be kept out of adult corrections facilities if a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has its way.
Police in Rhinelander have long been aware that "sexting" - sending sexually explicit photos or text messages - is popular with teenagers. But until November, when the mother of a Rhinelander High School student turned over a nude image of one of her son's classmates that she found on his cell phone, law enforcement officials had no idea the problem was so pervasive.
Prompted by a recent Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team report on drunken driving, two state lawmakers from Brown County want to permanently revoke the driving privileges of chronic offenders. Rep. Eric Genrich, a Democrat from Green Bay, said his proposal is a direct result of the I-Team series, "Under the Influence," published in November.