Miles Of Smiles: Jefferson Student Collects Toothbrushes For Homeless

by Denise Lockwood (Editor) Caledonia Patch, December 03, 2012 at 09:14 PM

Eight-year-old Maren DeSonia told her parents that instead of getting presents she really only wants her aunt to come visit her on Christmas Day.

That’s the kind of kid she is. And it’s one of the reasons she took on her community service project so seriously when her second-grade teacher, Colleen Strain at assigned it to her. The project, part of the school’s International Baccalaureate program, focused on helping students understand their community better and to teach them to be risk takers.

The class watched a video on homelessness, what causes it and how basic needs go unmet – like brushing your teeth. Amanda and Maren talked about HALO, and how they help homeless people. Maren said she would like to collect toothbrushes, and the two set a goal for collecting 50. And after the first day they decided to raise their sites a little higher – to 150.

Instead, they collected 1,006, and they're thinking of holding a collection next year, too.

Maren’s mom, Amanda Aebly DeSonia, knew this project would challenge Maren, but they were in awe of how the community responded to her call for donations. Business leaders printed up signs, Piggly Wiggly owner Ralph Malicki jumped in and allowed Maren to set up a collection box at his store on Washington Avenue, local orthodontist Dr. Chu donated toothbrushes,Wilson’s Coffee and Tea in Racine also served as a donation drop off location and Ayra’s gas station owner Akil Ajmeri in Caledonia donated 200 toothbrushes. Even Maren’s schoolmates donated toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Asking people for donations was a little difficult for Maren.

“She’s an old soul, this is not normally in her comfort level,” Amanda said. But they worked on that. Maren posted videos on her Facebook page. “You amazed us,” Maren said in a video. “We had so many people that cared enough to donate even more than one toothbrush; they gave two, three, and four toothbrushes.”

This week the two contacted HALO Director Brenda Thomas, and they toured the facility with her so that when Maren does her presentation Monday, she’ll know about the stigma of being homeless.

“We talked a lot about our ideas of why people are homeless and what a homeless shelter is,” Amanda said.

Maren initially thought HALO would be a cold institutional-type place with cots lined up along the walls and people wearing uniforms. But as she walked around the home with her mom, she realized the reality of being homeless is much different.

“Everyone has chores they have to do, but you have to make a plan to make their life better,” Maren told her mom.

Brenda explained to Maren and Amanda that HALO provides resources for people to get back on their feet. They also looked at the internal workings of the facility, which houses 100 people.

“Imagine how much toilet paper, cold medicine, diapers and Kleenexes they go through,” Amanda said.

Maren left the facility feeling confident that she was helping her community.

All week people dropped off toothbrushes at her home and they were amazed at how much the community cared about this project.

“We looked at the community we live in and we see how people are so kind,” Amanda said. “Every day, the packages kept coming from people I haven’t seen for 20 years. There are so many lessons to be learned from this, but the biggest lesson Maren learned was how many people that wanted to support what she was doing.”

Gov. Scott Walker Gets An Earful From Area Employers

This story was originally posted on the Caledonia Patch and written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), November 09, 2011 at 04:38 AM
 
Gov. Scott Walker held an economic forum at Modine Manufacturing Tuesday with officials from the private sector, state officials, and small business owners.

Employers talked about their frustrations and what prevented them from adding staff. They discussed the difficulties in finding capital funding, having to litigate unemployment claims, navigating the bureaucracy at local municipalities to gain permits, working through the state regulatory process, and finding skilled workers.

Walker vowed to work on issues with staff and help create legislation that would address issues ranging from everything from tort law reform to looking at how technical education is taught.

Russell Gnatt, president and CEO of The Spectrum Group, said small businesses are having problems finding capital from banks, but they are also having problems with cash flow.

"One thing that I hear from the executive round table I participate in…. is that small businesses are saying that 'If I do something for GE, I have to wait 105 days to be paid," Gnatt said. "Capital that is something that has to flow. Collecting it somewhere doesn't do anybody any good. So if businesses aren't responsible enough to keep the money flowing, I don't know what the government can do."

Gnatt told Walker he would rather have his taxes raised to 20 percent rather than have his customers pay 60 days late. And he would hire people if his clients were paying him on time.

"Going from 30 to 60 days (in not being paid) would kill me, but another 10 to 15 percent increase in taxes would just be uncomfortable," Gnatt said.

Walker said he'd like to fix both problems because his goal was to help businesses create 250,000 jobs. Those jobs would come 10, 15, and 20 at a time and not in groups of 100.

"So we need to be mindful to what happens to small and mid-sized businesses," Walker said. "And that's where the job growth is."

Walker said the forum helped him connect with job creators to understand what issues they are facing.

Caledonia Meat Market Owner Buys Kayne's Custard

This story was originally posted on the Caledonia Patch and written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), January 19, 2012 at 06:41 PM

Danny Johnson, owner of , 1317 Four Mile Rd., bought Kayne’s Custard, the neighboring business.

Johnson said he’s going to be expanding the business by adding more comfortable booth seating, speeding up the drive-thru and having more of a café feel to the restaurant. They plan to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, they’ll offer a dipping cabinet that has eight different kinds of ice cream, feature comfort food, and have nightly specials.

“People will be able to go through the drive-thru for quick service or they’ll be able to have a sit-down meal,” Johnson said.

Johnson started the project a few weeks ago and he’ll likely re-open the business in three to four weeks.

Gambling Machines Land Businesses in Hot Water

 This story was originally posted on the Caledonia Patch and written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), April 06, 2012 at 06:27 PM.
 
Three business owners have been ordered to remove illegal video gambling machines that were paying out cash, after compliance checks by the and the state Department of Revenue.

Two of the business owners also sold cigarettes and tobacco products purchased from Illinois and did not have a Wisconsin tax stamp, police said.

“We’re assisting the Department of Revenue in their investigation and we are following up to make sure they are complying,” said Caledonia Police Detective Melissa Stardy.

State and police officials inspected , 600 Four Mile Rd.; , 6900 State Highway 31, , 3100 6 Mile Road; and 601 Four Mile Rd. Akil Ajmeri owns Ayra’s and Deli-Food Xpress.

What police found

Amandeep Mahal, owner of Four Mile Food & Liquor, just received his liquor license in October. He had several video gaming machines, which he was told needed to be removed. He had eight boxes of cigarettes that did not have the Wisconsin tax stamp on them. He told police that he had purchased the old inventory from the previous owner, which is also illegal, according to the report.

Mahal declined to comment.

Patch also called Mian Jalil, owner of Four Mile Petroleum, but no one returned the call.

A DOR investigator asked Ajmeri if he had gambling machines in his stores, Deli-Food Xpress and Arya’s, and he said no. However, Stardy indicated in her report that she knew Ajmeri had them there. He was ordered to remove them as well.

Three video gambling machines were found in Ayra’s. Ajmeri told police that he rents space for the gambling machines to Winner’s Amusement for $100 a month, that he doesn’t receive any money from the machines and he wasn’t aware that he couldn’t have them, according to the report.

Patch tried to reach Ajmeri, but he did not return the call.

All of the businesses have a Class A liquor license, which is what makes their gaming machines an issue.

Running afoul of the law 

Under state law, gambling of any type is prohibited in businesses with retail Class A liquor licenses, which allows them to sell alcohol that is not consumed on the premises. DOR or law enforcement officials can arrest the licensee and charge them with a felony for having any video gaming in their business.

In all of the Caledonia cases, the special agent with the DOR gave the business owners five to seven days to get rid of the machines, according to a Caledonia police report.

Police also seized the Illinois-purchased cigarettes from the businesses. Illinois taxes cigarettes at 18 percent, Stardy said, while Wisconsin's cigarette tax is 71 percent.

“The law also says that if you are going to sell cigarettes and tobacco products in Wisconsin that they have to be purchased from distributors in Wisconsin,” Stardy said.

Caledonia Police Chief Toby Schey said he’s not certain about the intent of the business owners who purchased the cigarettes from Illinois.

“I think some of these businesses are part of bigger enterprises,” Schey said. “So the thinking is that if they can go buy 100 cases of product… then you get a better price. We’re not sure if the intent was to defraud the Department of Revenue or not.”

Prosecution unknown

Schey said the state wants voluntary compliance in terms of businesses getting rid of the machines, but where the case will go from here is unclear.

“We really need to know what the DOR’s position is on this,” Schey said. “What is the state’s position, will the DA prosecute these cases? We also need to know what is the village’s position? And what is the (village's) Legislative and Licensing Committee’s position? And what’s the heartbeat of the community on this?

“I think from the state’s standpoint, it’s seen as a revenue source. But if we enforce this, are we going to have the backing we need or are we spinning our wheels?”

Schey said he'll be submitting the police reports to the Legislative and Licensing Committee and the members of that committee will need to decide whether the owners will need to come in front of them to discuss the issue.

At this point, the investigation by the Department of Revenue will continue.

Business Courting Caledonia Holding Off Until 2012

This article was originally posted on the Caledonia Patch and was by Denise Lockwood (Editor), December 13, 2011 at 07:44 PM.

The Village of Caledonia may see a new business built and one expand within the Franksville Industrial Park, but the project comes with a potential $8.9 million catch for taxpayers.

The Village Board voted 4 to 1 to move forward with a feasibility report that could create a tax incremental finance (TIF) district to expand the Franksville Industrial Park by 390 acres. Jerry Griswold opposed the project, but Jim Dobbs, Tom Weatherston, Ron Coutts, and Kevin Wanggaard approved it.

New Jobs, New TIF?
The report, which was written by Ehlers, a consulting firm the Village hired, calls for the expansion to occur in two phases, one that includes 152 acres and one that includes 238 acres. The first expansion would mostly serve two unnamed businesses, according to the report.

The two developments are expected create 70 jobs with an annual compensation between $35,000 and $55,000. And with the total build out of both phases, the district is expected to “spur” $66 to $88 million in new, and taxable, industrial development.

The total cost of the infrastructure improvements carries a price tag of $12 million. However, 25 percent of the cost would likely be paid for with grants, and the Village or the developer would finance the remaining cost of the infrastructure project, which would cost $8.9 million for both phases. The money would be used to improve the truck route, utilities, roads, sewer and water service, and add a rail spur, signage and lighting. However, the project doesn’t have to be completed all at once, said an official with Ehlers.

What is a TIF District?
A TIF district is a development tool municipalities can use to attract business. The way it works is that a financing district is created and a base value of that district is established by the taxing jurisdictions. The increased value of the property is still charged at the base rate, but the district uses the increased tax revenue to pay for the infrastructure projects.

This means those taxing entities (Village, County, Racine Unified and Gateway) still receive the same amount of tax revenue before the district was created, but the increased tax revenue pays for the infrastructure costs over a 20-year period.

Why use a TIF District?
Jenny Trick, of the Racine County Economic Development Corporation, told the Village Board the names of the businesses are confidential. However, one is ready to build immediately and the other would likely build within the year, she said.

“The value of this discussion is not only through a recruitment perspective, but also a retention perspective,” Trick said. “You have a number of businesses that have already made an investment there and they are going to want to grow. And there is value in having your investment be retained. So you want to make sure the business park is appropriate and is an attractive business park.”

Village Board Member Jerry Griswold said he's against using taxpayer money to fund a project like this.

“I say let the developer invest their money, why should the taxpayer fund this?” Griswold said. “This thing has already gone way to far in my book…. In my mind we need to do the basics, highway, fire, and police—not get involved in development.”

But part of the condition of creating a taxing district is that using the tax increment to fund infrastructure projects can only be used if the development “would either have not occurred, not occurred in the same timeframe, or would not have occurred with the same value,” according to the report.

Wanggaard supported the project.

“This area is already designated for commercial use,” he said. “It’s not as good of an area as it should have been, but we’ve got to deal with what we’ve got. And we’ve got to utilize what we’ve got instead of try to build something else…. If we have to look at getting companies here, which we do. I think that’s the place to do it.”

What's the next step?
The approval of the report doesn’t mean the project itself is approved, but it does mean the Village can move forward with holding public hearings on the contents of the report. In order to create the district, a number of entities would need to approve the project, including the Joint Review Board, the Community Development Authority, and the Village Board, and several public hearings would need to be held.

Despite Some Issues with Petitions, Recalls Likely to Move Forward

This story originally appeared on the Caledonia Patch and was written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), March 10, 2012 at 03:05 AM

The head of the agency that oversees elections in Wisconsin says there have been some instances of fraudulent signatures found on the petitions seeking to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker from office.
And with at least three outside groups going through the signatures looking for problems, Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy said his staff expects to hear even more allegations about possible fraud.

While the GAB and other agencies will investigate all such complaints, it's unlikely there will be enough of them to stop the recall from moving forward, Kennedy said in a memo released Friday.
"The highly polarized political atmosphere which has engendered the current recall initiatives has also generated a constant buzz of speculation about illegal activity with respect to the recall efforts," Kennedy wrote.
"This speculation has ranged from allegations of people signing a petition with a name other than their own, including fictitious characters, with made up addresses; claims of multiple signings by the same individual and threats of destruction of petition pages by opponents of the recall effort,"he added. "Both proponents and opponents of the recalls have spewed accusations through social media, email, voice mail, talk radio and the media."

The GAB has taken such allegations seriously, he noted, and is working with the state Department of Justice and district attorneys around Wisconsin to investigate such complaints.

However, "given the the large number of signatures over the required thresholds, it is not plausible to believe these complaints would have an impact on the ultimate sufficiency of the recall petitions," Kennedy said.
The effort to recall Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators began on Nov. 15. More than 1 million gubernatorial recall signatures were turned into the GAB, which has spent the last two months verifying them. Recall organizers needed to collect about 540,000 valid signatures to force an election.

Kennedy's memo was part of a packet of documents released Friday by the GAB in advance of the board's meeting in Madison on Monday. In the documents, Kennedy and the GAB staff said there are enough valid signatures to move forward with the of Racine.

Kennedy also is recommending that the GAB on Monday ask a Dane County judge for more time to review the Walker recall petitions and proposed that recall elections be held in May and June.

In Kenney's memo, GAB officials reported that they investigated a claim made by an unidentified Milwaukee man who said he had signed the petition 80 times. The man’s name was referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, but the GAB never found that name on the petitions.

On the other hand, Mark Demet, of Racine was charged earlier this month with two felony counts of election fraud/nomination certification and seven felony counts of misappropriating identifying information for financial gain. If convicted on all charges, Demet faces up to 42 years in prison and fines up to $90,000. Kennedy reported that those signatures were thrown out.

A Caledonia man who is a Walker supporter also told Patch that he had and planned to burn them, but then he changed his mind. No law enforcement agency has requested the man's name.

Kennedy noted that recall organizers and the Republican Party of Wisconsin have set up websites and hotlines for people to register complaints about the recall process. Verify the Recall, a website that encouraged people to register their complaints, stated they intended to the help the GAB by offering an online searchable database of the signatures.

Kennedy said it was likely the GAB would get complaints from these sources and the agency intends to take those complaints seriously even though there may not be enough to stop the recall elections.
He said that the focus of an investigation should include whether the complaints represent “a pattern of activity or isolated events.” However, the specifics of those potential investigations will be discussed in closed session by the GAB.

Caledonia Likely To Require Businesses To Pay More For Road Projects

This story was originally posted on the Caledonia Patch site and written by Denise Lockwood (Editor), January 10, 2012 at 03:13 PM.
 

If a road in front of a business needs to be ripped up and reconstructed, the business owner will likely see a slightly bigger bill for the project.
Caledonia is one step closer to requiring industrial and commercial property owners to pay more for road reconstruction projects. The Legislative and Licensing Committee will recommend to the Village Board next week that they make adjustments to their special assessment policy to pay for Village road reconstruction projects.
“The policy won’t be substantially different for residents, but it’s definitely more aggressive for the other business uses,” said Elaine Ekes
The policy would require industrial, commercial, manufacturing and institutional businesses owners to pay 100 percent of road reconstruction costs to pave the portion that abuts their property to the centerline of a two-lane road. For a four-lane road, the business would pay 60 percent of the cost for the two lanes that abutted their property to the center line of the road. The assessment wouldn’t apply to road repair projects, only road reconstruction projects where the entire road needed to be replaced.
Currently business owners are assessed with a complicated formula, but the change would allow for higher costs to be assessed to the business owner.
Officials said they were tweaking the policy because of a road reconstruction that the City of Racine and the Village will be doing on Three Mile Road just east of Douglas Avenue. Vulcan Materials, which mines the quarry, will be assessed the cost of the project under the new rules.
“We are coming more into line with what other communities are doing,” said Tom Weatherston, Committee and Village Board member. “We used to have a flat fee that was hard to figure out… we’re trying to make it a lot easier to calculate.”
The Committee also talked about the potential of assessing Siena Partners project that could include reconstructing Erie Street.
The construction project, which is the largest in the ’s history, is a partnership between the and Lincoln Lutheran. The two have joined forces to create Siena Partners, Inc. Once completed, the independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care facilities will be owned and overseen by Siena Partners, Inc. with Lincoln Lutheran as managers. Lincoln Lutheran will still run its existing facilities, and the Sisters will maintain their other ministries (Eco-Justice Center, HOPES Center, etc.) independently.
The Village is anticipating that the road will need to be brought to a higher standard, which will require a road reconstruction.
“We’re trying to change this before other projects come up,” said Kevin Wanggaard, Committee and Village Board member. “We’re not trying to ‘fee’ anyone, but these are infrastructure costs that benefit those projects.”
The recommendation will now be sent to the Village Board next week for possible action.

Get Ready For A Poppin' Good Time With Black Violin At Memorial Hall

Kev Marcus (left) and Wil B will take the stage at on Oct. 11 at Memorial Hall.

Racine, WI - An evening with Black Violin is no ordinary orchestra concert.

Classically trained viola and violin players “Wil B” Baptiste and Kevin “Kev Marcus” Sylvester -- which make up the group Black Violin -- will take the stage at 7 p.m. Oct. 11, at Memorial Hall, 72 7th St.

Black Violin describes their musical experience as “2 parts Classical, 2 parts Pop, with a splash of hip-hop, served chilled–” and  “a genre-busting collage that pushes the limits of music and dares listeners to think outside the box.”

The two men met in high school while in the orchestra together in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After college, they worked in hip-hop studios with a number of acts before joining forces, and fusing hip-hop with classical music.

Individually and together, Black Violin has collaborated with P. Diddy, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin and The Eagles. Since the group started 10 years ago, they have played hundreds of shows in 36 countries, including for President Barack Obama at the Inaugural Ball and for U.S. Troops in Iraq.

“Black Violin works hard, but makes it all look like play… Sometimes they play with the intense seriousness of orchestral soloists; at others they fiddle as if at a hoedown; at still others they strum the violin and viola like guitars,” according to the New York Times.

Sponsored by AT&T and Family Services of Racine, the event provides cultural experiences for the community.

Ticket prices range from $12 to $20. They can be purchased in advance from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Festival Hall Box Office, 5 5th St., and at the Memorial Hall box office on the night of the show. These tickets have no service fees. They can also be purchased through Ticketmaster by visiting http://www.ticketmaster.com.

People needing ADA accommodations can contact the box office at (262) 636-9229.

Pro-Recall Group Outs Facebook Page That Boasts About Destroying Signatures

One Wisconsin Now calls on all recall supporters to be vigilant, but only one instance of actual recall destruction found.

Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , November 23, 2011 at 12:56 PM, originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

Wisconsin recall supporters outed an anonymous Facebook group called Operation Burn Notice on Tuesday as a coordinated effort designed to destroy petitions signed to force Gov. Scott Walker and other Wisconsin Republicans out of office. 

Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, denounced the anonymous group, in a Madison press conference.
"We cannot allow democracy to be threatened by those who would illegally destroy recall petitions with valid signatures on them," Ross said. "We intend to keep the public informed about its rights during the signature gathering process and alert those who would engage in illegal conduct that they do so at their own peril."
One Wisconsin Now, a pro-recall group, is offering a reward for anyone who outs a person destroying signatures. The group also wants the public to know the rules with regards to the recall petition process and released a memo addressing myths that have been circulating around the recall process.
Ross said the purpose of the reward was to get leads on people destroying petitions until Jan. 14, which is the date the recall committees have to turn in the petitions to the Government Accountability Board.
Destroying or defacing petitions is a felony, which carries a $10,000 fine and up to three-and-a-half years in jail.
The group, which said they are for a fair and clean election, also sent a letter to Ismael Ozanne, the Dane County District Attorney, which notified the office of a Facebook page called Operation Burn Notice.
The letter cited several Operation Burn Notice posts that bragged about having destroyed 148,764 signatures as of Sunday.
One post stated Saturday:

The fires have been extinguished and the ashes spread. It was a very good day for a Sunday. To date, Operation Burn Notice has destroyed over 11,000 "documents". Do the math, kiddies. First correct total of signatures gets the Sunday, weekly door-prize.

To date, only one instance of actual criminal activity has been reported to the authorities in Dane County, the rest of the reports have been on other blogs and included screen shots from Facebook pages of people talking about having destroyed petitions.
In response, the group is offering a reward that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone destroying or defacing recall petitions from today through Jan. 14. The group will be taking affidavits from people who step forward and will turn those affidavits over to the appropriate district attorney, Ross said.
Last week, . Instead, they want people to think they've signed the petition, but not actually have their signatures count. The man, who asked not to have his name used, ultimately decided to turn them into the recall committee.

Man Who Allegedly Collected Phony Recall Signatures Charged

Racine County DA files nine felony counts against 59-year-old Racine man after he is accused of forging signatures on a petition to recall state Sen. Van Wanggaard.
Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , February 28, 2012 at 03:27 PM, originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

 A man accused of falsely writing in signatures on a petition to recall state Sen. Van Wanggaard — including one from a deceased person — faces nine felony charges.
Mark Demet, 59, of Racine, has been charged by the Racine County District Attorney's Office with two felony counts of election fraud/nomination certification and seven felony counts of misappropriating identifying information for financial gain. If convicted on all charges, Demet faces up to 42 years in prison and fines up to $90,000.
According to the criminal complaint, Demet admitted that he circulated the petition and signed the names of seven people on the petition. Investigators spoke to six of the people whose names appeared on the list to verify that they had not signed the petition.
Demet is expected to make an initial court appearance at 1:30 p.m. on March 13.
Randy Brandt, treasurer for the Committee to Recall Van Wanggaard, said Demet might have been planted to discredit the recall effort, but the criminal complaint doesn’t address that issue.
“The charges imply that money was somehow involved, but no one on the Committee knows him and I know we didn’t pay him,” Brandt said. “But I’m glad that the whole process is unfolding as it should. Someone who allegedly is trying to circumvent the petition process should be charged with the crimes. And it’s a pretty serious crime.”
Still Brandt believes Demet is either some sort of renegade or had some other motive.
Brandt emailed the Racine County Sheriff’s Department earlier this month, explaining that the committee members did not know Demet. Brandt acknowledged it is possible “that a small number of fictitious signatures could have been submitted by people with their own motives, and without our detection.”
He requested that the Sheriff’s Department find out what Demet’s motive was for writing in the signatures, but the criminal complaint doesn’t address the issue.

Tea Party member identifies problem

Ironically, a Wisconsin Tea Party member put two and two together in identifying the falsified signatures.
Citizens for Responsible Government of Racine is a blog written by Ken Brown, who is an active Racine County Tea Party member. Brown said he has a business relationship with Jeff Demet, Mark's brother. When he saw Jeff Demet's name on the petitions, he believed that Jeff didn't sign the petition (his name was listed four times) because the two had talked about politics. So he called Jeff.
"(Jeff) was pretty mad," Brown said. "I asked him if he knew this guy, Mark. He said, 'Yeah, he's my crazy brother.'"
Brown said he also spoke with Jason Adams, and Nick and Holley Gabey, who are Mark Demet's neighbors. They also said their signatures were forged, so Brown turned over the information to the Racine County District Attorney's Office.
Brown said the Citizens for Responsible Government of Racine is affiliated with Milwaukee's Citizens for Responsible Government, which spearheaded the recall of Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament.
"They've been going after voter fraud and have been for over 12 years," Brown said. "They've worked along with Americans for Prosperity and the Wisconsin Tea Party."
Caledonia Patch called Mark Demet to get a statement, but his mother, Mary, said he was at work.
“I don’t think he wants to talk about this with anyone,” she said.
Demet also wasn't home when TMJ4 went to his house. The TV station aired a story last week about the irregularities on Demet's petitions. 
Demet apparently tried apologizing yesterday to his neighbor Jason Adams for his actions.
But Adams wanted nothing to do with it, he said.
“It doesn’t make it right in my book,” Adams said. “… It’s pretty serious to me and it’s touched a pretty heavy chord.”

Skirmish in Caledonia Over Walker Recall Petition Lands Women in Principal's Office

Caledonia police get called during a terse exchange between two women near Gifford Elementary School, but no citations were issued.
by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , December 09, 2011 at 12:31 PM, Originally posted on the Caledonia Patch.

Caledonia Police responded to a report of a person collecting petition signatures that was videotaping people and screaming at them at 1:04 p.m. Dec. 1, 2011 at Gifford School, 8332 Northwestern Avenue.
No incident report was officially filed and no tickets were issued because the incident was handled internally by officials with the Racine Unified School District.
According to a call detail report made the next day, the woman told police she was approached by a woman who had a "Recall Walker" sign in the window of her car. The recall supporter asked the woman to sign a recall petition, but the woman refused to sign it. The recall supporter yelled at the mom saying that she apparently “doesn’t believe in democracy” and the mom asked if the recall supporter had permission to be collecting signatures on school property. The recall supporter told the woman she didn’t need permission to collect signatures because the school is a public place.
The recall supporter then started videotaping the woman, who asked her to stop taping her.  The recall supporter told the woman that she could “videotape anyone she wants.” The woman went into the school and complained to the principal, who explained to the recall supporter that she couldn’t collect signatures on school property.  The school isn’t considered public property and is a taxpayer funded facility, which the Racine Unified School District controls and the District has a policy against people collecting petition signatures on school property.
After the incident, the woman told the recall petitioner “that she hoped she got what she wanted” and the recall supporter started to videotape her again and the woman took a picture of the recall supporter.  The recall supporter then left the property.
On Nov. 15, papers were filed to begin collecting signatures to attempt a statewide recall of Gov. Scott Walker and a district level recall of several Republican Senators, including Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).
The woman called the School District and she was told to file a report. According to a story by the Racine Journal Times, someone shared a similar story with the Vicki McKenna show.

State Officials Say Holding Onto Signed Walker Recall Petitions Is Illegal

Local man says he's turning in the 150 signatures he collected saying that his plan to shred the ballots was wrong.

Posted by Denise Lockwood (Editor) , November 17, 2011 at 05:30 PM, originally published on the Caledonia Patch.

A group trying to sabotage efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker sparked outrage from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Officials with the Government Accountability Board also said collecting petitions and not turning them into the recall committees is illegal.
that a local man, who wished to remain anonymous, and at least two others, had collected signatures for the recall petition. In order to derail the recall effort, the unnamed source initially said he planned to shred them and then he said he was going to hold on to them; but now the source said he plans to turn them into the Government Accountability Board because he doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do to keep them.
But state officials said the petitions need to be turned into the appropriate recall committees, not the GAB, and the recall committee needs to collect and turn all of the petitions into the GAB all at the same time.
The man, who collected 150 signatures on Nov. 15, said he plans to turn them into the Government Accountability Board. One other person is also going to turn his in and they are going to convince a third person to do the same.
"It’s not the right thing to do, we should have known better," the unnamed source said. "The whole thing wasn’t our idea. It’s something we just stumbled on and we did it, 24 hours later we realized that it’s not a good thing to do. I’ve been thinking about it and it’s just not right. But when I think about what’s been going on all year with the protests, and what this has been doing to people, families, and friends…is making normal people do really stupid things and feel stupid things. And it’s crazy. It's absolutely crazy."
However, he told Patch that he was told there were over 1,000 people involved with the effort.
Reid Magney, public information officer with the Government Accountability Board, said the man’s actions could constitute fraud, but he does not have any specific evidence that the man had committed fraud.
"I don’t want to pass judgment on this man because I don’t know specifically what he has or hasn’t done," Magney said.
Magney offered the following advice to people who may believe they signed a petition that may not get turned in:
“If someone signed what they think is an illegitimate petition or one that was circulated by a person not on the up and up, that person can sign more than one petition,” Magney said. “There is no prohibition on signing more than once. It’s up to the recall committee to weed out possible duplicates.”
Magney added that he has had discussions with district attorney’s about the issues, but he couldn’t comment on which district attorney’s he has talked to.
“We take this very seriously,” Magney said. “We hope that local law enforcement officials will have the time to prosecute these cases if it becomes an issue.”
Graeme Zielinski, spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said people who don’t want to see Gov. Scott Walker recalled trying to sabotage the petition process are committing a felony.
“There is no gray area here,” Zielinski said. “What they are doing is highly illegal.”
Zielinski said the issue isn’t in the destruction of the petitions, but rather it’s the creation of doubt and fear.
“They want legitimate circulators to be turned away,” he said. “But we think this involves a very small number of people…. Our message to the public is: don’t let this intimidate you. You can sign a petition more than once if you think you have signed a petition that someone may have destroyed, and you aren’t violating the law.”
Zielinski called for the Wisconsin Department of Justice to look into the group collecting these signatures with the intent of either destroying them or holding onto them.
“If these folks have ties to the Republican or TEA party, they need to look at themselves at the top,” Zielinski said.
However, Bill Folk, chairman of the Racine County Republican Party and Lora Halberstadt, of the Racine TEA Party, have denounced the man's actions and both said they don't condone interfering in the petition process.
*This version of the story corrects and clarifies Reid Magney's statements about how petitions need to be turned by the recall committees into state officials, that his staff have spoken directly to several district attorney's offices, and that while the man's actions could constitute fraud, he had no evidence of wrongdoing

Don't Like Obamacare? Do Something About It

Addressing the Racine Tea Party at a forum on health care, Rep. Paul Ryan, State Rep. Robin Vos and State Sen. Leah Vukmir told the crowd in Racine County on Sunday it's time for them to take action if they want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed.
By Denise Lockwood (Editor) , January 14, 2013 at 02:32 AM, originally published on the Caledonia Patch.

Expressing their disdain for the Affordable Health Care Act, Rep. Paul Ryan and other state Republicans Sunday evangelized their anti-Obamacare message and asked the Racine Tea Party faithful to go out and spread the message that it isn’t working.
One by one, notable Republicans got up in front of the roughly 300 people gathered at the Racine Tea Party Healthcare Forum at South Hills Country Club in Caledonia. In turn, they each dissected the health-care law and said how the American people made a decision in November they may come to regret.
Headlining speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, called the law “fundamentally flawed” in its conception and implementation, and said it is doomed to fail.
“Obamacare is too overarching and it runs contrary to the practices of this country so it can’t last,” Ryan said.
Ryan told residents to start at home, educating themselves and their friends and then supporting conservative lawmakers in Wisconsin.
"We have great leaders to show us the way forward," he said. "You can fix this at the state level and show the federal government how to do it."
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said liberals and conservatives want the same thing; a government that functions well and takes care of the less fortunate. Wisconsinites, he said, do both really well, even if there's disagreement on how to reach both those goals.
“Under Gov. (Jim) Doyle, we had a massive expansion of Medicaid that included low premiums or no premiums and no co-pays and it worked great until the federal government stepped in,” he said.
But, Vos continued, Gov. Scott Walker wisely rejected setting up a state-based exchange and told the federal government they can do it so Wisconsin lawmakers aren’t left holding the bag when costs sky-rocket and residents are pointing fingers.
“We can make a difference, though, because states form the federal government, not the other way around,” Vos said.

Cost is king

Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, heavily criticized Obamacare. The Cato Institute is a non-partisan think tank, Tanner said, which leans more towards a libertarian perspective.
Tanner told the crowd the problem with the Affordable Care Act is young and healthy people would have to pay more in premiums to subsidize coverage for others — older, sicker people and those with pre-existing conditions — and their premiums would go up a lot faster.
He criticized the health care exchanges, saying the very concept was rife with government intervention. The crowd applauded Tanner’s mention of Walker’s decision to reject the state-based exchanges.
“I make a living making fun of Congress, but I want you to try to grasp this,” Tanner said. “They are going to create a place where buyers and sellers can come together. And the buyers will have money and the sellers will have product, and the buyers will exchange money for the product. Can you imagine that? How have we survived all of these years?”

What we can do here at home

State Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, plans to put forward bills on tort reform, tax breaks for companies that offer health insurance premium accounts for younger workers, looking at ways to build more transparency in the healthcare industry, and allowing people and companies to purchase health insurance outside of Wisconsin.
“Transparency is key, but we haven’t gone far enough,” Vukmir said. “We should be able to shop around. And why can’t we purchase insurance across state lines like we buy other products and services?”
Vukmir explained that many young workers — the "young invincibles" — don’t have insurance. But, she said, if companies earmarked money that could only be used to purchase health insurance, they would buy the insurance.
After Vukmir had her time at the podium, Vos joined her on stage for a joint Q&A. While neither thought a nullification of Obamacare is probable or realistic, they again told people they have the power in this fight. Vos and Vukmir said the way to stand up to the ACA is to take a page out of the Democrats’ playbook by talking to everyone.
“We need to support conservative talk radio and our great bloggers by talking to our friends and family and our neighbors,” Vukmir said. "The November election was tough, but Wisconsin is a bright spot. We will push forward with conservative and founding principles."

Thousands Attend Racine Tea Party Rally In Caledonia

Speakers - Paul Ryan, Van Wangaard and Rebecca Kleefisch -- encourage Racine Tea Party attendees to get out the vote and head to the polls.

By Denise Lockwood (Editor) and Heather Asiyanbi, June 03, 2012 at 12:36 AM, originally published on the Caledonia Patch.

Fired up and ready to vote, thousands of people—including some from out of state—attended the Racine Tea Party rally Caledonia Saturday morning.
Traffic was backed up and people parked along side Nicholson Road after overflow parking lots filled with people ready to: Go to the polls on June 5 to vote for Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and state Sen. Van Wanggaard.
The crowd was loud and had a lot of energy, cheering raucously for each speaker. Made up of people of all ages, it was also split pretty evenly between men and women, but only a handful of people of color came out.
Darryl Henderson of Franksville said he was there because most rallies are held at times when he can't attend, since he works at night.
"I'm for smaller government, less government," he said.
Once the Racine Tea Party rally started at 10 a.m., Kleefisch, Rep. Paul Ryan and Wanggaard reinforced the reasons why people should not only show up to the polls on Tuesday to support the GOP candidates, but to get out and encourage others to vote.
"Do we want to keep going forward or do we want to go backward?" Kleefisch asked the crowd. "Forward means keeping taxes down, more money in classrooms and our sons and daughters living their American dream. That's why you need to call everyone you know so they vote on Tuesday."
Ryan said Walker, Kleefisch and Wanggaard winning the recall will save Wisconsin so voters can then save America in November.
"This recall is about liberty and freedom, the stuff that makes America great," he told the crowd. "This is a big deal. There are two futures in front of us and how we want our state and nation to look."

Update: Nails in Lot at Tea Party Event Cause Flat Tires

Racine police confirm they have reports of two vehicles with flat tires that owners say is a direct result of someone dumping roofing nails in the parking lot of the old Sam's Club before a Racine Tea Party event on Saturday.

By Denise Lockwood and Heather Asiyanbi, October 29, 2012 at 09:52 PM, originally published on the Caledonia Patch website.

The Tea Party faithful gathered Saturday for a loud and enthusiastic rally aimed at getting out the vote on Nov. 6 and putting Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the White House. The Racine Tea Party's "Rally for Jobs" kicked off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday inside the old Sam's Club at 6200 Regency West Drive.
Before the event could get under way, though, organizers say a white van affixed with "Obama" stickers drove through the parking lot and dumped quantities of roofing nails.
"We went outside and picked up what we could," said Lou D'Abbraccio, holding a cup filled with nails. "But this was just wrong."
Lora Halberstadt, a Tea party member, said the group did call the Racine Police Department to file a report.
Patch asked two RPD officers outside the venue if they could confirm the report, but they only said they couldn't comment about a truck.
According to the shift commander on duty Sunday morning, officers responded to the old Sam's Club Saturday morning to take a report from event organizers.
"The report says that sometime between 9 and 11 a.m. someone threw roofing nails across the parking lot," the lieutenant told Patch. "There is no mention of a type of vehicle or ideas for who might have done this."
On Monday, Racine police Public Information Officer Sgt. Martin Pavalonis confirmed his department does have a report of the incident on file. He also said two vehicle owners reported flat tires as a result of the nails and possibly a screw.
"Two vehicles were damaged, obviously with tire damage and then some nails and screws were apparently strewn about the parking lot," he said. "However, we have no information about a suspect or suspect vehicle. We certainly encourage the public to contact us with any solid information that they might have."
Inside the venue on Saturday, a crowd of around 1,000 grew to about 2,500, many of them waving signs or wearing t-shirts proclaiming their support for candidates on the Republican ticket.
The list of guest speakers was a Who's Who of conservative leaders — including local Republican state legislative candidates Pam Stevens and Tom Weatherston; and state Rep. Robin Vos;  former Navy SEAL Chris Heben; U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson; Ryan's brother, Tobin Ryan; former Gov. Tommy Thompson; Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey; and conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna.
Each speaker touched on points where they think President Barack Obama and his administration has failed, but their message also echoed that of the Democrats: take advantage of early voting and get everyone you know, and even those you don't, to cast a ballot in what they called the most important election of our time.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously by: calling 1-888-636-9330, email: http://racine.crimestoppersweb.com, or text message: RACS to 274637(CRIMES).