Ryan goes back to Congress ‘extremely worried'; Candle started fire that killed three kids -- electricity had been shut off; Robbers on ATV take $10 for gas; more briefs

Talk about it

A week after losing the vice presidency, Janesville Republican Paul Ryan says he’s ready to return to Congress and be part of the solution to the federal budget problems.

But in a wide-ranging interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the House Budget chairman said he was disappointed that his and Mitt Romney’s ideas for getting ahead of the nation’s fiscal problems “didn’t go our way.”

Ryan’s long-standing plans to reform Medicare got considerable criticism from seniors and others during the campaign. He said two more years of a divided government – with a Democratic White House and Senate and a Republican House – leaves him “extremely worried” about the nation’s debt, its military and its health care system.

Ryan said the country is just as divided, and the two parties will have to find a way to make their split system work because the fiscal issues are “getting worse, not better, because of time.”

As for the current fiscal mess – with automatic spending cuts and tax hikes looming on Jan. 1 – Ryan said both parties need to put out specific plans that can be negotiated, and the Democrats haven’t done that. Ryan said Republicans want to “fix this in a way that doesn’t hurt the economy.”

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Candle started fire that killed three kids -- electricity had been shut off

A fire that killed three youngsters in Racine last week was started by a burning candle in a bathroom just days after the electricity was shut off at their home.

Racine police and fire officials said the blaze started on the first floor and created intense smoke that helped make it difficult for rescuers to pull four children away.

Dayja Scott, 9, her sister Dalija, 8, and their brother Michael Scott, 7, all died from their injuries.

A relative said the youngsters’ brother, Luther Patterson, 5, was still in critical condition as of last night at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital.

Lemont Siller, 29, was also in the home at the time and was treated for injuries.

Funeral services for the three youngsters killed in the blaze will be held Friday.

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Robbers on ATV take $10 for gas

Two students at UW-La Crosse say they were sitting on a dock overlooking a marsh at 2:30 a.m. Sunday when they were robbed.

The 19-year-old students said they were approached by two men on an ATV, asking to use their cell phone. The suspects drove away on the ATV but returned and demanded money for gas, eventually talking $10.

Police responded, but the suspects were able to get away on their ATV.

Police are looking for two white men in their mid-40s. One called himself “Tim,” and the other called himself “Tom.”

Though the injuries were very minor, one of the victims says he was grabbed by the throat during the robbery.

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People lose thousands trying to buy boats on Craigslist

State officials say the latest consumer scam involves people who’ve lost thousands of dollars buying boats advertised on Craigslist.

According to the state’s consumer protection agency, buyers are asked to transfer money to an escrow account, and the money then goes to an overseas scammer.

Wisconsin officials said an Illinois buyer lost $20,000 by answering a Craigslist ad about a boat for sale in the Wisconsin.

A Tennessee buyer obtained a fraudulent boat title just before getting wise to the scam and backing out of a payment.

State officials say you should always remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Other warning signs including being asked to pay into an escrow account with a wire transfer or a prepaid debit card.

Also, those who say Craigslist offers buyer protections are wrong.

More information is available from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

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Mercury Marine says it will add 170 workers

Mercury Marine of Fond du Lac plans to hire 170 new employees by the end of this month.

The maker of recreational boat motors credits an improved economy for the new jobs – as well as the growing popularity of one of its newest engines, a four-stroke motor with 150 horsepower.

Mercury says there’s been an unprecedented demand for its most popular outboard engines, and that’s resulting in both fulltime and part-time job opportunities that pay nearly $15 an hour.

Mercury Marine has added several hundred employees over the last three years when Wisconsin won a bidding war with Oklahoma, and the company moved jobs to Fond du Lac from a plant it closed in Stillwater, Okla.

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Driver gets 10-year term after texting incident that claimed man’s life

A Stevens Point man will spend 10 years in prison for causing a fatal traffic crash near Wisconsin Rapids while he was checking text messages.

John French, 23, was also told to spend seven years under extended supervision when he leaves prison.

He struck a plea deal in which he would have been given nine years in prison for a three-vehicle mishap Dec. 6, 2010 that killed Robert Walker, 32, of the town of Saratoga, south of Wisconsin Rapids.

Wood County Circuit Judge Todd Wolf added a year to the sentence, saying anything less than 10 years would have diminished the seriousness of the crime.

According to authorities, French blew past a stop sign at Hwy. 73 and County Road Z south of Rapids.

Another driver tried but failed to avoid French’s SUV. The French vehicle then swung and hit another SUV driven by Walker, who was ejected despite wearing a seatbelt.

French told officers he was texting his girlfriend when he started getting numerous messages, which he was checking at the time of the crash. That was only six days after a heavily publicized state law took effect banning texting behind the wheel.

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Residents agree to restore Budweiser mural

Folks in Manitowoc will not lose their “Bud.”

Mayor Justin Nickels announced an agreement that will keep a nearly 20-year-old Budweiser mural on three downtown silos that used to be owned by the beer giant.

Anheuser-Busch operated a malting plant until last year. The new owner, the Riverland Ag Corporation, had planned to wash the mural away before residents complained.

The mayor said he got over 1,100 e-mails and phone calls asking that the mural be preserved.

The mural features a bottle of Budweiser surrounded by two beer cans. Until recently, it was covered by a vinyl covering with three large Bud beer bottles.

Riverland Ag had been given until the end of the year to remove the mural. But as part of the agreement, Mayor Nickels said the residents will be expected to restore and maintain the mural themselves. No taxes or company funds will be put toward maintaining the mural.

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Credit unions doing very well

Wisconsin officials report a 96% increase in the net income of state-chartered credit unions for the first nine months of this year, compared to the same time in 2011.

Those institutions netted almost $165 million from January through September, up from $84 million a year ago. Their combined return on assets grew from .59% last year to .98.

The net worth of Wisconsin credit unions is the highest since the Great Recession made its presence known in 2008.

Peter Bildsten, who heads the state Department of Financial Institutions, said credit unions have returned to the levels of strength they had before the recession.

Wisconsin now has 188 credit unions, six fewer than a year ago. Bildsten said that is due to mergers and industry consolidation.

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Chief says man was reaching for officer’s gun when he was shot

Madison’s police chief said Monday that a 30-year-old man was killed by an officer because the man was reaching for the patrolman’s gun during a struggle.

Chief Noble Wray confirmed that musician Paul Heenan was not trying to break into a home as was reported soon after the shooting early last Friday. Instead, Heenan was drinking and he mistakenly thought a neighbor’s house was his.

Chief Wray said Heenan and the neighbor were scuffling when officer Stephen Heimsness arrived. The officer assumed one of them was a burglar, and he pointed a gun while telling the two to fall to the ground.

Wray said Heenan made a move toward the officer, grabbed his arm with one hand and reached toward the gun with the other. That’s when Heimsness fired three shots.

Wray said he thought the use of force was justified because an active burglary was assumed at the time. The chief said the incident remains under investigation.

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Teacher pleads guilty to possession of child porn

A former school teacher in far northern Wisconsin has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

State prosecutors said Michael Wang, 47, of Florence used a school laptop to chat sexually with underage girls, and it often happened while he was in his old middle school classroom in Eagle River.

Wang struck a plea deal in which he was convicted of two felony counts of possessing child porn. Eight similar counts were dropped.

Wang is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 2.

State Attorney General JB Van Hollen said officials were alerted to the sexual chatting when they were monitoring the school computers. Officials later found two digital flash drives in a classroom cabinet. The drives had over 100 pornographic videos and photos, some showing children as young as four.

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Braun, Rogers raise over $20,000 for children of slain women

Wisconsin’s two biggest sports celebrities raised thousands of dollars Monday night to help children who lost their mothers in the recent shooting massacre in Brookfield.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers held an event at their “8-12” Restaurant in Brookfield.

The event was sold out in less than a day, raising over $20,000 just by the advance sale of more than 200 tickets. A silent auction raised much more.

All proceeds went to the children of the three women -- Maelyn Lind, Cary Robuck and the gunman’s estranged wife, Zina Haughton -- killed the Azana Spa and Salon Oct. 21.

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Reptile specialist avoids sexual assault conviction

After two and a half years of court action, a Milwaukee reptile specialist struck a plea deal Monday in which he can escape a sexual assault conviction in a strange case.

Terry Cullen, 63, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in which he pleaded no contest to fourth-degree misdemeanor assault. If he stays clean over the next five years, the criminal charge will be dropped, and he’ll only be convicted on non-criminal citations for battery.

During the five years, Cullen must donate $2,500 to Milwaukee animal rights groups, perform 25 hours of community service and get an evaluation as a sex offender.

Cullen was originally charged in 2010 with false imprisonment, felony sexual assault and animal mistreatment.

Prosecutors said he drove a woman from Chicago to his conservancy in Milwaukee where he molested her. While police were investigating that, they noticed over 200 unique reptiles living in squalor.

The woman objected to another plea bargain a few months ago. Under that agreement, Cullen’s charges involving her would have been dropped in exchange for an animal mistreatment conviction.

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