I've never heard of this.
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Department of Corrections to conduct Halloween home visits of sex offenders
From The Journal Times.com:
MADISON — Local law enforcement agencies across the state will work with Wisconsin Department of Corrections this Halloween to monitor sex offenders on probation or parole.
As part of an annual partnership, the DOC Division of Community Corrections probation and parole agents along with local agencies will conduct random home visits on high-risk sex offenders during trick-or-treat hours.
Individuals on the sex offender registry who are on probation or parole are prohibited from having Halloween decorations inside or outside of their homes. They also may not distribute candy, participate in other trick-or-treating activities and must keep their porch lights off during trick-or-treating.
“Trick-or-treating is a fun Halloween tradition, but it’s also a time to remind children of safe practices while walking their neighborhoods," DOC director of Sex Offender Programs Grace Knutson said in a news release. “As a group, plan your route and stick to neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Younger children should always be accompanied by an adult, and older children should stay in a group. Cell phones are a great way to communicate and track the child’s location."
Wisconsin DOC encourages parents and guardians to get to know their neighborhoods by accessing the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry website at wistaysafe.gov. Users can search by ZIP code or view offenders within a geographic radius.
Anyone who sees a potential violation can call in the tip line at 877-234-0085. The DOC recommends that the public contact local law enforcement in emergency situations.
Friday, October 24, 2025
Thursday, October 23, 2025
FBI multi-year drug investigation in Milwaukee and Racine leads to 22 arrests, drugs confiscated
From JSOnline:
Kelli Arseneau
Kelli Arseneau
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The FBI announced Oct. 22 that a multi-year investigation has led to the arrest of 22 people it says are connected to an international drug cartel operating in Milwaukee and Racine.
According to a news release from the FBI's Milwaukee office, an investigation named "Operation Chalkline" resulted in the seizure of more than 260 grams of fentanyl, 4 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 pounds of methamphetamines, 6 pounds of marijuana, 23 firearms and three vehicles.
The investigation was led by a Mount Pleasant Police Department officer as part of the FBI Milwaukee Area Safe Streets Task Force. The task force includes officers from the Mount Pleasant, Caledonia and Racine police departments, and the Racine County Sheriff's Office, according to the news release.
Other local, state and federal law enforcement assisted in the operation, which included 14 SWAT teams, according to the FBI.
The 22 suspects were arrested on federal charges, according to the FBI. The FBI did not specify when the arrests were made, or the names and specific charges.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Wisconsin medical marijuana bill draws impassioned support but faces obstacles
From JSOnline:
Laura Schulte
Laura Schulte
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON – Dozens of people convened on the state Capitol on Wednesday to testify in support of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, sharing personal stories about how access could improve their management of chronic health issues, cancer and other medical issues.
Lawmakers on Oct. 22 debated whether the provisions in a bill before the Senate Committee on Health were strict enough to gain the support of a majority of Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate who have been wary of legalizing cannabis.
According to a co-sponsorship memo in September, the bill will "tightly regulate the cultivation, processing, testing and dispensing of medical cannabis to ensure patients have legal, safe and reliable access to a consistent product without breaking the law to obtain it."
Under the legislation, an Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation would be created to oversee the patient and caregiver registry and the dispensaries. Licenses would be required for growers, processors and testing laboratories. The legislation calls for a seed-to-sale database and an inventory tracking system. The legislation would also prohibit dispensaries from advertising to the general public, among other guidelines.
Republicans, including Senate President Mary Felzkowski of Tomahawk, introduced the measure.
But even with support from some Republicans, the bill is unlikely to move forward. Earlier this year, Republicans struck provisions that would legalize marijuana from Gov. Tony Evers' budget, and some leaders have indicated they will not support legalization without the establishment of a state-run program.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said earlier this month the bill is "way too broad" to pass his chamber.
“I have tried for five or six years to find a way to get to yes,” Vos said in an interview with WISN-TV. “The idea that we are going to have medical marijuana dispensaries in every city around the state, I don’t know that’s where most people are.”
He said there are concerns that the bill could create a pathway to legal recreational marijuana, which he opposes.
Marijuana legalization shows strong support with the public in Wisconsin.
In Marquette University Law School polling earlier this year, two-thirds of the 873 people surveyed said the drug should be legalized.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, said at the hearing it's time to allow medical marijuana in Wisconsin, as many other states already have.
He also shared an emotional story about how his family went outside state law to provide marijuana to his grandfather after he was diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized to bone cancer.
"It gave him his appetite back and it gave him time that he probably otherwise would not have had," he said. "That story is not unique to my family. We've heard this from countless families across the state, which is why I believe it's time for us to enact a sensible medical marijuana cannabis program here in the state."
Felzkowski said while she was fighting breast cancer for the second time 14 years ago, she was taking opioids to deal with the pain. But her doctor said that marijuana could have helped her avoid the opioid symptoms.
She wants others to have access to medical marijuana to help them avoid opioids in similar situations.
"Someone who suffers from a serious health condition should not have to make the choice to travel to another state or break the law so that they can try an alternative medicine for relief," she said. "Unfortunately, this is a position in which we put many Wisconsinites."
In addition to the tracking requirements, the bill would require marijuana sales to be conducted by pharmacists, like any other drug. Pharmacists would not be required to prescribe marijuana if they are uncomfortable.
"It is time to give our friends, family members and neighbors suffering from chronic illnesses the freedom to use medical cannabis," Felzkowski said. "Our hope is that this is a starting point in the conversation to get us to a point where we can get individuals comfortable with the concept."
Nora Lowe, a 17-year-old Merrimac resident who has Rhett Syndrome, encouraged lawmakers to support the bill, speaking via text-to-voice technology as she sat between her parents, Megan and Josh Lowe, in a wheelchair.
"I have many friends with Rett Syndrome, and they have access to medical cannabis. My friends with Rett syndrome who use medical cannabis actually sleep through the night and see extensive relief from painful muscle spasms," she said. "Why can't I get relief from mine?"
She said cannabis could also help improve her communication skills and help stop the frequency of episodes where she cannot breathe. Rhett Syndrome is a genetic neurological disorder that primarily affects girls.
"It is weird that every lawmaker I meet with, Democrat or Republican, they all agree that people like me deserve access to medical cannabis, yet we are still in the same place we were when I was 10 years old," she said.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura.
Racine man charged with stalking Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice
From The Journal Times.com:
CHRIS RICKERT
CHRIS RICKERT
A Racine man has been charged with felony stalking for sending a number of increasingly aggressive emails to Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky.
The nine emails Ryan T. Thornton, 37, of Racine, sent Karofsky between Aug. 2 and Oct. 1 refer to her as a derogatory term for a person with intellectual disabilities, advise her to “eject yourself from office” and threaten to make her home address public, among other things, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
They were sent in conjunction with about 15 emails and 70-plus threatening calls to the state’s Office of Lawyer Regulation, which handles complaints about Wisconsin lawyers and judges and whose decisions are ultimately subject to the approval of the state Supreme Court, the complaint says.
Investigators found that Thornton was upset with a lawyer who represented him in a 2019 criminal case and unhappy that the OLR had not taken action against him.
According to the complaint:
State Capitol Police talked to Thornton in August, when they asked him to stop contacting the OLR and Karofsky, and Thornton agreed to do so.
He didn’t, and Karofsky told police that she felt intimidated by the emails to the extent that she was sometimes afraid to get her mail from her front door. She said that she asked for police escorts to her seats at recent Milwaukee Brewers and Wisconsin Badgers games.
Karofsky told police that she’d received numerous threats since first becoming a Dane County Circuit Judge in 2017, but “that she had never had someone continuously send emails to her after being told to stop by police.”
In a difficult-to-follow interview with Capitol Police at the Racine County Jail on Oct. 9, Thornton said the OLR was staffed by a “bunch of criminals,” complained that his former attorney had an 11-page manifesto concerning him, and complained that OLR Director Timothy Samuelson and Karofsky have a 250-page appendix related to his case.
He also said he believes there is a state conspiracy to drive up property taxes and that hospitals and probate courts are “getting paid for people to die.”
“‘Tell Jill, man, she better start running or something for the hills of the feds because it’s a conspiracy,’” he told police.
Online court records show Thornton’s only past felony conviction was for strangulation and suffocation in a domestic abuse case from 2019 in Racine County. His bail in the stalking case was set at $85,000 on Monday.
Department of Corrections to conduct Halloween home visits of sex offenders
From The Journal Times.com:
Milana Doné
Milana Doné
MADISON — Local law enforcement agencies across the state will work with Wisconsin Department of Corrections this Halloween to monitor sex offenders on probation or parole.
As part of an annual partnership, the DOC Division of Community Corrections probation and parole agents along with local agencies will conduct random home visits on high-risk sex offenders during trick-or-treat hours.
Individuals on the sex offender registry who are on probation or parole are prohibited from having Halloween decorations inside or outside of their homes. They also may not distribute candy, participate in other trick-or-treating activities and must keep their porch lights off during trick-or-treating.
“Trick-or-treating is a fun Halloween tradition, but it’s also a time to remind children of safe practices while walking their neighborhoods," DOC director of Sex Offender Programs Grace Knutson said in a news release. “As a group, plan your route and stick to neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Younger children should always be accompanied by an adult, and older children should stay in a group. Cell phones are a great way to communicate and track the child’s location."
Wisconsin DOC encourages parents and guardians to get to know their neighborhoods by accessing the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry website at wistaysafe.gov. Users can search by ZIP code or view offenders within a geographic radius.
Anyone who sees a potential violation can call in the tip line at 877-234-0085. The DOC recommends that the public contact local law enforcement in emergency situations.
Epstein tapes are locked away: Virginia Giuffre's co-writer | Banfield
President Butt-Hurt will NEVER release the names of his pedo-pals.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Racine man charged with stalking Wisconsin Chief Justice Jill Karofsky
From JSOnline:
Molly Beck
Molly Beck
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON - A Racine man has been charged with stalking Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill Karofsky in recent weeks.
Ryan Thornton, 37, appeared in Dane County Circuit Court on Monday, Oct. 20, after being arrested by Wisconsin Capitol Police over a series of alleged threatening remarks aimed at Karofsky through dozens of phone calls and emails.
According to the criminal complaint, Thornton began sending emails to Karofsky in August, shortly after the Office of Lawyer Regulation rejected Thornton's petition for discipline against an attorney who represented him in another case for which Thornton was found guilty by a jury of domestic abuse-related charges.
Prosecutors allege Thornton called the Office of Lawyer Regulation staff more than 70 times, at times making threatening comments to staff members, and at one point asked for Karofsky's home address.
In one email, Thornton allegedly said, "Please EJECT YOURSELF FROM OFFICE," according to the complaint. In another, he allegedly told Karofsky to call the police.
"Call the capital police Jill … what a democrat idea tho," he allegedly wrote.
When Thornton was arrested, prosecutors allege he said, “That bitch is going down," “(Expletive) that bitch" and "If this is because of Jill, she is going down.”
When a Capitol Police officer asked how Karofsky was involved in his dispute with the Office of Lawyer Regulation, Thornton allegedly said he did not know and it "must be some type of female that is preventing him from talking to OLR," investigators paraphrased in the complaint.
"The defendant believed that Chief Justice Karofsky or a female must be in control of OLR," the complaint says.
Karofsky told investigators the ordeal has forced her to take extra security precautions and that she fears for her safety, according to the criminal complaint.
"Chief Justice Karofsky stated that every time she gets an alert on her door bell, she checks it, thinking maybe it is a possible security concern," investigators wrote. "Chief Justice Karofsky stated that she is afraid to get her mail from her front door."
Police officers also have escorted Karofsky to her seat at recent baseball and football games, according to the complaint.
If convicted, Thornton faces nearly four years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Monday, October 20, 2025
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