Saturday, November 22, 2025
Donald Trump And JD Vance Not Invited To Dick Cheney's Funeral
Burlington man facing bestiality, child pornography, drug charges
Milana Doné
KENOSHA — A Burlington man has been accused of distributing illicit videos through a social media platform.
Jerry Lapenta II, 33, was charged Thursday with one count of child pornography and 10 counts of bestiality by selling/publishing obscene material of sexual contact with animal. He also was charged with one count of possession of cocaine/coca and one count of possessing drug paraphernalia.
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in September 2024 that someone had distributed illegal and disturbing content in July 2024 through the social media platform Kik.
According to KCSO, investigators were able to determine that the account was linked to Lapenta and he was arrested Wednesday.
Lapenta initially appeared in court Thursday, where his bond was set at $100,000.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 26.
From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_44409e92-b6a1-5f72-8c79-36cd37f9a9c4.html
Friday, November 21, 2025
Cannabis may help curb alcohol consumption in trend called 'California sober:' Study
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Trump signs bill to release Epstein files: What's next?
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Racine man sentenced in child sex crimes case
Milana Doné
RACINE — A Racine man was sentenced to prison Tuesday in connection to allegations of sexually assaulting a child.
Larry Bergey, 52, was charged April 15 with one count of first degree sexual assault of a child younger than 13 and one count of exposing genitals. The criminal complaint was amended April 21 to additionally include one count of incest with a child.
Bergey pleaded guilty to the second and third counts. The sexual assault charge was dismissed but read into the court record.
He was sentenced to 15.5 years in prison followed by 12 years of extended supervision.
Bergey previously pleaded not guilty in June.
Allegations
According to a criminal complaint, officers from the Racine Police Department were sent to an elementary school in March in response to allegations that a child had been sexually assaulted.
RPD interviewed the child, who reportedly alleged that Bergey sexually assaulted her and “told her not to tell anyone.”
In an April 14 statement, Bergey allegedly said he had “an incident” with the child weeks earlier, during which he touched her genitals and exposed his genitals to her.
According to the complaint, Bergey also reportedly described a different occurrence with the child’s sister.
Bergey allegedly admitted to taking a photo of the sister’s genitals for “medical purposes,” and to sending the photo to an Oak Creek man, from whom Bergey said he received child pornography.
According to the complaint, Bergey reportedly said the man would text him ideas of what to do with the children and discussed incest and fantasies regarding underaged girls.
One of three people charged with child neglect last summer sentenced
Milana Doné
RACINE — An Oshkosh man was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday in connection to three young boys being found naked outside a motel room in June 2024.
Jarrel Gordon, 26, was charged with three counts of neglecting a child. The charges recognize that the children were younger than 6 and not specifically harmed.
He pleaded guilty to one count, and also was ordered to serve two years of extended supervision.
The remaining two counts were dismissed but read into the court record.
Allegations
Gordon, the father of the three children, was charged alongside the children's mother, 26-year-old Kayla Ritchie, and their uncle, 24-year-old Dalton Ritchie.
When Mount Pleasant police arrived at the motel on June 10, 2024, the children, two 5-year-olds and a 3-year-old, reportedly were naked and playing outside one of the rooms.
According to a criminal complaint, police had responded to the same location for similar complaints three times prior.
The first officer who arrived reported seeing several puddles of liquid, assumed to be urine, draining from just outside the motel room onto the pavement of the parking lot.
Police reported that the door to the motel room was half open and that the room was in disarray — with feces, clothing, refuse and dirty diapers strewn around the room.
Officers also reportedly found and seized a marijuana pipe.
Dalton Ritchie was reportedly sleeping on a soiled mattress in the back of the room. Shortly after the police woke Dalton Ritchie, who reportedly confirmed that he was temporarily responsible for the children, Gordon arrived.
According to a police report, Gordon said he knew the latch on the door was broken and that the two oldest children were able to open the door.
Kayla Ritchie arrived later and reportedly told police that the family moved into the room a month prior. She also reportedly said that she had been absent since the previous Friday because of her job.
According to the criminal complaint, all three individuals knew the children could open the door and leave the room.
On June 16 of this year, Kayla Ritchie was found guilty of one count of neglecting a child. Two identical counts were dismissed but read into the court record. Her sentence was withheld and she was placed on one year of probation.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Behind Trump's reversal on releasing Epstein files
Monday, November 17, 2025
Wisconsin to get 26 EV charging stations after lawsuit
Hope Karnopp
Wisconsin will soon install 26 new electric vehicle charging stations using an influx of $14 million in federal money that the Trump administration attempted to block.
In May, Wisconsin joined 15 states in suing the U.S. Department of Transportation and Secretary Sean Duffy — a former Wisconsin congressman — over the administration's freeze of electric vehicle infrastructure funds.
In June, a federal judge ordered the administration to release funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which included more than $62 million for Wisconsin.
“Thanks to our actions to get the Trump administration to release this critical funding that they were illegally withholding, we are thrilled to see the NEVI program continue to support these goals and further move us toward the clean energy future Wisconsinites deserve," Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said in a Nov. 17 news release.
The new charging stations span the state, from Port Washington to Arbor Vitae to Eau Claire. Many are located at Kwik Trips, other gas stations and hotels.
In total, 78 charging stations have been installed using $36 million from the program. The vast majority are located at gas stations.
Cold air plus warm water equals lake effect snow
ASK THE WEATHER GUYS | THE LAKE EFFECT
Question: What is lake effect snow?
Answer: Lake effect snow forms when cold air passes over the warmer water of a lake. As cold air moves over water, the lower layers are warmed and moistened by the lake below. This makes the air mass unstable. Evaporation increases the moisture content of the air mass, which is then precipitated in the form of snow on the land downwind.
Maximum heat and moisture exchanges occur when the air is cold and the temperature difference between the air and the water is large. This condition tends to occur during early winter, when the most lake effect snow is produced. A long path across warm water by the air mass results in heavy precipitation over the land.
The longer the path, or “fetch,” the more the evaporation will increase along with greater potential for large snowfall amounts over the land on the downwind side of the lake. Hills can amplify the snowfall amounts by providing additional lifting. The location of a snowbelt along a particular lake is a function of the temperature difference between the air mass and the water, the fetch, and the terrain on the leeward side of the lake.
Lake effect snows are good for the economy of a region, particularly ski resorts. They also provide water for reservoirs and rivers. Too much lake effect snow can be hazardous, however; on Oct. 12 and 13, 2006, Buffalo, New York, was blitzed with 22.6 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. Because trees had not yet shed their autumn leaves, the snow weighed them down and broke branches. Nearly 1 million residents lost electrical power at the height of the storm because electrical lines damages by falling trees.
Lake effect snow can bombard a location as long as all the ingredients — cold winds, warm water and a long fetch — are present.
Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at noon the last Monday of each month. Send them your questions at stevea@ssec.wisc.edu or jemarti1@wisc.edu.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Village of Sturtevant ceases police operations, enters contract with Racine County Sheriff's Office
Anna Kleiber
All law enforcement service calls in Sturtevant will be handled by the Racine County Sheriff's Office after the Village of Sturtevant Police Department ended its operations at 6:15 a.m. Nov. 16.
The announcement came just three months after the Sturtevant Village Board began discussions about shutting down its police department. The department had 11 police officers on staff who served the village of about 7,000 people.
In a Nov. 15 Facebook post, the department said, “We want to extend our deepest gratitude to all of you for your years of support, partnership, and trust. Your engagement and commitment to keeping our village safe have made a lasting difference.”
"We also want to recognize and thank the dedicated members of our law enforcement team – past and present – for their service, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the community," the post continued.
In a comment on the Facebook post, the police department said the decision was made by the Sturtevant Village Board.
Under state law, a village in Wisconsin can abolish it police department, but it must provide law enforcement through an alternative method by entering into a contract with another law enforcement entity, such as the county sheriff's office.
Further questions about law enforcement changes can be directed to the Sturtevant Village Hall via 262-886-7201. Residents should still call 911 in the event of an emergency. To report a crime or incident, village residents should contact the Recine County Sheriff's Office Dispatch via 262-886-2300.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
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