Local News
UPDATE — Wis. city’s police department apologizes after using wrong surveillance camera pics
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Police in La Crosse are a little red-faced right now.
They’re apologizing after issuing an alert about a woman suspected of using a stolen credit card at a convenience store. They also helpfully issued surveillance video images of her.
Someone who works with the woman saw it and recognized her.
“The woman said her co-worker was kind of joking around and said, ’I thought I saw you on Crime Stoppers,”’ said Officer Drew Gavrilos. “The woman hopped online and watched the video and found it was her.”
But she hadn’t done the crime.
Gavrilos said the mistake happened when police matched surveillance video with cash register information, trying to identify whoever used the stolen card.
They didn’t realize there were two similar transactions about the same time.
“We had two very similar looking people come to the register about 10 to 20 seconds apart,” each buying similar things, Gavrilos said. “It was a one-in-a-million type of thing.”
They picked the wrong one for the Crime Stoppers information, and the public service announcement ran for three days before the mix up caused it to be pulled.
“We feel horrible about the mistake and want to do all we can to minimize any inconvenience or embarrassment this woman may have experienced,” Gavrilos said.
Police sent the woman a personal note of apology and produced a new Crime Stoppers message with corrected information and a public apology, he said.
Police did not release the name of the woman.
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Champions again
The North Marion Huskies girls’ basketball team is coming home as champions ... again.
The Huskies went wire-to-wire as No. 1 this season and won their second straight Class AAA state title with a 58-45 win over South Charleston Saturday at the Charleston Civic Center.
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Health officials ponder arrival of seasonal flu
As spring approaches and cases of H1N1 (swine) flu seem to be at bay, some health officials are wondering if the seasonal flu will begin to emerge or if the H1N1 pandemic somehow has kept seasonal flu from breaking out.
“There’s a lot of theories why this happens,” said Bob White, regional epidemiologist who works out of the Monongalia County Health Department.
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Rivesville water rates to increase
Rivesville water customers will soon be feeling the financial effects of Fairmont’s 49 percent rate increase.
And although customers will be paying higher bills as a result, there is a positive light in the fact that it will help the significant deficit that the town’s water fund is currently operating on.
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Tea Party members defend group’s mission
The liberal mainstream media want to define the Tea Party movement as a bunch of gun toting, racist, right-wing radicals.
“Their task seemed endless, almost overwhelming, especially with only $517 in their Tea Party bank account,” a recent article in The New York Times proclaims.
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Making a statement
Dozens of students gathered outside the county board of education offices in protest Friday morning.
Students began assembling shortly after 7 a.m. and their ranks continued to grow even after Superintendent of Schools Tom Deadrick asked them to leave.
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School curriculum key at FFA auction
Folks from all over the county came out to support youth Friday at the annual Ham, Bacon and Egg Show.
Each year, the county’s Future Farmers of America program sponsors the event, held at the Marion County Technical Center, which raises money for the youth who participate.
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Shifting into spring
Ah, the warm temperatures of almost spring.
People are smiling. Birds are singing.
Snow is melting.
That may seem like a good thing, but the ground is becoming more and more saturated. Add the precipitation from the rain storm forecast for this weekend, and you’ve got all you need for some high waters.
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Students plan sit-in to protest projects
A group of Marion County high school seniors is fed up with being treated as “guinea pigs” and plans to stage a sit-in today in front of the board of education office to get this point across to school administrators.
The protest, set to commence at 7 a.m., is a way for members of the graduating class of 2010 to show their displeasure for the way the board of education is handling the launch of the 21st Century Passport senior project.
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Accused offenders in U.S. District Court
Three accused firearms possession offenders from Marion, Harrison and Monongalia counties were in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg this week.
From Marion County, 33-year-old Stacy Thompson, also known as Stacey Thompson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years supervised release ...
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A ‘gateway’ measure
Two Marion County commissioners approved a “gateway” measure Wednesday that would allow the county to pursue action against a former commissioner.
In the latest installment of the copper saga, Commissioners Randy Elliott and Burley “Butch” Tennant authorized county attorney Chuck Shields to “pursue all appropriate legal action for damage to the jail by unauthorized removal of copper pipe.”
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