The was an armed robbery in Whitewater this week. Robbery is wrong and armed robbery especially so. There’s neither justification nor excuse for the crime. Radio station WFAW reported the crime in a straightforward way, but the Daily Union on Facebook crudely described the suspects not as black males (as would be conventional) but rather as male blacks. …
Crime
Corruption Probe, Crime, Misconduct, Russia, Sanctions, Trump, TrumpRussia
Lifting Russian sanctions key to Trump deal exposed by Cohen
by JOHN ADAMS •
Rachel Maddow shows how the Trump Organization’s continued pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow deal into the 2016 campaign, exposed by Michael Cohen this week, explains Donald Trump’s soft stance on sanctioning Russian entities, including the bank that would finance the Trump Tower deal. Trump has survived dozens of political or financial acts that would…
Courts, Crime, Law, Litigation, Police, Walworth County
‘Family of Milwaukee man killed by Walworth deputy in botched drug sting files federal lawsuit’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Bruce Vielmetti reports Family of Milwaukee man killed by Walworth deputy in botched drug sting files federal lawsuit: The family of a 21-year-old Milwaukee man killed by a Walworth County sheriff’s deputy during a botched drug sting has sued the county, two municipal governments and several officers, who the family suspects destroyed dashcam video of…
Crime, Mendacity, Misconduct, Newspapers
Daily Union‘s Story on Teacher Dragging Student Through Halls: Weak and Weaker
by JOHN ADAMS •
For years the Daily Union has failed readers by misleading residents about events in their own area, and today their supposed crime reporter Ryan Whisner and his editor (Chris Spangler) blow another story, this time about a teacher in Waterloo who allegedly dragged a small child down the hall of the child’s school (there is…
Crime, Elections, Law, Wisconsin
For Wisconsin, it’s been Long Enough
by JOHN ADAMS •
Crime, Elections, Law, Russia
Justice Department Charges Russian National for 2018 Election Meddling
by JOHN ADAMS •
Matt Zapotosky, Rachel Weiner, Ellen Nakashima, and Devlin Barrett report Justice Dept. charges Russian woman with interference in midterm elections: Elena Khusyaynova, 44, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said she managed the finances of “Project Lakhta,” a foreign influence operation they said was designed “to sow discord in the U.S. political system” by…
Crime, Law, Wisconsin
Josh Kaul for Wisconsin Attorney General: Better
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime
The Strongest Memory
by JOHN ADAMS •
Crime, Russia
Foolishness of Vanity
by JOHN ADAMS •
Monica Hesse observes that Maria Butina was the ultimate NRA Cool Girl: Spend an hour or three scrolling through Butina’s prodigious social media presence, and certain themes emerge. Her Instagram is a series of strategic fitness selfies — a sculpted deltoid, a Lycra’d thigh — showcasing both strength and femininity. In photos snapped outside the…
Bad Ideas, City, Crime, Local Government, Misconduct, Police
On Public Urination in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well, here we are: after all these years of hearing that the town fathers were descended from Olympus, to a city of their unsurpassable design, one hears the Whitewater Common Council discussing the sometime problem of public urination. Needless to say, I don’t support this foul habit, and have not met anyone who does. Confronted…
Crime, Trump
An Interesting Question
by JOHN ADAMS •
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti asks a simple, interesting question: If you were asked to testify that someone you knew committed a federal crime, would you have any testimony to offer? Most of us don’t have inside knowledge of a criminal scheme. That’s why the fear within Trump’s camp that Cohen will flip is so…
Cats, Crime
Friday Catblogging: Former State Trooper Accused of Harassing People, Killing Cats
by JOHN ADAMS •
A sad story today, about a former state trooper accused of killing cats and using the dead animals to harass a former neighbor: PORTAGE, Wis. — A retired Wisconsin state trooper is accused of killing neighborhood cats that were stalking his bird feeder and dumping the carcasses in the yard of a former neighbor. Portage…
Crime, Politics
The Disorder of (Alabama) Republicans
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the Washington Post Stephanie McCrummen, Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites report that Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32: Leigh Corfman says she was 14 years old when an older man approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. She was sitting on a wooden bench…