APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — Appleton police are using scanner technology to keep convicted criminals out of some of the city’s most popular bars, but critics are raising privacy concerns.
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Authorities claim checking bar patrons with an ID scanner is making the community safer.
Appleton police officer Adam Nagel says the program originated as a way to check for fake IDs. But Nagel says police are not only deterring underage drinkers, they’re preventing convicted criminals from causing problems downtown.
Several Appleton bar owners approve of the scanners’ use. But critics say it amounts to an invasion of privacy.
Executive Director Chris Ahmuty of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin says “there’s no distinguishing between who gets targeted.”
Gannett Wisconsin Media (http://post.cr/13tSRYZ) reports police agencies from Milwaukee to Wausau are interested in following Appleton’s lead.
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Dozens of pollutants ranging from chemicals in everyday household products to airborne residue from car exhaust end up in Milwaukee area waterways, a new study has found.
Generally the pollutants were found at low levels in streams, rivers and in the Milwaukee harbor. But in some cases, the U.S. Geological Survey found the pollutants are at high enough levels to harm fish and other aquatic life.
“I don’t want this spun that streams are full of toxic chemicals that people should be scared of,” said Austin Baldwin, a hydrologist with the federal agency. “But they are definitely widespread.”
The study found the Kinnickinnic River to be especially vulnerable.
Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, which conducts its own water quality testing in the Milwaukee River basin, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/11ufpFR) that she is alarmed by the findings, in part because so little is known about the effect the chemicals is having in the waterways.
“It’s frustrating because often these chemicals are being approved (by federal regulators) and being put into insecticides and pharmaceuticals without a true sense of their biological impacts,” Nenn said.
The study, released this past week, examined water samples in streams and rivers, sediments and the harbor from 2006 to 2009. The study’s approach contrasted with the way water quality is normally measured, when testers look at other measures, such as the amount of suspended solids, bacteria and oxygen.
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DESOTO, Wis. (AP) — A southwestern Wisconsin park is offering only limited camping this weekend due to minor flooding.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says Blackhawk Park near DeSoto has extremely wet conditions.
In addition, the Corps will close sites 40 to 73 of the West Loop Camping Area this Monday through Thursday to do maintenance work.
The Corps says with the flooding and this closure, the number of campsites at Blackhawk Park will be limited. Campers should contact park staff before planning a camping trip.
The Corps plans to reopen the West Loop for next weekend and other sites as river levels recede and conditions improve.
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BARABOO, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin officials have asked a Sauk County judge to send a dairy farmer whose prosecution became a rallying point for raw milk advocates to jail for breaking conditions of his bail.
The state filed a motion Friday to revoke farmer Vernon Hershberger’s bail. The motion cites a Capital Times report quoting Hershberger as saying he continued to sell raw milk and other farm products after the state ordered him to stop.
Terms of Hershberger’s bail specify he not sell or process dairy products without a license, the Wisconsin State Journal (http://bit.ly/1aNl4fF) reported.
Last month a jury acquitted Hershberger, 41, of Loganville on three charges of producing, processing and selling milk without proper state licenses. But he was found guilty of one count of violating a holding order ?on products on his farm after a 2010 raid by agents from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
That meant Hershberger had to continue to operate under bail conditions set in January 2012 by Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds that included an order not to sell any food or milk from his store. The state asked Reynolds to hear the motion Monday.
“It is a concern that any defendant would engage in and openly admit to actions which clearly disregard the court-ordered conditions of release (on bail),” Assistant Wisconsin Attorneys General Eric Defort and Phillip Ferris wrote.
Hershberger’s attorney, Glenn Reynolds, called the motion disappointing because the bail terms Hershberger is accused of violating are the same activities that led to the charges of which he was acquitted.
