It's no secret we like the grog in Wisconsin. With all that drinking, it's logical to assume that many drivers are impaired.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving reports that we tend to run into each other and kill each other more often than in other states after drinking and driving. MADD says that Wisconsin has the highest percentage of fatalities from alcohol-related crashes as compared to the total fatalities from other accidents - 42.1 percent (305 deaths in 2006) - compared with the rest of the country.
It does note, however, that the figure is a 5.3 percent decrease from the year before.
"A weak interlock law, first offenses are not crimes, and no sobriety checkpoints, MADD hopes to change this," says a MADD statement.
Indeed, Wisconsin's drunk driving laws could use some tweaking, mainly along the lines of more progressive discipline. It does remain the only state that does not make a first offense a crime. But, that's not a deterrent.
As for sobriety checkpoints, they are very scary to go through. Most people aren't used to being pulled over simply for driving. But sobriety checkpoints seem to be at the top of MADD's agenda these days. The organization is targeting at least nine states to enact checkpoints. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen made it a key point of his campaign to oppose sobriety checkpoints.
Utah had the lowest number of drunk-driving fatalities compared with non-drunk traffic deaths -- 18.8 percent or 54. In terms of sheer numbers, Texas led the nation with 1,354 alcohol-related road fatalities. That figure is 39 percent of the state's total road deaths, which ranks 49th in the U.S.
V.A. gets ripped off: We're not known to drift too far across Wisconsin in this column, but this egregious example of privatization run amok cannot be ignored.
Two new Veterans Administration health clinics in Hayward and Rice Lake that opened in June have closed after six months, literally locking the doors while patients waited.
Employees saw paychecks bounce shortly before the doors were shut. The clinics were built and operated by Corporate Health and Wellness, a Kentucky-based operation that, as of late, was run as a sole proprietorship.
The company's owner said it simply ran out of money, but others see it as a response to the VA canceling its contract at the end of 2008, according to several media reports. VA officials say there was no warning about the closing. They now promise that the clinics will reopen as soon as possible. Corporate Health and Wellness says it won't allow the clinics to be operated by others unless they get paid "a fair price."
About 900 vets in northern Wisconsin are affected. They will now have to go to clinics hours away in Duluth or Minneapolis for their health care. Local, state, federal and Indian officials were involved in lobbying for the clinic, although there didn't seem to be too much oversight.
Jobs Top Economic Worry List: The UW Survey Center released the third chapter of the Badger Poll this week and it showed that Wisconsinites are not optimistic about the state's economic future.
The survey found 41 percent of respondents saying economic conditions here are currently in "bad times" while 34 percent said "good times" and a combined total of 26 percent could not decide whether economic conditions are good or bad.
Other findings include:
About one in five respondents thought the loss and lack of jobs is the biggest economic challenge facing state residents.
Badgers also thought that high taxes (13 percent) and energy prices (12 percent) were challenges. Wages not keeping up with expenses (13 percent) and health care costs (8 percent) were also among the top challenges.
Doyle Weds With Taylor Campaign: The link between the Gov. Jim Doyle's office and the Milwaukee County executive campaign of Lena Taylor seems pretty solid. Doyle lent his deputy campaign manager to the Taylor campaign and also is hosting a fundraiser for Taylor Dec. 20 at Roots restaurant, 1818 N. Hubbard St. That has current County Exec. Scott Walker's camp putting out the money plea as well, calling it a hedge against negative advertising.
"It is clear that the powers in Madison are gearing up to run all sorts of attacks on Scott. ... The amount of money that Scott has in his account at the end of the year will determine how much they grab to run negative attacks against him (and us)," says the Walker Weekly report. "We can respond to the attack ads and win, but only if we have enough resources to get our positive message of reform and relief out to the voters.
David Riemer, who was State Budget Director in Doyle's office when he ran for exec against Walker in 2004, faced the same sort of linkage with Doyle, but didn't really get the money - at least not the $1 million the candidates are talking about in this race.
George Wants License Reprieve: Gary George wants his law license back, eventually. The former state senator and convicted felon saw his license suspended after being found guilty of a conspiracy charge to funnel money from a community-based agency to his pals by using the guise of lawyer's fees.
But the state's Office of Lawyer Regulation later asked that George's license be permanently revoked since he was using his position has a lawyer to commit the crimes. George and his lawyers will argue in front of the state Supreme Court (which decides these matters) this week that the feds "overstated" the money-laundering scheme. They feel a suspension "of several years" would be sufficient discipline.
Green Snowed On: Cynthia McKinney braved the snow to get out her Green Party message for president earlier this week. McKinney, who drove north from Omaha through a major ice storm, spoke Tuesday in Madison and Milwaukee. The former congresswoman from Georgia appeared in Milwaukee in front of about 50 people.
"It's not unusual for people who want their government to be honest," she told a small, mostly-media gathering in Madison while pointing out that she found billions of waste in the Defense Department.
"It's up to us to do some things we haven't done before in order to get some things we haven't gotten before," she said regarding how a third party can rise to take over the White House and government in general. "Oftentimes, Green solutions are radical common sense."
An avid outdoors person he regularly takes extended paddling trips in the wilderness, preferring the hinterlands of northern Canada and Alaska. After a bet with a bunch of sailors, he paddled across Lake Michigan in a canoe.
He lives in Bay View.
