WLIP K-Town Rewind 2/1/19

KENOSHA, WI–We have more information on the teenager who allegedly stabbed her father in the face. The incident happened Jan 13th at the family’s Twin Lakes home. The 14 year old is charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide as an adult. The father suffered a laceration to the face but survived the attack. The criminal complaint alleges that the girl wrote about wanting to kill her father by poison, with several entries laying out her plans over the past few months. On the day before the stabbing the girl’s parents reportedly confronted the suspect about an online relationship the suspect had with a person identifying himself as a 21 year old man named “Dave.” The following day the father was laying down and watching T.V. when the attack occurred. The suspect is back in court in later this month.

The Kenosha woman who allegedly accelerated her SUV into her boyfriend as he walked home from a bar appeared in court yesterday. 31 year old Erica Stevenson is being held on 25-thousand dollars bond for the incident that happened around 1 AM on Saturday near 30th Avenue and 60th Street. The entire incident was reportedly caught on video. She faces a slew of charges including recklessly endangering safety and is due back in court next week. A surveillance video from a business near the scene captured how the man was hurt. The video reportedly shows 31 year old Erica Stevenson allegedly hit the man while he was walking home from a bar. She stayed at the scene and called 911-but 15 minutes later. Investigators say the video indicates that the collision was not an accident. The man was flown by Flight For Life to a Milwaukee hospital. He suffered multiple head fractures, a broken jaw, and bleeding on the brain. Stevenson faces a slew of charges and is currently not in custody.

Gov. Tony Evers’ administration and Foxconn Technology Group said yesterday that the massive project planned for Mt Pleasant is moving forward. Published reports this week said that Foxconn is shifting the focus of the Wisconsin project away from making high-tech flat panel screens but would still employ up to 13,000 people. They would primarily be scientists and developers, not blue collar assembly line workers as originally promised. Also, yesterday the credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service cautioned that Foxconn’s failure to hire enough people last year to capture state tax credits highlights the financial risks facing local communities that are spending money on the project.

What time should school districts announce a weather related closure? That’s the subject of an online petition at change dot org. The petition asks both Kenosha and Racine Unified School Districts to announced a snow day by 9 PM the night before. Citing a list of concerns that a later closure announcement brings, the petition calls for the districts to have “reliable, consistent…call time to the public.” District officials have told WLIP that every effort is made to inform parents, students, and employees about a snow day as early as possible. That was the case Sunday afternoon when both Kenosha and Racine Unified closed schools before 6 PM. Organizers said they’ll present the petition if it received 25-hundred signatures; as of this morning the petition garnered nearly 3-thousand signatures.

The Kenosha News will have a new owner beginning later this week. The newspaper announced yesterday that Lee Enterprises, which owns 300 papers in 20 states, including the Racine Journal Times, will take over the Kenosha News on February 1st. The move ends nearly six decades of ownership by the Brown Family, first under the late Howard Brown and then by his family following his death. United Communications will also sell the Lake Geneva Regional News, including both the print and digital assets. The Kenosha News celebrates its 125th anniversary this year and has a daily print circulation of about 20-thousand. Mark Lewis, the current publisher of the Journal Times, will take control as president and publisher of the regional group.

Kenosha Unified Officials say that the policy is to wait as long as possible before calling off school to make sure that there is actually a reason for the cancellation. KUSD’s Chief Communications Officer Tanya Ruder told WLIP’s Wake Up Kenosha that they want to inform the public about a snow day as soon as possible. Ruder says the district must be mindful about snow days so as not to extend the school year too far into the summer as well as of the students who rely on their school for hot meals and warmth.