WLIP K-Town Rewind 6/7/19

The Kenosha County man who was convicted of killing two brothers outside of a bar will spend the rest of his life in prison. 26 year old Nathan Kivi was sentenced yesterday to two life sentences for the deaths of Kenneth and Richard Samuel outside of a Twin Lakes bar on Thanksgiving night 2017. After hearing from the brothers’ sister and mother, Judge Bruce Schroeder sentenced Kivi, calling the crime a “ghastly execution,” and agreeing with prosecutors that he is dangerous if he ever were to get out of prison. Kivi was out on both probation and bond at the time of the murders, which his lawyers tried to argue were in self defense. Kivi had been in conflict with friends of the Samuels’ on the night of the crime, but there’s no evidence that they had interacted with Kivi before he shot them. Kivi did not make a statement at his sentencing.

There is a case of mumps at the Kenosha County Detention Center. The illness was reported in one of the detainees held at the center last week by both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department was notified by medical staff after the detainee was transferred to another facility. The Mumps diagnosis has been confirmed and the detainee is receiving treatment for this disease. Previously established departmental policies and procedures aimed at controlling transmission-based illnesses were immediately implemented and the identified dorm was placed into isolation, as was the infected person when they were returned to Kenosha. Any other inmate housed with that person is isolated as well as a precaution. Mumps is spread through direct contact with saliva or respiratory droplets from the mouth, nose, or throat.

The Kenosha Common Council approved the appointment of Randy Hernandez to the City Administrator position. After a bit of an extended discussion, the former Kenall executive was confirmed on a 15-0 vote. Hernandez told the council that he’s excited about the potential in the city. Hernandez will take over his new position officially on June 17th. He will replace the retiring Ed St Peter who has held the job on an interim basis since the middle of last year.

The Kenosha Water Utility will soon have a new General Manager. At a special meeting of the Board of Water Commissioners this week, members finished their interviews and selected Curt Czarnecki to succeed the retiring GM Ed St Peter.

A Mt Pleasant woman alleges that she has been the victim of cyberbullying by the village’s Fire Chief. Kelly Gallagher has been an outspoken opponent of the Foxconn development, and is one of the admins of the Facebook page “A Better Mt Pleasant.” She’s asking village officials to investigate her allegations. Gallagher alleges that Chief Robert Stedman created a mock page solely to harass her. She says a glitch in that site eventually allowed her to find out who created the mock page. She has filed a complaint with the Police and Fire Commission. It’s unclear that even if Stedman created the posts that anything illegal was done. Gallagher’s spokesperson says they are hoping for a punishment that fits the crime, up to and including termination.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held yesterday to officially usher in a new era in downtown Kenosha. The Stella, the newly renamed and renovated former Elks Club, has an 80 room hotel, restaurant, bar, and meeting areas and has already become quite popular with locals and visitors alike. One of the themes among attendees yesterday was the improbability of the project. The Elks Club was headed for demolition six years ago before a local group worked out the funding sources and weathered delays until completion. Gorman and Company oversaw the 26 million dollar project on the century old building.