Winners! 2017 Better Newspaper Contest 2 Newspaper of the Year The savings start here: Find more than $328 worth of coupons inside today’s Gazette! Thursday,฀March฀16,฀2017฀-฀฀Page฀1 WEATHER � 11A TODAY 74°/54° Sunny and Ripon฀Commonwealth฀Press pleasant ฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Issue฀No.฀11 Single฀copy฀—฀$1 MONDAY www.RiponPress.com฀฀ Serving฀the฀Ripon฀community฀since฀1864 Thursday,฀March฀16,฀2017฀ ฀ ฀ Ripon,฀WI฀54971 77°/62° Partly sunny and pleasant Sunday, September 11, 2016 � Our 171st Year � $2.50 Wisconsin Weekly Newspaper of the Year 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 ฀฀฀ Badgers sack Zips, 54-10 INSIDE Crashes฀lead฀ Legacy city฀to฀lower฀ Parade฀ eady for a Route฀planned speed฀limit฀ of 9/11 Want to cheer on on฀E.฀Fond฀ the boys’ basketball Fifteen years later, team as it heads off date with state du฀Lac฀Street to Madison? The airport security parade will wind its by฀Ian฀Stepleton way through several [email protected] still largely Associated Press city streets. See page฀3 A฀sharp฀increase฀in฀crashes฀at ฀ a matter of faith Wisconsin's T.J. Watt sacks Akron quarterback an฀east-side฀intersection฀will฀mean ฀ Thomas Woodson during the second half of the Ripon฀residents฀will฀need฀to฀learn ฀ By Tim Johnson game between the teams at Camp Randall in Madi- to฀drive฀a฀little฀slower฀when฀heading฀ son on Saturday. The 10th-ranked Badgers rolled Our฀Views toward฀the฀hospital. McClatchy Washington Bureau to a 54-10 nonconference victory over the Zips. The฀Ripon฀Common฀Council ฀ WASHINGTON Story on Page 1B. agreed฀Tuesday฀night฀to฀lo wer฀the ฀ Year after year, more Amer- speed฀limit฀on฀East฀F ond฀du฀Lac ฀ icans attempt to board planes Street฀between฀Harvey฀and฀Douglas฀ with concealed firearms in Photo illustration Gazette at a Glance streets฀from฀35฀mph฀to฀25. their carry-ons. They also by Angela Major The฀decision฀comes฀after฀a ฀ come with hidden swords, 15-month฀period฀in฀which฀f ar฀more฀ hatchets, sharpened ninja [email protected] vehicle฀accidents฀occurred฀at฀the฀in- stars and even gunpowder. LOCAL � 2A-3A tersection฀of฀Douglas฀and฀East฀Fond฀ Invariably, the response du฀Lac฀streets฀than฀each฀of฀the฀past ฀ from passengers when officers several฀years฀combined. River cleanup neglected here “It’s฀become฀our฀highest฀accident฀ from the Transportation Secu- The Great Rock River Sweep is a coordinat- rity Administration seize the rate฀in฀the฀city,”฀Ripon฀Police฀Chief ฀ ed volunteer river and shoreline trash cleanup Dave฀Lukoski฀said฀Tuesday฀night.฀“...฀ weapons is: Oops, I forgot I had held one day a year every September, and it it. We฀obviously฀have฀a฀problem฀there.” spans sections of the Rock River’s 285-mile span Statistics฀bear฀out฀the฀scope฀of฀the฀ “It’s always astonishing to from Horicon to Rock Island, Illinois. It’s han- me that people can forget they HEROIN’S problem: dled by Illinois and Wisconsin volunteers organ- ‰฀2013:฀1฀crash฀at฀that฀intersec - have a weapon in their carry- ized by a group called Rock River Sweep. on,” said TSA Administrator World-class฀waters tion Peter V. Neffenger. “I’m not Where did this ‰฀2014:฀1฀crash STATE � 5A sure why people continue to do Olympic medalist go ‰฀2015:฀1฀crash this.” ‰฀2016:฀9฀crashes฀(including฀two฀ to celebrate after the injury฀crashes). Not everyone buys the ex- Johnson wants answers of VA Rio Olympics? (Hint: cuse of forgetfulness. Thus฀far,฀2016฀does฀not฀appear฀to฀ DEADLY HOLD U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he wants answers It’s somewhere close be฀an฀anomaly,฀either.฀ “They didn’t forget their from Veterans Affairs after a Wisconsin veter- to home.) “So฀far฀in฀2017,฀[we฀ha ve฀had] ฀ pants. It’s beyond me,” said an killed himself after he was reportedly turned See page 4 three฀crashes,”฀Ripon฀Police฀Capt. ฀ David Borer, general counsel of Overdose numbers inching up in Rock County away from the troubled VA facility in Tomah this the American Federation of Bill฀Wallner฀said฀in฀a฀separate฀inter- summer. Johnson on Friday sent a letter to Vet- view฀with฀the฀Commonwealth. Government Employees, a erans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, ask- union that represents the na- By Frank Schultz Experts say those Countywide, the Rock The฀belief฀is฀that฀the฀increase฀in ฀ ing for all documents about 29-year-old Brian Area crashes฀directly฀correlates฀to฀the฀in - tion’s 42,000 or so transporta- painkillers frequently are County Medical Examiner’s Rossell of Wausau, whose body was found tion security officers. [email protected] FOR฀THE฀FIRST time in 14 years, the Ripon High School boys’ basketball team is heading back to the state tour nament. creased฀number฀of฀v ehicles฀making฀ the gateway to heroin abuse. Department reports 21 opi- Thursday in Lake Wausau after he went miss- Celebrating their sectional championship are (faces visible), from left, Andy Saul, Eddie Muench, Austen Wallenfang, coach Dean Whether the reason is ing earlier in the week. memory lapse or a desire to be JANESVILLE Janesville police officer ate overdose deaths in 2015 Vander Plas and Hunter Auchtung. For much more on the victory and the upcoming games, see page 15. ฀Jonathan฀Bailey฀photo See฀CRASHES/฀back฀page prepared should armed terror- Heroin and its chemical Chad Woodman, whose job and projects that number NATION/WORLD � 11B-12B ists once again try to comman- cousins continue to kill and is to connect addicts with will rise in 2016. deer an aircraft, the seizure of otherwise ruin lives in Rock treatment, is particularly Compare those deaths to a record 2,653 firearms last Clinton regrets comment Like฀to฀‘make’?฀Creative฀ County despite heightened frustrated. He said 85 per- traffic fatalities, which aver- year at airport checkpoints is Hillary Clinton said Saturday that she was but one aspect of an evolving awareness and stepped-up cent of the heroin addicts he aged 17 a year in Rock Coun- wrong to put half of Donald Trump’s support- security panorama as the na- prevention efforts. knows started with pills. ty from 2011 through 2015, ers in a “basket of deplorables,” but didn’t back souls฀get฀space฀at฀library tion passes the 15-year an- Janesville police statistics according to the state De- down from a description of his campaign less niversary of the Sept. 11 at- “I don’t want to make it by฀Ian฀Stepleton Rather,฀it฀w as฀a฀peek฀into฀a ฀ than 24 hours after she made the comments at [email protected] tacks. show 2016 easily could end sound like it’s the doctors’ partment of Motor Vehicles. new฀spin฀on฀the฀mission฀of฀Ri - with the most heroin over- Overdoses often include a private New York City fundraiser. pon฀Public฀Library:฀Encouraging฀ The security ritual now has fault or (drug maker) Pfizer’s On฀a฀quiet฀ Thursday฀after- a familiar rhythm: Shoes off. combinations of drugs, in- learning฀in฀w ays฀that฀transcend ฀ doses in the past four years. fault, but it’s definitely part noon,฀the฀still฀of฀Ripon฀Public ฀ the฀traditional฀tomes. Laptops out. Everything Janesville has eight fatal cluding the heroin-fentanyl DEATH NOTICES � 10A Library฀was฀broken฀by฀a฀whir - through the X-ray machine. of the problem, and I think “We฀are฀al ways฀supporting฀ opiate overdoses this year, we need to start looking at combination that has been ring฀noise. the฀lifelong฀learner,”฀said฀Mandy฀ Nearly 2 million passengers none Road฀to฀GL฀ There,฀rolling฀among฀the ฀ endure the drill each day. Many the most in any of the past ways we can treat these ad- responsible for many deaths Sprague,฀adult฀and฀teen฀services฀ The journey to Green stacks,฀moved฀a฀strange,฀glow- librarian฀at฀Ripon฀Public฀Library. hate it. A few get unruly. four years. dictions or at least give peo- here and nationwide. � OBITUARIES 10A Lake’s Thrasher Opera ing฀ball. And฀that฀means,฀starting฀this ฀ The tools deployed by the Opiates include heroin ple a helping hand at getting Barry Irmen, director of It฀paused,฀turned฀and฀spun฀its฀ security agents—including House for this singer/ week,฀offering฀a฀whole฀new฀vari- the Rock County Medical Ex- way฀back฀toward฀the฀paperbacks. full-body scanners—get ever and its cousins, including off their addictions,” Wood- Kelly D.Ahline/Janesville songwriter includes ety฀of฀items฀for฀check-out. This฀wasn’t฀an฀alien฀invasion฀ more sophisticated while the prescription painkillers. man said. Turn to HEROIN on Page 6A Robert “Scott” Allen Jr./Janesville Jeanine Ann Fitzmaurice/Janesville layovers with Kenny of฀spherical฀visitors. See฀LIBRARY/฀page฀14 Turn to AIRPORTS on Page 7A Patricia O’Brien Frechette/Minneapolis,Minnesota and Loggins and others. Janesville See page 7 Sally B.Gudeyon/Janesville Arthur Henry Harnack/Evansville Robert Ashby Holden Sr./Orfordville The Sunflower Challenge: Make someone’s day brighter Thomas Owen Kostka Sr./Beloit Education BETS฀OLSON,฀LEFT, says her daughter, Emma, is her best friend. The two struggled through a Marian I.Schroeder/Milton Maic฀D’Agostino฀photo Ruth Evelyn Snyder/Janesville separation when Emma stayed at a mental institute for two weeks in 2014. Danny Wakefield bought a sun- Danny Wakefield flower with every intention of giving it FOR MORE INFORMATION gave a stranger to “someone I was smitten with,” he ex- a sunflower and INSIDE Visit facebook.com/sunflower Cutting,฀over-medicating฀were฀part฀ plained. became an challenge2016/ But he didn’t internet Advice ..............................4C Obituaries ......................10A want to come on too sensation. The Celebrations ....................4A Opinion........................8A-9A of฀a฀much฀more฀complex฀picture strong after a first act of kindness Classified ........................D-E Outdoors ..........................9B would give the flower to.” Editor’s฀note:฀This฀is฀part฀four฀of฀ omore฀is฀just฀as฀up฀front฀about฀her฀ “With฀my฀journey at first, I฀ date.