The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin • 22

REGIONS STATE www.postcrescent.com Thursday, May 30, 2002 C-2 The Post-Crescent, Appleton-Neenah-Menasha, Wis. VITALS odd mwfkmwi 3 fil EXCEPT vruic Laron Ball felled by policeman The Associated Press MILWAUKEE A man just convicted of murder was shot and killed in the courtroom by police Wednesday after he lunged at a sheriff's deputy, grabbed his gun and shot the deputy, wounding him, authorities said. Laron Ball, 20, who had just heard his guilty Clarke said. Clarke said a Milwaukee police detective who had testified against Ball shot and killed him after the deputy was injured. Clarke said Ball was arrested in February in connection with the shooting death of Amon Rogers, 27, during a robbery in December.

Clarke said he ordered Ball held in solitary confinement in April after he learned through the informant Ball was planning an escape by either trading identification wristbands with a prisoner set to be released or by attacking deputies during his trial. Ball was not shackled or handcuffed Wednesday, Clarke said. Deputies also had access to a stun belt. The belt goes around a defendant's waist and deputies can use it to shock a person if necessary. Deputies chose not to put one on Ball, Clarke said.

Clarke said he didn't know why those precautions were not were used. He said he didn't want to second-guess his deputies. "One thing these deputies don't need right now is for me to pile on," Clarke said. Deputy Michael Witkowski was taken to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital. He was released later Wednesday, hospital spokesman Mark McLaughlin said.

The deputy, 35, was shot in the abdomen, McLaughlin said. The other deputy was treated for a bite wound at Froedtert and released, Clarke said. An attorney also was hurt in the commotion, but not seriously, Milwaukee County Sheriffs Sgt. Charles G. Coughlin said.

tq DO zjSlu Lambeau project halrWay complete Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers GREEN BAY Renovation work at Lambeau Field has reached the halfway point, but project managers say the real accomplishment will be getting people into the stadium for the first preseason game in less than three months. "It's good to be at that number, but we really work for the milestones of getting the team moved and getting fans in their seats," said Stuart Zadra, project director with Hammes Co. So far almost $148 million has been spent on the $295 million renovation project About 1,000 people are working on the renovations, an increase from a few months ago when 800 workers were on site. Zadra said about $900,000 is being spent daily on construction. "You've got more trades on line, you've got carpenters, ceiling installers, painters, you've got people doing more things," Zadra said.

"There's a lot more going on in a lot more areas than we could do in the past." Much of the focus is on finishing luxury boxes and expanded seating areas before the Green Bay Packers play their first preseason home game. "So when the fans arrive Aug. 26 for the first game we've got people in their seats enjoying the game for the upcoming season," Zadra said. The project is still on time and budget, he said. When fans see the stadium in August it will be 65 percent to 70 percent complete, and by the end of the season should be about 80 percent done, Zadra said.

The project is to be pleted in time for the Packers' 2003 season. Pat Webb, executive director of the Green BayBrown County Professional Football Stadium District, looks ahead. "The significant part will come Aug. 26 when they play their first preseason game in there and they're ready to go," he said. Filed By The The Green Bay AP photo by Jack Orton A MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY is loaded into an ambulance after being shot during a courtroom gun battle Wednesday in Milwaukee.

Clarke said another tol to keep Ball from firing my mind he prevented this deputy grabbed the slide again. from being much worse of the semiautomatic pis- "There's no doubt in than it turned out to be," 'always a possibility' in any courthouse DEATHS JENKS, Shirley 77, Menasha. PEKAR, Lois 70,540 McKinley Apt 1 Clintonville. MARTIN, Herbert 78, Shawano. MORGAN, W.

Frank; 97, Pine Manor Health Care Center, Embarrass, formerly of Bear Creek. "SCHMIDT, Donald 83, Neenah. SCHMIDT," Gerald 81, SPRANGERS, Anthony 70, Ap-pleton. STOWASSER, Robert; 78, Apple-ton. VANDERLOIS, Robert 61, Wisconsin Veterans Home, King.

DEATHS ELSEWHERE GRUMLEY, Dawn 32, Cedar, daughter of Albert King, Neenah. HINTZE, Ralph 86, Wausau, father of Bobbie Hackbarth, Neenah. BIRTHS Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center and New London Family Medical Center do not release birth information. If you wish to have your birth announcement published, you may pick up a form at The Post-Crescent office, 306 W. Washington St, Appleton, or The News-Record office, 124 W.

Wisconsin Neenah. Forms will not be mailed. Information on the form will be cross-checked for the protection of the new families. ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL Wanda and Kevin (Joe) KRUEGER, Appleton; a son.

BIRTH ELSEWHERj' Sarah and Andy STRAND, Rhinelander; a son. Grandparents are Gary and Diane Shebilske and Daniel Strand, all of Appleton. Great-grandparents are Ray Maas, Eileen Shebilske and Alma Strand, all of Appleton, and Alice Reed, Mountain Home, Ark. ALLERGY ALERT ALLERGY COUNTS are number of pollens and mold spores per cubic meter of air. Counts in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m.

yesterday were: MOLDS, 2,034 (moderate) POLLENS, 36 (moderate) Source: Kagen Allergy Clinic St. Elizabeth Hospital POLICE REPORTS INJURY ACCIDENT, W. Wisconsin Avenue east of N. Westhill Grand Chute. Monica Lawrence, 125, was taken to a hospital with injuries she received at 5 p.m.

I Wednesday when the car she was (riding in, driven by George I Lawrence, 29, of Appleton, was headed east on Wisconsin and jwas struck in the rear while )stopped for a red light. Grand Chute police said Sue Bossell, 35, of Marion, failed to stop, striking a car driven by Holli Boston, 29 of Appleton, and pushing the Boston car into Lawrence. INJURY ACCIDENT, U.S. 45 at U.S. 10, Town of Greenville.

Mark Daggitt, 37, New London, was taken to a hospital with injuries he suffered at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday. He was headed north on 45 and col- Ilided with a vehicle driven by Ryan Lenhart, 21, Kaukauna. The Outagamie County Sheriff's Department said Lenhart was headed south and turned left in front of Daggitt. INJURY ACCIDENT, State 96 at CB, Town of Greenville.

Mandy Huhn and a passenger, Andrea Hildebrand, both 17, Hor-tonville, were taken to Appleton Medical Center with injuries they sustained at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. Outagamie County Sheriff's Department said Michael Jennings, 44, Appleton, was headed 'west on 96 and turned left onto southbound CB in front of the Huhn car. COURT REPORTS CALUMET COUNTY BOWE, Kathrin; 29, 36 E. Paine i Kiel.

Placed on probation for four years, ordered to serve 90 in jail and directed to pay $3,375 in restitution for misappropriating personal identification in Chilton last October. DEGENHARDT, Karen 40, 203 E. Main Chilton. Placed on probation for one year for possession of THC Dec. 22 in Chilton.

SheriffTom Hiriz, said the Milwaukee tragedy underscores the need to start screening all visitors for weapons at a single courthouse entrance. The sheriff can set up metal detectors at a single entrance when he feels it's necessary. Hinz wants to make that security step permanent. verdict on felony murder, jumped into the jury box and bailiffs tried to subdue him, said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline Schellinger, who was handling the case. "I've never seen anything like this as a judge and I'm not aware of any judge who has seen anything like it," Schellinger said.

"The bailiffs were making their best effort to get him under control." Schellinger ordered the courtroom cleared as the ordeal unfolded on the third floor of the Milwaukee County Safety Building downtown. From the jury box, Ball jumped onto a window sill, she said. He tried to throw himself through the window, but it didn't break, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said.

Ball's attorney, James Hanley, said Ball grabbed a deputy's gun and fired twice. Violence Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers GREEN BAY News of a shooting death at a Milwaukee courthouse prompted debate about security measures taken at the Brown County Courthouse. "You hope it doesn't happen, but it's always a possibility," said Brown County sheriffs Sgt. Ann Worker accused of stealingfrom patients PORTAGE A former health care worker pleaded innocent to charges that she stole prescription pain relievers from three of her patients. Mary J.

Williams, 38, of Portage, is charged with felony reckless endanger-ment and two counts of misdemeanor theft According to the criminal complaint, Williams placed Steven Kayartz's life at risk when she replaced his OxyContin pills with Prednisone in August. Kayartz, who is a quadriplegic, suffered withdrawals and lost nearly 40 pounds following the switch in medications, the complaint says. DANE COUNTY Ethics Board director advises against mailings MADISON A state ethics official has advised legislators not to send mass mailings to new voters in their redrawn legislative districts because it would look "suspect." While technically not illegal, beating a June 1 deadline for mass mailings at taxpayer expense raises ethical questions, said Roth Judd, executive director of the Ethics Board. Voters are more aware than ever this year of how tax funds are being spent, Judd said in an advisory Ball WISCONSIN A Kewaunee about 'their he said. Brown County officers are authorized to carry weapons in court.

Hinz said he encourages other law enforcement officers to wear their weapons when they come to court for legal proceeding Filed by the Green Bay Press-Gazette the country's veterans are properly memorialized. The project was funded through the federal Veterans Millennium Health Care Act to ensure the cemeteries meet appearance standards of world-class cemeteries, said Joe Turnbach, cemetery The plans call for 17,000 headstones to be raised, realigned and cleaned. Crews will also bring in new soil and reseed about 10,000 gravesites. The 70-foot obelisk in the memorial section, as well as several large stone monuments along the roadsides, also will be refurbished. Waukesha man held for spreading racist fliers MILWAUKEE A man was arrested Wednesday after investigators linked him to fliers with racist comments related to the disappearance of 7-year-old girl.

The 22-year-old Waukesha man is accused of placing the fliers outside America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee and on cars and shop doors. The man is "well known among his associates for his hatred for African-Americans," Milwaukee Police Chief Arthur Jones said. The fliers asked why any white person should care about the disappearance of Alexis Patterson, who is black, museum officials said. But Circuit Judge J. D.

McKay said he didn't feel the Milwaukee shooting should prompt major security changes here. A metal detector wouldn't have prevented the shooting, he said. "The weapon would have been there anyway," McKay said. Armed personnel have to be cautious BRIEFING ilwaukee his fifth offense. As part of his sentence, a Chippewa County judge ordered him to pay the police to replace the stop sticks, which are devices used to disable cars during a pursuit.

But the 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled that state law does not allow reimbursement for expenses incurred in the normal course of law enforcement and reversed the circuit court ruling. National cemetery undergoing restoration MILWAUKEE Wood National Cemetery has begun a $700,000 restoration project as part of a nationwide effort to ensure J. I "We take all the precautions we can, but you just don't know." In Milwaukee, a man convicted of murder was shot and killed in the courtroom by police Wednesday after the defendant lunged at a deputy and tried to take his gun. Local county officials, including Brown County opinion requested by the chief clerks of the state Assembly and Senate. FOND DU LAC COUNTY Man accused of hitting pregnant woman FOND DU LAC A 31 -year-old Fond du Lac man has been charged with substantial battery involving a woman who is six months pregnant Nathaniel Johnson III faces a June 13 preliminary hearing in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court.

Police were called Sunday to St. Agnes Hospital on a report that an alleged battery victim was being treated for a broken jaw. The woman told police Johnson hit her in the mouth with his fist. She told officers she is pregnant with Johnson's child. KEWAUNEE COUNTY Courrtywide garbage collection advances KEWAUNEE Kewaunee County is moving ahead with a plan to approach the county's 14 municipalities about entering contracts for countywide curbside garbage collection.

Bob Weidner, chairman of the HighwaySolid Waste Committee, said preliminary discussion with municipalities indicate some are willing to give the idea a fair shot. The board passed a resolution Tuesday to permit Fnnri riii I a "TiJ i if Madison 1 fl 1 ElkhorVJ- ILLINOIS Woman'sbodyfound in Milwaukee park lagoon MILWAUKEE A woman's body was found floating in a park lagoon Wednesday. Investigators believe they know the woman's identity, but they would not release it Wednesday night, said Milwaukee County sheriffs Inspector Kevin Carr. The cause of the woman's death remained undetermined, Carr said. The body was found about 6 p.m.

in the lagoon at Veterans Park, located along the city's lakefront. Boater sent to prison for role in fatal accident ELKHORN A man convicted of operating his boat while intoxicated, then striking and killing a swimmer in Geneva Lake was sentenced to seven years in prison. Peter Fonte, 29, of Virginia Beach, was found guilty of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle March 15. Fonte was sentenced Tuesday in Walworth County Circuit Court. Traci Paladino, 21, of Le Roy, N.Y.

died after being hit last July 16 while swimming in the lake. Her body was recovered Nov. 14. Authorities said Fonte was intoxicated when he left the controls of the mo-torboat and it hit Paladino and also injured another swimmer. MINNESOTA the committee to work with municipalities toward the implementation of curbside pickup.

The intent of the program is to keep more of the county's solid waste in the county and keep the landfill self-sufficient 2 Appeals court rejects stop sticks restitution WAUSAU A court cannot order a man to pay $123 in restitution to the police to replace the stop sticks they used to arrest him for drunken driving, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. James Storlie was convicted of fleeing a police officer and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, IOWA 1 .1.