The Journal Times du lieu suivant : Racine, Wisconsin • 23

Iurnall lines CLASSIFIEDS INSIDE VbStutat wwwjourrudtlme8.com THURSDAY, MAY, 6, 2004 THE JOURNAL TIMES SECTION Itou hoM tmnm Murtcal Jot. I 01 Hn 10 tailing Local power plant on the wrong list Pleasant Prairie plant is 38th on list of power plants with greatest mercury emissions BY DAVID STEINKRAUS Journal Times owned by We Energies, was No. 38 on the list of power plants with the greatest mercury emissions. In 2001, the plant released 599 pounds of 1 as 11 iii fe- Feingold wants mercury rule explanation from Bush administration 3B. mercury.

1 hat also made the plant WLscoasin's second largest mercury emitter in 2001, according to air pollution The long arm of the law is still scratching your back. Today's edition of GYA features more advice about navigating and interpreting the law. i This information is courtesy of Attorney Sally Hoelzel, chairwoman of the Law Day Committee for the Racine get an awful lot of pollution from a handful of plants." The problem is that the Bush administration has effectively proposed repeal of the rule requiring old power plants to clean up. "We're again pleading for enforcement of the law as it's written." Local changes Kris McKinney, manager of environmental policy for We Energies, said the company is in the process' of installing equipment at Pleasant Prairie that will hopefully reduce mercury. The two types of equipment one to reduce nitrous oxides and the other to reduce sulfur dioxides as a side benefit should cut mercury emissions, he said.

This a $325 million project that will span four years, he said. But the amount of mercury reduction is uncertain. It's estimated at between 10 and 20 percent on paper, but the actual More on PLANT, Page 3B Air quality improvements in the United States are at a standstill, two advocacy groups said on Wednesday, and electric utilities, responsible for a large amounts of pollution, are spending plenty of money to repeal air pollution rules. In their report, the Environmental Integrity IVoject and Public Citizen cited the 50 most-polluting power plants in three categories: sulfur dioxide emissions, nitrous oxide emissions and mercury emissions. Sulfur dioxide is part of the acid rain that has ruined lakes in the eastern United States.

Nitrous oxides play a part in the formation of smog and ozone, and mercury damages the human nervous system. The Pleasant Prairie power plant, records from the Wiscoasin Department of Natural Resources. When you look at which power plants are producing pollutants, you don't have to look hard, said Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project, in a telephone conference with reporters. Only a handful of plants produce most of the pollution, he said. "So these are highly concentrated sources where you RON KUENSTLER Journal Times The We Energies' Pleasant Prairie power plant is among the top 50 worst mercury polluters in the country.

County Bar Association. Bear in mind these answers constitute general information and are not intended as legal advice. And we extend our thanks to Hoelzel and the members of the Racine County Bar Association who contributed their time and knowledge to this column. Law Day is technically By Chris Bennett Tret. (TrVTSm I -r-r mt, ml Haste jjrrrm Cars travel south Tuesday on Monument Square Drive at Sixth Street.

The city is about to switch the direction of traffic on Monument Square Drive from southbound to northbound. RON KUENSTLER Journal Times fcr is I J. LJL" 1 Monument Square Drive to become northbound BY MICHAEL BURKE Journal Times 3rd St. Marina NewsTracker 4th St. Kl1f 'f 3 5th St.

celebrated on May 1. It's intent is to draw attention to both the principles and practice of law and justice. The Racine County Bar Association is celebrating Law Day all this week through the information in this column and various efforts in the community. When should someone consider writing a will? All adults should consider having a will. A will is especially important for those who: have children; wish to establish trusts or other types of property transfers; wish to designate a representative to probate their property after death; those who wish to leave property to non-relatives; and those who wish to reduce death taxes.

Without a will, your property will be distributed according to the laws of the state. People with minor children are particularly in need of a will to designate a guardian for the children and direct how funds should be utilized or saved for the children. In short, almost everyone will benefit from having a will, but remember that a will is only one tool for estate planning. Why do judges sometimes dismiss cases without a trial? When a case is filed in court, it does not mean there will necessarily be a trial. More than 96 percent of all cases are settled between the parties by agreement, and there is no trial.

However, sometimes cases are dismissed when parties don't agree. In the civil court, the most common way for a case to be dismissed is through a procedure called "summary judgment." A summary judgment may be granted if there is no genuine dispute about the important facts in the case and the only thing that needs to be decided is how the law applies to the facts. Judges are the ones who decide legal issues, and therefore, there is no need for a trial when a summary judgment is granted. Criminal cases may be dismissed without a trial when the judge decides there is no probable cause that a crime has been committed. That decision could be made after the judge reads the formal written complaint filed by the state or after hearing evidence at a proceeding called a preliminary hearing.

Criminal cases might also be dismissed because key evidence that the state was relying on to prosecute the defendant is no longer available. The reasons for unavailability of evidence may range from having a witness refusing to testify to having evidence being suppressed because it was unlawfully obtained. Evidence may be suppressed when a defendant's constitutional rights have been violated, such as the right against unreasonable searches and seizures or the right to have a lawyer when being interrogated while in police custody. Why was Michael Jackson initially charged with child molestation, and now also indicted by a grand Jury? Michael Jackson was arrested for child molestation in the state of California. In California, a person arrested for an alleged criminal offense is not "charged" with that offense until he or she is indicted by a grand jury.

Unlike Wisconsin, the grand jury and not the district attorney decides when and if a defendant should be charged with a crime About half the states and federal system use grand juries. When a person is arrested, a group of citizens from that county convenes to decide whether "probable cause" exists to charge the person. "Probable cause" means there is sufficient reason to believe the defendant committed the crime Such a designation is an "indictment." In Wisconsin, probable cause is determined by a judge ore 6urt commissioner at a hearing called the preliminary hearing. In Michael Jackson's case he was arrested for, but not charged with, child molestation, until such time as the grand jury issued the indictment. What is "Glad You "Glad You Asked" attempts to find answers to questions from Journal Times readers.

Selected questions and the answers will be published in this column. Call (262) 631-1758 to submit a question, or do so by e-mail: asHSjournaftimes.corn The Journal Times and the Racine Public Library are partners on the research. If Call the Reference Desk (262) 6364217 or query their web site at: www.raeine&.fib.w'.usemadr.Mrn for more information. 1 rtMiument aquara I 1 Sam jon-- ducive to good (traffic) circulation." One-way streets should work in pairs, he said. "They should be running in opposite directions." Monument Square Drive and Wisconsin Avenue now both run southbound, which can lead to unnecessary, frustrating driving maneuvers.

For example, Rooney said: A driver goes down Monument Square Drive looking for a parking spot. She looks in her rear-view mirror and sees someone pull out of a space behind her. To re-enter the street she has two choices. She can turn onto Sixth Street, go two blocks to College Avenue, go right to Fifth Street, and go two blocks back, crossing one-way Wisconsin Avenue in the process, then make aright. Or she can get on Sixth, turn left 11 6th St.

WHAT WE KNEW: City officials are assessing traffic patterns in Downtown Racine, and have discussed changing the directions Sixth and Seventh streets will run. THE LATEST: In the meantime, the one-block Monument Square Drive will be reversed, making it northbound instead of southbound. In the process, one of the existing 28 parking spots will be lost. WHAT'S NEXT: Work to make the change will begin Tuesday and Wednesday next week, weather permitting. Signage will be changed to reflect the reversal and temporary extra signage will be put in place while drivers get used to the change.

I RACINE The larger decisions about Downtown street patterns 1 which direction Sixth and Seventh streets will run in the future have yet to be made. In the meantime, the city is about to untangle a smaller Downtown traffic mess. Next week the city will reverse the traffic flow on one-block Monument Square Drive The work to convert the street from southbound to northbound will be done next Tuesday and Wednesday if the weather cooperates, said Racine Traffic Engineer John Rooney. Department of Public Works employees will grind off the old lane stripes, sweep up the shavings, wait for the pavement to dry and then repaint the lane for northbound diagonal parking. In the process, one of the existing 28 parking spots will be lost.

The primary reason for the 7th St. ID 8th St. SEAN SCHOETTLER Journal Times Traffic on Monument Square Drive will be changed to northbound sometime next week. After the reversal, if that same driver wants to get back into Monument Square Drive, she need only make four consecutive rights to get around the block. More on REVERSAL, Page 3B on Wisconsin, left on Seventh Street, left on Main Street, go two blocks back to Fifth, left to Monument Square Drive and then make another left.

switch, Rooney explained, is that the present direction is not "con- Judge denies new hearing for convicted murderer Joachim Dressier claimed his lawyer was ineffective in 1991, 1993 trials NewsTracker BY JEFF WILFORD Journal Times sentenced to life in prison, and won't become eligible for parole until 2051. THE LATEST: Judge Gerald Ptacek refused Dressler's request for a hearing to determine if his lawyer at the trial and appeal was ineffective. A ruling of ineffective assistance of counsel could mean a new trial for Dressier. WHAT'S NEXT: Dressier can appeal Ptacek's decision to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. LAST WE KNEW: Joachim Dressier, 56, was convicted in 1991 for killing, mutilating and dismembering James Madden the year before.

Madden was in Dressler's Town of Raymond neighborhood, collecting environmental donations. Dressier was RACINE Speaking over a speaker-phone from his home at Waupun Correctional Institution, convicted murderer Joachim Dressier sounded lawyerly, citing case law 1 ft i ,..2 mift ii if-il ,1 become eligible for parole, in 2051. In February, Dressier filed a motion for post-conviction relief. In the motion, he claimed that his lawyer in the trial and his appeal was ineffective Dressier was convicted in 1991, and lost an appeal of that conviction in 1993. The purpose of the hearing Wednesday was just to determine whether there was enough merit to Dressler's argument to hold another hearing, that would determine whether his lawyer was ineffective Dressier said the lawyer was ineffective because he didn't argue, either at trial or appeal, that books, articles and videos shouldn't have been seized from his home by authorities, or used as evidence against him at trial, because they were protected by the First Amendment, according to court records.

Authorities had seized books, articles and videos from Dressler's home that depicted scenes of death, torture and mutilation. Prosecutors used that evidence at trial to portray Dressier a homosexual fascinated with death and galore, as he argued for the need for a court hearing that could have ultimately given him a new trial It wasn't to be. Racine County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Ptacek denied Dressler's request for a hearing to deter violence, and thus capable of carrying out such a grisly crime. An expert witness for prosecutors described it as "homosexual overkill.1' During the court hearing Wednesday, Dressier argued it was wrong to use those items as evidence against him; that to do so, basically held him criminally responsible for what somebody else wrote or videotaped. Simply having the materials wasn't a crime Deputy District Attorney said Dressier misunderstood the law.

Just because something is protected free speech doesn't mean it can't be used against a person in trial There is nothing in any of the First Amendment deci Dressier sions that possession of legal materials cannot be introduced at trial against the defendant." Judge Ptacek agreed. Dressier filed the motion himself, and argued on his own behalf Wednesday. He had written to numerous attorneys, asking them to take his case pro bono, but all declined. Some replied that they required sizable retainers $10,000 or $20,000 to even look at his case, much less take it on. One replied that Dressler's cases didn't meet his criteria for taking on pro bono work namely, that it have a reasonable chance of More on HEJUVItS, Page 3B mine if bis appeals lawyer was ineffective.

Dressier, 56, was convicted of the 1990 murder and dismemberment of environmental activist James Madden. He was sentenced to life in prison. He would have to live to be 103 to even.