The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 19

0 Inside Deaths C3 Marketplace C5 Weather CIO The Capital Times Friday, March 16, 2007 E-mail, crtydeskmadison.com City editor: Chris Murphy 252-6420 Assistant city editor Lee Sensenbrenner 252-6404 Clifford ad assails Ziegler scandal Its candidates 1st commercial By David Callender The Capital Tunes Supreme Court candidate Linda Clifford is assailing her opponent, Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler, for an ethical scandal while touting her own legal experience in her first TV ad. With less than three weeks until the April 3 election and control of the high court potentially at stake, both candidates and their backers are expected to blanket voters with TV ads. Clifford has been slow to take to the airwaves. Supporters say its been part of an effort to preserve her campaign war chest until the critical last few days before the election. Unlike Ziegler, who advertised heavily before the Feb.

13 primary, years of legal experience, including a stint as an assistant attorney general, and praises her as an independent voice backed by (Democratic) Sen. Russ Feingold and Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus." Zieglers campaign described the Clifford commercial as a negative attack ad." In a statement, Ziegler said Cliffords ad marks the first time ever that a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court began their advertising effort with a negative ad. It certainly speaks volumes about the strength of attorney Cliffords experience and qualifications when her first commercial attacks me. Ziegler did not address the ethical questions raised by Cliffords ad, and the rules and failed to remove herself from 46 cases involving her familys banking connections, a reference to the West Bend Savings Bank cases.

Supreme Court rules require judges to recuse themselves from hearing cases in which they or family members have a significant financial interest or may be perceived as being biased. While some have called for Ziegler to be disciplined for breaking those rules, no public action has been taken against her by either the state Judicial Commission or the Office of Lawyer Regulation. The ad then touts Cliffords 30 Clifford stayed off the air in the primary. Some observers contend that led to her distant second-place finish behind Ziegler, who outpolled her by more than a 2-1 margin. Cliffords first ad seeks both to introduce her to voters and to hammer Ziegler on ethics, all in a 30-second span.

Cliffords ad features newspaper stories recounting Zieglers alleged conflicts of interest in hearing cases involving the West Bend Savings Bank, where her husband is on the board of directors. The ad declares that Ziegler broke Clifford Ziegler her campaign manager Mark Graul did not return calls seeking comment. Ziegler told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this month that she relies See CLIFFORD, Page C4 Government access called solid in Wis. Still room for improvement By Bill Novak The Capital Tunes During the final days of Sunshine Week, a weeklong, national push by the news media for better access to government, local media leaders say Wisconsin is in pretty good shape when it comes to open government, but more needs to be done to guarantee the publics right to know. Attorney Robert Dreps, a media law specialist with La Follette Godfrey Kahn in Madison, feels more sunshine is being let in on open meetings, but clouds still obscure clear skies when it comes to open records law in the state.

Wisconsins open records law includes the balancing test, which requires the record holder to determine on a case-by-case basis if refusal to release a record outweighs public access to it. Because of the test, I would not agree with those who say Wisconsins open records laws are the best in the countiy," Dreps said. You cant guarantee you will get a record, and a decision by the highest court willing to take a case doesnt guarantee that will be the decision in the next case." Dreps represented two newspapers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Lakeland Times, in a recent open records case in which the state didnt want to release disciplinary records for state employees. Dane County Judge William Foust ruled in favor of the press, but that doesnt mean the judge presiding over the next open records case in Wisconsin will use the last case as precedent. There is a mjor flaw in our open records approach, Dreps said.

The most frequent example is in disciplinary records and there also is a nuyor problem with access to law enforcement records. In some parts of the state, police departments are very open but in other parts, the press almost never sees records." Gordon Govier, veteran Madison reporter and regional director of the Society of Professional Journalists, said a recent survey on government compliance with the 40-year-old Freedom of Information Act shows less Instead of more access to government today. Its a constant battle journalists have to be vigilant about, Govier said. The publics right to know is very important." Tom Walker, chair of the board of directors of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, said access in Wisconsin is good, and both the legislature and the courts seem to side regularly with media and the public in disputes over access to meetings or records. Walker is president of Mid-West Management which owns eight Madison radio stations and other stations in Wisconsin.

I asked my news directors about access, and they all said they cant point to any issue where they werent able See ACCESS, Page C3 BRIAN EBNER PHOTOS Kohl Center emotions It was a frustrating night for Madison Memorial coach Steve Collins (above), who saw the Spartans hopes for a fourth straight appearance In the Division 1 finals of the WIAA boys state basketball tournament end in the quarterfinals Thursday against Milwaukee Vincent. The Vikings Marvin Fitzgerald tied the game at the fourth quarter buzzer, and Vincent won In overtime 49-46. In the days final game, Verona seniors Erin Rubnltz and Angellne Bickner (far right) were elated during the Wildcats second half rally, but Kimberly held on for a 53-47 victory. Bucky Badger bucks politics in Columbus Black Panthers Seale: We werent about violence Former leader says party fought racism By Paul Scharf Beaver Dam Daily Citizen COLUMBUS University of Wisconsin basketball fans hope that Bucky Badger will be very busy in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. But supporters of Columbus Mayor Dave Bomkamp, who is locked in a race with council member Nancy Os-terhaus in the April 3 election, are disappointed that Bucky wont also be in Columbus at that time to help them cheer on their candidate, which is something that the mascot apparently is not allowed to do.

Bomkamp has heavily promoted an event at the Columbus Country Club on Sunday afternoon that was to have featured Bucky Badger, along with several other children's activities. The event was to also benefit the ColumbusF all River Food Pantry with admission being a nonpenshable food item. The event was originally identified as being paid for by Fnends of Mayor Dave," the mayors political campaign fund. Eton Nelson, assistant director of state relations for the Office of the Chancellor at UW, informed Bom kamp on Thursday afternoon that the mascot would not participate in the event. Bucky is officially not coming," Nelson said.

We made the decision this morning not to send him. We think its an inappropriate use of the universitys image." Bomkamp said the event would be canceled entirely and issued a statement to the media late Thursday evening in which he said, in part: According to eyewitness accounts, efforts to comply with Bucky were sabotaged by my political opponent and her supporters My opponent should apologize to the citizens of Columbus! This is an unfortunate, negative campaign tactic. Bomkamp also promised to send out a later press release with more details. That is absolutely a lie," Osterhaus said this morning. Dave chd this all on his own.

He was given a cease and desist order and he chose not to comply with it." Osterhaus said that she did take See BUCKY, Page C3 a iff- 4 The black be- Seale rets, black jackets and shiny boots evoked the image of discipline, an essential trait for a group dedicated to policing. They didnt need so-called blippies" black hippies who wouldnt take baths, Seale said. Seale and Huey Newton formed the Black Panther Party in 1967 while attending Merritt College in Oakland, Calif. Seale's social awakening had begun five years before when he jomed the Afro-American Association and researched African history. It blew my mind," Seale said.

Tar-zan doesnt run Africa. Although Martin Luther King Jr. inspired him, it was the influence of Malcolm that spurred Seale to action. After Malcolm was killed in 1965, Seale and Newton began the preliminary planning of the Black Panther Party. See SEALE, Page C3 1995 feature film Panther," calling it cheap fiction" because its portrayal perpetuated the Black Panthers macho, violent image.

Rather, the organizations program was to capture the imagination of the people," Seale said. The Black Panther Party believed that legislation institutionalized racism, and the goal was to win people to its cause and get them to vote out racist politicians, he said. At one point, Seale impersonated former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Mimicking Daleys Chicago accent, he quoted the mayor as saying the Black Panthers agenda was to shoot and kill white people." Weapons, he said, were necessary to cany out the organizations original mission to patrol after racist police officers in the San Francisco area, and Seale added that if members were shot at, theyd shoot back. Because we had guns, it equalized us," Seale said.

By Katrin Madayag The Capital Times The Black Panthers tried to fight institutional racism with grass-roots action and coalition-building, not violence, said Black Panthers Party cofounder Bobby Seale at a presentation at Edgewood College Thursday night. Donning a black beret, Seale dis- missed the one-dimensional image of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense as a militant group to a crowd that filled up the bleachers and spilled out to the sidelines of the Edgedome. Seale, now 70, has written several books on the Black Panthers and has starred in a barbecue cooking show with his wife. The Black Panthers crossed all racial lines, Seale said. The organization was about raising consciousness and being a part of Americas continuing democracy project, he said.

The organizations policy in its early days urged members not to resist arrest, Seale said. He panned the 4 i.