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A nice fall day in Racine

On a personal note, we went out to the dog park Saturday and I took a little video.... nothing special, just one of those days.

Police catch robbers following lock down of hospital

West Allis. WI - Three men are in custody after they allegedly robbed an Aldi’s grocery store in Greenfield and led to a lock down at West Allis Memorial Hospital.

Brad Wentlandt, deputy inspector of the Greenfield Police Department, stated in a press release that a black man armed with a sawed-off shotgun robbed a clerk at Aldi’s, 4225 S. 108th St. in Greenfield at 6:30 p.m.

The man took money from the cash register and fled west on Coldspring road.

A few minutes later, a retired Hales Corners police officers who witnessed the robbery called and said he was following the suspect vehicle north on 108^th Street. Greenfield officers responded to the area and pursued the vehicle until they got to 92^nd Street and Lincoln Avenue in West Allis where one of three suspects inside the car fled armed with the shotgun.

The two men who were in the vehicle were arrested, but one suspect was still on foot near West Allis Memorial Hospital. Officers lost sight of the man and the hospital was put on lock down for security reasons.

Officers from both West Allis and Greenfield set up a perimeter and began a search. Moments later, the man was spotted trying to break into a building on the hospital campus. He was found hiding under a vehicle in the parking lot and was taken into custody.

The sawed of shotgun was located with the help of Greenfield’s canine unit. The gun was hidden in a window well of a residence in the 2200 block of South 91^st Street.

The men were taken into police custody after police chased them into the area of 92^nd Street and Lincoln Avenue in West Allis. One of the men was at large for a period of time after West Allis Memorial Hospital was locked down for security reasons.

Law enforcement officials from West Allis and Greenfield set up a perimeter and search.

The suspects, all of Milwaukee, are ages 48, 26, and 23-years old.

Technorati Tags: West Allis,Greenfield,Wisconsin,lock down,West Allis Memorial Hospital,Aldi's,robbery,Greenfield Police Department,West Allis Police Department

Jobless, but not hopeless

Mequon, WI - On Tuesday about 60 people got up from their seats one by one as members of the Lumen Christi Employment Network to tell their story.

Their 30-second synopsis included their names, background, position they were searching for and what stressed them out about their job search.

They were chief financial officers, certified public accountants, human resources representatives, pilots, manufacturing operations professionals, mechanical and electrical engineers, program managers and executive assistants. Most looked for the same opportunities. Many said they were stressed out about employers not calling them back, if they were doing enough in their job searches, and if they should take any job even if it meant half the pay.

And even though no one uttered these words specifically, the unspoken sentiment that hung in its obviousness was: they feared financial ruin.

Indeed, no one was spared as corporations slashed jobs and killed careers. Even Dotty Posto, the speaker for the evening, was in the market for a job. She worked for Harley-Davidson in organizational development and explained as she talked about de-stressing the job search, processes that she employed these techniques almost on a daily basis because she too was laid off.

Keeping it positive

“But the 11^th commandment is: Thou shall not kid thyself,” she told the group.

There are harsh realities that occur when confronted with job loss, but how you choose to respond to those realities is up to you.

“We all have a history and you bring this history with you when you get laid off,” Posto said. “So the question is how are you choosing your responses?”

Posto taught the group how stress impacts the body, taught them how to combat stress through mindfulness, having a plan and working the plan, staying in the present, journaling and breathing exercises.

But this group has taken the position that they are in this state of joblessness together and together they will become employed. They do this by hosting networking groups every Wednesday morning where they help one another stay positive, and share their successes, fears, and failures. Members are encouraged to break into small groups and meet in coffee shops to form support systems.

Deb Orlowski, who worked as an executive assistant at Wheaton Franciscan, was laid off in March. She is attends several networking groups during the week, has a small group she meets with, volunteers at Newcastle Place, a nursing home in Mequon, and works part-time at Curves.

“I’ve learned I have to stay positive,” she said. “If all you are doing is waiting on a phone call, you feel like you are constantly walking on eggshells.”

In this together

Pat Cronin, who moderates the group at Lumen Christi, said several members of the church formed the group in 2002.

“We started the group because praying for the unemployed on Sunday is great, but it doesn’t get you a W-2,” Cronin said.

Since the group started they have seen 240 of its members find jobs. Attendance has increased over the past year from 30 people to 70. And while jobs seemed scarce the first half of the year, people are now getting more interviews.

But in between interviews and job searching, the group encourages its members to volunteer.

“You have all of this time on your hands, why not put it to good use,” Cronin said. “It gives you a sense of accomplishment and it’s sort of a pay it forward kind of a thing.

“But it also gives you balance, I’ve seen a lot of people crash and burn because they are so focused on getting a job as fast as they can so they spend 70 plus hours a week job searching. If you do that, you are going to hit a wall.”

Finding new ways to look at work

Members of the group have also been starting their own businesses while they are searching for jobs.

Kristin Sims, an account manager who worked for a company that made construction equipment, was laid off after five years of being with the company. She decided to start a dog sitting business called North Shore Pampered Pet Sitting because she struggled to find a loving home for her dog when she was working.

“I just had a hard time leaving my own dog with a vet or even at a kennel,” Sims said. “I always felt more comfortable when I left him with someone at their home, where I knew he would get played with and be taken for walks.”

But Sims is still searching for an opportunity in account management or project management, but she finds hope in coming to the meetings.

The group also invites alumni back to attend networking events.

Deb Newell looked for a job for eight months before landing a business development position at Direct Supply.

“Going to these meetings helped me realize that this is such a diverse group. A lot of them come from different professional backgrounds and these are quality people and I learned that I wasn’t alone,” Newell said. “There used to be a stigma around being unemployed, but today things are very different.”

Technorati Tags: Unemployment,networking,Mequon,Wisconsin,creative ways to find jobs

Mother accused of getting her son hooked on drugs, now faces charges after his death

Waterford, WI - A 16-year-old boy who died of a cocaine and heroine overdose, allegedly got the drugs from his mother.

Patricia Strosina, 46, of Waterford, was charged with a felony count of intent to contribute to the delinquency of a child-death. If she is convicted of the charge, she faces up to 25 years in prison and could be fined up to $100,000.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Racine County district attorney’s office today, Patricia Strosina allegedly bought and used heroine with her son Raymond Strosina, who died Sept. 14.

Investigators were told that the cause of death for Raymond was respiratory arrest and a mixed drug use, including heroin and cocaine.

Raymond’s caseworker told investigators that she learned after Raymond’s death that “Raymond and his mother (were) ‘shooting’ together” from an acquaintance who was involved in heroin sales by the name of Robin Wiskerchen.

“Wiskerchen stated that she had personal knowledge that Patty was providing controlled substances to her son, Raymond,” according to the criminal complaint. “Wiskerchen reported that Raymond was too young, being approximately 14 or 15 years old at the time that this occurred.”

Wiskerchen told police she saw Raymond smoking pot at 14-years-old, but she saw Patty giving Raymond heroin and that “Raymond would go into the bathroom and snort it.” Patricia also took Raymond on drug runs, showed Raymond how to shoot up heroin and would shoot heroin into him.

At a residence in the Town of Waterford, Wiskerchen told police she knew Patty was shooting Raymond up with heroin during the times that drug use occurred in a bedroom at the residence because it was heroin that they all bought and she shot up as well.

But the mother and son also smoked marijuana and did crack cocaine at least three to four times a week together, according to the complaint.

A man by the name of Dominic Coon told investigators that about four weeks before Raymond’s death, he stayed with Raymond at his residence and went on a drug run to Milwaukee with Raymond and another woman, Karen Stock. Coon told police that Patricia supplied Raymond with drugs and during that week he went on two runs with them.

When questioned, Patricia admitted to using heroin and oxycontin, but denied doing drugs in front of Raymond. When investigators confronted Patricia about the information they had from several sources, Patricia said Raymond only smoked weed and she didn’t know how he got heroin.

“Patty Strosina blamed Robin Wiskerchen for getting Ray hooked on heroin,” according to the criminal complaint.

Patricia told investigators she uses heroin and oxycontin and that eventually she and Raymond were getting off heroin, that they started to decrease their drug use about a year ago.

While Patricia told police that she used heroin with Raymond about a week prior to his death, she continued to blame Wiskerchen for getting him hooked on heroin and told police she “had begged Robin to leave Raymond ‘out of this.’”

When investigators showed Patty written records that Robin kept of her drug sales, Patty exclaimed “Holy Shit!”

Patricia then told investigators she didn’t go anywhere without Raymond, admitted he was always around drug use and that “no one would deal with Ray because he was a kid and a lot of times she would pick Heroin up without Ray.”

Technorati Tags: Mom accused of getting son hooked on drugs,now faces charges after his death,Waterford,Wisconsin,Patricia Strosina,Raymond Strosina

Second fire in Union Grove called suspicious

Union Grove, WI - Officials with the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Department put out another blaze, this time at a residence located at 20512 Church Road.

This was the second suspicious fire they have responded to within a week.

Fire personnel arrived at the scene at 11:29 p.m. on Monday to find a two-story home fully engulfed in flames. The home was unoccupied as the owner was living with relatives because of some medical issues, said Tom Czerniak, fire chief for the UGYFD.

No one was hurt while fighting the fire. The home was deemed a total loss.

Czerniak did note that the fire had been going for some time before they arrived.

“So the decision was then made to fight the fire in a defensive mode rather than an offensive mode,” he said.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is being called suspicious.

“No one was living there and the electricity was off. The fire didn’t just start itself. So we definitely need to determine how it was started,” Czerniak said.

While this residential fire is unrelated to the other fire that happened at 1380 15th Avenue on Oct. 8, that fire was also deemed suspicious. Both fires are being investigated by the Racine County Sheriff’s Department at this time.

Czerniak said he expects to have the reports from both fires over the next few weeks.

“I can say in both of these cases though that smoke alarms would have been valuable and I would encourage everyone to practice fire safety and install them in their homes and businesses,” Czerniak said. ‘I would also encourage the use of sprinkler systems in businesses.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK JARVIS

Technorati Tags: Union Grove,Wisconsin,residential fire,Union Grove Yorkville Fire Department