Wisconsin Public Television

Transcript: "In Wisconsin" # 723

Original Airdate: April 2, 2009

Patty Loew:

Welcome to "In Wisconsin." I'm Patty Loew. This week, the statewide race for Wisconsin supreme court.

Randy Koschnick:

I am a judicial conservative.

Shirley Abrahamson:

And I apply the law to the facts in each case.

Patty Loew:

It's a clash of ideas between two judges trying to win your vote. Plus this beehive is a natural pharmacy, and what's being dispensed may help millions.

Woman:

I feel very confident in using supermarket honey for patients.

Patty Loew:

New Wisconsin research on the healing powers of honey. It's time for the counting of the cranes; a closer look at how their numbers are soaring this week in Wisconsin.

Announcer:

Major funding for "In Wisconsin" is provided by the people of Alliant Energy, who bring safe, reliable and environmentally friendly energy to keep homes, neighborhoods and life in Wisconsin running smoothly. Alliant Energy, offering energy-saving ideas on the web. And by the Animal Dental Center of Milwaukee and Oshkosh, a veterinary specialist working with pet owners and family veterinarians throughout Wisconsin, providing care for oral disease and dental problems of small companion animals.

Patty Loew:

We begin this week with the April 7 election for the Wisconsin supreme court. Incumbent chief justice Shirley Abrahamson is seeking a fourth ten-year term. Her challenger, Jefferson County circuit court judge Randy Koschnick. This week Art Hackett looks at what the candidates are saying on the campaign trail and in their Wisconsin courtrooms.

Art Hackett:

During debates, circuit judge Randy Koschnick is happy to pin this label on his judicial robe.

Randy Koschnick:

I am a judicial conservative. I believe that power in our system of government flows from the people up to the courts, not the other way around.

Shirley Abrahamson:

I listen to the facts. I study the law. And I apply the law to the facts in each case.

Art Hackett:

Supreme court justice Shirley Abrahamson claims no label.

Shirley Abrahamson:

Without a personal agenda, without an ideology, that's what judges are supposed to do.

Randy Koschnick:

The primary issue for the voters and for me is the difference between my conservative judicial philosophy and Justice Abrahamson's philosophy, which I have called activist, there are other labels. We're two completely different schools of thought.

Shirley Abrahamson:

The problem with labels is not only are they meaningless, but maybe the candidate is trying to persuade the listener that he will decide a case according to those labels. Well, you can't do that. Judges are not supposed to prejudge cases.

Art Hackett:

But both candidates are sitting judges, and have made decisions which can be attacked and must be defended.

Randy Koschnick:

The lead paint case that Justice Abrahamson was in the majority drew national attention in Wisconsin for being friendly to plaintiffs' lawyers.

Shirley Abrahamson:

Let's talk about the lead paint case. In that case, a young boy claimed neurological damage from ingesting lead paint. There was a hearing in trial court. The jury held against the lead paint manufacturers.

Art Hackett:

Issues involving business on one side and trial lawyers on the other may be what drives campaign contributions. But for voters the hot button issues often involve criminal cases. As it turns out, there are two contrasting cases, both of which originated in Judge Koschnick's courtroom in Jefferson. Judge Koschnick has used one to attack Justice Abrahamson. The other case has gotten little attention.

Randy Koschnick:

State versus Knapp, also known as the bloody shirt case. The rule had always been in Wisconsin up to that point that you do not suppress physical evidence for violation of a Miranda.

Art Hackett:

Matthew Knapp was accused of the December 1987 murder of a Watertown woman. Knapp told the detective he didn't want to talk. The detective never told him he had the right not to and kept asking questions. Knapp pointed police to a pile of clothes he had worn the night of the murder, containing the now-infamous bloody shirt. During Knapp's trial, the detective admitted he intentionally didn't advise Knapp of his rights because then Knapp might not talk.

Randy Koschnick:

The police clearly did not read the Miranda rights to the suspect the way they were supposed to. There was never any dispute about that.

Art Hackett:

The issue was how to remedy the detective's error.

Randy Koschnick:

The remedy, under the US supreme court's decisions, going back to Miranda, which was 1963, has been that the suspect's statements are not admissible.

Art Hackett:

When Knapp was arrested 11 years later and put on trial the statement about the shirt he was wearing was suppressed, but Judge Koschnick admitted the shirt itself into evidence. The police's right to seek information trumped the defendant's right against self-incrimination.

Randy Koschnick:

Suppressing physical evidence is too large of a price to pay for Miranda violation.

Art Hackett:

The US supreme court agreed with Koschnick. Later, a majority of Wisconsin supreme court justices, including Abrahamson, ruled the shirt was inadmissible under the Wisconsin constitution.

Shirley Abrahamson:

The court held in the Knapp case that when the law enforcement officers intentionally failed to give the Miranda warnings, you know, everyone knows what the Miranda warnings are. All the kids and adults watch "Law and Order." They didn't give it intentionally and evidence that was obtained from failing to give it cannot be used in this state.

Art Hackett:

Abrahamson points out Knapp was convicted even without the shirt. The other case first came to light when a house in Jefferson exploded, killing that city's EMS director, Mark Fisher. Fisher's death was ruled a suicide believed to be linked to the emails indicating he was having an extramarital affair. Police later charged Christopher Baron, an EMT who worked with Fisher, with felony identity theft. Baron allegedly hacked into Fisher's computer to access the emails. He then sent them to ten other people. Before Judge Koschnick, Baron argued Fisher was a public official. Spreading the emails, he found, was within Baron's first amendment right to truthfully criticize a public official. In May of 2007 Judge Koschnick agreed. The first amendment trumped the identity theft law and he dismissed the charge. Koschnick declined to discuss specifics of the case because it's still on appeal.

Randy Koschnick:

It sounds like you're questioning whether my focus is to favor the prosecution, and it's not. My priority is to apply the constitution the way that it's written. Now, if the constitutional law says the government loses, the government loses. If it says the defendant loses, then the defendant loses. So looking at my record, yes, you can find cases where I have ruled both ways. I have suppressed evidence where the police or the government has violated the constitution.

Art Hackett:

Last year the state court of appeals reversed Koschnick. Wisconsin statutes are replete with provisions that criminalize conduct that may otherwise be constitutionally protected if that conduct is carried out in an unlawful manner. Baron has appealed that ruling. The case is now pending before the Wisconsin supreme court.

Patty Loew:

Because of Judge Koschnick's ties to that case, Justice Abrahamson has recused herself and will not vote. We hope you'll vote in the April 7 election. Wisconsin Public Television and Radio are joining forces to bring you comprehensive coverage. You can learn more at wisconsinvote.org where candidates are given free, unedited time to talk directly to voters. It's been six weeks since the Wisconsin national guard's 32nd brigade combat team left for Texas. This is video from their recent training exercise. It's a simulation that looks real in an Iraqi town complete with civilians who are actors. The unit is searching for a high-value target on these make-believe streets. But soon it will be the real deal in Iraq. Reporter Frederica Freyberg met a pair of New Richmond soldiers who volunteered to go on the twelve-month mission together.

Man:

Very good group of guys, very close.

Frederica Freyberg:

Sergeant Bruce Wozniak shares photos of his recent mission to Iraq with his son victor.

Victor Wozniak:

It's kind of exciting.

Frederica Freyberg:

But very soon they'll be sharing the real thing.

Victor Wozniak:

I'd rather be going with my dad than somebody else.

Frederica Freyberg:

And what young soldier wouldn't. Dad, otherwise known as Sergeant Wozniak, already has one Iraq mission under his belt. Earlier in his career, he was also in the army's special forces. This is Sergeant Wozniak training the platoon in Florida in January.

Victor Wozniak:

He pushes me harder just because he wants me to be the best I can and he doesn't like me to slack off because I hear about it later.

Frederica Freyberg:

For such a tough guy, Bruce Wozniak busts a big smile when considering his 21-year-old.

Bruce Wozniak:

I'm very proud of him. He did not have to go. He's in college, he did not have to go.

Frederica Freyberg:

At home, Victor is a junior at UW-River Falls but is on leave from school to deploy with the 32nd. He could have waited, but wanted to go with this storied brigade.

Army Film:

The 32nd has more combat hours in world war ii than any other American division.

Frederica Freyberg:

And his father, who also volunteered to return because of his son's desire to serve. For his part, even at home, Bruce Wozniak doesn't spend much time out of uniform because Sergeant Wozniak is State Trooper Wozniak. Trooper Wozniak says in some ways he feels like it's more dangerous driving Wisconsin interstates as a trooper than driving convoys in Iraq as a soldier.

Bruce Wozniak:

I got so used to have somebody in here all the time that to get in alone with nobody in the car was quite a shock to be all alone after being with somebody for eight months. A few years back I got hit on I-94 and a hurt a lot more than getting hid by an IED.

Frederica Freyberg:

His run-in with an improvised explosive device caused only minor injuries. He says he has confidence in the mission and its commanders.

Bruce Wozniak:

We know what we're doing. We got good equipment. Good leadership. I've been very impressed.

Frederica Freyberg:

And so father and son, sergeant and soldier, will soon deploy to Iraq together. The younger not knowing just what to expect.

Victor Wozniak:

I'm not going to say I'm nervous. A little anxious.

Frederica Freyberg:

The elder, primed by experience and the last mission.

Bruce Wozniak:

Everybody we took over, we brought back, so it went very, very well. And we expect the same this time.

Frederica Freyberg:

And, of course, father and son will most especially have each other's back.

Patty Loew:

This is the largest deployment of the Wisconsin national guard since World War II. Tonight, immediately following this broadcast, Wisconsin Public Television will air a new 30-minute special titled "Coming Home: Military Families Coping with Change." It's produced by Sesame Workshop. We turn now to a journey toward scientific discovery. This week the healing power of honey. But we want to warn you some of the images are graphic. "In Wisconsin" reporter Liz Koerner shows you why diabetics are hopeful about new research in Eau Claire.

Liz Koerner:

It may not look like it, but this beehive is a natural pharmacy. It's providing a potential cure for one of the side effects of diabetes. Jay Burrow does a daily battle with this disease, but manages to stay focused on the sunny side of life.

Jay Burrow:

There's always something happier. Even a flower coming up. I'm happy in the springtime when they start blooming.

Liz Koerner:

One morning 11 years ago he woke up to a shocking discovery.

Jay Burrow:

Got up, bed's all bloody. I said that ain't good.

Woman:

You can have a seat right there.

Liz Koerner:

The cause of the blood was a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of his big toe. Other ulcers soon developed and to save his foot the doctor amputated his toes.

Jay Burrow:

Once you lose your big toes and your toes, there goes your whole balance system. First few days you walk like you're drunk.

Liz Koerner:

But burrows says even the amputation didn't change his attitude toward life.

Jay Burrow:

Only difficult if somebody wants to make it. Life is that way. That's the way I always look at it.

Liz Koerner:

Two years ago, another ulcer opened up on the bottom of his foot. If this ulcer doesn't heal, Burrow may be forced to have the rest of his foot amputated. So he signed up for a clinical trial designed by Dr. Jennifer Eddy at UW Health Family Medicine Clinic in Eau Claire. It uses a salve on the ulcer that may surprise you. It's supermarket honey.

Liz Koerner:

Back in medical school, Dr. Eddy was intrigued by a lecture that traced the medical use of honey back to ancient Egypt. More recently, hundreds of articles have been published claiming the success of using honey to heal wounds. But Dr. Eddy says there were no double blind clinical trials to prove it.

Jennifer Eddy:

There's pretty good literature that honey may be effective in healing diabetic wounds. What I'm hoping to contribute is the highest level of scientific evidence, which has been lacking.

Liz Koerner:

For the double-blind study, Dr. Eddy needed a placebo that looks and feels like honey. She turned to Dave Kleingardner, a local pharmacist, who created her imitation honey from scratch. He said his first try wouldn't fool anyone.

Dave Kleingardner:

The first one was like a -- it was a bright yellow, like big bird yellow, not even close to honey. Although it smelled like honey, it didn't look or feel like honey.

Liz Koerner:

He kept trying.

Dave Kleingardner:

It took lots of experimentation, lots of failures to come up with the right colors, textures of this imitation honey, I guess we'd call it. Finally got it right, I guess.

Liz Koerner:

According to Dr. Eddy, there are urgent reasons to find a way to heal diabetic foot ulcers.

Jennifer Eddy:

In 2001 we had 82,000 diabetic amputations for foot ulcers in this country and that's likely to increase.

Liz Koerner:

24 million people in the United States now have diabetes. And foot ulcers are a common complication of this disease. They're a problem because they're hard to heal.

Jennifer Eddy:

People with diabetes have suppressed immune function as well as in general decreased blood supply and both those things make it difficult for diabetic ulcers to heal.

Liz Koerner:

There is some debate about which honey works the best. In 2007, the FDA cleared a product for use marketed as meta honey.

Jennifer Eddy:

I think for hospitals it's really important to have something standardized so the issue of lawsuits is reduced. I'm not convinced that meta honey is any better than supermarket honey, so I feel very confident using supermarket honey for patients.

Liz Koerner:

Honey seems to work in part because it dehydrates bacteria in the wound. It has an acid pH which slows the growth of bacteria.

Jennifer Eddy:

Additionally, there is an enzyme in honey called glucose oxidase that secretes a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, which is bacteriacidal.

Liz Koerner:

Perhaps the most important benefit to diabetic patients like Burrow and to society as a whole is that the honey cure doesn't add to the problem of antibiotic resistance or superbugs.

Jennifer Eddy:

Oftentimes they're treated with multiple courses of antibiotics and that leads to growth of superbugs, so the diabetic foot ulcers serve as a repository for society for the growth of these bad bugs.

Liz Koerner:

Because he's in the study, Burrow doesn't know for sure if he's actually using honey. He might be using the placebo instead. But so far he's had some success. The wound has gotten smaller and no infection has developed. And as you might expect, he remains very optimistic about the potential of this sticky-sweet cure.

Jay Burrow:

It's given me a lot of hope. Yeah. Hope that it's going to heal. I can't complain.

Liz Koerner:

Since our report first aired last October, Jay Burrow, the man we featured, says his foot is now completely healed. You can find more information on our website at wpt.org/inWisconsin. This week, Dr. Eddy told us she will continue to accept patients in the honey study through July. In two weeks, a treasure trove of information will be revealed as Wisconsin volunteers keep their eyes and ears to the sky. "In Wisconsin" reporter Jo Garrett shows you what's getting people out at the crack of dawn to visit a Jefferson County marsh.

Jo Garrett:

It's a Wisconsin tradition. It's a wonderful early bird adventure.

Woman:

There's a crane.

Woman:

Where?

Woman:

Flying.

Woman:

See it?

Man:

Yes. Yes. Right there. Okay. So mark that in that quadrant.

Jo Garrett:

It's the crane count, the annual Midwest crane count.

Woman:

I see another one flying.

Boy:

Where?

Woman:

Over there.

Jo Garrett:

Once a year, on a Saturday in April, for two crack-of-dawn hours, 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. they count.

Man:

Just heard one, right?

Boy:

Yeah.

Man:

Great. So we've got three so far.

Boy:

Yeah.

Jo Garrett:

They count sandhill cranes. Binoculars first went up on this bird back in 1976 in Columbia County. That count was sponsored by the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo. Now the count has been expanded to involve more than 3,000 volunteers in 100 counties in five states. This early morning in Jefferson County, volunteer Holly of Madison and her mom Claire join longtime friend Diane of Madison and her nephew. They were assigned to count four quadrants in Zeloski marsh.

Man:

That was promised a long time ago, right?

Jo Garrett:

They were guided by veteran birders Nolan and Ed of Lake Mills. The day starts before dawn with a quick class in crane calls.

Man:

Okay. Here's sandhill crane.

Man:

You hear the two different tones there?

Woman:

Back and forth?

Man:

They're right together. They're doing this right together. It's a pair.

Jo Garrett:

It might seem a little dark to be bird watching.

Man:

Different tones up and town, okay? That's not one crane. That's two cranes.

Jo Garrett:

But veteran bird watchers don't need to see the bird.

Woman:

You hear that?

Woman:

Yeah.

Jo Garrett:

They ID primarily by call.

Woman:

That is?

Man:

Yeah. Right there.

Woman:

I'll be darned.

Jo Garrett:

It's a matter of listening as much as watching. Listen to this.

Jo Garrett:

What do you hear out there right now?

Man:

I hear song sparrows. I hear red-winged blackbirds. I'm hearing grackles behind me. That's a song sparrow again. Killdeer.

Jo Garrett:

Which is why sound, the call, the songs of the sandhills are used in addition to sightings to count the birds.

Man:

That one's getting loud.

Man:

Yeah.

Jo Garrett:

Of course, cranes fly, so how do you count them and count them only once? The volunteers note if they hear the cranes or if they see them, they note the time and the direction the crane is flying through each of their assigned quadrants. The practice is not completely precise, but it does give a picture of the population of this amazing bird.

Man:

Once you hear the call of the sandhill crane, it's just -- it's in your blood.

Woman:

So I look forward to that every spring, you know, hearing that first crane. And it's very exciting.

Woman:

The harbinger of spring.

Man:

When I was a kid, we didn't see them. They were hunted, close to extinction. I think I was probably in my 30s before I saw my first one. And I didn't even know what it was and I'm a bird watcher. I heard the call. And I didn't know what it was.

Man:

It was just incredible, that comeback story, success story. They had dwindled to such low numbers. The numbers now are just incredible, how they've come back.

Jo Garrett:

This bird was nearly gone in the 1930s. It's estimated that Wisconsin had just 25 nesting pairs. With the right habitat, it's taken off. The most recent count was over 13,000 in Wisconsin. Habitat matters. This place, Zeloski marsh, is a testament to that.

Man:

We're looking at the incredible restoration in progress. It was a wetland in the early '40s. It was drained and turned into a muck farm by the Zeloski family, and it was potatoes and mint and onions were grown here for years. And then in 2005 it was purchased by the Madison Audubon Society.

Jo Garrett:

And the society set into motion this current-day restoration. Drains were closed. Basins filled. And the marshland returned and so did the wildlife.

Man:

It's just been incredible.

Jo Garrett:

Pre-restoration they counted 30 bird species. Those numbers have soared.

Man:

2007 was the first year post-restoration. We did weekly bird counts out here. We came up with 169 species.

Man:

It's paradise.

Man:

It's a big waterpark for birds.

Man:

It's a paradise for wildlife and watchers like myself.

Jo Garrett:

A paradise reborn and ready for the next generation to take up the binoculars. Holly provides the final numbers.

Holly:

Today we saw 22 total cranes, and last year we only saw 18, so we beat a new record by four. Last year there were five breeding pairs. This year there's seven, so that's very exciting.

Patty Loew:

In 2008, volunteers recorded 11,254 cranes throughout Wisconsin. That represents more than 90% of the population in the Midwest. If you'd like more information about the annual Midwest crane count set for April 18, just go to our website at wpt.org/inWisconsin. Now, here's a look at some of the reports we're working on for the next edition of "In Wisconsin."

Frederica Freyberg:

This is Frederica Freyberg. Thousands of foreclosed homes in the city of Milwaukee turn block after block into vacant board-ups. 82-year-old Julius Holmes is one face of foreclosure.

Frederica Freyberg:

Hear what lawmakers hope to do about the foreclosure crisis in Wisconsin.

Jo Garrett:

And I'm Jo Garrett. How do you count an animal you can barely see?

Man:

Beautiful. Beautiful. Look at that.

Jo Garrett:

That expert is hoping to recruit a swarm of citizen volunteers.

Man:

If I were to do this, it would take me over 60 years by myself.

Jo Garrett:

Find out how you can be part of the statewide bat census.

Man:

Why not? Why not a bunchkie?

Andy Soth:

But what is a bunchkie? This is Andy Soth. You'll find out.

Patty Loew:

Those reports next Thursday at 7:00 on "In Wisconsin." A quick programming note. Wisconsin Public Television will switch to digital-only broadcasts on April 5. That's this Sunday. So starting next week, you'll find "In Wisconsin" only on our digital channels. Most TV stations switched in February, but we continued broadcasting in analog as a public service. This week, we leave you with a closer look at Zeloski marsh. It's located just north of Cambridge and used to be a muck farm. It's now a restored natural area. Enjoy the view and have a great week in Wisconsin.