The Milwaukee Post

Driver named as MPS acting superintendent The Milwaukee Board of School Directors named Darienne Driver as acting superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, effec- tive July 1, 2014. Driver will replace Gregory Thornton, who accepted a position as CEO with Baltimore City Public Schools earlier this year. "Dr. Driver has accepted the position and will lead us forward and build on the foundation laid by Dr. Thornton," said Milwaukee Public Schools Board of School Directors' President Michael Bonds. "We are honored to have such an outstanding candidate leading us during this transition period." Driver has served as the district's chief innovation officer since July 2012. She oversees the district's implementation of the Wisconsin Common Core State Standards in literacy and mathemat- ics in partnership with the GE Foundation and Student Achievement Partnership through the development of 10 MPS-GEF Demonstration Schools, recruits multiple educational organizations to serve as partners in efforts to improve student achieve- ment, and oversees the district's contracted school services that serves students through alternative programming for at-risk students and non-instrumentality charter schools and turnaround models. "We will continue to build on the great work that's being done in the district. Much more remains to be done and it is challenging work. Working with my colleagues, the community, our students and families, we will move forward with our efforts to improve outcomes for our students," Driver said. Driver will serve as the head of the nearly 80,000-student school district until a suc- cessor superintendent is selected, according to the MPS website. The board will con- tinue the search process for a permanent superintendent, it added. May traffic deaths below 5-year average; four anti-drunken driving committee members resign Preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation show that last month was the third safest month of May on state roads since World War II. Forty-eight people died in crashes last month, which is one below the five-year state average, but is actually 16 more than in May 2013. According to the data, 11 peo- ple were killed in crashes on Memorial Day weekend, which is also up from a year ago when eight people died. "Because of an increase in traffic vol- umes and vehicle speeds, the warm weath- er months typically are high fatality months," WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety Director David Pabst said in a release. "To crack down on speeding and other dangerous driving behav- ior, law enforcement officers will be out in force this summer." Through May, 164 people have been killed in crashes in Wisconsin this year – a total that includes 18 motorcyclists, two motorcycle passengers, 18 pedestrians and one bicy- clist. That total is one less than it was through the same period in 2013 and is 22 below the five-year state average. Also, four members of a WisDOT group studying ways to reduce drunken driving sent a letter of resignation, citing the influence of bar and tavern owners on the committee. The members – Dr. Richard Brown, a family doctor; Dr. Stephen Hargarten, an emer- gency room physician at Froedtert Hospital; Julia Sherman, coordinator of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project; and Maureen Busalacchi, director of Health First Wisconsin – cited the inclusion of the Tavern League of Wisconsin in their committee as a conflict of interest. Former Milwaukee man convicted of conspiracy A former Milwaukee resident has been convicted in federal court of conspiring to export F-16 military parts to the Venezuelan Air Force without a license or authority from the U.S. Department of State. Ronald A. Dobek, 39, was found of three counts of conspiring to violate U.S. export laws and unlawfully exporting F-16 parts to Venezuela on two occasions. On Aug. 17, 2006, the United States Department of State announced that it would no longer authorize the export of defense articles and services to Venezuela. Additionally, the State Department revoked all existing licenses and authorizations to export defense articles and services to Venezuela. Thus, as of that date, it became illegal to export defense articles or services to Venezuela. According to the criminal complaint, Dobek conspired with a member of the VAF to supply the VAF with F-16 canopy seals for Venezuelan's fleet of F-16 military jets. The complaint showed that Dobek exchanged numerous emails with a member of the VAF, in which they discussed obtaining the F-16 canopy seals and the need to keep their oper- ation secret. Dobek took other steps to conceal his illegal activity, including misidenti- fying the shipments as "t-molding" on shipping documents. As a result, Dobek sent shipments of F-16 canopy seals to a member of the VAF in Venezuela on or about Dec. 29, 2007, and Dec. 6, 2008. Dobek faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10 before U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa. 4 • Milwaukee County Post • June 13, 2014 WEEK IN REVIEW STATE AND LOCAL STORIES OF INTEREST Operation Drive Sober results in 10 arrests Last weekend's Operation Drive Sober included a 29-year-old Milwaukee man who was involved in a rollerover accident on the city's north side. According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, the driver flipped his car over near Highway 145 and North 68th Street about 5:25 p.m. Saturday. The driver sustained a fractured neck. He also had a gun in the vehicle, and faces charges of endangering safety by dangerous use of a weapon, drunken driving causing injury and citations for failure to control the vehicle, operating with a suspended license, having no insurance and a seat belt violation. A passenger was also ejected from the vehicle but survived. All told, there were 10 drunken driving arrests, and the average preliminary breath test was 0.12. Walker makes county mental appointments Gov. Scott Walker announced appointments Monday to the Milwaukee County Mental Health Board. They are Dr. Robert Chayer, the medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin; Dr. Maria Perez, a licensed psychologist and behavioral health director at the Community Health Center in Milwaukee; Jeffrey Miller, an assistant professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and an adjunct faculty member at Marquette University's School of Nursing; Peter Carlson, who is the presi- dent of Aurora Psychiatric Hospital in Milwaukee; and Dr. Thomas Lutzow, the president and CEO of the Independent Care Health Plan in Milwaukee. Nonvoting members who received appointments were Dr. Jon Lehrmann, the associ- ate chief of staff for mental health at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center and the chief psychiatrist at Froedtert Hospital, and Dr. Ronald Diamond, a clinical consultant to the University of Wisconsin Department of Psychology as well as a consultant for the Wisconsin Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. PrideFest Milwaukee sets attendance records At the same time a judge struck down the state's gay marriage ban, PrideFest Milwaukee posted a record-breaking 31,295 visitors to the Milwaukee lakefront event last weekend. The attendance figures represented a 3 percent increase over the previous record set in 2010, according to PrideFest Milwaukee officials. "PrideFest is extremely pleased with everything that happened this weekend: won- derful weather, outstanding programming and such beautiful crowds," PrideFest Milwaukee President Scott Gunkel said. "The timing of the marriage equality news was a great gift to the people of Wisconsin and our PrideFest visitors. Love won out, pure and simple, this weekend." Driver New data reveals student loan debt crisis in state New data released Tuesday by the White House, based on 2014 Department of Education statistics, reveals Wisconsin's share of the $1.2 trillion student loan debt cri- sis. According to the data, there are 812,000 state residents with more than $18.2 billion in outstanding federal student loan debt. The U.S. Senate was expected to vote this week on legislation introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and sponsored by Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin to allow for the refinancing of both federal and private student loans. Fiscal estimates on the bill proj- ect 20 million borrowers would seek to refinance their loans within 18 months of the bill becoming law.

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