The Milwaukee Post

November 10 2017 • Milwaukee County Post • 15 NEWS By BRIAN HUBER Conley News Service WAUKESHA — A man and a woman who allegedly helped obtain the heroin that killed their friend last summer were charged Monday for their roles in his death. Andrea Paige, 28, and Brian Vrana, 32, of West Allis both were charged with first-degree reckless homi- cide and face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Vrana appeared in court Monday, where he was ordered held on a $50,000 cash bail, and was to appear again today. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Paige, whose address was listed as New Berlin but whom the crimi- nal complaint said lives in Mesa, Ariz. A criminal complaint said two men brought 20- year-old Benjamin Couillard to the emergency room of Aurora Hospital in Summit at about 3:40 a.m. July 26. A doctor there said upon arrival, Couillard was cold to the touch and had no signs of life. An autopsy showed Couillard died of heroin and alcohol intoxication. Investigators looked into Couillard's phone history, found that he contacted a number linked to Paige the night of his death, and exchanged text messages about purchasing cocaine and heroin, arranging a deal at a West Milwaukee restau- rant, the complaint said. The men who dropped Couillard off at the hospital were interviewed. One admitted he had called Couillard to get $100 of cocaine, according to the complaint. The men went with Couillard to get the cocaine, with Vrana passing the cocaine and what the man believed to be heroin to Couillard, the complaint said. Couillard took some of the heroin in the man's truck at the site of the deal, and fell asleep while they headed to the Town of Lisbon home of one of the men. There, the two men shared the cocaine, sporadi- cally checking on Couillard as he slept in one man's truck, and believed he'd been sleeping. Then, at about 2 a.m., they realized Couillard had stopped breathing and took him to the hospital after CPR did not work, the complaint said. Neither of those two men has been charged in the case. Police, having verified it was Paige's phone used by Couillard, learned Vrana was involved with her. On July 26, police used an informant to arrange a drug deal with Paige, the com- plaint said. Vrana was observed at the two West Allis meeting locations where the deal was to take place. One of the men who took Couillard to the hospi- tal identified both Vrana and Paige in photo arrays, and phone records put Paige's phone at the locations where the deals involving Couillard and the informant occurred, according to the complaint. By ASHLEY HAYNES Conley News Service WAUKESHA — State Rep. Evan Goyke, D- Milwaukee, part of a panel of experts who deal in vet- erans affairs at a meeting last week on helping veter- ans, said he has penned leg- islation aiming at helping vets run successful busi- nesses. One such bill passed the state Assembly on Oct. 31 — the Veterans Farmer Bill — as Veterans Day neared. "I can't tell you how many veteran farmers there are in Wisconsin, because we don't know," said Goyke. He explained that farm- ing is a popular occupation among vets and his bill aims to get them recogni- tion. A special logo would be put on any foods grown by a veteran farmer. A separate bill penned by Goyke also creates logos for any business owned by a vet, able-bodied or disabled. The goal is to get people to redirect money to business- es or products that support a patriotic cause. Work for vets was a theme throughout the morning at a Preserving Pathways roundtable dis- cussion at the University of Wi s c o n - s i n - W a u k e - sha, with p r o - g r a m s that sup- port vet- e r a n entrepreneurs discussed as well. More than seven per- cent of this country's popu- la tion consists of veterans. "A lot of veterans want to start businesses, just like the general population," said Neil Lerner, associate state director of strategic operations for the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center. SBDC works with busi- nesses to help them grow and sustain operations through zero cost consulta- tion and targeted educa- tional programs. Lerner said over 200 of the busi- nesses SBDC has worked with are owned by vets. "The military is a great training ground for those who want to start a busi- ness," said Lerner. "You need a lot of focus, loyalty, and strategic thinking." Benefits for education There are also benefits for veterans who want to go to school, the most popular being the Wisconsin G.I. Bill. More than 450 students are attending a University of Wisconsin-College school and using G.I. Bill benefits. But for some of these students, heading back to school may not always be an easy task. "I think one of the biggest challenges our stu- dents can face is that transi- tion challenge," said Jacqueline Sacco, financial aid advisor in the UW- Colleges Veterans Services Offices. "They have to man- age all of the normal col- lege questions and figure out how to use their bene- fits." Sacco said like the num- ber of veteran farmers, the number of veterans in col- lege can be difficult to pin down because some have exhausted all of their bene- fits or chosen not to use them. One of the main priori- ties for the UW-Colleges is to make sure that all veter- an students are aware of their benefits and how to use them, she said. All of the panelists at the UW-Waukesha conference agreed that working with vets on a case-by-case basis to truly provide personal- ized support within a net- work of various organiza- tions is a goal to strive for. "Wisconsin really does lead the way in the services and benefits that we pro- vide to veterans, and the benefits that we provide really serve the broad demographic that we're talking about," said Kathy Still, assistant deputy secre- tary for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. "There are several states that do not offer these kinds of services." Couple charged in friend's heroin overdose after deal in West Milwaukee Rep. Goyke continues to push veterans legislation Goyke Work, education benefits among topics at conference By ASHLEY HAYNES Conley News Service MILWAUKEE — People who yearn to see the end of the Miller Park tax could soon see their wishes become reality. State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, has introduced legislation that will end the sales and use taxes that have been imposed on residents of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Racine and Washington counties for supporting taxpayer fund- ing of Miller Park. Carpenter's bill ends the collection of these taxes no later than Dec. 31, 2019. As part of the 1995 Wisconsin Act 56, the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District enacted a 0.1 per- cent sales tax in the five counties to go toward the planning, financing, design, construction and maintenance of Miller Park. "We can all have an extra special New Year's Eve party that day," Carpenter said. "As a Milwaukee Brewers' season ticket holder, I appreciate the value the team provides to the entire area. At the same time, I know this is one of the more unpopular taxes residents of this area have been paying for years, and we are way beyond the end date as far as what we were told. I'm trying to real- ly set the record straight." Carpenter alluded to comments by former Department of Administration Secretary James Klauser, who served under Gov. Tommy Thompson. "Mr. Klauser indicated at the time the tax would last no longer than 2014," Carpenter said. "We asked 'What happens if it goes past 2014?' He said, 'It won't.' Anyone living in these five counties knows it has," Carpenter said. Carpenter's legislation, Senate Bill 443, was intro- duced earlier this month and referred to the Senate Committee on Revenue, Financial Institutions and Rural Issues. The bill has a variety of co-authors, with bipartisan support apparent. In addition to ending the sales and use taxes on the five-county area, the bill would mandate that the Brewers stay in Milwaukee at least until the end of the additional tax on area resi- dents. "We support them," Carpenter said. "The Brewers shouldn't have any problem with this in terms of returning the favor. I look forward to 2018 and supporting our team." Sen. Carpenter introduces legislative bill to end Miller Park tax Rate of 0.1% would sunset at end of 2019

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