Les Paul listed among top 100 guitarists
Rolling Stone magazine is out with a new list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and Wisconsin’s Les Paul is on the list as No. 18.
The late Wizard of Waukesha, who was a pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar, “made the very best guitar sounds of the 1950s,” the magazine quoted Beach Boys great Brian Wilson as saying.
The list was topped by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
Fox Lake escapee recaptured
A man who escaped from the Fox Lake Correctional Institution last week has been captured in Dane County, officials said. Christopher W. Lacourciere, 28, was apprehended without incident by the Dane County Sheriff Department early Thursday.
Lacourciere, who is serving a prison term for third-degree sexual assault, was working on the prison farm east of Waupun and was last seen about 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Racine schools settle case for $150,000
Racine – The Racine Unified School District has agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve a civil claim involving sexual-abuse allegations.
The claim was filed by a family who alleged that an educational assistant sexually assaulted their special-education student.
A Journal Times of Racine report says the settlement was finalized last week. The amount was determined by a $50,000 cap per claimant – both parents and the victim.
The educational assistant has been charged with six counts related to child sexual abuse.
Police say driver set herself on fire
Ashland – Police in northern Wisconsin say a 22-year-old woman who sped away from officers eventually stopped, doused herself in lighter fluid and set herself on fire.
Ashland police say they responded Tuesday evening to a call about a suicidal female. They say they found the woman sitting in an SUV, and when she saw them she sped through residential neighborhoods at speeds over 50 mph.
Police followed her but called off the high-speed chase out of safety concerns. They disabled the SUV using stop sticks to flatten the tires.
Police used snow to extinguish the flames. The woman was treated by the Ashland Fire Department before being transferred to the Ashland Memorial Medical Center.
From Journal Sentinel staff, wires