Thursday, July 31, 2025
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Thursday, July 31, 2025

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

EXCLUSIVE: Drunk Driver Accused of Killing Racine Nurse, 20, Is Not A US Citizen, Has Immigration Hold

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Ernest Regalado Rodriguez, the accused drunk driver charged in the crash that killed 20-year-old nurse Johanna Pascoe in Caledonia, Wisconsin, has an immigration hold in the Racine County Jail, according to records obtained by Wisconsin Right Now.

Ernest regalado rodriguez
Ernest regalado rodriguez

Regalado Rodriguez, 21, of Racine, is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle in the crash that killed Pascoe earlier this month. He could receive 33.5 years in prison.

According to police, Rodriguez had a blood-alcohol level of .199, two and a half times the legal limit.

Pascoe was on her way to Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee where she worked as a nurse.

Typically, such immigration holds are placed on accused criminals if they are in this country illegally. Regalado Rodriguez is being held on $500,000 bail. The hold means that, if he were to post it, he would be released into the custody of federal immigration authorities.

Caledonia Deputy Chief of Police Shawn Engleman told WRN that Rodriguez said he arrived in Wisconsin from Mexico three years ago and that he is not a US Citizen. He did not have information on the hold or Rodriguez’s immigration status; the jail is run by the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, which confirmed its existence but did not comment further.

Wisconsin Right Now has contacted ICE for more information.

The jail hold reads, “US Immg & Naturalization: Contact INS When available for pickup.” The defendant’s full name is Ernesto Rodolfo Regalado Rodriguez.

Ernesto regalado rodriguez

Regalado Rodriguez’s immigration status has been largely ignored by the media. Fox 6 and CBS 58 did report he was not a citizen, although they didn’t focus on it, but other media have ignored that point, and there is no coverage of the immigration hold. Court records show that he required an interpreter at his bail hearing and didn’t have a driver’s license. A witness told police he was almost struck by Regalado Rodriguez before Pascoe’s vehicle was struck.

Meanwhile, loved ones and the community mourn the loss of a promising young nurse who had just graduated.

A GoFundMe page to help raise funeral costs for Pascoe has accrued more than $30,000.

“On December 12, 2022, Johanna Pascoe, only 20 years old, was the victim of a severe car crash on Hwy 32 in Caledonia, Wisconsin involving a drunk driver who crossed the center line of the road, leaving her with nowhere to escape impact,” it reads.

“When police arrived, she was stuck in her vehicle and needed to be extricated, where she was found with no heartbeat. First responders were able to get her heart pumping again, and she was taken to the hospital by Flight for Life where she remained in critical condition. During her time in the hospital, she never regained consciousness and showed no signs of brain activity. She was taken off of life support on December 13 and succumbed to her injuries very quickly.”

A man who donated wrote, “No matter when I saw her, Johanna was one of the sweetest happiest young ladies I’ve ever met. May she rest in peace with the angels!” Wrote another: “My daughter…was her study partner. They both graduated on Friday as RNs, it broke my heart when she told me what had happened.”

Johanna Pascoe’s obituary says she died at the hospital on December 13, 2022.

Ernest regalado rodriguez
Johanna renee pascoe

“Johanna Renee Pascoe, age 20, passed away Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at Froedtert Memorial Hospital following a tragic car crash involving a drunk driver. She was born April 1, 2002, in Kenosha, WI,” the obituary reads.

“Johanna had just started her career in the Nuero ICU at Aurora St. Luke’s, Milwaukee as an extern nurse. She recently graduated from Gateway Technical College with an Associate Degree in Nursing and was awaiting state licensure to become a full-time RN. ”

“She never had the chance to receive her diploma (to be awarded May 2023) but participated in the Nurses Pinning Ceremony on December 9, 2022. She had previously worked in Med-Surg as a CNA at Froedtert South, Kenosha, as well as at local-area nursing homes. In her high school years, she was manager at Culver’s in Burlington and Kenosha.”

The obituary continues,

“Johanna had a very charitable heart and recently donated her time to volunteer for Tiny Hooves Animal Sanctuary. She regularly participated in blood drives and had volunteered for suicide prevention fundraisers. She lived her life by the words “BE KIND” and was a vocal advocate for any person or creature not receiving kindness.

Johanna had a genuine zest for life. Her adventures were numerous and hobbies endless because she was always ready to say “yes” to an invite. She cared deeply about animals and nature. She took great care of her extensive collection of houseplants and her axolotl Fern. She loved taking pictures, preferring analog instant film cameras – especially when they were found at one of the local thrift stores she regularly frequented. Exceptionally creative, she made the space around her beautiful in so many ways. You could often find her painting, making jewelry or doing crafts with her nephews. She enjoyed food with a passion, always offering to make multi-course meals with extravagant desserts for her loved ones. She usually showed up with ice cream to share. She looked most forward to summer, excited to hike, camp, and attend annual electronic music festivals. She especially cherished her time spent in the U.P. where her grandparents live in the woods on the lake, which she considered the most beautiful and magical place in the world.

Johanna will always be remembered for her shining energy. Her positivity was radiant and infectious. Her laughter came easy. She was a great listener who was intuitive and receptive. She always knew how and when to help those around her and was always actively looking for ways to make things better. She dreamed big and was exceptionally driven, accomplishing whatever she set her mind to. She inspired many and she will be deeply missed.”

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Border Patrol Agents Continue to Arrest Iranians, Weapons Traffickers at Northern Border

At the northern border, Border Patrol agents continue to arrest Iranians and weapons traffickers and are helping seize record amounts of fentanyl.

While illegal border crossings are down at the northern border under the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents in the busiest northern border Swanton Sector are continuing to interdict crime. The sector includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.

Earlier this month, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain Station in New York responded to a report of suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, New York. Upon arrival, they located a minivan occupied by five Iranian citizens and two Uzbekistan citizens – all adult men in the country illegally.

Border Patrol agents then determined all seven men “had previously illegally entered the United States at various locations along both the U.S./Mexico border and the U.S./Canada border,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said. They were detained and are being processed for removal.

“Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety,” Garcia said, adding that “Swanton Sector agents remain vigilant and committed to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are also arresting Iranians in the country illegally, including Revolutionary Guard soldiers, after more than 1,500 Iranians illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, with more than 700 released into the U.S., The Center Square exclusively reported.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents notified the New York State Police about a suspected driver of a vehicle allegedly involved in smuggling activity in upstate New York. State troopers responded, located and stopped the vehicle near Albany, Garcia said. A subsequent vehicle search resulted in a seizure of roughly 4.7 pounds of powdered fentanyl, enough to kill more than one million people.

“This seizure is a powerful reminder of why strong partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement are vital to our national security and public safety,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents helped ATF federal partners apprehend a criminal foreign national wanted for weapons trafficking. Honduran national Yubert Yasiel Lopez-Lopez, 31, was arrested in North Attleboro, Mass., after he illegally reentered the country after he was previously deported.

He was first apprehended in 2014 after illegally entering the U.S. in Hidalgo, Texas, under the Obama administration. A federal immigration judge in Houston ordered his removal, which occurred four years later under the first Trump administration. In 2022, he again illegally entered the country in Yuma, Arizona, under the Biden administration. It took another three years to arrest him, this time in Massachusetts, with authorities learning he was wanted in Honduras on weapons trafficking charges. A federal grand jury indicted him last month in Vermont, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted and removal from the U.S. for a third time.

“We continue to enforce federal immigration laws and seek maximum consequences against those who violate them,” Garcia said.

Garcia also regularly thanks members of the public for supporting Border Patrol efforts, sometimes acting as the eyes and ears for agents in rural areas by calling in sightings of illegal border crossers or suspicious activity. He continues to encourage members of the public to report suspicious border activity in the Swanton Sector by calling 1-800-689-3362.

The sector was hit hard under the Biden administration with illegal border crossings from Canada reaching record levels, totaling nearly one million, according to CBP data and gotaway data exclusively reported by The Center Square. The greatest number ever reported in U.S. history in the sector was in fiscal 2024 of nearly 200,000, excluding those who evaded capture, The Center Square reported.

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Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Bill to Repeal Evers’ 400-Year Veto

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state legislators have started circulating a bill to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.

Evers’ veto in July 2023, which turned a temporary $325 per student K-12 funding increase – originally slated for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years – into a permanent increase through the year 2425, was recently upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April, The Center Square previously reported.

However, the court’s ruling suggested lawmakers could still draft legislation as a recourse to the governor’s partial veto, and Republicans are seeking to do just that.

“The pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock 402 years before this veto. It is hard to justify locking in a funding increase for just as long into the future,” the bill’s four co-authors said in a cosponsorship memo circulating at the state Capitol, WPR reported.

The bill would effectively reverse Evers’ 400-year veto, eliminating the $325 per pupil adjustment in the school district revenue limit formula beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

“One man locked in a tax-raising mechanism that no one voted for and no one approved,” the cosponsorship memo reads. “Evers’ move bypassed both the elected Legislature and the hard-working people who pay the bills.”

However, if the bill passes both chambers of the Legislature, it would ironically require Evers to not veto it in order to become law.

While the Senate had voted to override Evers’ original veto in September 2023, the Assembly never held a vote on the override, so the effort failed and the veto stood.

Will Flanders, the research director at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, previously wrote, “The Governor is not a king, even if the state Supreme Court says he is. Given this increase, the legislature should fight hard against any further increases for public schools that are now set up for a boondoggle.”

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Wisconsin Cities, Counties Saw Drop in June Unemployment Rate

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw the June unemployment rate go down in 24 of the state’s largest 35 cities over the month while the rates lowered in 63 counties and stayed the same in eight more, according to new numbers from the state’s Department of Workforce Development.

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went down to 3.2% in June, less than the 4.1% national rate.

Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate went down to 65.1% in June while the national rate decreased slightly to 62.3%.

Wisconsin saw 10 of its largest metropolitan areas show unemployment decreases while three of those areas remained the same. Twelve of the metropolitan areas saw unemployment decreases over the year while the rate in Sheboygan remained the same.

Menominee, meanwhile, was the only county that saw a month over month increase in unemployment rate while the rate increased in just four counties year over year.

Trump Expects Indictment White House Cocaine president trump covid-19

Tulsi Gabbard Releases New Intel Claiming FBI, CIA ‘Knowingly created’ Russia Hoax

Federal officials have released more documents indicating a Democratic-led intelligence community politically targeted President Donald Trump by claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin influenced the 2016 presidential election to help Trump win.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report Wednesday that “exposes how the Obama Administration manufactured the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false.”

“The Russia Hoax was a lie that was knowingly created by the Obama Administration to undermine the legitimacy and power of the duly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump,” Gabbard posted on X.

Notably, the report found that the majority of the intelligence community’s judgements on Russia’s confirmed attempts to meddle with the 2016 election were “sound,” including its findings that Putin ordered “conventional and cyber influence operations” to undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process and the legitimacy of an expected Hillary Clinton presidency.

However, further judgments from the intelligence community alleging that Putin “developed a clear preference for candidate Trump” and “aspired to help his chances of victory” were not only false but also the result of apparent bad faith, the oversight investigation reveals.

To reach their conclusion that Putin had attempted to help Trump win, top intelligence officials cherry-picked inconclusive information that supported the narrative, omitted or suppressed information contradicting the narrative, and based their “high confidence” assumptions on untrustworthy and dishonest sources.

The report builds upon other documents that Gabbard declassified over the weekend showing that Obama, along with his senior advisors, reportedly pressured the intelligence community to contrive evidence that Russia intended to manipulate the vote count in Trump’s favor.

The Trump administration believes these efforts amounted to a “coup” meant to delegitimize the results of the 2016 election and cast doubts on Trump’s presidency.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday that the “Russia hoax will go down as one of the most troublesome events in U.S. history” that caused the country to become “more polarized than ever before.”

“A President of the United States was falsely accused, and a nation had to endure lies fabricated by rogue personnel within their own Intelligence Community,” Crawford said on X. “There are still Americans who passionately believe the fabricated narrative. That is why releasing this document to the public has been so important.”

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2026 GOP Candidate Josh Schoemann Challenges Evers’ Budget Approach

(The Center Square) – Josh Schoemann, the only Republican currently in the race for governor next year, is criticizing Gov. Tony Evers’ approach to the next state budget by comparing it to his plans in Washington County.

“In Washington County our budget cycle starts right now, and it’s not due until November. We will propose our budget goals to the County Board in the next couple of months. We will share ‘This is what we’re thinking.’ It gives them months of time to think those through, give us feedback, and [have] that kind of dialogue,” Schoemann explained in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.

Schoemann said that is far better than the approach Evers is taking again this year.

“That’s not how government is supposed to work,” Schoemann said. “It’s not the vision of the governor. It’s not the vision of any one person.”

Evers and the Republican legislative leaders who will write the budget have been involved in on-again, off-again budget talks this month. On Thursday, the governor’s office said those talks were off once again because of gridlock in the Senate.

“Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a post on X.

Schoemann’s criticism of Evers is nothing new. He has long been a critic of the governor and has turned that criticism up since launching his campaign for governor.

But the recent criticism was also aimed at other Republicans who may jump into the 20206 governor’s race later this year.

“Nobody else in this race on the Republican side, being rumored to this point, has the executive leadership of skills and history to be able to show ‘This is how I’ve done it before, and here’s how we’ll do it Madison,’” Schoemann said. “The results in Washington County speak for themselves.”

Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany is also rumored to be looking to get into the Republican race. Before he went to Congress, Tiffany was a Republican lawmaker in Madison.

Businessman and veteran Bill Berrien is also on the short list of likely GOP candidates for 2026.

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