Poll: Walker and Barrett In Dead Heat

News to Walker supporters… we still need to get out and vote.

Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, one of the Democratic candidates hoping to face him in the June 5 recall election, are in a virtual dead heat in the days leading up to Tuesday’s recall primary, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The Marquette University Law School also showed Barrett leading his Democratic rivals in Tuesday’s recall primary.

Barrett, who lost to Walker in the governor’s race in November 2010 by about 123,000 votes, or 5 percentage points, has a 47 percent to 46 percent lead on the governor among registered voters, the poll said. But among likely voters, the situation flips, and Walker leads by 1 percentage point, or 48 percent to 47 percent.

Both results are well within the poll’s margin of error.

Jewelry Store Owner Shoots Armed Robber

What a horrible experience for this family. Thank goodness the grandfather took the precaution to arm himself for protection.

“He took the jewelry from my granddaughter,’’ Layous said. “He snatched it from her neck.’‘

When the robber turned away, the girl grabbed some of her toys and stuffed them into her pockets so “the jewelry bandit” wouldn’t get them, he said.

Layous said he opened two safes as the robber screamed and fired twice, missing him and his family.

While Thomas was at a computer trying to remove surveillance video, Layous said his wife handed him the gun he keeps in the store for protection. “I shot him in the leg,’’ Layous said.

“If he didn’t get to the gun, I don’t even know what would have happened,’’ said the children’s father, Joseph Layous.

MI6 Officer Likely Killed

The British are masters of the understatement.

MI6 officer Gareth Williams was “on the balance of probabilities” unlawfully killed, coroner Fiona Wilcox has said.

In a narrative verdict, she said it was unlikely he got into the bag his body was found in by himself, but doubted his death would ever be explained.

The 31-year-old code-breaker from Anglesey was found at his central London flat in August 2010.

Police say the investigation remains open and officers would be re-examining evidence gathered.

The naked body of Mr Williams was found padlocked in a red sports holdall in the bath of his home.

“I did”

Radio GaGa

I’ll be on WPR tomorrow morning from 7 AM to 8 AM chatting with Matthew Rothschild about… stuff.

Tune in!

Vote for whom you support

My column for the Daily News is online. I write about the election next week and have a pretty simple message. It’s called, “Vote for whom you support.”

Expensive Pensions

Wow.

An analysis of pension fund documents for 21 aldermen who retired under the plan shows they are in line to receive nearly $58 million during their expected lifetimes, though contributions and assumed investment returns are predicted to cover just $19 million, or a third of that sum.

The pension deal was inked more than two decades ago, but the costs began to kick in recently. Most of the 21 aldermen in the Tribune/WGN-TV analysis have retired within the past five years, and there are 53 more in the pipeline.

Former Ald. Thomas Allen is a prime example. After retiring from the City Council in 2010 at age 58, Allen went on to become a Circuit Court judge while also collecting roughly $90,000 a year from his city pension. During his lifetime, he stands to receive more than $4.2 million in benefits, though contributions and assumed investment returns are expected to cover only $1 million.

Delta Airlines Buying Refinery

This is an interesting move to control their supply chain.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)—Delta Air Lines announced plans Monday to purchase an oil refinery outside of Philadelphia, a novel approach to reducing its fuel costs.

A Delta spokesman said the company believes the purchase is the first of its kind by a major U.S. airline.

Delta (DAL, Fortune 500) will buy the Trainer refinery for $150 million from Phillips 66 (PSXWI), a company that is set to be spun off from energy firm ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500) on Tuesday. The purchase is expected to be finalized by the end of June.

“Acquiring the Trainer refinery is an innovative approach to managing our largest expense,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in a statement. “This modest investment, the equivalent of the list price of a new widebody aircraft, will allow Delta to reduce its fuel expense by $300 million annually and ensure jet fuel availability in the Northeast.”

La Follette Introduces Toy

Um… OK.

La Follette had a press conference Monday to discuss some repeals needed to roll back the growing power of the executive branch. But oddly, the secretary spent much of the press conference showing his toy cow, and talking about the commercial in which it has a starring role.

Walker Announces Economic Development Plan for Milwaukee

Great!

MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker announced a $100 million “Transform Milwaukee” initiative Monday that he said is intended to draw businesses to Wisconsin’s largest city by fixing up blighted areas and providing economic incentives.

Milwaukee’s economy has been especially troubled in recent years. While the state unemployment rate is 6.8 percent, unemployment in Milwaukee has remained around or above 10 percent. Of the 4,500 jobs lost in Wisconsin last month, 4,400 were in the Milwaukee metro area.

Walker announced the initiative days after Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, one of four Democrats vying to oppose Walker in June’s recall election, criticized the governor for not doing enough to help create jobs in the city. Walker, who said the newly announced plan has been in the works for a year, said the investment will help improve the state’s overall economy and decrease the number of people dependent on state resources.

“For the state to be successful, Milwaukee has to be successful,” Walker said. Walker said his team met about the plan in March with officials in Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee, including Barrett.

Barrett released a statement after the announcement suggesting its timing was politically motivated.

“With 36 days until he faces voters in a recall election, Gov. Walker is trying to act like he cares about providing jobs to the city of Milwaukee,” Barrett said.

Well, Mayor Barrett, at least someone cares about creating jobs in Milwaukee.

Waukesha County Clerk Won’t Seek Reelection

From the email.

Kathy Nickolaus has decided not to run for Waukesha County Clerk in 2012. “I want to thank the people of Waukesha County for the opportunity to serve them for the last ten years,” Kathy said. “Much has been accomplished during this time. I also want the people of Waukesha County to know I will continue to serve them as clerk until the end of my term.”

“Residents of Waukesha County and the State of Wisconsin should know that election integrity has always been my primry focus,” Kathy said. “Because of this and the fact that I am the Waukesha County constitutional officer charged with the responsibility of elections I have not relinquished any authority or responsibility in upcoming elections through the end of my term.”

I am making my announcement now,” Kathy said, “so that a qualified candidate will have the time required to mount an effective campaign.”

Crooks Getting Bennies

Unbelievable... except that it’s not.

Hundreds of prisoners, fleeing felons and probation and parole violators in Wisconsin have been illegally receiving food stamp benefits, costing the state an estimated $1.8 million, a state audit released Friday said.

The report by the Legislative Audit Bureau said nearly 450 state prison inmates received FoodShare benefits while they were incarcerated, and another 1,192 people with active felony warrants or probation and parole violations were getting the benefits, all in violation of federal law.

Auditors did not release exact figures on how much money in benefits had been collected illegally, or for how long. But the audit bureau said it ran the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of the 831,414 people receiving food stamps in January through the state departments of Corrections and Justice records in an effort to search for matches.

Joe Chrisman, the state auditor, said auditors used that January “snapshot” to search benefits records, and found the prisoners involved had illegally collected benefits for an average of seven months, while fleeing felons and probation and parole violators had for an average of nine months.

Tanya Lohr To Run Against Grothman

This should be fun.

Tanya Lohr, town of West Bend, has announced her candidacy for the Wisconsin Senate seat currently held by Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend).

Lohr has been a teacher for 16 years, spending the past 13 years teaching global studies at West Bend West High School. She is currently Chair of the Democratic Party of Washington County and a recent graduate of Emerge, a leadership training program for Democratic women interested in running for public office. She is married to fellow teacher, Andy Kougl. Their family includes their six year old twins and Kougl’s two teenage daughters.

“I want to restore adequate funding for public education, respect for women, affordable family health care and strengthen our communities by empowering working people,” Lohr said.

Lohr helped lead both the Grothman and Walker recall drives before being elected to lead the Washington county Democrats last fall. She is also the Political Action Chair and a Building Representative for the West Bend Education Association.

WMC Makes Huge Ad Buy Supporting Walker

Another huge ad buy.

Wisconsin’s leading business lobbying group announced Friday that a $2 million television ad buy supporting Republican Gov. Scott Walker would hit the air statewide Monday, a little over a week before Democrats will vote for who should take him on in a recall election.

The purchase by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is another sign that the ad wars are heating up before the May 8 primary. A labor-sponsored group announced Thursday it was starting a $1 million ad buy in support of Democrat Kathleen Falk.

Both Falk and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett released their latest campaign fundraising totals Friday in advance of a Monday reporting deadline.

Falk said she raised $1 million from the beginning of the year through Monday, while Barrett, who got into the race on March 30, said he raised $750,000 in just 25 days. Neither of them released how much cash they had on hand. Barrett entered the race with about $480,000.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout are also running as Democrats. And Gladys Huber is a Republican who’s running as a Democrat.

While both Falk and Barrett raised impressive amounts, Walker reported in January that over the previous year he had brought in more than $12 million. His report on Monday is expected to show huge numbers, given that he’s been traveling the country raising money.

House Might Hold Holder In Contempt Over Fast and Furious

Excellent. If what Holder has been doing is not “contempt,” then the word has no meaning.

(CBS News)—House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious scandal plan to pursue a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, senior congressional aides told CBS News.

The resolution will accuse Holder and his Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe into the allegations that the government let thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The citation would attempt to force Holder to turn over tens of thousands of pages documents related to the probe, which has entered its second year.