Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you.

Obituary

News Story: "Nine days before her death, Karie J. Lantz sought to end her 21-year marriage to Dean J. Lantz, saying it was irrevocably broken, according to court records.Karie Lantz, 44, of 937 W. Hamilton Ave., also was seeking a restraining order against her husband, 49, who lived at 2041 Crescent Ave., court records indicated.The bodies of the couple were discovered by a family member Monday inside the home they once shared at 2041 Crescent Ave., on the city’s southwest side, Eau Claire police Chief Gerald Staniszewski said Tuesday. The family member called 911 at 3:12 p.m. Monday to report the deaths, Staniszewski said. The caller believed both Karie and Dean Lantz died of gunshot wounds. Eau Claire police officers immediately responded to the location, secured the scene and entered the home, Staniszewski said. Inside, they found Dean and Karie Lantz with 'significant physical injuries.' Both were pronounced dead at the scene. 'On behalf of the Eau Claire Police Department, I want to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the Lantz family,' the chief said. During the department’s investigation, police learned a family member had unsuccessfully attempted to contact Karie Lantz and went to the home at 2041 Crescent Ave. to speak with her, Staniszewski said. This family member entered the home and found Karie and Dean Lantz dead, and a firearm was located at the scene. Autopsies will be conducted today on both bodies at UW Hospital in Madison to determine the cause and manner of deaths. That said, 'homicide is a component of these deaths,' said Matt Rokus, deputy police chief of the department’s investigations and professional standards division. Police declined to comment on whether the deaths were a murder-suicide"...Read more

Obituary: "Charlene Adele Wold, age 49, of Hudson, WI, passed away tragically on February 19, 2017. Charlene was born on June 21, 1967 in Baldwin, WI, the youngest child of John and Molly (Agner) Bourn. She grew up in Woodville, WI, along with her seven brothers and sisters, and graduated from Baldwin-Woodville High School, the class of 1985. Earlier in life, she worked as a waitress for the Hudson’s Dog Track.  It was while working at Petco that she discovered her love for animals, inspiring her to open her own pet grooming business, Spots Professional Grooming, first in Hudson, WI and later in Lakeland, MN. Charlene also worked as an Emergency Medical Technician for St. Croix County Emergency Medical Services. During this time, she also worked at Shorty’s Dry Cleaner in Hudson.Aside from being a dedicated and hardworking business owner, Charlene was an avid painter and reader. She loved being outdoors, whether that was tending to her garden, sitting around a bonfire on warm summer nights, running, or being on the back of a motorcycle with Darrell. She was the definition of a people person; someone who was warm, caring, and loving. Though she was an opinionated woman with an “open book” personality, you could always trust Charlene’s genuine honesty and sincerity. Her family was her greatest passion and joy, and those qualities made her an exceptional wife, mother, grandmother, and friend"...Read more

News Story: "ST. CROIX COUNTY, WI — St. Croix County sheriff's deputies have named two additional victims after a tragic murder-suicide case that unfolded over the weekend. A nightmare scenario unfolded across the Wisconsin-Minnesota border early Sunday after a 28-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he reportedly stabbed his mother to death, and engaged in a police pursuit that stretched 50 miles in which he fired at officers before his fatal act.

The Mother, Charlene Wold, was pronounced dead at the scene. Logan Reese, who was determined to be a suspect, reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police chase that spanned the Wisconsin-Minnesota border.

Authorities have identified additional victims in this case. Darrell Wold, 49, Hudson, and husband of Charlene Wold, was also stabbed and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A 17-year-old family member also sustained a head injury during the incident. Police are withholding the 17-year-old's name as a juvenile"...Read more

We are not aware of an obituary at this time, but if we become made aware of one, we will post it here.

News Story: "Based on what they found, prosecutors charged Upchurch's girlfriend of two years, Angela Crawford, with second-degree reckless homicide on Thursday. A criminal complaint outlines how investigators developed her as a suspect: As Upchurch, 53, lay in an ambulance telling an officer a man had stabbed him, detectives searched Crawford's house in the 5700 block of N. 95th St...Crawford and her two children were home at the time of the stabbing on Jan. 27. Detectives asked her what happened. She said she was in her bedroom when Upchurch came to the doorway holding a towel to his face and telling her to call 911. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Upchurch was rushed to surgery and suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his left side. On Feb. 4, detectives spoke to a friend of Upchurch's who said Upchurch had described a 'volatile relationship' with Crawford. The friend said he had urged Upchurch to go to his house instead of Crawford's the day of the stabbing"...Read more

Welcome to the February 2017 edition of Hope House's Community Education E-bulletin!

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month (TDVAPM)

According to LoveIsRespect.org, about 1 in 3 teens will be in an abusive relationship. February is a great time of year to talk about this issue and promoting healthy relationships. Below are just a few ideas of how you can get involved. Hope House is happy to give a free healthy relationships, dating violence, and/or relationships in songs presentation during February to students at school, after-school programs, or in church groups.

• Feb 1-3 is Break the Cycle's It's Time to Talk Week, an opportunity for adults to talk with young people about relationships. In their discussion guide, each day has a theme and conversation starters. Themes include Openers and Firsts, Share Your Seconds, and the Third Wheel.
• Feb 6-10 is Break the Cycle's #ChalkAboutLove when you can engage co-workers, students, and community members by chalking about what healthy love looks like.
• Feb 13-17 is LoveIsRespect's Respect Week, including Wear Orange Day on February 14 and share the National Respect Announcement on February 17.
• Feb 20-24 is Break the Cycle's Real Week, a chance for everyone, but especially young people, to get real about relationships. The good, the bad and everything in between -  it's time to say what's really on our minds when it comes to teen dating abuse. Themes include Music Monday, Talk It Out Tuesday, Wishlist Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, and Freaky Friday. 

Click here for more TDVAPM activity ideas, information, and resources. Please keep Hope House in mind for teens experiencing abuse. We can provide free supportive counseling, support groups, legal help, safety planning, and more. Our 24-hour helpline is 608-356-7500 or 1-800-584-6790. Another great option is www.loveisrespect.org, which has a 24-hour helpline at 1.866.331.9474, online chat, and a texting hotline by texting loveis to 22522. Thank you!

Next RPE Empower Baraboo Advisory Committee Meeting
The next Empower Baraboo Advisory Committee meeting will be held on February 21 from 6:15-7:15pm in the Baraboo High School library. We welcome all Baraboo area community members who are interested in helping to create a high school environment that is respectful, inclusive, and free of sexual harassment and assault. Meetings are spent planning events that will engage students and staff throughout the high school community. Future meetings will also be held on the third Tuesday of each month at the same time and location: March 21st, April 18th, May 16th. Questions can be directed to Prevention Project Coordinator Nola Pastor at preventcoord@hopehousescw.org or 608-356-9123. 

Hope House Donation Needs
Monetary donations are most needed.  Individuals have the option of donating ​online.  Please note that a portion of your online donation will go towards PayPal fees.  Donations can be mailed to Hope House, P.O. Box 557, Baraboo, WI 53913. We also appreciate gas cards, gift cards (Walmart, Kwik Trip, Walgreens, Kohl’s), taxi vouchers from Baraboo Taxi, and used cell phones, iPods and iPads.  Please note that we are not accepting stuffed animals/plush toys, used toys, clothes (except for new sweatshirts and sweatpants), shoes, used books, furniture, TVs, bar soap, hats, scarves or travel-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. Current needs include the following:

• Kitchen:  Non Perishable Food Items, Fresh Produce, Juice, Sippy Cups, Milk, Coffee, Sugar, Creamer, Food Storage Containers, Kitchen Sponges, Dishwasher Soap
• Cleaning supplies: Laundry soap, Broom and Dustpan Combos, Windex, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Floor Cleaner, Bleach, All Purpose Cleaner, Swiffer Floor Dry Sheets, Vacuum Cleaner, Magic Eraser                                                
• Miscellaneous:  New Underwear and Bras, First Aid Kits, Zippered Mattress Protector, Copy Paper, Journals, Pocket Calendars, 10-Gallon Storage Totes, Women and Children Sweatpants, especially plus size,  Sweatshirts, especially plus size,  Pajamas, Winter Boots, Towels, Wash Cloths, Small Lamps

Special Note about Travel-Size Items: We encourage those looking to donate travel-size items to donate them to the Backpack Project. The Backpack Project strives to provide Baraboo School District students who are financially challenged to enter the school doors on the first day ‘just like everyone else’ and to show these children the community supports and encourages them to learn and do their best. If interested in donating towards this project, please contact Becky Hovde at 608-963-8230 or hivebiz@centurytel.net.

Domestic Violence

• The Deadliest Shootings In 2016 You Didn’t Hear About: “According to data collected by Everytown for Gun Safety, of the 16 mass shooting incidents last year, seven ― 43 percent ― involved a male shooter targeting a family member or intimate partner. In those shootings, women and children made up 81 percent of the victims...In four of the seven cases in 2016 in which shooters targeted family members or intimate partners, a woman was attempting to leave the relationship at the time of the massacre. While the public may wonder why women don’t simply leave their abusers, Ruth Glenn, the executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, cautioned that victims are at the highest risk of danger when exiting a violent relationship, and should seek assistance from a local domestic violence organization before attempting to do so...The best way to prevent mass shootings by abusers is to hold them accountable for their actions long before they strike out with fatal violence”…Read more
• As Tyreek Hill’s Profile Increases, Focus on His Abusive Past Shouldn’t Wane, Advocates Say: “Along with the mentions of his name comes the disclaimer of his past — a guilty plea to assaulting his pregnant girlfriend while attending Oklahoma State University in December 2014…‘I think the story shouldn’t change until he takes responsibility and demonstrates respect in a meaningful and authentic way,’ said Cindy Southworth, executive vice president at the National Network to End Domestic Violence. ‘It’s on his timeframe and he can actually change the discourse. If we make mistakes and do bad things, and take responsibility and are held accountable, people remember us as the whole person we are’”…Read more
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Human Trafficking

• Backpage.com Shuts Down Adult Services Ads after Relentless pressure from Authorities: “But the National Association of Attorneys General and other law enforcement officials have argued that Backpage and sites like it provide an outlet for people who seek to sexually exploit minors. Backpage launched in 2004 and expanded significantly six years later when Craigslist shut down its adult advertising section under pressure from law enforcement and Congress”…Read more​
• An Interview About Surviving Human Trafficking: Margeaux Gray: “Margeaux Gray was a victim of human trafficking when she was a young girl. She was sexually abused by a close and trusted adult man, and at age 5, Margeaux was sold for profit into child sex trafficking. Trafficked by a trusted adult who used physical, sexual, and psychological abuse to maintain control over Margeaux, she found it nearly impossible to seek help. Today, Margeaux is a survivor of human trafficking who shares her story of healing and how she copes with the lingering effects of her experience. She also explains how others can support human trafficking victims”…Read more
• Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Announces the Justice Department’s National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking: “The most recent report, for FY 2015, is available here. The department has also launched www.justice.gov/humantrafficking. This page will serve as a central destination to learn more about the department’s efforts to combat the scourge of human trafficking…The National Strategy sets forth plans to enhance coordination within the department and to develop specific strategies within each federal district to stop human trafficking"…Read more
• National Human Trafficking Hotline’s Resources for Service Providers: “Service providers offer critical support to victims and survivors of human trafficking. Victims and survivors often have ongoing, complex needs, including case management, shelter, legal services, and mental health care. Social service organizations in human trafficking and allied fields are well positioned to identify, support, and protect victims of human trafficking through their work. If you are a service provider working with victims and survivors of human trafficking, browse the resources below to find relevant online trainings, reports, and assessment tools”…Read more

Children & Youth

• ‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’ Most students don’t learn about sexual assault until college. By then, it’s too late: “His case painfully proves a point educators and activists have been making with increasing urgency: Teaching teenagers about sexual assault in college is ‘too little too late.’ Turner’s hometown schools hope to change that, as do educators in Sacramento, California and Fairfax, Virginia, where they are teaching consent and healthy sexual behavior to younger students”…Read more
• Cambridge High School Tackles Gender Climate Head-On: “Students who rallied outside this city’s public high school last spring described harrowing experiences: unwelcome sexual advances and other inappropriate behavior by male classmates and others. They issued a two-page letter to administrators demanding changes to the school climate and to administrators’ handling of student reports of harassment or assault. More than eight months later, Cambridge Rindge & Latin School is preparing to address relations between students head-on, by asking boys to rethink their ideas about manhood…The educators are preparing for Rindge & Latin to become one of 18 schools across the country to introduce a curriculum called LiveRespect, which was developed by the violence-prevention organization A Call to Men…The LiveRespect curriculum will join a series of other measures educators have taken since April’s student walkout to address relations between boys and girls. The school has enhanced its training for recognizing and responding to sexual harassment, according to principal Damon Smith. Smith also has met several times with the school’s feminist club and other student leadership groups to discuss changes to policies on reporting harassment or assault, he said, and posters explaining those policies now hang in every school restroom”…Read more
• Can In-School Meditation Help Curb Youth Violence?: “For the next 20 minutes, there is no lesson, no talking, no laughing, none of the bustling sounds of a high school classroom on a weekday morning…These Gage Park High School students are participating in Quiet Time, a transcendental meditation program that aims to help them with the stress and pressures of life inside and outside the brick walls of the Southwest Side school. This happens twice a day. Every school day. The program is run by the David Lynch Foundation, a nonprofit organization co-founded by the movie director, and is being studied for its effectiveness by the University of Chicago Crime Lab”…Read more

Local News

• Stewart Thompson, Mauston High School social studies teacher, charged with sexual assault of a student…Read more
  
• George Zeimet, 67, of Lodi, has been sentenced to four years in prison after entering pleas of no-contest to charges of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault and felony causing mental harm to a child – girls between the ages of 5 and 7…Read more
• A federal appeals court recently ruled that the 10-year prison sentence imposed on Alexander Kluball, 26, of Reedsburg, for child prostitution charge will be upheld…Read more
  

Parents' & Youth Service Providers' Section

• Pink Hats and a Teachable Moment: “I wasn’t quite sure how to explain this to the woman with her young daughter present. And I’d venture to guess I’m not alone in the struggle to articulate the realities of sexual assault and consent, especially to young people. But if you were one of the millions who participated in one of the largest global demonstrations in history, I hope you agree that the Women’s Marches will help us expand our conversations about women’s rights, non-violence and equality for people of all races and backgrounds. Moms and Dads, we saw so many of you marching with your daughters and sons. How can you turn those inspiring events into a teachable moment for your kids? We can suggest some ways to get started. Whether at home, during school or in the community, here are some concrete ways you can talk to teens about healthy relationships”…Read more
• 6 Ways to Help Kids Beat Gender Stereotypes: “● Ensure diversity in toys, play experiences, and activities. Expose your kids to a variety of toys, and don't just stick to ones that are gender-typed. Encourage them to engage with different kinds of toys, playmates and activities. Branch out beyond gender-themed activities that don't need to be (e.g., birthday parties)—kids learn stereotypes very quickly when that's what they experience. ● Address stereotypes head on. Challenge broad generalizations (‘all girls …’ or ‘that's a boy thing’) when you encounter them by asking questions about kids' assumptions and gently showing them why they're not accurate and not fair. Help kids see beyond a person's gender or how it's presented by highlighting other qualities, skills and actions. Getting kids to value diversity is key to defeating stereotypes”…Read more
• 5 Ways Parents of Preschoolers Can Raise a Body-Positive Kid: “How's this for a scary statistic: Studies show that kids as young as 5 say they don’t like their bodies. Common Sense Media's survey of body-image research shows that parents play a huge role in shaping how kids think and feel about their bodies. Starting to bolster kids' body image early, even in preschool, can make a big difference in how kids feel about themselves as they grow up. Here are five ways to immunize your kids against poor body image, with conversation starters, media picks, and resources to support your discussions”…Read more…Watch related video: 5 Ways to Promote a Healthy Body Image for Girls
• 4 Proven Strategies for Teaching Empathy: “Here are some strategies our graduates around the world use with their students to help develop both affective and cognitive empathy”…Read more
• Free Webinars: Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center is thrilled to announce that all our live and on-demand webinars are now FREE! Learn more here.